2009--And Away We Go!

2009, am I the only one that thinks the first decade of the new century is going by in lightning speed? The old saying, time flies especially as you get older, has never seemed more true, than it has for me since I turned 50 back in 1999. 60 comes up in a couple of months and I gotta wonder where the 50s went.

Yesterday I headed of to my best friend Rick's place north of Fort Wayne...Clint, another Celina guy we hung around with in our college days, went with me...we also team up for the annual Mesick, Michigan, Mushroom Hunt in May....we set this years dates over Memorial Weekend...and will head out May 22nd and return on the 25th, the celebrated Holiday this year. Hal had to work in Detroit this morning, so he choose not to go, being down in Dayton...meanwhile Captain Nick was slated to meet me at 9:15AM yesterday, for the trip, but never showed, and my calls to his cell phone went straight through to his voice mail...I suspect Nick fell into bad company and too much cheer New Year's Eve, and was unable to get out of bed, let alone travel the 65 miles to Rick's......I'm sure I'll hear from Nick sometime this week with his "excuse", dog died, water froze, lost his keys, etc.....

So Clint and I grabbed a large coffee at the Marathon on Celina's north end, and headed out....unlike last year when the snow forced us to ramble in the windblown and noisy Jeep, we took the comfort of the Intrepid.

Arriving about 11AM, we found Rick's wife Toni, had put out the usual great food spread...since Hal and Nick didn't show, there was much more than we could inhale, although we tried...Chili, Wings, Meatballs, Cheese and veggie trays, beans, Sauerkraut and mini dogs....a few cases of beer and a couple of cigars to smoke topped it all off. As for the football, with the exception of Iowa, the Big 10 and Midwest teams(Cincinnati Bearcats) got their collective asses handed to them..The B10 now sets at 1 win 5 loses in bowl games, with only the Buckeyes to save face, and don't count on that. I gotta believe Texas is out looking to prove a point(much like USC did yesterday), that they belong in the National Title game.

Midway through the festivities, we took a break and Rick took us to his 17 acre "hobby farm" a few miles away....He spent all summer building his garage on the future homestead, and planting trees, keeping the pond clean, etc. I know Toni would like to have a new place out there by next New Year's Day....but in this day's economy, time will tell, if they sell their current place. Rick has done a good job, and we got our midway break exercise in by walking the entire farm and adjoining woods which, surround his property The pond takes up a nice chuck of land, and the woods and small creek add a nice touch. After an hour or so.....

We retreated back to the homestead, and continued to partake in brews, and food....for the next 8 hours we watched the games, and an occasional "Twilight Zone" Marathon episode on the SciFi Channel.....Clint had to work this morning, so we crashed about midway through the Cincinnati 20-7 loss to Virginia Tech. Clint and I threw down a couple of Rick's Sleeping bags in the den...getting up at 6 I woke him up and we headed back to Celina...another New Year come and gone, with success....I feel pretty good this morning, when you eat enough, you can always pace your beer consumption....works out better that way.

Tomorrow, back to Indiana, for the first Gun Show of the New Year @ Fort Wayne...will meet Rick and his youngest son, Guy, and see what the ammo prices and the gun selections have to offer.

Today is rest and a couple more football games, next week back to "normal" and back at basketball officiating.....

back later>>>>>>>

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Photos-Me, Rick Pearson, and Clint Thompson, inside Rick's mostly completed garage. The garage from across the pond, Rick and Clint, enjoy a cigar from the 'Dock', and a look at the pond's highlight, the place where Rick plans on a diving board into 14 feet deep water, and where we plan on drinking a few beers and smokes come next summer, when the temps are a bit warmer.