Now that your unpacked and got to test drive the area for a bit, encountered some locals and yokels, and hopefully some actual people that moved to the area from your home town or state its time to list the likes you have of your new or semi-new, or heck if the area is your native home than by all means and ways list what you like! Y'all got it? Well here goes!
Weather! You like or not!
Year round flowers!
Long springs!
Longer Autumns!
Shorts year round! For the hearty ones that is.
Variety of sub divisions to chose from!
Snow is a neat event versus a ho-hum not again event!
No rust on older cars! Amazing if your from the Northeast!
Can fish year round without cutting holes in the water (ice) for us North Easterners!
Pretty country side is usually only 5 minutes or less from where you live anywhere in the triangle.
People R People. No matter what they say!
Day trip to Mountains!
Day trip to Ocean!
And in a lot cases no trip at all to the many lakes, ponds, river, and streams that spot the area!
Good food can be had by all and more is always welcome irregardless if they are called viddles or pickins!
Out away from the city lights the sky at night explodes with the many stars that fill the emptiness of space with the occasional flying star to catch a dream or two on!
Groceries can be cheaper but we all have to eat!
Sure it takes time to get use to this place, remember the place you came from was called home and that is never a easy place to replace! But give it time, explore the area and get involved and this place too will be your new home not only in name but in feeling!
May the triangle, RDU, RTP, Crossroads, the Quay, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Apex, Raleigh, Durham, Zebulon, Oxford, Mossisville, Franklinton, Youngsville, Chapel Hill, Henderson, ...seems like I am forgetting somewhere.
...????......Oh yea! and Cary, be with you!
Oh Tarheels! I forgot to number the above as I did say I would count thy ways!
Weather! You like or not!
Year round flowers!
Long springs!
Longer Autumns!
Shorts year round! For the hearty ones that is.
Variety of sub divisions to chose from!
Snow is a neat event versus a ho-hum not again event!
No rust on older cars! Amazing if your from the Northeast!
Can fish year round without cutting holes in the water (ice) for us North Easterners!
Pretty country side is usually only 5 minutes or less from where you live anywhere in the triangle.
People R People. No matter what they say!
Day trip to Mountains!
Day trip to Ocean!
And in a lot cases no trip at all to the many lakes, ponds, river, and streams that spot the area!
Good food can be had by all and more is always welcome irregardless if they are called viddles or pickins!
Out away from the city lights the sky at night explodes with the many stars that fill the emptiness of space with the occasional flying star to catch a dream or two on!
Groceries can be cheaper but we all have to eat!
Sure it takes time to get use to this place, remember the place you came from was called home and that is never a easy place to replace! But give it time, explore the area and get involved and this place too will be your new home not only in name but in feeling!
May the triangle, RDU, RTP, Crossroads, the Quay, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Apex, Raleigh, Durham, Zebulon, Oxford, Mossisville, Franklinton, Youngsville, Chapel Hill, Henderson, ...seems like I am forgetting somewhere.
...????......Oh yea! and Cary, be with you! Oh Tarheels! I forgot to number the above as I did say I would count thy ways!
Wake Forest, Gosh its a pretty nive place to live!
Posted 03-09-2009 at 08:59 PM by dansdrive
Wake Forest, NC. located in Wake County NC. Some call it Wake's Forest of the Triangle....Ok maybe that's just me. But if you come from the North East, Wake Forest seems to fit. It has some rolling hills and many farming areas.
It has a small town feel but close to Raleigh, you could be down town Raleigh, depending on time of day in about 15 to 30 minutes. You can be at the Virginia border in less than an hour.
It has old Historical homes and some new subdivisions. It certainly worth a look see if your looking and seeing the area. It has transplants from New Jersey, New York, and many other NE State and Mid West and California and....well you get the idea people from all over this great country now calls Wake Forest home!
C'mon down, over, left, or right and check it out you may just like what you see.
It has a small town feel but close to Raleigh, you could be down town Raleigh, depending on time of day in about 15 to 30 minutes. You can be at the Virginia border in less than an hour.
It has old Historical homes and some new subdivisions. It certainly worth a look see if your looking and seeing the area. It has transplants from New Jersey, New York, and many other NE State and Mid West and California and....well you get the idea people from all over this great country now calls Wake Forest home!
C'mon down, over, left, or right and check it out you may just like what you see.
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Monday May 20, 2013 and its a wet 68.8 degrees outside heading on up to a rumbling, bumbling, 79 degrees. Thunderstorms are in the making today. One of my Son's sent a picture of a hail stone he picked up in Kansas yesterday. Good gracious that was a serious hail stone. He said it was a rough day weather wise there yesterday. Here in NC it was just rain and a few claps of thunder. Rain and sun on and off most of the day yesterday.
The weekend was a total wash out with my new used power washer. That thing can rip up the dirt and grime and some paint too! Dang that is powerful. Did a number of my sidewalks and driveway. Years of dirt were gone in a matter of seconds! The 5 HP motor churns out about 2400 PSI of pure power. Gee-gads, that was a lot of force. Now I can change out some deck boards that are split and have seen better days and get the deck painted. 'Thanks power washer!'
The other thing that kept me busy was the dishwasher. A few months ago I had to change the food chopper blade in it that was broke. This weekend the build up of grim was back.....great! Not really, so I took it apart, not I am a self certified expert on taking that Whirlpool dishwasher apart and could not find anything wrong and the chopper blade was still doing its job. So, I looked outside the box for the answer. In this case the box = the dishwasher and the answer was in the form of the drain pipe from the dishwasher.
The dishwasher drain pipe went into the garbadge disposal as designed. However, a closer check with my head inside the sink cabinet I saw a series of hose clamps at the connection joint where the drain pipe entered the garbage disposal. A real Rube Goldberg set up. For those that don't know Rube....Google him, you will see why the name applies! Anywho, I took the contraption of a drain set up apart and found my problem....
Someone placed a small piece of hard plastic pipe intended for water pipe and not drain inside the Rube Goldberg set up and its inner diameter was far to small to effectively remove all the water from the dishwasher. And over time the food particles that were and were not getting chopped up got stuck in that little pipe and blocked up almost solid. There was the issue!! So I took that mess of piping apart and headed to Home Depot.
I found my solution but was not happy with it as I had to purchase a $3.69 piece of pipe for a 2 inch piece. Us to be able to buy the rubber hose by the inch, not anymore! So, once purchased it was home to install the Dansdrive solution. It was time to clean the inside of the dishwasher and try out the solution. It worked! Water was flowing out of the drain into the garbage disposal lick-idy split and no leaks. Now it was not flowing as quick as the pressure washer but I did use the pressure washer to clean the dishwasher baskets and silverware basket. Came out like new...
So this was a weekend full of water and the flow and lack there of! It was a weekend of learning how to operate a pressure washer and opening up a dishwasher drain. So, all in all the weekend 'flowed' one way or the other!
Quote of the day from Romans 15: 5-6 NIV:
" May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Happy Monday and like water flowing from a pressure washer or a drain keep your attitudes positive and flowing towards your fellow man and women.
Song of the day....listen to the rain....*~*Enya..*~*It's in the Rain~ - YouTube
P.S. Thought of the day, someone above loves you more than you will ever know but with the right life you will know to eternity!Posted 05-20-2013 at 05:44 AM by dansdrive
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Tuesday May 21, 2013 and its 68.2 degrees outside with overcast and will thunder storm its way up to 82 today. I like many of you watched the video of the tornado that ripped through Moore Oklahoma yesterday afternoon but had no sense to the destruction and loss of lives that was below it. There is always hope it just rips up fields and empty spaces and than vanishes into the air in which it came. Tragically this one did not. The children, oh my goodness the children. Prayers, thoughts, and anything else I can do to help the grieving families over this tragedy. Anyone that had children, has children, raised children, and watched them grow understands the loss these parents are feeling. To the friends, families, and strangers that are around them I wish them strength, hope, and the words and actions of comforting they can bring to the families of all the ones that were lost.
Such a sad day but also a day to be thankful for what you have been granted each and everyday as it can be gone in an instant or as in the case of this twister, over a 45 minute period. So today, hug your child just a second or two longer, just a wee bit tighter, hug your spouse as they go off to work or school, hug your Mom and Dad and tell them you love them and thanks for everything. Reflect and ask for comfort from the one above for all the grieving families. Ask not How or Why this happened but What and Where can I help or offer support or just a shoulder to cry upon....
Quote of the day Christian D. Larson:
“Promise Yourself
To be so strong that nothing
can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity
to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel
that there is something in them
To look at the sunny side of everything
and make your optimism come true.
To think only the best, to work only for the best,
and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others
as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past
and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times
and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself
that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,
and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world,
not in loud words but great deeds.
To live in faith that the whole world is on your side
so long as you are true to the best that is in you.”
Happy Tuesday, I ask you to please read the above promise once again before you close out this page....it shall plant the seed of hope within you that will last a life time. May the one above watch over you and provide the tools to help your fellow man and women this day and everyday. You can do it!
Song of the day.....sing it, you know the words..AMAZING GRACE Sung by 4 Men Beautifully!
P.S. Peace be with you.Posted 05-21-2013 at 05:11 AM by dansdrive
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Wednesday May 22, 2013 and its 70.0 degrees outside heading on up to a thunderstorm or two 84 toasty degrees! On top of it being Wednesday a.k.a hump day to the worker-bees, it is also a wonderful day....why you may ask?
Simple, it just is! There is nothing more complex or to figure out. It is a state of mind! Happiness will allude you if you are not ready for it or careful. Your day will consume you unless you take the time to as they say to smell the roses. So, if you do one thing today and only one thing...take the time to smell the roses! It will be time well spent. While smelling those roses look intently into the heavens and say, 'Thank You', for all things and especially for today, Wednesday!!!
Quote of the day Harold Whitman:
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what you need to come alive. And then go and do that.
Because what the world needs are people that have come alive."
Happy Wednesday and Mr Whitman gets it! I know you can get it to......just live it!
Song of the day....enjoy...and those of a certain age remember their downtowns....Petula Clark - Downtown with lyrics - YouTube
P.S. My prayer for you is that the Holy Spirit fills your heart today with happiness!Posted 05-22-2013 at 07:04 AM by dansdrive
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Thursday May 23, 2013 and its 72.2 cloudy skies heading up to 84 degrees with scattered thunder storms which tend to scatter us! But we are a day closer to the weekend and that is A-Okay with me.
Ever get trapped outside in a thunderstorm? From grade school to adulthood you are taught never hide under a tree yet that seemingly is the first place one runs to when caught outside in a thunderstorm. As a kid we enjoy getting soaked in the rain and as adults we frown on the least bit of rain drop falling onto us from the sky. Is that wisdom that allows that to happen or foolishness? I vote for the foolishness. Getting caught in the rain sometimes is exactly what we need. To get soaked and laugh it off as if for that brief instant we are kids again! Childhood goes by a tenth of the time adulthood last. That is if 100 years old is our yardstick and to the age of 10 is childhoods upper year. Keep up that is high level math I am citing this AM!
Is it not amazing we have to pack so much in our childhood so that the memories can last a life time. Memories we pass onto our kids and grand kids to tell them the way 'It use to be', back in the day. Its amazing how rapidly the world is changing around us yet simple things like walking in the rain has been around since man first walked the earth. Did we get so smart and sophisticated that a few rain drops can put frowns on our face? I hope the answer for you is no! Now its no when it is a thunderstorm, must be safe too! But in the days of just some rain its a good time to clear ones head and just take a stroll, run, walk, jump, hop, skip, or whatever else one can do in the rain and just <SMILE>.
Quote of the day Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
"The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain. "
Happy Thursday and let me type it again, Happy Thursday! Do you know where your raindrops are today? My song of the day person sure does.....enjoy and be Happy!
Song of the day....one happy guy....HD 1080p "Singin' in the Rain" (Title Song) 1952 ~ Gene Kelly - YouTubePosted 05-23-2013 at 05:00 AM by dansdrive
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Friday May 24, 2013 and its 66.9 degrees outside heading on up to a sunny 70 degrees. In fact, the forecast for this Memorial Day weekend is sweet as honey! Low 70's during the day and sunny, full sunny in fact. Oh baby, baby! I give it a two suns up!
Memorial Day weekend, the weekend to kick off the summer season. Gentleman start your grills! These were the weekends as kids we hit the local picnic areas which were typically by lakes and ponds. It usually meant the extended families that included fishing, swimming, horseshoe tossing, tag, hide-n-seek, and a whole lot of food. The food had an Italian flavor to go along with those hot dogs and burgers. Big pots of spaghetti would be boiling on top of the fire pit. Our grandfather, NoNo would tend the fire, our grandmother Nona would tend the pots. There was always a debate in Italian of coarse that the fire was to hot or not hot enough. Nono would toss on the wood and have flames shooting out of the front of the fire pit and sometime out the top of the chimney! To the chagrin on Nona who would tell out....'Angelo!' Family picnics how truly wonderful!
But this weekend if also an important time to remember all those that served this country and gave the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy our weekend picnics. My grandfather was in WWI and my Dad and Uncles were in WWII and Korea as some of my cousins were Vietnam active serviceman at the time. My oldest Son is a Air Force veteran. So ALL that served our great nation in times of needs or in peace have my respect and thanks for a job well done. For those that never came back will never be forgotten and truly never be repaid for that sacrifice other than to know we are still a 'FREE PEOPLE' and say THANK YOU for all your did and do!
Quote of the day by William Havard:
" The greatest glory of a free-born people is to transmit that freedom to their children. "
Happy Friday, Happy Memorial Day weekend, Happy be the soldiers that protect our freedoms and values, Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Song of the day....sleep in peace my heroes.... Taps history told by John Wayne - YouTube
P.S. Have a wonderful, safe, and Happy weekend!Posted 05-24-2013 at 07:15 AM by dansdrive
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Tuesday May 28, 2013 and its 60.0 degrees outside heading on up to 84 sun filled degrees. Oh my sweet weekends was that a super nice three day weekend? You bet your sweet sun screen it was. The temperature each day, the sun filled skies each day, the Bacon, Cheddar, Ham burgers on the grill were spectacular!
The only thing I missed was a bonfire or two. Just didn't get out there to have one. Saturday a project found me. A few weeks ago when I was walking around the outside of the house I saw a spot in the lower part of our front door frame that appeared discolored. It was as I probed it with my finger it went right through it. It was totally rotten. Ugh! Well this weekend I tangled with the rot. The two vertical wood pieces were capped with a plastic piece of trim molding. As I pulled the trim piece off I saw the extent of the rot. This just didn't happen this has been forming and rotting for years. So I cut out about a six inch piece of wood on both vertical wood pieces until I got to some solid wood. Dug out all the rot, or as best I could. It was extensive even below the door frame and sill. So, once that the rot was mitigated it was to to rebuild. The wood pieces I cut out that were rotten were complex figures so it took some measuring and cutting and fitting to get them to look right. I finally got them to fit nicely and it was time to rebuilt. I got a can of that expanding foam insulation as I saw areas between the two vertical boards that has no insulation! Gee-Gads! I also sprayed it under the door sill to hopefully prevent the spread of rot by keep it somewhat water proof. Once I foamed it, I glued, screwed and stapled it all back together. Than I got some latex calking and sealed it all up. Let it all dry over night and Sunday gave the area two coats of paint and presto change-o it back to looking good again. I used pressure treated wood for the two pieces I fabricated and replaced, that should last awhile! Other than that project, I filled some cracks in the driveway after the power washing last weekend and mowed the lawn, worked the garden a bit and that was about it.
As I headed to the garden yesterday mornig to transplant some squash plants I did encounter a small snake sunning him or herself in the sidewalk pathway to the back of the house. I proceeded to pick it up and toss it into the woods. They are fast and this little guy was aggressive so I grabbed my rake and he spun up on it and tossed it into the woods. Prior to the snake encounter of the 12 inch kind I did put up the flag to honor all our fallen hero's and our country. Without them I would not have been able to fix that front door rot, I would not have been able to tend to that gargen, and without them I would not be writing this Blog entry today. So, yes Memorial Day 2013 has come and gone but our young men and women are out there everyday protecting the pleasures we take for granted each and everyday. Soldiers that guard and defend our freedoms, Thank you!
Now, having said that it is time to bring them home to the good old US. Job in Afghanistan has long been completed, time to come home! Not one more soldier needs to die for a mission that was long accomplished! Please, please please BRING THEM ALL HOME!
Quote of the day Christopher Lasch:
"The family is heaven in a heartless world"
Happy Tuesday, Happy families, Happy for another week, Happy for another day!
Song of the day....Do you know? Diana Ross - Do You Know Where You're Going To ( Theme From Soundtrack Mahogany ) - YouTubePosted 05-28-2013 at 05:13 AM by dansdrive
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Wednesday May 29, 2013 and its 64.7 degrees outside heading on up to a beautiful 86 sunny drenched day! For smack dab center of the week that is pretty darn cool! Can you believe we are closing in on the close of May...Shazaam! The drive in this morning was awesome, before sun up the sky was fantastic. After awhile I could see in my rear view mirror the suns rays illuminating the eastern skyline. Taking its daily climb and in certain spots I can see the peaks of the sun just over the horizon. There are few things that match the beauty and awe of the sunrise or set. Its the one of the many gifts the one above has bestowed on us each and everyday. We just need to take the time to receive them.
Everyday a sun rises and sets for us and what we do in between matters greatly. The rise is a fresh start and the set give us time to reflect from the rise to the set. Have you reflected lately? Why not? To busy? To shy? Don't like what you might find? Hey, toss that doubt and fear right out the window of life. You can take control, its your life! Yea you the one you see in the mirror each day. The one you need to see as a gift from the one above that is like no other. One that can and will see that sun rise in a all new light. One that will do one thing today that will make it a brighter day for the one you love. One that will see a passer by and smile and say 'Hello'. One that will see the world between the sun rise and set in a new way. One that will learn something new today and everyday. One that will speak from the heart and not the mind..... One that will see their glass half full and fill it the rest of the way till it runnith over! Yea you! You can do all those things if you take the time to see a sunrise and a sunset.....what a gift we have been given!
Quote of the day from John 3:18 NIV
" Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."
Happy Wednesday and john said that a couple of thousand years ago and we are still trying to get their. Between the rise and set will you talk in deed and truth? I sure am counting on it.
Song of the day....get up and dance to it, C'mon now....The Rascals - Good Lovin' - YouTube
P.S. If you missed the sun rise....make sure you catch the set today it will be spectacular!Posted 05-29-2013 at 05:32 AM by dansdrive
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Thursday May 30, 2013 and its 67.2 degrees outside heading on up to 88 full sun degrees. One word: Fan-SUN-tasic! End of May as a kid meant one thing, the school days were getting longer and longer. The sun would warm the days so recess meant no coats needed. Running from one end of the school playground to the other. Our elementary schools playground was 100% pavement. No grass and no play sets. There was hop-scotch painted on them and that was about it....of yeah there was painted bases on the pavement for kick ball which was a outdoor Gym activity. Kids today don't know how lucky they have it, with all these fancy playground sets, rubberized play surfaces. We scraped our knees or elbows we had the teacher clean it up and put a band-aide on it. Maybe we were just tough back then. Than it was off and running again.
Until the school bell rang....Drat! Time to trudge back in the classroom to start out studies. Watching that big round clock on the wall tick by the seconds and minutes and the forever hours until lunch and than the end of the day. This time of the year we got to play outside a long time before the street light came on. What would we do....we would head up to the old abandoned park and play army and cowboys and Indians. We would climb the trees and watch the world go by. We would ride our bikes around the neighborhood, through the alley ways and streets. We would hang out in a small junk yard right in the middle of our neighborhood. It was a salvage yard for a dairy company that was smack dab in the center of our neighborhood. We would drive those trucks to infinity and beyond at least in our minds. Those old dairy trucks which must of had a million miles on them delivery milk to the homes everyday were the perfect spaceship and get away vehicle, and firetruck, and whatever else out imaginations could come up with. They truck usaully has no doors, engines, windows, but had a steering wheel and pedals and how cool is that!!!!!!!!
But back to reality when we hit Middle and High school which was the exact same school for us. The school went from 7th to 12th grade. We did not have the privilege of separate schools....and amazingly we turned out just fine. Upper class-man for the most part treated us just fine. As most kids than has older siblings that went to the high school and would make sure we were not bothered. It was just something friends and family members did back than. Sure they would beat the crap out of us at home but they never let someone else do it. It was just one of those family codes that was in everyone's DNA back then......Times have changed!
Quote of the day by Yogi Berra:
" I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did."
Happy Thursday and you can learn a lot from a Yogi, especially when he is a Berra! May your day be filled with at minimum a few seconds of your fondest school time memory or a lifetime of school time knowledge!
Song of the day.....I got to wear the shades, man....Timbuk 3 - The Future's So Bright - YouTubePosted 05-30-2013 at 06:37 AM by dansdrive
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Tuesday June 4, 2013 and its 66.5 degrees heading on up to a sweet sunny 82 degrees. That sunshine will play nicely into the song of the day. More later on that.... Glad to be back, busy to be back, thankful to be back. Spent the weekend in a place we have never visited before. It was a beautiful place. Our daughter had a business meeting their last week and invited us up for the weekend being it was the closest place we would see her in awhile, so we packed up and drove to Virginia Beach, Virgina.
What a fantastic weekend weather wise, beach wise, and every other wise ways I could think of. As a Air Show buff I truly enjoy watching airplanes in flight. It is that thought of defying gravity and soaring into the heavens. Well as fate would have it, I was able to see my first beach air show. So, we have fun, sand, sun, planes, and a jet! Oh baby! The airshow was all weekend so we got to see three Air shows for the price of none! The none part had my cheap heart soaring!!!
Something about the beach that just makes oneself step back in awe. I love sun rises and sun sets and our Hotel faces east looking over the Atlantic Ocean and a sun rise over the ocean is truly breath taking! WOW! Let me say that again...WOW! As the sun rose and shed light upon the beach below and all the activity it illuminated made me give thanks to the one above for making the majesty and awesome beauty of our surroundings. As I watched the world go by from our balcony, I watched as the trucks cleaned and groomed the sand below, watched as couples walked at the edge of the ocean and in some cases hand in hand sharing a walk of joy. Watching walkers, joggers, and bike riders all going by back and forth below. Enjoying all life has to offer them in that instant in time. The late great Louie Armstrong said it best in his song; What a wonderful world! Indeed!
Quote of the day Ralph Waldo Emerson:
" To get up each morning with the resolve to be happy…is to set our own conditions to the events of each day. To do this is to condition circumstances instead of being conditioned by them. "
Happy Tuesday, Happy in Life, Happiness be with you today and everyday, and Mr. Emerson knew...he really knew!
Song of the day....will bring you some sunshine today....turn it up and enjoy and get up and dance to it.... The Jive Aces present: Bring Me Sunshine - YouTubePosted 06-04-2013 at 05:41 AM by dansdrive
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Thursday June 6, and its 64.2 degrees outside heading on a up to a showery 79 degrees. Jumpin jellyfish! It is Thursday already and my last post was Monday, do you know where Tuesday and Wednesday went? Take a Friday off and the following week is a blur! Goodness gracious, I am getting caught up. It has take full workdays and back on the computer from 9 or 10PM to nearly midnight to get my email back in a reasonable workable size! Well I can now report the size is workable and what is left is the tough emails, you know the type. They are the ones you glance at and say....this can't be mine! Or they want what, when? Or has your rocking leg come off your rocker? Yea, those types! But hey its all good!
As I drove in this morning with the fine sprinkles on the windshield I was in awe at my rear view mirror. Not that it could use a bit of windex to clean it, not that I was being passed like a steam engine driven train on an Indy 500 track.....no I was in awe at the spectacular sun rise coming up over the hill. The sun was eclipsed by some thin clouds and it had a orange reddish tint to it. It was breath taking in my humble opinion. That is when it hit me that the emails and hustle and bustle of a busy day are mere distractions to the beauty of nature. It is all around us and sometimes we have to stop and look in our read view mirrors to find it. This morning I found mine and its has been there everyday this week, I just did not take the time to really see it! Spectacular!!!
Quote of the day from Ephesians 3:17; NIV
"so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Happy Thursday, how wide and deep is your love today? Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is infinitely wide, deep, high, full, and forever and ever...so we got that going for us!
Song of the day.....we are young! Crank it up and get those toes tapping.... Fun - We Are Young [LYRICS ON SCREEN] - YouTube
P.S. Have an amazing day!Posted 06-06-2013 at 05:37 AM by dansdrive
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Friday June 7, 2013 and its a wet, wet, wet, 69.1 degrees outside heading up to a wet, wet, wet 81 degrees, maybe! Jumpin catfish its has been raining the last 15 or so hours. The ducks are loving it! In fact for the next 4 days there is a chance of thunderstorms each day. Ahhhh, summer is here!
Hey! Its Friday, I am happy for that as a duck is happy for rain and puddles!! The rainy day reminded me back to when I was growing up and they were building a large public housing project two blocks away from us. This project was building two story apartment buildings for several blocks so it was a large construction site and these were the days they did not really worry about theft or vandalism. So, we were able to play on the job site when they were not working. On this one rainy day that is exactly what I did.
I rode my bike down to the job site. On one end they had just put in the block foundations in the day or two before so there were these long rows of block walls there were at ground level. On each side of them where ditches that were about 4 feet deep. The blocks were 8 inch wide so they made great paths to walk / run on, following the perimeters of the to be build structures. They seemingly went on forever to us. We would jump over the ditch onto the top of the 8 inch blocks and just walk or run on them. Well that was all cool until...........
As I round one corner and headed up the one side I slipped and fell into the ditch, at least until my chin hit the top of the block wall. From there I don't remember to much other then waking up and looking around from down in the ditch. I had knocked myself out for awhile, never was sure how long I was knocked out. I was alone that day. I also felt some dripping on me and it was not the rain. When I feel and hit my chin I put a nice gash in it so I was bleeding. I remember pickup my bike and walking it home, still dazed and the front of my shirt now red. I walked into the house and my mother took one look at me and said what happened this time? I had some home a few times as a kid bleeding so mom was usually ready for it. So, she cleaned me up and said I even had blood from my ears which today I know means I had a concussion. We had a local hospital only a few blocks away that I had visited more times that I want to remember for stitches and this looked like another one of those times. Once I was cleaned up and changed mom had me hold a slice of white bread over the cut on my chin. Whenever we were bleeding from something mom always had the bread out to adsorb the blood! Seemed to work as the blood finally stopped but I had a nasty cut under my chin that did leave a scare. But within days I was back at the site with friends doing the exact same thing! The good old days......
Quote of the day J.M. Barrie:
“If growing up means it would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree, I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!”
Happy Friday as another work week slides into the history books.....hope you had a week to remember and a weekend to enjoy! Oh yea in both things give thanks to the one above for well.....everything!
Song of the day......where??...Cat Stevens - Where Do The Children Play (live) - YouTubePosted 06-07-2013 at 07:03 AM by dansdrive
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Monday June 10, 2013 and its 72.6 outside heading on up to a healthy dose of 82 degree thunderstorms! Another weekend has come and gone. Was a nice weekend after all that rain on Friday. Really gully washers of downpours. Anyway, speaking of washers. I cracked up the washer again this weekend and proceed to power wash the garage floor and decide to take it up a bit and power washed the garage doors....All went well. Came out like new with one exception. One door would not open anymore after the cleaning. It would come up about 6 inches and shop! Drat!
What I learned, thanks internet, that I most likely fried one of the electronic eyes that are on the side of the garage door as a safety switch in the event something or someone tried to go under the door while its coming down. So, when the invisible beam that goes between the sensors is broken the door will reverse and go back up. Weill mine doe snot anymore. I will try again and hope that it dried out and is now working or off to the big box lumber stores and bu some new ones. Double Drat!!
On the bright side, watched three deer last evening cross our property. There was one buck, nice rack, and two doe. No not John Doe's...these were Jenny Doe's! They came up the driveway from the road tripped the security lights and just kept a walking, they were not frightened by the lights turning on. It actually gave them better visibility as they were walking.....nice I suppose! It was a beautiful sight watching them and was a nice topper to the weekend. Sweet!
Quote of the day from John Burroughs:
"I got to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order."
Happy Monday and who created nature that can do that special thing? The one above....awesome!
Song of the day....you it....I wish you Happy Days....Happy Days theme song full length release - YouTube
P.S. Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!Posted 06-10-2013 at 05:42 AM by dansdrive
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Tuesday June 11, 2013 and its 71.1 partly cloudy skies outside slipping between the drops up to a high of 86 degrees today. Yes, more chances for thunderstorms today! Its good to see Falls Lake filled to the brim and Falls river running swiftly down to the sea. As we approach the hot dry days of summer it is a welcome sight indeed.
Speaking of sights....the sky on a clear dark night is one sight to speak about. The vastness of space makes mankind feel insignificant. When you peer our into space you can start to appreciate the term, forever and ever. There truly is no beginning and no end. Funny how that is. All the science we have over the centuries, all the discoveries we have made as a human race, all the modes to travel we have devised and made everyday occurrences, space is truly the last frontier. A 'space' to be peered into and slightly traveled into but unlikely to ever be trans-versed, by man that is. Sure we send unmanned ship to the edges of our galaxy and the Hubble telescopes lets us see galaxies far far away but to get there ever, naw. Only in our imaginations can we travel to the outer reaches of our universe. But imagination can sustain us forever and ever.
Quote of the day from John Steinbeck:
Many a trip continues long after movement in time and space have ceased.
Happy Tuesday and no matter how vast space is and the endless possibilities it may have for us it was all created by the one above to give us wonder and amazing for our life times......truly a gift!
Song of the day by U2.......enjoy..... U2- Staring at the Sun - YouTubePosted 06-11-2013 at 06:01 AM by dansdrive
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Monday June 24, 2013 and its 77.7 degrees heading on up to 88 degrees. Good to be back!! Good to be refreshed! Good to be thankful! These past couple of weeks have been stressful in work and life. I have taken some time off from Bloging to focus on my work and to reset my life's batteries. I found myself falling into the Whoa is me syndrome. My daily life plate was filled and starting to overflow.
So I took some time off to focus on work and items that needed attention. I can say I am caught back up and moving forward again instead of sideways....and that is a good thing. It took help and guidance from above who makes everything possible each and everyday if we let him in. As I started to get overwhelmed with life I reflected on where I was headed and prioritized what was really important in life. Life's journey is so very short and so sad to be off track on doing what is right and just. Knowing what my limitations are and abiding by them is as they say 'Job 1'...
This past weekend I sweat gallons replacing some of our Deck boards that were cracked and worn. A couple turned into over 13 boards and 4 steps going down off the deck. Felt good to get back working and sweating! Yesterday evening after getting cleaned up went for nice long walk, sure I sweated more but just taking a stroll in the outdoors was worth every drop of it!
The real reward of the last couple of weeks was seen and felt last evening coming home from the walk. At about 8:30PM as I sat at a red light and facing northwest I set my gaze upon the evening sky. The sun was setting and the clouds were scattered across the horizon and the falling sun illuminated the giant canvas in the sky more brilliant than any painter could ever capture. Between the clouds the sky Blue was deeper and more brilliant than I have remembered it in a long time. The bottom of the clouds were lite up like a bright show light was illuminating them. It was magnificent and helped me put life into perspective. The trials of the last couple of weeks seemed to fade into that evening sky, I could not thank the one above enough for that moment and truly spender he painted into the evening sky. Billy Ocean said it best in one of his songs, 'Awesome, simply awesome."
Quote the day by Proverbs 24:3-4 NIV
"Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge the rooms shall be filled with all precious and pleasant riches."
Happy Monday, happy to be back, happy to be humble, happy and thankful always!
Song of the day....fitting....."http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alxSJXy4qY0"Posted 06-24-2013 at 06:00 AM by dansdrive
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Tuesday June 25, 2013 and its 78.3 degrees outside heading on up to a hot 91 degrees. Afternoon thunderstorms will pop up as well. Summer is here!! On the calendar and in the skies. Changed out some more banisters on the deck last evening and sweat poor from my head as if I dumped a bottle of water over my head. Hot and muggy it was. Soon it will be time to paint the railings around the desk and than onto the floor.
Time has slipped by and its mid morning and have not finished my post but I must end it here, till another day my friends.....
Quote of the day by Henry Miller:
“Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.”
Happy Tuesday and Mr. Miller has a point or two in that quote.....Forget yourself, the world will be a better place for it!
Song of the day...C'Mon get up and well you know what to do during this song.....Van Halen - Jump 1984 Video stereo widescreen - YouTubePosted 06-25-2013 at 08:27 AM by dansdrive
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Thursday June 27 and its 69.4 degrees outside heading on up to a toasty 91 degrees. up north this was week two of the summer break from school. Our house did not have air conditioning so open windows was our only air conditioning. My bedroom was upstairs and in the back of the house. Living in the city our homes were close together and the had a row of apartment homes behind us and to the left of the back of our home. In the day these were nice all brick row homes. I had a number of friends that grew up in them. There was plenty of kids that lived there when I was growing up. I always knew it was summer when the sun was already up when I got up and I could hear all the kids playing in behind those row homes and the one family that had five kids mother yelling at them from their back porch. Ah the sounds of summer.
What was a typical summer day as a kid. If there was not chores to be done I could sleep in till about 8am. Throw on a pair of shorts and tee shirt. Sometime skip the whole wash your face in the morning routine and seldom take the time to brush my teeth or hair. Grab a piece of toast or bowl of cereal. Head out to the back yard to grab my bike and it was off to the neighborhood to see who else was out.
Link up with some friends and plot our days activities. They usually included a game or 10 of sandlot baseball. Sometimes it would include trading some baseball cards and using a clothespin to clip them onto our bikes so the card could flap against the spokes so our bikes sounded like motor cycles and that was cool! Sometime it meant walking up to the abandoned park and hang out in a tree fort. Sometimes it just meant sitting on a friends porch or in front of their house talking about whatever the subject of the day was.
Come noon or so it usually meant heading home to grab a sandwich which was usually a buttered slice of bread, or a peanut butter jelly sandwich, or my favorite at the time, a butter banana sandwich! Sweet! When the tomato's were ripe it was a tomato sandwich. Meat was not high on the list.....after lunch or could be a dip in the pool for a while or hop back on the bike and ride for the daily sandlot baseball game. Needless to say we were rarely bored and we did not have the luxury of game stations, cell phones, endless TV, or personal music devices. We had our friends, we had imaginations, we had real sports to play, we had the SUMMER OFF from school! How sweet that was..........
Quote of the day Celia Thaxter:
"There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart."
Happy Thursday, Happy summer, and three words for this summers day, love, joy, and peace!!!!! Simple, huh.....now go make it happen!
Song of the day.....it just had to be.....Billy Stewart - Summertime - YouTube
P.S. Have a great summertime day!!!Posted 06-27-2013 at 05:03 AM by dansdrive
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Friday June 28, 2013 and its 76.6 degrees rocking and rolling mother nature style up to 93 degrees today. Chance of severe thunderstorms after lunch today. My Son called from Kansas last night and said they got hit with strong storms with flat line winds over 80 MPH! No power and lots of trees down. Here is hoping we don't get hit with anything like that today....
Growing up in the northeast we occasionally got severe thunderstorms but they were usually very isolated, once in a great great while they would turn up a twister but it was rare. It was more clouds and rain than severe weather. Unless it was snow and to us kids it was delightful but to or parents it was frightful! But this is summer time. We would get heavy down pours that would flood the streets at times. Our city street were narrow with cubs, they were barely the width of two side by side cars. We lived at the bottom of some pretty big hills so the water would come off those hills and into our streets and when it rained really hard it would over whelm the storm sewers and create a mighty river on our street. As a kid this was fun time walking through the nearly knee deep water in the streets. They were basically flash floods as quick as they would rise up they would dissipate. But that time in between was cool! Wet but cool! Use to try to ride our bikes through it and be totally soaked when we were done. Who needed a water park in those days? Mother nature provided our entertainment. Sweet!
Quote of the day Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
"For after all, the best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain."
Happy Friday, Happy it is Friday, Happy those reading this is having a Friday, Happy to be just plain Happy!
Song of the day....T.G.I.F......The cure - Friday I'm in love (Lyrics) - YouTubePosted 06-28-2013 at 06:49 AM by dansdrive
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Monday July 1, 2013 and its a cloudy 72.9 outside heading on up to 86 degrees with....you guess it, thunderstorms! Fair share of rain over night. Where did the weekend go? Slipped by with a paint brush glide here and there over the back deck railings, it slipped by with another lawn cut, it slipped by with a few drops of sweat over the brow, it slipped by with a nice long walk last evening, it slipped by with the thanks to the one above for another fine weekend.
The 4th of July week. Now this was the week as a kid that meant sleeping in a tent and fishing to our heart content. The first two weeks of July is when my Uncles plant shut down every year and we went camping. It usually meant spending Friday getting read and leaving the house around 3PM to go and pick up my cousin. Typically my cousin would still be down the end of his block at the grocery store picking up his supplies. So, my aunt would bring out his sleeping bag, fishing pole and tackle box, and a box of food to us. We would load it up and head down to the grocery store to pick him up. He would be just coming out the grocery store with a bag or two of groceries. He would buy a loaf of bread a can or two of Stew, hot dogs, and some candy, and a case of Shasta soda. We load it up in the car and head to the lake.
The lake was about 15 miles from our home so it was not far. It was a private lake and was all dirt road to get to it. When we had a lot of rain it was always a challenge for Dad to navigate through the puddles and around pop holes. About a half mile from the lake there was a steel cable with a lock blocking the entrance to the lake. We would unlock the big ole lock and drop the cable for Dad to pull into entrance. Pick up the cable and lock the lock behind us. Then it was a short ride to the lake and our camping area. We camped back from the lack about 50 yards. The terrain sloped down towards the lake so we stood back in the flatter area under the trees.
Once Dad pulled into the area where we would camp we sprung into action. Out came this giant piece of plastic we put under the tent. Than the tent was spread out and the poles were assembled and lifted the tent into place. Our tent was 8 foot by 10 feet which was perfect for the four of us. Once the tent poles were raised and tied down it was time to get out the old Army cots and assemble them and toss our sleeping bags and pillows on them. The arrangement was always the same. Facing the tent from right to left was first my Uncle, than my cousin, then my Dad, and then me!
Once the tent and sleeping arrangements were done we moved on to put up the 12 foot by 12 foot, yellow and blue canvas tarp that covered the cooking and eating area. Out came the folding table, Coleman stove, Coleman lanterns, one double bulb one and two single bulb ones. The lake we stayed in had no electricity, no drinking water, no toilets, so those Coleman lanterns is all we had in the pitch darkness to and from camp to the lake. We would also bring out the folding chairs and camp was about set up just waiting for our Uncle to join us.
He would get out of work at 3:30PM and his job was to stop at the spring on the way up to the lake and fill two 5 gallon plastic jugs of water. That would last us a week. He also stopped off and got a Pizza Pie for us and boy was that good. So he would arrive around 5 PM and unpack his stuff which was basically his sleeping bag and he always had a large battery operated radio. That was our only connection to the outside world. It helped us know when storms were coming, that is when he kept the channel on a local station. That is a whole other story I will share in a future Blog. But, the camp would settle down around 6:30 after we had our pizza. Than it was make sure the Coleman lanterns were all full with fuel and our fishing poles and bait was ready and off to the lake we went. We typically fished until midnight of so and headed back to the camp. The fishing was never great but the memories would last a life time..........
Quote of the day Matthew 9:29,
"It is done unto you as you believe. "
Happy Monday, Happy are the rain drops, Happy for the memories of times long past, Happy indeed......
Song of the day............Duran Duran: Careless Memories (Original version!!!) - YouTubePosted 07-01-2013 at 05:52 AM by dansdrive
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Tuesday July 2, 2013 and its another flash flood day weather warning 73.3 degrees thunder storming its way up to 82 degrees. Got umbrella?
Fortunately when we camped we did not have rain to contend with...we did have some pretty bad storms from time to time but no time can I remember where we had all day rains. I suppose a lot had to do with the time of the year we camped. Forst two weeks of July we hot not wet! So, after the friday we would set up camp and fish till midnight or so it was time to turn in. One thing was for sure in a matter of minutes we were all out! Maybe it was the fresh mountain air, maybe it was all the activity setting up the camp, maybe it was just the comfort and relaxation of living in a tent with no modern conveniences. Don't really know but it sure was fun.
Day two of the camp trip usually meant myself and my cousin and Uncle would get up around 7am usually to head to the woods to pay mother nature a visit as duty called. The smell of coffee was already in the air as Dad was up since 5AM and down by the lake fishing. He was a morning person and a morning, noon, and night fisherman. He could literally fish around the clock. When he heard us all get up he would head back up to camp and make us breakfast. Typically was eggs, bacon, and burnt toast over the Coleman stove flame. Nothing like a good breakfast! We were usually the only ones that camped at this lake too. But sometime there would be some lovers that would spend the night in their cars...
Sfter breakfast it was clean up time. Wash the pots with our spring water in a plastic basin. Had to have the old cast iron fry pan ready for afternoon Hot dogs! That was a daily staple for us. My Uncles favorite saying was when asked if he would like a hot dog was; Burn me two!
Lunch was me and my cousins meal of the day to cook or burn! After breakfast clean up we would usually go get the firewood. We would drag old dead logs from the forest and get our two man saw out and cut the logs up for a couple of hours and stack the wood up. We always had a perpetual fire burning while we camped. After the wood had been all cut and stacked we were usually pretty hot and it was an excellent time to go wading and catch some fish to cool off. Off we would go till we got hungry for lunch and head back to camp. Looking back I can see why my Dad like this lake. It was small enough so that he could see all around it so he could kepe an eye on us while we were in the lake wading. Walking along the path around the lake he could not but lucky for us and him nothing ever happened to us!
Quote of the day from Jeremiah 17:9-10 NIV :
"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve."
Happy Tuesday, are you ready for that search? Harden not your heart, it makes the search so much easier!!
Song of the day.......enjoy and c'mon dance.....Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning - YouTubePosted 07-02-2013 at 05:57 AM by dansdrive
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Wednesday July 3, 2013 and its a humid 75.8 degrees outside with chance of thunderstorms that should take us up to a humid 86 degrees. These were the type of days up north we escaped from during out week or two long camping trip at the lake. City was hot and humid and about 15 miles away at the lake we would camp would be much cooler.
It was not often that at night we did not sleep in the sleeping bags but there were times when it was hot and humid in the woods. But there was always a lot of tree cover so we stayed in the shade and would fish in the evenings and mornings. No matter how hot it was we always had the fire going. In the evening it was great as a matter of fact we had two files going. One down by the lake. The lake did not allow any water craft of any kind or swimming for that mater. The conservation club that managed the lake did add a few fishing docks and built a three sided building down by the lake. The fishing dock was placed in front of the building.
The building was made of timbers and piece of sheet metal. Inside was a dirt floor a coal stove for cooking and wooden table, some shelves on the back wall and in front was some wood bench seats for looking out over the lake. People would camp in this building or have a cook out.. Anyway, in the area in front of it was a large fire pit that people used. We would have a nice fire going when we fished down off the dock. Our job as kids was to fetch the fire wood and keep it going. It was a tough job but someone had to do it!
In that fire when fishing was slow we use to melt the old glass coke bottles but where never successful removing them from the fire without cracking them. They looked pretty cool in the fire. I remember one tine this guy came up and sat on that wood bench in front of the three sided shed and went on to explain to us the proper way to have a bonfire. He would use the softer woods like Maple and pine for the interior of the file and than ring the outside with Oak and Ash. This lake had some cast of characters that would frequent it and maybe that is what kept my Dad and uncle going back. Some future entry I will write about these fellows, characters they were but in retrospect they were always some life lessons in those characters!
Oh yea the 3rd of July and the 4th of July we surely had some firework fun at this lake!
Quote of the day from Proverbs 14:34 NIV
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people. "
Happy Wednesday and as the birthday of our great nation moves closer I can't help but reflect on the above quote of the day and ask, are we a righteous nation anymore or just slipping deeper and deeper into sin?
Song of the day....you know it...sit back and enjoy...Battle HymnPosted 07-03-2013 at 08:00 AM by dansdrive
