And those we loved..Scott's Grandmother

And those we loved,
The lovliest and the best
That from his vintage
rolling time has pressed,
have drunk their cup a time or two before,
And one by one crept silently off to rest-
-Omar Khayyam

Ramona's late husband, Scott, was raised by his Grandmother, Nanny, who passed away in Michigan yesterday.
Ramona flew back to Michigan from Colorado a few months ago to spend a week with Nanny.

Ramona is always there for those who need love and support.

After Ramona lost her husband, Scott, she expressed her beliefs in her Christmas letter which I asked her permission to share and it is in its entirity on my Tuesday,January 26,2006 blog.

I will share excerpts with you here.

"Say I love you as much as you can. Let your family and friends know how much you care about them. Get together and make new memories because you will treasure them more that any tangible items. May God blesss and keep you during the holidays and in the coming year!"

And last year her, 2005, her letter ended with this admonition.

"I hope that this year is full of greatness for you and your loved ones. Spend time with your family and friends, tell them how much you love and treasure them"

Ramona

Ramona will always cherish all of the beautiful memories that she ,Scott and Nanny created together.
May God go with you, Ramona.

I love you,
Dad

TO PROTECT AND SERVE- OFFICER DOWN

Officer Nick Erfle was killed in the line of duty in the afternoon of his life. He was killed last week while trying to arrest a man for jaywalking. The man was an illegal alien who had been deported once already.

His six year old son wrote him this letter:

Dear Dad I miss you If you wur here we wood uf plade lost of games I wish u have a good time in hevoon Brody.

Brody was a student at the private school that my grandaughter, Summer,attends. There was no school on Monday so that the parents who volunteer at the school with Brody's Mother could attend the services. Brigid, Summer's Mother, took in the children of all of the parents who attended the funeral.

Each day the police put their lives on the line so that we may lead a life and peace and quiet.
After nine-eleven much respect and honor was given to them for their part in our lives but I feel that we must on every occassion that presents itself reach out and thank them for their service.

If winter come...

One English poet said, "if Winter comes can Spring be far behind?"

In Sun City we say, If Summer comes can fall be far behind?

Yes, It can, but this morning there was Fall in the air!

Fall at last, fall at last, thank God,it's fall at last!

BANNER DANCING

No, I received no banner for the dancing lesson with my Dance Partner, Ethel, but I did end up in Banner, hospital, that is. But let me elaborate.
45 years ago I fell backwards and smashend my left elbow. It has given me little or no grief since that date.Three weeks ago Tami in her waltz lesson re-introdcued us to the underarm turn. We liked it so at the Friday night singles dance we employed it several times and I discovered that my left arm was locking up so so no more underarm turns.
On Saturday, I went down town to have lunch with my son, Dan. He gave me tickets for the Sunday D.Backs game. Ethel and I went to the game and my arm was becoming somewhat sensitive, but no problem.
By Sunday night my wrist was swelling up and becoming painful and I couldn't use my left hand to open my left over pain pills and muscle relaxant from another incident so I had to ask Ethel to open the bottles. Monday morning I went to the Banner Hopital emergency room where I was put on a liquid antibiotic.Two days later I was moved to a hospital room. As you know you never find out much as to what is going on so on Saturday they decided to switch to an oral antibiotic, not as strong, but wanted to observe my reaction to same so I was held until Sunday evening.
So when I got the release papers I dicovered that I suffered from Cellulitis involving the volar, medial, and lateral aspects of the left wrist I will be on oral antibiotics for ten days.
I, on that date, 9/27/07 am invited to join Greg and Ramona to help Dan take his power boat from Canada back to his boathouse in Seattle. You can bet that I'm keeping a low key to insure the I am shipshape.(pardon the awful pun)
Someone once said that work never killed anyone, but why take a chance?

Dancing never killed anyone, but.............

Greg- 1980's

Laugh and the world laughs with you,

Weep and you weep alone.

Rejoice and men will seek you,

Grieve, and they turn and go:

They want full measure of your pleasure,

But they do not want your woe.

Pastor Miller-Riverside, Ca.1969

THE COWBOY'S DREAM

Last night as I lay on the prarie,

And looked ata the stars in the sky

I wondered if ever a cowboy

Would drift to the sweet by and by.

The road to that bright, happy region

Is a dim, nararow trail, so they say

But the broad one that leads to perdition

Is posted and blazed all the way.

They say there will be a great roundup,

And cowboys like dogies will stand,

To be marked by the riders of judgement

Who are posted and know every brand.

I know there's many a stray cowboy

Who'll be lost at the great, final sale,

When he might have gone to green pastures

Had he known of the dim, narrow trail.

I wondere if ever a cowboy

Stood ready for that judgement day,

And could say to the Boss of the Riders,

"I'm ready come drive me away."

For they , like the cows that are locoed,

Stampede at the sight of a hand,

And are dragged with a rope to the roundup,

Or get marked with some crooked man's brand.

And I'm scared that I'll be a stray yearling-

A maverick, umbranded on high-

And get cut in the bunch with the "rusties"

When the Boss of the Riders go by.

For they tell of another big owner

Whose never overstocked, so they say,

But who always make room for the sinner

Who drifts from the strait, narrow way.

They say he will never forget you,

That he knows every action and look:

So, for safety, you'd better be branded,

Have your name in the great Tally Book.

Chorus

Roll on,roll on;

Roll on, little dogies, roll on, roll on,

Roll on, roll on;

Roll on, little dogies, roll on.

-John Avery Lomax

realize

You should realize that-

If you were busy being kind,
Before you knew it, you would find
You'd soon forget to think 'twas true
That someone was unkind to you.

If you were busy being glad,
And cheering people who are sad,
Although your heart might ache a bit,
You'd soon forget to notice it.
-unknown

Yes, I saw High Anxiety and as in many cases ,the patients were running the asylum! Too clever by far!

We're still number one

Yes, the DBacks won last nights game with the Padres 9 to 6 but there were few moments to sit back and figure that it was a done deal. I'm just so impressed with all the talent that our young team displays that it gladdens my heart. One game ahead in our division-wow!

high emotional state

I will be back in that mood tonight as I attend the D-Back game against the Padres with my son, Dan. The teams are now tied for first place in th Western division and watching the last two games has given me new highs and lows. The teams just don't beat each others, they beat up on each other.
Dan and Brigid have been most generous to me making it possible to see many games this season. This will be the fourth time I've gone with my son and it is a great source of pride and joy. Thanks Brigid, thanks Dan'

High anxciety