___prh...a day in the life....Blogging since July 2007

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

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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:

http://israelhouseworth.blogspot.com/

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"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejdNphzB1f8

[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

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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.