Golf with My Boys

For the first time ever, "my boys" and I played golf together. Greg, Steve, John, and I played 18 holes at Heritage Golf Course in Overland Park, Kansas. What a wonderful time we had.


After golf, we stopped by a watering hole and talked and laughed about the few good times we have had together. Greg, Steve, and John all talked about how today's round of golf reminded them of the time about 12 years ago when they played golf with Mark, Cindy's husband and my son-in-law, who died in a drowning accident some 11 years ago. They talked and laughed about the great time they all had back then. It was one of the few times the four of "my boys" had the opportunity to be together. We all miss Mark as well as Cindy.

It's too bad we can't get together more often. I guess the distances are too far, everyone is too busy, and life is just too short. So we must fully appreciate and enjoy the few opportunities we do have.

Explanation and Apology

Sorry I have not been posting Blogs on a regular basis, but the wifi signal at our house in the woods had become very weak and erratic. When we returned home from traveling in the Spring, the trees were still without leaves, so picking up the wifi signal from our cooperative neighbor was easy. But then the trees grew leaves and blocked much of the wifi signal.

I have been writing drafts on Microsoft Word so I could post them when I was somewhere with a descent wifi signal. At first, I tried cutting and pasting to the Blog, but I couldn't figure out how to do that without messing it up . . . like ending up with different type styles, script, and other funny characters . . . such as in the posts titled "Triple Celebration", "Dean's 78th", and "Father's Day".

Since "cutting and pasting" didn't work well, I quit posting direct to the Blog and just kept entering draft blogs in Microsoft Word until I could get somewhere with a good wifi signal. Now that we are "on the road again", I will have access to wifi at a Public Library for awhile and I am trying to get caught up. That's why new Blogs are being posted in bunches.

Also, when I am caught up on the new postings, I'll try to go back and straighten out the three postings I messed up trying to cut and paste.

I apologize for all of the confusion.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

A boy's night out. Greg, Steve, John and I went to a Kansas City Royals baseball game tonight at "The K", Kaufmann Stadium. The Royals were playing the first of a three game series against the Minnesota Twins, John's old team when he lived in Minneapolis.

This was the first time any of us had been to the Royals Stadium since the $250 million remodeling project was completed and the "new" stadium is sure a "Wow". It was always an outstanding ballpark, but now it is truly awesome; with new seats, new seating near the fountains in the outfield, a Hall of Fame and a sports bar in the outfield stands.


This is the view from our "nose bleed" seats in the upper deck . . . but it was a "Royals Night" promotion, the seats were only $5 . . . and there really isn't a bad seat in the whole stadium.












Steve volunteered to make the trek down to the concession stand for beer for the four of us and was surprised by a new rule that they will only sell a maximum of two beers at a time to one person . . . a really dumb rule. So Steve made the climb up to our seats with two beers in hand, then made the trek back down for two more, then made the climb back up to our seats. That sure discouraged us from heavy drinking!

But here's Greg, Steve, and John enjoying the beer Steve worked so hard for.





In the 7th inning, we decided to go look at the rest of the remodeled stadium. So we came down from our high perch to the lower level and walked around the stadium to the outfield area. We had to check out the new outfield seating, the fountains, and especially the new sports bar in the outfield. In fact, you can now walk all the way around the field, which you could not do before.


We had a couple more beers in the outfield sports bar where we could watch the game on television as well as through the open windows. This is the view from the outfield sports bar.

Unfortunately we didn't have a window seat.










We then walked further around the field watching the rest of the game and admiring the outfield fountains closeup. The picture on the left below is of Greg, John, and Steve watching the game from just below the fountains in the outfield. The fountains are quite a sight up close.


















This was the first opportunity I have been able to be together with my sons and son-in-law for a very long time. It was a great boys night out at the ballgame.

Oh yes, the Royals won, 4-2.

Greg Meets Family

All of our family who was available came over to our house this afternoon to spend a little time with Greg. I threw some burgers, brats, and dogs on my new grill along with some corn on the cob. Carole made a potato casserole dish. We had to have food at a family get together!


Here's Becky, Carole, Madison and John setting around the kitchen table . . . the usual family gathering place for conversation.













Of course, the kids had to find another table where they could play a game. Sam and Alex, a couple of my grandsons, found the coffee table in the living room where they could play a card game.











And Greg took it all in with a dazed look on his face . . . as you might expect from a lifelong bachelor thrown into a family gathering where everyone talks at once.

Family gatherings sure are great!

Second Story Man

It is sure nice to have Greg home . . . for more reasons than expected. The gutters on the house were beginning to look a lot like flower boxes with the tree leaves decaying and the Hackberry trees seeds sprouting up there. So today Greg cleaned out the second story gutters on the house.

I wish he could stay longer . . . I can come up with a lot more projects that need to be done around here!

Sorry I didn't get a picture of him hanging on the ladder up there, but I was busy mowing the lawn. You didn't think I just stood around and watched him clean out the gutters did you?

Greg Comes Home for a Visit

My son, Greg, lives in Guam. No, he's not in the military, but he does work for the Department of Defense. He has been a resident of Guam for over 20 years and does not have the opportunity to come home very often, although he has occasionally flown in to spend some time with us while we are "on the road" no matter where we are. But he has not been home to Kansas or seen his brother and sister or nieces and nephews since Christmas of '06, nearly three years ago.

So it was really great that he flew into Kansas City today and I picked him up at the airport. Here he is picking up his luggage (golf clubs included) in the Baggage Claim area.











He will be here for about 10 days and we have great plans for his visit. By golly, it is sure good to see him!

Triple Celebration

Most of my family was out-of-town or otherwise busy on Sunday, the 21st, Father's Day; the 22nd was my birthday; and the 23rd was Jordan's 17th birthday. So John & Becky decided to have a "Triple Celebration" tonight at a restaurant. Jordan picked the place, the Cheesecake Factory in Overland Park.

We all arrived at about 7:00; Carole & I, John & Becky, John's Father & Mother, Frank & Bona Crowl, birthday girl Jordan, and two of John & Becky's other kids, Tyler & Madison. We were promptly seated at a large table in the back of the restaurant where we spent a long, long, long time looking at the menu. For those of you who have never been to a Cheesecake Factory restaurant, they have undoubtedly the largest menu and the widest selection of any restaurant, anywhere.

Everyone finally sorted through the massive number of menu selections and the waitress took our order. Our food was very quick in coming. I don't know how they can have that many items ready to prepare and serve so quickly, but all of our dinners were very good.

In the above picture, going around the table left to right, that's me the birthday boy, Carole, Madison, Becky, birthday girl Jordan, Tyler, John, Bona, and Frank.

This picture is me on my 78th birthday with Jordan Crowl, my granddaughter, on her 17th birthday. After dinner, management sent over birthday cheesecake to both Jordan & I. Boy, was it good!

We sat at the table and talked for a long time, filled our to-go-boxes, then surrendered the table and stood around in the lobby talking some more. We finally left the "Triple Celebration" at the Cheesecake Factory at about 10:00 PM . . . then went home for a night of heartburn. Why do I eat so much, so late?

Dean's 78th

When we awoke this morning, Carole started the day wishing me a Happy Birthday . . . but then she pointed out that 78 was a lot of birthdays. I acknowledged that, but told her I was very happy to celebrate my 78th birthday . . . particularly when you consider the alternative.

However, the real celebration will be tomorrow night, so this morning I mowed the lawn, then went into town to get my free birthday car wash, run some fun errands, and returned home to put a flank steak on the grill, which we sliced thinly and put on top of salads for a really great steak salad.

Not a terribly exciting birthday, but thanks to God, at 78 I'm fairly healthy . . . and all the ladies tell me I don't look 78 (maybe they're thinking 77).

Father's Day

Father's Day was quiet. Carole & I went to church in the morning, picked up a Sunday newspaper on the way home, and settled in for a relaxing day.

John & Becky were at Boy Scout Camp near Topeka, where Sam was a participating Boy Scout and his Dad, John, is a leader. Becky drove to the camp near Topeka for Family Day.

The three Moore boys were all in Nixa, Missouri, spending some time with their other Grandparents, Bob & Nancy Moore.

Steve had to work all day and Penny was spending the day with her Dad near Ottawa, Kansas.

Greg was in route from Guam to Norfolk, Virginia, for a conference lasting several days before he stops by here on his way back to Guam.

The three Moore boys were all in Nixa, Missouri, spending some time with their other Grandparents, Bob & Nancy Moore.

Steve had to work all day and Penny was spending the day with her Dad near Ottawa, Kansas.

Greg was in route from Guam to Norfolk, Virginia, for a conference lasting several days before he stops by here on his way back to Guam.

The kids did take turns calling to wish me a Happy Father's Day . . . but Carole & I spent a very relaxed day at home by ourselves. Carole watched some old classic movies on TV, I put a couple of steaks on the grill for our "Father's Day" dinner. Yep, a nice quiet day at home.

Steve & Penny's Anniversary

Today was "Steve & Penny's Anniversary", Dean's son and daughter-in-law. It didn't seem right for them to come home from work and spend the evening of their 26th Wedding Anniversary preparing dinner and doing dishes. So we invited them over for dinner to help celebrate their Anniversary.




Carole set out poached salmon and cream cheese to spread on crackers for an appetizer. Of course we accompanied that with a few toasts with wine while we listened again to Steve and Penny's tale of their long, hot drive to Las Vegas in a Jeep 26 years ago today to get married. It's still a good story!

Dean prepared one of his 'signature dishes', Mango Chicken Curry, and Carole prepared the rice. We enjoyed a great dinner, but were all too full to even get out the raspberry cheesecake Carole had ready. Instead, we just had another glass of wine and enjoyed the celebration.

Here's to another 26 years of wedded bliss, Steve and Penny!

New Camera

The digital camera I have been using for several years is a Kodak, 3.2 megapixel with no telephoto zoom. The pictures I have posted on the Blog are not very sharp and when the picture is of a far away object, the object is pretty small . . . like the deer in the previous post. When I have tried to crop a photo to make the image appear larger, the photo really gets grainy.

My brother, Ron, told me I could buy a new, better camera for less money than I paid for my new barbecue grill. In the mail, I just received a flyer from a local computer store announcing a big camera sale. So, with the need (no, desire) to upgrade, I went to the computer store to find out what's new in digital cameras.

I was mesmerized by a Nikon, 10 megapixel camera with a 5x optical zoom . . . plus a 4x digital zoom. It only measures 2" x 3 1/2" and it's less than an inch thick . . . shirt pocket size . . . smaller than a package of cigarettes . . . and it was on sale for only $169 . . . half of what I paid for the new barbecue grill. Ron was right! The prices of digital cameras have really come down and the available features have dramatically increased.

Needless to say, I came away from the computer store with a new 10 megapixel Nikon camera. Here is a pair of comparative pictures of a bluebird in our front yard:














The photo on the left was taken with my old Kodak, and yes, there is a bluebird setting on top of the bird feeder. The photo on the right was taken with my new Nikon using the telephoto zoom. Quite a difference!

Deer in the Yard

When I first moved to the country over 20 years ago, we constantly saw deer grazing or just wandering through the front yard. In the late summer, we frequently had four or five deer at a time eating apples under the apple trees along the driveway. Also it was common to see quail and an occasional fox trotting across the front yard.

Over the years as more houses have been built in the area and more people moved to the country bringing with them an increase in the number of dogs, many of which are allowed to run loose, the fox and quail have disappeared and we see fewer deer. So it is exciting when a deer occasionally shows up in our front yard.


A single doe appeared today and grazed in the grass out front for quite a while. Carole and I were setting in the dining room eating lunch when the deer appeared. What a pleasant way to spend lunch time . . . watching a deer casually grazing out front.

That's her near the center of the picture out close to the road. I sure wish I had a telephoto lens on my camera!

It's too bad we don't have the experience of watching deer very often any more . . . but I guess that's what civilization does . . . causes much of the wildlife to move deeper into the woods.

Pickup Sticks

A couple of nights ago, a few thunderstorms rumbled through our area and brought with them some very high winds. I heard up to 60 MPH. One of the beauties of living in a wooded area in the country is having strong winds bring down lots of dead sticks and small branches in the yard. This storm was no exception. In fact, this storm brought down more sticks and branches than I have previously seen in twenty years of living here.

So it was with great enthusiasm (joke) that I hooked up the trailer to the tractor and spent nearly a full day playing "Pickup Sticks". I suppose it's great exercise, but a thousand or so "bend-overs" feels a bit like over doing it. My back muscles told me so the next morning.

A Day on the Range

Four of my grandsons came out to our place in the country for a day of shooting . . . "A Day on the Range".


We went to a neighbor's farm where we set up a target to shoot. At first we set up at about 100 yards and the boys took turns with the .22 cal rifle.













Then we moved up to about 50 feet where they tried their skill with a .22 cal revolver.













Then we moved to about 200 yards for some serious shooting. We got out the 220 Swift with it's 8x-32x power scope. Alex went first . . .













then Sam . . .















then Luke . . .















and finally Kyle . . .















They all shot several times and managed to use up about 150 rounds of .22 cal ammunition and about 50 rounds of 220 Swift ammunition. They were keeping score and Sam was in the lead until almost the end when Kyle had a couple of lucky shots and squeaked into the lead.

But most importantly, I was very proud of all of the boys. They not only had very respectable holes in the targets, but I was especially proud of their proper safe handling of all of the firearms. It was a pleasure to spend "A Day on the Range" with such nice boys.