LDKBox

A reason for many of my smiles.  Both in the past and to the future of that I am sure!   I have been researching river boats lately and it has been fun.  I am not interested in the poly glass boats that they seem to push around here in Central Texas.  I just looked at a year old boat sitting in some one’s yard with a little dust accumulated from being on display.  It was a sad thing to see the glass fade from dust and wind of the central Texas area.    Aluminum boats seems to take the beating of intermittent use much better than the poly-glass boats.  Hey,  if I was going to be a three time a week boater plus heading to saltwater to fish three times a year I would consider a poly glass boats.   But then all the miles on a trailer would take its toll would it not?

I would like a 22 foot boat.  Small enough to trailer easily yet strong enough to handle rocky river bottoms as well as some time in a salt water bay.  Something like the Sea-Ark boat series.  It will have to be custom ordered through through a local dealer.  I may have to go to Arkansas to watch it as it is built at the factory.  At the very least I will have to have verbal and written communications with the engineers and the fabrication department.  There is another shop in Colorado that looks like a good boat but it is a bow rider center console and I want a  mid-cabin to be able to fish on both ends.  The kind of boat that I would like to purchase would be a aluminum sea runner of some sort but then I would not be able to trailer it.  The kind I would want would be 12 to 14 feet wide.  Of course I cannot afford a twelve to fourteen foot ocean going aluminum sea vessel in Texas.  I might as well sell the house and purchase a 42 foot Grand Banks then.  Well… that is just not going to happen… now is it?  If I had a picture of a sweet little devil I would insert it here…but I don’t.  So I won’t.

The river boat will cost around the price of a Corvette or Camaro ( I had both cars scoped and priced out prior to heart surgery in July 2010).  So I have will have a pretty good initial grub steak to finance this boat.    I have to purchase land and get a shop built before I purchase a boat,   It won’t take long to do any of these items once I decide to spend the money.  It is not like I have to go to the bank and borrow the money.

So I had to pay if I wanted to play.  With this new heart I have a feeling I am going to able handle a boat.  There are a lot of places to go with a boat and explore, fish and hunt.  I plan on going to a few of them in the upcoming years with my friends, brother’s, son or possibly by myself.  I remember when I would think nothing of loading up the old wooden boat in Galena and heading off to any village on the Yukon with fifty gallons of fuel and oil and not much else.  I made it through those times I think that I can make it through future times.   I will go well prepared with proper planning.  Are there any good rivers to fish, hunt or camp on in Indiana?   I would like to try west river fishing in South Dakota and the Missouri river.  Of course there is the Mississippi but for some reason I am reticent to float my boat on that river.  How about traveling the Erie Canal?  How much do you think it would cost in canal fees?  All things I need to know.  I am going to start researching how to do that very thing… using my computer on my satellite connection in my new boat on a lake near my property with the new shop that will be in Harker Heights while I get it all worked out.  It should be fun!!!  I might even rent moorage at the marina to make it all the easier to research these new trips.:)

I hope all have been feeling well these last few months.  I  will again apologize to all of you my faithful few followers  for my paltry postings for recent as well as long term posting on my blog.  My energy is developing.  I can see some strength coming back.   My zest for life seems to be rising at a steady but slow and controlled pace.   I am as excited as a cat in a room full of rockers to experience life again.  Things are really starting to perk up around here.  Ellen has had some bad days with pain in her hip and its accumulated wear and tear of 20 years of military life..  I feel so helpless with the hip pain that she experiences.  It is hard to remember pain when I do not  have any pain. Yet I would help her in any way if I were able.  In this case I am not.  It is frustrating.   How convenient…eh?

I figure I will be able to spend at least a month each year fishing,  hunting,  and camping.   Plus,  all the Boy Scout programs with and for my son, Kellen.   I have eight years to get ready for my last Alaska moose hunt with my son, Kellen,  a future Eagle Scout in the boat  with me.

To coin a phrase from the TV show the “A-TEAM” …. “I love it when a plan comes together.”  I see my former spiralling life coming into focus with clarity and control.  With faith and trust I seemed to have stayed the course.  It is a good time for me here in Texas.  I am blessed!

Maybe we could work a trip out by combining NASCAR and fishing?  No hurry but if you would be interested it would be my treat.  For the first one… I hope we all live long enough to have many.  Get in touch with me on the lake in the boat by the property I purchased.  I may just want to stay home.  How is that for a big spending fellar?  Goofy is a term that comes to my mind.  There are many others of which I will not mention.  I know I am pretty happy at home!!  What else matters?

I have said this before but I think I am going to be around a little more I have considerable energy and hopefully my enthusiasm does not wane.

Comments (0) Oct 11 2010

This weekend my son, Kellen and I participated in a Cub Scouts function at Arrowhead Lake just 20 minutes from Harker Heights.  I had mentioned to my wife that I would not let Kellen down and be prepared for the outing.  I am happy to say that we attended and had a wonderful time.  It is our third year in Scouting and Kellen is learning things that I know will help him today as well as into the future.  In three years I have been very pleased with the growth that Kellen has shown in attitude and interest. 

It was a typical function with many dens gathering up to spend a little time outdoors but the full intent seems to be to let the kids have  fun all under the guise of learning how to orientate in the woods.  The boys spent a lot of time sitting around whittling on sticks.  All trying to produce that elusive perfect stick to place marshmallows on for Smore’s.  I was surprised at the attention span that the kids had.  You would think that seven young Cub Scouts with knives would be sort of dangerous.  Each Cub Scout knew, that with a knife in hand,  everyone needs to be on their best behaviour.  After questioning Kellen so often as to why he is not listening to me I was glad to see that Kellen is listening most attentively to the Pack leaders.  He made me proud many times during the outing.  His, “Yes, sir,” and “No ma’am,” responses to each pack leader during the day kept me happy.

Since the boy’s were constantly kept busy with one activity after the other it was not surprising that Kellen requested that we hit our bunks around nine o’clock in the evening.  Although I was not particularly sleepy I was glad to see that Kellen was tired.  In events like this if the child is wanting to go to sleep it is a sure sign that he wants to get a good nights sleep to be able to do it again in the morning.  Which we did.

It was dark, wet, and rather cool on the outside of the tent but inside we were two toastie tenderfoots resting within the confines of the tent.  Kellen laying on an air pad and his Father laying on an even bigger air mattress.  I was somewhat embarrassed with the use of the air mattress until I saw a neighbor pull out a full size Queen air bed which both he an his wife were to sleep on.  I am a big fan of being comfortable but a full size queen airbed is a bit much for this old duffer.  My wife has a cot that she uses made with canvas and a sturdy aluminum frame.  When I had a pickup to haul things around it did not matter what one carried with them to the camp.  Now that those days are gone it makes a difference to me what I carry since the HHR made by GM Chevrolet truck division has a lot of fun inisde the cabin of the truck but it does not have a lot of storage space so Kellen and I have to be picky about what we take to camp.  Although as long as he is warm I am sure that it really does not matter to my young tenderfoot Bear Cub Scout. 

To be honest the best thing about the weekend campout for this old duffer was when my son woke up in his sleeping bag feeling a little cold.  I had heard him sit up in bed so I pulled my bedroll from over my head and opened up my sleeping bag.  Nothing else needed to be said.  Kellen scurried over to my bedroll and curled up under my arm and blanket.  There were no more heating problems for Kellen and we both slept several more hours very comfortable and warm.  I treasure the complete trust that Kellen displayed to his Father.  Every parent knows of what I speak.  Some things cannot be described credibly.  The one thing sure is that I want more of those experiences in my life and know that they will come less and less as Kellen grows older.  Hopefully, even as they become less and less he will remember them as fondly as this “old goat.”

Comments (0) Oct 12 2009

IT is raining in Texas.   Wow, we sure needed it!  We are in a three year drought.  My lawn has suffered but my back has been eased because lack of water means the lawn does not grow.  It will now… so the back will soon be suffering.  LOL! 

The rain allowed my battered body a little reprieve from the exertion of walking Kellen to school.  I feel like a mixed martial arts competitor that lost a fight the previous  night.  Luckily,  I do not have a black eye and with luck,  I will finally have that distinctive half moon scar above my right eye.  Although it most likely will heal with little or no scarring what so ever.  I don’t know why I always wanted a scar on my face.  With a half moon scar above the right eye what were they going to call me….Scarface?   I don’t think so.  Cow jumped over the moon face…no.  Half moon face…no.   It probably is just as well.  What good is a scar if one does not have  a good story to tell about how tough and dangerous your life has been?  IT is not like I fought off three attackers while delivering a baby and helping a little old lady across the street…All at the same time.  No,  that is not what happened.  It is not like the military veteran who without regard to his personal safety fought and saved a village in a foreign country without weapons by  taking gun fire from agressors and shielding others with his own body while he quickly and methodically permanently erased all the agressors from the village.  No that is not what happened either. 

IF your a regular reader of this blog you will already be informed as to the situation that I am referring.  Namely going head over handle bars on my bicycle yesterday.  I was so relieved to see it raining this morning.  That meant that I did not have to walk or ride to school with Kellen.  I can walk with relative ease but I do not want to do much since my toes are sore and my shoulder is a little tender as well.  The ride in the rain with Kellen to grade school and Jonathan to High School  allowed me to see the different ways the neighbors enjoy the rainy weather.   There were a lot of cars at both schools because of the weather.  then I observed the walkers that despite the weather were doing what they do.  Go to school.  Some had jackets with hoods, others used a newspaper for temporaryshelter of the rain while waiting for the bus.  Still others who simply ignored the rain and shuffled on to Buffalo despite the dreary weather. 

This brings to mind the days after school of my youth.  A September day which has the smell of harvest permeating the air.  The latest cutting of hay laying on the ground.  Each farmer chomping at the bit to get into the field to bring in the harvest.  The corn fields are quickly turning from the beautiful emerald green to the golden autumn color which will appear soon ater the first frost.  On those days coming home seemed boring.  Work has ground to a halt.  Only the tractor that feeds the cattle will be operated today.  With the hired men confi9ned to the farm yard there is little need of a ten year old boy.  So with five buckle boots on each foot, my father’s well worn full length rain jacket slightly dragging in the Iowa mud, and my Mother’s favorite garden hoe this tenyear old went out to the yard to divert the water so it would drain all the little puddles into one big one.   Little did I know that my innate ability to find the low spot of the yard would soon get me in big trouble with my Father.  Boy did I have a good time.  When my Father finally saw what I was attempting to do he had a minor melt down.  HE started waving his arms as soon as he got out of the car.  I did not realize,  when I first spotted him,  that he was upset.  I really thought he was happy to see me.   So I waved back.  Instead of invoking a smile it brought about even more frantic movement from my Father’s arms.  Now this motion I understood.  IT is the international parental sign meaning “WTF”!!! 

It was the best of times…. moving mud is fun…To the worst of times…paying for moving all that mud.  How was I to know that we did not need extra water to go to the low spot of the yard?   My Fatherexplained it to me between wacks to my butt that the yard did not need my help to make it worse.  “Ya but..”  I said to him.  Not much else would come out of my mouth.  I got a pretty good lickin that day from my Dad.  Yet it is somehow worth it now that I remember all of the little details of the moment.  On one hand you have a ten year old boy that had the best intentions in mind.  A ten year old that had a memorible  experience re-dedicating drainage from one area to another with the intent of doing something that was not only good but it was adventurous as well.  Because I felt that I had discovered the headwaters of the Missouri or the first to find the Northwest passage.  All the men that worked on the Hoover Dam did not have anything over this adventurous litle boy.   My Father also explained that I did not need to dig a trench through the high spot of the yard because the movement of the water would cut through the soil and cause erosion damage.  If now were then, I would attempt to try to convince my Father that what I was doing was just what the men of  the Erie Canal did but with erosion.  Yes,  I know it would not work  but I would give my kingdom to see the look on his face as I try to explain it to him if given the chance to do it again. 

I never did tell my Father what I had intended to do that day.  Like I said all I got out was a “Ya but” and my Father finished the whole thing with a definitive directive to never attempt to do that again.   I never did but seeing the children of Harker Heights, Texas walking and playing as they went to school brought about memories of what fun can be had in the rain.  The other thing that is good is the fact that I have these good memories of being disciplined.  I never did do it again.  But when I finish this blog post try to visualize seeing  a 57 year Father of one eight year old son communing with his deceased Father standing together in the back yard puddle  in the rain creating the new Northwest Passage for Harker Heights, Texas.

Comments (0) Sep 12 2009