What More Could A Father Ask For......

I will say it again....I am a very lucky man to have the children and grandchildren that I have...they make me proud to be their Dad and even though at times it seems like they aren't listening to Dad's advise...in the end they always do the right thing...not that dad is always right..they just end up doing the right thing...they are guided by their own moral compasses and that compass is true...I'd like to think that I had some part in that alignment but in the end they have to choose which fork in the road they will take every day and that decision is guided by what's inside each of them.....

Father's Day was great... I got to go over to Kevin's house and see my three fantastic grandchildren...Kevin got a backyard swing for Father's Day and it was a load of laughs trying to figure out which branch of the tree to hang it on....we had only one choice that would keep it away from the trunk far enough to allow it the right space to swing...of course that branch was one of the thinnest on the tree...I sure hope it holds up..if that branch breaks it probably won't hurt anybody but it will scare the crap out of them....lets put it this way...the branch was so thin that the eye bolt that came with the swing went all the way through to the other side...




Kevin said he probably won't use it much..no offence to my daughter-in-law Dianne and the kids but he just wasn't comfortable in it...we all had a laugh when he said that if he ever fell asleep in it that he would look like this and wake up with a stiff neck...

They were going to take it back for a trade up to a hammock but once Dianne got in it she claimed it for herself...she says Kev will still get the hammock but the swing chair stays...


We all got to hang around...no pun intended.. and watch and give advise on the swing installation...Kev and Dakota got the first ride...Dakota was not happy to be on Kev's lap this is the first time she has seen her Uncle in a few months and at this age..if a few months goes by...you have to re-introduce yourself...I even had a few minutes of..."who the hell are you"...looks when I first saw her again and I had just seen her in April...













Shannon is due in December with child number two for them and grandchild number five for me...Travis has got two more years in the Air Force and is still deciding if he wants to stay and be an Officer or join the federal employee ranks...perhaps FBI, DEA or CIA....he can use his years in service and get a great job with his Combat Arms Instructor skills...he has a couple of years to make up his mind....who knows what will be happening around the world by then....



I got to have supper with Travis & family, Kelsey and Andy for Father's Day...Dakota was a doll as usual....she looks better in my hat than I do....she found out that Blue Cheese salad dressing is better if you just stick your whole hand in it and then lick it off....we all thought the mess she made was cute...I'm sure the waitress wasn't so happy after we left...I gave her a little extra tip to cover the hardship of cleaning up the mess...that should have eased the pain...















A father's love is unflinching....a big strong military man will even suck on his child's pacifier rather than see her get a strangers germs after it has hit the floor in the restaurant...Hey Travis let me know if there is a cure for whatever you come down with...






In other proud father news....My son Ryan had his Police Academy graduation this past week...He not only was the highest achiever on all academic tests he was chosen as the best overall student of the class...which includes shooting, academics, role play and physical fitness training....He wouldn't let me show his face on the blog...but I will show you his back getting his certificate and awards and a blurry picture of him giving his speech as top student...it was a very well thought out and delivered speech and made me even prouder...he thanked his instructors and his fellow students and was very humble...in Rochester in particular a cop has a very dangerous job...one of his fellow graduates has already found out how dangerous...he, like Ryan..has been out on the streets on patrol for the last several weeks...he was stabbed by a perp in a family dispute...he managed to subdue his assailant and make an arrest...Ryan has already had his gun out several times and has made one of the larger drug busts in the last few months while doing a traffic stop....God bless you all.....














Kyle is doing great in Wyoming...he has finally settled in and... as of yesterday...the Mustang is ready for the road..HOORAY....He sent me a picture of himself in a pair of safety glasses he bought for two bucks....hey Kyle.. I think you paid about a dollar ninety to much...good for a laugh though....










Some other odds and ends....I have spent several pleasant hours down on the dock fishing for perch and have been having some pretty good luck...I have yet to catch a smallmouth bass yet this season...I helped my neighbor Tom's son Hunter rig up his pole with one of my homemade jigs and in a few minutes he was fighting to stay on the dock when a good size smallmouth hit his plastic kiddie pole...it took the three of use to wrangle the hapless fish to the dock...way to go hunter you out fished me and got a great picture and memory...congratulations..... P.S. The fish was released safe and sound....

I met a man who carves and sells walking sticks...not canes...but the seven or eight foot tall...Moses-like walking sticks....he hand carves some very interesting characters on them... I am going to give him one that I purchased several years ago... that is rather plain.. to endow with his fantastic images....here are a couple of pics that he emailed me...you can contact him at floodminnow@yahoo.com for more info....very reasonably priced by the way.....















My friend Lisa (on left) was here for a week...she was taking a week long certificate course at the local and apparently world renown Wine and Culinary Institute here in town...she won't know if she passed the course for several more days..the tests are graded in London....well La-De-Da...it was great seeing someone from my second home again...I do miss my Florida friends very much...but I do have some great New York friends as well... she and my friend Dina hit it off and we had several great meals together while Lisa was here....

I eat breakfast at Patty's Place here in town every morning...the other day I met a man who was traveling across country by bike as a personal holiday for himself....he has been taking care of an ill wife for awhile and his children gave him an early Father's Day gift of taking care of their mom while he does his thing....here is a pic of him and Patty outside her restaurant....I wish him well and pray for his wife....God Bless....



Last but not least a couple of unique sunsets that I thought you would enjoy.....

That's All For Now...

Live, Love, Laugh, Fish...

Semper Fi...

Monk

I Guess It Ain't So Bad.....

....of course seeing my children and the rest of the family is the most important reason to be here in New York...but there are other good things going on and once the weather warms up...it's been in the 40's at night and except for a very few days in the last three weeks...the 50's and 60's during the day...this is much to cold for May..I hope June brings the summer-like weather that everyone who has endured the long winter up here have been waiting for....I do have some of the most beautiful sunsets to enjoy as well as the beauty of the season..















...my friend Richard did have to rub it in a little...this is how he spent most of his holiday weekend....Now I know how everyone feels in the middle of winter when I call home and tell them it's 82 degrees and I'll be fishing on the beach...of course the only reason Richard goes to the beach is to "troll" for a glimpse elusive "bikini fish"...










I did get to go to a great Memorial Day party at the home of my favorite ex-husband of my sister...she has several but I like Chuck the best...what a feast he puts on... clams.. chicken.. sausage.. hots... hamburgers.. pulled pork.. and all the other usual treats of a great picnic...we ate all day..my only regret is that I have but one stomach to give to my appetite...I wanted to eat more..I just couldn't....




We celebrated two birthdays as well.. Chucks and my great nephew Anthony.. I hope both of them get all they wished for.. I got mine.. five dozen clams.. did I mention we had a lot of food there?...




















Of course there was plenty of other activities besides eating.. I caught some great pan-fish and the kids had a ball... some of them catching their very first fish... my nephew Dan got to paddle several of the kids out on the canal and except for about four inches of water in the bottom of the boat...everyone managed to stay mostly dry...












Some of my favorite people were there...my friends Dina and Rudy and my sister Jeane..Dina looks happy... I must have caught Rudy at a bad moment he looks like someone just ran over his cat.. and of course Jeane ... when she is rolling she keeps everybody laughing...














Of course I have to include the latest pics on T.W.C.G. (for those of you un-informed..The World's Cutest Granddaughter) ... she got her first taste of summer.. last year didn't count she was to little...a new pool made for some great shots..



















I guess this is her version of " Peak-a-Boo" ...



















... she loves hats or anything that resembles a hat... and she already loves to play dress up with mom's stuff..
















... Daddy loves motorcycles and it looks like it runs in the family... this is her first and probably won't be her last...


















... Two shots that I just had to throw in... the first one is captioned "Mad? You haven't seen mad... This is MAD!! " the second.. " I didn't think she would get that upset about it " ...
















Grandma couldn't make it to the party but here is a great shot of her and one of the newest additions to her great-grandchildren...











.. Does anybody know what this bird is?.. he showed up at my feeder just once and then was gone ... it's bad shot but I had to be quick... he kept flying off and then coming back.. haven't seen one like him since...




... here a few odds and ends... the first is the take off of a plane that can barely be classified as one.. the body is basically a go cart with a prop... I was having breakfast on Saturday morning at the small country airport near the lake and looked over as he was landing... when he came in for a landing the parachute collapsed a little prematurely and made a tangled mess.. it took him nearly an hour to get it ready for take off.. as he sailed over the horizon I could only hope that his parachute had a parachute..



... and finally two shots that were sent to me that I thought were worth passing on in the blog...

















Well That's All For Now...

Live, Love, Laugh, Fish

Semper Fi

Monk

Damn..It's Cold Up Here...

Michael McCloud couldn't have said it any better...I miss my Florida friends already and can't wait to get back...don't get me wrong...I love seeing my family and New York in the Summer is great...Canandaigua Lake is one of the most beautiful spots on earth...but I've got "sand in my shoes" as they say, and once you've lived in Florida there is no place you would rather be....

I spent my last day in Florida with my friends and had a great time...we all had lunch together at Ronnie's house..Lisa, Ronnie, Helen, Richard and I...Ronnie made pasta and Helen brought the dessert...key lime and mango pie...different..and very good...of course Ronnie went all out and turned lunch into an elegant dinner party atmosphere...of course I forgot to take any pictures for the blog....

But I did get a pic of the girls on the beach after lunch...we went to the beach so Helen and I could find sharks teeth and Ronnie could do her daily swim...at least a mile a day...the water was great and Helen and I (mostly Helen) found a bunch of teeth...I spent more time looking for fish in the waves....I didn't see any but when we got back up the beach to Ronnie she said she saw the most beautiful site she has ever seen in the water...as she was coming in she looked back at the waves in the turquoise blue water and just as a wave was cresting the sun was low enough to be behind the wave...framed in the wave was a school of Jacks and just for a split second it was as if the fish were encased in a clear Plexiglas wave filled with sunlight...just above and behind her.....what a sight that must have been...what a picture that would have made...I hope I described it well enough for you to have a mental picture of how beautiful that was....I'm sure it's something Ronnie will remember for the rest of her life....

But here is the greatest reason in the world to come home for...My daughter Kelsey had her Junior Prom Saturday and she was gorgeous...just look at that dress...she went with Nick her best friend since grade school and a very nice young man...I came home early just to be able to see her and take pics of the most beautiful and intelligent daughter in the world....no lie...this is the woman who will and should be the first female President...she has the smarts and is the only one I would vote for....of course I may be a little predigest...ya think.....

My son Kyle finally got his tattoo colored in and it looks great....and he got himself a summer job at a kennel as the "dog boy"...so he'll be spending five days a week walking and taking care of his favorite animal...can't beat that...he loves animals and will eventually be a Marine Biologist if fate intends it to be....we are still working on getting the Mustang on the road and it is close to being done....the engine is being put back together and soon he will have his dream car up and running...pics to follow..

Ryan and Andy got a dog of their own...it's only nine weeks old and is supposed to be half Lab and half Rottweiler....from the looks of it I think the Lab was just passing by when two Rottweilers were mating...this dog doesn't look half Lab...but we will see as it grows what kind of personality and other traits it exhibits....it sure is cute now...and very smart..this dog knows "sit" and "come" and will follow without a leash as if he were trained to "heal".....

The dog is part of Ryan and Andy's new adventure....Ryan bought the house next door to where he has been renting and it looks great from the outside...we couldn't go in because he hasn't closed yet and the owner's son wanted the key to get some stuff out...but here is picture of it ...I think it will be great for the boys to spend some time together and bond as adults now that they are out on their own...That's Andy with Kelsey and the dog.."Sam"...Ryan still won't let me post any pictures of him...he's a cop and doesn't think it wise...I will honor his wishes...I am so lucky to have the greatest kids in the world...

Well That's All For Now...

Til Next Time..

Semper Fi...

Monk