A Yankeetown Fishing Trip
Fr. Tom and Kathleen Trees’ boys wanted to go fishing with me in the Gulf of Mexico. We picked a day when the tide and the solar/lunar table forecast a good day. We caught fish which as fishermen know is not always the case….Seth-Peter, Isaac and Joel all caught fish and each caught a ‘Redfish.’
Thanksgiving 2015
The Smith, Ely and Hockett clans gathered together in Charlotte to celebrate Jarrett’s birthday and Thanksgiving. As you will see a time for fun, games and feasting…
Serendipitous Moments…
“The Fishing Pond”
There are those Serendipitous Moments in life that really are special gifts or blessings. This is about such a moment…
Over Halloween Weekend we decided to go fishing in Charlotte…The Park by Danny’s office has a fishing pond that is stocked with fish. Danny, David, Grace and I took our fishing gear to try our luck. Across the pond a Great Blue Heron watched us. The great bird watched us and seeing that we were having better luck than he was, he joined us, presenting a surprise close-up photo op. He was rewarded with a couple of nice bream…Then he left and we did too….
DKS
‘Annie Oakley Society’…
‘Annie Oakley Society’…
Jan and our friend, Joan, joined the ‘Annie Oakley Society’ in May 2015. Bill Brown, Jan’s LHS teaching friend, certified them in a ‘concealed weapons class.’ Jan is quite good….
Focus
This video is about focus. Focus and concentration I believed must be trained. I am easily distracted. This was my thought when I created this video while exercising on my ‘Airdyne’…
Then Came Lexi…
We lost Skye in January just days shy of her thirteenth birthday. She was special. We knew she was irreplaceable. Should we get another dog? If so what breed? We had owned a Cock-a-poo (Henri), English Setters (Annie and Nicky), another Golden (Daisy) and a Scottish Terrier (MacDougal). And Erin had owned two Golden Retrievers. We would not get another Golden we decided. What then? And should we get a puppy or rescue a dog. We decided to wait until fall.
Waiting didn’t happen! Soon we began to look for Golden-Doodle puppies since friends had them and liked them. On the other hand rescued dogs were appealing. Abner, Erin and Danny’s Golden, was a rescue dog. I shoot sporting clays with a friend (Richard) who has a rescued Blue-Heeler (Sugar). Both these rescue dogs were smart and eager to please. It was obvious Sugar and Abner knew they had been saved.
Well, to shorten the story (only slightly), South Lake Animal League had an abandoned litter of puppies, eight in all. The bitch was a Golden and the sire was an Australian Shepard. The pups were about twelve weeks old. We look at them on their website. We were smitten. We drove to Groveland to check them out. Alexis was one of the females. We wanted a female. After playing with her and holding her, it was a done deal.
We brought her home, Lexi, our little compromise, a rescue puppy. We shortened her name from Alexis to Lexi. We studied the book, The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete, got the crate out, the bowls, toys and other doggie paraphernalia….Oops, we had forgotten about house training. However, that soon passed and she has proven to be easy to train. The Golden Retriever in her comes out most of the day, calm and laid back. But around four or five o’clock the wild Aussie shows up. I have failed to wear this part of her out. All in all she is a wonderful new addition. Here is how the first few months have gone…ENJOY!
Looking Back…
Looking Back…
Before I begin, I confess that I agree with CS Lewis when he says that nothing new is said. Only that the same Truths are expressed in different ways. So what I write here is what I have learned and heard from others…
Hind sight is perfect…If I had known then what I know now… Oh, so that’s how it is going to turn out… Live and Learn… Oh, now I see… These are some of the things people say about looking back over their life. They say these things if they have learned from experience!
When I was younger I listened to sage advise only when it suited me. Only when the supposed outcome I wanted fit the advice I was given. As a result like most of us, I learned mostly by trial and error. I ran off the road into the ditch often. We all seem to have to learn our ‘own’ lessons. Today, I watch young folks do the same as I did. While watching them a lesson I have learned recently is: unless I am asked, ‘offering my advice or opinion seldom is heeded.’ I too was (am still am) stubborn and hard headed. ‘A bulldog,’ I have been called. I still live on the edge according to those close to me. “No risk,no reward,” I say. As a result one lesson that I am continuing to learn: ‘Balance.’ Or what used to be called ‘moderation.’ To this day I struggle for balance. I am getting better…
Recently we visited Amy and her family in Atlanta. One of the reasons for the trip was the celebration of my ‘Emory’s College of Arts and Sciences 50th Reunion.’ Emory’s demographics have changed since I was there. Emory in the sixties was an elite regional university which had only become coed in 1958. Students were drawn mostly from the South (although I had fraternity brothers from Finland). This years class had students from all 50 states and over twenty foreign countries. Our class of 1965 we decided was about 600 graduates. The class of 2015 was double that. This years applications for entrance to the college were over 21,000.
The campus was recognizable but huge by comparison to the sixties. It sprawls over hundreds of acres. Emory has tried hard to keep the ‘woodsy’ feel. The Georgia pink marble that the main quadrangle’s buildings were constructed with slowly was less and less incorporated in to the architecture of new buildings. I was told that the North Georgia marble is no longer available. It is still a breathtakingly beautiful campus. The Quad has all of its original charm. Changed but good change, I suppose…
Not just during ‘Dooley’s Frolics’ but through out the year Emory brought wonderful diverse talent to the campus ranging from: Andre Segovia, Julian Bream, Josh White, Bob Dylan, Ian & Sylvia, Ray Charles and on and on. Ronnie Milsap was an Emory student when I was the Sig Social Chairman. He lived in McTyre Hall a block from the Sigma Chi House. He was a friend back then before he became famous. Back then it was obvious that he was Blessed with talent and often hung at the Sig House around our piano. We Sigs loved to sing…
ENJOY a LOOK BACK:
In Contrast This Years Commencement:
Class of 1965: 50-year Reunion and Corpus Cordis Aureum
A Celebration of Skye
Skye was special. She looked you in the eye and held your gaze. She connected. She was gentle with children and everything. She never had an accident, ever. Yet she could be a bully with Toby, Abner and other dogs. She was the only female in a litter of seven so she learned to be tough. She was the only dog I have owned that caught squirrels. She caught at least two. One day she came around the corner of the garage with the tail of a squirrel hanging out of her mouth. I let her finish her meal. The second time I witnessed her grab another poor squirrel in our back yard. I yelled, “Drop!” She did. The squirrel ran for his life. After that the squirrels lost their taste, I suppose. She tried less. Yard lizards never had a chance. Skye was disappointed when they quit ‘playing’. Despite being tough, when we got her the little daughters of the breed called her ‘Miss Prissy’.
Then there was the coyote who came to our back yard to eat figs from our tree, Skye’s fig tree. One day the coyote and Skye were facing each other off. Skye meant to play. The coyote had other thoughts in mind. After all she was wild and had to find food where ever she could. I put and end to that scene.
The Good Lord blessed us with Skye for nearly thirteen years. We will get another dog. We always do. Probably not another Golden since Skye seems irreplaceable. Her remains are in a cedar box on our mantle for the time being. Eventually I will put her under the ‘Stage-horn Fern’ that hangs from our oak in the front yard with a ball and a toy. That was her favorite spot to lay. When I sat on the porch she was there or in the bushes by the porch. This has been a catharsis for me. This video….
I agree with JRR Tolkien who said something like, “God created dogs to teach us how to LOVE.” Skye certainly made that easy…
DKS