Monthly Archives: July 2013

On the Job

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Flashback Friday is hosted by Camille.  (Click on the badge to visit her blog, which is the home of Flashback Friday.)  Won’t you consider joining in the fun?

Today’s flashback rolls back time for five decades the year was 1963.  I was working my first full-time job as a TV cameraman at WMSB, the TV station for Michigan State University.  At that time we shared transmitter time with a commercial station on Channel 10.  Later, after I had left, the university sold the transmitter and gave up their rights to shared time for enough money to purchase, license and install a transmitter system on channel 23.

A member of the publicity team snapped this shot when sportscaster, Jim Adams (on the left) interviewed MSU alum Chuck Davey the boxer (far right).  Davey boxed for MSU, and for team USA in the 1948 Olympics.  Chuck had a professional boxing record of 42 wins (26 by KO), 5 losses and draws.  Chuck was also the boxing commissioner for the state of Michigan.  I believe he held that position at the time of this interview.

When I was in High School I had watched Chuck Davey a couple of times on TV, so this was a big deal for me.  I was glad to stand behind the camera.  It was even better to meet the man and shake his hand.

Sorry I’m late posting today, I’ve been very busy.  Hope you all have a great weekend.  We’re looking forward to having my three sisters come to visit us tomorrow.  I’ll tell you about that next week.

Wrap Up

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Last week I showed you pix of neighbor Bob cutting the tall grass on the lower part of what used to be our lawn.  There is a two acre (approx) patch that I’ve turned over to him to make hay.  Over the course of a year this may save me as much as $500, plus it gives food to Bob’s beef cattle.  I call that a win-win situation.

Bob bales hay.

Sylvia and I worked hard to clear the willow trees that were starting to grow in that area.  I didn’t want to see it revert.  The background will give you an idea of what it might be.  For that reason, when Bob said he’d like to use it for hay I didn’t hesitate to approve the idea.

I love living in the country.  We have the best neighbors.  Ever!

Ugh — Heat

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Family Gathering

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Last Thursday was the 4th of July.  Sylvia and I participated in what has become a family tradition.  We gathered with other family members at her sister Karen’s house.  Her brother and father drove over to meet up with us and the four of us drove the two hours north.

Karen’s sons and their families were there.  She enjoyed being with her grandsons.  Both sides of this family were there in force.  I won’t bore you with details.  But there are a couple of picture you might like.

The boys with Grandma

The boys were the center of attention.  We all enjoyed it.  We also had a great dinner.  Did I mention that we all enjoyed it?

The boys with great grandpa. I think they prefer grandma.

Fortunately, the weather was not as hot as it was last year.  So we were able to enjoy the fresh air on the large deck.  Good people.  Good food.  Good conversation.  All too soon it was time to head back home.

Someone asked me if this would end up on this blog.  I said, “Probably not.”  But, as you can see, I was wrong again.

Remembering Midnight

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Flashback Friday is hosted by Camille.  (Click on the badge to visit her blog, which is the home of Flashback Friday.)  Won’t you consider joining in the fun?

Today, my flashback involves Midnight, the cat we used to care for.  I sure do miss him and his kittenish ways.  Nellie is a huge contrast.  Much more sedate, and as a consequence, less fun and entertainment.

Midnight atop the kitchen cabinets

My little buddy was full of antics–a real fun-loving guy.

Making Hay

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I Did It

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I have been frustrated in recent years by an inability to read more than a couple of pages in a printed book at a single sitting.  Once in a while something would engage me enough that I might make it through four or even five pages, but then I’d have to lay it aside.

Last Christmas my son showed me his new Kindle HD Fire.  That looked interesting.  His daughter, Briana, had a new tablet, which is also very nice–and it has a larger screen.  A few months ago, I found myself with a few extra pesos and decided to check out the Kindle.  I did and read side-by-side reviews of Kindle and Nook.  I bought the Nook HD+.

That is not my toast. Sylvia bakes our bread, which has a different shape and far better, but this familiar object is included to provide an idea of size.

It has revolutionized my reading habits.  I can now read even 100 pages at a sitting.  It is super!  I should also say that this post is unsolicited and uncompensated.  I just wanted to share my very positive experience with you.

Our friend Shark aka Joan Young’s book North Country Cache is one of the few that I’ve read on paper in the last few years.  If you haven’t read this book, you should.  You can learn more and purchase a copy here.  Or on her own Website.

I recently downloaded the 100 page fiction story, The Hollow Tree at Dead Mule Swamp.  Joan makes this short story available for free download.  I enjoyed her non-fiction a lot and wanted to sample her style when writing fiction.  I was not disappointed.  I’ll be purchasing the other e-books in the Dead Mule Swamp series.

If you’re not familiar with Shark’s blog, do stop by and pay it a visit.  Please tell her that I sent you.  Thanks.

Sylvia’s Mother’s Day Gift

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Bryant and Barbara gave Sylvia a gift card for Mother’s Day.  It has become their tradition.  Sylvia’s tradition is to use that gift card to buy a rose and some other flowers for the gardens.  This year was no exception.

Sylvia went shopping and came home with a rose called Joseph’s Coat.  At least I think that’s what she said.  The following photos will show you why it is called that.

I took these photos this morning.  The cloudy sky did a beautiful job of diffusing sunlight, which meant no post-shoot processing.  Actually, I did crop and resize the images.  This is my practice so that you get faster downloads and so that I use less server storage space for the images.  (You can click on the images, but they are already full-size.)