Sunday, September 30, 2007

Sunday Morning Coming Down


7:40am


Left all the windows open last night, and it is cool in the house this morning....even though warm today, the Air Conditioner is all but shut down for the year.....but if it gets humid, I'll crank it back on...great thing about central air, even in a house built in 1923 with full basement and upstairs....it cools off pretty quick.


Mowed mom's yard yesterday..double header football to officiate in town this afternoon...no Bengals today, they get to play Monday night at home, against the best team in football(or so it appears) the New England Pats.

Will take the Dodge in tomorrow, oil change, tire rotation, and a check in the rear brakes....making a dragging noise, probably a loose caliber....but I don't like the medal on medal sound.

I try to make it a point to not get too political on this site...but there are some good ones(blogs) out there that tend to fire up the radical left....which is good, anything to get the We Hate America crowd's blood pressure rising is a good thing.

Here are two.....if you are the PC type, you may want to avoid:




Pretty nice sunrise coming "down" this morning...just shot this from the bay window overlooking my jeep, the basketball hoop and looking towards town.
Johnny Cash singing the title of this post:
Enjoy the remaining weekend......Buckeyes win, Gators lose, so it's already been pretty nice.


prh



Friday, September 28, 2007

Van, Bikes,and other Vehicles









7:55AM

Sitting here with my 2nd cup of "joe" before 8AM....I have my XM Radio on in the back ground, and "Hey Jude" is playing....I never was a big Beatles fan but liked some of their music...actually the flip side of this 45 "Revolution" was more to my liking:


If you are into music, college sports, baseball, old time radio, news talk, and your local stations suck, I recommend XM at $12 a month it is a godsend on my RV trips across the states....I also get plenty of use out of it at home.....the receivers are reasonable, I'm not a fan of "pay anything" but since my wife gave it to me as a birthday gift....guess I can't complain. Alright...it's O.C. Smith..."Hickory Hollers Tramp":


OK...enough of that flash back stuff....Jr High football at Wayne Trace against Edgerton yesterday...the home teams losing 28-8 but the game was close until the final 4 minutes, actually WT led until late in the first half....weather was nice for football, about 75 and drying out...but the damn gnats and other biting bugs were in full force up in Blue Creek
Township....the birth place of my dad and my Grandparents:

Nothing going on tonight, so probably go shopping with Patricia and re-stock the basement fallout shelter(no not fallout from bombs, fallout from the coming global crisis)...always a good idea to keep a few months or longer supply of necessary items/water/food.

Vans, Bike, and other Vehicles through the years
______________________________________

Wonder if all can remember the vehicles of their lives, especially after reaching the so called "golden years"?...I doubt it, but I've had my share:

58 Ford Fairlane, 60 Ford Falcon, 62 Falcon, 63 Renault, 64 Dodge Polaris, 63 Plymouth Belvedere, 68 Mercury Cyclone, 70 Dodge Charger, 73 AMC Hornet, 74 AMC Hornet(both Hatch Backs) 76 Jeep Cherokee, 87 Trans-AM, 60 or so pick up trucks(Toyota extended cab my favorite), and today my Jeep and the 94 cherry Dodge Intrepid, that I bought from mom when she decided to buy a new ride last year.....add 25 others I can't remember plus my 1977 Buick Land Yacht that sits in my garage(only 61,000 original miles)....yep I've had a bunch.

Sorry to say many are only a memory...nary a photo of some, and of course some, I'd just as soon forget.

But today I will mention a little green van and a couple of bikes:

The 1960 Ford Van was a favorite...picked it up at Coldwater, Ohio, for about $300 bucks back in 1974...used it to haul my dirt bikes and other things around during my half assed hippy days...it worked well for that, had a bed, only 2 seats, and plenty of room for storing large quantities of beer cases when me, Jim Olson, and Mike Schilling headed for Florida in June of 75. The old van was with me for only a few years...but those years were at the height of my post Air Force pre College Hell raising fun...if I remember correctly, we hauled 30 cases of beer from The Red Door(where I was manager) to Florida for our 10 day trip to my old home town of Venice, then Busch Gardens, Disney World, Daytona Beach, and on to Myrtle Beach, SC......we were out of beer by the end of the Venice portion(about 4 days in) and had to re-supply...didn't think anybody could drink that much 3.2(low beer) but we did.

Favorite Bikes......I was a late arrival to the world of Motorcycles, didn't get my license to ride until 1974 at the ripe old age of 25....I continued to ride until after my second major wreck(one that would mess up my back for almost a decade) in 1987. First bike was an off/on road 250cc Kawasaki. My all time favorite was a fast ass 1978 Yamaha 650 that I purchased back in 1981....this thing wasn't real purdy, but it could run...the odometer topped out at 140, and I buried that on more than one occasion.

My final ride was a 550 Suzuki...I was now in my late 30s and with 3 kids decided to slow down....until some old fart pulled right out in front of me...hit the passenger side rear of his car, did a 360 over the trunk, landed ass first, and smacked my helmeted head(back first) on the concrete road....I usually didn't wear a helmet, but, it was a slight rain, and I donned it...lucky for me. I survived, but it messed up my back for years to come...I should have sued the guy, but that is just not me...I got some money for the bike, and paid with pain for years....no complaints though, you can't change time....It was actually good for me, I started a workout regiment that I still use(although not a gung-ho)...it turned me from a soft 38 year old, to a much stronger 40-50 something....as they say....Every cloud has a silver lining....and that was the lining of my cloud(wreck).

prh

[photos...the Van...The 650 Yamaha...The 550 Suk with Sam and Hal aboard in 86....me at Daytona Beach with the "Arrive Stoned" Van in June of 75]


























Thursday, September 27, 2007

The Air Force years...Hot and Cold





















2:20pm





Finally cooled off, got Mike to the VA in Columbus and back...he got to see his newest granddaughter and oldest daughter Lori(a nurse herself, so she can help consult on his Health questions).

Football(Jr High game at Wayne Trace)...tonight, little cooler, but the rain is gone....the change to fall is beginning, some leaves changing and even falling off some trees.

Hey! Not much going on...........



Speaking of weather changes
__________________________

The weather I experience in the Air Force ran the gamete...hot, dry, wet, cold, snow, blizzards, humid.....

Started out in late June(1968) at Amarillo, Texas....hot and dry for the 7 weeks...at San Antonio for the next 6 or 7 weeks it was hot, humid, and wet. Dover, Delaware, nice fall, windy, wet, and some snow for the winter...back to Lackland(San Antonio), hot, hot, hot(June 1969)...Nha Trang from early July 1969 through December 1969...hot and humid, but missed the Monsoons. Post Christmas in Saigon(Tan Son Nhut) until June 29, 1970....hot, some wet, and did get to enjoy the Monsoons...then onto the lovely Rome, New York....August 1970 was nice....but that was it. I think we actually had measurable snow in June of 1971...the first winter(70-71) we saw over 300 inches at the base.

The good news was, I learned how to Snow Ski, and I learned how to cliff dive(from 50 cliffs) in the short summers....off base was great, on base "humping" those B-52s and KC-135s in January was not exactly sweet duty.
But, I did see, and experience it all(weather and otherwise) during my 4 year stint.

prh

{photos: Basic Training at HOT Amarillo 7/68...French Bunker @ Nha Trang HOT 9/69...me at WARM Waikiki, Hawaii April 1970...The Tan Son Nhut Monsoons...May 1970...My 1970 Charger BURIED in Janauary 1971 at Rome, New York.}

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

The Family-Florida Years









The Family in Florida: top from right to left...Mike and Me with our "weapons" at Manasota Beach, Englewood, Fl....sister Marty 1956 in Venice....Grandma Wilda Houseworth(1883-1975) with Marty 1953....Mike, Marty, and me at the Blanton Collier Museum in Sarasota 1956...Mug shot of the family Stan(1917-1972) Peg and the 3 oldest kids in 56....




Mike and our old mutt Brandy...a Red Bone Hound mix...who was killed by a rattlesnake while protecting the yard one night....she took care of the snake first...me, Mike, and Marty , on a Flyer bike...bottom right...Me and Nick the Beagle with dad's cache of weapons in 1961.....














The South Venice, Florida 66(at various time ESSO and Gulf) service station owned by Dad(Stan) and his older brother John Houseworth(1915-1990)





Me looking pleased to be holding the newest member of the family...Kelly, who was born in Venice in 62......







Finally, Me and the girls, Marty and Kelly in the summer of 63......
















Off to the VA in Columbus

10AM

Leaving in a couple hours to take brother Mike down to the VA Clinic in Columbus...in addition to his broken leg healing problems, he has come down with a laringentitus issue. Mike who is 60 has had health issues for the past year or so....hopefully he will get those solved before winter sets in.....I'm sure he wants to head back to Homosassa before the snow flies.

One thing about the internet, whether blogging or just general posting, you never want to put more information out than you want known by the cyber nuts....and let's face it...there are a bunch. That's why I don't post lots of family information other than what I feel is open to all.

Football last night and a Jr High game tomorrow up at Wayne Trace in Haviland(near by original hometown of Scott). We did get some rain last evening(first in a couple of weeks, and maybe some more today...Sam got to Phoenix on his flight to Chicago, then they cancelled one flight, my guess is, he got stuck at O'Hara last night...nothing finer than sleeping in the airports.....right?

The Family
_____________

Like I said...never want to put out much information but will drop in some old photos with descriptions in the next post.

prh

Monday, September 24, 2007

More Fishin'

Top---Dad's Blue Shark 1956...loved the Regal Beer on Tap sign, and take a look at the boat in background....they don't make them like that anymore...(2)Me with a 2 1/2 pound Snook I caught in June 1957 at the Manasota Bridge near Englewood, FL (3) Me with older brother Mike with the 95 lb Jew Fish that dad caught in December of 56 (4)Me with a couple of Red Snappers I caught off the Jetties in 1956 (5)Not sure what this big one was, but my guess is, Dad caught it, a little big for a skinny 7 year old to handle (6) and finally the Venice Jetties, this is the south Jetties, the North Jetties was accessible from Nokomis, that's where Dad caught the Jew fish and Shark















2:10PM

The calendar says Fall...but with 92 the forecast high today, and JV football tonight at Delphos, the weather says...it's still summer sucker, now go out and sweat.

Seems I have spent much of my time living near water, guess that was from dad, the everyday fisherman, which I am sure drove mom nuts for most of their 27 years together until dad passed away on Christmas Eve 1972.

We moved to Venice, Florida, right on the Gulf, in the early 50s, stayed there for about 10 years and then moved back to Ohio, where we lived on Grand Lake, the largest man made lake(at that time) in the world...both were good fishing locations, although both the Gulf and the lake have been fished down over the years...and are not what they used to be.


I wasn't much of a swimmer in my early years, in fact couldn't swim a lick until Jr High School, when I finally became pretty good....but swimmer or not, I spent many hours fishing the beach, piers, and the jetties in the Venice area...then after moving north, I spent every weekend I could through High School fishing the channels and deep holes of Grand Lake in search of Crappie and Catfish.

prh












Sunday, September 23, 2007

Blast from the Past




9:30pm




To tell the truth, I'm too damn tired to even think...did my double header today at the Rec Football League....and downed a couple of Miller Lites after....Greenville tomorrow and Tuesday..then games tomorrow at Delphos, and then again Tuesday(Celina) and Thursday(Wayne Trace Haviland)....Bengals lost late at Seattle....and I'm ready for bed.

Will sign off with two songs that I remember for their time in my life....

CCR with Looking out my Back Door....came out right when I returned from Vietnam in the summer of 1970...


....and Rod Stewart with Maggie May when I was planning for my post Air Force life in late 1971.....


later

prh

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Post #50







10:10 pm






Even surprise myself...50 posts since late July, and time is flying. Got the lawn mowed, Hal came home from Dayton for the day....actually to watch football and go to a party tonight...so we will not see him until sometime tomorrow before he heads back to WSU.



Ohio State smacked down an over matched Northwestern team 58-7...defense giving up no scores(only TD by NW was a opening 2nd half kick-off return). The local Celina High School team loses Friday to head in the other direction at 0-5.

Double header Rec League games tomorrow, and the nice weather beat goes on....seems a high pressure area is stuck over us, so the rain to the west in Wisconsin and Iowa never reach here....not to worry, we will get our share come November I am sure.
Sam on his way to Pomona, was in Nebraska last I heard from him....



The Michigan Lake Years
_____________________

Back in the mid 1970s Patricia and I would spend at least a weekend or two per year in the lake areas of lower Michigan. Usually around Memorial Day and then again in September before I headed back to Athens and classes at Hocking. We usually were blessed with good weather and took the "Kids", those being our Airedales Rags and Max....long before we had the real kids, Anissa, Sam, and Hal. The Airedales back then did just about everything we did....they were our constant companions, whether we dragged them along to see Patricia's folks in Wisconsin, if I headed up to North Dakota to see Jim Olson, or wherever our trips would take us...the dogs usually went along.

We would usually leave on a Friday afternoon and either end semi-primitive camping at Kneff Lake in the National Forest(about 20 miles from Grayling, Michigan), or we would choose to spend time at Higgins Lake, usually at the south State Park...not quite as rough....Higgins had showers and flush toilets, where as Kneff had the outhouses...both were great places...we even took the kids there about 15 years ago, but as luck would have it, it rained, and we headed on over to Lake Michigan.

Those days were special and I always remember them fondly.

[photos...Patricia and Rags playing ball at South Higgins.....Camping area at Kneff Lake....Me with my end of summer beard 1976 at Higgins Lake]

prh



Friday, September 21, 2007

Summers Last Gasp/Dover AFB 1968

1:50 pm

The last official weekend of summer beckons....I have to say we have had a run of nice weather for about 10 days...a little humid the last couple, but it's been nice, and I have not bothered to look at the extended forecast.

Sam headed over to Nappanee to grab a new International Diesel Pusher RV, taking that to Pomona(the San Diego run has been delayed for a week), California.

At the Rec League football game last night my partner didn't show...so I got a parent to watch the other line, and did the game myself....a pain, but not impossible at the 6th grade level....did work up a sweat. Will mow and do some yard work this weekend....I'm in no hurry for cool weather, but come it will.

Hal will drop home for a short visit and to pick some stuff up today...then back to Dayton for his weekend gig...as he pays his way through his final year at Wright State, he will get his BA in High School History education this winter...and move onto his masters, either at Wright St or University of Dayton.....he is leaning towards Dayton, but either way he will be able to live in the same house and finish up without having to move again....unless of course that gang from Celina and St. Marys gets their butts booted out of their housing....which is always possible.

39 years ago this weekend
_____________________

Was just finishing up my first leave after Air Force Cop School at Lackland AFB in Texas...my duty station was to be the Military Airlift Command(MAC) base at Dover, Delaware.

Wasn't sure what to expect during my first full time duty station...but it would become what I will call Chicken S**t Base #1. This boy from the sticks still had not gotten his sea legs as far as dealing with the diversified military life...but one thing had not changed since my civilian days....I still had a big mouth, which would get me in trouble with my "lifer" bosses, especially one Tech Sgt, named "Smiling Jack Adkins"...he was to become the persona of A-holes in the Air Force...don't get me wrong there were good 'career guys' and sorry lifers throughout the Air Force...the Security Police field was full of both types...so don't think I am making a blanket statement on these guys...but Adkins(now in his 70s and living in upstate New York) is the one I remember most from Dover, and it's probably best we never met once I got out.

Aside from Smiling Jack there was a cast of misfits that were as diversified as possible...most from the east, however there were others, like me, from the midwest....

Turcott(Conn) Pritchert(Ohio via Chicago), Lippencott(Ohio) Walsh, Docko(another it's best I never saw again), and the late Bill Hocandoner(shot to death by a girlfriend's ex-husband in 1971) from Pennsylvania, Biggy Resnick from Ohio, the effeminate black kid, Parham, from New York, the spoiled rich kid, Robert Little from Virginia...and my favorite, Jack Gates from Sulfur, Oklahoma....Jack we considered the Old Man of the flight....he chained smoked and was 23, while the rest of us were 18 or 19 years old. Last time I saw Jack was at Tan Son Nhut in June 1970...he was on an incountry R&R, and we hit a couple of bars and bath houses together...I did talk to him on the phone a couple of years ago...still living in the flat lands of central OK.

The Security Police security duty at Dover was typical....3 days on, 24 hours off, 3 days on, 24 hours off, 3 days on, 72 hours off....you worked rotating shifts...graveyard, 2nd, then days....it sucked, you could never get enough sleep, especially if you like to hit the bars.....our major haunt was "The Mounds" that is where they kept the nukes...even though DAFB wasn't a SAC base, it did have the nuke storage...we also worked the flight lines...but for us rookies it was usually mound duty, and it consisted of standing guard on 20 foot high concussion walls, made of dirt, with a 2 foot wide path at the top, that you walked for your 8 hour shift...getting a half hour break for meals.....we used to, in cold weather, sneak down to the storage area to get away from the "hawk" (wind) and cold.

For the 68-69 Christmas/New Year season they gave us the option to work 5 days of 12 hour shifts, then get 5 full days off...we voted on it and took the bait. I was with the group selected to work over New Years and get Christmas off....worked great for me. I took the 5 days and headed back home for the upcoming holiday. Don't remember much about that, but I do remember coming back...working about one half shift and along with a few other guys caught the "Hong Kong" flu...it was highly contagious and they shipped 4 or 5 of us to the base hospital for the next week. On New Year's eve instead of humping the mounds for 12 hours, we got to watch the Orange Bowl Football game between Kansas and somebody...and Jack Gates and another guy sneaked up a bottle of Johnny Walker Red Scotch up to the room....we mixed it into our water bottles and managed to get a buzz on, even with the flu symptoms still lingering.

As spring sprang in central Delaware, I had become sick and tired of Smilin' Jack, sick and tired of Mound duty, and sick and tired of Dover...it was and is a boring town, that never warmed up to the men and women of the Air Force, that were stationed there. Anyway, I headed down to base opts, and asked if I could volunteer to get out of Dover...the Sarge in charge, said "sure....where you want to go?"....I wrote down Thailand and Vietnam, even though I had joined the AF to stay out of combat and such....I figured even southeast Asia was a better option than Dover.

Didn't take long, within 3 weeks I had my orders....Nha Trang AB, Republic of Vietnam....Dover was done in short order, I lasted 8 months, I've been back once, in 1997, to show the family the base.

I didn't look back, to me anyway, Vietnam was superior duty to Dover, or my last base in upstate New York....not gung ho was I, I just knew my limitations, and Dover and Smilin' Jack drove me to those limits.

[photos-not many photos from my DAFB days, and those I have are in bad shape, here are a few....at a Nuke Upload....off post at the Mounds....and dressed up for a dance in my best blues.]

Thursday, September 20, 2007

144 Years ago today




Nope, I wasn't around, but some times I feel like it.




144 years ago this weekend, the Union Army suffered one of it's few major defeats at the Battle of Chickamagua in the Lookout Mountains of northern Georgia. One of the Union Army regiments was the 26th Ohio Volunteer Army, Company C.



2 of my Great-Great Uncles fought in that battle...one was wounded, the other killed.

In all I had at least 16 direct ancestors fighting for the Union...and an unknown number fighting on the Confederate side...those boys were from Georgia, and many spelled their name Housworth, rather than the Yankee version of Houseworth[my GGGG-Grandfather arrived from Germany in 1751 with the Euro name Jacob Hauswirth].

Gilman Houseworth was wounded on the weekend of September 19-20, 1863, his younger brother Henry was killed in that same battle.

For more on my ancestors in the Civil War go to my other blog:


for more on this famous battle, read the excellent book by Peter Cozzens, "This Terrible Sound". The Battle of Chickamauga.

I'm a Civil War buff, and with many relatives that fought in the war....it is a fascinating story.
God rest Gilman Houseworth 1843-1915 and Henry Houseworth 1845-1863.
Civil War Songs? Here is the Live 1976 version of "The Night they Drove Ol' Dixie Down"

[photos..book cover "This Terrible Sound"...photo I took one rainy February, at the Viniard Field, near Chickamauga...this southwest corner of the battle site is where the men of the OVI 26th Company C fought and died September 19 and 20, 1863]

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

"You'll shoot your eye out"




9:25PM




Hey, second post of the day...in response to guyk's comments from the last post...thought I'd post my "Red Ryder"....this one is a model from about 1954...so it's been in the family for well over 50 years.




prh

Hunting Season


3:15pm


Yep, September is here, the leaves start to turn, and "The Guns of Autumn" come out in the fields of western Ohio....but not anymore for me.

My dad was an avid hunter, brother Mike, was as well....I tried, actually I did try...did some pheasant hunting, squirrel and rabbit hunting, even bought Coon Dogs and took a turn at that...but just wasn't in me...don't get me wrong, I support the right of folks to bear arms, own guns(I still have a mini weapons cache), and hunt to their heart content...to put food on the table, to trophy hunt...whatever....I just don't anymore.


I like to get out in the field, but choose to do it with a camera, fishing pole, or in the Jeep now days....just don't have the heart to do the shooting....believe me, I'm no PETA fan...I still eat meat, just don't ask me to the dirty work...plenty of others take care of that.

Spent the day "edging" the sidewalk in front of the house...but with a hand edger...not power one...my neighbor Adrian offered his...but told him I needed to work a new muscle group, and I did...I'm sure I will feel those by morning. Temps have warmed back up into the mid 80s, so it gave me chance to pour some sweat out.

Football rules meeting in Van Wert tonight...this will give me 4 plus the State Meeting, so I will have met my requirements...but will attend at least one more....football, I still be a rookie compared to most, even at my age, I need all the "learnin" of rules I can get.

[photo..me around 1951 at the age of 2 with my dad's 12 gauge(brother Mike still has this gun), and a fox the old man took care of near our home in Scott, Ohio]

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

The Battle of the Bees


3:30pm


Only a few posts of late....with the great late summer/early fall weather(highs in the 65-80 range) with abundant sunshine...I've been spending my time outdoors, football officiating, working in the garage, painting the dog kennel, smoking a couple of good torpedo's, and drinking some Miller Lite...I know soon enough the Hawk will hit, the rains of November will come, and then the Christmas/New Year and winter will be here...so got to be outside while the sunshine is warm.


After my old Airedale Jack Drambuie died last week(see earlier posts), we decided to tear the roof off the kennel area behind the garage. After getting that done, I could see a small painting project was needed....so I started on that yesterday....problem with the kennel area...with the nice shade and flowers in the vicinity...a large colony of Bumble Bees took up residence years ago....now those bees used to drive the dogs nuts, but for the most part left us alone, as long as we did the same. Well that wasn't gonna happen with me painting around their little housing project which is located in and behind a large board across the back of the kennel, which acted as a hanger for the kennel roof.


Painting yesterday, it was about 70 degrees and the bees didn't really get out...a few here and there, but they left me alone for the most part...and I steered clear of them...now today was a different story, the temps had moved back up into the 80 degree range and I had to paint the trim.....the Bumbles flew about, making threats against my health...but I was armed with a can of outdoor Raid...which usually doesn't' kill the bees, but keeps them at arm's length ....major trouble began when I had finished their board and moved my ladder to the roof hangover....with one spot to go at the top...I climbed down and noticed about 200 bees lined up on the bottom of the board...no doubt mad as Hell, and escaping the paint fumes....I went in to get Sam(waiting on a RV to get serviced so he can run that to San Diego this week)...told him to watch my back, in case the bees decided to attack while I was at the top of the ladder painting that last little spot...they didn't and I didn't have to run for my life. However, I did have to clean the kennel floor area, and wasn't going to walk around there under those mad as a hornet Bumble Bees...so I got out the hose with spray attachment and sprayed the little buggers off the board....not happy, but they scattered, and I got my ladder, paint, equipment out, and the floor sprayed off.....last I looked the beers were buzzing around, wondering what happened, and no doubt looking for something or somebody to sting.....think I will avoid the area until tomorrow.....AT LEAST!


Rec League Jr Varsity football at 5...time to shower and get ready.


prh

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Football 2007


9;30AM


Fall and Football go hand-in-hand...problem is, football starts when the temps are in the 90s and ends when(at least here in the north) it's in the 20s or below. Growing up in south Florida I was a baseball junkie, and that sport was and still is #1 on my list...football a distant second...same when it came to play...baseball and later fast pitch softball, I was a pretty decent player...football? In high school I didn't have the size(I grew as I got to be 19 and in the Air Force)...my senior year I was about 5' 9" and 135 lbs....we had some great teams at Celina(All-American at OSU and All-Pro with the St. Louis Cardinals, Jim Otis was our fullback)...so I got to watch some pretty good blowouts my junior and senior seasons.


Growing up in Florida my pro team was the Cleveland Browns and my college team the Florida Gators...both of whom I despise today(just like the Yankees of baseball..fan then, not a fan now)....now don't get it wrong, I don't live and die sports...but I do enjoy them, coached baseball at various levels for 30 years, soccer for about 10 and a couple of years of football at the 5th-6th grade levels, when Hal, my youngest, was playing...I have been a varsity High School baseball umpire, along with my oldest, Sam, for many years...and have been doing High School, Jr High, and Recreation levels for the past couple years in football.....gets me out and helps keep me in reasonable shape for someone of 58 1/2 years old.


I also broadcast football, baseball, and basketball(my favorite play-by-play sport) for many years at the High School level...being involved in sports broadcasting on a part-time basis gave me the opportunity to get into the pro and college scene for free, get good interviews and sit in the press box or stand and take photos or do camera work on the sidelines....most memorable had to be in 1981 when I sat in the press box in Cincinnati when the Bengals took on San Diego in the Ice Bowl AFC Championship game....the Bengals won, but the story was the temps...-59 chill factor on the field with actual temperatures being in the -15 to -20 range....the press facilities were much better, not!....beer and soda supplied to the press corps was actually freezing in their plastic cups....what a day!


Yesterday after a sluggish start the OSU Buckeyes defeated Washington Huskies 33-14, after being down 7-3 at the half...local product, Todd Boeckman the OSU QB looked sluggish in the first half, but turned it around, and will keep his starting job for another week it appears....my Ohio University Bobcats gave Virginia Tech a good game for the first half(tied 7-7) before Tech answered the call and won going away 28-7....can't say the same for my friend and fellow sky cop Mushy's Tenn Vols...ouch! The Gators gave them a thumping...kind of like they did to the Buckeyes in last years National Championship game.


I had a JV game at Waynesfield yesterday morning...the home team, down 6-0 most of the game, drove the field and scores on a 4th and 10 from the 15 with 46 seconds left, makes the conversion and wins 8-6 over Lima Perry.....today scheduled to do a Rec League d0uble header here in Celina....means I will miss the battle of Ohio between the Bengals and Browns....maybe I'll tape it...and see if it's worth watching the game after I already know the score.


[photo...1993 At Ohio State vs Indiana...the Buckeyes clinch the Big Ten...yep, that's me in the leather jacket acting like I know what the Hell is going on...standing on the sidelines....I remember the cops maced the crowd at the end when they tried to take down the goal posts....those suckers are hard steel and anchored by a of bunch cement...they didn't come down]


prh

Friday, September 14, 2007

Lake Tagamung, Ontario







12 years ago
_____________
This weekend in 1995 my buddy Nick and I headed north to Cana-duh, about 100 miles north and east of Toronto was our goal. We were to hook up with some old friends from Van Wert, including my barber buddy the late Jerry "Skeeter" Fortney, and 5 other guys.

Havelock is a small town about 17 miles south of Lake Tagamung, which is about 100 miles north of Rice Lake...how we found the town, let alone the lake at 3 in the morning is still beyond me...but find them we did...and the next 4 days were enjoyable, the weather perfect(highs 70s lows 50s), even though the fishing was just so-so.

We did more than fish, drink Canadian beer, and smoke hand rolled cigars, including a couple of Cubans(good,but overrated)....one night Nick, Skeeter, and I headed into Havelock...2 bars in town...one with a large sign shouting "Americans Welcome"....the other one didn't have any such greeting...so we piled in to the one that wanted American's money, met a couple of locals and their wives/girlfriends and partied for about 5 hours....eating 100 chicken wings between the group, and gawd knows how many beers were consumed....wasn't much traffic, plenty of wildlife, as we weaved our way back to the cabins on the lake about 2 in the morning.

The next morning someone shouted "Moose", and pointed out to the lake...and there she was...a shemale swimming across the length of the lake...the 2 idiots(Nick and Me), jumped in our boat and headed out with camera in hand....we circled her and got several shots(I will dig them out...I have found some long distance photos, but can't seem to locate the good close-ups, damn it!)...the moosette was not happy with the two Americans, so we backed off and let her swim her way across.

On our final full day...Nick and I decided the fishing was not all that great, so we wanted to make a drive north...we ended up going another 120 miles north of Tagamung, getting some good photos of the far north country, then heading back down a different direction...ending back at the cabins before nightfall.

The Van Wert gang left the next morning....Nick and I stuck around smoked some cigars, did a little fishing, and finally headed back around dark(always like driving at night better)...and made it back to Celina around daybreak.

I have been back to Canada on several occasions since, but those have been RV delivery trips....and that perfect weather weekend has not been repeated.
[photos] Two views of beautiful Lake Tagamung, Ontario...and one view of me with a little Pike....great weekend, but we didn't really fish that much, and caught only a few.

prh

Project(s)-done


3:10pm


Avoided the procrastination this morning and got right after tearing the roof and wood off the top of the dog kennel...took about 2 hours of having to play ball with Reagan, and having battle with the bumble bees, and wasps(carried my trusted long range wasp killer with me, showed the little suckers who was boss)...but got it done..now will need to figure out what to do with the debris...keep it up against the inside fence area until spring trash pick-up or get a dumpster and get rid of it before winter...decisions-decisions.


Van Wert defeated Celina 24-8 in the Jr High game I officiated last night...tomorrow I will head over to Waynesfield and do a JV contest between W-G and Lima Perry....double header Rec League on Sunday..so my weekend is pretty well spoken for.
[photo: the after look of the kennel(see yesterday for before photo), now need to decide what to do with the vines...plus paint it]


prh

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Projects

2:30PM
Temperatures around 70-75 yesterday and today with low humidity, and it looks pretty much the same(cooler Saturday) for the next week or so....here in west central Ohio we might...might get 20 "perfect" weather days per year, we are talking temps in the 70s with abundant sunshine and low humidity...they are rare, and usually happen in the mid September to mid October range, and maybe in May....we are getting some of those days now....and I welcome them.
After putting Ol' Jack in the ground yesterday, I took a inspection of the back yard..seeing what needed to be done before winter sets in for it's 5 or 6 month visit.....Patricia and I looked at the kennel area last night and decided that we need to either fix the kennel roof or take it off completely...after taking a look at it this morning, I vote to take it down....if I can avoid the bees, wasps, and spiders, I should be able to get that done by myself in one day....that day may be tomorrow, if the spirit moves me...not sure what I'll do with the material until I can get rid of it though. After that I will paint the back of the garage, and take care of some brush work....need to get rid of some of the green...stuff has been growing like wildfire. Will do some touch up painting as well...should have done that earlier in the season....but the usual hot weather procrastination set in....but with nice temps, I can handle it this time of year(I think!)
Jr High football here in Celina tonight....picked up another game for October 4th but lost one at Coldwater(St Henry freshman short of players) for this coming Monday....as Seinfeld said..."It all balances out"

[photos]
Reagan in back yard this morning...just a few feet away from where Jack is buried...she senses that something is amiss/missing...at least it appears that way....other photo...The Kennel...will remove the top and brush, get the paint out and get that done....I think our days of having an outdoor dog are over...but we have been known to take in strays that somebody doesn't want....just the way we are.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Airedales I have known

With the passing of Jack Drambuie(see previous post below) I look back on our Airedales since 1974.

Reagan then on the right Duke
1978-below-
Patricia and Rags with pups



Hal and Reagan 1999



Jose @ Farm 1987




Sam/Hal and pups 1985





Right Rag and Max tree a squirrel Dodge City, KS 1980






Rag and Max's Pups 1978










(Right) Anissa checks out Rags 1980





Max as a pup











Rag and me mug for the camera...well Rags was...I was half asleep..
prh









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