Just Sayin'

I got so excited about my birthday they had to close a street.

I hear this so often.

59

It is my birthday. My 59th birthday. When I was young I wondered why anyone would want to live past the age of 35. I mean really, aren't you all used up and worthless by then? A drain on society? Now I can't imagine what I was thinking then. Are my best years ahead or behind me? I don't know and I don't care. What matters is today. I don't have any plans for the day, it will pass as any other. I will leave you with this image. It is the note that hung on my bassinet in the hospital the day I was born. Before I had a name. I was just baby boy Sutor.

Thanks Mom and Dad. Hope I've made you proud.

Johnnie Lynn

Today Johnnie Lynn is four years old. She is our son John's youngest. Since as far back as we can track their has been a John in the family and she was going to be John and Mandie's last, she got the name. It seems unreal that it has been four years since we welcomed her into the world. She is a ball or fire. A very headstrong young lady. We think it comes from the name. Seems like all the Johns in the family are very headstrong. Perhaps stubborn is a better descriptor.

This is Johnnie on her birth day being held by her proud Papa and flanked by her sisters Vannessa and Audrey.

She has always done things her way and there was no thumb sucking for this girl. She always sucked her fingers like a rock star.

This was a happy day at Disney World.

Her birthday party was yesterday. It was attended by many friends and family. Johnnie had a great time.

One of my favorite pictures of the birthday girl.

Happy birthday Johnnie Lynn!!!!!!

Duck, Duck,Goose, Nope Swan

I am always amazed at the things I get to see out here in the middle of nowhere. I do follow Mike Blythe's blog Existing in BFE and marvel at the pictures he gets in and around his area of Florida. I especially enjoy the nature photographs. Yesterday Lily and I had to take the truck up to Wataga to mail some bills at the post office and buy some stamps. Yes I am that old fashioned. Checks in envelopes to folks I owe money. The other thing should be obvious to all truck and dog owners. Dogs LOVE trucks. If there is any opportunity my buddy Lily is getting to go along for the ride. We completed our business in Wataga and proceeded back home. About a two miles from home three large white birds flew over the top of the truck and landed out in a corn field. When the flew over my initial reaction was JTFC (for those who don't recognize that abbreviation it is Jesus Titty Fucking Christ) those are some big birds. Since they were white my initial guess was that they were Snow Geese.

This is a picture off the internet of a snow goose. Please note the yellow legs, white face and dark tail. Those features will be important later.

 

 



I realize it is difficult to see in this picture and I apologize for the picture quality.These were taken on my camera's maximum magnification and at at distance of over 100 yards. If you look at the head of the bird you will note a black colored area from the beak to the eye. The tail is white and the legs, while difficult to see are black.

 





This picture is a bit better and again clearly shows the head which does not match the head of a snow goose. Some internet searching turned up the following picture.

Note the similarities to the picture I took. The face, the white tail and the black legs. Additionally the neck is much longer than a snow goose. The picture above is a Trumpeter Swan. Some research indicated the birds were well out of their normal habitat. I can state to the best of my recollection I have never seen one in this area. It was another reason they stuck me as unusual when I saw them.

 

So my advice dear readers is keep your camera handy. You never know when Mother Nature or fate or just dumb luck is going to provide you with an opportunity for a once in a lifetime picture or two. I am thankful for the internet and the billions of pictures out there. Without that vast resource at my fingertips I may never have known exactly what I saw. 

Beauty

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I have nothing to say today other than I wish I had taken these pictures. They are taken from the internet and posted here for your enjoyment. I will shut up now.

It is a beautiful worl we live in. We are so lucky to be able to see things like these without having to travel the world looking for them.

I lack the words to describe the beauty this world can hold. We are lucky indeed to be able to see these things. A lifetime of travel and effort may never have allowed us to behold these sights. 

Dog and Cat

We have a wonderful dog named Lily Lu. She is a 10 month old Redbone coon hound. She is very smart but not very brave.  The picture above is Lily Lu getting close to the camera when I was taking pictures. She just wondered what I was doing.

We have a cat named Snickers. She is about 15 years old and hates everyone and everything. Yesterday Lily decided to torment Snickers. The cat has tolerated this very well for the last couple of weeks. She lays down under a chair and Lily barks at her. Snickers will look at her from time to time and you can see the gears in her head turning. "I could kick your ass if I wanted to dog. Lucky for you I don't want to right now."

Their uneasy truce ended yesterday. Lily came running across the living room with the cat hot on her ass. When Lily stopped running the cat stopped and started hissing. The dog backed down. Today they had spent time apart respecting each others space. Lily decided about 20 minutes ago that Snickers needed an afternoon meet and greet. All we heard were claws digging on hardwood as Lily attempted to escape Snickers response. Lily ran to the couch and got between Carol and I. She was shaking with fear and has not left the couch since.

It would appear at least for the moment we have a top cat.

Ambassador?

It seems like almost every day I hear something on the news that makes me this. "What the fuck is going on here? "  Dennis Rodman just got back from a trip to North Korea. He met with the troll who runs that mess. Dennis thinks that he's not that bad a guy and that most of the problems were created by the troll's father. I've learned a few things over the years about athletes. Try not to be too offended.

First, lots of guys who are really good at sports are not very bright. If you believe in God then maybe it makes sense. Maybe God says you get to be really good at hitting a baseball, or shooting basketballs or running really fast but you don't get to be really smart. Physically gifted, mentally not so much. I know it is not a perfect correlation every theory has some exceptions. Stephen Hawking can't hit a curve ball and Michael Jordan likely knows very little about theoretical physics. Every now and then there is a guy who is smart and athletic. A freak of nature. Just proof to me that God does make a mistake now and then. Midgets, Andre the Giant, snakes, spiders, Glenn Beck, you know creepy shit.

Second, Charles Barkley probably said it best. He claimed to be a basketball player not a role model. Dennis needs to keep in mind he is a former player and not an ambassador. Should he be a representative of the United States? I guess we could do worse. We could use him to say we stick pieces of metal through our faces just for fun. We are tough. Dennis may be crazy as a shithouse rat but no one should ever question how tough he is.

Finally, since Dennis is really tall and apparently likes hanging out with short dictators maybe we should arrange a side trip for him to Iran. They have another short troll in charge. Might be fun?