I subscribe to a site called "German Shepherd Tips" on Facebook. They post some really great photos of Shepherds and many of them have funny captions that portray the nature of German Shepherds. Today a couple of these pictures hit really close to home. I have written a number of articles about the German Shepherd that shared our home early in our marriage...our "first son", as it were. He was an attack-trained protection dog; very smart, very loyal, extremel...
I had jury duty on Tuesday. I hadn't been to the courthouse for a few years and was surprised at the changes that had been made. First of all, they moved the entrance around the block...but they didn't move the juror parking lot so you have to walk twice as far as you used to. Security has been bumped up since the last time I was there, too. I had gone in early so I got a good spot in the jury parking lot and I went through security without too much hass...
In the Fall of 1954, my dad, the Chief, traded in his '53 Chevy on a brand-new 1955 Forest Green Chevrolet 210 (that means it had two doors and a door post), with the first edition of the small block V-8 engine (265 cubic inches), a two-barrel carburator, and a three-speed standard transmission. It was his absolute pride and joy (next to mom, my sister, and me). Little sister cried as they took the black '53 Chevy onto the lot and we loaded up into the new ...
About the time I was getting started with the Fort Leonard Wood Saddle Club, in 1985, I got a new staff sergeant assigned to my instructor team. He was from Arizona; single, a tad on the wild side, and a very good NCO. I was shopping for a horse. I fell in love with a Leopard-Spot Appaloosa that was the sweetest, most beautiful horse ever. He was named Comanche and he was big and strong and so ruined by a string of idiots who had owned him that he was noth...
Every now and then a headline will grab you by the heart and you fill up with emotions you didn't think you had. When I heard that General Schwartzkopf had died this evening, it affected me that way. I haven't thought of the man for a few years at least. I was one of half-a-million soldiers who served under the lead of "Stormin' Norman". He was a real soldier; when he was put in charge, he took charge. Later, after he retired, he kept his...
The weather-guessers have been telling us for days that there was an increasing chance of snow Christmas eve and through into Christmas Day. Last night as we were loading the kiddies in the cars and giving and receiving Christmas hugs and wishes, the tiniest of flakes began to drift down. By the time we got the last of the grandkids secured and the doors closed and the motors started, the snow was falling in earnest. We do this every year, but...
We got some snow last night and the trip to church this morning was more like we are used to this time of year. We have been basking in Spring-like weather the last few weeks...but no more! Three inches of snow is managable but the deep-freeze temperatures are startling after such a mild autumn. The roads were very icy and slick. Listening to the cars in the neighborhood spinning their tires and making that "zzzzzzz" noise reminded me of a night more than twenty...
It is December 7th and something is strange. I have seen numerous references to Pearl Harbor today. This is as it should be; it was a horrendous event, a terrible sneak attack. It marked a crisis point in our history. In literature, the crisis point of a novel is the point at which something happens and nothing can be the same again. In our history, the attack on Pearl meant a change in our thinking, our policies, and our place in the world. No more ...
How many Beatles compilation and/or tribute albums have been recorded, do you think? I own several. One of my favorites is from a group called "Pickin' On". The group is a loosely-formed bunch of bluegrass musicians who convert the music of popular groups: rock, punk, country, hard rock, etc, into bluegrass format and sound. The line-up varies from album to album but the music is always great. They have done two albums on the Beatles, that I know of. I r...
I walked into the main PX on Fort Huachuca yesterday and immediately began chuckling to myself ( I am sure several of the shoppers thought I was some doddering old fool lost in a long-ago memory...wait! I was!). I looked around and was reminded once again at what a genius I am married to. I will explain the reason for the chuckle but have to set it up first. There I was: Stuttgart, West (at the time) Germany in the last throes of my military experie...
I live in a "suburb" of Colorado Springs. Our house is on a hill. Down the hill from us, a mile or so away, is a railroad track that is moderately busy most of the time with coal trains: empty northbound and loaded southbound. Running parallel to the train tracks is a State Highway which is fairly busy most of the day. About a mile or more from the tracks and highway is I-25, a freeway that stays busy almost 24/7. On the other side ...
Every time I drive south out of Raton, New Mexico, I have a little bit of that fear thing tingling on my neck. The emptiness of the rolling prairie is kinda frightful. Us in-the-know folks refer to it as the I-25 corridor, because that is the route I-25 takes...and it is well known for smuggling dope, people, and who knows what else. Of course, since NAFTA, I-25 has been rumbling with truck and bus traffic from Mexico...no need to smuggle anymore, just load it on any ...
My mom, Betty Lou, and I had an unusually close relationship. She was married at 16, I came along at 17, and she was divorced by 20. She used to say that we raised each other. It wasn't always easy for either of us. I remember one hot Sunday when we were getting ready for church, she dressed me up and went to get ready herself. My shirt was starched and scratchy on my neck and it was hot and I was sweaty. So I filled the utility sink in the garage ...
Thomas R. Fuge, MC's father, the senior living vet in our family, a man who served in WWII in the China/ Burma/India Theater. Served his country with honor, returned to start a family and a new career in the fledgling TV industry, became an electronics engineer, finished his career as the manager of quality control at Honeywell's Black Canyon computer manufacturing plant in Phoenix, AZ. He had a successful insurance business for several years after leaving Honeywell. &n...
An asphalt plant is a fairly complicated arrangement of ducts, drums, silos, conveyor belts, and one BIG burner. In one drum, the sand, rocks, and molten oil are heated and churned together to make the hot mix that is then held in a silo until it is shipped to the job. The silos are insulated and will hold the temperature for several hours. In many of the largest plants, there is a system of hoppers and conveyors that move the sand and rocks to the burner; in sm...