quote of the day

Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.
--Richard Armour

afternoon interrupted

We were sitting around visiting this afternoon, stuffed with a wonderful meal and cake and ice cream when a fire call came over the radio. Off I went. I went to the fire station and drove off with one of our tankers. Someone had set something on fire on the highway and it quickly spread up a hill and caught the woods on fire. The Forestry Service responded quickly with bull dozers and within two hours we had the fire knocked down. We had a total of 6 fire tankers helping. After I arrived on the scene I was put to work directing traffic and with the use of a radio my partner and I kept traffic safely moving through a narrow defile clogged with all manner of fire fighting equipment.
This is a photo of the truck I drove to the fire.

note:

I forgot to make mention the source of those delectable morsels. Although Dorothy is an excellent cook, alligators are not readily available in our area. We picked up the chickens and appetizers at Hebert's Specialty Meats in Tulsa. Check out their website, you can have the stuff shipped Fedex.

cajun birthday dinner

The left chicken is stuffed with an alligator rice dressing; the middle, broccoli and rice; the right, crawfish and rice. Below, jalapeno peppers stuffed with shrimp and crab.

Hunter insisted that Grandma open her present before dinner. The girls sample the blooming onions.

We combined two birthdays this year. Dorothy and the girls blow out her candles and Burk prepares to do the same.

quote of the day

None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
--Henry David Thoreau

work day for the fire dept.

At the fire dept. we're working on a project. We had some land donated to us and we plan to build a helipad and a new fire station on it. So, today we were hauling gravel to use as fill for the pad and we measured and staked the property.

quote of the day

Life only demands from you the strength you possess. Only one feat is possible - not to have run away.
-- Dag Hammarskjold

quote of the day

Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things.
-- Russell Baker

sixth month retirement report

This will be my sixth and final report on how I'm adjusting to retirement. Why the last one? Because I think I have this retirement thing down. Work is a distant memory. I'm sleeping 8-10 hours a night after twenty years of getting 7 hours or less. I'm just recovering from a lung infection and this cold weather has kept Dorothy and I from walking so I've gained some weight and I'm out of shape, but Spring is just around the corner and I'll take care of those problems soon.
I see the need for self discipline. I have to make myself start the remodeling projects on my agenda, and even though I love to paint I'm having trouble getting started. I have a huge piece of masonite already covered in gesso, sketched out and ready to go, but I keep putting it off.
My job as a volunteer for the fire dept. is a real stretch for me. Responding to the fire calls is very physically demanding, and I'll be kept busy as their secretary, setting up their computer system, scheduling training, reporting to the national incident management system, etc.
Tomorrow I hope to start tilling the garden. This snow has moistened the ground to the point that I can till without letting the topsoil blow away as dust. I'm anxious to get some seeds in the ground, especially since Marley (6) and Hunter (3) are going to help. When Tara and Sami were little I put a sign on the highway and they sold my tomatoes to passersby to make a little cash, so I'm giving the two little ones the same opportunity.
I have some trips planned. We're taking Tara and Sami to New York as a graduation present. Sami won't graduate until next year but this will just be an early gift for her. We also have a wedding/family reunion to attend in July, and we'd like to fit in a trip to the Bahamas sometime this year. After all, it will be our 40th anniversay in August and you can't let that pass without a celebration.
We've had a modicum of success selling on eBay and Amazon and I hope to pursue that a little more. It's always good to augment a modest retirement income, especially to avoid either of us going back to work. I'm beginning to react to that word the way Maynard G. Krebbs did.
So all in all retirement has been good for me. I like spending time with Dorothy. After all these years I'm getting acquainted with my neighbors. Most of the guys on the fire dept. went to school with my daughters and now I'm getting to know them as men. I'm not sitting in the porch swing watching the cars go by, but you know what? I think I'll set aside some time just for that.

jealous lizzy

Lizzie doesn't like the grandkids getting too close to Dorothy.

partners

Watching tv

quote of the day

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
--P. J. O'Rourke

getting out

Dorothy and I went to Tahlequah today in an effort to overcome cabin fever. We'd been cooped up for several days with snow and ice on the roads and it was time to escape. We went to Lowe's and exchanged a defective microwave oven we purchased there earlier in the month. There's still snow on the ground but the highway was clear and dry. While we were in town we ate at a new restaurant called Swanky Frank's. It's a 50's style diner complete with black and white square floor tiles and chrome and vinyl stools. Dorothy and I had chili cheese dogs with jalapenos and a combo order of onion rings and french fries. For dessert, coconut cream pie. The pie was good, but Dorothy can make better.