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I'll call him Mike. He lives near Republic and not many know the secrets he carries around like an albatross. Lately, he has been coming by to visit and always brings a six pack even though he doesn't drink anymore. "You don't want to be around me when I am drinking", he says. He always asks me to fill a cup with water for his dog that goes everywhere with him and probably is his best friend. He drinks Diet Dr. Pepper. I've known him for many years but don't really know him at all. I don't think anyone does. Most would rather not be his friend or have tried and failed. His personality is irascible and his temperament as nasty as a lightning strike. I'm not sure why he has picked me but tells me he wants to get some stuff off his chest. Uncomfortably, I sit, listen and try to understand.... He was a door gunner in a gunship (Huey Helicopter) while in the Army during Vietnam. Three tours of duty. Thirty months. His life expectancy was about ten minutes in country. Yesterday, he was here for two hours and I did most of the listening as he told me stories that still give me a chill this morning. I have to write about it. The stories he tells are more then 40 years old but I get the feeling he is still strapped into a harness where he could spin in a complete circle shooting the M-60 at the NVA. Ten times his gunship was shot out of the sky and once his pilot got killed and he had to land the chopper. I can't imagine or fathom any of this he tells me. I wonder how many other vets have so much to say but afraid or unable to tell anyone the horrors they faced at the tender age of 18? He tells me of the drugs he took. Two of each. His favorite was the Morphine syringes included in all medical kits. He smoked killer weed, drank speed from a small vial bought in Saigon and drank enough liquor to kill ten men. I look in his eyes and besides being red from lack of sleep I see a troubled man reaching out for something I'm not sure I can give him. But, I'm trying hard to understand and be there as a friend should. He regrets the time his crew took a prisoner up into the sky to make him talk and after he wouldn't Mike pushed him out the door to fall to his death. I can almost hear Jim Morrison singing 'this is the end'...... The more he talks the more excited he gets and his eyes now become glassy and wet. I want to give him a hug but don't dare touch him. I want to tell him it will be all right but not sure it will be. I laid in bed last night thinking of him and the stories haunted me too. And, I wasn't even there to experience what he had. Finally, his time is done and he gets ready to leave. Then, he tells me the most haunting tale of all. "Damn Gene. Those were the best times of my life. Nothing has ever mattered since." I believe him.... I know he will be back. I know he has more stories. I know I have the time to listen. I wish I could be more help but I guess I am or he wouldn't keep coming back. There was a time I cut him down when talking to others. "Always in a lousy mood. Trusts no one. Loves that dog more than people". I'm done with that nonsense. Mike is a good guy with bad memories. I like to think I'm helping him help himself..... Easy...
Michigan has a new ad campaign to promote tourism in our state. It is called "Pure Michigan". Sounds like a great idea, eh? Well. Maybe not. Turns out the map of Michigan in the ad campaign does NOT show Upper Michigan. This really torks me off and so incensed a Northern Michigan legislator that he proposed a bill that forces the state to show Upper Michigan in all promotional material. And you thought Roger Dangerfield didn't get any respect. If my own state won't recognize where I live; who will?... Such is life where I live on a lake in the woods. Upper Michigan was once part of the Wisconsin territory until Michigan applied for statehood in 1836. This led to the "Toledo Wars" when Michigan and Ohio militia squared off to decide which state would get the valuable port city. No shots were fired and the US government traded Toledo to Ohio and Michigan got the Upper Peninsula from Wisconsin. This is why I am a Detroit Lions fan and not a Green Bay packer fan. This is why I am a Detroit Tiger fan and not a Milwaukee Brewers fan..... When I was in the Marine Corps I had to be careful when I talked of the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) or 'you pee'. "I didn't ask you where you went to the bathroom. I want to know where your from? Ha. Ha... Some thought the UP was in Wisconsin and some thought I was from Canada because of my accent and I thought the teachers didn't do a good job of teaching geography way back when.... I think of other states that have an identity problem. I'm still not quite sure where Delaware is even though I have been there once. I still don't know how many islands are in Hawaii or even their names. Is Hawaii the name of one of the Islands? Eh, Donna? I wonder what the difference is between Kansas and Arkansas? Eh, Hart? I wonder why there isn't just Dakota instead of North and South Dakota. Same goes for Carolina (North and South) or even Virginia and West Virginia.... Suffice to say we all like the state we live in. Why else would we live where we do? It's a pride thing for sure and I love Upper Michigan. I just wish the State of Michigan loved us up here three miles from nowhere.... Easy....
I've been away for awhile because it has been too hot to sit in front of this computer. This is after our 3rd coldest July in history. I'm in the middle of my yearly debate on whether I should buy an a/c and once again I decided against it. Instead I've been working hard outside like I've never done before. I can be not so pretty lazy when I want but I've changed that some with project after project around my cabin of the lake. I have aches on top of aches but keep on workin' on. You know what? It feels good and before snow flies I shall reap the rewards. It feels good... My plans are firming up for heading downstate again near the end of September for my VA appt. My parents are moving into a two bedroom apartment this week and they are excited to have their own place again. I'm excited because I will have my own room and I can pamper them cooking meals and helping out any way I can. It's time we spend some quality time together and I am looking forward to it. I'm also planning on heading back down there for Christmas to stay a couple more months. I need a break from the winters here and I can be the good son and help out..... What I am really excited about is the two tickets I have for the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 27th. It's a day game in Chicago and I'll be going with Janet and she has promised to root, root, root for the Tigers. Ok. I'll be happy with one root. Ha. I've bought two Tiger caps for us to wear and I think it's funny how I can get a pretty lady to wear a ball cap, eh? It should be a fun time and I only wish I could fit a cap on Pippen and bring him along. Oh well. Can't have it all but I do want the Tigers to make the playoffs and maybe win the World Series. Since I don't see so well I'll bring a baseball mitt for Janet so she can catch any foul balls. Anything coming our way will be 'foul' for sure. If the Tigers win I have hired security guards to get us safely to Janet's car. Ahhh, only 42 more days.... I hope your summer is going well. Time is running out folks. Labor day weekend is just around the corner. And after that.....mope...not even going to think of that. Have a great Tuesday, eh? Easy....
This week is my third anniversary on myboomerplace. Yippee..It sure has changed my life. For the good. It has all been good here. I've met so many wonderful people and almost married one of our best. I decided I wanted to write like Hemingway did. Like Thoreau lived on the pond and like Salinger who shied away from the public. My son has always wanted me to write my life story and I guess I have. Blog after blog after blog.... I believe in PappaTom and his dream and I've sat at his kitchen table when he told me how and why he started this great site. I've sat by his pond down the hill in the meadow. He is a man close to my heart who believed in me when I needed to hear it. Whenever I hit Ann Arbor during my travels I know I have an open door at his home in the country. I won't even get into the days of yore in the 60's in Detroit when the bands were rocking knowing somewhere we passed in the night. Every good website needs a strong leader and friend. We have both on boomer.... I've changed a lot in three years but I will always be Easy. I am at peace with life. I've been out there in the real world and eventually it sent me back home to where I need to be. Bittersweet it was but love knows no bounds. It was worth the trip. I'd go to Borneo for love. Ha. But, I'd probably have a return ticket in my hip pocket. There is so much I miss with the big cities and its conveniences. But, no matter where I am I long for my camp on the lake. The security. The splendor. My critters, the flowers and the total freedom of it all..... I think of all my friends I have here on boomer. I am so blessed. We are all different but the same. Getting older and hopefully getting wiser. The body aches and the pains stay. Our memory fades but our pulse never dies. We are Woodstock. We are Wall Street. And, we are the generation of love, peace and rock and roll... Life is going to get harder the more our bodies break down and our minds forget. I sleep at night knowing I won't go through it alone. All I have to do is click on boomer and I'm safe. I can cry and I can laugh with those I love. That's enough for me. I so look forward to the years to come on boomer..... Smiles. Faith..Love...... Easy....
I was cleaning out the back shed and I found a silver MIA bracelet. Do you remember them? We wore them in tribute of missing soldiers from Vietnam and foremost to not forget them. The bracelet I found said, 'Spec 5 Wade Groth 2-12-68'. I googled the name and came up with this: Wade, I have your MIA bracelet. My mother gave it to me when I was about 10 years old. She had gotten one for herself and one for me. At that age I did not really understand the true meaning and the impact it would have on me. But I wore it nonetheless, and I still wear it, to this day, thirty years later. And now I realize what a great gift it was that she gave me. When I was in Washington D.C. I found your name on the Wall. I took a picture and have it in a frame. Wade, know this, you are not forgotten. And every day that I am alive, so will you be, because I will continue to wear this bracelet and remember the sacrifice you made for us. I live in Chicago. I don't know if you have family still in Wisconsin or elsewhere - I don't even know what you look like, but you are family to me. I have visited the Vietnam Museum here in Chicago in your memory. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving - I am thankful for the part you have played in my life. Lyn Lyn left her name and email address but I won't show it here. There is also a picture of Wade Groth. You can google his name and check it out if you'd like. I called my Mom and the bracelet is hers. She asked if I could send it to her because she needs to put a name to her own grief from that war and always wondered what happened to the bracelet. I'll send it to her today... When I read what Lyn wrote it brought back a million emotions from those days long ago. The Vietnam war was our war. And our grief. Lest they not be forgotten. I haven't forgot but he years have worn most of the pain. I watched a special on Woodstock last night and the memories keep on giving. Good or bad. I wasn't a hippie when I came home from the Marines. I worked my way into that. I protested against the war before Saigon fell. When that last helicopter rose above the embassy our nation let out a collective sigh. And, we have been sighing ever since. Lest we never forget..... I won't forget you Wade. I found you again yesterday. I want to cry for you. I do. May you rest in peace and God Bless my friend..... Easy.....
When I left Burners camp at 7 this morning it was 38 outside. Brrr. Even Blue was hesitant to start. What the heck is going on? I could see my breath. When can us yoopers get in on some of that global warming? It was so cold (yup, no gloves) I stopped by the side of the road to warm my hands when a buddy came by and he thought I was broke down. I got in his car to warm up. "American Pie" was on the radio and guess what we talked about? The weather. Don McLean was still singing when I said see ya and was back on the old railroad grade to Republic. I have fond memories of this scenic ride where the Black River winds its way along side the grade where once the railroad used to ship the iron ore from the Republic mine to the ore docks in Marquette. One mistake on this road and your going into the swamp, the water and definitely trouble. Janet can attest to this. I caught my first trout in five years at the Black with her....... My new cell phone went dead before I left my cabin yesterday and it seems I don't need to use it until I can't. Battery went dead. Then, I missed Burner in town and at his house and got out to his camp in the early afternoon. I left messages for him in both saloons but he never did get out to see me. That was ok but weird... I went to his camp because I felt the need to get away from Island lake and do some thinking. All I figured out was I couldn't get back home fast enough. I had fun walking in the woods and doing some metal detecting plus the time I spent on top of a huge rock bluff looking down on nothing but trees and a glorious sunset. A cool breeze was in my face and I sat on the dry moss covering the rock. The mosquito's were way worse then at my place and by the time it got dark I had an oily layer of bug dope covering every exposed part of my body. It was a grand time...... I found out while I was gone that my woods are different then woods I'm not familiar with. I was careful not to get lost. I could very easily. I was careful not to fall off the bluff and I was really careful picking raspberries. Blue was never more then a few feet away and if I had more gas I would have kept it idling. The gas station was out of gas again yesterday morning. And, without a phone I was in trouble if something happened to me. Of course, nothing did other then freezing this morning but the whole adventure made me think.... I love where I live and only have to go somewhere else to appreciate it. I've finally figured It out that I am where I want to be. It makes me sad in a way. There is so much out there in that world I still want a part of. But, am I willing to pay the price? Deja vu.... I just took sauna and feel better than good. Last night, I sat in Burners camp listening to a religious station that was airing sermons. Made me think of my own faith. I feel I've been lacking lately. I still pray every night without fail and try to leave tomorrow up to God. It was spiritual up on that bluff. I learned from the experience. I'm always learning. God willing there is so much yet to do..... Easy....
Life in a small town is just different. Case in point. Burner dropped me off in the empty parking lot by the gas station on Monday morning and before I could take a step another buddy pulled in to say hi. "I went out to your place. You weren't there". All I could say was, "Here I am". We chewed the fat for a bit and then I continued my walk to the gas station. I waited for a car at the stop sign and looking close I realized it was my Aunt Laverne. I leaned in her window asking how my Uncle Chubby is going in the Veterans home in Marquette. "Did he get the Chicago Cubs tote bag I sent him?" He is a big Cubs fan. Yes, he had. A pick up truck behind her politely went around and after I gave an update on my parents I said goodbye and walked up towards the front door of the store. There I met up with another friend pumping gas. We talked of the recent fishing derby when he had won $500 for catching a nice Northern Pike. "Guess you don't care how much the gas is this morning". Then we talked about this and that and I hear another horn beeping. It was Burner who was waiting for me and I hadn't even been in the front door to take care of my banking yet. I laughed. Burner waited. Entering the store I hit the ATM. The cashier was complaining she had to make a quick trip down to Detroit to pick up her son. Detroit is a bad word up north. A trip there like a death sentence. "You going the Chicago way or over the bridge?" The Mackinac Bridge way. I finally made my way back to Burners truck where he was scratching off another bingo lotto ticket. he said, "Are you done bummin?. I said I was. He threw the losing ticket on the floor and sighed. We were off......... That's life in a small town. We hold court in the middle of Quartermain Street where the one blinking stop light says, "Go ahead. No one is coming anyway".......except all my friends; one by one... Easy....
I taste tested my first ripe, red raspberries yesterday and all I can say is woo hoo. I have big plans of filling my freezer so I can make some jams and jellies. I'll have to first figure out how to do it and then learn the difference between the two. I didn't even know that raspberries had a 'p' in it. That's why we have google. I even envision labeling the jars and giving them away to family and friends. Maybe, "Easy Jams". No. That doesn't work for me. Maybe, "Gene's Jelly". Huh? "Plank's Pickings." Naw. Ok. Like Kris tells me, "Fill the freezer first and then work on a label"... Of course, with berry picking comes the bears. Three hundred pounds of fear. I brought along a battery powered radio last year but I have no idea where it is today. Cow bells are out too. Burner says that will just bring in the curious bears and I don't need that. So. I'll put my trust in my trusty 410 shotgun. It will be a bit bulky to carry around and I'll probably set it down in the grass and lose it. That is why I have a metal detector. Nope, I haven't sold it yet... The blackberries are still a few weeks away and the same for the blueberries. I salivate thinking about the blueberries too. In our travels last summer, Burner and I were cruising the back roads when we can across a traffic jam (as opposed to blueberry jam) with cars parked everywhere near a field of blue. There were so many blueberries I could be there for a week but I do have a weight limit on my trusted ATV, Blue.... No matter where I walk I come across the berries. They are always a great snack. And, free for the taking. Another reason why I live where I live. I have these happy feet again. My body aches and the pains could make me blue but they don't. Like my Dad who would come home from work limping and never say a word. I knew he was hurting but he kept going on. I've learned from that. I'm extending my walks further and further. It's my mini boycott of the computer and its pull on me. It is simply too nice outside to be spending it here at the command post wondering which site to hit next. Or, waste my time playing silly games like full tilt poker. I'm gulty. That game has had me addicted for three years now and I'm trying to pull away from it's gravitational urge. It makes me blue when I go back to it..... Blue skies this morning. The University of Michigan is preparing for another season of college football. "Go Blue!" Have a great Friday my friends. And, your weekend too. Winter will be here all too soon and we need to get out and experience life. A life we need to relieve us from the blueness of repetitions in the same ol' stuff we do. Break out. Reach out for more. Status quo should never be enough. Hoorah.... Easy....
I've often wondered why the crows make so much noise around Island lake. They seem to follow me no matter where I go and they are always squawking at me like they hate me. After listening to a story on NPR yesterday morning I understand they in fact don't like me (Easy). It's no secret I don't get along with the crows because they are always after the food scraps I put out for the deer and the squirrels. I yell at them and researchers say that my Island Lake crows recognize my face and hold a grudge against me. Amazing, eh? This is why I can be three miles down the road on a walk when they will start in on me again. In a study they did I could put on a mask and they will leave me alone. Well, I'm not going to wear a mask and I'll just have to get used to having enemies from above. The next time you see a crow who isn't being nice you may want to think twice about getting on its bad side..... I was chopping some sauna wood a couple days ago and tore something in my left shoulder. I've needed surgery on the rotator cuff for a couple years now and I guess it is time to get it done. I called the VA in Ann Arbor to let my primary care Doctor know and will find out how soon I can get it done and decide to have it done down there or up here in Iron Mountain. I have to admit this hasn't been my best summer for a lot of reasons. I sure don't want to wear a sling for a month but it hurts too much to keep putting it off. I'll get back to you on this one. Urggg... My friend Bob has had two surgeries now and is resting at home. He has brain and chest cancer and is fighting for his life. Burner and I made a trip to his home and when we pulled up his girlfriend was sitting on the stoop crying and Bob's dog Sancho was barking. Bob was sleeping on a day bed in the living room with a tube in his lungs. It is a sad story developing in Republic and his friends stop by one by one to offer best wishes and prayers for one of our best. Our town lets out a collective sigh for Bob's chances but we hope against hope that he will be ok. Please keep Bob and Terri in your prayers... Have a great Tuesday folks... Easy...
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