prayers please and taking a break...

 

 The past few weeks have been rough. So, I am taking a break from blogging for a bit..There has been so much going on, that I am finding I barely have time to get on the computer much less do a post. My trips to Florida are now every two weeks, if not every week. We had the hard decision to make and had mom placed in a home... I hope you never have to do that for your parent..I feel like crap, and have been incredibly emotional ever since.
As soon as we were able to get mom placed...my dads health took a downward spiral. Seems he has been neglecting himself, skipping his medications to take care of mom , and now it has caught up with him.....the diagnosis is not good.

Now mix all that together with my asshole brother ( sorry but he is) who wants to fight my sister and I on everything ....there is always that one family member that makes things difficult. All I know is given the way he has treated his family, Karma will catch up to him, and he will one day have to answer for his evil actions.

So, I do ask for your thoughts and prayers... If you comment, I am not sure when I will respond. But please know I will read it.

-JUGM

My dad ....the woodcarver

Woodcarving  is not only a hobby of my dads, it is his passion. However, with his age and his declining health, his hands are shaky, and he is no longer able to hold the tools needed to create his masterpieces. Believe me it really depresses him. Carving wood was his stress relief, and the one thing that he had that made him feel accomplished in life.
He was really good at his art, member of woodcarving clubs, and even had an entries in national competitions.
 This cardinal was one of his first. We have lots of cardinals up here at the estate, and because of that I have always liked it.

 As he got better with his craft, he carved this "Red Tail Hawk"  Senior has always admired the detail. One of dads club members helped him with the eyes, they were made to seem as if they follow you around the room.

Dad named him "Billy Bad Ass Hawk"  I think we will just call him "Billy". Now he sits on an end table  in our living room..

My dad would oblige people who would ask for a carving as a gift.My Niece loves Owls, so for a wedding gift he carved her a beautiful brown Owl. A family friends little girl loves Eagles, so dad surprised her with a carved Bald Eagle. Then one year when they were much smaller, the boys asked for sharks.

ND wanted a Hammerhead because he liked them,and thought they were cool.

And our oldest NW always  loved  Great Whites. He requested one , that had battle scars and holding a dead seal in its mouth. Dad did his best to make his oldest grandson happy:

Dad has now passed on his hand tools off to the boys.  He has promised to come for a visit and sit with them both teaching the art to his grandsons.  There are other sculptures in dads little office, he is slowly passing them off. I have asked why ? And he really won't give me an answer, but I think deep down he just wants to know they will go to a good home, and be appreciated.
I told him to see if my siblings want them, but if not, I would gladly take them we admire the hard work and detail that he put in to them. And they are something of my dads as well....and long after he is gone, they will still be here as his lasting mark on the world.

indpendence day...

  
It is very easy to to take liberty for granted in this country. People all the time misconstrue just how hard it was 240 years ago to gain our independence from Britain.
The Revolutionary War was long, hard  and very costly, over 50,000 died just on the American side, which is roughly the number of troops who have died or been injured in Afghanistan.
The majority of people back then was less then 3 million. so to lose 50,000 was staggering.

However people today are generally ignorant of what it took for America to gain her independence. It is irrelevant to them of what it took for those brave "Sons of Liberty" to begin an uprising that would ultimately result in a new country being born.

So, it got me thinking of quotes, there are many out there from our founding fathers and those brave patriots who died fighting for the cause. But, the one I found to be the most relevant in terms of our country today and where we are as a nation would actually be from Malcom X. Now I don't usually go around throwing his quotes out-but this one struck me as perfect for present day America:

"If you're not ready to die for it, put the word 'freedom' out of your vocabulary."
--Malcolm X

Those patriots in the 1770s fought for what that word "freedom" meant, and they died for it.....

How many today would?  How many of the PC crowd would step up to the plate, pick up a rifle and defend their liberties?

Thoughts to ponder for this day....

I hope you all have a safe and blessed 4th of July. Take a moment though to reflect on that fact that you have the  "freedom" to be out celebrating this day...