What a wonderful (weird) Christmas!

Let me preface this by saying I'm not complaining whatsoever.  But this Christmas season has been one to remember.  The weekend before Christmas, the meteorologists were already forecasting a blizzard for Kansas and Missouri over the Christmas holiday.  They were right!  Starting Wednesday we had quite a bit of rain.  It turned into a misty icy slush that evening.  Then on Christmas Eve (Thursday), it started with rain in the morning and afternoon.  By that Evening, Here is came!  Christmas Day was no different....snow all day!  And same with Saturday!!!!  Grandma's Christmas Eve dinner was cancelled.  Mom's Christmas Day celebration was moved to Sunday.  It's Sunday now, and we are supposed to be over there around 2pm.  Everything is still white, and our roads are still packed.   We have snow drifts in our back yard that are 3 feet tall!  Dylan was able to make a miniature snow fort!  Out in the middle of the yard, I measured anywhere between 6 and 8 inches.  They are saying that this is a record for KC, somewhere back in 1880??'s last time KC had this much snow on Christmas!  Merry Christmas all, and God Bless!

My favorite season...

Thank God for Autumn

Hazy and long shadowy lights, although the day is bright.  Red, yellow, and orange color, fills the country landscape.  The distinct smell of damp leaves after a misty morning shower.  The beautiful and vibrant sunset, with the hint of burning leaves.  A harvest moon aglow, while watching lit night puffy clouds a'whisk.  There's an owl off in the hedge, watching throughout the hallows fog.  The night seems so eerily silent, even as the leaves make their swaying sound.

The day of feasts...

Whoa... the day started at 6am meeting my brother and Dad at the Family Cabin in Belton. Took in some B&G. Then around 1pm, we did the Ci Ci's Pizza in Grandview with the Family. Then to top it off, chowed down on a burrito from Chipotle in Lee's Summit for dinner this evening. I'm never eating again.

Cool Weather Summers

Sunday, September 6th at 9:30AM - I love this weather. This is from Hawk Ridge Park, at the North end of the lake, looking North. Here is a picture of the Lake, looking South. I'm really not ready for this week to begin. Right now, it's Monday evening, Labor Day. I hope the week goes very quickly.

RERUN: Most wonderful time of the year...

I know this is a re-run, but It's so fitting, I had to post it again! Dedicated to all the lucky parents out there... ;-)

Tales of the Inanimates

I usually take Raytown Road home, and from there, I take the back roads into Raymore. These are the same roads I used to take home when I attended Longview College back in '93. There's a reason that these roads seem so familiar, and today it finally hit me. So many things are still the same. There's the old farm tractor, nestled in the hedge-row off 155th street, slowly but surely rusting away. The trees are taller and thicker, and in the summer you can hardly notice it's there. But looking close enough, it's there. It's been there for at least 16 years, and I can only imagine that it was there 16 years before I first noticed it. There's the old property corner stones, the old fence posts, and even a few rock piles here and there; bring back memories of when I first noticed them over 16 years ago. Time goes by, but do these inanimate objects even notice? They've all taken on the constant barrage of time, weather, and nature, yet they are still the same. I can't say the same for me. But that's nature on its course. Sometimes when I'm at the office and feel stressed to the max, I think of these things. It's a weird simile of peace for me. Sometimes when I'm 1000 miles away in a different city, I think about that tractor, or the rock pile, or the corner stone in the middle of a now divided field. Constantly in its place, and wondering what it's "thinking". Then when I'm really in the mood to daydream, I think of the history behind that stone, rock, or tractor. How many hands have been placed on that item, and how long ago it must have been. I wonder the history of those people, and what was it they were thinking about all so many years ago. I'm sure that 'ol tractor got several thousand hours on it, before it croaked in the middle of a field now overgrown by a hedge. And how many times has that old man filled her up with gas, and what old stories could he have shared. The mason and his corner stone... possibly 100 years ago or more. How much history can a old fence post have, when you break it down through those that have touched it. I keep wondering...

Fence Post

Early Morning Friday Breakfast over Coffee

Me: "I guess I'll head out and fix that ol fence post this mornin."

Old Neighbor: "You wanna need som help?"

Me: "Nah, I'll go fixer myself."