The best of Spring

April 10, 2015Audio, NatureHow I've missed thee, Nature, Purdy things, Springwarren

I have long disliked winter, but without winter, I guess I wouldn’t have perspective to properly enjoy the best of all seasons, spring. It’s hard to beat that special color of purpley-red that hints on the trees before any other colors show. And the fresh green of newly forming buds and leaves is like none other. And probably my favorite of all natural spring things is the look and especially the smell of new daffodils. I wish I could find a way to bottle the clean smell that is daffodil. If someone made daffodil perfume, I would wear it myself!

Well, maybe not…

Anyhow, I also love to hear the spring peepers, tiny frogs that call all night in the spring looking for love I suppose. Winter gets awful lonely after all! I happened to be out in early March and was able to hear the first peep-frogs of the season. That sound is almost as special as the smell of daffodils. Both generate sort of emotional responses in me.

Well, maybe not…

Spring Peep-frogs in March (click)

But still, I really like both. Among unnatural things, I also find a few favorites in spring! From December 26th until Easter, there is a chance that one will find Cadbury cream eggs. I love Cadbury eggs…almost as much as bacon and Hank Williams, Sr. The problem, of course, is that they don’t really last long enough. Their growing season, so to speak, is only 3 months at best. A depraved Cadbury egg lover like me has to resort to ridiculous measures in order to survive from Easter until December 26…I stock up like a mad man! The other day, I took a picture of my stash at the office…I have a similar stash at home as well. While this probably won’t last until next season, it will set me well on my way!

And finally, and I know there are haters…I present my other spring-time favorite, black licorice jelly beans. I know we are a rare breed, but I love black jelly beans. I got some mediocre ones at the store this year, but truly good ones are hard to find but so worth the hunt!

With all of these wonderful spring things, I don’t even mind my allergies when they flare up a little…and I don’t mind watching my son mow the yard. Spring is so worth it!

Last non-teen year

April 7, 2015FamilyHappy birthday!, Kids are people toowarren

Last week Abigail turned 12. That makes this the last year without a teen in the house. I guess some people have bad teen-years experiences but we have had a great time with Isaac and Abigail at every age. It is shaping up to look like the teenage years will be great for Abigail as well.

She has all sorts of things that interest her. She is a budding flutist and made the all-county band as a 6th grader. She thinks she is the only 6th grader in the entire band. And to boot, she is 9th chair out of 22…as a sixth grader! I couldn’t be more proud!

Abigail's Birthday...with her great grandmother! — Abigail’s Birthday…with her great grandmother!

She loves to read and challenges my paychecks to keep up with her appetite for books. Of course, I know it is money well spent and the library always seems to be behind her so we just go for it and buy both printed and kindle books. I figure if nothing else, I could insulate our house with all of the books we have laying around.

As bad as legos are in some people’s houses, markers seem to be that bad in our house. It seems like I am always stepping or sitting on a marker or colored pencil. Abigail loves to draw and creates all sorts of scenes and drawings. She labors and fusses over her work and tweaks it until she feels like it is done. She has a cool perspective on the world and it’s fun to see it unfold through her work.

Abigail is also a budding runner. It’s fun to run with her…sometimes…she complains about getting started but has a period during our runs where she seems to enjoy it. Warming up is ok and the first mile or so is ok. It’s pretty hard to call what comes next “ok” but I like to run with her anyhow. She ran cross-country last year and enjoyed it mostly. Over the winter she got out of shape so she and I are running every week now in an attempt to get her ready for the season in the fall. We get a little father-daughter bonding time at the least so I like that!

Anyhow, please help me wish Abigail a happy birthday even if it is a little late! She’s a great kid and is on her way to being a decent adult!

Mellencamp

April 2, 2015Adventure, Awesome, FunFun, Old guys rockin'!, Out of Town, We are gods of rock!warren

Last weekend, Emily and I had the opportunity to see John Mellencamp in concert. Like about everyone who grew up in the 80s, we really enjoy his music and had great memories of the “glory days” in school when his music meant so much to us.

We stopped and actually had good BBQ...a rarity outside the South — We stopped and actually had good BBQ…a rarity outside the South

We did a ricochet trip to Charlotte, NC…we basically drove in, heard the concert, spent the night and returned the next morning. Maybe it was a bit like our care-free time of growing up…or more likely my cheapskate kicking in so we didn’t have to pay for another night at a hotel.

Anyhow, the concert was in a mid-sized arena…maybe 5-6k people attended. At first, we were the youngest people there which sort of surprised me. Soon enough though we were in a sea of people of all ages. Mellencamp is 63 and has been playing for a long time so I guess his music has appeal across many years though I am sure his most famous period was when I was a teenager.

John puts on a good old-fashioned rock-and-roll show. It’s not full of flames and lights and dancing all over stage, but it’s loud enough and his songs are just plain awesome! He mostly played his famous songs, Jack and Diane, Hurts So Good, Small Town, and Authority Song. Emily, not being a true fan apparently, had never heard of his absolute best song, Rain on the Scarecrow. I know it is probably not as well known as many of his others so I was surprised (and nearly brought to tears…except I don’t cry), when he fired up that song during the concert! It was fantastic!

On stage with him, he had a fantastic violinist and another musician who played “everything else” including piano, accordion and harmonica. It was sort of classic Mellencamp sounds but I guess I never really thought about what went into his music. I loved it!

Unlike many current musicians, John Mellencamp sounded great live and pretty much exactly like he does on his produced versions (geez…I struggled with what to say there…cassettes, LPs, mp3s…he’s been around for it all!) I was a little surprised when he lit up a cigarette on stage, but I guess that’s an 80s throwback thing too maybe.

I almost forgot…the concert was opened by Carlene Carter which seemed like a huge surprise as she is most definitely in the style of her mother and grandmother…i.e. older style country. I really enjoyed her songs and singing as well, but it was a surprise. We later found out that she and John and working together on a project so it did make sense…her opening was a nice bonus!

Friends, if you are a child of the 80s and get the opportunity to hear John Mellencamp, buy some tickets and enjoy an fun evening! Sing as loud as you can and take your kids so they can be thoroughly embarrassed…but show them how rock and roll was meant to be done!

Critters

March 26, 2015Bees, Chickens, NatureBees, Chickens, Critters are cool, Honeybeeswarren

We seem to be running around a lot lately but I can’t tell you much of anything that we have done that was either interesting or productive. I guess that’s just how things are nowadays. As a reprieve from the apparent chaos in our lives, I thought I would take a few pics of the critters around our place…some of which I care for, some of which I do not.

Of course, the chickens are as crazy as always. They are laying eggs but it is pretty haphazard. I get at least one egg per day and sometimes 4. I never get 2 green eggs a day as I should be though so either one of my Easter-eggers is not laying at all or they alternate pretty wildly. I figure I’ll let Spring kick in a little farther before I worry too much about it. Neither Easter-egger seems to be having any problems so I don’t think they are egg-bound or anything like that. I figure it might be light or cold related.

My favorite bird is Fezzik. She’s a nut but super loyal to me. She runs to me every day and demands to be petted, even if for half a minute. The other birds, except Houdini, will tolerate petting, but Fezzik demands it. The kids feel trepidation as they get cornered by her looking for a quick pet. Maybe it’s good to keep them on their toes!

I looked in on the bees a few weeks ago when we had a really nice day. Everyone had come out for a quick poop and stretch of the wings. I’ll look in again in the next week or so and get a better sense of how this Spring and Summer will progress. It was a super cold and slightly longer than usual Winter this year so this might be interesting. I suppose the bears are out of hibernation now and still no evidence of one coming by to look at the hives makes me happy. I know there are bears near my ridge so let’s hope they don’t like the electric fence!

I didn’t order any bees this year. I had to many last year and it was more work than I wanted. I plan to just focus on keeping these colonies healthy and hopefully productive. I will definitely re-queen in the early Fall to ensure healthy stock going into next Fall.

We have a new guest around the house too. We used to have a neighbor who collected cats. By “collected” I mean bring home and turn loose in the neighborhood. She didn’t care for them and get them fixed. She has since moved away and the population thinned significantly. Only two of the original 20 or so remain. With only 2 outside cats wandering around, our squirrel and bird populations have finally started to recover. I guess I like most creatures and have a live-and-let-live attitude about even the ones I don’t like. But especially, I like to watch squirrels wander around doing squirrelly things. I caught this guy munching a hickory nut watching me get ready to take a drive. Two separate times he watched me. The second time I got within 3 feet of him. Maybe the nuts he was chewing was especially tasty. For his sake, I hope he recognizes that although I am friendly, the remaining two cats might not be as pleasant!

Some old high school pics

March 20, 2015Historynot too much evidence!, Old pictures are the best, See...I used to have hair!warren

I have had some family time lately and it has set me about reminiscing a little. I generally don’t have the memory ability to get too sentimental but I discovered a few pics that brought back funny memories…

When I was in 11th grade (I think), My Spanish club took a trip to Cancun, Mexico …my first time on a commercial jet. We had a wonderful and quirky Spanish teach named Marion Hull. I suspect she was in her mid to late 60s when she came to our school. She was probably one of the funnest teachers I ever had and we learned a lot to boot! The year prior to the trip, we planned our adventure and started fund-raising like I had never done before. She was such a determined leader and desperately wanted our group from small-town-Pennsylvania to get out and see even a bit of the world. After much work, a group of 15 or so students headed to Mexico. Below is one of the pictures that highlights the fashion that was apparently in style in the late 1980s…although it is possible that I was never in style…anyhow…

I found a huge stash of pics but most of them were junk…you know, before digital pics and all. We had a lot of fun and somehow, Mrs. Hull returned us all home to the United States in one piece. There are many stories to tell, but I am not sure I am ready for the world to know most of those. A few that stand out though…we stayed in a hotel in the city rather than on the beach. It wasn’t much but I think Mrs Hull knew it would be hard to justify an education trip to Cancun with beach-front accommodations. Anyhow, near our hotel was a market where they sold Coke (no Pepsi) and various junk food. I think I lived on dry Frosted Flakes. In my memory, those were the best snack ever! I know I bought several boxes just for myself. It just hit the spot!

The other fun story that comes to mind is the music…my friend and roommate for the trip brought a tape player and one cassette. It wasn’t a full cassette, but rather a single of the Guns-N-Roses’ song Patience. It’s a great song once or twice…maybe even a hundred times. Since music was so important to us as high schoolers, we had it on all of the time…after 10 billion plays, we all sort of got sick of that song!

I also found this picture of our senior class trip to Washington D.C. You probably remember when panoramic photographs were a big deal and required a special camera. The story goes that the photographer needed a runner – a guy to be in the photo when the camera started moving and at the end so he knew when to stop. The runner literally ran from one side to the other while the camera panned. I figure it was really just a gimmick but I am glad I have this picture anyhow. I can’t believe how different I looked back in high school…can you find me?

Second from right in the back row…that’s me

From the waist up I look somewhat normal but then I look down at the short-shorts and black shoes…gee whiz what was I thinking?!

Anyhow, I am so glad I found these old pics and have had a lot of fun remembering the nonsense that went on during both of those trips. I don’t keep in touch with most of my old friends, but I suppose a few may see this and get a few laughs!

He’d probably chuckle…

March 13, 2015Family, ThoughtsFamily, It's funny how things stick on my mind, Memories and thoughtswarren

As I posted last week, my Uncle Bill with whom I was very close, passed. He was not a young man, but his passing was still somewhat unexpected. My aunt called the morning before he passed and told me the progression of things as they happened over night. I immediately packed and headed for Erie, PA where he had been life-flighted. In my home town where they also lived, there is no hospital. The closest hospital is a half an hour away but is not really equipped for anything serious.

Anyhow, as I left WV, the weather was mostly ok, but I knew it was supposed to be bad as I traveled north. Somewhere in the middle of PA, the weather turned from ok to total junk. It started raining and then the rain froze. I had a good cake of ice on my windshield and all over the car. I knew I would not make it to Erie as the weather is always bad in Erie due to the lake effect snow they always get. It had snowed 8-10 inches before the freezing rain so the situation was pretty bad.

I aborted the push north and headed to my hometown…where the weather was also terrible. The roads were terribly icy and the snow was 2 or so feet deep…and now covered with ice. My mom who was also in WV followed me in to their place. We had to hit “the facilities” as soon as we got there. Mom tried to turn on the lights but they didn’t come on. I checked the breaker box and discovered water running through the panel. That of course had tripped some of the breakers. It also provided a serious hazard as far as I could tell. Having jumped in the car in a hurry, I hadn’t packed adequate snow gear and my parents’ ladders were in WV…and besides, I am no expert on water in the breaker box. My Mom called a local handyman who immediately came out and, with a torch, melted the ice dam off of the roof above the panel box. The ice was at least 10 inches thick under a foot of snow. It’s a wonder there weren’t worse problems.

As the repair man tried to leave, he got incredibly stuck in the deep snow which we hadn’t yet plowed off. After digging and pushing for at least 30 minutes, he broke free. He basically floored it kicking snow and slush all over me as I pushed him up onto some pine branches we had cut so he could get traction. Not having winter gear, I was a complete mess…soaked to the bone.

We were exhausted from everything so ate quickly and went to bed. The next morning, we headed to the hospital in Erie where we made it just in time to say our good-byes. It was very difficult to say goodbye and even more painful to watch my Aunt as they were probably the most closely knit couple I know.

When we made it back to Tionesta, I followed the footsteps of the repairman from the night before. I got my Subaru stuck up to the tops of the tires. Luckily, my brother arrived later int he day with his Jeep. With a little work, he was able to yank my car out of the snow. I have always been pretty stupid with what I expect my Subaru to do and it has always excelled in stupid situations…deep snow/ice/slush was just too much for it I guess. It was too much for about any car that didn’t have knobby tires I think!

We spent a few more days with my parents, brother and sister-in-law and my aunt reminiscing, talking, and drinking a few beers in my uncle’s honor. It was a good time considering the situation. The night before I was to return to WV, I returned my aunt to her house. She walked in to find no heat. It was still pretty cold…single digit temps at night so that wasn’t going to work for her. She called a furnace company who would send a guy to help. Like everything up there, the company was an hour and a half away. His ETA was 1am. I actually had a really good opportunity to spend time with just my aunt until he came. We talked and remembered and talked some more. It was good. The repair guy came at 1 and by 2am had her patched through until he could get parts. I returned to my parents’ home but still woke up at 7 am for my return trip to WV. That sort of sucked. I had a thermos and an insulated cup of coffee so I had plenty of “fuel” for the return trip.

You might be thinking that it seems like a lot went wrong on an already stressful and sad trip…you’d be right. It wasn’t much fun in many ways. In other ways, though, it was just the sort of craziness on which my Uncle thrived. He was generally happy and laughed a lot…about everything. Crap happened and he chuckled about it. Good stuff happened and he chuckled about it. While all of this stuff kept piling on, I kept thinking about how he always responded to things in life that just happened. In a way, it was the perfect way to mourn his passing. I chuckled as things heaped on. That’s how Uncle Bill would have handled it….

My Uncle Bill

March 9, 2015FamilyFamilywarren

William S. “Bill” Flick, age 81, of Tionesta, PA, died on Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Erie, PA. He was born June 2, 1933, in Tionesta, son of the late Frank and Ruth (Seigworth) Flick.

Bill proudly served in the US Army in Panama before being honorably discharged in September 1955 after two years of service. He returned home where he was employed by Struthers Wells of Titusville, PA, sold insurance for United Republic, worked in Quality Control for Tionesta Sand & Gravel, and served Forest County as a Deputy Sheriff. He was a member and Past Master of Olive Lodge #557 F&AM of Tionesta, the Coudersport Consistory, and the Shriners.

He was Methodist by faith.

Bill enjoyed tournament bridge, hunting, fishing, and spending time with his family.

On June 30, 1962 in Coudersport, PA he married Laura Marie (Patterson) Flick, who survives. In addition to his wife he is survived by two brothers, Donald Flick and his wife Shirley of Beaver Falls, PA; Virgil Flick and his wife Jane of Tionesta; three sisters, Helen Sweet of New Castle, PA; Betty Bowen of Tionesta; and Doris Tucker, also of Tionesta. Additionally, he is survived by his beloved nephews Warren and Garth Patterson as well as several other nieces and nephews.

Friends will be received on Saturday, March 14, 2015 at the Tionesta United Methodist Church from 10 am until 11 am. A memorial service will be conducted at 11 with Associate Pastor Jeffrey Foor, officiating. Arrangements are under the direction of the Norman J. Wimer Funeral Home of Tionesta.

A Masonic memorial service will be held at 10 am on Saturday, March 14 at the church as well.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Wounded Warriors Project (P.O. Box 758517 Topeka, Kansas 66675), St Jude’s Children’s Hospital (501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105) or to the charity of one’s choice.

Making truffles

February 20, 2015Awesome, Food, Fun, WVCooking, Food, Making dessert, OMG!, They ain't all pretty but they taste awesome!warren

In town, there is a business called “Uncork and Create“. I’ll make up some of the history but mostly, it started as a place where an artist walks a group of people through doing a painting…everyone does the same painting with their own unique touches. Wine and snacks are welcome and it’s a fairly social gathering. They have since branched out from painting into all sorts of cooking/food classes.

Emily got me a gift certificate to go to one of their classes for Christmas. I am no cook, but I do like wine and sweets, so when I saw that they were offering a class on making chocolate truffles, I decided it was a perfect opportunity to give the place a try!

My class was offered on Valentine’s Day so taking it was either a really good idea or a really bad idea. I figured that if I arrived home with a pile of homemade truffles for my Valentine, I would be off the hook.

They have a local chef prepare a few easy recipes and we dug in with ingredients and kitcheny tools and stuff needed to make our recipes. The chef was a fun woman who was easy going and clearly enjoyed what she was doing. She teased and played and taught us some tricks for proper chocolate coating. There were a number of ingredients she brought so we could customize our truffles also. Several couples attended so I was at the “singles table”. We all agreed to customize our truffles with Grand Marnier orange liqueur. We tasted it and decided it wasn’t flavorful enough so we added more…and more. Well, you get the idea.

Once the truffle ganache is mixed, we had to refrigerate it so it would set up…chef came to our table after a bit and asked us how much hooch we had added to our mix…it turns out our mix was slow to set up…ooops! It wasn’t that much was it?

Finished truffles — The finished product

We finally got everything pulled together and made some really delicious truffles. I guess they aren’t as beautiful as I had hoped but for my first go at it, I was pleased. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed my time at the event. I won’t be able to make these things too often though or I’ll either be three sheets to the wind or overweight!

Our new driver

February 13, 2015Awesome, Family, Fun, Thoughts, WVAm I old enough to have a kid who can drive?, Driving!, Watch out worldwarren

We are pleased to introduce the newest driver in our house! Isaac passed his learner’s permit test yesterday. As soon as I got home from work, he bounced into the kitchen, license in hand. Of course, I knew he wanted to go drive. I suspect he had planned on my tossing him the keys and saying “let’s go.”

Although he has driven many times out at the executive deer stand, he had not driven at any real speed with opposing 2 ton hunks of rolling metal coming at him. Instead, I drove him to a nearby neighborhood with flat straight streets. He was a mix of excited and nervous…and so was I honestly.

He got into the driver’s seat and we went over the “make it go forward” checklist. Isaac tended to hug the white line as we drove house, cars, and mailboxes. Of course, he was still a little jerky with the gas pedal and the steering but he was very cautious and seemed to take it seriously enough to satisfy my nerves a little. I guess we drove for 40 minutes and had a lot of fun.

Probably my favorite part of the trip happened at the end of our drive. There is a church near our house where I asked Isaac to pull in so I could take us home. Our road is steep and windy and has a blind crest. We weren’t ready for that yet. Anyhow, we pulled into the parking lot and miscommunicated where we were going to park. Isaac got it between the parking lines so all was fine, but I suppose it looked funny to the older couple sitting in the car across the parking bumper from us. The look on their face was, at first, one of slight confusion with our antics. As soon as Isaac and I got out and switched seats, they got big goofy grins on their faces. It was obvious…we were practicing driving. In response to their big goofy grins, I grinned right back and nodded my head. I suspect they said a quick prayer for both me and them as, that night, a new driver was unleashed on the road!

Squeak Stick

February 12, 2015FunCats, I promise..it is music...somewhere in therewarren

It seems like we have been involved with a lot of musical stuff lately in our house. The kids have had band stuff pretty regularly since Christmas. They played holiday concerts and, this week, are trying out for “All-County” band which is a band comprised of the best players in the county as determined during a blind audition.

All of that involves a good bit of practicing pieces and trying new things. What has been especially fun is when Abigail (flute), Isaac (tenor sax) and I (clarinet) all get to playing at the same time, we can make a powerful lot of noise in the house. It might be a pleasing noise if we played the same song, or even complementary songs, but that is never the case.

Isaac is the most experienced player and has the loudest instrument, by far. He plays complex pieces and often plays them very loudly. Abigail is playing very well also and her range is fairly high pitched. Finally, on my “squeak stick”, I have a good range between high and low but I am not a great player yet. I just changed reeds so I actually squeak a lot trying to get used to the new feel. All three of us together makes for quite a…performance I am sure.

We practice every evening (or at least 5/7 days) for 30-60 minutes. During that time, Emily holes up in the bedroom where the cats take cover. They literally tremble in fear under the bed covers or wrapped up in Emily’s robe. I don’t think of myself as a particularly cruel person, but there is some sort of special pleasure in seeing the cats respond as they do. I do not know if it is the volume or the tone, or just the squeaks, but the mere sight of our instruments, especially my clarinet, sends them running for cover!

My Home Among The Hills

Life in WV!