From Ivie

Here it is, July 19th and I write from Ivie today. I've had several problems with the mail system and the net in general but maybe today they will let me through to say howdy from Texas. I have stayed pretty close to the shade since I came down and have ventured out to fish only a couple times. I feel that by the weekend we will have a cooler couple days and I hope we take advantage of that to fish some.

Rufus was down when I got here but had to leave this past Wednesday to go back for a job. I did get the skype hooked up long enough to talk to Helen and then to Rufus for a few minutes. He's looking to be fairly busy for some time and don't know exactly when he will be back down. The patio here is framed up now and will be screened as soon as Rufus gets the screen to us. The fence is slowly coming to the point of being painted white and completed hopefully by Sunday. I have helped on that project in the cool of the mornings but when the sun gets up very far I shut down.

Doug has gone to play poker at the Owls' Roost. This is a bar where the local patrons enjoy dancing and live music. I don't think the live bands get there but maybe every three weeks or so at this time. I don't know how much Doug will donate to the cause since he did say he was going to be back in a couple hours. Here's to Doug!

Stuck in ill-ville

Here it is Friday the 7th of July and I was hoping to be at Lake Ivie at this time. Luck sometimes is good to us and then other times it is no more than what it is. I've been down with something and have lain in bed for the better part of the past three days. I am doing better thanks in part to the great homemade chicken soup my sister made for me this morning. I am having some problems with the hip again and it causes a great amount of pain at times. Along with the other aches and pain from this flu like yuck I have the hip wanted its' attention much like the little Kim in North Korea wants his attention. A shame we can't give that little bastard what I have, sort of a carrot if you know what I mean.

I am hoping that Monday brings with it the healthier side of me and travel will be in the forecast if that is the situation. I am looking forward to the visit to the lake as always and hope I am not disappointed this time around. In conjunction with this visit there comes the connection to the outside world that is due to take place there when I go down. I hope to get hooked up to the internet and have TV on this visit to the lake. We will see. Much to think about and hopefully much to do when I finally get to the lake this time.

Here it is Wednesday and I realize it has been some time since I last posted so here I go. Helen came in Tuesday and the kids were with her. They were excited to be here and looking forward to some fun in the big city. Today was a day for swimming and also some riding around the neighborhood on the golf cart. Helen rode with them and let each one have their turn driving. I could see from their faces that this was a hit with them. Tomorrow will be another swim day and from there well, I have no idea.

I will get some pictures up perhaps tomorrow and let the kids see how the site looks with their smiling faces peering back at them. The post will become more regular here in the near future and perhaps I can get more focused on what I want this to be about. Till tomorrow when the smiling faces of our visitors from California appear I will close this post.

Just to let you know I am still here I wanted to put something in the blog today. I haven't felt really great the last few days and have stayed in the bed a little more than normal. I suppose whatever it is will either take up roots or, once it finds out it really isn't cramping my style, it will move on to the next victim.

Having some problems with a camera I got recently or, to put it more precise, I'm having problems installing an internet camera I recently bought. It appears that I need not only the IP address and subnet mask of the camera but I need to assign a gateway and DNS to correspond with the network address. Hello, Why are all my buddies fishermen and not tech folks? What to do now is the question at hand. I need to sleep on this. Yeah right, as if that will help, later.

summer and plans

The month of May draws to a close and summer stands ready to welcome all those who look forward to this time of year. I don't deal with the summer heat as well as I did in years gone by but, still I survive. With the temperatures getting into the hundreds already here in this part of the country perhaps you can see my reasoning when I talk about the heat. The summer season will change though, and fall will take its' place and with that it gives reason to continue and not complain too loudly. Planning ahead makes all this easier and gives reason for me to deal with the heat and just keep the whining to a minimum.

Vick showed up and spent the night Sunday and we had a great visit. They made the trip in from Oklahoma City and left out Monday morning headed back to Las Cruces. It's always great to see old friends and sit and reminisce. When Vick and I visit we are forever talking about the next hunt as well as the last one and where we think the best water will be for our next couple day fishing trip. We sat and recalled some of the places that no longer permit entry to hunt or fish due either to the encroachment of people and business or due to nature and weather in its normal cycle. Take those particulars along with some new regulations by the state and you will see old hunting and fishing areas being regulated away from the very individuals that provide those state employed people with their salary, ironic huh?

We laid out some plans for a couple new adventures in spite of those gripes and now all I have to do is just hope finance and health permit the trip to those places to actually happen. Never is there enough planning and plotting for these excursions, there just aren't enough hours in just one night to plan these trips out. We did try Sunday night to do just that but, we finally gave up after midnight. With the plans we have in mind I guess it will have to hold me over till we get together again and follow up on them or sit back down and do some more plotting. There is a deer and elk hunt that we've lined out for a couple months down the road, also Lake Elephant Butte here in New Mexico is supposed to be drained in early July so, we want to try a stripper fishing trip before that takes place. Don't know if it will happen or not but then again, a lot of the fun is in the anticipation of the trip. For now I will let the memories of those trips replay till some new trips hit the billboards.

Memorial Day

This day I sit and think back on those brave individuals that have given their all in defense of this great country. I am thankful to them because without those men and women we could not stand here and enjoy the freedoms that this nation has been given by those brave individuals. Those brave men of courage went into the face of battle and willingly fought and often times gave their very lives for country and for countrymen. They fought for that ideal that America was something more than just a country, but was a country which from the beginning was blessed of God. Let those brave warriors be remembered always. Let their struggles be looked upon as an inspiration for those that would volunteer to follow in their footsteps and serve their country even this day. And let those of us who are the recipients of that courage be eternally grateful and pray their sacrifice not be wasted or trivialized by the everyday bickering of our politics. God bless America and God bless our troops.