Yep, It's Bowling Season Once Again!

I Have Found That By Getting Older, My Ability To Participate In Sports Continue To Decline. Bowling Had Always Been My Favorite Sport To Participate In. I Wish I Had Started Practicing At An Earlier Age. The Sport Of Bowling Is Not A Physically Challenging Endurance For Me. I Find Myself Getting Frustrated Because I Usually Excel At Most Of The Things I Face. The Sport Of Bowling In My Opinion Is A Mind Over Matter Type Of Finesse.
This Season Started Off Differently For Me Because Of An Abrupt Change In Equipment.
I Had Been Bowling With A Conventional Ball And Decided To Switch To Fingertip. Had I Made This Change In Mid Summer It Would Not Have Effected My League Average. It Took Me A Good Three Weeks To Just Get The Hang Of This All New To Me Kind Of Release. If Given The Opportunity To Do It Over Again I Would Have Got Acquainted With It Long Before The Winter League Started. I Believe My League Average Would Be Much Higher Than It Is, Because Of Those Weeks I Did Poorly Due To Me Not Having A Clue To Where My Ball Would Be Traveling.
With All That Behind Me Now All I Can Do Is Focus On Helping My Team Create Wins. The Team I Bowl On Have all The Ingredients Of Becoming A Very Talented Team. With The Season Still Young, Anything Can Happen. Presently Our Team Is 10 Games Out Of First Place. League play Is 35 Weeks Long. We Just Bowled Our 12th Week.
I Take My Game Seriously And I Play To Win. I Try To Practice As Much As I Can So I Can Become A Better Bowler.
I Think This New Ball Of Mine Gives Me Hope For Better Games In The Future. I Set A Goal For Me To End The Season With A Minimum Of A 170 Average. Next Season My Goal Would Be Much Higher.
My Father Continues To Bowl And I Am Honored To Be On His Team. My Mother Saw Her Season Cut Short For Health Reasons.
I Serve As President Of The Bowling League. I Am One Of The Youngest Members Who Bowl On The Senior League.
I Have Met Some Wonderful People On This League. It Has Also Led Me To Reinstate Old Friendships With People From My Past.
I Love The Game And Hope I Can Bowl For As Long As My Health Allows It.
Oh Yea, My Bowling Idol Is None Other Than Walter Ray Williams Jr. He Will Go Down In History As The Best Bowler Ever In The Sport Of Bowling.
I Have Watched Walter Ray Compete In Tournament Play In Indianapolis Every Year. I Also Watched Him Pitch Horseshoes. He Has Won Several Events In That Sport As Well.
What Makes Him Stand Out More Than Any Other? He Is A Hall Of Fame Bowler With His Right Hand And A Champion Horseshoe Pitcher With The Left Hand. How Can You Not Respect The Ability To Achieve Greatness In Two Different Sports Using Opposite Hands?
As For Me, I Will Continue To Bowl My Best Game. I Will Continue To Stockpile The Memories Of My Father And I Bowling Together. Not Very Many People Have That Opportunity. My Brother Tuck Began Bowling Again Last Season Where He Lives In San Diego. He Will Be Joining Our League Once He Retires And Relocates In Danville. Of course He And I Have A Friendly Wager On Who Ends The Season With The Highest Average. There Is No Doubt In My Mind Who Will Be In The Victory Circle In The Springtime. I Wish You Good Luck Bro!

What Makes You Blog?

Really, What Makes You Blog? I Enjoy Reading Other People's Blogs And Believe Me You I Have Read Some Doozies!
I Promised Myself When I Started Blogging I Would Always Try To Maintain A Positive Attitude While Blogging. As A Matter Of Fact I No Longer Enjoy Reading Blogs That Are Not Positive.
The World Is Depressing Enough Without Adding More Drama From Someone Else's Life. I Could Care Less If Johnny Cannot Get Along With Sally, Or Jimmy Called Billy A Dirty Name. Let Me Spell It Out For You. IF YOU WRITE NEGATIVE BLOGS, DON'T EXPECT ME TO CONTINUE READING THEM! Now Was That Spelled Out Well Enough For You To Understand?
I Think Most Of Us Have Things Going On In Our Lives That Feel Disturbing. Maybe It Is Therapeutic For You To Write It Down And Get It Out Of Your System. I Have Always Tried To Exclude Myself From Any Type Of Behavior Nonsense. Distancing Myself From The Drama Allows Me Inner Peace Which Is What I Desire From Life.
Do I Care If You Like Me? Well Certainly I Do. However I Don't Evolve Myself To Making That The Most Important Goal For My Day. If You Choose Not To Like Me Then So Be It. Will You Find Me Trying To Convince That Person How Good Of A Person That I Really Am? No.
Take Me For Who I Am Today. If You Don't Like What You See Then Life Goes On. I Will Assure You I Will Lose Very Little Sleep Wondering Why You Don't Care For Me. Either You Do Or Don't.
When I Blog, Hopefully You Will Read An Inspiring Happening In My Journey Of Life. If I Feel The Need To Write My Most Inner Thoughts I Will Go Buy Me A Diary And Jot Them Down And Keep It Under My Pillow At Night.
My Point To All Of This Is To Tell You That By Reading Negative Blogs, One After Another Leaves Most To Wonder What Kind Of A Person You Really Are. To Be Quite Honest About It I Find It Rather Pathetic And Childish.
Why Not Try To Be Creative And Be Joyful In The Things You Write?
Please Don't Bring Your Negative Attitude Into My Space. I Try To Live In Tranquility. Please Have Respect For That.
So Am I Talking About You? Does The Shoe Fit?

April-October/ Nothing Else Matters

I Call It My Last Chapter Of The Season. It's Late October And The Weather Is Changing. The Fall Leaves Have Turned Color And Have Been Falling To The Ground.
All Of My "Top Secret" Ice Cream Stops Have Closed For The Season. Mikes Chill, The Custard Cup, And Hillary's Famous Dairy Barn Are Gone For The Winter. Dairy Queen Bob Is Calling It A Wrap For The Season Tomorrow. I Haven't Seen A Robin In A Couple Of Weeks. The First Of Next Week Danville Will Get It's First Frost Of The Season.
My Favorite Season Is Anytime Between April Through October. The Rest Of The Months Are Considered My Hibernation. This Stage Of My Life Is When I Start Putting On All The Pounds That Took The Entire Summer To Lose.
I Have Pretty Much Counted Out My Favorite Fridays Down At The Old Square For This Year. I Assumed Since The First Of The Weeks Lows Were Below Freezing Putting Frost On The Pumpkin, Old Man Winter Is Just Around The Corner.
I Guess That's What I Get For Assuming, Eh?
I Have Two Days I Look Forward To In The Winter Months. Sundays Are The Day Shorty And I Get Our Euchre Lessons. You Would Think We Would Get It All Figured Out By Now.
Thursday Is The Day I Enjoy The Most! It's Bowling Day! I Bowl With Alot Of Old Folks Including My Father Who Is My Teams Captain. I Think They All Decided To Elect Young When The Voted For President At Last Years Bowling Banquet When They Decided To Let Me Play President For A Year. On The Senior League Anything Can Change In The Blink Of An Eye. Always Expect The Unexpected.
This Will Be Our First Winter In Our New Home. We Fired Up The Furnace Just Last Week. It Appears I Have More Area To Shovel Snow. Oh Wow, I'm Thrilled.
Please Tell Me April Follows December And It Will Make My Day.

It's Been So Long....

I Make No Apolagies For The Absense Of My Blogs. Yes I Know It's Been Awhile Since I Last Posted A Blog. I Have My Reasons And They Happen To Be Personal.
As Most Of My Blog Readers Are Aware I Try To Always Be Positive In All My Writings.
I Haven't As Yet Shared Too Much Of My Personal Life But Maybe Someday That Is Forthcoming. In The Meantime My Intentions Are To Once Again Continue My Blogs In A More Timely Fashion.
I Have Much To Share Since My Last Writings. Stay Tuned.....

Searching For A Loving Companion

It Has Been Awhile Since I Shared The Passing Of Mr Bear. I'm Sure Those Who Read My Words Felt My Pain. I Had My Moment Of Grief And Now I Must Move On.
Recently I Have Been Watching The Greatest American Dog Contest Every Wednesday Night On CBS. It's Basically On The Same Format As Big Brother But You Compete As Couples. A Couple Is Evicted At The Conclusion OF Each Show. Those Who Had The Weakest Performance In Competition Are Subject To Be Eliminated. The English Bulldog Whose Name Was Tillman Brought Back Alot Of Memories When I Once Shared My Life With An English Bulldog Named Ugly. Watching Tillman Ride On A Skateboard Was Amusing In Every Sense Of The Word.
I Am Ready To Commit Myself To A Four Legged Companion. I Would Enjoy Having Another English Bulldog. HOWEVER, All My Internet Searches Have Landed Me In The Minimum Price Rage Of 1,400.00. Maybe Rich Folks Don't Bat An Eye When It Comes To Price. This May Be True But It's Really Too Rich For My Blood. In My Opinion If The Common Folks Were To Agree On A Dog's Worth The Starting Prices Will Lower. In The Meantime I Will Continue My Search For A Four Legged Buddy.
I Try To Be A Patient Person With This Being No Exception.

Bird Man From Danville?

I Have Always Had The Desire To Be A Bird For The Day. Err I Mean Shortly After Breakfast, If You Know What I Mean. I Know The Early Bird Get's The Worm And That's Why I'd As Soon Skip The Worm Thing.
No ,For Real! On Many Occasions I Would Watch Birds Fly Around The Skies With All Their Manuevering Around Obstacles Never Missing A Beat. The Flight Of A Bird Is So Free-Like, Giving Me A Peaceful Feeling Of Freedom. Not A Care In The World As A Bird Darts In And Out Of Natural Or Otherwise Maze Or Near-Like Illusions.
Yes If I Could Be A Bird For The Day I Would Choose To Be A Robin. I Would Enjoy Migrating Into A Tropical Region Annually. I Would Be The Last One To Arrive And The First One To Leave. I Don't Like Snow So That Would Mean I Would Come Home To Illinois About Mid April. Just About Time For Mushroom Season. Mushroom Season You Ask? Yes I Believe All Things Are Possible. Do You Think For A Moment That Only Humans Hunt Mushrooms In The Woods? I'm Not Saying Birds Eat Them But It Could Be Possible. I Do Honestly Believe That Deer Eat Mushrooms. What Bothers Me Most About That Is The Deer Will Remember How Good That Mushroom Tasted. Before You Know It All The Deer Will Be Eating The Mushrooms Leaving None For Us Humans. Ok I will Hold Off On That Discussion For Another Time.
Back On The Topic At Hand. Yes I Would Enjoy Being A Bird For The Day. If You Haven't Before I Hope You Do Someday Take Out A Moment Of Your Day And Watch The Birds. What A Peaceful Feeling It Is..........

I Wear Clothes Because I Have To....???...

Am I For Real?
Well, Yea, Sort Of. I Guess This Is The Time I Tell On Myself. I'm Not Sure Whether I Have Fully Disclosed My True Character Or Just Maybe Some Of It.
Anyway, This Blog Is About Fashion. Maybe I Will Give You A Different Prospective On The "Dress Code".
The Dress Code I Am Referring To Is My Own. I Have None!
I Judge A Person For How They Present Themselves To Me And NOT How they Are Dressed. I Was Once Told That You Can Tell Alot About A Person By Looking At Their Shoes. Their Shoes? You Would Have To Look Down! I Don't Or Shall I Say Refuse To Believe Such Nonsense.
I Look Into A Person Heart As They Talk. I Listen To Their Concerns. I Feel Their Desire To Make A Difference.
How A Person Is Dressed Bares No Reflection On The Character Of Their Soul.
Most Of The Ones Who Know Me Best Know I Should Be The Best Dressed Man In Danville.
If I Chose To I Could Wear Brand Named Clothing Sporting Shoes That Would Turn The Heads Of Many.
My Appearance Is The Least Of My Concerns. I May Look At Myself Once In The Morning To Make Sure I Have No Popcorn Kernels Wedged In My Teeth From The Night Before. Other Than My Daily Routine Of Grooming, That Would Probably Be My Only Self Sighting I Would Encounter In A 24 Hour Time Period.
Ever Hear The Saying Never To Judge A Book By It's Cover? I Would Have To Say They Had Me In Mind When They Said That!
I Am At My Best In Blue Jeans And A Pullover. I'm Out To Impress No One.
The Kicked Back Feeling Pleases Me Best.

Before?

Not Quite, But I Sure Felt Like It!
It Must Be A Tradition With Me Year In And Year Out. I Put It On Then Take It Off. It's My Weight I Am Referring To.
I Weighed Myself In April And It Was An Easy Number To Remember. On 4-21 I Weighed 214. Ofcourse My Summer Gig Had Just Got Started. I Found Another Notch On My Belt That I Never Dreamed I Would Be Using. Am I Happy? Yea I'm Glad I Lost 20 Pounds Because I Can Move About Alot Easier Now That I Am Not Carrying An Additional Amount Of Weight. I Think What Bothers Me Most Is I Really Can't See On My Body Where I Have Lost The Weight.
For Those Who Knows Me The Best Are Aware Of My Buldging Belly. I Was Kind Of Hoping To Lose Some Of That! No Such Luck!
Life At 194 Is Much Better Than 214. According To My Heighth Chart I Should Weigh About 170 Pounds. If That Is Correct Then I Have Another 24 Pounds To Lose.
To Be Honest About It Quitting Smoking Led To My Weight Gain. Those Who Know Me Best Can Vouch For That. I Had Been Skinny Most Of My Life. I Weighed Between 130-135 Pounds Since I Was In High School. I Entered The Navy Weighing 132 Pounds.
I'm Not Into These Weight Loss Programs. I Think It's A Good Thing For Those Who Seek A Social Gathering Looking To Reach The Same Goal.
I Will Continue Doing What I Have Been Doing And Hopefully I Will Lose Some More Weight. I Think However The First 20 Was The Easiest. It's Quite Obvious The 20 Pounds I Need To Lose Is In My Midsection.
Maybe I Can Lose A Little There If I Do A Few AB Excersizes. I Just Hope I Don't Put All That Weight Back On This Coming Winter. It's So Hard On Me In The Month Of April When My Season Starts And Mushrooms Begin To Pop Up. I Try Walking Throughout The Winter Months To Help Keep The Weight Off. Even If I Don't Achieve My Goal, Atleast I Am Consious Of It. If I Didn't Care, My Weight Would Increase Which Would Make It More Difficult To Take Off. My Biggest Reason Why I Need To Keep Fit Is Because Of What I Do In The Warmer Months. This Is My Livihood And This Is Where I Get My Inner Peace. It's Important To Me To Continue What I Have Been Doing The Past 22 Years.
So This Is My Personal Challenge That Nobody Can Do But Me. From Here On Out It Will Be More Difficult To Lose The Weight Where I Need To Lose It The Most.
It Would Please Me If I Was Able To Be The Weight I Am Suppose To Be. However I Won't Allow It To Become An Obbsession Where I Don't Enjoy All The Good Things In Life.
I Guess Art Linkletter Said It Best. You Can Eat All The Foods You Want But In Smaller Portions. Now Don't Quote Me To Be Exact Yet The Meaning Is The Same. So If It's Ice Cream You Like? Instead Of That Medium Size, Ask For The Small. You Can Have Your Cake And Eat It Too!

Not An Average Day At Madison Square

This Friday Morning Didn't Start Off Like I Had Planned. First Off There Was No Rain In The Forcast Until Late Friday Night Or Possibly Saturday Morning. No Mention Of Any Rain In The Area On Thursday Night Nor Anytime During The Day On Friday.
There Had Been Days In The Past When It Has Rained On Me At Madison Square When It Was Not In The Forcast. A Very Good Piece Of Advice From Billie Was When She Asked Me How Much Room That Barrel Of Plastic Tarps Would Take In That Big Ol Truck Of Mine. From That Moment On I Had Always Included It With All The Other "Stuff" I Carted Down To The Square On Friday Mornings.
On My Way Out The Door Just Before 4:00 Am It Was Sprinkling Ever So Softly. Puddles Up And Down My Roadway. I Knew What Was Waiting For Me Down At The Church Parking Lot. It Took Me Close To 30 Minutes To Sweep Out The Puddles So I Could Set Up The Tables. It Was No Longer Raining And The Sky Appeared Clear Even Though It Was Difficult To Tell For Sure Since It Was Still Dark.
After Customers Began Pouring In I Began Talking To My Regulars About This And That Or Whatever Came To Mind. I Began Noticing Change On The Ground Throughout The Parking Lot. A Quarter Here, A Dime There and So Forth. I Began A Small Collection Of Coins. I Then Thought To Myself Some Dumbass Must Have A Hole In His Pocket As I Continue Picking Up Change Here And There.
It Didn't Take Me Long Before I Realized That Dumbass Was ME! I Have Always Carried My Change In One Pocket With The Bills In The Other. Change Of Routine Has Always Been So Difficult For Me With Today Being No Exception.
I Reached The Point Where I Was Accustomed To Having A Big Breakfast Catered To Me Each Friday Morning By My Dear Ol Dad. However This Particular Friday He Left For A Extra Long Weekend Getaway. I Knew This So I Stopped At County Market Before I Went To The Square. I Got A Couple Snack Cakes And Hoped That Would Tide Me Over Until I Got Home In The Evening.
As I Mentioned This To A Friend Of Mine He Returned With A Breakfast From McDonalds.
It Seemed My Day Wouldn't Be So Bad Afterall. It Must Pay To Have Good Friends Afterall. Speaking Of Friends, I Was Surprised By A Forum Friend I Had Never Met Before. Granny 7 Introduced Herself With Her Husband Grampy At Her Side. It Was My Pleasure In Finally Meeting Them Because We Have Been Participating In Various Forums The Past Few Years. Shortly After They Left They Returned With Store Bought Snickerdoodles. He Handed Them To Me And Assured Me The Real Thing Would Come My Way Next Time She Was In The Baking Mood. What A Wonderful Person Or Shall I Say People!
It Just Warmed My Heart!
As The Day Progressed Into The Afternoon The Pastor Of The Church Came To Visit Me To Be Sure I Was Aware That It Had Been Raining In Champaign And It Was Heading In Our Direction. I Immediately Called Billie To Have Her Watch The Radar. She Confirmed What The Pastor Told Me. I Began Packing Things Away So I Could Get Out Of There. On A Normal Day It Takes Me 2 1/2 Hours To Get Out Of There. Put Rain Into The Picture And Ofcourse It Delays It Considerably.
All In All It Never Did Rain Before The Normal Time For Me To Call It Quits. Ofcourse It Could Have And That's Why I Have Good Friends That Look After Me. The Minister Drove All The Way From The Hegeler Area Just To Warn Me. He Went That Extra Mile Because He Cares. With The High Price Of Gasoline That It Is, It Takes An Extra Special Person To Go Out Of Their Way For A Friend.
So I Guess Friday(7-11) Was A Rather Lucky Day For Me. Not Only Was It My Grandson's Birthday But My Brother As Well.
So Today In Reflection Of Yesterday I Count My Blessing For The Friends That I Have And Those Special People Who Go Out Of Their Way Just Because They Care.
The Day Was Priceless!

A Tribute To My Brother Tuck

Today Is My Brother's 55th Birthday. Right Here In Danville Illinois A Son Was Born To Harvey And Shirley Miller. This Historic Event Came On July 5th In The Year Of 1953. Their First Child Was Born The Day After The Fourth Of July.
The United States Celebrates Tuck's Birthday The Day Before So We All Remember Why We Celebrate The 5th Of July.
Tuck And I Growing Up At 713 Had Some Memorable Happenings. I Could Never Compete With Tuck Academically So I Chose Physical Challenges. Footraces From The House To The Corner Which Calculated To Be One Half Block.
Baseball Was The Sport I Excelled In And Tuck Was No Match. However I Always Looked Up To Tuck In Every Way. I Looked At Tuck As Paving The Way For Me And Being There Before I Came Along. Since He Expierenced It Before I Did, He Could Always Give Me A Firsthand Opinion Before It Came To Me.
When Tuck Graduated High School He Left Home And Joined The Navy. I Would Say At That Moment In Time I Had The Most Admiration For Him.
I Did Not Apply Myself In School So When The Time Arrived For Me To Join The Navy, I Did.
Tuck Showed Me The Way As Well As My Brother Mark.
Throughout The Years, My Observations Of Tuck Has Been An Honest, Down To Earth, Friend To Many, God Fearing Man. His Love For His Hometown Of Danville Is An Understatment.
We Are Thankful For Having Tuck In Our Lives. We Could Have Easily Lost Him On 6-6-06. I Feel God Spared Him So He Can Complete His Mission Here On Earth.
I Am Proud To Call Him My Brother, But He Is Also My Friend.
Happy Birthday Tuck!