“You’re A Cowboy!” Yep, that’s what he said.

My family came together last night to celebrate my father’s eightieth birthday. My niece’s little boy Braden said to me, “You’re a cowboy.” I arrived wearing a Drover coat and hat from the “Outback Trading Company”, an Australian manufacturer of genuine outdoor gear of the sort used by Aussie cowboys. I was also wearing a Western-style leather vest.

From my earliest recollections of childhood, I have always loved Western-wear, not the rhinestone, glitzy stuff, I mean the genuine article. I am talking about flannel shirts, button-fly jeans, cowboy boots, leather vests, rugged outdoor clothing and six-guns. I could never explain it, but it has always been a part of me. In fact, it was no surprise at all that I became an avid outdoorsman.

People’s perception of “cowboys” is defined by Hollywood, and in most people’s mind they are a thing of the past. No so. Today, in the American West, and in Australia, there are, still, working cowboys. They wear their “drovers” and tend their herds. They are rugged individualists and outdoorsmen (and sometimes ladies). They work hard, they play hard, and they are passionate about what they are doing.

Yes, Braden, I guess I am a cowboy at heart. It’s just a part of me. It’s who I am.

Outback Trading Company Drover Coat and Hat

Eternal Happiness is the stuff of legends if you ask most people, but, it needn’t be that way.

My wife and I just returned from a wedding in Cincinnati. Her first cousin was getting married. He is Catholic and, as such, embraces the doctrine that marriage is a life-long commitment. Funny, most people his age look at marriage as if it were a pair of shoes. If the fit doesn’t seem so “perfect” after the novelty wears off, just cast them aside and find another pair.

People often enter into marriage with the expectation that there will be arguments and there will be hard times. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. If you expect friction, that is what you’ll get. If you enter the Holy state of matrimony with the heart of a servant and the goal of providing happiness for your spouse, then follow through with it, you should be content and find every happiness.

I am fortunate because I have a wonderful wife and she feels the same about me. We are a genuine partnership and truly care about each other. I place her happiness before my own and in so doing, I have been very happy.

May Andrew and Beth find every happiness.

I used to do a lot of target shooting. I shot black-powder rifles and pistols, small caliber firearms, and high-performance pellet rifles.

When it came time for a new rifle, one name came to mind, Henry Repeating Arms.

The Henry lever-action rifle helped win the West. It was the rifle that decided the fate of several major battles during the American Civil War. It was the most sought-after long gun on the frontier and not easy to get. With that in mind, I set my sights on a Henry H001, the lever-action 22 caliber long-rifle.

This one has the large-looped lever so that shooting with gloved hands is easier and faster. The matte finish is flawless on the American walnut stock. The blued barrel is eighteen inches long and the gun weighs 5.25 lbs. Best of all, it is totally American-made with American raw-materials.

Owning a Henry is like owning a piece of history.

Here I am with the Henry H001.

Actually, it is January 2nd already. We have a light dusting of snow on the ground and the temperature is in the low twenties, but later in the week it will climb into the forties and be quite comfortable.

This is an election year… that means we have to put up with politicians at their best and their worst. The news media will also be at their worst, so, prepare yourself for inane dribble from all media outlets and politico-speak, the politics of meaning, double-talk, lies, accusations, and stupidity. If this sounds rather cynical, well, think of it as knowing from experience that Washington is as Washington does.

For now, forget all that and plan to make 2012 the year that you turn your dreams into realities.

A Letter From Santa
lyrics and music by Mickey Maguire

I’m writing this letter to tell you
that taxes have taken away
the things that I really needed
my workshop, my reindeer, my sleigh

I’m now making rounds on a donkey
He’s old, and crippled and slow
So you’ll know when I’m not there by Christmas
I’m out on my ass in the snow

The government says I owe money
and I ain’t been treating elves fair
So they’re gonna take all my income
to pay for Universal ELF CARE

So I’m now making rounds on a donkey
He’s old, and crippled and slow
So you’ll know when I’m not there by Christmas
I’m out on my ass in the snow

Yes, I’m out on my ass in the snow.

I have been so busy with work that I have not posted anything since Thanksgiving.

Well, it’s Christmas Eve and I finally have some free time. My son arrived home for the holiday and I am awake before anyone else– perfect time to post.

I’ll be spending time with my family and sharing love, laughter, and music.

Happy Holidays to All.

Below is George Washington’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to “recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

Well, the colonoscopy is over and I am happy to say that I remain cancer-free.

There was one small polyp and they removed it as a matter of routine precaution. They will do a biopsy, standard procedure. So, that is very good news, indeed.

The next colonoscopy will occur in another three years.

I have begun the second phase of the colonoscopy prep. All I can say is that the bartender should be fired. lol

I have started the prep. I will take the container of solution (32 ounces) tonight, sleep through the night, and take another 32 ounce container in the morning– very early. I have a 10:15 AM check-in time at the hospital and the procedure is at 11:00 AM.

When I return, I hope to be able to post some good news.