The 1978 "Blizzard of the Century"

 

While the Bengals are back in Kansas City for another AFC Title game vs the Chiefs...we, unlike last year, will opt out of this one...KC is a nice visit, it was great weather and good food and of course the Bengals won...hopefully the same outcome and perhaps a Super Bowl win this time, but that is far from certain...hard enough to beat a good team 2 or 3 times in a row, this would be 4 should the Bengals prevail.

Go Bengals...Who Dey? 

The Blizzard of 78...My Short Story as posted on one of my Motorcycle sites...

Hard to believe it's been 45 years ago this week the Blizzard that crushed the Midwest and New England was kicking ass...wife and I were living in Northern Wisconsin, a dozen or so miles north of Wausau, out in the sticks...while we didn't get the amount of snow that Ohio, Indiana, and much of New England received, the winds made sure what we got was blowing around drifting and piling up. My very pregnant wife was working in Wausau and had opted not to drive that morning to Wausau South Hospital where she was a social worker, I was a DJ a few miles north at WJMT Radio in Merrill, but had the day off. When it was time to pick the wife up I, and the 2 Airedales, left early to see the scenery and drive the remote back roads to Wausau.

A few miles into the drive, I turned and DAMN here was some fool sitting right in the middle of the road...I swerved to avoid him[you couldn't see shit from the blowing and falling snow}and ended up with all 4 wheels off the road in a snow bank...that damn Cherokee would go thru more stuff than the Wranglers I have owned since, loved that thing...but nothing goes when all 4 wheels are off the ground. Turns out the damn fool in the middle of the road was a "roadman" for the school district and was out checking roads, I told him I was stuck, and he looks at me with a blank stare...and as I walked back to the Jeep, the son of a bitch backs up and takes off...leaving me, the Dogs, and the Cherokee stuck...MFer if I could have caught the SOB I would likely have beaten him to black and blue...

What to do, I didn't know much about the road and area I was stuck in, having just moved to the area the year before, but I knew there was a farm house about a mile back and that I was screwed if I didn't get help...so off I jog, leaving the dogs in the Jeep ... I arrived at the farm about half hour or so later...talked with Mr and Mrs Farmer...he had an old Allis Chambers tractor that he said was a power pulling machine...he fired it up, I jumped on the back and down the road we went...the snow blowing in my face {no cab on this puppy} felt like needles in my face...but arrive we did. We hooked up the chain to my rear under carriage and it took only a few seconds to pull me out...Thank God for good hearted Farmers...I offered him $20 it was all I had on me, he just laughed and said, "Do me a favor sometime"{ ... and we went our separate ways...

Me and the pups continued on into Wausau with a story to tell the wife and to repeat for the rest of my days...

Photos from Western Ohio that were in our local rag at the time...I remember mom telling me they couldn't get to the store for 3 days, even in town, while it wasn't as bad in the Northwoods, it did leave me with that story to tell

Top Photo is along I-70 not far from Indianapolis while ...bottom 3 from our local newspaper and the area around and south of Grand Lake...

2023 Looking Forward...

Looking Ahead to 2023...

Here we are almost 2 weeks into the new year...so far I've already taken in a Bengals game vs the Ravens in Cincinnati last Sunday with youngest son who has season tickets...the previous Monday, they, Hal and his Wife, took the managers of their business and some of the spouses to the Bills at Bengals game, they had a full enclosed suite with all the trimmings for a fee somewhere north of $10,000, far north to be exact, turned out to be for about 10 minutes of action, as the Bills defensive back dropped to the turf after a tackle...they will be reimbursed but still what a bummer.  I won't rehash the story, because I'm sure you have seen and read what happen...thankfully, although he will never play football again, it appears that Hamlin will survive his brush with death...

Unlike others I will not say this was from the "Jab", but who really knows at this point? 

What's in store? ... 

Nearing 74 years old, with what the VA says in Agent Orange related D2 along with accompanying Neuropathy, I have to admit, compared to most my age, I feel pretty damn lucky, and still am far more active than most...I, God willing, will turn 74 on March 16th.

January 28th I will head back to Dayton and the Air Force Museum, but this time with son and at least one of the grandsons, to take in the Red's Caravan, where several players and coaches talk and sign autographs...back in the 80s and early 90s I attended the Reds Media Caravan on many occasions, interviewing many of the Reds and having a beer or two with others, including the recently passed Tom Browning and the Hit King, Pete Rose...

My riding and 50+ year comrade, Nick had planned on a Pick Up ride to Florida, hauling the TW Dual Sports down to ride...looks like late January plan has been shitcanned for now, I my go solo in May, but time will tell, meanwhile Nick and I are now looking at a Summer or late Spring run to the Black Hills Area...depending on fuel costs, health, and time...neither one of us is getting any younger...

Wife officially retires today from nearly 40 years of teaching, the last 8 1/2 doing mostly on line teaching, giving her a second income to invest...of course with the Demented Fool, Joe Biden, in charge{we know the SOB isn't really in charge, he's just a sock puppet for his Kenyan Born Master, Obammy and likely George Soros} who knows if any of us will have anything left to invest by year's end? But her 2nd teaching retirement as of now looks good for our future...especially with having every thing paid off and what I bring in from my retirement and other incomes...

The spring and summer will likely see us take a couple of short 3 to 4 day vacations, and she will likely take a 2 week outing to Wisconsin to visit with her family...PRH will stay at home watching the critters and house for that one...we will also see the 2 older boys and their sports, and I plan on taking the oldest grandson, now 11, to a Space Camp in Alabama for a week...giving me the chance to visit with some old friends down that way, who have moved from Ohio to warmer climate...

As I mentioned in the last post, this year's Dayton Vietnam "Sky Cop" Reunion will be shorter, with less activity, and likely the last of these which started in 2007 with 5 of us {2 now passed} on a cold February afternoon at the Museum for Coffee and grew in numbers to near 100 by 2019...I will likely attend the June and September Reunions in Kokomo but won't spend as much time as the old days for sure...those to have changed over the years, and are just not the same...

After September, it's to far in the future to worry or even contemplate what will be forthcoming in the year 2023...I hope to stick around and find out though. 

back later>>> 

Photos:{1} View from son's season ticket seats at Bengals game last Sunday {1-8-2023}, {2} Me and the late, great, Tom Browning, from the 1989 Reds Media  Caravan, {3} Middle Grandson, Kam, at Reds Fest in December, showing off his pitching style for a couple of Reds starting pitchers, {4} Dayton Sky Cop Reunion 2016, this spring will see the 15th and probably last of those...and bottom, Yes, Joe Biden is one Anti American Asshole...

Looking Back 2022, Look forward 2023...

 

2022?  Less Blog Posts than 2021 but a few more than 2019 or 2020...nothing approaching the Glory days of Blogging, when I posted/penned more than 265 stories back in 2008, the first full year of this ... the first 5 years in fact were busy, I often wonder how is it that I even took the time to do that stuff, but I was newly retired and had some time on my hands...what will 2023 bring?  I suspect somewhere between 15 and 25 posts depending on how the again brain and fingers feel.

2022...

My mom passed away in mid January, the 19th to be exact, in Naples, Florida, mentally in good shape right up until the stroke two day prior, she passed peacefully at 97 years 9 months and 5 days...a long and good life indeed.  I had been to Florida the previous October {2021} so I got to see her one more time, and talked to her with my wife and middle grandson, just 2 days before the stroke.  We would hold a celebration of life, drinks and food included, in June, about 150 family and friends showed up...it was a grand time to celebrate her life.

Youngest son Hal and I got a chance to see the Cincinnati Bengals play and win the AFC Championship game in Kansas City...after years of misery, the Bengals finally made the Super Bowl for the first time since 1989...the close last minute lost to the Rams did little to dampen what was a great comeback season.

The rest of the winter was kind of a blur...winter when I was young I didn't mind, I knew how to Snow Ski and keep myself busy...now days in my 70s {74 this coming March}, I despise the long months and short daylight days of winter.  Youngest Grandson turned 1 on my and his birthday March 16th.

With Spring came our first Vietnam "Sky Cops" reunion since the phony COVID Bullshit and lies began, we held the 2022 version, first since 2019 at the Hope Hotel on Wright Patterson AFB and the Air Force Museum the last weekend in April...it went "OK" but I realized that old farts don't drink or stay up late, except for a few of us, like me...I have decided {with very little help for this year} to scale this year's back and likely end the practice...to many folks have passed and to many are aging not so well.

Got to see the two older grandsons do well in their sports throughout the Spring and Summer...Kasyn was a top notch soccer player in both seasons, and had an excellent summer swim season as well.   The middle grandson, Kam, came in first in his age group at the Cincinnati Red's camp in Centerville, thus qualifying for the "Top 10" competition at Great American Ballpark after the Reds vs Brewers game in late September...he also had a great swimming season.   Their combination Home Schooling and Christian Schooling is serving them well...in athletics and academics.

Patricia and I took a quick vacation to Brown County, Indiana, after missing the cabin getaway in 2021...this was in early August...that came in~between Vietnam Reunion visits to Howard County in both early June and mid September...those, like the Dayton Reunion, are not what they once were...sadly.

No Florida trips or Rick Pearson Pond Visits this year either...but the fall was fairly busy..

In early October we headed to Wisconsin for a couple of days, and wife's step mom celebrated her 90th birthday, then a few weeks later I soloed it to the Chicago Bergs and stayed with oldest son Sam for a weekend as we took in the Ohio State at Northwestern game...The Buckeyes won, but not by much over a weak Wildcat squad ...foretelling what was to come, as a loss to Michigan was followed by a 1 point lost to eventual National Champion team, Georgia, on the final night of 2022.

That was 2022 in a quick look nutshell...

2023 will come up in the next post...Stay tuned...

Tom Browning, Goodbye Mr Perfect...and other loses near Christmas

 

As I've probably mentioned over the past 15 1/2 years on this blog, many births, death, weddings, and events, happen in the PRH family and circles during December...so I won't go ranting about each...

However this past Monday my youngest son called and informed me that an old acquaintance of mine had passed...Tom Browning, of the Cincinnati Reds, age 62, passed in his northern Kentucky home on December 19th...

Browning at the time in 1988 was only the 12th pitcher in MLB History and the only Cincinnati Red to ever toss a perfect game...that being no runs, no hits, nobody reaching base in any fashion, 27 batters  27 outs...But Browning was so much more than that...

Tom Browning Stats   

I first met him in 1985 at a Media Caravan in Dayton, Ohio, I believe, January of 85, I think, although with the passage of time, who knows the date?  Over the next few years, during my part time broadcasting gig {I slaved in that business fulltime for a few years, 1978-83, then for another 25 part time for the fun of it}, I had the pleasure of interviewing him, usually along with Joe Nuxhall, who before he became a Reds Broadcaster, was the youngest player ever to don a MLB Uniform, at age 15 back in 1944...both of these guys were the real deal and both were great men and characters ... I was lucky enough to toss back a few beers with both men over a short period of a decade or so...

RIP Tom Browning, hopefully you and Joe are connected and tossing down a few in the afterlife...

After Tom's death, today we found out that Franco "Immaculate Reception" Harris had passed during the night...now I'll admit I hated the Pittsburgh Steelers, and still do {probably because of their success and my Cincinnati Bengals lack of same over the years, although that is changing}...however I had nothing personal against Harris.  He died just 2 days before the 50th anniversary of the bounced catch in the AFC Playoffs to defeat the Oakland Raiders on December 23rd, 1972...the next day while I was spending Christmas in upstate Rome, New York, my dad, Stan, passed away of a sudden Heart Attack, on Christmas Eve 1972...we will note that date this year, the 50 years have flown by like a thief in the night...

The Immaculate Reception   

So RIP Tom Browning, Franco Harris, and Stan Houseworth...We celebrate the birth of Christ, but also remember those who passed on or close to the day we remember his birth...

If I don't get back before Christmas or New Years Day...Have a Great Holiday Season and stay safe...

Wayne National Forest Dual Sport Riding

 

At 73 years and 7 months I'm never sure when I will give up Dual Sport/Off Road Motorcycle riding...but my old friends, both 72, and I, gave it a go down in SE Ohio in the Wayne National Forest this past week...it was IMO too damn cold both Wednesday and Thursday, but improved some on Friday...we should have waited, Saturday thru tomorrow have been and will be perfect riding weather...O' Well, what you get is what you get, it was at least dry...

Nick and I ride the smaller Yamaha TW200s, sort of Jeep Wranglers with 2 wheels...Bob the much heavier and taller Royal Enfield Himalayan...it turned out that the TWs are much better suited for this kind of riding...

Bob laid down his RE twice, first time some semi major damage to the fairing and electronics up front, second lay down on Friday to his left leg, thus ending his riding for the duration...the TWs?  Nary a scratch, although Nicks' 2015 did receive some tank damage while in transport to Logan from Grand Lake...my 2014 fell into his and dented that tank...Oops...

Anyway despite the riding not going quite as expected it was good to get down to SE Ohio where Nick and I hung out in our college days at Hocking College in Nelsonville...Nelsonville?, while still Red Neck Villa, has changed since they bypassed 33 around that city...it was our first ride there since 2015 around Halloween, we lived in the Nelsonville/Athens/Ohio U area back in the mid 1970s...time flies.

Regardless, we got some decent food in us, plenty of beers, and had a good stay at the Baymont Motel in Logan...I would like to get back down there in warm and dry weather with 3 equally set up bikes, that way the riding skills, or lack of, would be front and center, and no tires to set ups to blame for accidents....


Photos:  Bob and I before entering day #1 and it's trail, the entrance to the trail it would be steeper and leave covered/wet later on ...Bob and Nick checking out the damage to fairing and electronic package of the Himalayan, and me near New Straighsville, Ohio, at the site of the Underground Railroad and Cemetery @ Payne's Crossing

Time to GAB

Finally there is a real social media site for right wing types, like me...

You know GAB is doing something, well, many things correct...because it pisses off the not so Right {Wing} people...leftists, radical fake Amercian Jews, racist Blacks, the media, etc, all despise it and want it shut down....

 GAB Home Page    

Sure, there are enough anti Semites, hard core Racists, and other misfits, Nazi types, and others to go around...but you know what?  It's called "Free Speech" something Fakebook and the real Nazi Clowns at Twitter and it's Twits don't allow anybody right of Atilla the Hun to have...

So forget the pretenders...at least for now, GAB is my home to rant...

Oh, did I mention that Wikipedia HATES GAB?  Another reason to know they are doing something right...

Wikipedia Hates GAB    

I should mention GAB is not exactly new, it's been around since 2016, but it has really started to take off over the past 2+ years since the fake Pandemic of COVID...and that fact really worries and pissed the leftist loon types off.

Welcome to September 2022 and the coming Fall Season, back later>>>

{More} Grand Lake Ohio Photos...

 

Thought I should get one more August post out...so here goes:
 

I have been getting up early and out to the lake more often of late.  After a year or so of seldom getting my lazy, aging, ass out of the sack, I finally figured "Use it or Lose it"...so with 2 or 3 cameras in hand, including the new Canon Rebel T7i, a lightweight camera that I'm sure the "Professionals" would shun...but hey, I'm not a professional in anything these 98% personal retired times, so "What the Hell"?...it's lightweight and easy to use, even more so than the Nikon.

The photo on the top I took yesterday and it was a hit on the right wing social media site, getting several hundred "Likes" and even posted by the admins of the GAB site, so I thought it should be posted here and on a couple of other places as well....

My wildlife photos of late have not been that great, for the most part but I have managed a few decent shots...No descriptions given on needed, IMO...just sharing, but all have been taken in the past week.  Next up, talk about the new Generator, which might be needed in case of a weather or Biden fuck up...and let's be honest, that Demented Son of a Bitch, is as fucked as it gets...Offended?  If you are, you're in the wrong blog...

Back Later>>> 

Summer Check In/Up part #2

 I would be remiss after yesterday's post if I didn't mention Grandson #1 in addition to his younger brother and their sport exploits this summer...just a reminder however, both of these boys {that also have a younger Grandson #3 Brother who is not quite 17 months old} are also excellent students and well above where they should be on that scale...why?  Well because they are home schooled 3 days a week and go to a solid, not phony, Christian School, the other 2 school days a week...so, in addition to improving in the sports world, they are not Public School Indoctrinated...any parent with the means to send their kids to a good private school, or home school them should do so...even my wife, a public school teacher for 35 years agrees with that...OK on to the sports redux.

K~Man turns 11 in November and although I think he could be a great baseball player, for some reason, probably a less than satisfying experience the first couple of years in coach pitch, has moved on to soccer and swimming, the latter he is quickly becoming a top gun at...Winning multiple events at the Dayton Area Championships,  including the 25 meter Breast by a finger nail in the photo at the top{he is in the middle with blue skull cap, all photos by PRH}.

Kasyn aka:  "K~Man" was also top scorer on his rec soccer team...scoring 18 out of his team's 25 or so goals.

Meanwhile "Kam" {Kamdyn} in addition to being, at this point turning 8 on August 15th, an excellent baseball player, is also doing well at swimming, but not yet on the level of his older brother, but time will see improvement, I am sure.  

In addition to the top photo we have Kruz posing for me on our front porch in July. Kasyn heading towards the goal, Kam in the 25 meter Free Style, Kasyn showing off his first place finishes, and Kam in baseball action.

Back later...hopefully with some good Brown County wildlife photos...>>>>

Summer Check Up/In

 I don't post much these days...politics is boring, nothing is going to change, not for the better at least, regardless of who sits in the White House...although few could be worse that that Demented Son of a Bitch who is hiding in the Basement of our WH with his 3rd case of the phony COVID in the past couple of weeks...

Anyway Summer moves along, Patricia and I will head down to Brown County, Indiana, to our cabin retreat next week, we missed out last year, the first time in nearly a decade, so we will spend an extra day or two to make up this time around..

Grandson #2, Kam, was rewarded for his Baseball Skills this week at the Reds Camp he attended earlier this Summer...Kam won the 7/8 year old division at the Centerville Regional, then had to wait till early this week to see if he finished in the top 10 overall out of 17 camps and about 350 first and second graders...he did, coming in 10th place overall to slide into the Champions Competition at Great American Ball Park, following the Brewers/Reds game in Cincinnati on September 25th...needless to say he, his dad, my youngest son, and Old Grandpa are pretty happy...it's been a great summer for both the older grandsons ...in baseball, soccer, and swimming.

Other than those items, I have a few things in store, perhaps a Motorcycle Dual Sport run with Nick, we just have not decided where we will ride, perhaps the Ozarks, this time around. Buckeye Football at Northwestern with oldest son, Sam in early November, and a trip to Florida, to see a couple old friends, and perhaps do some fall fishing...although I have not set up a date or even month, for that.  And there is always the Kokomo Vietnam Reunion in Mid September...not sure how many days, I will stay, weather will tell me alot....

Speaking of Vietnam and old buddies...I've got to say a prayer for my old Dover AFB/Vietnam Buddy, Howie "Pritch"...seems his Agent Orange related cancer is getting worse and he will have to get more done, hopefully the VA will help out and give him the upgrade he needs...

Pritch, my and Patricia's Prayers are with you...

Photos-Pritch and me in 2012 meeting for the first time since we departed Dover Delaware AFB for Vietnam in 1969...the Brown County, Indiana, Cabin, Kam, the Grandson Swinging for the fences at 7 years old....and bottom photo {above} Jack Gates, Howie Pritchard, and PRH, at the Dayton Wright Patterson Reunion in 2016...the first time all 3 of us had been together since 1969, although I had seen Jack in Vietnam, in Saigon back in 1970, and Pritch at the aforementioned 2012 meeting when visiting my oldest son outside Chicago in 2012...

Back later >>>>

15 Years ago, July 2007

 

Minus 2 weeks it has now been 15 years ago I started this Blog...now mind you I only post a couple of dozen times a year these days, but in the beginning it was well over 200 times each full 12 month period...I cannot imagine doing that now.

It was easy then, I had retired as Environmental Health Director at Van Wert County, was 58 years old, and in between officiating gigs, traveling the nation and Canada delivering motorized RVs, and working security for a large corporation at times {when I felt like it}.  I had time on my hands, so "Blogging" as was popular back then, was something I gave a shot...and I had a pretty good sized following...pissing off more than a few with my comments and observations, nothing I will ever make apology for.  Did it cost me? A bit, but nothing I regret at all...

I was booted from my Life Time Membership at the Vietnam Security Police Ass~ociation, got my license to officiate High School thru the OHSAA Sports yanked by some Snowflakes that were more interested in being WOKE Leftists before it was even a phrase...but all in all the first few years of this blog were fun, albeit, the older you get there is only so much "reminiscing" you can do...and frankly, "Blogging" is pretty much ho~hum with the youngsters and for us old farts these days...the younger set just isn't into it...but for now I will post a few times per year when I feel the urge, or something stirs my right leaning brain up.

But for now, let's look back at the very first post on this Blog...July 27, 2007

First Blog Post July 27, 2007    

Pretty pedestrian stuff it was...by late 2007 my photo placement and old time Radio News style, which I perfected in the 1970s, helped me through it all.

I'll be back later...God Willing!

Water Water Everywhere

Here in the Heartland of West Central Ohio we went about 3 weeks with very little rain, normally not bad, but the sun and heat dried things up and the lawns started to wilt...I actually had to water my growing Sunflower Plant population a few times...that all came to an end on July 5th morning.  In the past 32 hours or so, the Grand Lake area has received anywhere from 2 to 5 inches of rain, and it looks to continue for another couple of days...it, IMO, can stop anytime.   

The Sunflowers, which don't have deep roots, are now struggling to stay rooted in the ground, and with anymore rain, I will be doing some major propping up, already had to do some...

Water "Shots" 

The main focus of this post today {only my 7th or so this 2022 year}was to showoff some of my "Water Related Photo' work...weather it be around Grand Lake, or Florida trips, the Atlantic, or the Gulf of Mexico, where I grew up in the 50s and early 1960s. And other locations too...I will have more on the next installment, when I get around to it.

So here goes...Some are "pure", others are "fixed", and some have my personal "touch" and edits...Descriptions at the bottom.  As always, click to see the large, and IMO, better views.

Shots are from various water haunts...except top photo of one of my "Chocolate" Sunflowers...not sure it I will get any of those this season, planted some seeds that frankly are looking to be a mystery, along with the large yellow usual flowers.

The Water Shots?  An American Eagle Flying into the Sunrise at Grand Lake, a Schooner at the Gulf at Venice, spit screen work...a related Sunset at the Gulf shortly after a Thunderstorm in October of 2019.  The Naples, Florida, City Pier...a passing Thunderstorm in 2021, October as well, off Venice Beach, FL.  Room with a View from October 2019 at my Islamorda, Florida {Keys} Motel, Spring Sunrise at Lakeshore Drive, Celina, in 2012, I think March of that year.  Sunrise over the Atlantic, from the Balcony of the Beach Front Motel on A1A at Flagler Beach, Florida.  Cloudy Sunrise from Lakeshore Drive, Grand Lake.  A 13 foot or so Gator at the corner of US 41 {Tamiami Trail} at Loop Road in the Everglades, in February 2006.  Sunset at my buddy Rick Pearson's pond near LaOtto, Indiana, on New Year's Day, 2018. Large White Pelican landing at Grand Lake, Fall 2021. Sunrise over Windy Point Grand Lake @ Montezuma, Ohio.  A Windy Point Sunset on July 4th 2018...Blue Heron, Boat, and Clouds approaching from the west...The Upper Michigan on Route US 2 on a Dual Sport Motorcycle Ride in early August 2015, a lone White Pelican on Grand Lake, fall of 2020 in the Gloam...a Windy Point/Grand Lake Sunset in the winter of 2017.  A Sloop sans the sails, October 2021 off the South Jetty at Venice, Florida...waves crashing the rocks at the South Jetty, also October 2021...and finally in the spring of 2016 a hazy purple sunrise at Windy Point on Grand Lake...

More of these types to come in Part #2 of Water, Water...