Never Done This Before....

.......But here it is....My second post in a row on the same subject....Randy Pausch. I can't get away from him or his message. I watched the Diane Sawyer special on him two nights ago. Last night I spent 4 hours counseling a couple of people in some VERY heavy life crisis situations. Over and over again I found myself referencing words of Randy's or his wife to help others deal with their life issues. This morning I was made keenly aware of the preciousness of the time I have left with Pat which literally changed some things I did and effected the words I said. There is about a 4 minute video taken directly from that show that I recommend you look at. I can pretty much guarantee you'll be glad you did. Go to this link, scroll down to "Primetime Webcasts" and click "Remembering Randy Pausch." Give me some feedback if you "Go there..."

http://abcnews.go.com/primetime

Here is just one of the 900 plus comments on what people got from his life message:

"I can't read this ever without crying; I can't watch the last lecture without crying; there are no words to express how amazing Randy is and how powerful his message is and I vow to become a better person because of what he has so profoundly shared of himself and his experience and his heart."

The Last Lecture..

Thanks to friend Melissa Anderson who knew I was following the end of life lessons taught by a man named Randy Pausch, I watched the Diane Sawyer special tonight titled "The Last Lecture." Randy (above) was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given only months to live. He delivered a lecture at Carnegi Melon University that has been viewed by millions on UTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo Powerful lessons about life I draw from people in the most dire of circumstances.

God give me the courage to change the things I can.....
The patience to accept the things I cannot change.....
....and the wisdom to know the difference.

Along the Stream...

...another Autostitch picture along our stream.....

Picture Experiment....

I am experimenting with a program called Autostitch (Thanks Beth B!) that allows me to do some panoramic work. A little distortion but.....interesting.....don't you think?

Why I Love Our Back Porch...

We spend a lot of time sitting, eating, working out (well...not a LOT of time!) and just enjoying the tranquil atmosphere next to our waterfall and stream. In the face of dealing with people's heavy issues we find this a wonderful place of reflection.

My Granddaughters and cousin Taylor wanted to do some detective work by seeking out the history of the Licking County Courthouse....

.....our goal was to go to the top and on the way ferret out information on the County's history.......so up we climbed.....

......till we got to where you open the hatch and climb out for the view.......but just before we went out we spotted this bit of grafitti....

.......imagine that......!!!

..........then out onto the roof....Quite an adventure. In the distance is our hill to the right and the basket back left....thus fulfilling the words of that ol' song..."Upon the Roof...."

Part of our mission was to "Sleuth out" old stories....

...Phil...our fearless leader (and the man with the keys) found some old records.......

..........part of the previous courthouse burned in March of 1876 but we found some record books dating back as far as 1855....

........it was interesting to see what properties were being bought and sold and who was being sent to jail for what.....AND LIFE GOES ON!

Thanks Uncle Arthur.....

Megan has been bringing the girls over a couple of days while she goes to work. She is an Administrative Assistant to cousin-in-law
Brad Haas. Here they are arriving for a day at Gpa and Gmas.

Pat was reading them a story about Alan and the Attic who was told by his Mother not to go up into the attic. It would be dangerous because if he didn't step on the joists he would fall through the ceiling. As you can guess from the stories you may know about with points to be made like "obey your parents" he didn't obey ....and he did...(You know the rest!) Hailey had a lot of questions about what an attic is.....sssssooooo....

..........I showed her our attic......even took her up there to see what was there..............in fact...........

.............we ended up EMPTYING the attic into the garage sale we had the next day. Thanks for the heads up, Hailey!!

The Pond Seemed Particularly Beautiful This Morning...

.........and to continue to populate the pond......these little geezers below.....Any guesses as to what they are??

Missin My Son....

......where in the world has he gone??? Spain?? Saudia Arabia?? Turkey?? New Hampshire??? ......no... this time South America...Equador to be exact. Fixing refueling planes and generally tritsing around the Equadorian countryside. To get the full report click here.
Get on home here, boy.

I NEED YOUR HELP.......

So I've started this new healthy life prolonging workout/lifestyle as most of you may know. The problem is my life can be so demanding that my good intentions to stick with it sometime fall to the way side! That's where your help comes into play. I need the help of those that care about me to check up on me. Send me an email, comment, call, or whatever to see if I've worked out yet that day. Or you can ask me if I've made any healthy changes to my diet. The more people that are watching over my progress the more likely I'm going to stick with it! In order to keep up my lifestyle changes I need the ones in my life to help me. I appreciate all of your help, love and support!

Bring On The Internet Police....

.....BUTT.....Hey.....I just had to publish these shots of Hailey and Alyssa playing in the new pool Grandma got for the girls which is now a part of the Botanical Gardens.......

.........Alyssa did a "debrief" before going in. She could slide so much zippier!

What a Great Morning.....

........friend Tevis came over and joined us for breakfast before we took off for a very important high level meeting................in a canoe on the Licking River.....

.......prior to his arrival I picked black rasberies which provided an extra culinary delight........

.....we sat next to the waterfalls enjoying the glint of the morning sun......

..........and were blessed by the dove of peace who showed up at Bill and Pat's Pad. Life is good.......

..........this was my view most of the morning......the back of Tevis' head.....

......with an occasional profile........ and the beauty of the river.........

It's still a thrill.....

....to enter Black Hand Gorge......

....see the tow path that mules walked pulling the canal boats through the river held high by a dam down stream.....

.......and look at the rock face that the black hand was on. On top of the rock Indians used to meet and knap flint that they mined at Flint Ridge about 2 miles away. The area still holds its splendor and mystery for me.

Ilove Our Pond...

........and the creatures therein. So this little guy we have watched develop from egg, to underwater bound tadpole to ....teen frog!

.........in what ways does this creature remind you of a teen???

..........and then there is my favorite fish the white, black and orange chubunkin next to it's Mother on the left......freckled like Mom....and who does that remind me of......

........and one gorgeous fish if you ask me!