With deer season right around the corner and side jobs and outdoor projects going plus regular work on top of that I am getting a bit worn out. Deer season is my time of year meaning that when it comes it’s my chance (usually) to get out and enjoy my passion. It is my get-a-way, a time for me to get with nature and take a long awaited deep breath.
This past year has been quite hard on me physically and mentally so I need this time in the woods more than ever this coming season. Eleven months ago I was told I had Lyme Disease again but, worse this time and I have had complications and problems ever since. To many to get into but I will say it is Degenerative.
I don’t plan to let it get me down even though it is obviously slowing me down. Thinking positive and having a wife that is very understanding is a plus. It looks like I will be having lab work done every two weeks now because of the medications they have me on but I am getting used to it.
I took on a sort of “Handy Man” status for the single mom that lives next door for a couple of reason. One reason is that the doctors are telling me to stay as active as possible which will help with the joints and I have had so many projects piling up around the house that I needed to start getting something done. The neighbor is a nice lady who also understands (being a pharmacist) so she has been keeping me plenty busy and paying me a decent rate so I can keep up with my own projects.
I still can’t but realize that my time of year is right around the corner and it is needed more than ever this year. I have to say though that our house at least from the outside is looking pretty good as well as the neighbors house which gives me a great sense of accomplishment. Once bad weather sets in I have a list of inside projects to work on so that should keep me occupied during the winter months as long as the funds are there if you know what I mean.
Before I forget I just wanted to tell everyone “Good Luck” in the coming season and hope everyone is successful and safe while hunting.
I had just recently stumbled across this video on YouTube with Ted Nugent talking about the 2nd. Amendment and how he feels about it. Let me just say that I was literally blown away by what he had to say. I found myself thinking that what he was saying sounded like how I feel. Yes, I believe in the 2nd. amendment and I am a law abiding citizen and I DO AGREE with how he feels, I just really never looked at it as openly as he does.
It is a shame that the laws do not always work for the good guys and that there are some who have the ability to change things but, for some reason they do not. I partly feel that it is easier for them to close their eye’s and look the other way than it would be to put a little effort into making people see the truth and vote responsibly.
I have heard that Ted Nugent can be rather controversial but maybe that is what we need to get people to wake up and see where this country is heading. I believe in the United States of America and I am proud to say that I am an American and I too find it paposterous and unexceptable that there are people that think they can dictate certain things to us.
Well we survived another birthday party. Everything went off with out a problem and we actually broke an attendance record. When everything was in full swing we had 31 people show up which for us is a record. It was very nice to have everyone show and it was even better that there was no little disagreements that so often occurs.
Here are just a few highlights of the party starting with Tyler’s cake that was so yummy that I hid a piece so I could take some to work tonight, don’t tell.
This next picture goes to show he made out very well and I’m not talking just toys and clothes. I just might have to hit him up for a loan, just kidding.
Tyler’s mom and I figured his bike was getting a bit small so we just had to give him an upgrade and I think he likes it a lot. He was out riding it before dark.
Of course we just had to get him his own tent to help steer him in the right direction if you know what I mean. I don’t think we have to steer him though, he absolutely loves the outdoors and I’m one proud Dad.
All in all it was a great day and Tyler had a great time and that is what it was all about. Heidi and I are still so surprised at the turnout of people we had and the help we got with all the food and stuff. We ended the night with Heidi and I collapsing on the couch and Tyler was on the porch playing in his new tent which I have to move outside today per Tyler’s request.
The only thing left to do now is hand in a vacation slip for Wednesday because Air Museum and Drive-in movies here we come. Oh and Mom is taking him later today to buy a bike helmet and to spend some of his loot.
This post is going to be a tad short today. My youngest Tyler turns 6 on Wednesday so we are having a party for him today. If everyone shows up that is suppose to show up we will have like 30 people here. For the past 2 to 3 days I have been trying to get a lot done outside to spruce up the place and I think it is looking rather nice if I do say so myself.
Tyler is rather excited and literally has been counting the days to his party for the last month. It is really nice to see him so happy that it almost makes me feel like a kid again. Because he is going to be getting other presents Heidi and I decided to give him our presents last night except for the new bike he is going to be getting, we saved that as a surprise for today. On Wednesday which is his actual birthday I am taking the day off from work and we are all going to the Bradley Air Museum & for lunch. Then we are taking him out to the Drive-in movies, that will be his first time.
I will be doing a follow-up post to show how the party went but, I really do have to go finish some stuff before people start showing up.
This was just sent to me in an email and I just had to share it with you all. If this does not show a person’s love and care for this country than I don’t know what will. On top of it all it came from a teenager. I don’t have all the info about this young man but I do have a name and that name is Ray “bubba” Sorensen and here are his pictures of “The Painted Rock”.
On a personal note the war we are in right now is as usual a controversial one but let me say as a proud AMERICAN that I support our troops 100% and even though I wish them all to come home safely I do realize that they have a job to do. If you think of it we are a powerful nation and we are always being tested because of that fact so if we back down in the past or now and even in the future what will that show to everyone else. I for one enjoy the freedoms that I have and do not wish to give that up for no one.
Freedom is not free! Freedom is not given at will! Freedom has to be earned!
I know lately I have been a little pre-occupied and it is for good reason. With summer here and work at the University being quiet because of school being out I have been busy else where. I have taken on a few side jobs that I can do in my spare time because I can not pull long shifts at work because of my health issues. These side jobs do help fill in the gaps and I can do them at my own speed.
I recently did a big job for the neighbor and that was to build a play scape that she had ordered for her little girl. It took a total of 27 hours to build this huge thing and was actually good for me to be active. Here is the finished picture of what the neighbors little girl will be enjoying as well as my son Tyler who has permission to play on at anytime.
That little side job help pay for my little side job which is a 110′ foot picket fence that I am building by hand, piece by piece. My whole yard except for one side is chain linked fence which is in good condition. The side that is not was a mixture of stockade and wire which really looked like junk. I could not keep piecing it together anymore and was worried that our dog Sampson would get out. So here is why I have been a little pre-occupied lately.
I am not quite finished yet. I want to build a railroad tie wall at least a foot and a half high where the grass meets the dirt (like a terrace) which is where I will plant flowers and/or bushes. See if I do this now then I can concentrate on preparing for deer season as it get’s closer, LOL.
I like to keep busy and actually my doctor said it would help if I tried to keep active, it would help with the arthritis.
Well I don’t mind saying that I am glad that part of the procedure is done. What I had done was a Colonoscopy and an Endoscopy all in the same day. It seems that I am very enemic right now and it was not getting any better so the doctor said it needed to be done because she was afraid that I was losing blood somewhere. Talk about scaring the !@## out of me.
With everything that has happened the last 10 months it has really taken a toll on me and I am not the type to not go down with out a fight so I agreed to the procedures. I did find out most of what was going on which is that I have stomach ulcers to start with and because of the stomach ulcers I haver a significant amount of damage to my esophagus which can hopefully be cleared up with medication, like I don’t have enough meds to take already.
The other thing was that she found a polep in my colon which was removed and will be tested for cancer. I won’t know the results from that for about 10 days. She did say it was slightly odd that I would have one of those because I am only 45 but the test will show if it is positive or not. Because of the ways things looked she recommends this to be done again in 3 to 5 years instead of 10 years like usual.
So that is about it in a nut shell. At least I know better what is going on. On a personal note if anyone has any doubts that something is not right with yourself than I would not wait to get it checked out. It is better to find things out early than late because sometimes finding out early can be treated where as finding things out late can not. I will let you all know about the biopsy results when I get them.
Again, I do appreciate all your support. Thank You…………
Just wanted to let you all know that the next couple of days I might not be around. I will be going into the hospital to have a couple procedures done. It seems my last couple of blood workups they had me go through are pointing to something and without going into details it seems that the only place for them to see what is exactly happening is to go inside.
I don’t mind saying that I’m a little nervous especially with the way my health has been the last 10 months but, I’m trying to think positive.
Everybody at some point in their life I think has asked this question “What does Memorial Day mean to me”. I know for me it is a day of remembrance, it is a day to give thanks for the freedoms that I now enjoy and it is a day to thank in my own way the men and women who have died to protect and defend our ideals and our way of life.
I want to share a few pictures and maybe a statement or two that best describes how I feel and what it means to me. I think it all is pretty self explanatory.
By: Rick Kratzke
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”
– General George Patton
Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans – the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) – established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.
Heroism is latent in every human soul - However humble or unknown, they (the veterans) have renounced what are accounted pleasures and cheerfully undertaken all the self-denials - privations, toils, dangers, sufferings, sicknesses, mutilations, life-long hurts and losses, death itself - for some great good, dimly seen but dearly held. –Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
From my family and I here at “Tails and Trails”, we wish everyone a safe and happy Memorial Day………….
I have been kind of busy lately with work, side jobs, preparing for turkey season and amongst all that trips back and forth for either doctors appointments and/or lab work. See I have what they are calling Osteopenia which is degenerative bone loss which they feel came about because of the lyme disease. I have had so much lab work done that I am beginning to feel like a pin cushion and the girls in the lab know me by site now.
I started physical therapy last week and they have already made changes because of bad numbers from my last lab work I had done. There is a lot of smaller things that go along with all that but, that should give you sort of an idea what I’m going through. It is beginning to get rather depressing but, I don’t give up easily and besides I have a family and a house to take care of.
Enough about my health issues (blablabla) I am preparing to try turkey hunting for the first time as some of you might already know. It all started when I won a brand new slug gun at a “QDMA” seminar. What I ended up doing was buying a scope for it and now I have a brand new slug gun for deer season. The old slug gun I was going to sell but I was offered a bird barrel with a turkey choke for the old Maverick 88 which I graciously accepted. I removed the slug barrel, cleaned and put it away for the future.
I put the bird barrel on with the xxfull turkey choke and made sure it was cleaned. I then went and purchased some shells and had a friend Allen take me to his club (which I hope to be a member soon) and we sited it in at 30 yards. Here is a picture of my used but new turkey gun and the target I ended up with after siting it in.
I went out for a walk today before I started working on a neighbors lawn mower because I wanted to check my camera and possibly move it to a clear cut where I had seen some massive rubs when I was shed hunting a couple months ago. I ended up not moving it because the battery was dead and I didn’t bring a spare (shame on me).
I did check out an area that I want to head for on opening morning of Connecticut’s Spring Turkey Hunting Season which is just three days away. It was littered with scratchings just like it was when I saw this area a month ago. So it looks like they are frequenting the area. I feel confident that I should at least see some but if I don’t I will understand. After all it is my first year.
I just am looking forward to some quiet morning in the woods with the local wildlife. It is better than my doctor’s office or the hospital where I am usually being poked and prodded. The woods are what I call “My quiet place”, it is usually where I go to find peace.
