I am missing Washington.

 It’s been a long week and it’s not even over yet.  Looking over the pictures from our Washington trip, reminds me just how much fun we had, and how much I miss Washington.   Then again, after a long drawn out week at work;  I miss Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Arches, Mesa Verde, Pikes Peak, Dinosaur National Park, Badlands, Wind and Jewel Caves, Mount Rushmore, Mount Baker, Olympic National Park, The Hoh, Rocky Mountain National Park, Longs Peak, Flat Top Mountain, and a host of other national treasures yet to be visited.  It is these visits which recharges my spirit with energy to gain the inner peace which helps me appreciate each day of good health I am fortunate enough to experience.   I wish all how stumble across this page good health and the ability to see what is good in your life and the ability to tolerate that which is not.

   Tomorrows already looking brighter.

Day 15, because Day 14 was a bust.

Day 15 of building the back yard fence.

  Your probably wondering, “is this guy ever going to finish that stupid fence!”  Well, the answer is “Not Today.”  Yesterday was a very late work day, so by the time we made it home there was not much daylight left to work with.  So, tonight it was time to get back to it. 

   The remainder of the posts over to the far corner were wrenched out of the ground using nothing but pure brute force.  So after filling in all the holes, which were of course all in the wrong place, it was time to install more new fence sections.  So this evening, there were two new eight foot sections of wood fence that where dug in, nailed and screwed into place. 

   There is only about twelve feet remaining to get to the far corner.  Then it’s time to turn the last corner and head back up the hill for the remaining three sections worth of new fence to finish out the whole back yard! 

   And the best news of all, it I stepped on the scale this morning and saw a number which has evaded me for over the last 15 years!  Only seven more pounds and I will be under the magic two hundred, which I have not seen for even longer.  The ultimate goal would be to get back down to my ideal one-ninety.  Only another seventeen to go.  The fencing exercise program does seem to be working.  Perhaps I will really need to consider entering into the build-the-deck exercise program once I finish?

Day 12 and no fence building.

  Well, it’s day 12 and not a single old board or post was taken down, or new installed.  Was it the temperatures in the upper nineties that held me at bay?  No, it had nothing to do the high temps or high humidity, though either of these could have been a great reason for not trudging back down into the yard. 

  The reason was, I had a dinner date with a great little grandson and daughter, which had to take priority.  Of course no dinner would complete without my partner for life, being by my side.  Besides she was driving today, and as we sometimes car pool, it would have been hard to attend without her.  Not that I would have wanted to mind you.  So this evening we had a gourmet treat at the De Lay Meno Wendy’s, where only the finest hand picked sources of Idaho’s best are served, along side some of the best Midwestern pure-grown ground beef paddies.

  Upon returning home after our feast of the senses, the back yard did have one calling which could not be ignored.  The grass had continued to grow over the last week and required its’ weekly cut to once again give it the flat-topped butch haircut appearance I keep striving to maintain.  Of cource there are lots of days left in the week to make further progress and continue the exercise program.

Day 6 – Only one more day before the “Day of Rest”.

Day 6 of building the back yard fence.

   Well, after spending a most wonderful day at work, I returned home to what is beginning to feel like the “project without end”!  Actually, I did manage to get a couple more sections of the old fence torn down in preparation for the next session of new fence building.  

   The good news is I was able to get another good couple of hours of power lifting exercise accomplished.  So at the end of the days, or rather evenings workout, I trouged back up to the house completely drenched in a glissing coat of sweat.  Strapped around my waste was my genuine carpenter nail sack holder loaded with six pounds of reddish rust covered nails, all of which were bent into every shape except a straight line. 

   As of this evening approximately sixty percent of the old fence has been totally disassembled and stacked into the corner of the yard which contained what was once the beginning of our summer garden.  We may not be growing great looking flowers or a selection of fresh vegetables, but we have a really great pile of wood which is taller than any flower we could have grown anyway.

  Now, what to do with an ice cream pail full of rusty nails?  And, I’ve still got forty percent of the fence to go.  Then again, isn’t the seventh day supposed to be the day of rest?

Just an average Swedish, German, Norwegian, English, Swiss; American

Just an average Swedish, German, Norwegian, English, Swiss; American.

That’s me.  I’m an American with relatives throughout Europe.  So what makes me different than any other citizen of the United States? 

I do not have 2.7 kids, but I’m close.  I’m not young, but then I’m really not old either.  As the average American is either Male or Female, I guess again; I am average.  I am fair skinned, but can get a pretty brown tan in the summer.  I’m happily married, so perhaps I am not really average, according to the latest polls anyway.

But the single most important thing, that makes me more than average is; my thoughts are my own.  Each person is a unique collection of experiences and learned information.  Every person may on a whole have similar experiences in many regards, but their’s are still unique travels through the life stream they live.

The one thing I do share in common with someone from lets say Sweden, is I have some DNA which is similar at certain points along the long line of double helix, that makes the basis of my body.  Some of the extra fat reserves, I have to take blame for myself.  But then, I can say the same about someone with lineage from Norway, Germany, England or even Switzerland.  Guess I’m kind of a Hines 57 sauce at heart.

But in mind, I always remain that unique individual, that blended together in the fabric of life, makes me me.

The Power of a Word!

The Power of a Word!

   Words have the power to change feelings, which can be one of the greatest powers in the world. 

“Love”, is one of those words which has the power to make you feel like you are one of the most important people in the world, or it can take you to the depths of despair in the case of “I Do Not Love You”. 

   We each utter words every day of our lives.  Words that can leave behind a trail of “love”, “hate”, “sorrow”, “happiness” and “despair”.   It is said we sometimes speak without thinking.  But truly, how can a word be uttered without thought somehow driving the process.  Again feelings come into play.

   It is speaking without feeling that epitomises the ability of a person to cause emotional pain without intent.  The emotional baggage loaded upon another person has proven to be more than some people can bear.   People have chosen to lose and ear over words of less.

   Then again, the simple act of saying “Thank you” can instill a feeling of warmth which extends to the depths of a person’s heart.  Were-as, expressing a “Thank you!”, to the person who just took what was the last sale item on the table, can generate a completely different emotional response in the other person.

   So what is said, many times has to be taken into account with the how said and circumstance’s in which it is said, to understand the feelings that may have been generated.  The ability of the good writer to do the same, but only in written or printed word is equally as interesting. 

  Words can be more than they appear or sound to be.