The True Meaning of Christmas

Nativity Scene on Church Steps

In this age of Super Sales at Walmart and Marathon Black Friday sessions, its nice to know one can still walk down the sidewalk in town and see a wonderful display of the Real Meaning of Christmas. Sure the Three Wisemen brought gifts but they were practical and didnt need a money-back guarantee. I like to give Hugs for Christmas. They are very inexpensive but you feel nice a long time after you give them. One thing I love about Christmas is looking at the Christmas Tree and seeing all the ornaments. On Daddio's and Momio's tree the ornaments went back to the 40s and every decade up to 2005. I especially like the ones with the years on them so you can tell exactly what year that Christmas was. Some of the neatest ones were the ones we made from kits as kids. The ornament was made of styrofoam and we just held the jewels and velvet on with pins and needles. I can remember many of the Christmas's with each ornament I looked at. And all the Holly and Evergreen branches draped on all the furniture and under one hallway arch we had this big Mistletoe where lots of huggin and kissin went on =B-] On the Mantel went Santas Sleigh and his Reindeer with elves hanging on the sides and back. This Sleigh was prob circa 1948 made of wood and craved really fancy. we had these 2 Christmas trees that stood about 2 feet high each and they had a bulb inside and it looked like all the different colored lights lit up on the outside. These were real looking evergreens and years later Momio's best friend Emmy Lou got her a porcelin tree with different lights on it. Momio also loved candels. Big or small, with bright colors and ornate carvings in them and a wreath around each base. Some were on long tall brass stands. Of course all the great Christmas cookies and cakes and pies and food and the christmas Treasure Port and Ruby Port wine sure made this special time extra nice. Momio would take red and gree cheeries and cut them and place them on a white frosted cake to make them look like Pointsetta flowers. This would be my birthday cake since I was born on Dec 22 and came home Christmas Day. Im sure each of us has our own unique memories of Christmas. Mine I'll never forget and I hope you all cherish your fond ones also. this is Jimio saying *Merry Christmas*..oh and P.S. [Hug]

Marching to a different Beat

Sticker I got during EMU Band Day 1970

It was a nice crisp fall day when our band bus pulled into the parking lot at EMU Stadium. We were to join the field during Halftime with 25 to 30 other Marching Bands. I remember the warm-up drills like it was yesterday. I'm glad I memorized all my songs. The first time my Lyre fell off my trombone taught me a lesson in memorization. Never again will I fake playing my songs or worry about my music falling in the mud, plus its so much easier concentrating on my marching without staring at the music. We played some pretty groovy songs by Santana and Chicago but 1 band had some music in a different key than the rest of us. Man did that sound sour :-] I dont remember who won the game but they certainly played better than my highschool did. Every play was fast, sharp and executed with the utmost precision but I guess they would since these are the best high school guys who get schiolarships and a few will be drafted into the NFL once they graduate. These days some go into the NFL or other pro sports right out of highschool. I wish I had taken a camera. Im not sure I had one then and I doubt those throwaway cameras were even invented yet. Marching Band was very enjoyable. We got to stare at a lot of Cheerleaders since we usually had front row seats. This is Jimio saying "Have a Nice Fall"

Autumn

Fall Colors in Full Bloom near Alpena Michigan



Missy and Mindy celebrating the Harvest

 What can I say about Autumn? It's a very colorful time and the smell of leaves in the air is so invigorating. A very robust fermented like smell, not as sweet as spring flowers but a more mildly acidic with a touch of sweetness. Nothing is more enjoyable than "Indian Summer" with its warm temperatures and cool nights. Why do leaves change their color? Some say its due to temperatures dropping   but the experts say it's because of the nights getting longer and this causes less chlorophyll to be produced. Eventually all chlorophyll stops being made and the carotenoids and anthocyanins inside the leaves are unmasked to expose their bright colors. The Oaks turn red, brown or russet. The Hickories turn a golden bronze. Aspens and Poplars turn yellow. The Dogwoods turn a purplish red and the Beech Trees turn tan. Maples differ from species to species from brilliant scarlet to red-orange to a glowing yellow. A succession of warm days and cool but not freezing nights should produce dazzling color displays. It's all due to warm days producing lots of sugars in the leaf but the cool nights trap the sugars in the leaf by leaf veins constricting during the cold nights. A warm dry fall will usually produce duller colors as seemed to happen this year. The word Autumn comes from the old French word Autompne in the 12th century or Automne in modern French. Also before the 16th century the word Harvest was used per the Dutch word Herfst and the German word Herbst. Eventually the word Harvest became know as to harvest the crops. The word Fall comes from the Old English word Fiaell or Feallan which means to fall from a height and I suspect it is to describe the leaves falling off the trees. I also enjoy the burning of leaves. The smell is somewhat like tobacco but more pungent and smokier. And who doesn't like hotdogs or marshmellows on a stick cooked over a burning pile of leaves! This is Jimio saying "Happy Fall- Autumn - Equinox"

Why cant Cars look Great and have Quality?

Why can't we see this beautiful design in today's cars?

I have always wondered why cars started losing their great looks. The 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s cars had such style n grace in their design. I feel the wildest grooviest designs in cars were the years 1967,1968 and 1969. Around 1980 they started getting this "box" look to them. I'm not sure if that was due to their unibody frame but they looked like blocks going down the road. The very first cars were nothing but horse carriges with motors on them, but hey, they just came out, you cant fault them in first few years of existance. After time they started looking pretty sleek. The Dusenbugs, Mercedes and Cadillacs set the trend as did the foreign cars Jaguar, Peugeou,Mazzeratti and Porsche. I understand today we need lighter vehicles to save on fuel and for electric motors which dont seem to have the power a combustion engine has, but still cant engineers design some half-way decent looks to them? Starting in the 40s these cars had such wonderful lines and every Company had their own unique design. Even models within the same company had their special style. When I worked on cars from 1992 to 2006, I noticed how flimsey they were made. If I just touch something inside the motor it would crack apart or fall off. I understand parts need to be replaced but they should be able to withstand a light tug or pull. Many things made today break down or need to be replaced in 3 years when they should have lasted 10 years. Im sure this is done to make sure a company keeps selling more of their products that way. It seems insulting to me that they feel the need to purposely make junk to keep them rich. I was upset when computers had to be upgraded so often but I realized that was due to the technology improving so fast, and I suppose that was a good thing to be able to do so many great things on computers now. do we really need all this high-tech in cars though? I do like the GPS to track your car if it is lost or stolen and the Map technology that even tells you a traffic jam is up ahead and what exit to take to avoid it, but having computer monitors on the dashboard? A car that parks itself? If you get a car that drives itself, you might as well ride a train! Oh well, change happens. I first noticed change in 1973. I thought the Hippies and long hair will be here forever but that was not the case. I thought the Metal and Psychedelic music would always dominate. I thought muscle cars would get more muscular and the bell bottoms would get wider. Something strange happened. People started cutting their hair and music on the radio started getting more boring and laid-back. Radio stations stopped playing whole albums and many went into these non-live formats with programed songs in a loop that repeated every 3 hours. What a nightmare! Now I realize "What comes around, goes around". I have seen little kids with peace signs around their necks and wearing tie-dye shirts. And now with 2 wars dragging on and on, we might even get a whole new batch of war protestors, so its odd how some things never change except you are older and they are younger =B-] This is Jimio saying "Peace-Love and Better Designing through High-Tech" 

Civil War Muster-The Past Comes to Life

Battle of Bethel Church Virginia June 10 1861



Beautiful Civil War dress

 This was my 2nd visit to a Civil war Re-enactment, the first being over 22 years ago in this very same spot. It sure has grown. I saw more troops, more cannons and more vistors. I also met Historical Ken, a blogger of  http://passionforthepast.blogspot.com/ and we talked for a bit about re-enacting. It was a beautiful day, though rather hot but that helped the liquid refreshment Saloon get many thirsty customers. There were many stuffed animal heads of a Buffalo, a Moose and an Elk I believe and the Bar looked right out of the 1860s. I had to go to the Saloon twice it was so humid out. The women were dressed in very authentic looking period clothing for the 1860s. The prominent women of lawyers and doctors and such wore beautiful dresses with a hoop skirt that makes them puff out and give them that "Southern Belle" look. Many children were there wearing accurate period clothing and a few young teens fought in the battle just like some did back in the 1860s. The children also played with toys from the 1860s, it was like you were transported back to the civil war. Even the campfires were perfect replicas, maybe even real 1860s cookware and they had the fires burning on tree logs split with axes with actual food sizzling in the pans *smelled so good!* Everything there, was down to a T and the re-enactors stayed the night in their tents for this wonderful 2 day Muster Event. Plus I must mention the great playing of the Michigan 5th Infantry Band. Baritones, Trumpets, Drums and Piccalos played 1860s Era songs to the delight of all. When the Battle of Bethel Church started, the Muskets were pretty loud, but when the 8 Cannons went off, every toddler in the crowd seem to be crying. They did not expect such a huge *BOOM!* I'm certain the next 4 years of this 150th anniversary of the Civil War will be just as exciting as this year was.

Summer on Maple Hill

Jimio with Tractor and Red Wagon to carry Missy and Mindy

Its amazing I can still remember the Summers on Maple Street like they were yesterday. Our House was high on top of a hill and the driveway went around it. Me Brad and Missy and Mindy plus a few neighbor kids would ride our bikes, tricycles and a tractor around the house while somebody played traffic cop and signaled who had to stop and who could go. I gave rides for the girls and sometimes only the stuffed animals and dolls would ride along. As we passed by the garage, there was a older boy named David [we called him Crazy David] and he would throw ice cream at us from the roof of the garage. It was ok if you could catch enough ice cream in your hand and eat it. There was this guy across the street who made balsa wood airplanes and they had little gas engines on them. He hung them from his living room ceiling and it was awesome for a little 5 year old dude like me sitting there on the couch and staring at them all. One summer this guy came by on a horse and was taking pictures of kids on his horse for like $3 or $5 a photo. He had these cowboy outfits we could wear and my brother and sisters all had our pictures taken. I have the pics somewhere, I must dig them up some day. I remember walking on the sidewalk and I said "Hi" to this kid and he punched me right in the face. Dont know why but I went running home crying all the way ;-] I guess he just wanted to prove he was tuff. Im glad I had many more good memories than bad ones. One was looking out my Grandma's bedroom window late at night and seeing her with Momio and Dadio out on the back lawn with the Tahiti Torches burning and Nat King Cole playing on the record player. I could even hear the clinking of the ice cubes in their mixed drinks.

Perfect Time to Fly a Kite

Mother  and Young Daughter out on a Windy August Day

I always thought of March as the time to fly a kite but it seems this Mom and her young Daughter found a breezy day in August as the perfect time. It definately was more warmer than March and the smell of the grass and plants and flowers was being whisked into our nostrils from the wind whipping through the neighborhood. What I found so wonderful was, the young child actually flew the kite herself for quite a little while. Her only complaint was mainly from the bright sun making her eyes squint and blocking her view of the Blue and Yellow Bird flying over her head. It's nice to see a young Mom with her Daughter enjoying themselves and getting exercise at the same time instead of being Kooped Up inside the house watching TV or playing Video Games.

The Lure of a Neon Sign

This Neon Sign been on this building probably longer than I've been alive

Neon Signs, they call out to us in the dawn or dusk. In the rain, sleet, snow and fog they guide our way to the Pubs, Bars, Taverns, Restaurants,Diners,Massage Palours,Hardware Stores, Tanners and a whole bunch of other places. Many stores use neon signs now. They are shaped like Cars, Guitars and even Dogs n Cats. Anything to catch our eyes. There is even many songs about neon signs. I suppose it has to do with all the things you can do in a building with a neon sign. The possibilities are limitless. Artists captures neon signs in paintings and directors used them in movies to get that certain look. A look of desparation or loneliness. A look of calmness and celebration. Each neon sign invokes it's own emotion. Once you find the Neon Sign that suits your taste, you go inside the building and discover smaller neon signs taunting and teasing you, forever emblazened on your retinas. Their images are still there even though your eyes are closed. Well the Roxy Cafe enticed me at least 2 or 3 times to engage in a gastronomical festival. Roxy Cafe has been named the best place to have breakfast in Jackson Magazine. I had the best pancakes and omlets there, thats for sure. One thing that bothers me is I am having a difficult time finding any history about the Roxy Cafe. For as long as it has been around I thought for sure there must be something. Maybe I should chat with the owner. He might know if there was something there before the restaurant or when the Roxy came into being and the wild times there, since I saw a sign that said, "Motorcyclists Welcome" on the sidewalk. Maybe that is for the Robin's Roost, a Bar that is next door in the same building. Hopefully I can dig something up and repost it here or in a new post. There is just too much history at the Roxy Cafe to overlook!

Heritage



Grandma Eva's Painting

 This painting has been in my parents possession for as long as I can remember. They had it before we moved to Michigan so I must have been 2 or 3 years old. Maybe my Grandma [On Dadio's Side] gave it to my parents as a wedding gift before I was even born. I need to find out more about this. I never really noticed this painting until my family moved to Gilletts Lake in may 1962. Momio would hang this picture in various places in the house. For a while it hung in the kitchen, then in den and also in the living room before finally staying in my parents bedroom. Momio had paintings for each season of the year she would hang. We even had paintings in the hallway from the living room to the kitchen. They all looked so nice and made the home feel like a minature art gallery. As a kid I would get up real close and admire the brush strokes. Momio was also a fair artist and also did caligraphy and intricate embroidery. I also liked to draw but for some reason never kept it up much. I suppose my chess playing took precesence but chess is kind of like art if you look at all the beautiful positions that can arise from chess. Now as I get older I'm very curious about when my Grandma painted this picture, when she gave it to my parents and if there are others she gave to her other children. It would be nice to see them.

The Local Watering Hole

Jacks' Place - Food*Fun*Spirits



Tracy's Tavern

 I'm not sure where the term "Local Watering Hole" came from, but it's the place where people "Wet Their Whistle". These two photos display a small Tavern and Bar in my town. After work some of the nearby local people would stop in to have a few drinks and some food, perhaps a snack or a light dinner. They would play pool or watch people trying to play pool. Play darts and listen to music. Might even catch a few Lovebirds dancing in the corner to Frank Sinatra, Patsy Cline or James Taylor. You can even watch TV or play the Lottery. A Bar is named for the "Bar" that people "Belly Up" to and the Bartender serves them their drinks. A Tavern in older times served alcohol and food but also some of the patrons could spend the night in sleeping quarters. A Pub was usually owned by a Brewery which liked to feature their particular brand of beer. What I like about these places is they let local musicians  try out their material on the customers. Karaoke night also is great for seeing which local resident can sing and who can't, which can be even more entertaining. According to my phonebook there are 32 Bars/Pubs/Taverns in Jackson but  this is just the surrounding area. Many more in the entire county, that's for sure.

Graffiti meets Advertizing

Custom Finishing

As I was Pedaling down Mechanic Street I noticed some Graffiti and thought some gang put it there but as I got closer I noticed it seemed to be a sign for this guy's business. Its a neat idea. Put your own graffiti on the wall not only to advertize but to fool graffiti artists into thinking some gang already put some graffiti up. I think graffiti artists will usually respect each others works and will probably leave it alone. So this business guy needs not worry. "Fight Graffiti with Graffiti". Very ingenious. Lets just hope the City doesn't clean it off his door by mistake thinking it's gang Graffiti!

Dog Day Afternoon

A Neighborhood Hotdog Stand



Busy Fixing Up the Dogs

 This is the entrepreneurial spirit which helped guide the USA to its #1 World Power Status. The Hot Dog Stand. A person working by the sweat of his/her brow with only a few rudimentary pieces of equipment and a large bag of hot dogs can turn a hefty profit. Location is also a nice added feature when garnering customers. This Hot Dog Stand is near the Hospital which employs a lot of people and to the west and north are other small shops and factories with very short lunch breaks and workers with a carnivorous taste for hot dogs fixed up many different ways. Add to this no other Eateries in the nearby area and this makes a recipe for a howling success!

Recreating the Past

Abe Lincoln with Lady Admirers

If you have never been to a Civil War Muster, by all means try to see one. My town has one every year and they do a different Battle each time. The Uniforms are very authentic looking and they use real cannons and muskats. The campsite looks amazing also with tents pitched up and soldiers playing cards and chess. Sometimes there is a military band playing on old brass horns. These soldiers even sleep in the tents overnight. There is also now a town like section with a jail,post office and other buildings with women and men doing things they did back in Civil War times while wearing perfect period time clothing. Sometimes entire families will participate in these events. I wonder if they do Revolutionary War Re-enactments? Even WW1, WW2, Korea or Vietnam re-enactments would be interesting, tho the Tropical setting of Vietnam would be difficult in some areas of the USA. At our Civil War Muster they will setup tables to sell old artifacts like pistols, muskats, knives, uniforms, old coins and homemade candles and baked goods they make on site. Bring a camera and record a recreation of history. I did and will never forget it.

I do Declare: It is a Hot One!

Sister Missy and Cousin Kim keeping cool



Neighbor Cathy, Sister Mindy and Cathy's Mom Janet




Mindy, Jimio, Cathy and Momio

 We may be having a heat wave these past few days but I remember heat waves past and without Gilletts Lake to cool us off, I don't know what we would have done. We had no air conditioning back then, not even in our cars. "Michigan is too far north for A/C", people would say. You know it had to be hot when Momio and her friend Janet went swimming. In fact this was such a rare event that photos had to be taken to verify this momentous occasion and they did it in style. I remember one time I was riding my 1966 black Schwinn Racer over in the motorcycle trails by Warriors Hill and it was so hot by the time I got back I had a heat rash and I jumped straight off my bike into the lake. That was so refrshing.

Nothing Like a Down Home Local AutoRace

Driver we Sponsored winning a Race

This picture is of a Driver Dadio and I sponsored. He won Rookie of the Year in the Detroit Iron Class. Going to the race was a fun experience. This was a small local racetrack not like Nascar. Half the fans knew each other. This race was 19 years ago and things have changed a lot since then. Back then you could bring bottles and alcoholic beverages in the stands. People brought Coolers with their BBQ rib left-overs and put their plates, knives and forks on the wooden benches. They were not going to be denied a picnic while watching the auto-race :-]  Kids would run all over the place and stand right down near the track behind an old wire fence. Over the loudspeaker a person would yell out the raffle numbers that were on your ticket to recieve prizes. In between races the loudspeaker would belch out old country tunes. One thing I saw that was groovy was when I looked up in the sky, it had this purple color to it. I suppose all that auto exhaust had something to do with it. Some weird chemical reaction I guess. This Racetrack was so local, I had to drive down 2 miles of dirt road to get to it and park on grass. It gave a kind of down home feeling but that was dissapated quickly by my fear of getting a flat tire. These local races are very entertaining to watch because they would have a crash every 2 laps. This guy would come on the track with a pickup truck and sweep the broken auto parts into a big shovel and toss them in the bed of the pickup. Another guy would spray any other oil and debris with a hose. If a racecar could not move off the track, 3 or 4 guys would come out of the Pits to push the car into the infield. Sometimes 2 drivers would get into a fight over a wreck. What was really cool was the little homemade stand with steps they built for the guy to wave the caution yellow flag, the warning red flad, the green go flag and the checkered winning flag from. It was fun watching 3 or 4 different races. One race had little tiny cars and some races had pickup trucks racing. They even have bus races but never saw them. Here's the Website of the Racetrack I went to.  http://www.springportmotorspeedway.com/ and the wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springport_Motor_Speedway

Are Books Going Extinct?

The Book Exchange

We have a used bookstore downtown that has been there 12 years but Im afraid business will really slow down due to digital ebooks on Kinder devices and such. Hopefully Im wrong and that the desire to collect the physical books will bring in new business. The Book Exchange even takes money off the selling price if you bring in another book for the store. With Kindle and other e-reader devices, readers can have books in seconds anywhere they go. Still the cost of a Kindle varies from $114 to over $300 and you still have to buy the book online. Going to the library offers a free option but the selection is not always good and the hassle of going there plus the gas and time spent cuts into the free part somewhat. Garage Sales somtimes will have a few books at very cheap prices.  I need to add to my book collection desperately. What few books I have are screaming for more friends.

An Old Idea Takes Root

Jackson Victory Garden Downtown

Will the Victory Gardens of 2011 save the Economy? Probably not but we are still early in our recent catastrophy. During WW2 people grew Victory Gardens. In a 1943 Comic Book Superman and Batman grew a Victory Garden together. There were Government Poster of Victory Gardens: "Will you have a part in Victory? Every garden a munition plant" "Plant a Victory Garden - A garden will make your rations go further" "Uncle Sam says garden to cut food costs" "Dig On for Victory" Many people took photos of their Victory Gardens and photos of the whole family digging in the Victory Garden. They even had newspaper articles about the Victory Garden of '43 or the Victory Garden of '44. Books about how to plant Victory Gardens and where and when to plant them. People even made creative signs at their gardens. People with no yards planted gardens on city property. Even had Victory Gardens during WW1 and Germany also grew them. Growing Victory Gardens helped save food for the troops thus saving the military money. Saturday Evening Post and Life Magazine did stories about Victory Gardens. People bought 66,000 pressure cookers in 1942 and that grew to 315,000 pressure cookers in 1943. People grew about 20 million gardens during WW2 and harvested around 10 million tons of food, so the Victory Garden program was a success. http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe40s/crops_02.html But in Oak Park Michigan this year a mother of 6 tried to grow a Victory Garden after the city put in sewer lines and tore up her front lawn. She was fined and charged with a misdemeanor for noncompliance with a city ordinance that says only suitable materials may occupy lawn space within the city's boundaries. http://www.blogher.com/forget-victory-gardens-theyre-now-misdemeanor?wrap=blogher-topics/food/locavores&crumb=106887 No official definition exists of suitable materials. When they asked city officials what suitable materials meant, they said shrubs bushes and flowers. Those seem not very tasty to me. I have not seen too many Victory Gardens yet. Have seen a few Herb Gardens and some Ivy gardens so people dont have to mow their lawns!

Things are not always as they Look

What does this picture tell us?

Take a look at this picture. There is a man seemingly smoking a cigarette. This man looks amazingly similar to c'est moi. Alas it is but the true nature of this photo is deceptive. Yes, there is a cigarette in my mouth and of course you can see it is burning and the ashes are about to fall off. This is where the visual senses end and the mystery behind the photo begins. I was the subject of a dare, for you see, my friend Gario bet me I wouldn't smoke a cigarette. I retorted back that I could on one condition. I did not have to inhale this foul evil leaf rolled up inside a paper tube. Well as I was conducting my dare, the webcam accidentally went off and camptured [ha opps "captured"] this embarrasing moment. We were setting up to shoot a few camshots of us playing chess. So you see, not every picture tells a story accurately,but they do tell a story, sometimes mistakenly to a first time observer and without forhand knowledge of the actual participant at the event during the time of its occurance. Jimio's true Musing and I'm sticking to it!

Big Brother: Friend and Body Guard

Brad in Europe

Brad growing a Hemingway Beard

It's nice to have a big brother. They can take you places in their car when you are too young to drive yet. They can even teach you to drive their car but dont get too close to the mailboxes! My Big Brother Brad would even take me to the Dome to get a hamburger, fries and ice cream for dessert. The Dome made their own ice cream and had beautiful girls bring it out to your car on roller skates. We ordered the food with a intercom system they put on your door, sorta like the ones at the Drive-In Theaters. Very High-Tech in those days! I liked cruisin the ave with Brad. We saw some pretty powerful muscle cars. 496 cid Chevys and 489 Fords with these Glass-pipe exhaust, Thrushes and Cherry-Bombs, man could they scream. At a red light 2 musclecars would sit at the front side by side then the light turn green and they spin those tires. We'd be right behind them [but not trying to keep up,Brad's car a 1963 Ford Galaxie was not  built for racing though the 351 cleveland motor did 120 mph on the highway] One time this car was reving his motor up like crazy and when the light turned green he just sat there while the other car took off. That was pretty funny. I loved the Barracudas and Challengers with the huge rear tires and all jacked-up high in the back. Some even had chrome differentials [Rear wheel drive to you youngsters] Brad was a bigger than me so when anyone even thought about bothering me, one stern stare from Brad and they would sit back in their seat on the bus. Even I never would think of picking a fight with Brad or hiding something of his. Thats why we got along so well. He didn't tease me and I didn't hide his things. Big Brothers can also drive the motorboat when you want to go skiing or take out the raft to get to that spot with all the reeds growing in a horseshoe shape where all the big bass hang out. Man I can still taste them bass,perch and blurgills we caught. We'd fry them in a pan in the kitchen or grill them when Dadio was cookin burgers or steaks for a picnic. As I got older, I did my own thing and Brad did his, but if I ever needed help he was there. When Brad retired from the Navy we would see a few movies and eat at some good restaurants after he helped me out at the oil change shop. We still keep in touch by Facebook chat and swap pictures so Big Brother is always watching me!

A Bicentennial 4th of July

Bicentennial Flag



Our Patriotic Mailbox



"Spirit of 76" Raft

I'll never forget our Bicentenial in 1976. It was a warm sunny day. Steaks on the grill. I probably caught a few bluegills, sunfish,perch and bass to cook on the grill also. A few games of badmitten and some water skiing to round out the fun on a great holiday. My Mom being the artist that she was decorated the raft in a patriotic red white and blue Bicentennial look complete with flag and Eagle stickers. The entire lake knew we were patriotic! Momio also extended her artistic touch to the mailbox, making sure the mailman knew how we felt. [Plus any passing motorist] One of my favorite pics is the top one with the Bicentennial Flag on the lamp post. Simple yet elegant. The red geraniums below and the 65 Mustang behind the garage. Later that evening we saw the fireworks display over Gilletts Lake while the fireflies were doing their own displays.

Sisters

Missy - James - Mindy

I like having sisters. They can play the Indians while I played the Cowboy. They were my passengers in my tractor wagon. I got to watch them on Halloween Night, Trick or Treating. They even helped me shovel snow off my ice skating rink. I also helped them by being the voice of Barbies BF Ken and as they got older they even used of few belts and sweaters of mine so it was a symbiotic kind of thing. I was proud when they asked me to help them with their homework and when I needed a badmitten player, well 2 sisters made it almost even! My sisters even joined in on basketball behind the garage when Joe, Jeff or Randy coud not make it and even when they did make it. They even helped me rake leaves and carry them across the street over to the woods while singing our favorite rock-n-roll songs. They also helped me pick rasberries over by Warriors Hill. So you see, sisters can be quite helpful. I think I'll keep them around for a long time =B-]

Swimming at Gilletts Lake

Missy - Brad - Jimio - Mindy

I will never forget the great times I had with my brother and sisters swimming at Gilletts Lake. We used to dive off the end of our dock [more like cannonball off the end] I'd pretend I was a shark and chase the girls around. Or sneek up underwater and flip over their rubber raft. When I was little, I'd hunt for crayfish and minnows with a small screen net and put them in a bucket and watched them swim around. A few houses down there was this small patch of land called Ives Beach. It was very sandy and went to about 6 feet deep. Near shore it was shallow so young moms could watch their toddlers wade in the water. Just before we entered into the bay there was a huge sandbar. Great for swimming and for catching clams. I always wore my mask hoping to find money or a diamond ring on the bottom. Never found a ring but I did find about 86 cents in change :] Then there was the Gilletts Lake County Park. They had boeys out there to show where the boats and rafts limit was but some swimmers [mostly with floatation devices] went beyond the boeys. A little Party Store at the county park sold these snowcones and I usually ordered my snowcone with "Tigers Blood". Very tasty. My favorite swimming spot was this 40 foot drop-off. I would take my mask, dive off the raft and see all kinds of fish swimming around. Once I saw this huge school of Perch. Must have been every Perch in Gilletts Lake that day. Once I was in my rowboat and found an old ice-fishing shanty in about 12 feet of water. It was fun going down and looking at that. Would have made a nice photo if I had a underwater camera. One year we had a drought and the water lever was so low it was like 15 feet of sand in front of our cement wall out to the shoreline. It was hard on motorboat propellors. Then one year we had a lot of rain and the water lever was like 6 feet up in the front yard and the dock was almost underwater. I wish I had a photo of that!

Dadio's Day

Dadio helping with feeding time



Dadio enjoying the Grandkids 

 Fathers Day is comming upon us soon and even though Dadio is no longer here, he remains in spirit and is imprinted in our memories forever. We always had food on the table and a roof over our heads[ 40 years at Gilletts Lake] and every holiday was a celebration. Dadio wasn't perfect, I doubt any Father is, but he lasted through all 4 kids and sent us on your journey through life. So reflect on the good time and skim over the bad times briefly if you must if only to bring closure or better understanding but remember one thing. We only have one true father and try to make the best of it. If your Dad is alive, send him a card or give him a call this fathers day if he is far away. If Dad is close by, then by all means visit him. The gift of yourself showing up at his door is probably all Dad needs. If things are not going smoothly, a Father's Day Card dropped in the mail with a small note on it in your handwriting could be a start of reconciliation and a new relationship. If things are going fantastic with Dad then you have done the best you can to make Dad the best he is! **Happy Fathers Day**

The Joys of Living on a Lake

Muffin was our Ski Watcher



The Girls trying to figure out how to start the motor




Raft all ready for the late afternoon cruise

 Oh, the wonder and splendor of living on a lake. So much to do and so little time to do it all in. Lets see, there's skiing, water boarding, swimming, snorkeling, fishing, turtle hunting, row boating, raft cruising and in winter, ice skating, snow mobile chasing, ice boating and cross-country skiing. I really miss lake living since I moved to town. I have my memories and glad they [whoever they is] can't take them away yet. I remember them girls trying to start that rowboat motor. I think they forgot to pull the choke. Something about dogs and wind. They love sticking their heads out of car windows and over the sides of speedboats. I guess they can smell the air more. Our raft named "The Spirit of 76" was repainted during the Bi-Centennial and made many trips around the lake to view the goings on of every home on shore. It also was used for lots of fishing excursions and swimming and diving outings. Dadio even took naps on it. The gentle rolling of the waves put him to sleep. The raft even had a brass horn that sounded like a Model-T. What was fun was sitting on the front pontoons as the raft cruised along the water, and we would stare down at all the weeds, knowing soon that the propellor would get clogged up and Dadio would have to back-up to drive the weeds off. We even had lunch and dinner out in the middle of Gilletts Lake on the raft. Food tastes so much better with fresh air blowing in your face!

New Leaf Bike Trail

New Leaf Park is a Bike Trail that goes west starting at 4th Street and connects at Weatherwax Dr to the Falling Waters Trail which continues another 11 miles to Concord Michigan. I travelled east instead on the Jackson Inter-City Access Trail which goes to Elm Street. It's a much older trail but still smooth with only a few bumps and cracks along the way.

Don't Rain On My Parade

Parkside Marching Band



No Parade is complete without Clowns



Jackson County Rose Queen 2011

 I have to say this was one of the best Rose Parades I have seen in my town in quite a while. The skies were clear and even though it was hot [95F] at least it wasn't raining. It was great for picture taking but I'm sure was bad for marching. When I played in the band, we had to take these salt pills to keep us from passing out. I didn't take mine cause I thought the salt would make me thirsty. It wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have to wear those thick uniforms and gloves and those hats which helped to fry your brain. I went to the Holland Festival in Michigan and had to walk 5 miles! Luckily the Jackson County Rose Parade is only a little over 1 mile. When I was marching I prayed for cold weather. Now I feel guilty I want hot weather. These kids should not have to suffer like this but it's only for a short while and hey, they are young with tons of energy. I would definately pass out marching in this parade at my age but only cause of all that thick clothing.

I'm Free!

Jimio class of 1973



Brad class of 1969 [My Brother]




Mindy class of 1977 [My Sister]




Steve and Mindy graduates of Eastern Mich U



Jimio getting a Mantle Pic



Missy class of 1975 [My Sister]



Liz class of 2004 [My Niece]

Ah Freedom! Or so we think. It is actually the beginning of a new longer age of responsibility. Just when we think no one can tell us what to do , we get yelled at by our boss, our sargent or our significant other. We throw off the chains of curfews and being grounded while adding on the bonds of deadlines, meetings and remembering anniversarys. So I guess we are never totally Free until we rest Eternally.