After wrapping up at Global Samaritan Resources last week, I spent some time with one of my closest friends over the weekend. We have not been able to get together for a long while, so we went to the ranch and spent a good portion of the night and early next morning varmint hunting (I will refrain from posting any pictures). We had a great time together. There is something about guys, guns and varmints! Ahhh!!!!
Then, on Tuesday of this week I drove over to the DFW area and spent some time with my two nephews. The oldest of the two has kids of his own – making me a GREAT Uncle (I could’ve told you that!) Unfortunately, I do not get over to see them very often. As a matter of fact, I’m sad to say that the last time we were all together was during my 2010 Sabbatical! It’s really unfortunate that my sister and brother-in-law no longer live in Texas. They moved to Seattle about 10 years ago. This has caused a lot of hard feelings over the years, because my nephews feel somewhat abandoned by them – particularly Chris, the one with two kids of his own. Quite frankly, it has puzzled me over the years because when my sister and brother-in-law moved from Texas to Seattle, they left all of their family including their kids and soon to be grand kids behind. For multiple generations, our family has lived in Texas. So when my sister decided to up and move to Seattle (it was not because of work), it definitely broke with tradition. This has really continued to be a sore spot with Chris because he now has children who get to spend very little time with their grandparents. These kids are awesome and very loving. As a matter of fact, they clung to me as if I was their granddad the whole time I was with them. The time we spent together was very much needed by all. None of us can convince my sister and brother-in-law to move back to Texas, so instead I plan to make myself more available to my nephews…as sort of a surrogate dad/granddad.
When I got back to Abilene, one of my first jobs was to do some tree and shrubbery trimming. Today, I attacked two massively overgrown cedar trees. Over the 15 years since we planted them, they had begun to take over the entrance to our house. My wife told me she wanted them gone, so this gave me an opportunity to fire up the ole chain saw and start cutting…what a wonderful feeling! Since I am a visual guy, I’ve included some before and after pictures for your viewing pleasure. However, as stiff as my back is now, I don’t plan on giving up my day job anytime soon!
BEFORE
AFTER
Tomorrow, my youngest son (Brett) and I plan to venture over to the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Round-up and see what kind of trouble we can “rattle up.” To be continued…