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As I looked out the window this morning I saw an odd insect menace they call the Midges. They fly in tornado swirls trying to find a mate before they die in about a week. I'd hate to have to perform like that. What a life eh? Live, mate and die. I swear they are covering my front yard. Even more odd was a few minutes later when I saw a small private plane buzz the lake barely above tree level. Zooooom. One of those moments that doesn't seen real. I actually could see a man in the passenger seat but he didn't wave. He could have been more afraid then me. In all the years I have lived here this was a first. I wonder if the pilot realized just how beautiful but scary it was..... My computer moniter died a few days ago and once again I have been offline. I've about had it with my aging computer and bad satellite connection from Hughes.net. It doesn't seem to matter lately because I'm having a hard time finding the words to write. What mostly has been confidence has turned to doubt and when I doubt what I am writing it's about worthless. This is why you haven't seen much of me lately. Every prize fighter has been knocked down, every hall of fame pitcher has been shelled and poor Ernest H. ended his life because he couldn't write anymore. It was only last year I found out that Hemingway "really" couldn't write because of the high octane lifestyle he lived and the addictions he loved...... I'm getting back to walking as the pain in my shoulder and back eases. I've been kind of down, off my game and I don't like it. It was a year ago this week that Janet, Pippen and I spent a wonderful month here at the penthouse cabin and I do miss those days. It was a time I'll never forget and will cherish forever. It's too bad that the mosquitos and critters were worse then I have ever seen but were only a minor inconvience. I guess living alone again there is no one to complain about the pests so I don't. ... This world can be a funny place at times. One minute I can be so up and the next moment it is all gone like the smoke from my campfire. I pride myself in the lifestyle I have and have paid a price for keeping it. It's a life that isn't much to talk about but I sure have gotten some mileage out of writing about living three miles from nowhere. That has always been my plan since joining boomer. I wanted others with a different lifestyle to view mine in a unique, honest and openly brutal way at times.... I try to stay away from the hard news of the day. I have very strong opinions on many issues and at times I do write about them. It is necessary but honestly I love writing more about my Detroit Tigers or trout fishing, the penthouse cabin as well as the memories of my youth. I can pick and choose those special moments of my past and retell them to you which brings up your memories reading about mine. Heck, one of my best blogs has been talking about 'Leave It To Beaver' reruns. That's what I'm talking about Lumpy..... I wake up each morning with nothing to do and all day to do it. I work my way past the cyclone of Midges and pass a rabbit eating tall grass while heading for the outhouse which is probably the lowlight of my day. I want convienence like you do but I get by with what I have and not with what I think I need. I'm not a rich man, far from it, I'm just one man living on a disabililty that barely gets me by. I found out my money lasts about 15 minutes in the big city so I should be happy here.. When I am out in your world I spend spend and spend and 30 days was always a long month... I coulda been a star. I coulda made lots of money in my life and be set up in a real penthouse cabin but that's folly. If I was motivated more and wanted the noterity I would try to get my stuff syndicated but it is all the other stuff that comes with it thta bothers me. For now I've decided not to branch out. One thing I never try to be is something I'm not. That hasn't always been the case and I'm trying hard to put forth an image of who I am now. I must have learned something in 59 years. If I haven't I've failed.... I hope your Thursday is a good one and your coming weekend better. Schools out so watch out for the kids and spend more time with them now that they are home for the summer. Thanks for listening..... Easy.....
It's back to normal today as the camp neighbors have all headed home and I wonder if it had anything to do with us getting snow last night before dark? My heater is still on and it is expected to get down into the 20's tonight. I sure am glad I didn't plant early or put away my long johns. A deer wandered through my yard a few minutes ago and that's small potatos after seeing the Moose the other morning. I milked that one pretty good. Yes siree..... I'm chomping at the bit to get out tomorrow and do some metal detecting after finding a 1927 wheat penny on the Island of my lake near an old shack built years ago and now abandoned. I figure at sun up I'll work my way to Republic on my ATV and stop at the public beach and see what I can find. After that I'll head to Ticky's Black River camp and stay the night. There is an old chicken farm I'm also going to check out near his place... I believe at our age we need a dang good reason to get up in the morning and for me right now it is finding coins and relics. After my fall I could only look at the M.D.machine in the corner of the room. I had spent half of the winter researching the hobby and picking out just the right machine. And then I couldn't use it. It doesn't matter what gets us fired up as long as something does folks. It could be sitting in the woods counting racoons or documenting the structure of a beaver den. If it gives us the reason to find the joy in life it is a good thing indeed.... There's so much to complain about with gas, housing foreclosers, the economy and even the failure of my beloved Detroit Tigers not to mention the Mets. So many aches and pains to keep me indoors for the day pinching pennies. Naw. The gloom is out there but when it is on our front porch slam the door. We have the power to overcome the obvious diversions that separate us from a peaceful life and it lies in our own behavior..... Others will try to ruin our good day. I get mocked for wheeling around a silly looking machine but it is my silly little hobby. Others will want us to wallow away the day in the bar accomplishing nothing except giving me a headache and a false sense of reality. We meet people all day but we program in the good and program out the bad and do what we choose to do. For me right now it is finding coins and being outside in the woods.... I'm streaming Brewer baseball on the computer just before dark and the sky above the lake is an odd shade of pink and light blue. The shade from the huge pine trees paint the surface in an almost pink/black color and it's as peaceful as life can be at a cabin in the woods. Writing helps me heal too and I don't have to say anything profound or even news worthy. I just have to have a take....... Time to turn in. Sleep well my friends. I'll be bundled up under a soft comforter feeling good thinking of all the fun I can have yomorrow. I hope your prospects are half as good. Goodnight.... Easy
How do we begin thanking the veteran? I do it one vet at a time. My father will ride in a convertable at a local parade near Detroit on Monday. 1,000 vets are dying everyday and to each one we meet we need to say say, "well done". The tears will flow tomorrow at all the cemetary's across our great land and we must never forget the cost of war. We are free because of the dedication of the soldier. God Bless them one and all.... Thunder is in the air and Kris is just offshore fishing for dinner. I can't stop him. Its been great having him here and we've been catching up and planning the summer. My garden is almost ready and this year I'm really going to try to live off the land vegetable wise. I'm putting in tomatos, carrots, radishes, onions, lettuce and Brussel sporouts. I really love Brussel sprouts. Then it will be melons, watermelon and Pumpkins for Halloween. I have the talking done and hope to keep you informed...... Gas shot up to $4.25 in Republic overnight and this is a discrace to the working man and woman across our land. How could we let this happen? The blame is all around but no one wants to accept it. I'm really sorry for those of us who will have to give up something else just to keep the wheels moving. Hope is not enough sometimes but prayer is.... I'm quite the celebrity for having a Moose in the yard for breakfast. Do to the fast and oh so efficient Janet I had the pics up and all over the internet before my eggs got cold. She's good, real good..... I'm healing up slowly and walking hurts the most. I love to walk and it is in my blood. I get a sharp pain under my bad arm and walking to the mailbox is a chore. I know now that this is going to take time and patience. At least I have one of em....... So..Are you going to burn some burgers tomorrow? Maybe let the ants get into the potato salad? Have your fingers smell for potato chips and worms? Maybe catch a few fish or catch up with family you haven't seen as long as I haven't seen Kris. These are the days we can lay back in the lawn chair and tell stories of how life was in the family and how it has changed to what it is today. At our age body parts enter the conversation more then a kid falling and skinning his nose or an adult getting a fish hook stuck in his thumb..... It's a campfire after dark and we can't see who is talking but we can hear them. Ambers of red ash dance into the sky and the peepers are a loud swamp serenade. The marshmellow will fall off the end of the stick into the fire and a small child will cry until she gets here hands and her face on a nice, white gooey one. The holiday is almost as much for us as it is for the Memorial of the vets. Being with family we are truly home..... The worries of the world can leave us for a bit. We can lay our head back and smell the cherry wood in the fire. We can relax with our family where we go most to relax. I have much to be thankful this Memorial weekend and proud to have served in the U.S. Marines. It is an honor..... Be safe and have fun with family and friends. Thank a vet.... Easy....
I've been a good boy cleaning up the cabin and waiting for the white glove inspection from my son Kris who lays on me better then any D.I. I had in the Marines. It is what it is and I needed some time out so I fired up Blue and went looking for coins, a memory and a backache. It was barely fifity and a ripping wind in my face so I wore enough clothes that if you dropped me off a building I would bounce back up to the top. Never can be warm enough, eh....... I'm thinking back to what could have been a Memorial weekend and I know it was 1966 and I was cruising down M-95 with my cousin John and my little brother Jimmie. John was driving his brothers brand new 426 Hemi Road Runner and the trees were flying by like a blurr. Beach Boys were on the radio and I was wearing enough Jade East to fumigate Republic. I had a girlfriend named Merk and we were cruising in a Dodge. I was 17 and too young to know that driving 110 is not a good thing. But, it was so bad it was good.... When John slowed down he took us to the fire tower. It had been abandoned by the state and due to be torn down but until it was kids would climb to the top to see the view and throw stuff down. I didn't want to go up. I'm afraid of heights and why I shouldn't have been on that ladder. Dang. &*#*. At 17, I was a year away from being a Marine so I sucked it up and we climbed that ladder and I never looked down until we were at the top. The view was worth the effort. The landscape was covered with trees of all colors and went on and on. I thought I could see China from up there. Jimmie pulled off his shoe and let it go and we bent over to watch it sail down and land with a quiet thug in the grass. I pulled a penny out of my pocket and let it go and it floated down and I didn't hear it land but I remember it now. Or do I?...... Fast forward to today and I ended up at that fire tower again. It was a bumpy ride on the backroads but it felt good to be out and behind the wheel again. I miss driving a car and this is the closest I can get to being like the rest of you normal people. I have a shiny black helmet like the 'American Choppers' gang, my suede green jacket (matching wallet) and racing gloves. The bunch of us pulled up to the circle drive where the tower once was and I looked up half expecting it to still be there. It wasn't. The whole area looked smaller. Am I ever going to go back and see a memory and have it be the same as I remember? I don't think so..... I pulled out my metal detector and in my second dig, the first was a pop top, I found a penny. I turned a bit of grass and there it was as pretty as any penny could be. It was my first real coin find and...I wanted to do a little dance and sing a little song la de dah. I spit on it and cleaned it off to see a real nice condition 1944D wheat penny. I dug around some more and found another penny but my back started hurting and it was time to go home. Was it the penny I threw off the tower in 66? Probably not....... Enjoy your evening....Easy
I looked out the window this morning to see a duck floating on the water when an Eagle dive bombed it. At the last second the duck flew off. Must have been a peeking duck.... It's been painfully difficult sitting at the computer but I'm doing good. My son Kris is coming Thursday night and I have my hands full cleaning up the penthouse cabin. I haven't seen him in months and we plan on doing some fishing and catching up on whats been going on. All in all I'm sure that it will be a memorable memorial weekend... My dad is flying to Washington D.C. with a veterans group who are taking WW11 vets to the memorial on flag day, June 14. It is quite an honor for my father who continues to impress me after all these years. I wish I could be there to see him up and walking again and standing as tall as all the veterans from WW2 and all wars. I love you dad and thanks for your service to our country..... Jon Lester is a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and while I have been sitting here typing he has pitched a no hitter in a major league baseball game. It is a masterful feat and appreciated by the afficinado of america's pastime. The bonus to this story is that Jon Lester has Leukemia and it is similar to what I have. He has been cancer free for a couple years eerily like myself and for him to come back like he did tonight is a real blessing. Atta boy Jon...... It snowed here yesterday and that is no fun. May 18 and there is still patches of snow in the woods. Good grief Charlie Brown, put a coat on. Ticky said at the Black River camp it was coming down in a blizzard. Oh yaw, he saw a Moose walking through his land and they are massive beasts not to be messed with. He said it was a small one and only weighed about 850 pounds.....
I had two turkeys in the yard the other day and told them they were lucky it wasn't thanksgiving..
Porcupines eat bark off the tree. Half of all deaths of Porcupines comes from falling out of trees. I know all about falling...ouch.... Something is wrong when it costs me ten dollars to fill up my four wheeler.... About this time of night I turn off the radio, open my window a bit and listen to the sounds of the night. A time to relax and wind down. On key a loon cruises by calling for its mate or just someone to cuddle up with on a cool night in the marsh. It's soothing and after a long day on the road it feels good to be able to come home and write something of substance for a change. I pray for all of us who are hurting especially Bobbie and Beanie and for those of us who are just trying to get by. It's going to get better my friends. We have to believe that. And it's me with the cool sweet scent of spring in the air stopping by to say hey..... Here's to us and those like us....Easy
I want to tell you about my mom. Doris Antilla married my dad when she was 17 and pregnant with you know who. It's Easy when I talk about her. She has never wavered in her support of me for as long as I can remember. When I had my bad years she never gave up on me or scolded me but she would tell me it would be all right. Nothing is more important to a son is to have a mom who understands. She told me I was smart and I could do anything I wanted in life. She taught me right from wrong and never lost her temper nor did she ridicule or make fun of me. Lots of others did when I was young.... She is the best cook bar none and I miss those evenings at the dinner table where we sat every single night. Her kitchen was very small but her meals very large. She led with a smile and had a heart of gold under difficult circumstances because my father ruled the home and let everyone know who was in charge. I laugh now because she was is charge but did it from behind the scenes. She wasn't allowed to work, really, but if she had she would have excelled like she did as a watress when dad finally relented and even tried to buy her a pack of Virginia Slims but mom didn't smoke. lol...... Her birthday was last Monday and she is the same consistintly loving mother I've had all these years. She never changes, she never lets me or anyone else down and she never complains even though her hands are full with my dad being disabled now. She drives him to the VA, pushes his wheelchair and still smiles. It's not her duty. It's her love for my dad. When Janet and I broke up she was very upset because she knew I was in good hands and not wandering out here in the woods alone. She asked me, "Janet and I can still be friends can't we?" I said, "Sure mom" and she smiled..... I have to go now. I have a call to make. I will tell her that she is the best mom in the world. I'm sure your mom is too but I just wanted you to know what my mom means to me.... I love you mom..... Easy.......
I went to the VA for my checkup yesterday and they said I am healing but it will take some time because my ribs were fractured pretty good. I've learned to live with the pain but it hasn't been much fun the last three weeks and it has affected all facets of my life including writing. I've decided to stop taking the strong pain medication in favor of a less potent pill because they make me a bit goofy. My close friends know 'm goofy enough on my own... I hope everyone has a great weekend and I hope to be back blogging on aregular basis soon. God bless all boomers.... Easy...
The PETA people want the jockey who rode Eight Bells in Saturdays Kentucky Derby suspended because they think she was treated cruelly after she broke both front ankles and had to be euthenized right on the racetrack. The jockey said that the horse was 'happy' after coming in second place in the biggest horse race in America. The video appears to back up the claim that the jockey did nothing wrong and when are these PETA people going to go away? Why did God give us horses? They are bred to run. They are bred to carry things including poeple. What a life, eh? I'm surprised that the PETA people didn't want every jockey suspended for hurting the horses by climbing on their back. I'm no horse nor do I look like one, Pippin, but I think one thing a horse loves to do is run....... Racism is a visual disease. A blind man is not a racist because they cannot see the color of the skin of the person they are talking to. I think if we all were blind there would be no racism but we sure would bump into each other alot. And there would be no high gas prices because we couldn't drive a car anyway. Maybe we could ride horses though. At least the horse can see.... It's no secret that I support Sen. Obama and I fear as we approach crunch time he will not win the Presidency because he is black. I believe the closet racists will come out in droves to vote for anyone but Obama strictly because he is half black and has a Muslum middle name. I thought we were ready for a minority candidate win the election but now I am not so sure. I wish we were all blind to racism and just let the best candidate prevail..... I don't fear much but I felt fear the day I went to the hospital after my accident. I thought for sure I would be admitted and the fear of the last time I was in the hospital came back to me in a chilling way. Lots of horrible memories. It was over two years when I was admitted to the hospital to control my active Leukemia and then I caught Pneumonia and my cancer spread through my body. The fear of that happening again was almost more then I could handle. It's ironic that I can walk back home from JJ's camp at midnight with no flashlight and not have any fear but put me in front of the emergency room door in the daylight and I am petrified..... So how do I over come fear? I pray and then I let it go.... Purple skies this morning but they say the sun will come out this afternoon. Today is the day to get my trusted ATV, Blue, on the road again. I need a spark plug and an oil change and Burner is the man to help get it done. He's not blind, can drive a car and understands that left loosy stuff. My Suzuki Quadrunner may not be a horse but for the last eight years she has gotten me around to the tune of 4,000 miles of good memories. Have a great Monday.... Easy....
JJ and I were sitting at my picnic table lamenting the fact that our bodies are breaking down and our minds aren't far behind. It was six years ago almost to the day the big guy and I built the Penthouse Cabin. He was the brains and I pounded nails badly but was an able laborer and in one month I had my new home. Today we were going over plans to drill a well while I was burning some leaves and litter in the firepit. The smell of burning leaves always sends me back to when I was a kid up here in Upper Michigan. Running with boundless energy through a meadow of wild flowers not going anywhere but going somewhere fast in search of life like only a teenager knows. We'd search caves behind my Gramma's house and up a huge rock bluff that would take us an hour to climb. Up there we could see all of Republic, the Michigamme River winding through it and the big ugly iron ore mine that stunk up the west side of town. It sat on a huge hill, a behemouth of a steel monster and we stood on top of the world watching its huge smoke stacks billow black smoke into our clear blue sky. Oh my..... I ask JJ about the mortality of it all. The sickness. The failing body parts and there is no real answer just what we want to happen to us. A wisp of wishful thinking. If we stop trying to get up every morning or if we let the aches and pains send us to the couch I believe we are doomed. A boomer gone bored. It seems like I've been aching all day but I ache less then I did yesterday and I know I'm healing. I may be over doing it a bit and maybe I'm not. The Marine Corps taught me that I can push myself one bit more then I think is my limit. I can't stop. I'm afraid to. I brag to JJ that I can still be his right hand man again but don't lean on my shoulders, eh? We can make things happen like we once did. We'll just wait a couple more weeks until I get off the disabled list and I'll be raring to go because it is my home I'm working on. He gets up and lets out a groan, says goodbye, and I watch him head down the driveway and back to his cabin up the hill. I'm blessed to have such sincere and caring friend who brings me my mail and offers words of encouragement I always need. Don't we all?..... I call it a day just before dusk and scatter the ashes in the fire because a brisk wind has picked up and the temp is going down tonight. Time to put a wrap on another day. I gather my stuff and look around the yard and it feels good to get the place in shape again. In the swamp the patches of snow are hanging on but frogs have started singing their high pitched shrill that is a thrill. I felt good today. There is hope and tomorrow is payday and that will be a nice thought as I lay my head down tonight. I'll say my prayers like I always do and thank God for all I have. On a day like today I have it all...... Easy....
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