Class Reunions, Everyday is another Day....Race Baiting 101

Finally a day wearing short sleeves.....

Worked a non league varsity game at Delphos yesterday, St. Johns out of the MAC hosted Lima Bath out of the WBL....not many rain outs and both teams dug deep into their bullpens.  Surprisingly both hurlers pitched well, at least into the fifth inning, with the score at goose eggs 0-0 in the bottom of the first, host DSJ plated 3, and added six more in the 6th, to coast to a 9-0 win.  I worked the bases again, letting my partner, working his first game of the week, take the plate....same story tonight, with Sam coming from Columbus, we will head to Allen East, some 45 miles east and north to work a NWC game between the host Mustangs and visiting Delphos Jefferson.  Sam can have the dish, I'll take the bases, then with tomorrow nothing on the schedule{except thunderstorms}...I will mow the lawn early, and kick back the rest of the day, perhaps trying one of the hand rolled Cigars that Garry brought me back from his trip to New Orleans.

Saturday, with it appearing a prom night, our double header at Wayne Trace, begins at 9am!!! meaning I will have to pull out of the driveway about 7:45am...hopefully be done not too far past 1pm...but with the pitching stretched to a limit, you never know...it also looks like Saturday, if the fields are dry, might be a cold one.....lows in the 30s for Friday night/Saturday morning....brr... 

Facebook fiasco...Race Baiting 101

I have some 1800 "friends" on the social network Facebook...frankly most I wouldn't know from the Man in the Moon, if I ever met them....of those 1800, which rises and drops by a handful each day, depending on whom I piss off with my comments, or please with other rants, there are a dozen or so "left of center" types....some I know from the Vietnam groups, some from the local area, and a handful of left leaning family members ...there are other "moderate' types as well...the vast majority of course are hard rock Conservatives.

The few lefties that challenge our belief that Barack Obama is a "gay Marxist, Kenyan born, half breed, half witted, Islamic terrorist, child molesting, son of a Kansas whore"...have been getting real shrill of late.  Telling all of us that think Obammy should be shipped back to Africa, or better yet, hanged from a white Oak Tree for treason, if convicted of course....that we indeed are racists.  Never mind the fact that I despised Bill and Hillary equally to Barry and Moo~Shell, or the fact I despise political class of  liberals to the Nth degree, regardless of skin pigmentation...in their warped minds, we just have to be "Racist" because we aren't enlightened enough to worship their ebony skinned "Messiah"....

As I tell them, and will tell anybody that asks....I despise that SOB in the White House, in fact IMO, he is the racist, who is dividing this country by race, religion, and personal wealth...frankly I'm not sure why some of them hang around....not like they are going to convince me or other like minds, that their BS is legit?  But hang around they do....and I let them.  Perhaps they think if the can get me mad enough I will say something that appears "racist"....lol...screw that, I am sure I have done that many a time....let's be honest, we all are bigots/racists in one way or the other....anybody that believes otherwise is living in a fools paradise.  We may not want it to be that way....but it is, has been, and likely will be...even thousands of years down the road.  Even if and when we are a world of equally mixed races, there will something else to divide us.....and even though none of us will be around{unless you are into reincarnation} you can bet that will be the case.

45 year Reunion....

I receive in the mail last night a post card from some long forgotten, except by name, classmates of the graduating class of 1967 from Celina High School...telling me to "Mark Your Calenders" for October 6th...seems the CHS Class of 67 will be having a 45th reunion that date...damn does time fly.

I have attended exactly one reunion since they began some five years after we graduated...that was the 20th at the American Legion back in 1987....I planed on going to the 30th in 97, but was involved in a baseball tournament which ended late, and being hot, tired, and sweaty, I oped for a few cold beers on my front porch, instead of checking out the people I really didn't hang out with so many years before.  Will I go to this one?  Off hand I will probably not attend....I live in Celina, and really don't need to return to the hometown to see how all of us "hicks" are surviving in Dullsville, America.  But I might change my mind, after all, I have over 5 months to think about it....actually I thought if I survived until the 50th reunion, the herd would have been thinned enough that I might stand a few hours mingling with people with bigger waist lines and thinner hair lines than mine, whom I stopped seeing a couple of generations ago.

I see a few class members on occasion, still am friends, some here, some out of town, with a handful...but frankly, those days in high school, were the jumping off point for me of that life.  I have always felt more akin to the kids I went to Elementary and Junior High School in Venice, Florida,  than most of those I shared time with in Celina...and frankly I have more contact with most of them...via e-mail, facebook, and the blogs....but then again, October 6th is a long way in the future, I may change my mind.

back later>>>>

Photos-A few good warm days, then a cool down with some rain over the coming weekend in the Grand Lake region....Cigars, good Cigars, are a luxury....Garry brought me these back from his trip with wife Lisa to New Orleans....I have yet to smoke any due to the recent Carotid Surgery...but hopefully if the weather cooperates tomorrow, I might sit outside and finally fire one up...one cigar since October, and I could use a good smoke. Make no mistake who the real racists are....Obama, and his posse'...White Liberals are along for the ride, it goes hand in hand with them, those white liberals, being the most naive and dumbest sons a bitches on the planet...look no farther than Europe and see what a craphole it has become due to Political Correctness.  And the 45th Reunion at Celina is set for this fall.....will I go?  Probably not, but you learn never to say never.

My Political Views, Part 3...We Like "Ike", JFK, Nixon, and LBJ...

It appears that the "spring-like" conditions will end by tonight...rain moving in, then a couple of cold days, before things settle into a more January-like mode....cannot complain, in two months plus a week, my baseball scrimmages will begin.  Meanwhile the basketball season, for me at least, is about one half way done.  Seven weeks down, seven to go....take a few weeks off, get the baseball gear ready, and move outside.

Youth sports 'fans', never cease to amaze me....

Last night I was back at Lima Central Catholic, working a Junior High double header...the home team, LCC dominated both the 7th and 8th grade games, and we were out of there by 7:15, after a 5pm start.  There was a good size crowd, and several in the stands, didn't like the fact that I wasn't calling enough fouls or blowing the whistle enough to suit them.  I am sure these so called fans{mostly parents at this level}, would have been pitching a bitch if we had let the games become a foul shooting, drawn out contest.  My theory in basketball is:  "Let the kids decide the game on the court.  If it gets too physical, or starts to get 'chippy", I'll start blowing the whistle, otherwise I am letting them play".  The game has changed over the years, and if the kids aren't cussing, or fighting, for the most part, I'm calling only what obviously affects the play or game, otherwise..."Get Er Done".  Tonight back at LCC for a single Freshman boys contest.  This week contains 10 games, after tonight I will be half way there.

Politics Part #3

With the completion of the New Hampshire Primary last night, it appears that Mitt Romney is closing in on the 'coranation' as the GOP standard bearer, thanks to money, the Republican establishment, and the media, who desperately want an Obama-lite running against their chosen "Messiah"...if Mitt wins the nomination, I will support him, unless he chooses Ron Paul or John Huntsman as his VP running mate, if that would happen, I will either sit this one out, or vote 3rd party.  The way I figure it, we are on the track to reaching "Hell in a hand basket" one way or the other....Romney will just get us there a bit slower, than Obammy The Wonder Kenyan.

Growing up in South Florida, I remember my first taste of politics....

Dad and mom were Republicans, and my early recollections included watching the 1956 election returns on the fuzzy black and white screen, with WFLA Channel 8 out of Tampa/St Pete bringing in the re-election of Ike Eisenhower, with ancient graphics.  At that time I really don't think it mattered much...Hell we were pretty poor, and lower middle class, and I don't think if would have meant a tinkers-damn difference if Adlai Stevenson had been elected.  However, by the time 1960 rolled around, I was in 6th grade, and pretty damn Gung-Ho about the upcoming Kennedy-Nixon campaigns.

Several of our "gang" of buddies in the Edgewood Section of Venice, picked sides....most of us were for Nixon, but a few others supported Kennedy, it no doubt had everything to do with our parents politics.  Back in those days, as I recall, unlike today, there was no hatred just because we disagreed on the Republicans or Democrats....today, sadly, you cannot have a friend that disagrees with your politics, it is next to impossible.  If family members disagree or have a far different view, you pretty much either don't see them, or avoid political discussions if possible at family get-togethers.

The Halloween before the 1960 Election, we headed out on "Trick or Treat", and in our group, the Nixon camp began pasting bumper stickers, we had picked up at the local elections headquarters, on any available window, store or car, that we could find...the Kennedy group did like-wise.  I guess we would be accused of being "JDs" or Juvenile Delinquents these days....we weren't, just young and stupid.  Those were the days when kids could still walk the streets of small town America, without worry....thanks to the man who would replace JFK upon his assassination, Lydon Baines Johnson, our world would change forever.  America would never be the same, thanks to LBJ and his Presidency, "The Great Society" would change America, then the Vietnam War would divide us, like no other...by the time I reached High School living back in my birth state of Ohio, my politics would begin their never ending slide towards the radical right.....today that lean gets more pronounced by the day.

Tomorrow, part #4, LBJ, Goldwater, The Vietnam War, and Nixon....the seeds of my political views had been sown....they would and will continue in the "right direction" for the rest of my days.....

back later>>>>

Photos-The 1960 Bumper Stickers like the ones we pasted on store front windows and cars in Venice, Florida....1956, liking "Ike" was my first taste of presidential politics, JFK, although I didn't like him, now seems Conservative, compared to the infected Marxist Democrats of today, and even most "Progressive/Liberal Big Government Republicans...and LBJ...I despise the man in 1964, I still despise what he did to this country....as bad as FDR was, Lyndon Johnson was perhaps the worst President of my lifetime, although one Barack Obama is giving that moniker a run for LBJ and his outlaw politics.

The Ghosts of Christmas Past...part #1

Another dreary day in western Ohio, weather-wise at least...rain again overnight, with it still slowly coming down at this hour...a few miles to the north in the Convoy/Van Wert area, where I worked a game yesterday evening, it is coming down as snow, but that won't last as temperatures approach the 40 degree mark today, with a high of 50 on the horizon for tomorrow.  It could be worse, the folks along the I-40 from New Mexico through Oklahoma, and north into western Kansas, are dealing with a major blizzard.  10+ inches of snow, and now the wind has moved in, making travel impossible out that way.  I've been on I-40 in the Texas Panhandle driving RVs during a winter storm, believe me, it is no place to get stuck.

Last night after finishing the JV girls game at Crestview, I rushed back to Celina to finish up the first half of the season...I should have taken my time....we had already won the first game 2-1, by the time I arrived...but after starting game #2 with a 2-0 first inning lead, where I went 1 for 1 with a triple, RBI, and a sacrifice, I went hitless for the rest of the night, and we never scored another run...losing 4-2 and 3-0...to finish the season's first half at 11 wins and 10 loses.  The second half will begin in early January, though we may switch the opening from January 2nd to the 9th.  I finished the first half at .413 with 7 RBIs...about par for the course, although the RBI total is low, but since I am now hitting mostly lead-off, it's not surprising.

Christmas Pasts_____part one

Needless to say, I don't remember much of my few Christmas seasons, from 1949 through the 1953, we lived in the tiny berg of Scott, Ohio, on the Van Wert-Paulding County line...the area my great grandparents had settled in shortly after the Civil War had ended, and where my grandfather Sam Houseworth, the 10th of 11th children of Nelson and Mary Ann Houseworth, was born in 1877.

My first Christmas recollections were living in the post war travel camp at Alston's Cottages in South Venice, Florida...mom, dad, Mike, Marty, and Me, and usually those early Christmases, Grandma Houseworth would travel down from Scott, to stay with us in those tiny, cramped, quarters.  We didn't have much, but the tree was always filled with plenty of toys, and gifts....so if we were indeed poor, we sure didn't notice or realize it.  The years of 1954 through 1956, and into the Spring of 1957 were spent in South Venice.  By late Summer 1957 we had moved to the Venice By-Way, before the folks purchased the home in Venice on the corner of School Street{don't know why it was named that, there was no school nearby}, and Pineland Avenue, by the time Christmas 1958 rolled around.  We would live there another 4 years before packing our bags, dogs, cats, and belongings, and returning to west Ohio, where we would settle in the Celina/Montezuma area.

I remember those first Christmases in Florida best however, always getting enough to satisfy us, but not so much that we became spoiled.....I remember board games, bikes, knives, pellet guns, and other items long since gone.....we may not have realized it, but we were indeed lucky.  Never did we overly expect more than we got....and I never remember being dissatisfied with those items...even though some may have been put by the wayside shortly after the season.  Frankly, after moving back to Ohio, where the weather was more 'Christmas like', I just don't remember the Christmas seasons, like I did those of the decade we lived in south Florida.


More tomorrow....another JV game, this one of the boys variety, in Van Wert tonight...back later>>>>


Photos-Christmas 1955 is probably the first that I really remember.  Me, Marty, and Mike, on that morning at the Alston's Cottage living room.... despite the looks I don't believe that Mike and I were unhappy with what we received...more like we were still too damn tired to wake up, probably after staying up half the night waitin' on Santa.  The Cottages were are home from the early days in South Florida, 1954 though the early months of 1957.  The bottom photo is from out new home on School Street in the Edgewood Section of Venice, Florida....our friends from Scott, Ohio, joined us that Christmas in 1959...left to right, me, Mike, Marty in front, and my best friend from my Scott days, Al Foust....who still lives up that way, in Payne, Ohio, these days.
 

Basketball Wars, Part 3....and a week of Milestones....

Just when you think things cannot get any uglier in the lowly world of Junior High/Middle School girls basketball, last night tops it off....

Not going to mention the schools involved, because frankly the host school has been very good to me, in both Baseball, where I do many of their top league and non-league Varsity games, and Basketball, where I pick and choose the lower level games that I want....note to myself, I will never officiate another game involving the Junior High of the visiting school...again, but that has no reflection on the host school, where I usually enjoy working.

Knowing the visiting school involved, my partner Mark, a diminutive man with 17 years experience officiating basketball, and I knew this would be an ugly double header.  These days girls JH teams, for the most part are bad, and out of control when it comes to knowing the game and how to play it...there are exceptions, Wayne Trace, Celina, Crestview, all come to mind...good teams, with good coaches, that know how to coach and discipline.  From here on out, with the exception of last nights home team, and those 3 mentioned, I will not accept contracts to do this level...sure the pay is good, but the headaches are not worth it....anyway here is how it folded out.

In the opener, the 7th grade game, things were out of control play wise, but despite it's length, time wise, we were done from the 4:30pm start at about 6...still way too long for a JH game.   When the second, 8th grade game started, I knew instinctively that we were in for a long one.   The short round coach, resembling a  bowling ball, was a pain in the ass from the get-go.  A little round black man, who thought standing on the court 3 feet out from the bench was appropriate....and bitching about every call and move, was likewise.   Meanwhile his girls, at least three of them, 8th graders all, were big girls, who towered above the coach, Mark, and even one or two of them were as tall or taller than my 5' 11" frame.  The home team, while more skill talented, would not match up with the bigger girls from the visitors.  The game, as ugly as it was, would remain close, and much to Mark and my dismay would drag into an overtime session, before finally ending with the visitors winning by three of four points, but that time I could have cared less, we just wanted to get off the floor with our hides intact.

Midway through the game, I forget exactly when, Mark "Teed" up the bowling ball...giving him a Technical Foul in layman terms.  The bowling ball was not deterred, and continued bitching.   Shame on me, I usually tried to work the alternate side of the court away from him...although in reality in a different world and place, I would have probably given the mouth a head butt, and rolled his sorry little ass down the floor...it would not have been much of a challenge, even at my age.  Finally Mark had had enough and sat the coach down...realizing another Technical would have sent the coach to the showers, and cost him $160 in fines from the state association, and a session in anger management/sportsmanship.  Mark gave him a verbal lashing instead....in retrospect he or I should have tossed the bowling ball and left him to pay his 2 game suspension and fine.  The tongue lashing provoked some yells and muted slander from the inner city side of the gym....I could picture in my mind some black white violence if this kept up...after all there was no security, I mean a F'ing Junior High Girls Basketball Game?  Give me a break....this should not go on, at any level, but especially this brand.

As I was standing in front of the largely black visiting crowd during a 3rd quarter time out, I and one of the fans were talking....he tells me, "You know your partner should not have yelled that way at the coach"?  I nod my head in agreement, and reply, "No, he should have kicked his ass out, long ago your coach is a buffoon"...well as luck would have it, away from us, two fans, both black, began having a go at each other....no security, Oh Shit!   Finally after other "fans" rushed to the stage, where the real action had began, school officials to their credit ended the minor fight....by this time I had walked over to the scorers table, and told the home coach, "If this shit doesn't cease, we are killing this game, and leaving"....he had no argument with the proposition.  The game did continue however, as the crowd, while still loud, settled down, and were satisfied to yell, scream, and generally, make asses of themselves, without further threats of violence.

It was 7:45 by the time the mess was done...3 hours 15 minutes for a double header that usually take 2 hours to 2 1/4 hours...BS was what it was.  Mark and I, sticking around for another 15 minutes to let the crowd leave the building and lot, both agreed we with never do another game involving the visiting school and the little bowling ball coach.  Like I said, in retrospect, we should have tossed him and done the paperwork.  Sure that might have caused a mini riot....but this little clown should not be coaching at any level...he sucks as a coach, and I assume as a human being.  Mark this down as a learned lesson.....

More December Milestones____

I mentioned early this month that December was as busy as it gets in the Houseworth and related surname families when it comes to births, deaths, and other anniversaries .... this week is certainly no exception.

Last Saturday would have been dad, Stan Houseworth's 94th birthday, Christmas Eve will mark the 39th since the night he died at age of 55.  This week however, is loaded with more pleasant markings...

Sam Houseworth, the oldest son, turns 30 tomorrow, December 17th.....born in St. Marys on a snowy morning back in 1981....he will finish up his Bachelors Degree at The Ohio State University in the spring...kind of a family tradition, finishing up college in your 30s....right along with mom and dad with that.  On the day after Sam was born, Patricia and I celebrated our 5th anniversary...this Sunday marks 35 years since we were married in her hometown of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, in 1976...and a record warm day for the date...temperatures were well into the 60s, a rare day indeed in Wisconsin, even the southern part, that late in the year.

Meanwhile yesterday was brother Mike's 65th Birthday....he was born 11 months or so after mom and dad were married, he was hatched out on December 15, 1946....one of the early day "Boomers"

Tonight it's back to basketball, but both this evening and tomorrow, it will be boys High School action, while at times more intense, at all times more in control and more enjoyable than the disasters of the past two nights.

enjoy your weekend...back later>>>>

photos-December Milestones...top Emma Callies, Patricia's grandmother along with us on 12/18/1976 at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, "Uncle Sam" Houseworth, who turns 30 tomorrow 12/17 with the newest member of the Houseworth Clan, Kasyn, last week in Centerville, another of Patricia and me in 1976, and brother Mike Houseworth and me, in the Spring of 1958...playing for the Venice Elks, in our childhood hometown of Venice, Florida.

Back on Radio(for an hour), Growing Up in Venice, Florida the last chapter(from 2008)

Miserable cold, rain, falling this morning...the leaves are sticking to the walks, yards, and roadways....fortunately it is scheduled to end before nightfall, and tomorrow and the weekend, my final football weekend, looks cool, but dry.  Tomorrow the drive to Ironton, on the Ohio River, will take me to Columbus to meet with the rest of the Varsity crew...then another 2 1/2 hours down US 23 to the river town of Ironton as that school takes on it's rival from Portsmouth...it will be a late night, into the early hours of Saturday.  Saturday Night I finish things up for my football season with a Youth League Championship double header at Celina Stadium....then the welcome rest for a few weeks, before basketball starts.

Back on the Radio_____

I had not been behind a microphone since 2003, when I planted myself behind the sports mic with "Wulfie" and Dave last night at the Celina Moose Lodge, for their weekly sports show.  After being on radio and cable tv from 1978 through the next 25 years, both full time(for five years) and part time for the last 20...it's pretty much like riding a bike, or drinking a beer...once you learn, you don't easily forget.  I wasn't nervous once the show began, and the hour went flying by...we talked officiating, then the upcoming NFL games and predictions of same, and finally discussed Ohio State and High School games this coming weekend.  I even got asked by the boss, if I was interested in doing some play-by-play basketball this season....with my schedule pretty well full on Friday and Saturday nights, I'm not sure I can pull that off...but the off the cuff offer was appreciated.

In addition to the show, I saw my niece Megan, her husband Cory, and his grandpa Grinny Fox, a longtime baseball legend himself out of Rockford, Ohio.  I talked with them for a half hour or so, mostly sports and umpires.   I also sat down with some old friends from our Racquet Club days back in the late 90s and early 2000s...so I stuck around an extra 90 minutes and caught up on old times with friends I have not seen in some cases in nearly a decade.  A good time to say the least.... 


Growing up in Venice, Florida, a final look back_____

In late 1958, around this time of year, November, if I recall,  we moved from the Venice By-Way to the house on the Corner of School Street and Pineland Avenue in the Edgewood Section of Venice....it would be our last home in Florida, and a house that mom kept until the 1980s....before selling our last link to those great days of my childhood in the 1950s and early 60s.


Here are the final segments from my look back, written in 2008:  {Click Links Below}


http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2008/05/venice-florida-328-school-street.html


And here is the Epilogue....of a life lived long ago:


http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2008/05/growing-in-venice-florida-epilogue.html


So there it is....a life lived 5 decades ago, on the sunny shores of the Gulf of Mexico...no Air Conditioner, 2 TV stations, AM radio, one car, but plenty of dogs, cats, snakes, gators, gopher turtles(tortoises), and other critters, in that life that really doesn't seen that long ago.

back later>>>>

Photos-{top} A sunset at Venice Beach, Florida, taken by me in the waning days of Summer 2000...Back when I started in radio, you need a license to broadcast, and it always helped going to a short term broadcasting school...these days, small market radio really doesn't care about quality...the early days of my broadcasting career were fun, although the moving and the starvation wages were problematical....and me and sister Marty's old cat, sitting on Dad's Chrysler Wagon, in the driveway at 328 School Street, Venice, Florida, around 1960....
  

Growing Up in Venice Florida(parts 4/5 ....from 2008)...Storms Rolling Through

I was awakened overnight by some pretty loud lightning and thunder clapping, as storms rolled through West Central Ohio...those had to be pretty strong to wake me.  The Winter Beer season had arrived, and with no games to officiate and the World Series on a one day break, I grabbed a six pack of Sam Adams Winter Lager, and proceeded to down a few of those....they do produce a kick, so I dutifully sauntered off to bed about 10pm.  Only to be awakened first by the ancient Airedale, Reagan, wanting out about Midnight, then by the lightning flashes in our upstairs bedroom windows around 3am....those strikes had to hit somewhere close by, because a couple of them rattled the windows and shook things up.

This morning, Patricia took the Van and I drove the Nitro up to the dealer, to have some wheel locks removed...seems they "key" to those theft protection devices was nowhere to be found when Patricia took the Dodge in to get the oil changed and tires rotated....so rather than spend over $100 to get the old ones removed and new ones installed, just get rid of the damn things...another pretty much useless invention, especially if you don't have custom wheels and don't live in or near a large city...ain't many people in small town Ohio stealing you average stock wheels and tires.  So, while that is getting done, I'm driving a loaner, 1996 Caddy with less than 80,000 miles on it....pretty nice ride, if I needed another vehicle, I might consider it, the price seems right...but I don't so I won't.....

Back on the Airway______
 
It been a few years since I worked in radio...I believe 2004 was the last time I got behind a microphone.   My buddy "Wulfie"  asked me to be on his WKKI Radio Sports Show tonight, live from the Celina Moose Lodge at 7pm,....wants to talk Sports in general and Officiating/Umpiring in particular.  So, back on the air for a few minutes tonight....causing me to miss the first Basketball Rules Meeting of the season at Van Wert...still plenty of time to get my required meetings in however.

Growing up in Venice, Florida parts 4 and 5_____-

 Back to looking at my childhood in the 1950s and early 60s on the Gulf of Mexico....links to my posts from 2008 are below{click links}:

Part 4-

http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2008/05/growing-up-in-venice-floridapart-4.html

Part 5-

http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2008/05/growing-up-in-venice-floridapart-5.html

The final two segments coming tomorrow...

back later>>>>

Photos-Top...A view of the old Venice Beach and Casino from about 1950...this photo was taken from what is now the location of The Inn at the Beach....in 2000, I took the second photo from the location of the Beach Casino(a "new" one built in 1960} looking back at the Inn, from where the first photo was taken....in the late 1990s and early part of this new century, we vacationed at The Inn on several occasions, the kids loved the place and location.  Winter Lager from Sam Adams is now in stock...a good brew, with the taste of a hardy stout...the final photo is another I puchased on Ebay...taken from the current location of the beach near The Venice Jetties...a massive Devil Ray was taken by these guys in 1928.  I saw one swimming between the South and North Jetties in the late 1950s...probably bigger than this one.  Sadly those fishing days are gone in the Gulf, fished out by so called "sport fisherman" and foreign interests.

Football Rivalry/Growing up in Venice, Florida, parts 2 and 3 from 2008

The game we worked last night turned out to be a rivalry game between the Grand Lake Rivals, Celina and St. Marys, a Freshman game...we were warned that the bad blood that usually is a sidelight when the two schools play would be front and center.  Seems the boys were verbally battling back and forth on Facebook during the week...the contest was as advertised.

The teams had played early in the season, with Celina coming out on top....this game replaced each teams scheduled contest because their original opponents had not fielded a Freshman team...St. Marys came to this side of the lake looking for revenge, and got it, by a final of 44-18.  That score however, was not the story of this game...

The bad blood spilled over into the contest, and although we did not eject any players, coaches, or fans, we certainly could have....at least 20 flags were thrown, for a variety of reasons, mostly late hits, swearing{and we are not talking "Hell and Damn"}, personal fouls, unsportsmanlike conduct, etc....the end came none to soon, and not without some verbal sparing between one leather lung Celina "Fan" and me.  All I really can say is, if my boys had acted like what I saw on the field last night, they would have had my foot so far up their asses, they wouldn't have been able to sit for a week.

Anyway, that contest leaves me with just two nights of football in this season, then I can get ready for the basketball schedule....frankly I am looking towards the trip to Wisconsin and the 3 weeks off between my season.  Friday Night I will travel with the crew I worked with this past week...all the way to the Ohio River town of Ironton, for another rivalry game, between the home teams and Portsmouth.  220 miles away...wow, like driving to Chicago for a game....I will park the car in Columbus and take the crew van the rest of the way...it's gonna be a long night.  Saturday I turn around and work the Youth League double header championships at Celina Stadium...JVs at 5:30 with the Varsity to follow.   Then sweet relaxation for a few weeks....

Growing up in Venice, Florida {parts 2 and 3 from 2008}

Today I will link up with 2 more parts of my Blogger look at growing up on the Gulf of Mexico in the 1950s.....The family moved to South Venice, Florida in 1954 and we spent the next decade in that sunny land of sand and salt water:  Here is part 2 from my April 2008 look back:{click link}

 http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2008/04/growing-up-in-venicept-2-alston-years.html

And this would be part 3: {again click link below}

 http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2008/04/venice-floridapt-3-venice-by-way.html

back later>>>
  
Photos-   {top-The South Jetties on the Gulf of Mexico at Venice Beach, Florida....I spent many hours fishing off those jagged rocks, the one part of Venice that hasn't changed much since my childhood.
Football and Fireworks at last nights game was in full focus...A cropped photo of our 5th Grade Class at Venice Elementary...that's me with the goofy look, mugging behind our teacher Mrs Holmes...and my buddy Ron Dinero, who I found after nearly 50, is on the bottom left....and a 1988 photo on a visit to the old hometown...Dick and Meadows Drug Store on West Venice Avenue....where we spent many summer days reading sports magazines, and sipping on those great tasting "Cherry Cokes" from the fountain.

Growing Up in Venice Florida(part 1) ....from 2008

Football, football, and more football....and my legs, back, head, all feel it this morning...or maybe it's just a slight cold, but either, I'm about footballed out.  Regardless this will be the last week for me.  A break of sorts before Roundball starts.  A JV game here in Celina tonight, Friday I may head down to the Ohio River at Ironton, it depends on if the regular guy can make it{seriously I hope he can, that's a long haul}, then Saturday Night the Cross Country Youth League "Super Bowl" will be held in Celina...I need to select two other officials to work with me on that night, a tough chore, because Ohio State plays Wisconsin that night, and getting guys to move their butts off the couches and chairs, even for $100 cash, might be a hard do.

Growing Up In Venice Florida    

Back in the 1950s and early 60s, I lived in a small town on the Gulf of Mexico, called Venice, Florida....Venice, certainly has change over the past 5 or 6 decades, but when we vacation or visit there it still brings back memories of my youth....I Blogged about those days a few years ago, and will repeat those posts over the next week or so...beginning today with part one:  {click link below}

http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2008/04/growing-up-in-venice-floridapart-1.html 

Sure doesn't seem like 3 1/2 years since I posted that, and certainly doesn't seem like nearly 60 years since my family moved to Venice, or 49 since we left there for the return to Ohio.

back later >>>more Venice links and Memories tomorrow

Photos-Me living in South Venice around 1955 age 6, and Me, and the Blackburn boys{my classmate and buddy Ted Blackburn on my left}, along with my sister Marty, on our Venice By-Way residence on my 9th Birthday Party March 16, 1958...

"Where Are You At 62?"

The Weekend Past____

The first football scrimmage on Friday went smoothly, as Lima Perry hosted Van Lue...the Wildcats of VL are to the best of my knowledge, the smallest school in the state to have a Varsity Football team...frankly they performed well with just 15 players in total, 16 if you count the injured lineman, who was in a cast....those kids, if they survive the 10 game regular season, will be as tough as they come.  I don't envy players going "both ways" for an entire game, let alone and entire season, as these guys will have to do.  Brutal is the only thing I can think of....especially considering they will be playing teams with anywhere from 35 to 75 or more players on the roster.  Congrats to them for the guts to do it, and good luck for the upcoming season.  

On Saturday Sam and I headed over to Nicks' to help him move some lumber, and work on the pick-up truck that we would use Sunday to move Sam from his place at the University Apartment complex near Ohio State, to the rental house he will call home for a few weeks...he will then move into a house for the remainder of his stay at OSU, before graduating next Spring.  After getting done at Nick's Sam headed to Columbus...Nick and I would head down yesterday around Noon, and spent some time moving Sam's stuff....taking the back roads home, we arrived back in Celina at 6:30. just before more storms and heavy rains rolled through the area.  A restless night's sleep and I was up at 4:30am...with no scrimmage until tomorrow night at Crestview, I will no doubt hit the sack early again tonight.

The recent rains, have gotten the lawns greening up again, which means more time following the lawn mowers....Oh' Well~another couple of months and that will be a memory, which means shortly I will get out the snow blowers and make sure they are running before Winter hits.  Fall, yes I am ready for, what follows the months from late November through Mid-March?  Not Exactly!

1962 and 62!_____

Back in late 1973 or early 74 the classic movie "American Graffiti" was released...in my mind it was an American Classic, and still is.  I watch it on occasion on the DVD I have, and still marvel at the story line, the music, and the way it hits home with the end of American innocence in that year and those sandwiched around it.

The film centers on the last day of Summer Vacation in 1962....the town in the Southern California valley reminds me much of the small town of Venice, Florida, that I lived in through my Junior High School days....and the time, even though I was just a beginning 8th grader, as opposed to the seniors and just past seniors in the film, I can relate to that time....and that end of Summer, which would be my last in Venice, before the family picked up and moved to Celina, Ohio...The best of times, the worst of times...at least it seemed back then.  The by-line on the movie poster greeted you with "Where were you in 62"?  Well that's were I was...Venice and then Celina....49 years ago to the month, as this summer of "11" winds down.

On the other hand at 62 refers to an age...my age to be exact.  Nothing glorious at turning 62, the age where you can collect Social Security if you choose...which I did.  Nothing glorious about fighting the bulge of the belly almost everyday...which I do.  Or waking up with a new ache and pain on a daily basis, which I do....but....

I can say, I'm pretty damn lucky.  As compared to my late 30s and through my mid 40s I feel pretty damn good.  I've lost 25-30 pounds, I still have my hair, gray as a ghost it may be, but have it I do...and despite a bit of high blood pressure and a spot of diabetes 2, I don't complain about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD), I don't blame the Agent Orange from my Vietnam days for any illness I have, and I don't expect or want a damn thing from the US Government or the assholes in public office.  Sure that may all change down the road...maybe I will have to use the VA for my medical issues, and ask the Government for help, but I neither want that, or plan on it...I've just learned to never say never.  Mind you I don't blame the guys that I served with for using every avenue to get what they need from Uncle Sam...but I know who pays the bills, and it's not that Kenyan Asshole in the White House or most of his followers, because most of them have never worked a day in their lives, they are the takers, not those that donate their taxes, time, or charity.

Oldest son Sam made a comment to his mom the other day....which he told me about.  After viewing some new photos on the walls surrounding my desk and this computer station...the quote to her was something like:  "Dad's pretty full of himself, isn't he"?  When he told me, I just laughed....I never thought of it like that....but I did add some photos of myself, the one at the top of this blog and another of me umpiring, one of the South Vietnam Flag and Air Force patches and a badge that my late friend and NCOIC from Nha Trang, Phil Lange gave me before he passed in 2009.

So at 62, with most of my days, months, and years, past me now...full of myself or not, I will continue to do what I can to keep myself healthy and alert....of course in addition to lifting weights, getting better, officiating three varsity sports, etc, I no doubt will continue to drink beer, and smoke an occasional hand rolled cigar....after all, what good is "Being Full of Yourself" if you cannot enjoy it, and the other things that make life worth living regardless of age?

back later>>>>

Photos-Full of myself at 62, I can at least still get my right bicep to look as though I still pump iron, although surly not like a could a decade+ ago, when I was just a mere 50 or so....taking the back roads, mainly Ohio 47 from Columbus, via Waldo and other old towns of my ancestors, you travel through Prospect(another Houseworth stomping ground), Richwood, West Mansfield, and Rushsylvania, and countless other small dots on the map...you come across bridges, and old elevators, many abandoned by population dispersal and time.  I had an original poster like this in my possession for many a year, but now gone...much like those days of the early 1960s, before LBJ and his failed Great Society and his failed war in Vietnam....the memories of my war are but photographs, flags, and badges, the latter given to me by my boss and friend from my Nha Trang days in 1969, TSgt Phil Lange, who passed away 2 years ago in his native New Hampshire.  Phil, seen in this photo from those days enjoying a good cigar.

My Favorite Van....

Cool weather is back....at least for a day or two.  While umpiring at Rockford last night, the wind picked up and on several occasions blew a straight line rain into our faces, at least at me, the catcher, and batter....I had to stop the game twice for 5 minutes, not so much because the amount of rain, but because what the accompanying wind was doing with it.  Still got the game in under 2 hours, as the hometown Parkway team defeated Celina 4-2 to get revenge for a 7-2 loss at Celina(which I had also) earlier in the month.  The season is winding down, at least the regular season.  Starting next week, the Junior ACME and ACME tournaments will begin, and I will be kept busy for the next month or so, working those.  Tonight I am scheduled at Spencerville for ACME, then tomorrow morning, Sam and I will head south 40 miles to Sidney to work a scheduled double header for the Sidney American Legion. 

A crowded house this weekend, with Hal home for a wedding and his two small dogs, coming with him....

My Favorite Van_____

I have written on several occasions about various "road trips" I have taken over the years...with an assortment of friends...Rick Pearson, Rick Tester, Nick, and others, including one back 1975, the summer of that year of "Jaws" the movie, with Jim Olson and Mike Schilling.  That story is posted elsewhere on this blog and can be found with some research if you want to read about those exploits.  Today I write about the vehicle we used on that trip....a 1961 Ford Econoline Van.

While living just a block away from where Patricia and I are located today, and while working as the manager, bartender, and occasional "bouncer" at The Red Door in downtown Celina, I always had a variety of transportation.  One being my Kawasaki Motor Cycle, usually a newer car...in this case a 1973 AMC Hornet with Levi Seats, and another "beater" vehicle...mostly a rusting pick-up truck of varying models and types.  In the winter of 1974-75 I went looking for something to haul the hunting hounds around in, as well as the hound dogs of the two leg variety that I ran around with.  I headed to Coldwater one day and happened to see this ugly assed panel van...ugly green in color, with a cut out window and the usual rust on the bottom sides, like any good 13 or 14 year old vehicle had back in those days....perfect I thought to myself.  I purchased it for the grand sum of $400.

The inside had just the two bucket seats, and a pull down bed, which was hanging from the driver's side wall. I guessed it was used for camping, or use your imagination?....for me, the inside was just right.  It had plenty of room for the Coon Hounds, and the Kawasaki Dirt Bikes.  And it could be used for sleeping, such as the Florida 75 trip, and carrying a large number of cases of beer..again, see Florida 1975.

I had and used that van for about 2 years, until I headed back to college at Nelsonville and Athens...frankly, I don't remember how I got rid of it, or why...but I remember it well, and some of the exploits were legendary in my circles of friends and outlaws that I hung around with.  It, despite it's penchant for dropping U Joints, It, especially for the low cost and grand memories, had to be one of my favorite vehicles that I have had the pleasure and pain to have owned.

Enjoy your weekend...

back later>>>>

Photos-The Van sitting on Fulton Street back in the winter of 74-75, at our place on the corner of North Brandon and Fulton, in Celina, just a block away from where we reside these days.  Then you have me, in the Summer of 75 at Daytona, compete with "Arrive Stoned" license plates in rear view window, a sure asking to get pulled over.  The back was, at this time, filled with camping gear, two Kawasaki Dirt Bikes(for riding on the Daytona Beach) and about 25 cases of beer...which we had no problem going through and more in our 10 day Florida Odyssey.  You really need to double click that second photo for a close up...that was a picture or microcosm of my life some 35 years ago, for better or worse.  And the last, the Van at the OS State Park, just north of my old hometown of Venice, Florida.  We camped here for a few days of fishing and beer drinking before heading north to Disney World(in it youth, like us), and then on to Daytona Beach and Myrtle Beach to round out the trip.

My Favorite Places, Part #2 {Life's A Beach}...the new Nikon Camera

Patricia and I headed out to Wally World yesterday afternoon....needing to pick up some plants for mom's place, a few bananas, and to look at cameras, since the kids decided to replace my less than 2 year old Fuji for me.  If you recall the Fuji took a cold stream bath while I was hunting mushrooms back in mid May, and although it still takes decent photos, after the drying out period, it does not work 100% when setting up the action.  Thus there is no play back and some of the indicators are shot.  Granted it still works, but the family or at least my wife decided a new one was needed.  And with the way the technology changes, I was more than happy to go along.

After talking with the expert at the Wally World electronics area(and this guy seemed to know his stuff)...I decided on a Nikon, with 14 MPs and 3.6x Zoom.  I could have went a bit more expensive with a 16MP and as much as a 10x zoom, but the more zoom, IMO, the more unstable the shots can be.  On his advise we opted for the less expensive version, that takes two AA batteries, rather than the Lithium type, which frankly needs recharged when there may not be a place to recharge them...the AAs, you give the heave-ho and put two new ones in.  This weekend at Hal and Lisa's, and the Reds/Toronto game, the new camera should see it's first real action.

Storms are set to move into west Ohio within the next two hours or so...this may cancel Garry and my game up in Kalida....but you never can tell what these crazy fronts will do....Sam and I both got our games in last night, him here in Celina, and me at Parkway(Rockford).  The home teams won both contests.

My Favorite Places part #2______

I sent a certain amount of time yesterday thinking about where I have been in my life, and the places I enjoyed.  Not only if I lived there, but if I just visited a time or two, for a short while.  That got me to thinking...."This is going to take up a lot of time and space, on this blog".  For I have visited a vast number of places in my years, lived in over a handful for at least 6 months or longer, and traveled through, or at least made a stop in 48 of the 57(up yours Obammy), er, 50 States... in short I have seen a lot of places, at least in the states and Canada, not so many 1n the International setting.

So here goes:

Life's a Beach:

Favorite Beach locations:

Venice, Florida

We as a family took our first long vacation back in 1997...the boys were old enough to figure out what was going on and enjoy the trip.  After stopping in Kentucky at Mammoth Cave, for some cave tours, we headed south to Florida and ended up in my old home town of Venice, Florida(see yesterdays blog).  We had no set itinerary, so we stopped for the night at the Inn at The Beach(which if you look at yesterday's post, is located at the exact spot that old photograph was taken), just across the street from Venice Beach "The Shark Tooth Capital of the World", or so it claims...we ended up staying for 3 days.  Ever since that day vacation, nearly 14 years ago, we have stopped at the Inn for at least a couple of nights on our trips through Venice and on the Gulf of Mexico.

Key West, Florida

That same year, 1997, we headed south from Venice, stopping at youngest sister Kelly's place in Naples, so 90 miles to the south....after a day there, we made the trek down the Tamiami Trail,, old US 41, through the Everglades and then south on US 1 down through the Keys and Key West, at the bottom of the United States.  Key West in not the place for the moral values crowd...but if you know what to expect, it's a fun trip.  The freaks of nature plant themselves in Key West, kind of like the San Francisco set, only sunbaked.  Fruits and nuts abound in the Keys...but you can still enjoy the place.

We  stayed for a few days in 1997 and then again the next Summer as well.  The first year we elected to stay at a Hampton Inn, outside of the main drag on Duval Street, in 1998 we went full tilt, and stayed downtown at the purple behemoth called the Pegasus.  The southern most point, the Hemingway House, Captain Tony's Bar, Sloppy Joes, the now burned down KW Cigar Factory, and others were my haunts...usually opting to have a cold one in the confines of Captain Tony's as Patricia and the kids walked around seeing the sites.

Nha Trang, Republic of Vietnam

I arrived at Nha Trang on July 2, 1969...the first of my two stops in Vietnam during the war.  The AB and the town still live vivid in my memories, even some 42 years since I first stepped foot on that base at the beach.  Not sure how many days I would wander down to the beach, located just outside our main gate(which I worked on numerous occasions as an Air Force Security Cop)...but in my six months there, I would venture to say I soak up beer, sand, and sun, at least a couple of times a week.  A clean beach with Shark Nets to protect the swimmers.  I was never into getting into the South China Sea...but did get my feet wet on a number of occasions.

Today the Beach and town are tourist traps, at least from what I read and see on you tube and the Internet.  Seriously I have little desire to visit Nha Trang or Vietnam, like many of my fellow vets do...I prefer to remember Nha Trang and it's beach in my memories.  It was after-all, my favorite stopping point in the 4 years of Air Force toil.  War or no war, Nha Trang was then and still is in my memories today, my favorite base and town.

So there you have my favorite salt water beaches....there were others as well, including Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, from my early Air Force days at Dover.  Ormond Beach and nearby Dayton Beach, where mom used to Condo for the decade of the nineties into the early 2000s, and where, along with Venice and Lido Beach(Sarasota), Patricia and I spent our Honeymoon in 1977.  So I've got to admit, sometimes "Life is a Beach".  And finally,  I cannot forget where I spent my 5 days of R&R from Vietnam in April 1970...Waikiki Beach, Hawaii...a few days respite from the sites, sounds, and smells of those days in Vietnam.

On the next blog I will look at Lakes and Streams in my favorite places.

back later>>>>

Photos-top left...A shot I took of a fishing boat off the Key West Pier in August 1997.   The new Nikon Camera, which will be getting a workout this weekend.  The Inn at the Beach on Venice Beach Florida...where we have spent many days and nigbts, enjoying my old home town on the Gulf of Mexico.  The Southern Most Point....we got a couple of "beach guys, looking for a couple bucks in the summer of 97, they needed a couple of beers, and took a great shot of the family...Me with the obligatory Black Label Beer, on Nha Trang Beach, my first week in Vietnam, in July 1969...Nha Trang Beach as it looks today, and finally me in April 1970 standing at the water's edge at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii.

Mushrooms, Meeting Cousin Moe, Rain, and Hog Nosed Snakes...Part #2/Snakes from my past, Venice, Florida...

Since returning from Northern Lower Michigan, the one thing that has not changed around these parts is the miserable, wet, cold, weather this spring has brought....the only good news is that the Summer months ahead are expected to be below normal, temperature wise...maybe we will get a break from the heat and humidity, which is sure to be around, considering the record rains that continue to fall.  My game at Lima Central Catholic yesterday was canceled, giving me a chance to mow both our lawn and Mom's....just Anissa's to go, and then probably back at it over the weekend.  The equally bad news concerning the rains...they are, this morning, backing up from the east coast, and now appear they will be around until at least Thursday...the extended forecast until the early days of June, don't look much dryer...warmer, yes, dryer?, not this year.

A Michigan Hog Nose and Snakes from my past_____

After leaving Cousin Moe's part of Michigan and returning the 30 miles south to the Boyne Falls area, we re-started the campfire...being in a damp, open location, we did not need to worry about starting any wildfires from our site....so we left the logs on the fire and kept the campsite warm, even while we were gone, and we had plenty of neighboring campers to keep an eye on things while we wandered off in search of the elusive Morels.  As we headed out towards the hills and woods to the north, some 50 yards from the campfire, I hear Rick say "Hey, what is this thing"?...I look over and can see what can only be described as a pile of dog dung....until Rick poked it with his walking stick.  That's when it came alive and headed away from the our walking path...until Clint, our 58 year old college buddy, decided to grab this snake by it's tail!  They come in all ages folks....lol!

By this time I was convince it was a Massasauga or Northern Michigan Timber Rattlesnake...although by the time Clint dropped it, it looked more like a Viper of some sort...whatever I thought, the damn thing looked poisonous to me.  Rick and the boys headed north, away from the action, while Clint and I decided to screw around with the snake...whatever it might be.  Clint was looking for a "Pet" to take to his house aquarium back in Kenton.  I wanted to get some good photos of the thing, so I could figure out just what the Hell we had come upon.

I grew up in South Florida back in the wild days of that area...the 1950s and 60s, long before the mass Blue Hair and Northern Snowbird Migration period.... and before the developers decided to pave the damn state from end to end, except for a few beaches.  My brother Mike and I had robbed Alligator nests, collecting small young gators, and keeping them until their teeth and bites got too dangerous for our fingers.  We also had a variety of snakes for pets... Rat Snakes, Black Racers, etc, to go with the Gopher Turtles and Toads we kept for varying lengths of time, until we got bored and let them go, or they took off and escaped on their own.  On two notable occasions I had face to face encounters with a couple of Florida's deadly snakes...and even a albino Wild Bore(which I wrote about on this blog a few moons ago).  But the snakes are today's subjects...

While living in South Venice, Florida, in the early and mid 50s...our home was a old trailer camp, where we rented a cottage at Alston's.  Our neighbors were the Ellis family...a family of good ol' boys and girls from the south.  Billy was the oldest son, and at about a year older than Mike(who at 2+ years older than me was the oldest sibling of our small tribe)...we boys constructed a "club house".  It was made of plywood, and we had candles and blankets in the interior, a dangerous combination in itself...but not nearly so dangerous as the one afternoon when we returned from an outing and decided to hang out in our little house.

After setting in BSing for a few minutes, we heard Billy cry out:  "SNAKE!!!!!"...and he wasn't bullshitting.  I looked towards the north and saw a large slithering beast heading under the old army blankets that covered the dirt floor.  Billy grabbed the forked stick, as he did, he knocked out the candle that dimly lit the club house.  Mike bolted towards the hinged door, opened that, giving us some light, and I, quicker than I had ever been before, or would ever be since, was right on his heels...leaving Billy and the Snake.  Billy had that sucker pinned down with his forked walking stick, as we ran to get dad and Billy's old man...Dad came running with his shotgun, as we watched Billy back out of the plywood house, still holding the snake down with stick.  As he back off, Dad took care of the snake with one well place shot with the 12 gauge....as it turned out, it was a 5 foot Diamondback Rattler....the two fathers made quick work of our Club House...pushing it over, and after adding gas, burned that sucker down.

The next notable encounter was a few years later, when my childhood friend, Mike Graff, and I used to prowl the streets and surrounding wooded areas of our Edgewood Section of the eastern side of Venice.  One day while exploring the area to the south, which today is a city recreational park, we came across a small stream that had become swollen and deeper, because of the summer rains of 1961...at 2 or 3 feet deep, we decided to walk across to get to some climbing trees on the other side....as we sunk down to neck levels and cruised across, I looked to my right, and not 3 feet away, was a adult Water Moccasin....looking me right in the eyes.  Needless to say, I was assholes, legs, and elbows, getting out of that ditch....Mike Graff was quicker than me, and led the way to the tree stand to the south, we didn't look back.   After our day of activity in the woods, we took the long way back....just so we would not have to cross that damn "ditch" again.  Snakes were a part of living in South Florida...our Red Bone Hound, "Brandy" killed one in our yard..sadly she paid the price as the snake sunk it's fangs into her neck, and she died as well...a few hours later at the vets.  I don't hate snakes, and am not afraid of them...but I do respect them, and unlike our friend Clint, I'm not picking one up without knowing just what kind it is.

So I know a little about snakes...but was puzzled by this one...it looked mean, looked to be poisionis, but had no rattles and never showed a fang....even while Clint was screwing with it, and I was snapping photos with my soon to be wet camera.  I finally told Clint to leave it alone...rattler or not, this thing had to be a protected variety, besides, I am not into killing wildlife just for the sake of killing....this thing was in a hurry to leave, and wasn't going to bother anybody.  After we returned from another not-so-successful try at mushrooming, I called Cousin Moe, and asked him if he knew what if might be.....

Moe, wasn't sure from my description, but guessed that, since it had no rattles, it was probably a young Timber Rattlesnake.  I wasn't sure, because it was somewhere between 18 inches and two feet long...but that was as good a guess as I had.  I would not find out until returning home on Sunday night, that we were wrong about the type of snake and the dangers.   After researching our "Rattlesnake" online for a few hours Sunday night, I was convinced that our deadly snake was just a scared Eastern Hog-Nose, that was more frightened of us, than we were of him(or her).....but it sure made for good photos and some stories to tell around the campfires of future trips.

For more on the Eastern Hog-Nose Snake check out this link:
 
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12145_12201-61207--,00.html 

As you can tell by the second photo...this is the snake we encountered....guess we didn't really have to check our sleeping bags and boots before we next used them...but I wasn't taking any chances.

Tomorrow, The Mushroom Hunting Goes South_____

Shortly after our Snake encounter and mushroom walk, which netted another 3 or 4 blacks...we headed back to camp, to eat supper, which was to be followed by some serious Cigar Smoking and beer drinking....we would get some unexpected advice from a Veteran Mushroom Hunter, from Jackson, Michigan.  That and the final part of my trip story coming up tomorrow....

back later>>>>

Photos-top left, my best shot, as the Hog Nose appears to be smiling at me...then as he looked as we came across it...looks dangerous to me, but he was just hiding out.  Our campfire and the small Trout filled stream we camped beside..which I also drowned my Fuji Camera in....at least the chip was waterproof, the camera?  Not so much...more on that tomorrow....Alston's Cottages in South Venice, the "X" is where we called home from 1954 until the Summer of 1957...brother Mike, me, and the various Poling cousins, and Ellis clam, spent many hours hiking and avoiding getting bitten or eaten in the swampy area to the east(right looking at the photo)..and finally a top view of our Hog Nose...looking much like the one on the attached link:
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REMEMBER CLICK OR DOUBLE CLICK TO ENLARGE ALL PHOTOS FOR A BETTER VIEW.....