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I tightened up my collarbone brace which is like wearing a backpack without the backpack and headed to my Uncle Smudges camp to do, hoorah, a little metal detecting. It about 60 today; the lake has a deep blue hue that I call Janet blue; a soft breeze is in my face and I'm wearing shades because my prsopects are so bright. I head out in search of that pot of lost coins and a reason to be alive.... His shack has seen better days and I sat on a bench on the porch and said hello to the old Mayor of Island Lake. "Hows it going, Smudge?" I say and I know he hears me from up in heaven I suspect. I call it paying him homage and for being a mentor to me in my younger and more wild ways. That just means when I was drinking too much. I miss him and his sage but frank wisdom and look out to the garden he had staked off for the summer crop of vegetables. It's not been tilled in many a year now but I can still taste those plump red tomatos and see that knee high corn on the fourth of July..... I had my first beer here when I was about 15. Smudges son John, my little brother Jimmy and I shared a sauna and a 12 pack and two out of the three of us got sick. I got really sick. But, it was a rite of passage and here I was again after all these years. I see the posts holding up the porch and remember hanging on to it because the world was spinning. And I grin. My ribs ache just from the walk so I'm in no hurry to get at it which is odd because I've been waiting all winter to get at it..... I think I found all 12 of the old pop tops from beer cans. I'm still getting used to this machine and found only one penny from 1959 so it wasn't a ttotal loss. I found a 6 inch blade from a large knife, some kind of buckle, lots of squashed beer cans and for free my back was really aching so I headed back home carrying my MD in my left arm which I call my Chicago shoulder. wink wink..... Did you get out today? Do something you've been wanting to do? Why not? I'll pay the price tonight flat out resting my shoulder but what the hey...It was fun and I got to say hi to my Uncle Smudge again..... Easy....
It is one of those picture postcard evenings on Island Lake with a deep blue sky and big white fluffy clouds reflecting off the dead calm water. It reminds me why I love it here. It is so quiet you can hear your heart beat or in my case hear my bones crack. The pain in my ribs is a constant but more tolerable as the days go by in a pain med fog. I'm going through the motions waiting for the day I can take a deep breath, bend my arm and stand upright like everyone else. Until then I bide my time patiently... A dusting of snow fell overnight but spring is busting through and the animals of the woods are making their presence known. The Geese, in a perfect vee, fly overhead letting all know they are coming, smaller ducks make splash landings on the lake and it sends rippling waves that open into a huge circle and then fade away into obivion. A sandhill crane, an awkward bird, swoops by with long wings and legs that are tucked underneath its body and no doubt in search of a nearby swamp or maybe searching for it's love..... My neighbor called before dark last night and said a black bear was swimming across Island Lake, in front of his cabin and coming my way. I've never seen a bear swim and I don't need him coming my way so I stood outside to scare him off but he didn't come by to scare me off. The neighbors up the other way talk of the Eagles that are nesting nearby in a pine tree that seems to reach up into the sky. In my little quiet spot in Upper Michigan there sure seems alot going on..... I dream of a restful sleep but it only comes a couple hours at a time and I wake up rustier then the Tin Man in a rtainstorm. I'm getting by, taking in the beauty of the land I love. I have reason to complain but I won't. My injury happened for a reason and maybe it is to slow down and enjoy the peace and tranquility I have. My belly is full, Tiger baseball is on the radio and that's enough for me a Sunday night at the Penthouse Cabin....
Easy.....
I'm back home and I thank all of you for your prayers and genuine concern. I do have a broken clavicle but it is the four fractured ribs that hurts the most. I can't blame the ladder for breaking nor can I blame myself for wanting a good view out the window. Some things just happen in life and this is one of mine... I will get through this like all things in my life. I pray for the power of healing and that I can use this recuperating time to show one and all that it is not the injuries that get us, it is our attitude after they happen. I'm not so good at typing one hand but I can do it. I'm not so good at laying around all day....err..I guess I am guilty of that. The Dr. said I must have a high tolerence to pain and maybe I do but that comes from my brain and being a Marine... A special thx to Janet who will always be my special friend. Thx to those that asked how they could help.
Thx to all who prayed for me.
I'm here on this special site because you are too. Still can...Live...Laugh (only a smile for now)...love Easy 
It is that time of year when I find all the things I lost this last winter. I'm not the best at putting things away. The temp is going over 60 today and I hope to find my sled I lost in the last snow storm a few days ago. Also out there in the white no mans lawn land is 3 shovels, an empty 6 gal. water bucket, Hummingbird feeder and a host of other things I won't embarass myself telling you about. But, I do need that ashtray I tossed at a squirrel bogarting the sunflower seeds..... Lots of changes inside the Penthouse Cabin this spring. I'll be taking out the kitchen sink vanity and the bunk beds, retiling the floor and repainting all the walls. Space is no luxury for me as I continue to figure out how to put the most in with the least. One hunter slept in the top bunk in 5 years and it became a storage area. I need a new sink with counter top and a few drawers so I will be all set after I drill for water. I cannot imagine walking up to the sink and washing my hands like normal people do. Next month it will be 6 years since I built this place and it is long overdue for a make over and to step out of the stone age..... I say this tongue in cheek because Janet gave me a great start on giving my home some class. She has opened me up to bright colors instead of the drab brown I called hunting season decorum. I envision the walls a bright blue to go with the sky on a day as glorious as today.... I'll sit her for awhile and watch the snow melt. I'll open the window and smell the fresh scent of the woods. I'll listen to the Chickadees chirping. I'll find my gloves and the garbage bags and head out to maybe find my axe, my rake and the fire pit. I'm feeling better now, full of energy and it's time to make this place a home again.It has been a long, long winter..... Na na na na.....hey hey..... good bye... Live ...Laugh...Love Easy
It was funny climbing a ladder in my pajamas this morning to srape off the crusted satellite dish. Were in the middle of another foot of snow falling and instead of being aggrivated I try to dwell on better days that I know are coming. I'm organizing my fishing gear with trout season opening on the last Saturday in April. Burner and I will drown a worm somewhere depending on how high the water is running. The way it looks now the runoff will be like Niagra Falls. Canoe fishing is out. Jumping rock to rock is out. We'll probably end up at the clay banks where we can lazy fish and tell stories of lunkers caught or to be caught. We'll camp out in a small tent, sleep on air mattresses, have a ripper of a campfire and feast on fresh brook trout that curls up in a skillet. I'll make some fried biscuits andhave some bacon too. Hopefully the weather will cooperate but if it doesn't it will still be a great story to tell over a couple beers at the Grove....... I remember when my son Kris and I were fishing the 'little Michigan' one opening day when he was about 12. I'd invite his older brother Jeff but he'd rather read a book and we wouldn't connect like we should. Eerily similar to the relationship I had with my dad. It bothered me then like it bothers me now. But now, it hurts worse. Anyway, Kris was standing too close to the bank and went in feet first and I saw him disappear under the water but his right arm was holding up his pole like lady liberty holds the torch. He came out of the water like a Pike on the hook and we laughed andlaughed. The snow may be blowing sideways outside but a good memory can be conjured up when the present day isn't so hot..... I think I'll call Jeff today and try to reconnect again. I'm not even sure where he is or what he is doing but I have to reach out. He didn't call me yesterday on my birthday and it hurt. All he had to do was pick up the phone and say 'hi dad'. I know he is hurting and I wish I knew why. It's hard to find out if we aren't talking. I pray I can change that.... Reach out to someone you know who might be hurting. It may be uncomfortable or awkward but we have to try, eh? Live...Life...Love Easy
More snow fell overnight and the pine trees are covered in white like a bride waiting at the altar. The sun peeks out from behind the clouds, the feeder sways in a brisk wind out of the north, and it's a day for me to get to town for a bit of r and r. I'm feeling better with a half bounce in my step and an urge for company and maybe a suds or two. It's senior pool league Wednesday where a bunch of us old guys and gals put a buck in the pool, waste a couple of hours. sometimes someone brings along some food to cook up and chow down, and one hot shot shooter pockets the bucks and brags til next week...... It's a time to catch up on the latest news since I've been gone. The econmy still sucks, jobs are minumum wage if that and our school system is on the verge of closing up and mergering with a bunch of other vagabond school districts. The small towns are losing their souls and individuality. Republic is a core of older people who refuse to leave because it is home and the young who aren't sure what they are doing. They want to hang on but the glitter of jobs elsewhere sends them packing.... What binds a small town together is family and shirt tale cousins. Were darn near all related to the founders of Republic who came here in the late 1800's to work the iron ore. I have a standing bet that the next guy who comes in one of the three doors to the Grove will be my cousin or yours. I seldom lose...... Trout fishing opener is 17 days away but I can still slide down the hill and ice fish from my window which I did so well earlier this winter. Feels like years ago. Winters up here will do that to a man. Soon the snow will melt and the ticks and mosquito's will be back. Eh, Janet? I'll get back to my best fishing spot, hopefully get my new hobby of metal detecting going and who knows what else this spring holds. I know I'm going to like it, no love it, because I am where I want to be even though it means pulling the sled out to the mailbox again to bring more stuff back in..... May all your bank shots be sweet, that loaf of bread fresh from the oven a Betty Crocker beauty, and all our problems trivial and our health well. It's going to be a great day here in Republic and in your home town too..... Live...Laugh...Love Easy
My love of baseball is self evident and each new spring brings back the memories of my lifetime in the field of dreams. I learned the game from my dad and together we have shared the passion for over 50 years. My earliest memory is at the kitchen table with dad hiding behind the sports page of the newspaper and barking out batting averages, win streaks and infield fly rules. Mom didn't care and if he wasn't talking oil changes my little brother Jimmy tuned him out but I was an eager protogee. I took in every fact, opinion and stored it away and even now I can still tell you that Al Kaline's career batting average was .299 and he hit 399 dingers. Through baseball I bonded with my dad and he could fix any problem in my life with a baseball metaphor. Like the time a girl turned me down for a date and he said, "Swing and a miss"......... We went to many Detroit Tiger games at Briggs stadium and saw most of the best players in the game and I wanted to play for the Tigers one day too. The grass was so green and hot dogs so plump and we always left in the seventh inning to 'beat the rush'. I bounced rubber balls off the front porch steps and damaged more then one screen door. I bounced golf balls off the cement wall at school and honed my reflexes with practice, practice, practice.... I look back on it now and I've figured out that my Dad was channeling his disappointment for not playing for the Tigers through me. He worked me hard and I became a gifted infielder at a very young age and he would audition me off to the team with the nicest uniforms. I rebelled against him and tried out for a local team with many school buddies. I remember that first practice like it was yesterday. The ball yard infield was dry sand and the outfield was over grown grass with no fence but a woods for a border. I trotted out to second base and took ground balls flawlessly but I was the smallest kid and my odds were long on making the team. At the end of the practice the coach would call out a few names and send kids packing but he didn't call my name and when my Dad picked me up I would proudly say, "I'm still on the team". It was something I would tell him three more times before I was able to say, "I made the team". When I did he took me out and bought me an Al Kaline glove which was way over his budget and I was happy because my dad was happy.... I'll never forget my uniform which was made out of heavy cotton and one size that fits all and I was quite the shrimp sight. I wish I had the picture of me and my 'Ever 7' team. I look like a little bundle inside a grey uniform squating down with the sun in my eyes and my ball cap on crooked. I was smiling. Oh my...... Our team wasn't very good. Our catcher had one eye and he'd get sand in the fake eye that he could take out but I didn't want to see that with my two eyes. Our pitchers hit the back stop as much as the catchers mitt and we hit like a bunch of ladies, no offense ladies. My grandmother came from Upper Michigan to see me play that summer and that didn't happen often. I remember a ball was hit straight up in the air almost touching the clouds and someone yelled from the bench, "Gene will get it" and I did. That pop up, my grandmother, her son and my Dad all sharing our love for a simple game of baseball. Alot like Mom and apple pie.....
This one is for you BB. Like Baseball, there is always another game today. We can remember the past and glorify in the times we had, good or bad, and put them away in a special place to warm our heart.....
Live...Love...Laugh Easy
It's the calm before the storm this Monday morning as the weather forecasters say we will get 10-20" of snow through Tuesday afternoon. I say good grief!!!!
Today is the opening of baseball season in Detroit where my Tigers play the Kansas City Royals. Expectations are high this year as many publications pick Detroit to win theworld series. Bless you boys......
I have a nasty head cold, a slow computer and a broken TV but besides that life is good. I'm going to stop in the Mall (our thrift store) this morning and see if I can find a used one which should look pretty funny pulling it in on a sled during a blizzard.....
I hope you have a good Monday may all your shovels stay hanging in the garage.....Live...Love...Laugh Easy
The sun is out on Island Lake with moderate temps and it sure feels good to be back home. The last 24 days are gone in a whirlwind of life in the big cities where everyone seems in a big hurry to get where they are not as fast as they can. I Don't like doing this and I always return to Republic appreciating the life I do live. My little corner of the world where my skyscrapers are green and furry..... Here's the Readers Digest condensed travelog blog: One night at the son of my neighbors who took me into Wisconsin. Pillow was hard as a rock but the company grand..... One night at Janet's where it felt like home. Pillow was excellent and the company better.... Three nights at the trailer court where I lived while recovering from Chemo. Pillow felt like a basketball and my nose was dribbling with the head cold I caught, recovered from and now have again..... Nineteen days at my brothers home where my parents also live. Pillow was as small as a postage stamp and Hannah Montana's posters covered the walls..... And last and best, two more nights at Janet's waiting for my ride back home. I got into camp at 1:30 AM last night and slept on the best pillow of all. Mine...... Whew!!!!!! Clean bill of health and my remission days roll on. I am truly blessed. My Dad is doing good and scoots around like he's preparing for the Special Olympics and Mom is vibrant, bubbly and busy caring for Dad..... Janet and I had a great time after the initial nervousness wore off. We had many nice talks and I had her laughing like I once did. I reiterate her comment that we hope to have many years of a close relationship and good times. I hooked up with my best bud Pippen and I don't know who was happier, him or me? We took long walks and I sat at the park with him beneath me rubbing his ears and hearing him groan with pleasure. I snuck him a free meal pretending that I didn't know Janet had fed him one morning. He lives to eat and us buds stick together...... Lots of snow here and I look forward to my birthday on April 10 when I'll be 59 and spring is around the corner which is my favorite time of the year. Hope springs eternal and I'm busting out like a tulip breaking ground reaching for the sun. Reborn, recharged and ready for the splender of life. God answered every single prayer I asked for on my journey and I must be doing something right...... Live...Love....Laugh Easy
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