38 Years Ago

In honor of my wife's birthday, here are some notable events from the year she was born, 1970:

January 5 - The first episode of All My Children is broadcast on the ABC television network.



March 25 - The Concorde makes its first supersonic flight (700 mph/1127 km/h).

April 1 - President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, banning cigarette television advertisements in the United States.



April 1 - American Motors Corporation introduces the Gremlin.



April 10 - Paul McCartney announces that the Beatles have disbanded, while at the same press conference, announcing the release of his first solo album.

April 22 - The first Earth Day is celebrated in the U.S.

May 4 - Kent State shootings: Four students at Kent State University in Ohio are killed and nine wounded by Ohio State National Guardsmen at a protest against the incursion into Cambodia.



May 9 - In Washington, D.C., 100,000 people demonstrate against the Vietnam War.

June 10 - U.S. President Richard Nixon signs a measure lowering the voting age to 18.

September 11 - The Ford Pinto is introduced.



September 13 - The first New York City Marathon begins.

September 18 - Jimi Hendrix dies from choking on his own vomit while unconscious due to a barbiturate overdose in London.



October 4 - Janis Joplin dies of a heroin overdose in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 27.



October 5 - The Public Broadcasting Service begins broadcasting.

October 26 - Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury debuts in approximately two dozen newspapers in the United States.



October 28 - Gary Gabelich drives the rocket-powered Blue Flame to an official world land speed record of 622.287 mph (1,001.452863 km/h) on the dry lake bed of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The record, the first above 1,000 km/h, stands for nearly 13 years.

November 3 - Democrats sweep the U.S. Congressional midterm elections; Ronald Reagan is reelected governor of California; Jimmy Carter is elected governor of Georgia.

December 23 - The North Tower of the World Trade Center is topped out at 1,368 feet, making it the tallest building in the world.

Obama on Good Morning America

Obama visited with Good Morning America prior to departing for Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother:

Obama Leaving Campaign Trail to Attend to Grandmother

Our thoughts and prayers are with Barack and his family this evening as he temporarily suspends campaign events to be with his ailing grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham. Mrs. Dunham, 85, had been released from the hospital last week, but her situation has deteriorated and she is gravely ill.

Obama last visited Hawaii in August, when he vacationed there after clinching the Democratic presidential nomination. At least two scheduled rallies have been cancelled, and Michelle Obama will sub for him at several others. Barring worst case scenarios, Barack will return to the campaign trail on Saturday.

Happy Birthday, Sabrina

Our "baby girl" (pictured above at this year's TRF) turned 7 years old today. We took her out to dinner last night at her choice of restaurants - Steak N Shake. She had Tumble-X class tonight, so we surprised her afterwards with cupcakes and ice cream after a late meal of butter noodles (her fave), before giving her another birthday present (she got her bicycle early, in order to enjoy the last days of summer).

This child loves to sing. Much to my annoyance at times. . .=) But, that being the case, we bought her a karaoke machine. She's upstairs belting them out as I type this. . .I'm sure it will get lots of use at her official birthday party/sleepover this Friday night. I'll get through it somehow. . .=)

Happy Birthday, Sabrina!

40th Annual TRF Parade

What started out looking to be a very bad morning for a parade, cleared up just enough and just in time for the event. When we arrived at 7:45, it was raining lightly - by 8:15 it was a steady downpour. We took refuge in Cindy's Diner and enjoyed some "garbage" while the worst of the storms passed.

Having not brought any umbrellas, Jody decided to make a quick run to Walgreen's before the parade began,, just to play it safe. She returned 15 minutes later with two beach umbrellas which we affixed to our chairs. Sandy Thompson commented on the set up as she walked by later "Looks like you guys were ready for this morning"!

Overall, turnout was extremely light - obviously due to the weather. Up until nearly the start of the parade, there was but a single line of viewers along streets which would normally have several rows of people packed in like sardines. The photo above was taken 30 minutes before the 10 AM start of the parade.

Mike and Bethany Montagano walked the crowds before the parade

"I Like Mike"

The Flintstones pass by

One of the FWPD's new 3-wheel patrols

Local blogger, Mark Carboni, was a grand marshal

Mayor Tom Henry and Sandy Kennedy

Police Chief Rusty York

Wayne Township Trustee Rick Stevenson

Ft.Wayne for Peace - Driven by Bruce Hall

Check out a slideshow of these and more on my Flickr page.

And. . .

Check out the News Sentinel's TRF blog.

The Obamas on Access Hollywood

Barack Obama's wife and daughters say they're shocked that he's become a fashion icon in an interview with Access Hollywood:

A Trip to Salamonie Reservoir

9214 West-Lost Bridge West
Andrews, IN 46702-9731
(260) 468-2125

Click the satellite photo for more info:

We tried another "day trip" today - this time to the Salamonie Reservoir, just west of Huntington. Actually, it was a mere 35 minutes from here in Aboite, but you could easily spend the day there. Hunting, fishing, camping, boating, hiking, horseback trails. . .truly something for everyone. We packed a picnic lunch and camped out on the beach before hiking one of the trails.

The river area behind the Salamonie Dam seems to be pretty popular with fisherman - it was rather busy today.
A view from behind the dam, followed by a picture of the reservoir taken from the top, facing east.

A Visit to the Toledo Zoo

We took a day away from things today, and traveled to the Toledo Zoo. One of the many nice things about being a member of the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo is that your membership allows you free admission to many other zoos around the country. There are several within range of the Summit City that make for nice day trips, and with your membership card, you're only out the cost of fuel for you and the car. We were going to go yesterday, but Toledo was experiencing the same weather as we were yesterday, and today's forecast promised overcast but dry skies.

So, of course, it began drizzling nearly the second we crossed into Lucas County. . .we had to duck into doorways a few times after arriving but, overall, we stayed fairly dry. Check out the face on this big guy. . .

Not every exhibit is "family friendly". . .we had to explain that one of the turtles was "just giving the other one a really big hug". . .

For some reason, I couldn't get that old song by Sir Mix-a-lot out of my head after this exhibit. . .

On the way home, we made a detour to Independence Dam State Park, where we watched a guy reel in a catfish that wasn't quite as big as this one at the zoo's aquarium. . .

'rangs are always as fun as a barrel full of monkees, ahem, and this one decided to climb onto the acrylic ceiling over our heads and stick out his tongue. . .

I heartily recommend the Toledo Zoo to other families. There's definitely something for everyone's interests, the food and giftshop prices are reasonable, and there's a nice mix of indoor and outdoor exhibits; an important feature on a questionable weather day like today. It's easy to spend an entire day there and, with the improvements being made to US 24, the drive will continue to get better and better. It was just under two hours from here in Aboite to the zoo's front entrance.

Happy Anniversary. . .

. . . to my beautiful bride of 13 years.


Our first dance as husband and wife was to this song:



And, from four years earlier, "our song":


Happy Anniversary, honey! Thank you for spending the last seventeen years of your life with me!

A Day at the Park

A little over a week ago, Kevin Whaley ,published a post about Foster Park, the suspension bridge to be precise. I've enjoyed that site since I was a teenager a long long time ago, and have enjoyed sharing it with my kids as well. Today we made the trip there once more:

Samantha and Sabrina on the north end of the bridge

The bridge, looking north from the park side
A side view from a park trail

*Note to our out-of-town readers: Our rivers aren't actually dirty. They've always looked the way that they appear today; it's the local soil that colors them so muddily.

Views of the St.Mary's River from the bridge
One of many huge old sycamore trees along the riverbank

Just one of the many treasures to be found in our fair city. . .

Happy Mother's Day

This is a picture of Mom and I in the family room of our home in southeast Ft.Wayne in 1982. I was 18 - Mom was 58. Had I known that she'd be gone from my life before I turned 40, I'd have been holding her much closer in this photo.

Like most of us, I put her through hell, especially in my teen years. But, as it is with moms, she was always there to love me unconditionally and defend me even when there was no possible defense for my actions. I can imagine no worse fate than to never have had a mom in your life, even if for a woefully short time. Many will try, but no one will ever achieve that same bond that a mother shares with her kids.

Mom got to spend a decade with my wife, Jody, before she left us. And she was extremely pleased with my bride. She confided to her that she was at ease with leaving me to this world because she was confident in Jody's love and devotion to me. Her love was unselfish to the very end. I love her and miss her every day, but take solace in the fact that Jody is the new mother in my world. Mom would have loved sharing with her as our girls grow up. She got to know Samantha for her first year and a half, and struggled to hang on to her life long enough to meet Sabrina. She missed that last goal by six weeks.

I miss her, but feel lucky to have had her in my life for the time that I did. Many others in this world have been less fortunate than I in that respect.

Update on Hobbes

I wanted to post an update for those who have been inquiring about Hobbes. His condition improved each day this week, but we scheduled him with the vet today just to be on the safe side.

The prognosis: he's going to be just fine. No infections, but he does have a fractured jaw. The vet informed me that, in this case, it was no cause for concern as he greedily ate from the can of food he was offered!

Sometimes the fracture is bad enough of a certain type that the animal can't properly move the jaw or only do so with pain. We'll keep him on soft food for a week or so and monitor his transition back. He also had a case of ear mites, which they treated. And he was slightly dehydrated. The doctor gave him a subcutaneous fluids injection to hedge the bet. Hobbes was a trooper throughout, and the doc said his heart and lungs sounded great from what he could hear through all of the purring! The only time he struggled was when his temperature was taken, understandably. Turns out cats don't enjoy anal probes, either!!

A Personal Note

On this important date in my life, my mother was born in 1924. Although her parents were told that she would never see her 18th birthday, she persisted in living until August 22, 2001. Mom endured and fought back against leukemia her entire life. She suffered through a lifetime of treatments, pills, transfusions, and my teenage years in defiance of her diagnosis. On the date of my arrival into this world, she was 40 years old. Having two daughters of my own, I cannot fathom her state of mind in adding a new son at that age! Luckily for me, she was a strong woman.

She always claimed that we had a severe winter storm every year on her birthday, and. . . .here we are. It's normally an ice storm, but perhaps Mom's taking it easy on me this year. It would be her way to ease the road ahead for me and to defend me to the very end. There is no greater truth, at least in my experience, that a mother's love is unconditional. You might call her a "doting mother", or "over-protective"; I called her "Mom".

And I miss her. The above picture is Mom shepherding me along to my first day of school at Lafayette Elementary School. In 2005, my wife snapped a picture of our oldest daughter in the same scenario, a mere few miles from this locale and in the same old school district. Samantha was 18 months old when she lost her grandma - she doesn't remember her. But she still takes a present from her to bed with her every night.

Mom had purchased a Thumbelina Doll for Sam as a Christmas present the year that she died. It has served as a bond between Mom, Sam, and I ever since. Good night Mom. We miss you. . .

My Cats Roasting by an Open Fire

Mary Ellen was discussing her "firewood troubles" today, which reminded me of these pictures. I believe that I showed great restraint in not adding "hot pussy" to the labels/tags!

Our oldest "kittens" have found a new favorite spot to hang out. Sassy and Hobbes were born in May of this year, so the fireplace is a brand new experience for them. When not hanging out on the hearth, Sassy can normally be found sleeping on the nearest floor register, while Hobbes maintains a close watch on the food bowl - as you can tell, he's simply wasting away! Can cats be morbidly obese? ?

Should I be worried?

This is what I found when I ventured upstairs a short time ago:



Oh well. . .she'll be six on Saturday. That's why I like it down here in the basement. . .upstairs it's all girlie stuff! The wife, the daughters, even all but one of our cats!

(Whistling) C'mon down here Hobbes, I'll pour ya a beer in yer favorite bowl and we'll look at videos of birds and stuff. . .that's a GOOD boy!

Leaving on a jet plane. . .

I'm typing this from FWA - we're boarding a plane to Florida in 25 minutes. Left in Aboite will be in the capable and caring hands of Stan, Paddy, and Vic. I will also do a few posts if I am able!



This will be the first flight for our daughters - they're excited and pointing to our plane right now. . . hopefully they'll "enjoy" the take-off as much!! I'll talk to you on the flip. . .

Weekend Fun

We just returned from an a labor day celebration at the lake, hosted by Andy and Jill Kaduk. As you can see, our daughters had an awesome time, and are pretty avid boaters! Not too surprisingly, they fell asleep on the ride home!

Jeff Pruitt was also in attendance, and I finally got to meet Nate Dinken as well as the guys from Downtown Fort Wayne Baseball.

I have a reputation for throwing out a great spread for our parties, but Andrew put me to shame - if anyone left hungry tonight it was their own damned fault! There was definitely something for everyone, and the dude cooks up a mean batch of barbecue ribs. Thanks for including us, guys. We'll look forward to seeing you at our next event.

Here's a view from the journey home. . .thanks to cousin Jonathon for serving as a big ol' pillow for Sam and Sabrina. =)

Back Home Again in Indiana

We're ba-a-a-a-ck! Returned to Fort Wayne at 4 pm this afternoon - had a nice, long-overdue break from the real world, and just went with the flow of things.

We arrived at 11 am on Saturday and dropped our luggage at the Palmer House (couldn't check in until 3 pm), and set out in search of some lunch. We enjoyed some awesome pizza burgers and deep-dish Chicago-style pizza at Exchequere, a nice little tavern near our hotel. We were all on our own until our time to meet for our cruise at 6:15. Several of us decided to take a double-decker bus tour that was available. For $25 apiece, you can ride the tour bus around the greater downtown area with unlimited "hop-on's/hop-off's". The tour guides were informative and witty, and we laughed as we learned. This is supposedly a statue of Sigmund Freud that hangs from atop this building:




And here's a fountain that my fellow fans of the TV show "Married With Childen" may recognize from that show's opening credits:


At 6:15 we boarded our respective buses and headed out for our adventure on the lake. This was our vessel du jour, The Spirit of Chicago:


We boarded here at the Navy Pier, which we had visited earlier in the day during our bus tour. Here I am on some sort of large spinning wheel created by a guy named George Ferris:


The "Spirit" didn't really go out in the lake very far, but most of us landlubbers had to get acclimated to the motion regardless. We set sail just before we were served dinner! Fortunately that turned out fine, despite many early complaints of dizziness that were eventually calmed by alcohol. A few shots from the deck:


We enjoyed the fireworks from our vantage point near the Navy Pier before it was time to head back to our rooms for the night:


We called it an "early night" at 1:30 am (our time) so we could enjoy some sleep and a nice breakfast before catching our return ride home at 10:15.

This was our weekend spent apart from our daughters since April of 2004; it was long overdue. I think we'll try to do these sort of things more often!