A Happy Birthday

Well, I have been intending for quite some time now (every since my birthday) to write a short description of how nice my birthday truly was this year. So, you might be thinking... why did you wait til September to write about something that went on in June? I guess that would be hard to answer except to say that our Summer has been extremely busy this year. So, I am just now getting around to it.

I received many remembrances of the day from many family members. I received a huge assortment of pecans from my Mother and Father. They will prove wonderful for pies, baked goods and just general snacking.

I received many nice birthday cards and Rob's family brought me a basket of "nostalgia". It was clear that a LOT of thought had gone into it.



It was an interesting assortment of goodies including many treats I enjoyed as a child (such as Cracker Jack, Raisinets, Sugar Babies, Goobers, and just gobs of other candies - most of which I remember purchasing as a child at the local movie theater). Included were the best hits of John Denver and a game about Legendary Comedians (from my childhood also). So, that was a pleasant and enjoyable edible surprise (with which my children helped me considerably).

On my birthday, I went to work that day(it was a Thursday), but I went home from work in a happy mood because things were going well there. I had been wanting to obtain a pair of replacement lenses for my glasses and perhaps try out the vision store's new "computer glasses" so we piled the family into the SUV and went to the store. There I got my eyes checked (they were A-OK) and ordered the glasses. That was a nice way to celebrate my birthday because my old lenses were starting to give me some problems at the computer screen. So, glasses on order, off we went to dinner!

I would have to say it was indeed a fantastic dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Joy was still out of town so it was just the four of us - Sheila, Mark, Leah and me.

It's pretty pricey so we don't go there often but that night I had a delicious Ribeye steak - man was it good! We also had their "awesome blossom" of fried onions and french fries plus salad. Hey, on your birthday, you gotta have some fun so cholesterol is probably a minor concern - at least for one day! Since it was my birthday and since my youngest daughter took particular delight in passing that along to the waitress (she was getting even for her birthday in May), they brought me a nice desert item (and a song). I enjoyed the desert and it was worth listening to the horrible singing that preceded it. So, my dinner that evening was in a word - delicious and I really enjoyed it.

When we came home, Sheila presented me with my birthday surprise and it was quite a surprise! She had bought me an electric guitar! ! ! It's an absolutely beautiful instrument in black and tan colors with a white border around the outline of the guitar.



It sounds great and she included all the goodies such as a carrying case, a "blues" music book and CD, amplifier, cords and etc (even picks)!. I guess I had mentioned to her one time in the music store where Leah takes trombone lessons that I would love to really know how to play the guitar and I was admiring their many MANY electric guitars. Well, she decided to take the step that she knew I never would take - she bought me one. With the receipt of such a serious instrument, I felt compelled to be more formal about my pursuit of the guitar. I had pursued it in the past and I still have my Frederico Garcia classical guitar from the 70s but I just never found the right teacher I guess. So, I signed up for lessons at the same store where Leah learns and where Sheila purchased the guitar. My instructor is a really nice fellow who can make a guitar sit up and sing. He does a great job of challenging me with new material nearly every time I go and he helps me to learn the "proper technique" which hopefully will let me sound pretty good one day.

I am happy to report that after three months of lessons, I am finding that I really believe that one day I will be able to play the guitar with reasonable proficiency though I have no expectations of becoming the next Chet Atkins. Har har. Still, I have found that practicing the guitar is a great form of relaxation and with time I am sure I will be able to adlib a bit on it like I do on the piano.

So, all-in-all, it was a delightful and excellent day with many happy returns from family members, co-workers and many more. To all of you who participated in any way in making my day a bit brighter, I want to say thank you sincerely. It was great!

All my love,

Jerry

Where NOT to be...

Ok, I admit it. I rarely cower in the corner when a lightning storm goes by. Rather, I am probably more fascinated by it than I should be and with all my fancy electrical engineering knowledge, I just assume that I will know to watch out for my hair standing up on my head just prior to a strike so I can drop down to the ground at the last minute.

Yeah yeah, that's all good in theory but when the real thing comes around, it can really change your perspective...

Well, this afternoon, I had just a few hours between getting home from lunch and evening services at worship so I thought, hey, I'll just try to go ahead and get the yard mowed since the pickup for trash is tomorrow morning early and I really hate for the grass to sit around for a week if I don't make tomorrow's pickup. Well, the forecast was for rain today but none of that stuff seemed to be forthcoming, so I decided to drag out the mower.

It had been beautiful, breezy and bright when we got home from lunch but by the time I got the mower out and fueled up, I discovered that a black cloud was moving in. I can't say it looked like anything unusual and not really one of the heavier types either. Just a typical cloud though it was a good sized one. So far, though pretty dark in color, it was otherwise behaving itself with little thought of lightning nor rain.

So, I jumped in my indy car mower and began cutting the front lawn as fast as I could so that maybe I could get the front yard done before any real rain moved in. Well, I had just finished the front and was cutting the east side that goes back to the gate to our backyard when the rain started up. It was light at first and I thought "hey, as long as it doesn't get heavier than this and as long as the yard isn't too wet, I'll just keep going. I'm gonna need a bath anyway!".

Well, no sooner had I thought that but a lighning bolt came down some considerable distance from me to the southeast. There was the usual and reasonable delay in the report reaching my ears from the time I saw the flash so I said "hey, it's still miles away but I should probably move the mower to the front of the garage until this passes".

As fate would have it, as I started to move the mower to the garage front (which was closed), the heavier rain came in - along with some heavier and louder lightning. It seemed prudent not to leave everything in a pretty good rain, so I opened the garage door and drug it all inside out of the drips.

I stood there a few moments about six feet inside the garage watching the rain get heavier and heavier. Bigger and bigger drops were coming down now and really kerplunking off the Rendezvous and Dodge mini-van parked in the drive. The splashes got bigger and it soon became obvious to me that I would not be taking the mower back out today. So, I began re-arranging all the yard implements to put the mower back in place where it sleeps between jobs.

As I looked toward the front of the garage and the houses across the street, I was quite surprised to see a lightning bolt come down right before my very eyes! Fortunately for me, the object of its attention was not me nor the houses directly across the street but unfortunately for the occupants, it was determined to blast the house on the next street over (of which I have a very clear view between the houses across the street from me).

The bolt came down blue and bright and it struck the chimney with dead-hit accuracy and the report from the blast, instead of being the usual comfortable rumble that takes some several seconds to reach my ears, was an immediate and sharp cracking WHOOM!. As best I can describe it, you would probably compare it to standing about ten feet from a fellow who is firing a twelve-gauge shotgun and you have no hearing protection. It was incredibly loud and it happened all so fast, that I didn't even have time to jump.... I just stood there and watched.

The lightning was of course dissipated in an instant but the next several seconds were vivid. I watched as the entire side of the chimney on the south side of the house was blown out of the side of the chimney! That's right, two sections of chimney wall, about two and one-half feet wide and about three feet tall fell right out of the side. They tumbled off the side of the roof into the yard below and something resembling smoke or steam was left circulating in the air above the chimney.

To my wondering eyes, what had been a solid chimney that looks just like ours outside, was now showing its insides to the world. You could see where the bricks had been blown away and in fact, the clay flue liner was broken too with only the upper portion remaining. I guess the lower portion must have either fallen down into the chimney or blown out with the wall.

I got in my car and drove over to that neighbor's house to see if they were ok. Another neighbor had arrived too with intent to check on the occupants. The lady who came out the front door knew it had been close to her home but did not realize it had struck her home because she said electrical things inside "seemed to be working". Of course we all know that it can take days for electrical damage to show up from a lightning hit sometimes. So, the other neighbor and I explained to her that her chimney had been struck and the entire south upper wall of the chimney was now laying in her backyard. We walked around to take a look at it. There were two massive sections of bricks laying in the side yard and they had missed her air conditioner (which was still running amazingly enough) by only a couple of feet.

I suggested to her that it would be wise to call the fire department and have them check out the chimney above the roof and inside the attic to be sure nothing was smoldering. She went inside to call the fire department and I and the other neighbor headed home. A few moments later, I heard the fire department on its way to the lady's house.

First, here's a picture of the house from my garage so you can see how close it is to my home. It's the house in the background just to the left and behind the dark green tree. Look at the chimney closely.


Then, here's a closeup picture of the chimney after the blast. As you can see, the entire south side of the chimney is now gone. The fireman in the picture is inspecting for residual problems. He tugged on the east side wall in front of him several times to make certain it was still securely attached to the chimney. He removed many loose bricks and pieces of masonry and tossed them to the ground:


Last, the fireman is seen leaving the rooftop after inspecting the chimney...



Last, another close-up of the chimney....



Wow! Some excitement huh?

Here's the moral of the story boys and girls. We take it for granted that lightning is always something in the "distance". It won't hit US! Well, that's not true. If you hear lightning approaching your home, turn off and unplug expensive toys (way ahead of its arrival if possible), then stay WAY AWAY from any windows. You will NOT have time to avoid the strike if it comes down near you and it packs a WALLOP! Look at these pictures again if you doubt that. I, for one, will not be standing in the garage watching the next time an electrical storm comes along!

Well, I thank our Heavenly Father that no one was hurt and with some brick-work I'm sure the lady's home can be restored to normal. She was very lucky it did not set her roof ablaze.

So, stay safe and don't think it won't happen to you.... because it just might if you aren't careful to stay out of its way!

Love to all,

JR

p.s. - another electrical storm is on its way... so BYE!!!!!

Watching our Children Grow

I guess there are many mileposts along the road of parenthood; holding your child for the first time as they draw their first little delicate breaths, hearing them say their first words, watching as they cautiously take their first steps and ride their first bike, waving goodbye each day as they embark into middle school and then high school, and ultimately college. There are I hope many mileposts to go as yet including jobs, perhaps marriage and perhaps the miracle of grandchildren.

I recently came upon one of these significant mileposts with my son; the acquisition of his first car. Oh I suppose in the grand scheme of things, it is but a minor detour in the road of life but as shared experiences go between father and son, it is one that affects fathers significantly - perhaps more than mothers.

This weekend I assisted my son with... car shopping. He had done his homework and rather than going for the hottest looking sports car with the largest horsepower rating, he had chosen from a collection of sensibly priced and economically performing automobiles that were likely to protect him in the hopefully unlikely event of an accident. I was proud of him for his frugality and his intelligence in realizing a car is a great thing but there are other things in life worth pursuing that will require future monetary investment and so a car purchase, while important, is to be handled prudently and wisely. He had narrowed the search to a couple of models and a few test drives here and there soon rendered the decision an easy one for him. Once he had chosen the object of his motoring desires, it was off to a dealership that claimed via the internet, to have one just like he wanted. To our surprise, the vehicle was reaonsably priced, very attractive and just as described in the internet information. So, we proceeded over the next two days to purchase his future "wheels".

Yesterday, he and I traveled back to the dealership to conclude the arrangements and drive his "baby" home. It is a pretty blue car with metal flake paint and many nice features. It has sufficient power to keep him out of trouble without the excess horsepower that would likely get him in it. I won't describe it in any real detail here because he is enjoying showing it off in his blog. So, if you wish to see it, go take a look at his blog.

Today he drove ME to work! What a turn about. Instead of my driving him with me to work, he now took command of not only the controls but the entire vehicle because it is HIS vehicle! Wow.

When I look at his vehicle I realize how he must feel because I remember how proud and how enamored I was with my first vehicle; a Chevy II (Nova) with a 230 cubic inch inline six cylinder engine. I could well imagine my father having similar thoughts about my first car - that it was enough vehicle to protect me without tempting me to excesses in terms of acceleration.

I guess I view my son's car with mixed emotions. Of course I am happy for him to have such a fine vehicle and the means to afford it. I am happy that it provides him with a sense of independence and self direction and yet it is probably those same things that affect me personally the most.

Yes, his car is a symbol of his coming of age. It is a reminder to "Dad" that his "little boy" is growing up and sprouting wings and here is a sure sign of it. Oh yes, I know, my "little boy" hasn't been little for some 8 years but I guess you never stop feeling that way about your children as a parent. As he grows more assertive in terms of what he wants out of life, becomes more mobile, more capable, and certainly more self directed, it is a time for me to pass the steering wheel to him in more than the automotive sense. I do so reluctantly out of love knowing that for him to fly, he must test the air. I can warn him of the turbulent zones, the things in life that are downdrafts and the joy of the updrafts but it is ultimately he alone who will control the course of his flight.

So, as I ponder these new thoughts brought about by the simple purchase of an automobile - something I have personally done a dozen times or more (but without these kinds of feelings), I consider the fact that I am proud of my son and I am happy for him as he grows into adulthood. He is a fine man and a very intelligent and capable individual.

Our children grow up, sure - that's just part of the physical side of our lives. We all grow older if we are blessed with good health and avoid the accidents of life. However, I think, for parents, our children no matter how capable, no matter how adult in behavior or responsibility, are always our children in our hearts. I don't suppose we can help but feel that way.

So, I am thankful to God for my son and for my daughters. I am thankful that my son and I have lived to see this day and I pray everytime he heads out on another journey in his new "love" that his trip will be a safe one and watched over by our Father in Heaven.

May God continue to watch over you too.....

Take care my loved ones.....

Jerry