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Amputation? Unlikely

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I used to make gentle fun of my sister Diane because if she caught wind of a new disease, she was certain she had it. In my defense, she freely admitted to her medical hysteria, a condition that is apparently either hereditary or contagious. Let me explain: I tend to ignore pain, maladies and discomfort for a while. Usually, they go away and I feel vindicated for allowing my body to heal itself. Occasionally, though, I seek help. After years of pain and a left toe that was twisting toward the right, I had a bunion removed about a year and a half ago. Post-surgery, it was glorious. No pain. My toe is nearly normal, and I can wear shoes again without flinching every other step. I'm fairly active and like most people, I occasionally over do it and have back or knee or foot pain. It usually goes away. I spent some extended time with Jen and Peter recently. During that time, I joined Jen on her latest fitness plan, jumping around a bunch and wearing myself out. Then, we worked on a flow...
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We went west, and you should, too

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As Jeff, Jen, Peter and I prepared for a trek through parts of the American West, my biggest fear was a bear attack. National news reporting about an actual attack in the area we were headed worsened my concern. A long talk and a $112 investment with Tom the Bear Spray Guy at Jackson Hole airport made me feel a lot better.  We'll get half the rental fee back as, happily, we were not attacked by bears despite Peter's best effort to find one. You rent bear spray, I discovered, because its so powerful you aren't allowed to transport it via airplane. Also, if a bear comes at you, you spray downward to create a kind of Mace-on-Steroids screen that's supposed to stop it. We did see one black bear, but we didn't have to unholster even one of the four cans of spray we had. The black bear - not the grizzly Peter was hoping for - was headed away from us during a hike aroubd Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park. We were deep into the hike, and Jen and I were nervous. The be...
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Revisiting Claymont

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I've been visiting with the fine folks of Claymont for the past several months and am happy to introduce you to the fifth installment of my Heartland Revenge Series: "Reclamation." You can find it here in paperback , and if you're a Prime member, you can read it for free in ebook form  via Kindle Unlimited. My more-than-semi-but-not-quite-full-retirement has given me time to reflect on this series. I even went back to correct some of the more egregious typos in the first book, " Retribution ." This time around, I think I managed - with huge help from the Captain and Lyn & Amy - to keep those to a minimum and to improve the overall writing. Any errors are mine, of course, and I hope you'll overlook any you see. Also, Donna and Jason were instrumental in keeping me credible (ish?) with regard to the goings on at a surface coal mine, and Justin offered great insights, too. Grateful to Shannon and Amanda, as well. It's hard, for me at least, to drop ...
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Bear food

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I've placed myself on an austerity plan for the next 30 days (starting yesterday) so if you see me, please don't offer me a drink, a dessert or an opportunity to buy something fun.  If I could lock myself in a room to deprive myself, I would, and that's what it will take for me to survive this month. Because I'm weak, weak, weak. If I was a gambler, I would definitely not bet on me keeping to the restrictions. But I'm going to try. First, the cash part of my austerity plan: My beloved Mustang has run into a bit of maintenance issues that have made my mechanic happy and my checkbook sad. It's 20 years old, so I should give it up. But I'm not ready. The convertible top is the biggest issue to-date. To the disbelief of the guy who's going to replace it, the frame is bent, a condition apparently unheard of in the Mustang line. All I know is the top won't go down all the way. That means I can't possibly see Nathan and Elayna until it's fixed. So I...
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You can't take it with you but you can take a bit for a while

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When I was young, my grandmother used to take me with her when she visited my Aunt Shirley, Uncle Larry and cousin Lori after they moved to Columbus, Ind. from our hometown about 90 minutes westward. Aunt Shirley, my mother's sister, married Uncle Larry, my father's brother. They met when they were about five years old and married 12 years later. They built a successful business together and retired together, returning near their hometown for their golden years. I don't remember many occasions where one wasn't without the other. Her recent death ended that. Seventy-five years of knowing each other, 63 years of marriage, a lifetime of dry jokes, euchre nights, bowling and collecting all sort of glass and cast iron cookware. There are great photos of Shirley wearing an "I Dream of Jeanie" like dress for a Homecoming float, and Larry suited up for a brother's wedding. They were super cool. Uncle Larry is the strong, silent type unless he has a story to tell,...
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The Jesus Wall

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I don't know that I've spoken a lot on here about my niece, Annie Williams, but I might have mentioned how much I admired her eloquence at my sister's graveside service nearly three years ago now.   Back when she was a little girl, I used to drive her and her cousins around in my (then) red convertible, driving too fast to make them squeal and send their hair flying in the wind. When I'm very lucky, I get to do the same thing with Annie's kids, Elayna and Nathan. Because, of course, Annie, daughter of Debbie and Steve, is now a grown-up girl, married to Justin Williams, and one of the best people I know. It's easy to admire her. Forty is on her horizon, but she's still a gifted athlete. She's a pharmacist. A coach. Her kids are awesome, and she is supremely grounded even though, as I was reminded this weekend, she was queen of her high school prom.  She also has a Christian faith that rivals my father's. It's something to behold. Like him, she...
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I want my MTV

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Jeff and I grew up so differently it's a wonder we ever found our way to each other.  For example, music has been a constant in his life. His dad, who was in a professional jazz band in his youth, introduced Jeff, Jen and James to folk/rock bands like the Kingston Trio , The Ventures , The Limeliters and Duane Eddy . But then, cousin, Stephen, introduced Jeff to FM radio. He heard Ram Jam's "Black Betty" and was transfixed.  I think he found New Wave music on his own, and then a whole cornucopia of other genres came via his days as a radio DJ in college. Rap, apparently came during his Army days. Absent from the above? Country music and church music, except for Johnny Cash .  Because, well. Johnny Cash. Oh, sure, he knew some Baptist hymns from his Sunday School days where his parents luxuriated in some alone time by spending their three little ones to a local church. But he didn't get indoctrinated like I did with Pentecostal church three times a week and ever...
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