Outdoor Odyssey

 
Just before WW I ended in 1918, my Uncle, Sgt. E. Jay Bryan, died in France from the flu.  He had been in France for almost a year and had been through the all of the war, but the flu was the worst killer of our young service men!

Uncle E. Jay was a handsome young man as this picture, taken in 1917, just before he shipped over to France, shows!
 
Two years before, E. Jay’s National Guard unit, Company F, 3rd Infantry Regiment, was activated by the Army and served with Gen. Pershing during the Mexican Border Campaign of 1916.  Company F, charged with defense of the Mexico/U.S. border was made up of men from central Texas.
 
Sixty years before, his Grandfather Brinson. M. Bryan, my Great Grandfather, also defended along the border during the Mexican War of 1846/47.  He was part of a Texas Ranger contingent, Bell’s Rangers, also from central Texas.
 
Today, our southern border still remains a real problem area.  It was simple in my forefather’s times, they just closed the border and ran the Mexicans back across.  Things were much easier then before our Country became engulfed with political correctness and the disgusting pandering of our politicians.
  
Going through some of E. Jay’s stuff I came across the following hand written poem with credit given to no poet, perhaps he composed it himself?  It is my pleasure to share it with everyone.

 “TOO PROUD TO LOAF

We’re camping on the Rio Grande with nothing much to do,
But wash our shirts and darn our socks, and darn the insects too.

We want the world to understand we’re not too proud to fight,
But draw the line at loafing here with things that sting and bite.

The Rattlers are a friendly lot and visit us by scores,
Tarantulas prefer our tents to sleeping out of doors.

In napping in our shoes and hats the scorpion persists,
We’ve also learned the Horned Toad is a harmless little oaf,
But we’re not a bit too proud to fight, but how we hate to loaf."

Just like today, most of us, and definitely our military, loves this great country and remains proud to serve her!  But, one thing remains a constant, our country’s freedom is more important than politics or political correctness!
 

My PC will be fixed today, but I can't get down to San Marcos to pick it up until next Tuesday, so I'm still "limping along" on the old PC.  No telling how many e-mails I have?

Last Thursday I went over to Scott & White Hospital in Temple and had the stent removed from my bladder and, just like my doc said it would, it healed up fine!

Then, the next day, Friday the 11th at 12:30 PM, I went back over to the dermatology clinic to have a small cancerous spot, about a quarter of an inch in diameter, removed from my nose.  To go after this one, the doc was using the Mohs Procedure.  This procedure entails removing the cancer in slices, freezing the slices, then, to be sure that all of the cancerous cells have been removed, observing the slices with a microscope.

To observe the progress of the operation, I was provided a mirror, but after the first cut I quit looking and then doc told me to get as comfortable as possible because this one looked like a long one.  Long it was!  At 7:30PM, after seven iterations, the doc finished and announced that all of the cancer on my nose had been successfully removed and that the cancer hadn't grown into the cartilage!  The skin graft and bolster holding the graft in place was ready and the resident docs assisting attached both to my nose and I was on my way home.

My instructions were simple; do nothing for one week, don't get the bolster wet and come back on the 18th and have the stitches and bolster removed.  By tonight I'll see how my nose held up and what it looks like.  The doc took "before and after" pictures and will send them to me, but I tthink That I will decline to post them.

This past week has been something; no going to football games so the rain, we have been blessed with, won't get the bolster wet, no dove hunting, no work, no morning walks, nothing but sitting around reading and watching Fox News.  It has ceased being "fun"!

As I mentioned in my September 7 post "Limping Along", if obamacare passes I would have been told, "Just go home and wait for your nose to fall off."  I'm still in the process of getting everything fixed before it's too late!

My September 2nd post said that I was going to Dalton, Ga. to play in the Softball Players Association, World Championships, September 3rd through the 6th, but plans have a way of changing!

Starting off, the disk on my PC crashed on August 27th and since then I have been limping along on a very old, IBM ThinkPad, model A20p.  This was one of my old PC's years ago before I retired. Randy, my Son, almost has the new PC fixed, but I'm really limping along now.

Not feeling well on Sunday, Aughst 30th, I stayed home from Church and to be a good husband, made our Sunday dinner.  By the time I had finished preparations, my left to side began to hurt, didn't stop or lessen, only increased and by 3:30 PM I was flat on my back, on the way to the hospital in Hamilton, Texas.  I was really limping along!

A CAT scan showed a large kidney stone, 1 cm, lodged in my urethra and by then, because of its size, it wasn't going anywhere.  Early Monday morning I was transferred to Scott and White in Temple, and prior to the removal of the stone, a stent was run up into my kidney.  Thursday was set for the doctor to go in and "blast" the stone with a laser.  Amazing what docs can do now!  Just think, if obamacare becomes the law, I would have been given pain pills and turned out to die!  I'm getting everything fixed that needs fixing as soon as I can!

Obviously no softball tournament, no morning walks and not much of anything else for me, except that dove season opened on September 1st.  Missing the morning shoot, to give time for all of the drugs to clear my system, Mickey Donahoo and I drove down to San Saba and after a very hard hunt with a lot of stooping and bending over to pick up the shotgun shells and doves, I called it quits early.

Here's Mickey heading out to his shooting spot. 

All of this with a stent in my kidney and needless to say, my doctor wasn't impressed.  He did ask how we did and I told him that we got a mix of sixteen white wings, mourners and ring necks, using only twenty-five shells.

There is a big size difference in the doves.  The ring neck is on the bottom, white wing in the middle and a mourner on top, graphically showing their sizes.

Last Thursday the doctor "blasted" the stones, but to promote healing, kept the stent in for another week.  My PC is still out so I'll be limping along with the stent and old PC for a few more days.

About The Texans, through the round robin phase of the big tournament, they were seeded number one, however they returned to their sloppy ways and quickly lost two games and were eliminated.  As the old softball saying goes, "Oh and two and barbcue!"  They are limping along back to our fine State now and will try to salvage the year in Phoenix, in October.

One of my right wing radical friends sent me this picture of the anti-government protesters in one of our unnamed cities.    I agree with this fellow whose sign reads, “Spread My Work Ethic, Not My Wealth”.  Our Country would be well served to do this very thing!

Over one million, dangerous right wing radicals, turned out in force for the many Tea Parties across our country.  The liberal media portrayed them as anti-American and one CNN reporter said the protesters were anti-CNN.  Once CNN becomes “fair and balanced”, I’m sure us radicals will support them too.

Our rulers Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently issued a Threat Assessment regarding the potential threats posed by right wing extremists, read “conservatives”.  Being one of those potentials, I take exception to the entire nine pages of liberal trash!

Early this morning, Fox News interviewed Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the DHS.  Fox’s Steve Doocie really pressed her about the latest Threat Assessment from DHS.  She was quick to say that this was just an assessment of potential threats, then for the next five minutes she hemmed, hawed, erd, you knowed, well uhd and so on.  This woman was governor of Arizona?  What a joke and embarrassment this woman was and is.  How in the world could she be placed in charge of our homeland security?

One part of the assessment highlighted that our veterans returning from combat may become far right wing extremists.  This, like the entire report, was not based on any known fact, only some left wing whacko’s thoughts or wishes.  On Wednesday she apologized to our returning veterans saying,  "If there's one part of this report that I would rewrite ... it would be that.”

This morning, Steve also took her to task about the reports stating the potential dangers abortionists face from those that don’t agree with their line of work.  She fell for his trap!  He told her that he was Catholic and that his Church was adamantly opposed to abortion.  Was she lumping his Church into the potential “threat” list?  She replied, "If there's one part of this report that I would rewrite ... it would be that.”  The woman repeats herself.

In my humble opinion, she should rewrite or dump the entire Threat Assessment!

This past Tuesday I sent the following e-mail to my two Senators, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn and to my Representative, Mike Conaway asking them not to vote for Obama’s staggering budget proposal.  This budget, if passed in its entirety, would cripple and bankrupt our Country.

“Please vote against Obama’s soaring trillion dollar debt, his $2 trillion in new taxes to help fund his global warming (cap and trade) schemes and his national healthcare plans.  

Not only will these schemes triple our national debt over the next ten years, they will also destroy our Country as we know it!”

Please contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them not to support this ruinous budget!  If you don’t have their phone or e-mail go to www.congress.org for the information.  Also, they can be reached through the Congressional switchboard at 1-866-349-9281.

If regular folks like us get involved, we can make a difference!

While waiting for Brad to see his doctor, I was reading through the Feb/March, 2009, issue of “Military History” and came across a Letter To The Editor from Mr. Gerhardt B. Thamm, and two lines of his letter came blaring out at me, “…he (Hitler) converted, via a self created national emergency, his reign into a totalitarian dictatorship.”  The hair on the back of my neck stood up as these lines triggered a recent memory of someone quoting White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, saying “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste!”

Maybe I’m scared?  Maybe I’m cautious?   The reason I’m having these concerns is because of what’s happening in my country and the plans and actions of our rulers!  Listing out these plans and actions those hairs stood up again!

1.  The creation of a Civilian Security Force manned and funded equal to the U.S. military – sounds just like Hitler’s Brown Shirts!

2.  Controlling/managing private business – sounds just like the Fascists!

3.  Violation of our Second Amendment rights with gun control through quasi-regulation using the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sale Act of 2009 that is quietly worming its way through Congress – sounds just like the Fascists!

4.  Expansion of government into our lives and our homes.  Obama said that government will watch over your children from the day they are born - sounds just like Hitler Youth and the Fascists to me!

5.  Silencing of dissent and violation of our right to Free Speech through informal implementation of The Fairness Doctrine.  Obama’s nominee for FCC Chairman, Julius Genachowski, believes that radio and TV station ownership should be more diverse and government should control that ownership!  Sounds like Hugo Chavez nominated this guy! 

Does history really repeat itself?

If regular folks like us get involved, we can make a difference!

This past Monday Brad and I had gone to meet with one of his Doctors at Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio and finishing early, stopped and met Randy at Rogelio’s Mexican Restaurant for another fine lunch, Driving back home, Brad said, “Dad, why don’t we stop at Cabela’s.”  Enough said, even though we had stopped there 2 weeks ago!

Driving in, the parking lot was almost half full and this at 1:30 PM on a work day.  Once inside we headed for the gun department and most of the crowd, truly a testament to diversity, was there.  Signs were up to the effect that they couldn’t keep adequate supplies of reloading supplies.  I wonder why?  We even had to take a number.

We bought some .22 bullets and Brad stepped up and bought a single action, .22/.22 mag. pistol.  Since Brad has a “carry permit” this transaction went quickly. When you buy a gun there, you check out at a register in the gun department and, for the appearance of safety, the salesman walks you out of the store.  As we were walking out, our salesman leaned over to me and said, “We’ve been Obamanized for over a month.”  I smiled and walked on to Brad’s truck.

It looks like the folks in central Texas are stocking up for the long haul!