Ride on...

Harley sued Honda over this motorcycle model. It looked and sounded too much like the Harley.

In the mid-90s Honda built this bike known as the ACE, or American Classic Edition. The V twin motor loped somewhat like a Harley.  The bike looked similar to a Harley but it was liquid cooled where the Harley is air cooled.

Donna and I went to see this bike in Killeen TX. I explained that we would just look no purchasing, just look. I fell in love when I first saw it and I believe Donna, if not love, she really liked it.

               I rode it home that same day (I was not on a fixed income in those days).  I enjoyed this bike for a year or so but it was soon evident that riding two up on this bike was not as easy or safe as it would be on a larger bike, possibly a black Gold Wing.

The black Gold Wing had all the nice options, a 6 cylinder motor @ 1500 cc and was a comfortable ride.

Then, one day, I rode the 1800 cc Gold Wing, seen below.

This is my present day ride, not bad for a person on a fixed income (I bought it in 2003 when I was working).

From the rider mind of    Don Ford

All rights reserved: any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited.

                 

Red Eye

What was considered an initiation in the olden days, would now be considered hazing and or abuse.  

A true story

            It was a cool evening in October, the sun had gone down about 30 minutes earlier. We were in a wooded area near a pond (tank for you Texans). We had built a large fire with big stones placed around it to keep the fire from spreading. The flames from the fire were about 2 feet high and crackling repeatedly as everyone began to gather around.

            This was my first campout with the boy scouts. The tents were in place with our sleeping bags inside. A supper of chili had been prepared by the scout leaders and eaten by the boys. All was well in our jungle abode.

There was this thing called “the talking stick”.  Let me explain before that one person asks, it was just a regular stick, no the stick could not talk. It was called “the talking stick” because the only person that was allowed to talk was the person holding the stick.

The evening began as I assume many camping trips do, with telling of scary stories. The talking stick was passed from one scout to another.  The last scout to receive the talking stick was a bigger boy whose name was Toby. Toby had been a scout for several years.  His story was about a monster called “Red Eye”. 

Red Eye was about ten feet tall and was known to be in this area. This monster had one big red eye in the center of his forehead that glowed at night. He stalked through these woods at night looking for unsuspecting people to kill and eat.  He especially liked kids because they were tender and sweet, their bones would break easily.  Red eye would often catch his victim and take them back to his cave deep in the forest. 

After the Red Eye story was told the newest member of the group was initiated. I was that member. I was taken by the entire group of boys (scout leaders stay in camp) down to the pond where I was tied hand and foot. Lying on the ground I was told that I had better be there in the morning when they returned. You would think scouts could tie better knots than they did because I untied myself in less than a minute, but I stayed where they told me to in the cold dark night.

Then it happened. There I was along in the dark with the monster Red Eye coming after me. It was Toby with another boy on his shoulders holding a red flash light. They were trying to make scary noises but they weren’t very convincing. The best part was when Toby stepped in a hole and they both fell to the ground. They weren’t hurt but the monster was no longer.

I guess this could have been frightening for some kids but to me the whole thing was just plain fun.

From the monstrous mind of             Don Ford

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Saturday ride

            It should be known that anything that went wrong on this ride was Wayne’s fault.

Saturday morning began as usual, a nice day that was going to get hot. My yard was mowed to perfection, so my wife who does not want her name mentioned in these articles, had approved a day pass for me.  I pushed the bike out of the garage and cleaned the windshield, headlights and mirrors. This time I also remember to clean both face shields on the helmet.

Oh, I see, you are back and you just have to ask questions. You want to know why, two face shields, I may have miss spoke, there is one face shield and one tinted shield to cover my eyes (a sun shield kind of like built in sun glasses). Before you ask, yes both are retractable.

               I was already perspiring and it was only 9:45am. I decided to call Wayne and see if he was up. Wayne has a tendency to sleep in on his days off. I asked if he wanted to go for a ride ending somewhere for lunch. He agreed saying that he would need to shower and feed the dogs then he would come to my house.  It was 11:00 o’clock when he arrived. We decided on a short ride ending at the Bunkhouse then try to get home before it became too hot.

               Although there were a few clouds in the sky, they were not offering any relief from the heat. We rode through Mother Neff state park and took the back road out of the park which winds about 8 miles through the country side before connecting to a main road. Wayne and I have CBs on our bike and he commented, “I guess it is too hot for the deer to be out, they are probably trying to keep cool in the woods”. Just then a big buck came from the field on our left across the road and into the woods. We have to ride slow on this road so there wasn’t much danger of hitting the deer, unless he runs into you.

               After about two hours of riding and lots of gossip on the CB we arrived at a gas station near the women’s prison in Gatesville. We took a short break rehydrating ourselves with a cold bottle of water. It was suggested that Wayne “might” be able to get a date with one of the inmates.

               Back on the road we were heading for Turnersville, TX. Don’t try to find it on a map it isn’t there. I don’t know the population but I would assume about 100 people. After we had passed through Turnersville we came to an intersection. We knew where two of the roads went but we were not sure of the third.

Being “adventurous bikers”, we took the unknown road. It was a rough road with no traffic. This road turned out to be about 15 miles long. We were about half way through this road when we saw an old church. We had visited the old church several years ago (2004).

Someone keeps the church open for visitors, there is a donation box to help take care of the church.

I will go back one of these days and get additional photos. (Photos from Oct. 3^rd 2004)

               Continuing on we finally came to the end of the road and we were in Cranfills Gap, TX. Cranfills Gap was 20 plus miles from where we wanted to be. We turned right on HWY 22 riding at the speed limit of 70 mph we finally arrived at the Bunk House at 2:00pm for lunch.

Heck, 2:00pm is time for me to be taking a nap, not eating.

               We parked our bikes under the awing out of the sun and before you ask, it is not a parking spot we just parked there.

               On Thursday they give a 10% discount at the Bunk House but not on Saturday. We went inside and was greeted with a big “welcome, come on in”. To our surprise they had a special; large sandwich, drink and side for $6.50. Well that was as good as a discount to me.

               We placed our order and found a table to put our helmets on. Being somewhat dehydrated, I went for the ice tea. Three hours siting in the sun with a helmet on has a tendency to suck the water out of you.  I downed two glasses of un-sweet tea in the time it took Wayne to use the little girls room. No, I don’t know if he really used the little girls room.           

               If you like to watch people this can be a good place to do it. At one table were two young men wearing slacks and clean shirts. They were discussing management techniques. These are the, ”want-to- be”, they want to be important but are not. They talk loud enough for others to hear them in an effort to seem important.

There were a couple tables with older people eating quietly. I perceive them as having worked on the farm or ranch all their lives.

One table there was a couple cowboys; their boots were worn, their hats were clean and their pants were pressed and starched with a heavy crease.

At another table was a family with three kids. They were not loud and all seemed to have a good time. One of the boys was about 5 years old, he was well behaved. The girl that I estimate to be 14 or 15 was dressed in jeans with a cowboy hat, a very pretty young lady. I assumed they were heading to some type of rodeo event.

We enjoyed the cool air, food and several glasses of tea before leaving.

It was a 30 plus mile ride on Hwy 6, from the Bunk House to Hwy 185. Wayne took 185 home and I stayed on Hwy 6.

Once at home I decided to take a nap. I was surprised that I did not seem sleepy even though I was in my recliner. I then remembered, several glasses of tea has a tendency to keep me awake.

From the re-hydrated mind of      Don Ford

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Hello from the Ford Homestead. 

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          Thank You

Blame the kid...

            My computer would not work, who do I blame.

Each morning Alex, (my 2 year old grandson) and I sit in front of my lap top.  I have it connected to a blue tooth key board, mouse and a large monitor.  Old people on fixed incomes need large monitors to be able to read.  

                Alex likes to turn the monitor on and off looking for my expression.  He also likes to type into the key board. There are a couple keys, when pushed, cause the computer to make a sound (cap lock and number lock).

               We do this each morning and if I am trying to read an email while Alex is pushing buttons it can be a challenge. Yesterday was no different, Alex push buttons and I was trying to shut the lap top off.

               Later in the day I went back to check for any email and I was unable to sign in. I could not enter my password. I shut the PC off and restarted it hoping that would correct the problem. After three tries I disconnected the lap top and took it into the front room where I would try one more thing, before I took my nap.

               This time I removed the battery for a couple minutes. After reinstalling it I turned the Lap top on and I was able to sign in.  It worked.  I turned it off and took my well-deserved nap.  I was still wondering if Alex had pushed the right combination of keys to cause the PC to not accept my password.

               After the nap, I took the lap top back and reconnected the monitor, key board and mouse. I turned it on and it would not accept my pass word. Was I upset? You could say I was upset.  As I sat here wondering what I could do I noticed the on off switch on the key board was off.

I decided to activate the switch moving it to the ON position. It is amazing how this switch can enable the blue tooth key board.  I could enter my password.  All is well at the Ford Homestead.

It was still Alex’s fault, he turned the switch off, and I just was not smart enough to notice the switch was off.

From the switching mind of                         Don Ford

All rights reserved; any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited.

                 

June bug

            A daughter-in-law found a June bug which is not unusual since it is June.

              

               The June bug reminded me of a time long, long ago in a world that seems far, far away. Actually the time would have been over a half century ago when this retired person was just a kid (for anyone that is mathematically challenged, that would be in the 1950s).  I would say that we had less money and less of everything back then but I had no idea that we were considered poor.

               The June bug reminded me of the fact that we did not have many toys.  In fact, the June bug occasionally was one of our play things. Much of our play was imaginary. The boys usually had some type of cap gun but did not have caps to pop, so we went bang a lot.

               Skate boards did exist in those days, although they were much different from today’s version. One big problem in our neighborhood (on Pine Street), there was no sidewalks and the street was gravel.  The skateboards consisted of a couple 2X4 boards and, an old clamp on skate.  The clamp on skate would be nailed or screwed to the bottom of a 2X4. The other 2X4 was nailed to the front of the first 2X4 and some type handle (see photo). I never had a skate boardL.

               We played a lot of cowboys and Indians.  I seem to remember that everyone wanted to be name Tex or Joe when we played cowboys.  I guess those were two popular cowboy names.

               We played marbles as kids and some of us were actually good at playing. The game started with a circle being drawn on the ground (bare ground no grass). Each player would place their marbles inside the circle. Each player took a turn shooting his marble into the ring trying to knock a marble out of the ring.

I remember some of the phrases or words that one needed to know to be able to play. I must say I am not remembering everything about the game. “Funnies, Keeps, Tall, Two or your Tall, Innies, Pinks, Lobby, Steelie ”.

o   Funnies, meant the game was for fun and you did not get to keep the other persons marbles.

o   Keeps, meant the game was for real and you kept what you knocked out of the ring.

o   Tall, was the marble the shooter uses to try and knock other marbles out of the ring. It was usually considered a favorite marble of the shooter.

o   Two or your tall, if you shot your Tall and it stayed inside the ring, if someone else knocked your tall out of the ring he would say, “two or your Tall”, meaning you had to give him two marbles in exchange for your Tall. 

o   Innies would be said if your shot knocked a marble out of the ring, but your tall stayed inside the ring. You also got another shot and shooting from inside the ring was usually easier than from outside.

o   Pinks, occasionally the marbles were put on pinks which was dirt squeezed together between your fingers into a very small pyramid shape and the marble placed on top. It was easier to knock a marble out of the ring when place on a pink.

o   Lobby, was an oversized marble and usually not allowed as a Tall.

o   Steelie, was a metal ball-bearing the same size as the marbles. It was heavier and was usually banned as a Tall.

Those of you that can correct me or provide more info on the game please do so, I would like to remember more of the rules.

        June bugs as toys, this sounds a little harsh but as I said we did not have a lot of toys. We would take a June bug and tie a thread on its leg. The thread was several feet long and we would hold the other end. The bug would try to fly away but the string would not let them get too far, usually they would fly in a circle around the kid as he held the string.

From the buggy mind of                        Don Ford   

  

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Busy ay the Ford Homestead

            It seems as if I have not had a lot of time recently to put a thought on the blog (I know it made you happy but others still like it) but it might just me being lazy.

               Toilet paper seems to dislike me for some reason.  Every time I get ready to put a new roll on the TP holder, the outside layer of paper is stuck on the other paper. I try to un-stick it but it always tears then I have to try to get the torn paper and get to a point where the paper looks good and will come off the roll evenly. This process takes me from one to three minutes.

               Also, it is a state law that the toilet paper should always come over the top and not from the underside as the paper is pulled off the role.

               The Fords of Dallas have moved in with the Fords of Hewitt. Trying to get settled in is not an easy job.  Unpacking is a seemingly never ending job.

               In the middle of this I had to have the Gold Wing repaired.  I brought it home yesterday and I was going to back it into the garage but the reverse would not work.

Yes, it has a reverse, no it is not like the Harley, and you don’t need to push it backwards. Yes a Gold Wing cost more than a Harley and many cars.

Today, Gabi and I took a ride on the Wing up and down the street in front of the house and after the ride the reverse began to work again. I don’t know why it happened but it is working now. Possibly, Gabi is an angel and her presence on the bike made it work.

I need to check my motor cycle burglar alarm to see why it isn’t working. Glen suggested that I first check the battery in the remote. That kind of makes sense.

Since I did not win the riding mower from DIB, I bought one.  You can see the mower in the center top of the photo. Now I can easily mow the back yard without walking.

It is out of the way so the kids can play in the sprinkler.

I usually leave a short strip of grass growing in the yard so Tejas can chew on it when he has an upset stomach. I noticed after Patrick and Karla had ridden the mower around the yard a few times the tall grass was gone.

As you can almost see, the grand kids were having fun as I was watering the yard (in that spot).

A little while later, the grandkids wanted a water slide, we moved the water sprinkler near the slide.

From the wonderful mind of                        Don Ford    

 

All rights reserved; any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited.

      

                  

Brains on display

I hope this isn’t to disturbing…

I wanted to tell you that I had found a big deer on the side of the road deceased (AKA road kill). He had been involved in a head on collision with a vehicle causing his skull to break open exposing his brains.  I wanted to tell you about the new recipe for grilled brains with onions, peppers and a lot of real butter.  I wanted to inform you that it is best served with white rice and just a splash of vinegar. I wanted you to understand that a red wine is recommended as the preferred drink.

The truth is; I thought you might be interested in seeing the brain of the person who writes this blog. Yes this is my brain. I used the cranium screw top method to access my brain when I need to add ideas or IQ. You may be able to see the dark spots on my brain indicating, “I may have a dirty mind”.

From the exposed mind of            Don Ford     

All rights reserved: any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited.

                                                                                                                 

                  

Father's Day

            Here are a couple short memories from my past; I will try not make them too boring.

               My dad was named George Alfred Ford.  When he became ill and could not work he had to get a birth certificate for his retirement. (He worked at the Cement Plant for 43 years.) When he received the birth certificate he found that his middle name was Albert not Alfred. The doctor had completed the certificate 2 days after he was born and put the wrong name on the certificate.  He was told he could go before a judge and get it changed. Dad took it in stride saying, “Albert is as good as Alfred”.

               I never heard my dad use a curse word.  If he was working on something and it wasn’t going right, he would say, “contrary outfit”. If it got real bad he would just stop what he was doing and get a cup of coffee. After the coffee he would go back to the project. 

               I was told that he was not always patient and easy going. I talked to a man that knew my dad when they were kids. He told me that my dad would rather fight than eat.  He went on the say that my dad beat him up every day on the way home from school.

               My dad had bright red hair as a young person. Dad was a true Irishmen, some say there is a Ford temper, and I would guess that is where it came from. 

               Occasionally, I would help him and he was always telling me, “Let the tool do the work”. In other words if you was using a tool don’t force it, just let the tool do the work. That was good advice that I use today.

               My dad was religious; he was a democrat, and a union man. 

               Dad died too young, he was 62.

Don Ford

                                                                                                                 

                  

Luck of the Irish

            Will the luck of the Irish be with me? 

I went out to my past employer for two reasons. One; I needed to pick up my retiree order. They let old people that have retired from DIB purchase merchandise from them but you have to pay them before they let you take it home. Two; I wanted to enter a drawing for a lawn mower.  By donating to the United Way you get a chance to win a real nice lawn mower.  I was told it cost about $1,900.00 and was a 54 inch cut with a 24 HP, V twin motor. It is larger than I need but I was willing to take a chance. I donated and brought my purchase home.

I had purchased fire ant killer and I needed to broadcast it over the entire yard. It was hot and I spread the fire ant killer in the front yard. When I went to the back yard I put on a long sleeved shirt to keep the sun off my arms. I went over the entire yard twice, first north and south the east and west. That was tiring but after finishing I decided to mow the back yard. Note; in the short time I was working in the front yard I received a light sun burn on my arms.

Knowing I will likely win the big mower and the fact my yard needed to be mowed real bad, I pulled my push mower out of the shed in preparation for mowing the back yard. Before I mow I walk the yard picking op anything that I don’t want to mow over. There were a lot of twigs and small sticks from the trees. I had noted in an earlier posting that we had not seen any squirrels for a while, well, they are back.

The darn squirrels chew the twigs off the tree to use for building a nest, but they drop some. It seemed to me as if they had dropped a lot.

It was Thursday which is a day earlier than usual for mowing but the grass needed it and I did not have anything else to do. I vary the height of the mower when mowing the back yard. The thicker grass the higher the mower and the thinner grass is cut shorter.  I noticed that the grass was piling up as I mowed and it really needed to be mowed twice to make the yard look nice. I decided to wait on mowing it twice thinking I will use the new mower after tomorrows drawing.

Friday morning I prepared to mow the front yard. First I trimmed around everything with the string trimmer. I could not believe there were more twigs on the ground. It seemed as if the squirrels were dropping them intentionally.

I started mowing the front yard and realized that I had the mower much closer to the ground than I wanted it to be. It is hard to believe that I, “a recognized Lawnologist” would make such an error. It was too late to change now; I will have to mow the entire yard at that height.  I soon decided that there was too much grass clippings being left on the ground. I always mow the front yard twice; once east/west and then north/south. That gives it a nice finished look.

Today before the second mowing I went to the shed and got the grass catcher. The idea was to pick up the loose grass during the second mowing.  That actually worked, but my work was not finished.  After completing the second mowing of the front yard I could see runners from the St. Augustine grass that had popped up due to cutting the grass to short. You guessed it; I mowed the front yard a third time.

I was tired of walking and I knew the riding mower is just what I need. The drawing was held and there must have been some snafu in the drawing because someone else won.  I am the Irish Boy that should have won. Darn it!

               After all that work, I had to eat left overs for lunch, and then I took a well-deserved nap.

From the Lawnologist mind of     Don Ford      happy Father’s Day if it applies.

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Washer Toss Game

Bill of Materials for Washer Toss set

1 sheet of plywood 4 foot by 4 foot by ½ inch        (This will make tops for two sets)

2 each 1 inch by 3 inch by 8 foot boards                 (This will make a frame for one set)

2 each latches                                                                  (Need for one set)

Rope 11 feet                                                                     (Need for one set)

32 screws                                                                          (Needed for one set)

Wood Glue                                                                        (Glue all points of contact)

Handle could be a handle or rope may be used.

Cost of wood and hardware per set was $20.75 (does not include screws or rope)

5 tops can be made from one 4’ X 4’ sheet of Plywood

Each 1” X 3” X 8’ is cut into        

·       2 each 30 inch pieces sides

·       4 each 8.5 inch pieces ends and dividers (Cut the 30 inch pieces from each board the set the saw for 8.5 inch cuts and cut all these pieces at the same time.)

Rules will be attached inside one of the boards.

The rope between the two boxes is there to keep the same distance for all players. It may be shortened or lengthened to meet the desires of the players.

The washers are large enough to be easily seen when a player misses the box.

The guard dog is optional but may be necessary if arguments arise.

Rules to play the Washer Toss Game

·       First game, toss a coin to see who tosses first.  Second game and there after the looser tosses first.

·       Each player has three washers.

·       Player may stand on or beside the board; players toe may not pass the end of the board, leaning is acceptable.

·       He/she get to toss three washers, one at a time.

·       Hole closest to the player is 1 point; middle hole is 2 points; back hole is 3 points.

·       Usually two players to a team, it can be played 1 on 1.

·       If player one tosses the washer in the middle hole, he/she scores two points. Then player two scores two points by tossing his washer in the middle hole; this is called “cover or covering”; player one loses his/her two points, player two counts his/her points.

·       First team to 21 points is a winner.

·       If both teams get to 21 points at the same time, play continues until one team scores more than the other team.

·       When a team loses 2 game in a row they moon the other team.  This is the “J. D. Hilton rule”.

We often played for county, district, state, national, and world championship in one afternoon.

Don Ford    

    

Political statement;                I am not always right but I am never left.

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Open Mouth Insert Foot

I just had to open my mouth and comment on the fact that Tejas had not seen any squirrels for a few weeks.

 

               One weather guy said it hit 100 yesterday while the other said only 99 degrees. Whatever, it was hotter than %#$@.  

Yesterday afternoon I was taking some tools back to the shed when I observed a rabbit and a squirrel running in the ditch behind the shed. 

I just had to brag about the squirrels being gone and boom, I see one. The squirrel was a very dark color, almost black.  Today I have seen two dark colored squirrels in the front yard.

Why couldn’t I have keep my mouth shut and my foot out of my mouth?

From the toe jam mind of              Don Ford                    

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100 use to be good

When I was in school (yes I went to school, will you save you questions until the end) a 100 on a test meant you answered all the questions correct.  You are correct; I did not receive a lot of scores of 100. 

               As I was sitting in my favorite chair contemplating many topics like, “why is sugar sweet and salt not”, I noticed something. It was a rabbit across the street hopping around in the neighbor’s yard.  Have you noticed how rabbits and birds are not afraid of each other? 

Ok, you are right, I was not the first to notice the rabbit, it was my amigo Tejas. But I was quickly aware of the rabbit and that stared both of us thinking.  We had different thoughts about the rabbit as you may have guessed. I wanted to invite him over for lunch; my lunch, while Tejas thought about the lack of other furry creatures in the neighborhood.

Tejas is very observant and has noticed over the last month or so, the squirrels that use to be in the neighborhood have gone. We don’t know if they decided to leave us for a more upscale community or if one of the neighbors is eradicating them. Whichever it is, we have not seen a squirrel form over a month.

I just thought; having no squirrels is another blessing (referring to an earlier posting). Tejas indicated he misses them.

When we were in North Carolina I noticed the squirrels were smaller than the squirrels are in Texas. Do you think the old saying is true; everything is bigger in Texas?

I took a cup of coffee outside to enjoy the morning’s cool temp and was greeted by my neighbor mowing his yard. I waved a greeting to him but he was too intent on looking at the mower and did not return my greeting. I assume he did not intend to break the unwritten 8:00 am rule, but it is supposed to get very hot as this day progresses and that is why he did it.

What? You don’t know what the 8:00 am rule is. I thought everyone knew about the 8:00 am rule.

Oh, OK, for those of you who live in a gated community, with a home owners association that provided your entire yard work for you, I will explain.

I am kind of happy that my old leaf blower broke again and this time I was unable to wire it back together. In the instructions that came with my new Weed Eater brand of leaf blower was the 8:00 rule.

My new leaf blower is easy to start and I run it at half speed to do the same work of the old blower at full speed.

Ok, back to the 8:00 rule.  You should not run any power equipment before 8:00am as a courtesy to your neighbors. Not everyone gets up early and the motor of the equipment might wake them.

Today may be the first day we hit 100 degrees, but 100 in the instance will not be perfect. It is still officially spring in Texas, even though is hasn’t felt like it for several weeks now.

I believe 80 degrees would be a perfect score for me today.

From the overheated brain of                     Don Ford

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We have been blessed

            We may occasionally become overwhelmed with bad news about the economy and many other negative items. We should occasionally stop and take time to appreciate or blessing. What? You want to know what I consider a blessing; ok I will name a couple.

               Yesterday June 7^th, 2012 was a mile stone in the life of Don Ford.  I finally received the public acknowledgment that I so rightly deserved for many years. Thursday started with light rain, lots of clouds; the night before we received a badly needed 2.5 inches of rain. All the yards in our neighborhood said thank you to Mother Nature for the rain. The numerous cracks that were in my yard are now closed. There was water standing in my back yard for a couple hours before it was soaked up by the thirsty ground.

               I had decided earlier in the week to ride to the Bunkhouse for lunch. I like to give my wife plenty of room when she is cleaning the house and that is a Thursday project.

I had sent an email to the guys letting them know that I planned to go to the Bunkhouse just in case anyone wanted to go along. I watched the weather radar all Thursday morning (did you know radar is spelled the same forward or backward, and my cell phone number is the same forward or backwards) hopeful that the light rain would stop between Hewitt and Clifton, it did. This was the first sign that I was having a good day, although I had not yet recognized it.

Glen and I left the house about 11:00 (Glen went to the gas station and I went to the bank) we met on a service road just off Hwy 6. We rode to the intersection of Hwy 6 and 185 where we stopped and waited on Wayne.   Wayne was a no show.

About 11:30 Glen and I were back on the road heading for the Bunkhouse. When we arrived at the Bunkhouse parking lot there was a car that pulled out leaving us a VIP parking spot. This was the second sign that should have let me know that I was about to receive recognition for my life long accomplishments.   

We dismounted our bikes and prepared to enter the Bunkhouse. As you enter the door you immediately make a right turn, proceed up a ramp that is about 30 feet long. At the top of the ramp we make a left and step into the Bunkhouse. Immediately to your right is the fellow that cuts all the meat, he is the owner. He always has a cowboy hat on and always greets the customers with a big smile and a Howdy, welcome.

The girl that takes your order is standing at the cash register next to the owner. I gave her my order and received my discount (10 % off on Thursdays). She handed me my ticket stub and that is when I started feeling good. My number was “1”.  Yes you heard me; I was number one “1”.  We found a table, got our drinks and sit down.  When the lady brings out your food she calls out your number and you raise your hand so she knows whose food she has. I heard the words, “number one”, I raised my hand, yes I am number one.   You can’t top being, “number one”, and I assume being number one may have been the reason we were not rained on during our ride.

               As I stated earlier, “we should take time to be thankful for our blessings”. We see in the photo below some vegetables from Keith’s garden (the peppers are from our two plants).  Although it may not be evident in the photo those onions are 5 inches in diameter. Those are the best onions we have ever had, they are not strong and they go well with anything that requires onions. Keith has been blessed with a green thumb and also blessed with a wet spring and no late frost. He has been blessed with an outstanding garden this year.

               Keith has brought us vegetables on several occasions.  We have been blessed with Keith.

               We have received rain when we need it and in our area, we have not had any violent storms.  We are reasonable healthy for persons of our age. I could go on and on with a list of blessings but I will stop.

               The rose below with the two buds next to it is a blessing of beauty.

               Possibly each of us should take a minute and think how we have been blessed.

From the blessed mind of              Don Ford      have a blessed day.

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The Wedding

            As a wedding consultant, I need to be aware of everything that is happening. Timing is very important and having everyone in their place at the right time is a daunting task. As you are aware I am able to master most tasks without any missteps.

               As you might know the most difficult part of the rehearsal and wedding is getting the young children to walk and stand where you want them. In this particular event the young kids were not focused during the rehearsal since it was in a park but were outstanding on the day of the ceremony. 

               We rode to the wedding with one of the Brides Maid. Her dress was green and had one strap over the shoulder. This dress was a little short and somewhat tight. We learned (even thought we did not want to know) that since the dress was tight the young lady did not have underwear on. This dress also had a slit up the back which posed a problem due to the lack of undergarments. A safety pin was used to help correct the problem with the slit in the dress.

               The wedding was scheduled to be outside, under a pavilion with a lake in the back ground, on the military base, “Camp Lejeune”. This location was very nice.

               With no help from me the wedding came off as scheduled and it was very nice. The bride was beautiful and the groom was handsome. The ceremony took about 20 minutes with lots of photos following.  The young man that was the ring bearer was a little unruly. He threw the pillow he was carrying (the rings were not on the pillow) then walked up to it and kicked it. Everyone laughed I don’t know it the bride saw it or not.

               The reception hall was decorated very nicely, the food was good and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening.

Note; during the weeding rehearsal at the park the minister actually married the couple. He noted afterwards, “I hope nothing goes wrong because they are now married”.  I wonder which date the will use to celebrate their anniversary.

From the wedding planner mind of                           Don Ford   

  

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On My Knees Again

            As I kneel here in deep thought pondering the meaning of life I…

Well, it is another hot day in Texas and summer isn’t here yet. The weather guy said there is a slight chance of rain.  That means it isn’t going to rain but we don’t want you to lose hope.

My wife decided to can tomatoes today, which dramatically adds to the heat in the house. Keith brought us a bunch of very nice tomatoes and Donna decided to can them. I have eaten some of the tomatoes with a little salt, Nice! Keith has brought us other vegies from his garden and we do appreciate them. We have only seen photos of his garden (below) but we understand it is huge.  A big Thanks to Keith (we don’t have to eat road kill tonight)

For some reason this year the heats seems to bother me more than in the past. I just don’t like to be sweating with my clothes sticking to me and sweat dripping onto my glasses.  When I am working outside I try to work in the shade. Most often we have a breeze and that helps keep me somewhat cooler.

I still have several projects to do outside but I am not real enthusiastic about getting them done. Today I am tackling the flower bed behind our house near our bed room. I am on my knees pulling weeds and picking up snail shells.

I water this flower bed daily.  As I crawl around on my hands and knees, my hand are getting muddy. That could mean I am over watering. As I kneel here with my knee pads on I find it difficult to believe I, would over water. I am a master in waterology (the study of proper watering techniques) and should not make watering errors.

In the above photo you see the flower bed I was forced to work in this morning. I pulled weeds until I got to the sunny part of the flower bed (on the right and not in the photo) and I stopped. I got all but about 2 feet. If it gets cloudy I will again get on my knees.   

We can also see what is left over of an old clothes line. The post was originally there to hold up a wood fence. The fence was there to keep kids and others out of the swimming pool. As time passed the pool was not used and it went away along with the fence.

Some of you may not be familiar with a clothes line so I will explain. They were used to hang clothes on after washing them. The clothes are air dried and when you put sheets and pillow cases on the bed after they had been hung outside the bed feels good and smelled fresh.

Mom used a clothes line; there was 4 separate clothes lines on the two poles. When she would hang sheets out to dry I would get in between the lines and the wet sheets and clothes would deaden the sounds.  It would be strangely quite in between the wet items on the clothes line. 

I had put out some slug and snail bait and I must say it works. The snails were everywhere eating everything and now they are no more.

I need to cut the tops of the tall bushes at the north end of the house (photo below).  I don’t know what they are called but I will need a ladder. They are as high as the top of the house and rubbing the wall and roof. Whatever they are, they are blooming now and it will seem odd that I trim them while in bloom. Once I cut them I will need to carry the cutting to the back yard and put them on the trailer.

We have some cactus on the end of the house and for some reason it is growing just fine. There are weeds growing in the cactus and they will be difficult to pull.

Above is in the front of our homestead, another flower bed I am forced to work in.

My mind just flashed to breakfast burritos for some reason. It is 4:00pm and I am not hungry but I started thinking about the burrito. I often have flash backs; that is often associated with drug use. I have never used drugs and have never even smoked marijuana.  I don’t think I have missed out on anything by not using drugs.

From the knelling mind of              Don Ford

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Smoking

Memorial Day in North Carolinian had good weather, plenty of food, swimming and friends.

               This area of North Carolinian has a high concentration of military people. Camp Lejeune is there and so naturally there are military people and families everywhere.  We have Fort Hood that is about 60 miles from here and even though it is the largest military reservation in the free world, there it is not as far-reaching military affect here in the Hewitt area.

               The weather was very good on Memorial Day, maybe a little warmer than I would have liked but still a nice day. I am not sure how many people were at the party but I estimate 30 plus were in attendance. The kids took to the pool along with several of the adults. At one point when I glanced at the pool, I thought that of a traffic jam. The pool seemed to me to be at capacity.

               Something I noticed during our visit was the number of people who smoked.  As I think about it, most of the people I know do not smoke. A person smoking around me is ok but I was not use to seeing so many smokers in one place. I wonder if there are more smokers there, or maybe I just don’t get out enough to know how many smokers there really are around here.

               I was talking to one of the young ladies that smoked and I asked how much cigarettes cost. She explained that they could be purchased for $4.00 a pack at one local store but if you have to buy them else where they were about $6.00 a pack.

If a person smokes a pack a day and the cost is $4.00 per pack;

·       $28.00 per week

·       $120.00 per month

·       $1,460.00 per year

If a person smokes a pack a day and the cost is $6.00 per pack;

Ø  $42.00 per week

Ø  $180.00 per month

Ø  2,190.00 per year

If a person smokes more than a pack a day the cost increases. What other items could be purchased with the money spent on tobacco.  

I understand how addicting tobacco can be as I am a “recovering nicotine addict”. I used chewing tobacco for many years but I have not had any for about 9 years now.

I remember one time when I had quit using tobacco; my wife and I were coming out of a restaurant after eating supper. It had been about a week since I had quit using tobacco.

For those of you who have never use tobacco, you will not understand how strong the desire to have a nicotine fix is, after you eat. 

It was dark and the parking lot lights were not on. I said to my wife, “I wish someone would try to mug me, I would really like to hurt someone right now”.  When a person has quit tobacco they have a lot of feeling; one of those feeling for me was anger. 

For those of use that have used or still use tobacco, we understand how good the nicotine fix can be. Nicotine will give you a lift when you need it, it will help you relax when you need to. No wonder it is so addictive.

               I guess I am preaching now but I know it doesn’t do any good to try to talk people out of using tobacco. The only way a person can or will quit is when “they decide for them self that they want to quit”. A nicotine addict will get mad when you try to tell them they should quit. A nicotine addict will not quit for their spouse, kids, parents or anyone else. It is a personal decision and you cannot make it for them.  

               I am not meaning to upset any tobacco user in this statement, although I do think people should not use tobacco.

From the nicotine free mind of    Don Ford

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