Merry Christmas!

All eight grandkids

The tree on the side of our house

Sunset at camp

We finished getting the new (to us) camper parked and leveled just in time to see the sun setting over the freshly-harvested field where we watched the corn grow all summer.

Hoping to win the drawing

Slow down, enjoy

Pine (with corn)

Depression

This is what I imagine depression might seem like to some. Yes, there's a pretty scene right there, but there is also something that obscures nearly all but one narrow, jagged slice of clarity, preventing full enjoyment.

A walk in the wetlands

Beauty in the simple things, 3

Soybeans waiting to be harvested and a very old fence post.

Beauty in the simple things, 2

A fence that has seen better days.

Beauty in the simple things, 1

Field corn early on a clear October morning.

Corn Therapy

Photo taken with iPhone 8 Plus in Portrait mode.

Terri and I were tent campers until last year. We bought a trailer and got away in it when we could.

Then we found a very nice family-run campground less than an hour from home that is on the Kankakee River and behind a farm. It's a beautiful piece of property and the regulars are a good group. We thought we'd leave the camper there for a month this summer and, after two weeks, decided we would become seasonal regulars too.

We go there quite often. The peaceful drive is through flat Illinois farm country. And the campground itself is sealed off from the main road noise by a good-sized field of corn. In fact, the entry drive is a corn tunnel this year-- with both east and west fields growing corn. Next year, soybeans again.

While there, we often walk. The walk through that corn tunnel can be very hot in July and August. But Monday night it was cool as summer gives way to fall and the vibrant green cornstalks turn brown and loosen their grip on the field corn within. It won't be long until the fields are fully harvested and await winter. That will be a melancholy day. But that's kind of what I like about autumn. It's a time to reflect-- enjoy what just happened and look forward to what's ahead. It truly is therapy.

Things I Know About Cooking Bacon

When cooking on a stovetop or electric skillet

1. Allow one hour per pound of bacon for post-cooking clean up and de-greasing of the 15 foot radius around the skillet.

2. Allow four days per pound for the smell to leave the house.

When cooking on a cookie sheet on a grill

3. Ten minutes for the first side seems good.

4. The proper length of time for the second side is indeterminable.

5. Three minutes for the second side is not long enough. 

6. Cook for four minutes on the second side and you will have perfectly crispy strips of carbon. 

7. Carbon-bacon still tastes like bacon.

General bacon-cooking facts

8.The less-expensive bacon from the butcher section behaves exactly the same as the brands in the yellow and red paper sealed in non-removable plastic. It also tastes the same.

9. It is impossible to cook bacon and not eat at least one “serving” of bacon. This, I suspect, applies even to vegetarians. (But not vegans.)

10. Cook bacon in bulk and store in the refrigerator, then microwave when needed.

11. When you spend a full Saturday cooking a large quantity of bacon for the fridge on an electric skillet in the garage with the overhead door open so you don’t “stink up” the garage and house, the neighbors look at you funny.

Or maybe that was just because of the floral apron.

Pin Oak Lake

This was the view from Picnic Area 1 in Pin Oak Lake Recreation Area. We were camping in Natchez Trace State Park near Lexington, Tennessee. We took a 1 1/2 mile trail through the pine forest and then returned the same way. It was a gorgeous spring day yet we had the whole place to ourselves!

Pin Oak Lake is roughly three miles long and has many miles of shoreline due to its irregular shape. It is a result of construction of the Pin Oak Dam which was completed in 1964. It is one of eight dams on the Beech River and its tributaries.

Natalia

This is our youngest grandchild. She has her father's eyes, her mother's mouth, and a personality that is as sweet as both parents.

She is also bi-lingual. She spends most days with her grandmother ("Tita") who speaks mostly Spanish.

Her quiet and observant ways remind me of her father when he was very young-- just studying, learning, taking it all in.

I'm really looking forward to getting to know her!

Pure Happiness

I love this photo. Terri posted it on Facebook with the heading "Pure Happiness" and I agree.

After dinner, Noah ended up on Terri's lap and Benjamin was hanging on her right shoulder. They were looking at a video that had Noah's face on a cartoon monkey that was jumping around. Noah and Terri were giggling and Benjamin threw his head back in complete laughter at one point.

Fun times hanging out at the table.

It's Time

Trump can add the United States of America to his list of business failures because he broke it. The sign now says “Sorry, We’re Closed” entirely because of his incompetence and his ego. He campaigned on the promise of running our country like a businessman, not a politician. But he’s a bad businessman with a long trail of failures: vodka, steaks, airlines, even casinos—where it’s rigged that the house wins! Face it, he is not good at business.

And he doesn’t even do anything! White House insiders talk about how little time he spends working, that most of the time he is watching TV. To be honest, that is what a guy like him should be doing. He’s past retirement age and just bumbles everything he gets involved in. He often appears confused and disoriented. It’s time to just let him sit in his chair with the remote, eat junk food, and yell at the TV. But, just like the grandpas that can no longer drive and have their keys taken away, he should not be allowed to sign things and hold them up in front of cameras and real working people. It’s time to take away his pen and Twitter account.

The man is a gangster and the figurehead of a gang that is fleecing our country and the world. And when someone gets caught Trump throws him under the bus so fast, you’d think he really believed that he “never knew him” or “I’ve heard of him but never spoken with him.” Now Michael Cohen has decided to tell the truth and Trump does what gangsters do: label him a “rat”, discredit his character and knowledge, and, when all that fails, threatens his family. He is a thug.

I won’t even go into his support for racists and misogynists and his hatred for non-WASP people, but instead suffice to say that this guy needs to go. He does not deserve the support of any honest American and his ignorance and bad behavior are dangerous to our country and the entire planet.

I wish he would resign, but I don’t think he will. So, please GOP, understand that it is up to you. If the Dems start impeachment proceedings, it will be uglier than if the GOP does. We need the House Republicans to do the right thing for the people of America and start impeachment proceedings. The Republic is at stake.