Alrightnowyoutellme 4

A photo from a trip through Oklahoma

Alrightnowyoutellme. This is a bug that we saw in Oklahoma. We have them here in Wisconsin but this one was quite large and very noisy. I remember hearing them when I was a kid walking to the swimming pool, and for some reason I thought it was the buzz of the power lines. What can you tell me about this little fella? I can tell you that he spends up to 17 years underground before he sees the light of day.

A photo taken in our front yard

I AM NOT A LOSER!

So I just watched the ending of "The Kid" for the 50th time, I never get tired of it. The premise of the movie is that a very successful image consultant is having a 40th birthday, this guy has everything that he could want but he has no one to share it with. Very successful yes, but a lonely none the less. A younger version of himself comes from the past, (1968) to help him out, but neither one knows what to do. At the end of the movie a future version of himself comes from the future to help them both see that the troubles and emptiness is not forever, things do get better. At the end of the movie Bruce Willis screams, "I am not a loser."

The movie sounds and is a little far fetched at first, but it was recommended by someone I trust as a reliable judge of safe entertainment; my daughter. She kept telling me that I would like the movie, and that "The Kid" sort of reminded her of me. Well now I gotta see myself in movies, so I watched. What a great movie, good family entertainment.

This may be personal, but I can look back and remember what it was like to be an innocent kid with lots of flaws and not a lot of friends. I can also see where I am now and desire more in my life, but being cognizant of mistakes and shortcomings in my past, get a little stuck, not knowing if I should move ahead or stay put. Take a risk or play it safe. I can name a few times where I really thought "this" was what I was going to do, and not have it pan out. So I could very easily be "gun shy" about life.

What I would like is for me to come back from the future, and tell me (in the present) that everything turns out great. Or that staying put, is a big mistake and as a matter of fact actually shortened my life. Yeah what I need are some guarantees that my life will turn out great. Yes, some guarantees. The problem is, and herein lies the rub; there are no guarantees. But I do have assurances. The Word of God.

The Bible tells us to, Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not to your own understanding, in all of your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path. The Lord knows my shortcomings and my flaws and still has a place for me in His service. If I trust Him, He will lead me. I do not mean to sound pretentious but if you would trust the Lord with your life, you will have a life that is full. Jesus came to give us life, and life more abundantly.

I have read the same book numerous times; "The Tale Of Three Kings". It caused me to soul search, and at the same time help me understand the Lord a little better. I was talking to a friend who had read the same book but did not like it because it did not give enough of the answers that he would have liked, to which I reply, that is what walking by faith is. We do not have all of the answers God does not always tell us what He is thinking or doing. I do not get to have an old me from the future come to assure me everything is going to be alright, you and I must walk by faith and trust the Lord with each and every day of our lives. He will take care of us.

If we do, we will be able to say, "I do not understand everything", but we will most assuredly be able to say," I AM NOT A LOSER!"

Not Loving Me Back

Here it is the day after Thanksgiving the day I love best (pretty much), but it is not loving me back...ugh. Honest, I did not go crazy, just a little stupid. I woke up in the night, and popped some Tums and drank some aloe juice and went back to bed; Thanksgiving was not loving me back. But I did totally enjoy "Turkey Whatchmacallit" for lunch...yum. I am grateful and thankful for feeling better...yes, yes I am.

I Am Thankful For Everything

Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year, yes maybe even better than Christmas. Don't get me wrong Christmas is a wonderful day and the holiday season is really all about Jesus. But we have twisted and turned and made Christmas about us, so things get a little tense sometimes. Thanksgiving is most certainly about Jesus as well, I am truly thankful to God for everything that he has allowed into my life. My relationship with Him, my wife, my children, and my grandchildren. My mom, (is special, I have always been thankful for both of my parents), and the influence that my dad has had on my life, (I miss him now that he is gone, even though I see traces of him when I look at myself in the mirror), my brother and sisters and there families, I am thankful for a good church, and wonderful friends. Too many things to mention.

I think too often I have not always been thankful for the hard times, the times when I have felt most alone or a time of deepest need. If I trust God, and am thankful for the good times can I somehow separate Him from the difficult times? I do not consider myself old, I am middle aged I guess, but I wish that I would have known how to be thankful in hard times back when I was younger. Every difficult period of my life has afforded me a very special opportunity; to draw closer to the Lord. I did not know that difficult times were so precious and rare. I am drawn into a private place with Jesus and He shuts the door and helps me understand things. Things about myself and things about others that I need to understand and ways that I need to change. Sometimes our visits together take weeks and months, sometimes years. In the end, always precious and humbling.

Black Friday (tomorrow) is the day that some shoppers wait for all season to get the best deals, some will stand in line in cold weather just to be the first in the door. I am not one of those, although I do love a good deal. No one stands in line for a chance at difficulty or trial; things like loneliness, or betrayal, poverty or unemployment, but the benefits and rewards are eternal. But we must be willing for the Lord to change us and be willing to change. If I am not moving forward, after awhile I will be moving backward.

The Bible tells says; Don't think it is strange when a trial comes your way. In another place we are told that all of this difficulty works patience in us, patience works experience, and experience gives us hope. Hope is what I am truly thankful for. I am glad for every trial, and every experience that I have had in my walk with God, but I am very very thankful for the hope they have worked in me. I have a hope of eternity with Jesus. You know being a Christian is not about being blessed here because of Jesus. Being a Christian is about waking up, to the hope of eternity with the Lord. Blessings here are wonderful, but eternity will be much, much, much, better than that.

I say with John in Revelation, Even so come quickly Lord Jesus.

Erethizon Dorsatum...The Misunderstood Rodant

I know we have seen pictures or heard stories about the dogs that have taken on the porcupine and lost, the poor animal has a muzzle full of quills and will no doubt be yelping until the quills are extracted. Many times the porcupine is branded as a cruel monster, but in reality they are pretty quiet and mind there own business.


Anyone who takes on the porcupine in a tussle loses, from bears to berry bushes everyone comes up a loser, except one; the fisher (no it is not a man with tackle box). A fisher is a fairly large weasel who is able to attack the nose and face of the porcupine and inflict fatal damage. If a porcupine ever finds himself needing to defend himself, he will remain still and turn his back and tail toward the danger the enemy poses. He will raise up his bristles and his quill studded tail to protect himself and his tender belly and underside with up to 30,000 barbed quills. Now that is a lot of pain; poor puppy...(i'll bet you never do that again). One morning my dad and I were bird hunting near Sugar Bush Hill in Forest County and came across a porcupine, and he did exactly what I described; we ran up to him and the quills began to spread and raise. My dad then touched his tail and back with the gun barrel and you could really see how the blanket of quills on his back would rise and fall in each area that the gun barrel touched as he was trying to defend himself. Truly a wonder of creation. 


This photo was taken in Forest County just west of Crandon. This porcupine was foraging for food in the fall and did not seem to be alarmed or threatened by me taking his picture. Porcupines like most other rodents are vegetarian so they eat bark, bushes, needles and buds They are sloppy eaters so if you are ever walking in the woods and see chips and shavings under a tree it could be that a porcupine was upstairs having lunch. 


With winter upon us the places that they live in are easy to find. Porcupines live in small caves and hollow trees and logs, they always travel the same trail, so there will be a path in the snow, and the scat will smell like concentrated urine. 


Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for porcupines, and the fact that I have I have never had a face full of quills.

Alrightnowyoutellme (3 reveal)

It is now time for the reveal. The snake was a Fox snake. I know that my hint might have been a little lame but I mean really, aren't all snakes a little sneaky and sly? They do not have a lot going for them otherwise, it's not like they are going to get up and chase down a rabbit on two legs, so they slither and slink silently until they strike.

Thank you to everyone who responded back about "Frankie the Fox Snake". You know he is the one who doesn't have a lot going for him he just slinks around and...writes his blog... oh Good grief.

Pages from my 40 year old, "Reptiles and Amphibians" Golden Nature Guide

Honkey Man (revisited)

Last night after I had fallen to sleep I heard this soft but slowly swelling sound interrupting my sleep; it was after midnight. The car horn! I jumped up ran out to the garage and gave the steering wheel a jerk and the sound stopped. So I went back to bed and really hoped that it would not happen again, after all I have been driving the car for days and not one beep. I was awakened again by my wife telling me it was happening again, but even before she spoke I could hear the droning of the car horn slowly building to a scream as I was being dragged from a restless sleep by the sound; for crying out loud it is after 3 AM.

So with a little encouragement I took matters into my own hands and fixed my car today. It was cold so I used my heater to warm up the garage. I unplugged the SRS airbag fuse, no deployment, so waited to work up more courage. I took a star tipped screwdriver and loosened the screws (there was quite a bit of horn honking while I did this) and removed the airbag unit. The quarter was lodged all right but I got it out. No more warm fuzzy nostalgia for me. I put everything back together and it all turned out fine, so I replaced the fuse and turned on the ignition and the airbag light went off. Now the car is fixed. Mary is happy, which makes my life a little more manageable, and I wont need to give the mechanic $130.00 after all, so I am happy as well.

A B-eagle

The joke goes like this.
Q. What do you call a sick bird?
A. An illegal (an ill-eagle). You know something that is unlawful...get it? I know it is a bad joke.

So
Q. What do you call a big bird?
A. A Beagle (a big-eagle). You know a big......oh forget it. Hope you like the picture.

This eagle was found in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, along Hwy 45.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

My plate my cookies...yumm

I was over at my mom's house today, helping her however I could. It is pretty hard to watch your one of your parents or both of your parents get old. I remember one day, well before my dad passed away, looking at him and realizing that he got old at one point and I did not see it coming. Just yesterday it seemed he was helping me move and working around the house. But one day I looked across the table and saw an old man looking back; sort of like when I look in the mirror. My dad passed away a little over two years ago, it was very difficult to let him go.

My mom lives in the same house that I grew up in; I mean really I lived in the same house all of my childhood. One night, when I was spending the night at mom and dads house after they had both gone to sleep. I was still awake listening for someone to wake up or get something if they needed it. While sitting in the semi-darkness of the living room, I heard the same sounds that I had grown up with. The train down the street and cars going down the avenue right outside the  front door, it was sort of strange.

Well anyway I was at mom's today and getting sort of restless just waiting around to do something so I decided that I would make some homemade bread and some fresh cookies. So I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Now, I am not a big fan of peanut butter cookies, but they are soft enough for my mom to eat. She had about 3 bags of chocolate chips in the cupboard so I made PBCC cookies.

My mom loved them and they were pretty simple so here goes, and I am all about simplicity in cooking and baking.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1     Cup     Soft Butter
1     Cup     P.Butter (crunchy if you like)
1     Cup     Sugar
1     Cup     Brown Sugar

2    Eggs
1     tsp       Vanilla

2 1/2   Cups     Flour
1 1/2    tsp        Soda
3/4      tsp        Salt

1      bag      Chocolate chips

Mix well the butters and sugars, then add the eggs and beat until it starts to get sort of fluffy looking. Add the vanilla and mix. Last add all of the dry ingredients and mix well. Scrape the bowl and make sure that there is no gooey unmixed stuff on the bottom of the bowl. Scoop out any size cookie dough ball that you like. I press my cookies down with a fork and criss-cross the cookie top, just like my mom and grandma did. There are a few variables to consider when baking, like the type of cookie sheet and the oven's personality; but you know your oven and your cookie sheets so have at it. I baked mine at 370 for 10 mins, (give or take).

enjoy

Alrightnowyoutellme (3)

I know it is another snake, I do not mind snakes that much, as long as they are on the road and I can run if I feel threatened. I took this photo in Wisconsin. It seems to have a smaller head than what you might expect I am guessing that this snake was well over two feet long. The photo was taken a couple of years ago but I am sure that they are still around. Here is a clue to help you name the snake; "he seems rather sly".

 Alrightnowyoutellme a couple of things that you have found out about this sssssnake.

Maybe you can find some info here...or not.
http://goofysmartkids.com/index.html