Enter the Dragon...

New adventures often introduce opportunities to more accurately align preconceived ideas with reality.

One may have a concept of what a trip to the Grand Canyon is like, but until actually experienced, it is all fantasy...a virtual reality, based on someone else's ability to accurately relate their personal experiences.

And sometimes, an adventure retold may not actually reflect reality...

Like last Friday...about 8 am if I recall accurately...

3rd cup of Joe (well, 3rd pot of Joe) just finished...

We were both sitting in our most favorite spot in the world, waiting for the mist to clear for a view of Windy Hill, the lake and the long valley beyond...

...when out of the thick fog emerged a white ram pulling a circus wagon filled with a genuine fire breathing dragon tightly chained.

The ram was big...the dragon even bigger.

It was gigantic, with a wide mouth, big teeth, unstoppable power - smoke belching, fire breathing power - pure and untamed destruction waiting to be unleashed. 

Now unfortunately at some sad moment in time, almost everyone reaches a point where they no longer believe that dragons are real, simply a fable, pure fiction, a childhood fantasy.

But dragons are exactly like fairies and unicorns...

It is only until after you actually see one of them firsthand...in person...with your own eyes...that you finally realize they all truly do exist!!!

Much like visiting Roswell...at some point in the journey, one finally realizes there truly was a crash...

This most recent dragon sighted on Friday was huge...yellowish and mottled brown in color, with hard tough skin, a gigantic tooth filled mouth, with swords for a tongue, full of destruction, and feet that were unstoppable.

Thankfully, we never saw this one in flight...it was bad enough while still on the ground, nothing could stop it, nor tame it...and total destruction was the sign of its passing.

Trevor, it's dragon master, unleashed it's bindings, and prodded the beast to wake from its slumber...and wake it did!!!

Fire and smoke from its nostrils.  A roar from deep in its throat...and then...

...and then followed utter destruction...

Acres and acres of desolation...total nothing-left-standing destruction...and in short order.  More carnage in 5 minutes, than an army of men could accomplish in a day.

Once released from its chains, destruction reigned for what seemed like days, but was actually measured in hours.

It was non-stop mayhem, ripping the hearts out of anything standing in its way.  Licking them down with its sword like tongue, chewing and gnawing, then spitting out the bones.

And without effort, it was as-if it were eating cotton candy...but the trail of the dead and near dead in its wake was evidence of the carnage.

Finally, sufficiently satisfied with the massive destruction, and with only a few innocent but terrified observers left standing, as stark witnesses to the melee, the dragon was sufficiently exhausted to be recaptured and coaxed back to the wagon, to be bound once again by the massive chains...to be carted off, for another day of destruction.

The dragon, hunting in the early mist, before a full day of destruction. 

Let the adventure continue...

I Started a Piggy Bank When I Was Eight...

There is much to like about living in PA.  Windy Hill being just one of them...

But yet, there are a few items which seem to be contrary to PA's old "State of Independence" moniker.

We allllllmost did not move to PA because of one of them!!! 

Willis just checking in after giving Arden a ride down to the pond while back in NJ. 

There is nothing like a good Jeep ride with your top off (topless) and the doors left home (a.k.a naked).

And Willis seems to be a little more frisky going topless and naked.

The brain dead politicians in Pennsyltucky just haven't come to their senses yet about this topic of driving Jeeps naked.

It's illegal to drive your Jeep with your doors off in PA...

...yet they allow motorcyclists to run 75 MPH without helmuts - go figure that one out!

They say it is due to the insurance industry lobby controlling $$$ politicians.

I don't know...but my rights are being violated!!!  This may be something to actually riot over...

It seems the driving naked law has some arbitrary enforcement.

Reports of tickets for driving doorless are most common around Philadelphia and Pittsburg, but the risk still remains for anywhere in PA when driving naked.

I was talking to a guy the other day at Tractor Supply (which is about the best store chain in the history of retail) who was driving naked.

Well, there was no top or doors on his Jeep, he was not actually driving nak...(get your mind right!)

He said he never has doors or the top on...ever...parks it inside when raining or snowing.

Never a ticket.  But he did say that he just transferred his tags to Tennessee from PA.

Which is the other thing I don't like about PA.

The flashing warning lights on his 20 year old Jeep did not work.  So it would not pass the manditory PA annual safety inspection.  Rather than fix the flashers, it was easier to transfer his registration to TN, which does not require vehicle inspections.

How novel to not require an inspection!

Now NJ remains one of the worst suffocating NANNY states.

They are the poster child for freedom of rights infringement.

But not even NJ still has an annual safety inspection!!!  It does have an annual emissions test, but it is free, and I am in support of clean air (remember the nausea created when following an oil burning car?)

And don't confuse a desire for clean air with the liberal global warming debate.  They are two totally separate topics.

But PA still holds on to an old fashioned safety inspection.

Took Clyde in for his annual inspection last week...turn signals, lights, horn, tires, brakes...check, check, check...you get it - all standard vehicle upkeep stuff by any responsible adult.

"You passed...good looking truck by the way...that will be $45 dollars for your safety inspection, and Thank You very much."

Huh???

It's like a forced tax to keep mechanics employed.  Now, I am not against mechanics, but safety should be a voluntary decision...not forced by a politician with an agenda.

Which brings us to the real issue...which is Abby.

Judy's SQ5 Audi is due an inspection next month.  It is actually an $Q5...HIGH performance,  fast engine, quick transmission...unofficial 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds...and performance tire$$$. 

It is the tires...I suspect after 30 thousand "fast-ish miles", they may not pass PA inspection...

I started putting pennies into a piggy bank when I was eight.   Been saving ever since.

Likely, I may need to finally crack that bank open, else take back up robbing 7-11's to pay for the new tires.

Does anybody know how to start a "Go-Fund-Me" website???

Let the adventure continue...

The Journey...or the Destination...

"Life is about the JOURNEY, not the DESTINATION..." is a recurring familial North Star bantied about ever since we packed the car and moved 1289 miles to Jigger, Louisiana the day after our wedding, 43 light years ago.

After living in five states, owning six houses and living in several more rentals, we're back living in a a trailer!

We're journey-iers...literally and existentially.

Most often someone will quote the "Journey mantra" during one of those glorious road trips to nowhere, typically while wending a winding back road NOT yet charted by GPS.

We're on them frequently (in fact one of us purposely looks for them)...it drives the other one a bit crazy...and Jennifer has grown to love a good back road journey also.

So many journeys from the past waiting to be written..."Serendipity" comes to mind about the unexpected sights we've been blessed to experience.

Although I am finding - the entire universe may now be in a bit of shift...

I'm coming to realize in many situations, the destination must be commensurate with the struggle of the journey.

A good back road excursion with ice cream at the end is an example of a properly balanced journey/destination.

We've been known to drive from Sparta to Clark Summit (180 miles round trip) just for some Krispy Kreme donuts.  Again, hot glazed red lights are a worthy destination for an epic journey.

And I like a hike with a stunning grand vista at the end, maybe a singing water falls or historic site to see...

It is said "...Life is a journey..." which seems to hold some truth...

...which often makes me stop and ponder about life's ultimate Destination.

We've been amazingly blessed, far beyond our wildest imaginations...yet there are times when life can still feel like a struggle.

I remain certain the final Destination will be worth the effort to stay true, to hold to the course, to move forward.

My belief holds firm that there is so much more than a cold, damp hole in the ground waiting at the end.

Why even get out of bed in the morning to continue the journey if being worm food is the final destination?

And I think about the journey between here and there...about what keeps us going, what internal drive propels us moving forward...what motivation energizes the next step...

For me, it is movement - simple mobility... feeling alive... being outdoors... walking a log... a jump from rock to rock... a desire to see what's around the next corner... doing... accomplishing... even WORKING - to prove I am still able. 

I can grow weary and unbearably agitated from just sitting.

And I think of those dear loved ones with health issues impacting their journey...and it is more than a few who are impacted.

My heart hurts for them.

When I wore a younger man's clothes, I mentioned to Judy about being ready to push my wheelchair off a tall cliff if I lost mobility, thinking then as now, it would be better than existing with immobility.

But in reality, we are planning our "forever home" to be wheelchair accessible and all on one floor...so only time will tell.  (Perhaps I may still be able to paint watercolors in my wheelchair if that is my lot...)

So maybe, just maybe, peace is finding balance between the Journey and Destination...life may be more than constantly moving, traveling to somewhere, seeing the next sight...

Perhaps it is in just being - finding contentment when traveling...while doing...and finding contentment while sitting still...

It is good to prepare for the final Destination...

And perhaps between now and then, it is finding a bit of peace from the morning fog, as it slowly lifts to reveal the view over my coffee cup.

While walking in the Petrified Forest, oooing at the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon, hiking at Zion and even climbing the glorious Arches - we were both ready to get back to Windy Hill.

For now, it is a most worthy destination...and we are at peace...

Let the adventure continue... 

What's Next...

What's Next...is a work in progress.

A few Thoughts and Quotes with personal meaning...

Some have been bright North Stars helping to guide over my life...

Life is 90% wanting to, and 10% knowing how...

First we work, then we play...

You are responsible for the results of your actions...

There are lots of people smarter than me (which I can't control), but no one will work harder than me (which I do control)...

It's all about results...

No job is too low or of little esteem for me to do...

How can I help?

What would the "Old Bear" (my grandfather, who used that term) do?

What would Glen do?

What would Don do?

(3 mentors, over 3 periods, each uniquely different).

This too shall pass...

I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me...

As long as life exists, something always happens next.  There are always consequences - and always a next day...

Life-and-then-death.  Lifedeath.  It's one event.  One short event.  Don't forget. 

Knowledge is meaningful only if it's put into action...

You are what you do, not what you think...

Puddles are for stepping in...to keep your inner child alive...

Life is too short to not laugh and have a fun time..

They can't get your goat if they don't know where it is tied...

There and back...a Hobbit's tale...