The race is on….ELK Season

The race is on….ELK Season

Today is the day of opening season for either sex. For those of you who are living on the East Coast…  Elk is like a large deer. Meat wise it is compared to a cow size. And taste..  Which is ironic as the elk sexes are BULL AND COW..   When the season starts it is bulls only… which was last week..  so here we are about 7 days in.. and it is cow season and that is when it gets serious… meaning you can kill either one of them..  a really open season… It is kind of figured if you don’t get one during cow season..  you are not in a good position..  See there is more of the season.. about week..  /cow season is only 3 days if I recall right.  But there is that week after.. and then there is black powder season, about a week.… But come Nov… it is over.. there is still deer season.. but deer is poor man’s elk.   Elk is more like beef and it is BIG..   Deer is small, and well, it doesn’t taste like anything but venison… if not cooked right, it taste like liver. I like the roast better..  Ken cooks the steaks as he can do it just right.  Me it is a 50-50 deal. But I make a great roast.

So today is the big day..  it is up at 2am.. (NOT ME) so he can get up there with his buddies who camped out.. He comes home at night for a warm bed and shower…  Then they leave camp, and head into the woods..  Because Ken is the senior guy now.. he gets to take the guys and drop them off at the top of the hill or mountain..  and goes down to the bottom and pick them up when they walk thru.. The young guys.. (The under 65 guys.)  Also while waiting for them to come out.. he sits there with his rifle.. and if they scare one his way… He gets to take it down..   the good news is that is near the road…  just about ¼ of a block from the road. So carrying it is not bad.  It is the ones who shoot near mid way.. who have the long haul..  That takes cutting it up in quarters. Load it on your back and head for the truck. Or nearest road so a truck can come get you.   Last year the guys did not get any elk.. only deer. So we are hoping for at least one Elk.   It is split between all he                                      who are hunting with you…  That is the rules of the hunt.  He who helps pack it out, and helps with the processing the meat.. gets a share.

And we women, most of us don’t hunt.. Use to.. when younger..  but now we get to stay home and keep the home fires burning. AND  we get to do as we DARN WELL WANT TO DO..  Some of us read books and drink tea.. watch the shows on tv WE LIKE.. and then there are some, it is party time with the girls..  Either at one’s home or the bars.  Go to shows their husbands wouldn’t be caught dead in..   So you see there is benefits to both sides. 

So here is to a great hunt and all the guys get their tags filled. 

 

Honor your Pastor month...... bears repeating...

I wrote this about 2 years ago... it bears repeating..  

HAPPY PASTOR MONTH... 

Being a Pastor.

As each of us religious persons, head to the church of our choice.. be it to see our Pastor, or Priest, Rabbi, or what ever else the head person is called… many of us take them for granted.

Many think that the night before he sat at his dining room table and wrote out notes or even .. word for word what he plans on saying the next morning at the Sunday (or Saturday) service.  Words of wisdom.  And then he goes home at the end of the day with his family or fellow Priest.

Never giving a thought of what the job actually entails.

Maybe if we were to sit around talking and having coffee and the subject would come up .. of what exactly does that person do..  maybe some of the other things would come up. Like running the church, of what he has in mind that is good for those who show up for services each week.  Good for the children. And the teens.. the elderly…

Maybe we would remember that they go to the hospital when one of the people ends up in the hospital.. due to sickness, or the pending death.   Some might even mention that maybe he goes to the jail to talk to jail mates.   They might think of those as some of the job description.. 

But what about the toll it puts on that man .. oh, I guess I should be a disclaimer, as there are some that are women.

But what does it mean to the clergy person?  And most of all.. his family.

Do we call only from 9am to 5pm on week days?  No. there are calls at dinner time.. asking for help, or to tell of a tragedy in our families, and he/she leaves the family and rushes to the place to be of help… be it something physical or prayers.. or words of comfort.   Some call on weekends.  Not even Dr’s have these hours that the clergy person has.  See they are available 24/7… where Dr. (unless they are the  small town only dr.) have back ups.. Other drs. that cover for each of ours at any certain time.  As they also cover for other doctors.  But it is rarely that there is a back up for the clergy. Yes there is jr. clergy at some churches so they can fill in for a service..  but it is the main guy who gets the call in the middle of the night or in the middle of dinner.. and etc. 

Being there really is no time off.. days off… they are available 24/7… what about the days, they head to the hospital in the afternoon, and visit with the family… sits with the person who is ill… hours of it.. and then heads home.. it can be an out of town hospital.. so it is hours of driving home.   Dead tired.. wore out.. and a lot of times.. no thank you giving… thank you for coming with no notice.. yet there he/she is… Trying to comfort us.. when someone should be comforting them.  What about the crisis in his own home.. Kids in trouble..  or illness of his own family.. their parents, or spouse, or even the kids..  who is there to say.. God will watch over you.. it will be ok..

To deal with humans as they have to do daily.. different problems, some times the parishioner will wear them down.  Not all problems are easy to fix.. and hard to comfort.

This is why some clergy burn out.. unless they can take months off..   Just a vacation doesn’t always cut it..

So with this being HONOR YOUR PASTOR MONTH…  maybe a kind word.. some comforting words.. words of appreciation… sometime we just don’t think about them.. we take them for granted.  And that is a horrible thing ..to take another human for granted.  

Maybe a small note to them.. to say thank you for being there.. than you for your guidance. … what do you think?

 

I’ll go first..  THANK YOU PASTOR CHAD.. (Sandpoint Church of Nazarene )  thank you for being there for all of us… thank you for your research to find the right words to guide us thru life.   Thank you for being on the run in those early hours, and sometime finishing up so late that your family has gone to bed..   THANK YOU seems so little to say.. but know the large words are filled to the brim with everything in my heart.   You must be doing something right.. as your oldest son is following in your footsteps..  and all of your children are following yours and Jamie's lead. 

 

And THANK YOU Koby, Carlie and Janine… a great crew we have.

 

HOT TUB … HOT TUB… YEAH!!

HOT TUB … HOT TUB… YEAH!!

We had our hot tub die last week..  The King took down half of the wall, and slid it out of the little house it is in.. Then he got a saw and cut it in half.. took it to the dump.. This was after testing the pumps and engine.. finding them fine, but the panel board was fried. 

A friend saw him taking it to the dump..  asked  him, if he wanted another one..   She would give him hers..   It was smaller, but that was fine with us. So Saturday, he went and got it.  Took the trailer around the yard and back into the area..  put rollers under it and slide it inside the little house.   He spend 2 days wiring it correctly, then he got the water in.. and started to heat it up.

By 6pm. yesterday. the tub was hot.. 103…  After working on it all day and getting the wall put back in.. we were beat. Our backs hurt, our legs hurt.. So being able to get in it was wonderful… 

He knows something that he can do for her, so he is going over tomorrow to take care of that..   Great to have good friends.

This is OUR AMERICA…..

This is OUR AMERICA…..  

If you have been watching the news the last week, and more so, the past few days…. You have seen Ashville N. C.  is in trouble. Water has washed away the roads….  The hurricane took house after house…  Even the people who still have their houses.. have no electricity.. no water … and for a while no roads..  Some still don’t have roads… But this past weekend..  there are trucks after trucks after trucks.. hundreds of them..  Workers, thousands have showed up to help these people who lost everything.  It is hard to watch the video’s of how bad it is..   

Hurricanes are no new weather hazards..  We have seen hurricanes for years..  a hundred or more years.. and it seems like there is more now.  I lived my young life in R.I… we were use to hurricanes..   But this one .. this one seems different. For one thing is Ashville is way inland from what a hurricane usually comes thru. It is more a coastal storm…  This one was more powerful than some of the past ones.. or maybe because it is more inland, it seems like it.

Before even FEMA arrived..  people were coming.. People with mules started a mule train to go thru the area where no vehicle could go.. taking in water, food… and what ever else they thought they could use, in those bad areas…  the ones no one was able to reach the first day or two.   Small churches are opening their doors to help give a place for people to go… opening their doors for the workers who have come from far away… 

THIS IS OUR AMERICA…  Take the politics and the nasayers, the people who are shown on television shows and news..  that upheave our towns…   THAT IS NOT OUR AMERICA….  THESE PEOPLE in North Carolina.. the survivors, the helpers, those with little .. sharing what they have..  THAT IS OUR AMERICA.. 

AN I AM MIGHTY PROUD OF THATAMERICA…

Ups and downs of life….

October 1, 2024 good morning Fall..

Ups and downs of life….

So yesterday we heading to Spokane Valley to return a part that was not needed in the restoring of the truck..  And we got our money back for that…  Then headed to a spa place to find out if our motors were good or not… for our hot tub…  Scored well on that..  as BOTH of them were just fine… The guy is one of those older guys who knows his stuff.. without a computer involved.. Remember those guys?   So he made a suggestion of the fact the heater might be the problem.. maybe it kicked out the breaker..  Sound reasonable. 

Off we go to the restaurant the King loves and not so much from me… Top of China… it is an all your can eat place.    The food was ok.. seem not really hot, but not cold either.. which was odd as steam was floating thru the air.   After we ate, we headed home.. and the traffic wasn’t bad.

Upon arriving home… I went to get something out of my jacket pocket… when it dawn on me… after I could not find it.. I LEFT IT AT THE RESTURANT… which is 45 miles away.. I called and yes they had it..  told them I would come and get it today… 

The King comes in..  he is bummed..  The motors are fine as we knew… and the heater is fine too… THEN he noticed a  little bit of smoke..   it is the master board..   fried…   This is a major part.

So now the decision…. Is ..  it worth the price.. or is it time to give up on it..  We decided… the hot tub is 20+ years old..  While we would love to get a new one..  but while getting the motor checked.. I saw that they average $10,000.. for a small one.. and that is what we would get, as we don’t need one as big as this one is. 

So we will think about that for bit .. and decide..  Maybe there is someone who repairs master boards. 

WHERE IS THE TIME GOING?

WHERE IS THE TIME GOING? 

Here we are at the end of the month for September!!! SEPTEMBER!!! THAT MEANS THIS YEAR IS ¾ OVER!!

I was just starting the summer a few weeks ago.. Well, it seemed like a few weeks ago..  But Summer is history and we have already done the beginning of Fall..  

Tomorrow is OCTOBER!!  I am still hanging on to summer.  Well, that isn’t quite true, as I have changed out my summer clothes for my winter clothes and have 99%  of my yard art in the yard put away, thanks to the GGBoys.  BUT my mind is still in Summer…

Oh, geesh, that means it is 7 MONTHS AWAY. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

Some days are more trying.. than others..

Some days are more trying.. than others..

I have had to deal with insurance companies..  both about our truck but also health insurances..  And even other companies.  All dealing with the world as it is… and I am soooooooo left behind.   Over all, I am glad to be of the old system..  But once in a while.. it crashes into the NOW of today’s…   99% of that is to deal with internet, computers and such..  I have mention we don’t have smart phones.  I tried that.. failed.. I own that..  it was way over my head and the machine knew more about me.. than I knew about me.  And when it could listen to our household… that was the deal breaker.

But the rest of the world is running with it like a dog with a bone. And it is getting worse.  There is AI .. which I understand about 10% of that.  I look at it with fear, because it can copy voices, make its own pictures..  without the owner of the computers or their voices and permission.  Truth is getting to be a lost art.

It seems like it is everywhere.. Grocery stores ads… there is the square.. just click this on your phone.. or what ever..  and you will get the  buys that are cheaper ..  What about those of us who don’t have smart phones..  Some elderly don’t even have cell phone… Yes there are a few out there..  We are being left behind…

Click on the square..  or what ever they call it…   click on it to give your money to your church,  click on it to pay for your food at the fast food place, click on it to get you plane ticket…  oops they don’t do tickets anymore.. 

There is texting.. you ever try texting with a flip phone??? Where you have to hit each button until you get the letter you need?  And then when they text.. they say.. click on this blue line of letters and numbers..  Our flip phones are not connect to internet..  we can’t  click on anything..  So we are out of the line…  I don’t do text  unless it takes 3 or less words.

Yes, the world is flying by us..  thank God for granddaughters and my kids.. who have help me out soooooooooo many times.

 

BLESSED BEYOND BELIEF….

BLESSED BEYOND BELIEF….

These last couple of days… we have been blessed beyond belief.

Starting Friday early am… when the King and his friend.. who is almost like brother to him..  started the wonderful weekend.

Maybe I should start at the beginning…

In August, if you read my blog you know that the King was in a accident that was not his fault…  a man made a bad quick decision and made a left hand turn in front of our truck.  Which of course, hit his car, spun him around and the truck kept going, past them on the ditch line… and our truck hit the telephone pole dead center of our grill. Thankfully the pole did not snap..  And it appears there is no injuries to persons.. THANK GOD for that..  truly a blessing.

After no contact with the man’s insurance..  (their side would not return calls) we had to turn in a claim on our insurance.   Long story short, we decided to buy back our truck and get it fixed. As this truck has special place in our hearts.   Then the Blessing started. 

Blessing one…..  a good friend who is a logger and has multiply equipment… loans to the King a huge trailer that our truck could fit on. Then another friend, steps up and says.. my truck will tow that trailer for you.  So on Friday the two left, with the truck on the back of the trailer.   A memorial trip, with a flat tire,, time taking waiting for the tire company to come.. and put two on the trailer.  Then they encounter… what we in this area calls    I-5 PARKING LOT… As they were going thru the Seattle to Portland alley…. During work hours of 4pm to 6pm…  taking about 3 hours to get thru, when it is normally and hour and half.   So 12 hours later they arrived. 

The good friend took the trailer back home to the other friend the next day without incident.  Blessing number 2.

Then Saturday morning… starts BLESSING #3…  The truck was attacked on all side.. top to bottom.. and by the end of the day..  All damage was removed.. replaced by parts purchased…  and in the paint room, buy night fall.   These young men  (ages 56 to 61..lol)   transform this truck back to the original shape of when we bought it 12 years ago.    It was amazing for the King to watch these men work so hard for him.  He joked with them.. they tormented him. Seems the King’s painting talent is not quite what the men envision.. He had done some patch work about a month ago…  Which was a great source of entertainment for the men. .  So on Sunday it was a day of waiting for the paint to cure.. so they got the grill and bumper ready for putting on.  There will be a wheel alignment with in a day or two.  And then the King will be heading home, with a restored truck. As good as new. 

What makes this such a great Blessing, is these men.. which is hard for me to type..  as I have called them boys for so long..  over 50 years…  are my son’s…  I should say ours.. as they call him more than me.    These son’s the King inherited when he married me.  They were adults at that time and of course now…  But when these 4 men and my husband get together… it is a time of a life time.. the joking, tormenting, and yet the love that is shown on both sides..

They answered his call a couple years ago.. when the bed of the truck was falling apart.. They found a replacement.. painted and  then had us come down and pick it up..  That time too, was at one of the son’s shop… with all 4 on hand.. to remove and replace the bed.

But this job was far more…  

Our blessings is OUR son’s..  Amazing 4 ….   I am SO PROUD..and it brings tears of joy to know they have turn out to be such fine young men..   By the way..  the King has tried to pay for this..  and was greeted with… NO WAY.. PUT YOUR MONEY AWAY… AND even one time was hung up on…. When he was trying hard to get them to agree…  THIS WHOLE RESTORATION…. WAS DONE WITH LOVE.   WE ARE BLESSED BEYOND BELIEF….

 

AT THE END OF THE DAY

So I got sidetracked.. and forgot to do Tuesday..

So I got sidetracked..   and forgot to do Tuesday..

This has been a busy week and I have gotten side tracked. Getting the King ready to pull out tomorrow.  Have the truck loaded and ready to be transported to a family garage, in Washington state…. to get it put back into good order..  

I will be staying home to keep the home fires burning.. And he will be staying with the truck..  And then driving it home..

But we got the list and check it twice and maybe a few more times…  adding a couple other things TO DO BEFORE.. he leaves and a list of what to have with him. 

A few  other side lines and we are good to go .. we hope and pray..  Life handed us lemons and we are trying to make lemonade..

 

I AM PROUD TO BE AMERICAN…..

 

 

September 16, 2024

I AM PROUD TO BE AMERICAN…..

 

Like the song Lee Greenwood  sang… I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me And I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.

 

Today’s  people don’t understand AMERICA like those of us over 65.

We studied in school..  civic and history… of our AMERICA…  We lived at the end of the depression and during World War II, then on to the Korean War. And then Vietnam…  a lot of our fellow classmates fought and did not come home..  But that was pretty well true of the wars of all our history. We are almost to the 250^th year of our country.. still a baby compared to many other countries.. whose history goes back a thousand years.. 

 

When we say we are proud to be Americans,  it is because we know what it took to start this country..  how many died to get the land away from England..  so we could be free..  free to pray to whom we wanted to.. or to not pray at all. It was our decision.. not the government.. And that is what the Constitution was made for.. To have an understanding of what America was to be. Forever.

There are amendments put in to fine tune it.. to make it more applicable  Like giving women the right to vote. And a few others. .

 

Many have tried to say it isn’t any good any more.. It doesn’t apply to their way of life now… that it is too old…

It is not perfect,  But this piece of paper that our ancestors drew up… has served us well… for almost 250 years.

We have fought to keep it .. to protect our citizens.  There was the revolution, there was the Civil War that was not civil… there were those who tried to burn our federal buildings down..  

So those of us… cherish and want to protect our federal buildings because they represent our country…. The Capital disaster of January 9, 2021….  Hurt us..  sadden us,  broke our hearts, because what it presented.  Just like the Flag..  those of us.. over 65 and some those who fought overseas… honor that flag..  for some who fought, it was what kept them strong in war prisons.. There are those who made the American flag out of what ever they could, in those camps.. that raise the moral of fellow prisoners..  Some were beaten for doing such a thing…  OUR FLAG… MEANS LIFE IN OUR COUNTRY.. PRIDE IN OUR COUNTRY…  To see the younger generation burnt it.. burns holes in our very souls…  They just don’t understand.

 

They confuse Congress and the federal offices and personal with being AN AMERICAN…  Those representatives… are their own people… they are for sale to many rich people who want to trash out country or turn it to something they want, that is only good for the few.

THEY ARE NOT AMERCIA..  they are mere humans, who try to tell us they are for us….

 

American is the farmer in the mid west.. trying to get his crop to grow. His cattle to market, It is the mechanic who is trying to fix a car for an old lady who doesn’t have much more than her Social Security check,

The person who steps up behind a mom with 3 kids and her card doesn’t work… or she doesn’t have quite enough money to pay for the groceries..  and pays for her..  American is the person who tries their best to do a good job for his employer,  to give their children what education they couldn’t afford… Without federal loans they didn’t qualify for.  The ones who are kind..  even the grumpy guy who will turn around and do a bit of kindness, because he has been there.

He is the fisherman, who takes his boat out in to the sea, before dawn, with a small crew, to get fish for the vasts to eat.

We only hear and see on the many media’s the LOUD, the PROTESTORS.. who think THEY should make the rules as they destroy and burn the town they are protesting. The LOUD who run for office and have a pack of lies that they say, to have you believe enough to vote. That you find out, it wasn’t for you.. it was for them and their group..  Congress use to be for roads for the nation, health for the children, SS for the elderly… (which they took.. they used the word ..borrow, but borrow means it will be given back).. They were suppose to be for THE PEOPLE..

New words are alternative truths,  AL which copies the human race.. the entitled.  Trying to slop entitlement over to SS, when WE WORKED FOR IT. 

We over 65, wake each day, and hope we make it to the end of the day, we hope we aren’t taxed out of our homes, We hope we can afford good health… And still remember what AMERICA STANDS FOR..  Not destroying property, not lies… twist of words… But our COUNTRY.. the LAND,  the PEOPLE who use kindness..  We need to stop the anger against everyone who does not believe the same ideals..  To comprise with out losing dignity.

It should not take a day like September 11, 2001… to bring the country back to decency … and sadly that only lasted a week.

 

So when I tell you…  I AM PROUD TO BE AMERICAN… I am not telling you I am proud of our government… I AM PROUD OF THE GOOD PEOPLE who live here…  And for those who decide to come here because their country is not what they want…  Come legally, come as a hard worker to join the others.. not fight against the others. And for those of us here..  remember our ancestors came from a different country at one time too. 

I would like to see kindness, compassion, without being used. But in unity. 

 

GOD BLESS AMERICAN …. OUR COUNTRY AND OUR FLAG..

 

 

 I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me And I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.