2019...Looking back in words and photos Part #3 May

I've been a bit slow getting this finished, here we are almost to February...the old saying "Time Flies By, the Older you Get"  is certainly true in my case at least...71 years approaching in about 6 weeks.

May and June 2019...

Another thing about getting older, again, at least in my case, you hate cold weather more and more, and despite not being a fan of Hot Humid Weather, I enjoy warm over cold, especially late Spring and early Fall...at least here in the Heartland...

Since me and the OHSAA {Ohio High School Athletic ASS~ociation} parted ways back in late 2017, I continued to stay busy umpiring and officiating, but only when I wanted to...so as May rolled around, I picked out a few baseball summer league games {ACME} and held that number to a dozen or so...including working the Senior and Junior ACME State Tournaments....but as May arrived, I had other things on my mind...starting with Rick Pearson, Clint Thompson, and my, annual Mesick Area Mushroom Hunt in Michigan.

Rick started going up there 30 or more years ago...I have joined him most of the last 14 or 15 seasons of  hunting Morell Mushrooms...the weather is unpredictable...sometimes wet, sometimes cold, some times in between, or like 2018 very warm.  This past year, 2019, was a "Betweener...mostly cloudy, foggy, but not cold.

But like the last few years, we motel it, rather than camp, and we were, for the most part, "Shut Out"...that bums Pearson out...ME?  Not so much, I'm there for the comradeship and beers...

This past year, we spent a couple of days before and after at Rick's place on 17 acres in Northeast Indiana, north of Fort Wayne...while fishing we had and unusual happening...a large, Large Mouth Bass, 4 pounds at least, was jumping crazy like in Rick's Pond...Clint noticed him first, then as Rick and I were walking around the pond we noticed this big fellow floating on the top???  Not normal for this pond...no enemies except maybe a Hawk or Heron, but this guy was not damaged, at least not on the outside...so we hauled him in.  Lo and Behold this guy had bitten off more than he could chew...trying to eat and swallow a good sized Bluegill, it became stuck in the Bass's throat and gills, and he choked to death in the act...Karma!  Especially since the Bluegill survived...we pulled him out and he {she?} swam on it's merry way.

 

I also managed to catch some good  Full Moon photos over Rick's Pond...thus making up somewhat for us not hitting the Mushroom Goldmine ..

The rest of May saw me spend some time with the Grandsons...not as much as my wife or perhaps the other grandparents, but I did do some quality watching them play Teeball and Coach Pitch Baseball...K~man, the oldest, is becoming a good fisherman, as well as an excellent competition swimmer...Kam, meanwhile turning 5 is still figuring out what he likes, but is getting into Snow Skiing...he will chart his own course, with help from the parents.  My collection of Back Yard Feeding Birds continued to grow in 2019 as well...and the warmer weather gave me a chance to sit outside on occasion and down a craft beer and partake in a Hand Rolled Cigar or 2.

 

Back with a Look at June and July in the next installment...part #4

2019 in Photos..Part #2 March and April

The winter of 2018-19 was long and cold...not much Snow as in the past few years, but it was bitter and long.  We had very little fall type weather in 2018 and this made it all the more miserable waiting on spring to "Spring":  I did get out on occasion to the lake for some Sunrise and Sunset photos shoots...but frankly, me and winter just no longer get along that well....not like the great days in the 70s and 80s, when I was always out, Skiing, Jeeping along the back roads, or whatever...I never minded winter, sure I always was glad it was over, but it seldom slowed me down...these days?  Not so much...I notice myself in hibernation mode from November until April, at least as far as outdoor activities.

March was the first in many years that I didn't do a single baseball umpire gig...but I did a couple of club games in April...but even with those, I only did about a dozen games in total the entire spring and summer...this year it will be even less.

I did however taste "Gumbo", while Patricia and I were down at the Columbus VA Medical Center for my annual check~up and eye exams...spent about 4 hours there  doing both the physical and eye thingy, and in the cafeteria I decided to try some Gumbo...what the Hell?  It wasn't bad so I figured when I got

home, I might as well try to make some...it turned out "OK"... and I may try it again...Some Day!


March?  Can't remember if it went out like a Lion or Lamb...but It was the month that this "Old Lion" turned 70...few men in the family have made it that far, for various health reasons...so I
saluted myself and moved forward to April.  April is of course Vietnam "Sky Cop" reunion time at the Hope Hotel, Air Force Museum, and Wright~Patterson AFB...@ Dayton.

I've been organizing this event since 2010, with lots of help, for some people still here and others long gone...it's an offshoot of the Vietnam Security Police Association, an outfit that was hijacked by a couple of sorry Jerk~Offs some years back...and I was one of those booted, for, if nothing else, my honesty...but good riddance...this Reunion is much more than that over bloated outfit ever was.

The highlight was meeting in person my old buddy from my Nha Trang 1969 days...John Claflin or as I call him "Johnny C" ...we had not seen each other since late 1969 as Air Force Cops in Vietnam...we would get to hook up twice in 2019, so 50 years later, first at Dayton, then later on at Ft Myers, Florida, at another All Service Vietnam Reunion:

Both still with Mustaches, albeit a few pounds and a few gray hairs later...

The reunion itself was a success as always, and we still have enough cash in the kitty to keep it free for all, except for the optional banquet and motel rooms, if they chose to stay there.  Everything else is cost free, beer, snacks, pop, wine, etc...all funded by a silent auction that gets bigger each year, and our 50/50 drawing...

With some 80 guys and wives, and a few grandkids, including our own...despite the shrinking numbers over all, our gig keeps growing...

Heavy Rains ended April and Grand Lake flooded for the first of 2 times in 2019...no, not man made Climate Change {which is pure Bullshit} but man made stupidity, State of Ohio fools that changed the way the lake rids itself of it's excess water...our 100 year floods now happen several times in a 5 year period.

April ended and the weather begin to warm....I was ready for some Michigan Mushroom Hunting...and getting out more often after 5 months of being inside..;that coming next in part #3.

back later

Photos~top  Another Grand Lake Sunrise in March...Homemade "Gumbo" PRH style...me and the Grandsons on my 70th Birthday.  Me and Johnny C at a Nha Trang Steakhouse in October 1969 and meeting face to face for the first time since, at the Air Force Museum in April 2019...BS session at the Reunion with a younger newer Air Force Security Force guy...and bottom, some more Grand Lake shots....a Frozen March at Grand Lake/Windy Point and one of the many American Bald Eagles that call the lake "Home"

Looking Back at 2019 in Photos

Didn't do any Dual Sport Motorcycle adventures this past year, maybe turning 70 is starting to catch up with me...in fact other than a 4 day mini vacation with the wife, and my 3 weeks in Florida, I didn't get out of state much...yea, the annual Mushroom Hunt, with no Schrooms to show for 3 days in central lower Michigan, with Rick and Clint happened, a quick trip to Wisconsin in early November, but that was it...

However I did get some photography work in...although once again, not many early morning wake up calls out on Grand Lake....maybe age or just tired of the same old thing, photography wise....kind of like the local motorcycle rides...Perhaps I will be more active in 2020...

Or maybe age is starting to be a factor, along with the Agent Orange related health issues...but Hell, I feel younger than my soon to be 71 years, so let's look back at 2019 over the next few days and wait and see about 2020...

Here we go....the first of six installments...

January and February 2019...

As usual, I spent New Year's Day "Bowling" with football games, beers, and too much food, at Rick Pearson's place in NE Indiana...Rick and I have been great friends since High School when we worked together at Marsh Supermarket in Celina, during my Senior and his Junior years...we also were "Best Man" in each other's weddings many years ago...Here Rick is with the "Spread" last New Year{2019}, and me{left} and Rick on my and Patricia's Wedding Day in December 1976 in Wisconsin.

The weather turned brutally cold in January which limited my trips to the lake for photo shooting, but I did get some shots in...however the biggest news as the first month of 2019 was winding down was that I finally pulled the trigger on getting a new Jeep, well "new" but new enough...a 2009 Wrangler "X",,,nothing fancy but good A/C, good tires, a great Radio, and 6 speed overdrive manual tranny....picked in up a day before the coldest day of the year down some 60 south in Eaton, Ohio.

The weather moderated somewhat in February and gave me a chance to get out to Grand Lake in the Jeep...the Wrangler, with less than 65 thousand miles on it, gave me no problems until October when I headed it to South Florida....then I discovered it had some costly issues.

 

 Even with the purchase of the Wrangler, I kept the Nitro to use for work and hauling snowblowers and mowers around for the remainder of the winter and coming warm weather...the 2008 Nitro now has over 164,000 on it, but the only issues are the shot Air Conditioner and the Radio...but with XM on my phone, I can plug that in and problem solved...since I took it over from Patricia it, despite some repairs and one wreck on an icy New Year's Day a few years back, has been a good, solid, vehicle and plan on driving it until it dies or becomes to expensive to keep.  The TW sat alone with the cats in the garage for the duration...2019 would not see much riding, maybe 2020 will see me out more, but turning 71 in March...Who Knows?

Also in February I headed down to the Hope Hotel at Wright~Patt AFB to finalize our Vietnam "Sky Cop" Reunion plans...it continues to get bigger every year....not sure how long I want or will continue to run that show, with great help from Mike, Mike, Wayne, and Jack....but we will see, 2020 is set for sure.   Up Next:  March and April as the weather begins to thaw out and I begin to get out...