Eulogy: Jack David Johnson

Sorry for the delay Sis, I'm getting pretty weary working and going to school. So here's what I wrote for Jack to share with others:

Jack David Johnson

06/09/1924 ~ 09/02/2010

We are gathered here today to remember and honor the life of Jack David Johnson. He was born in Los Angeles California on the 9th of June in 1924. His parents were Albert and Myrtle Johnson. Some time early in his life they moved to Barstow, California where he attended elementary grade school and he later moved to Riverside California to attend Jr. high and High school, graduating from Poly High School. He had taken ROTC in school and enlisted in the Army soon after graduating.

He served in the Army Infantry Division from 1943 ~ 1958 at Prince Rupert, Canada, Fort Ord, CA, in Germany, Japan and Korea. I can remember him telling me that while on guard duty, he had a cigarette shot out of his mouth by a sniper and that was his LAST cigarette. I also remember him trying to smoke a pipe for awhile but he just couldn’t keep it lit and probably got tired of smoking matches so he quit that too, much to Mom’s delight. Jack had been released from the Army on a medical discharge.

Jack worked at Riverside Produce Company for his Uncle Eddie between military duty and after discharge until he and Mom moved north to Yuba City where he purchased Lucky Star Produce, a one-man operation at the time. He started with one employee and with his personal attention to the customer’s needs and preferences he soon outgrew the building and purchased the property across the street, an old Drive-in restaurant, and remodeled it. Eventually the business grew to 14 employees and prospered until he retired and sold the business and property, the business only lasted a couple weeks without Jack’s personal attention.

Mom and Jack met at the Moose Lodge in Riverside, CA in 1961 and married in 1962. I can remember talk of Jack adopting us kids but it didn’t happen. Heck, our last names were the same anyway. Sometime around 1963 or ’64 we moved from the Sycamore St. house in Riverside to Mildred Ct. in Arlington, CA. He had cleared out the garage giving everything to Grandpa Miller, who loved to harass Jack every time he needed to borrow a tool or use some hardware. Grandpa would say something like this: "Jack, if I had let you throw that away you’d be at the hardware store buying it now." "Yeah, I know", Jack would say.

By the time we lived in Arlington we had made a habit of camping every weekend. On Saturday, Jack would alternately take one of us kids to work with him and the ones that stayed home would pack up after chores and be ready to go when he got home. We camped at places like Dark Canyon, Black Mountain, Borego Springs, Joshua Tree National Monument, Yucca Valley and Calico in Barstow. We eventually found a weekend home at Woodchuck where we would set up a trailer and work on terracing and personalizing the site, ending up on the top of the hill. We had such a rich life with the activities we would dream up and the fellowship with our extended families. Probably my favorite camping excursions were in the deserts, out in the middle of nowhere even without the comforts of primitive campsites. Several campers and trailers set up around a campfire pit like a wagon train. All us kids would take off after breakfast with packed lunches and water and be back by dinner. We had excursions and adventures unheard of today. Clear skies and campfires! The best food! Awesome company! I don’t remember a weekend at home with Jack in our family. He always had someplace to take us on weekends. Even when the weather was nasty, Woodchuck was there and we were never bored.

When we kids grew up and moved out, camping gave way to occasional trips in motor homes and became infrequent when he owned the business. How could his customers survive without him if they ran out of tomatoes or lettuce? He would still take trips north, south or to the east coast sharing some trips with family members. Zigzagging the continent several times.

Now keep in mind, Jack was a single man when he married Mom. All of a sudden he had 3 kids. He attempted several tactics to discipline us. I remember a gig system, which didn’t last long. I think he’d loose count between Ted and I. I remember chores, allowances and fines. Sometimes Ted and I would owe him by the end of the week. I remember restrictions and one of Jack’s favorite stories of how he knew when I screwed up. He’d find my TV unplugged in the hall and me in my room. I’d save him the trouble and restrict myself. Some times the punishments were severe and seemed to be unwarranted. But when we needed extra cash, he’d create a job for us to earn it. His intentions were to raise us to know the value of a dollar and that we had to work to earn it, to be honest and be truthful, to respect other people and things. And not be prejudiced. Bottom line? However dysfunctional his methods were, he succeeded! I was blessed to be able to tell him so while he was alive. It went something like this: Jack, when I was a teenager I wished you were dead and caused you a lot of grief... But now I acknowledge what your intentions were… I remember it brought a tear to his eyes.

Then there was the candy! At Smart & Final, if there was an open case of candy they threw it out. He talked them into throwing it in a box and saving it for him. So all us kids, cousins and neighbor kids knew he had candy. Thus he earned the title “ The Candy Man.” Ted even surprised Jack by putting it on the front of his motor home.

And there were the freeway clothes. If he saw a bag on the freeway, he’d drive out of the way to circle and pick it up. All you cousins probably remember the freeway clothes.

Christmas was always a favorite of Jack’s. He would be worse than us kids about waiting until morning. We’d open just one on Christmas Eve. Well, sometimes just one more… well… sometimes we’d save just one for the morning.

Jack loved Grandpa and Grandma Miller. After they moved to Meridian CA, Mom and Jack would make trips to visit them. Then when Mom and Jack moved to Yuba City, they’d visit and often include them on their trips. Jack and Grandma had a unique relationship. Jack would pester Grandma until she would be ready to box his ears off and she’d chew him out. And it was a regular thing. That’s how Jack and Grandma loved each other.

I remember as a child that Jack was very nervous. He had been diagnosed as schizophrenic in his discharge from the army. I also remember him receiving medication from the base for a while. Then, when camping with our uncles and other men, he began to self medicate with beer and did so for 40 years until he suffered congestive heart failure in 2000. He would wait until a certain time before drinking and limit him self to how many he drank but it took its toll on his body. When the Doctor told him if he continued to drink he’d die, He decided to quit and never had another one. Jack had amazing will power if he chose to apply it. When the Dr. told him he would be able to have an occasional beer, Jack said “Why?”

June 24th this year Jack hadn’t been feeling well and a severe migraine headache drove him to the Emergency room and after finding his red platelet count dangerously low due to a bleeding ulcer, they admitted him into Rideout Hospital in Marysville. This stay lasted 9 days while they stabilized his blood count and treated him for infections a couple times. He was released from the hospital on July 3rd and admitted into the Fountains Skilled Nursing Facility in Yuba City. Here they struggled to get him to eat and exercise enough to strengthen him before he could go home. Gaining some ground and suffering several setbacks he never gained enough strength to be stable on his feet. The Doctor sent him to the Emergency room at Rideout again on September 2nd when he was passing blood in his urine and complaining of great discomfort. The Doctors there found his kidneys shutting down, his lungs were filling with fluid and he had another infection. They had consulted with Mom and gave him morphine to calm and comfort him. Soon after as he was finally relaxing his heart gave out while he was sleeping.

Jack was not a religious man. He wasn’t in the habit of attending church. But he had read the Bible and seemed to enjoy when we said Grace at his table. During his stay at the Fountains he requested prayer from me and appreciated my prayers. Jack’s character reflected his response to the Holy Spirit in his honesty, respectfulness and child like humor among other traits. Now I’m not trying to paint a portrait of a saint or you’d be saying Jack who? But the positive traits I’ve seen in Jack’s character proves that the Holy Spirit had not given up on him. The Bible teaches me that there is no good thing in me. If you see good in me you’ve seen Christ in me. So on that note, I’ve seen Christ in Jack more than a few times.

Jack’s survivors include his wife of 48 years, Glenndyn Johnson; stepchildren Lorraine Bailey, Ted Johnson, Gene Johnson and their families; and a nephew Tracy Kirkpatrick and his family. He was preceded in death by his parents Albert and Myrtle Johnson; sisters Marjorie Johnson and Shirley Kirkpatrick; and a nephew Dan Kirkpatrick.

I’d like to speak about the condition of death and clear up some of the confusion about it. The Bible compares death to sleep over 50 times.

In John 11:11-14 Jesus states:
11. These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
12. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
13. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
14. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

1 Thessolonians 4:15-18 talks about the end when Jesus comes the dead are asleep:
15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Genesis 2:7 tells the origin of man:
7. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul

Ecclesiastes 12:7 tells the end of man:
7. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Then Job 27:3 explains the Spirit as God’s breath of life or His power:
3. All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

Psalms 146:3,4 tells our condition when the breath or Spirit returns to God:
3. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
4. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

And Psalms 115:17,
17. The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.

Psalms 6:5,
5. For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

Ecclesiastes 9:5,
5. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing,

Acts 2:34. At the time of the apostles even Kind David had not ascended yet:
34. For David is not ascended into the heavens:

2 Timothy 4:7,8. The apostle Paul waited for the coming of Jesus to collect his reward:
7. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Revelation 22:12. When Jesus comes His reward of eternal life is with Him:
12. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

So we do not have a soul, we are the combination of a body and the breath of life from God to become a living soul.
We do not have an eternal soul since eternal life is a gift, a reward that Jesus brings with Him at His second coming.
When we die, we sleep. We aren’t aware of anything going on in this world. Our next conscious moment is when Jesus Christ calls us from the grave at the resurrection.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18,
13. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.


We’ll take a few moments to let anyone else speak who’d like to.

Prayer

Uncle Doyle handed out flowers at the beginning of this service. Any one who’d like to leave the flower with a prayer, blessing or symbolically a part of your heart with Jack, feel welcome to.

Chaplain Gene Johnson, Sept 24, 2010

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From Anakerie:

Thank you, Gene.. I knew you'd get it put here so the rest of the cousins who weren't able to make it up to the service can read it.  You did a wonderful job doing the eulogy for our Stepdad.

To the readers of the blog: 
I was one of the ones who got up to speak about my Stepdad. Only there wasn't much I could add to what my brother wrote and spoke of.  Except, Jack's love of animals.  He and Mom only allowed us kids to have one pet, long ago. A big orange tabby named Chico.  It was too hard on the pet when we went on our many camping trips, so when Chico passed on to the rainbow bridge, there were no more pets. Jack still enjoyed animals, though.  So, he would adopt all the neighbor's pets.  The dog next door.  The cat from across the street.  Jack kept a big jar of dog treats in the garage along side a container of cat food. He had his routine every day.  He'd take a couple dog treats to the dog next door and make sure the cat's dish in his garage was full of kibble.  When Jack went outside to do little garden chores, the cat was right there with him.  When Jack walked out to the mailbox to get the mail, the cat would jump up on the seat of Jack's walker and go along for the ride. The dog next door no doubt misses his daily treats and the cat still comes over and waits for Jack to come out of the house to give him his ride to the mailbox.  In honor of Jack's love of animals, my daughter and I placed some small stuffed cats in the vault with Jack's cremains, and there are 2 cats sitting on the headstone to watch over him.

Traveling Again... Fires... And Losses...

Yesterday, I spent the day with my parents out in the car for a day trip. This time my Step-dad decided on going up to Nevada City for breakfast and then on up the hill to Truckee for window shopping and lunch. When we arrived in Grass Valley on Highway 20, we heard sirens and then saw an ambulance and a fire truck racing up behind us, then we saw off to one side of the road a large column of smoke rising up through the trees. We couldn't see what was burning, and with my folks in the car, I wasn't about to go chasing the smoke with my camera to get photos. Also, we weren't able to get over to the side in traffic so that could step out of the car to get a photo of the column of smoke. So, once the emergency vehicles were clear of us, I took the turn onto Highway 49 so that we could get up to Nevada City.

*Skipping forward in time, when we got back to Yuba City and my parents home, I got on their computer to look up some information and found that the smoke was saw in Grass Valley was a fully involved apartment building. Two people were injured and about 13 were left homeless. (Source of photo and information: The Union) One of the injured was a woman who was apparently in the apartment where the fire started. She suffered burns and injuries from exploding oxygen tanks. I haven't been able to find information on how she is this morning. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

After breakfast in Nevada City, we traveled on up to Truckee and spent a few hours wandering around the town, window shopping and enjoying the cooler weather. There are a lot of very interesting little shops and lots of friendly shopkeepers. After wandering through the shops and having a little lunch (No comment on the lunch nor the restaurant we ate at beyond the fact that I doubt if we'll be going back there.. lol), we headed back down I80 towards home. I'd say about half-way down from the summit, I saw flashing lights in the rear view mirror, and it wasn't a cop. It was a fire vehicle (Not a fire engine, it was a supervisor vehicle. An SUV type.) and he literally flew past us and we lost sight of him rather quickly. A couple miles after we lost sight of him, we saw off in the distance between the trees a very large column of smoke billowing up. It was nearly impossible to tell at that point where the fire was because the road twists and turns so much. We got a few more glimpses of the growing column of smoke as we traveled down the highway. And we saw a lot more fire vehicles, engines, crew trucks and supervisors. As we got near Applegate, the color of the smoke suddenly turned from the brown/tan color of a brush or wildland fire to thick black smoke. We knew then that there were structures involved. And from the amount of smoke, we thought there a lot of buildings involved.

After we got off I80, we drove down near the town of Lincoln so we could get a clear view of the smoke and stopped so that I could get out of the car to take a couple photos. In the photo to the left, you can see the thick, dark color of the smoke. At this point we were less than 10 miles (as the crow flies) from the fire. In the next photo, you can see a wide shot of how the smoke was "laying down" and being blown to the north. Even during the few moments we were stopped alongside the road while I took those few photos, we saw another fire truck go by with lights and sirens.

*Skipping forward in time again to us looking up the fire information on the computer at my folk's house, we found out that the smoke we'd been watching on our way down from Donner Pass was the "49er Fire" in the northern part of the city of Auburn. And the black smoke we saw was coming from 50 to 60 structures that were being destroyed. Businesses and residences both. I haven't seen a full official count of structures lost yet. There are still a lot of trucks and firefighters out on the fire this morning, and the last I saw, the fire is still just 60% contained.

The rest of the drive home was uneventful, thank goodness. We unloaded our goodies from Truckee and sorted things out and watched some of the news coverage of the fire in Auburn. I headed for home then, but on the way, I decided to stop and take one more photo looking back towards Auburn and that column of smoke. I picked a spot where the highway climbs up a levee on the Sutter Bypass and pulled off to the side of the road. At this point, all you can see of that black column of smoke we saw earlier is a smudge against the horizon because of the haze in the valley.

The latest information from the CalFire website says that the 49er fire has burned 275 acres (Down from the 500 acres the news stations were reporting yesterday due to more accurate mapping of the fire today.) The CalFire website is also reporting that 60 structures were either damaged or destroyed.

More information, videos and photos from the 49er fire in Auburn can be found in these links:
KCRA3
News10.net
CBS13/CW31
Fox40 News

In other fire news, the Station fire near Los Angeles doubled in size overnight to 85,750 acres burned. And it took the lives of two Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighters yesterday.

The official release about the deaths of the firefighters is here:

Firefighter Line of Duty Deaths

It is with our deepest regret to inform you the media of the Line Of Duty Deaths for Fire Captain Tedmund "Ted" Hall and Firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones. These two members tragically lost their lives when the where overran by a fast moving fire which approached Fire Camp 16 on the "Station Fire" Incident.

Fire Captain Tedmund "Ted" Hall was 47 years of age and was a member of the Los Angeles County Fire Department for 26 years and lived in San Bernardino County, California. Firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones was 35 years of Age, and was a member of the Los Angeles County Fire department for 8 years and lived in Palmdale, California.

Funeral arrangements are pending and information relating to services will be made available in the near future.

For additional information, please contact Captain Mike Brown, Public Information Officer at (323) 881-2413.

I've said many times that firefighters are heroes. We have two more fallen heroes now. Please say a little prayer or have a good thought or two for these two heroes as well as for their families, friends and co-workers.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today issued the following statement after two Los Angeles County firefighters died while fighting the Station fire:

“Our hearts are heavy as we are tragically reminded of the sacrifices our firefighters and their families make daily to keep us safe. This is a devastating day for firefighters everywhere and Maria and I join all Californians in expressing our gratitude and sadness. Our hearts go out to their loved ones.”

The other blog that I post on has information as well: California Fire News

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So many firefighters out there on all of the fires that are threatening people, homes and wildlands. Please take a few minutes today and think of the thousands of men and women who choose to protect you and yours.

Eureka, Fort Bragg and More

My Stepdad was getting bored sitting around the house, so he came up with the idea of going up to Eureka for a day or two. So I headed over to Yuba City early Thursday morning and parked my car in their garage, transferred my suitcase to their car and off we went... As we headed north, and then west through the coastal range, the weather changed from bright and sunny in the valley to cloudy up in the mountains. It actually rained on us a bit on our way down from the summit. The weather on the coast was very changeable from one hour to the next. Cloudy now and an hour later it was sunny. I took a coat with me, but never even got it out of my suitcase... lol

Of course we took a few side trips here and there. For instance, once we got to Eureka and got settled in our motel room, we headed out to Samoa so we could have lunch at the Samoa Cookhouse which is the last operating lumber mill cookhouse still in operation. If you ever have an opportunity to be near Eureka, I highly recommend you visit the Cookhouse for a meal. The Cookhouse serves meals "family style" even if you are there by yourself. In other words, they bring bowls and platters to your piece of the long tables and you serve yourself. Oh yeah, they bring pitchers of ice water and your choice of beverage to the table too. There was a man sitting by himself at the other end of the table and they served him with the bowls, platters and pitchers as well. The menu for Thursday afternoon's lunch was:

• Vegetable beef soup (Definitely not canned soup!)
• Salad Short Ribs in Gravy (Big chunks of meat along with chunks of carrots in gravy.)
• Pasta (I'm sure there was a name to the pasta that I missed. It was lightly seasoned but was great with the gravy from the ribs over it.)
• Calico Beans (A variety of types of beans cooked together with sort of a light barbeque sauce.. Yummy!)
• Peas (I let my Mom and Stepdad have the peas and I stole all the carrots out of the dish of ribs.)
• Chocolate cake with chocolate icing

After completely stuffing ourselves at the Cookhouse, we decided it might be a good idea to walk some of it off. So we headed over to the marina.

We wandered around looking at the boats, which are a mixture of commercial fishing boats, charter or private fishing boats and private pleasure boats. At one end of the marina, there is a monument that lists sailors lost at sea from that area. The dates on the names on the lists ranged from the 1800's clear up to this year. Across the sidewalk on the bay side, there is a statue dedicated to all the sailors lost at sea. It was sad to read through the lists and see how many of them had never been recovered after being lost. After walking around the marina for a while, we decided to go back over to the old part of Eureka and look at some of the Victorian homes that are scattered all over the old part of town. As we came down into that part of town, we could see the tower on the Carson Mansion, so we headed off the "main route" down one of the side streets in the direction of that tower we could see above the roofs of the other buildings. We didn't quite make it to the mansion when that street ended in a parking lot for the library. But that was fortunate, because the library had a lovely brochure with a map of points of interest in Eureka. We did manage to find our way to the front of the mansion though.

It's owned by a private club, so we didn't get a chance to go inside or even around the grounds and gardens. But, there are many more stately old Victorians within a few blocks.

Across the street from the Carson Mansion is another, smaller, mansion that was built by the Carson family that is called the "Pink Lady". The following pictures are of more of the Victorians that we walked past, some are offices and some are bread and breakfast inns or even a hotel.

After walking around looking at the beautiful buildings we got back in the car, thinking we'd go check out the "downtown" part of old Eureka. As we drove down the "main street" of the old part of town, we saw people carrying folding chairs and stuff towards the waterfront. Naturally we got curious and headed that direction.

We found a band on the waterfront getting ready for an open air free concert. They played a couple of tunes in between fiddling with the sound balance and stuff.. The music was kind of jazzy and had some of the folks that had gathered there up and dancing. By this time, my Stepdad's legs were about to give out on him, so we went back to the motel and settled in for the evening.

We got up the next morning and headed south down Highway 101 towards the redwoods and Fort Bragg. We had originally planned on grabbing some coffee and the "continental breakfast" that the motel advertised, but since the office was still locked up after 7am and we couldn't even see the coffee maker working we decided to head on down the road. We found a lovely little cafe in a small town called Miranda which is along the Avenue of the Giants. Breakfast was delicious and huge..

Silly me, I didn't take any pictures at all in Fort Bragg or down in Mendicino when we went window shopping and wandering. I guess I'd been there too many times.. lol.. I promise, blog readers, I will try to take some pictures in Fort Bragg and in Mendicino the next time I go over there.

I took a few pictures on the trip "home" yesterday. When we left Fort Bragg, we headed south down Highway 1 for a while. We saw some spectacular views and even went out to one of the lighthouses along the coast.

Point Arena Lighthouse in the fog.

Sun peeking through the fog at Point Arena.

Sea caves near Point Arena Lighthouse.

By the way, if any of my readers are from the area around Booneville CA, can you please tell me what was going on there yesterday? When we came into town on Mountain View Road, we saw a group of people standing by the fence at the end of the airport, then we saw all the people that were along the road next to the airport. We drove down that road to the point where it was roped off and all the airplanes were parked.. We were curious, but we didn't see anyone handy enough to pull over and roll down a window to ask.. lol, I figured I could find something on the internet... WRONG! LOL! So, if anyone knows what was going on at the Booneville airport, I'd sure appreciate it if someone posts a comment!

Hopefully this will work.. It's a map of our route (for the most part)...

View Yuba City, Eureka, Fort Bragg & Back in a larger map

Yay! It worked! LOL.. It didn't want to work earlier..

A Sundial Bridge and a T-Rex Named Sue....

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July yesterday and that everyone is still enjoying their holiday weekend. Yesterday was a fun one for my parents and I even though we saw no fireworks except on TV last night. My Step-dad had gotten bored with sitting at home and came up with the idea of going up to Redding and visiting the Sundial Bridge and the Turtle Bay Museum. I'd never gone to either the bridge or the museum before, so I was happy to be the driver for the trip. Redding is only about 2 1/2 hours from here, so it was an easy drive up there even with a stop halfway there for breakfast at a Black Bear Diner in the city of Willows. If you've never experienced a meal at a Black Bear Diner, I'd advise you to arrive at the restaurant hungry. The portions are big, the meals reasonably priced and definitely delicious!

Anyway, we found our way to the museum fairly easy, the route is well marked once you get into Redding. The park that surrounds the museum was apparently to be the site of the 4th of July festivities there in Redding, so there were lots of tents and awnings being set up, people wandering around and security directing traffic. I'm not going to give you a running commentary of the whole visit to the museum and the bridge... I'll just give you a few pictures of some of the things we saw...

When you first enter the museum, the first exhibit is of a sculpture of a tree set on a glass floor, and the view of the sculpture includes the root system of the tree!

We arrived at the museum about 15 or so minutes before the feeding time in the huge aquarium they have, so we made our way down into the chamber where you can view the fish.

As you can see from the image above, the children were fascinated by the fish swimming past the windows... There are sturgeon, striped bass and rainbow trout swimming around in this tank which is constructed to look like the Sacramento River. The fish kept in the tank are what would be found in the river itself.

The museum does have a couple of "rare" fish swimming around... Both are albino rainbow trout... The markings are quite different on the two fish...

Here's a view of the tank windows that also shows what we saw above the water level. That's one of the museum employees up there in the process of feeding the fish...

One of the exhibits that the museum is hosting this summer is called "A T. Rex Named Sue" that is on loan from The Field Museum in Chicago. That thing is HUGE! lol...

Another exhibit is called "The Art of The Brick" and consists of pieces of art that are constructed of Lego building bricks! The artist, Nathan Sawaya uses thousands of legos of different colors to construct his sculptures... Including a T. Rex not named Sue.. lol

Oh yeah.. I almost forgot to give you a photo of the Sundial Bridge!

I'd like to go back up there and spend some more time in the museum and see some of the other things they've got there. The arboretum, the butterfly house and I'd also like to walk across the bridge. Yesterday was hot. Too hot to do much walking about outside. My folks and I decided that we'd pick a cooler day to go back. Perhaps midweek and not on a holiday so there would be fewer people and spend some more time enjoying the place....

Happy Father's Day!

I don't know how many readers of my blog are Dads, but I'll send a wish for a lovely Father's Day out to all Dads in general. I'll be spending the day with my Mom and Stepdad today. My Stepdad decided that he wants to go for a drive today, so my chauffeur duties will be starting as soon as they pick me up. Hmm.. I should probably go grab my camera. No telling what kind of scenery we'll be seeing.

Meanwhile, here's a LOL Cat for the Dads out there....


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Who are America's Heroes?

One of the web sites that I frequent in order to find information about wildfires and other fire service related events had a post that made me stop and think. And remember. I asked the man who wrote the post for permission to post it here for my readers. He was nice enough to grant that permission. Read on, folks... And then stop and think like I did.

"Who are these people we call America's Hero's"?

A Hero is the person who comes to your aid day or night. No matter the circumstances Hero's are always there. They briefly put aside concern for their own safety and focus on the situation at hand. Hero's do not discriminate against age, sex, race or origin, Hero's do not care.

Hero's are forever diligent to your needs, awaiting your call for help. They do so without selfishness or hesitation. They never ask for anything in return and most always hide from recognition they so much deserve. You may know of one of these Hero's for they may live next door, down the street or across town. They are in every city of every state awaiting the cry for help. Some say its their duty, but in fact it is their will. Some may fall to their actions, but do so knowing what can happen, but that doesn't deter a Hero for for they care.

If you should ever be lucky enough to meet one of these Hero's in your lifetime or receive their aid be sure to put your arm around them and tell them your glad their there. For that is all the they desire. Americas Hero's are there for you , me and everyone no matter what and they give so much of their lives to be those Hero's and do everything they can and more. One might ask who are these brave people we call America's Hero's ?

They are Firefighters

This was written by a man who goes by the nickname of Firedude. And here is what he said about what he wrote: Keep in mind I am not a professional writer, but a young lady came to me before I retired and asked if I would write something for her to read at her dad's retirement party. She was sure proud of her firefighter dad let me tell you. It was well received and I wound up printing many copies on parchment paper for framing. Also feel free to use it if you wish. I hurriedly put something together for her with contents she suggested. It also reflects my feelings toward my firefighting family and those who are still out there doing the job day in and day out. Wish I could still be there right along side of you all.......

Many years ago, I was married to a firefighter. I was very proud of what he did and proud of the rest of the fellows at the small fire department he worked with. I think I typed that wrong. I used past tense and should not have. Because I am still very proud of all the men and women who devote their lives to helping other people. I still have family members and friends in the fire service. Firedude mentions the firefighting family and I know what he means. Even though it was many years ago that my ex was a firefighter, and many years as well since I was in the auxiliary that was associated with our small department, I was told emphatically at my ex's memorial service several years ago that I was still part of that family.

Now, think about those people riding around on the fire trucks. Now think of the pictures you've seen on the news of the huge wildfires. The towering flames, the homes being protected, and the ones that burned. Think about those guys with the shovels, the hoses and other equipment out there on the fire lines. I don't know about you, but in my mind, they are heroes. Every single one of them.

Thank you, Firedude... For the reminder.

And thank you to all the heroes out there on the lines every day.

Cindy Anthony Emailed Me

I was actually surprised to find an email from Cindy Anthony in my inbox this morning in response to what I had written to her and George the other day.
To start off, I'll show you all what I wrote to Cindy the evening after I posted the Open Letter to Cindy and George.

I have written you a letter, Cindy...
http://anakerie.blogspot.com/2009/05/open-letter-to-cindy-george-anthony.html
I am a "blogger" and I am proud of it.

And here is the response from her that was in my inbox this morning:

Good for you. What did you accomplish? Who did you help by sitting on your ass wasting hrs reading trash others have written? Are you overweight? Do you not have real friends? Who did you help today by sitting blogging?

Lets see. How shall I respond? Should I be as snide and nasty as she was? Or should I just be "me" and respond naturally. Hmm.... That's not a tough decision at all. There is no way I could be the same kind of person that Mrs. Cindy Anthony seems to be. I guess I'll take it item by item for my response, and the response will not be via email. It will be here, in the open for everyone to see. I have nothing to hide.

• Good for you. What did you accomplish?

Hmm... What did I accomplish by what? Writing that letter to you and George? Well, I suppose I vented a bit by telling you and George what I thought. That's always good, venting makes the blood pressure go down, right? As for anything real being accomplished as a result of that letter, I would guess absolutely nothing, because I'm quite sure you didn't truly read what I wrote nor take any of it to heart. What I wrote to you was what I would have told a "real friend" if I saw one of them behaving the way you and George have. (Thank heavens I don't have friends like you and George!)

• Who did you help by sitting on your ass wasting hrs reading trash others have written?

First of all, Cindy, you need to define the "trash" you think I am reading. If you mean the fire department information that I read every day, I wouldn't consider that "trash". If you mean the news bulletins about earthquakes, I wouldn't consider that "trash" either. (I post information about fires, earthquakes, accidents and other real tragedies on a fire news blog! Remember? I told you that in the open letter! DOH!) If you mean the emails and notices about real missing children, why would those be "trash" to you? Define the "trash" you think I'm reading, and I just might give you an answer to that inane question.

• Are you overweight?

LOL! And my weight has what to do with what? I guess in your warped imagination, you think all "bloggers" are overweight? Well, you couldn't be more wrong. If you think you got a "one up" on me by asking that question, nope.. You are wrong again. You gave me a pretty good laugh. For your information, I'm not overweight. I am active enough with my gardening, chasing grandkids and other things that I don't have to worry about my weight. As if my weight has anything to do with your behavior! LOL!

• Do you not have real friends?

Oh my, is that supposed to be another "insult"? You think that "bloggers" have no "real friends"? You are wrong again. I have friends. Real ones. And they are all over the place. Here locally, across the country and even overseas. Try another insult, Cindy. That one didn't work. I'm guessing you didn't read any of my blog at all. If you had, you might have seen mentions of a few of my friends. But then, I don't post their names publicly. They know who they are, and they also know who each other are when they read my blog. I guess you didn't see the mentions of my "trucker friend". Or the friend who knows a lot about computers and helps me out. Bah.. I'm not going to list my friends out for you in this post, but I would hazard a guess that I have more "real friends" than you do, especially now that you've exposed your true nature on national TV for almost a year now.

• Who did you help today by sitting blogging?

Which day are you referring to? Yesterday, I posted news about a terrible wild fire that has been burning near Santa Barbara, California. It had information about the evacuation zones and contact numbers so that people can call to get information about whether or not their home burned down. The day before that, I posted information about an earthquake. My blog has an Amber Alert ticker on it, so that every single person who lands on my main blog can see if there is a missing child somewhere, I'd say that might help a few people, especially if one person happens to see that ticker and has actually seen that child. For instance, there is that sweet looking little boy in Southern California that was kidnapped right out of his home. I have "real friends" who live in Southern California and they read my blog, do you think they might keep extra alert for that little boy? This morning, I have started a blog post about another event that is coming up later this summer that will benefit an organization that helps victims of domestic violence. That post won't be published until after I get a bit more information from my brother and the brother of the woman the event is named for, Kacie Barron. There have been quite a few posts on my blog about Kacie and Kacie's Ride For Hope, so I am guessing that those posts have been helpful to quite a few people.
Cindy, I think you completely missed the point of my open letter to you and George. And somehow I'm not at all surprised. I don't think you can see beyond your own ego.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now, I'll leave my readers with something that will make them smile.............

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

A Tiny Chapel, Old Cemeteries, an Old Schoolhouse and a Bird!

Yesterday was Mother's Day and I hope all of my readers who are Moms, Grandmas or Moms-to-be had a lovely day. Mine was very nice... We (my daughter, son-in-law and my youngest grandson) took a spur of the moment drive around the area where we live. My daughter and I had been talking about unique things or places that are close by and I mentioned the tiny chapel that is in the county across the river from where we live. She hadn't ever seen it for some reason, so I was trying to describe it to her. Her husband spoke up and said that he knew exactly where it was and asked if we wanted to go for a ride. Naturally, my daughter and I said "Yes!". We both grabbed our cameras, put the grandson in his booster seat in the car and off we went.

The first stop was the Grand Island Shrine over in Colusa County. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, it's also a California Point of Historical Interest. The inscription on the plaque for the California Point of Historical Interest says:

"Site of the first Catholic mass to be said in Colusa County, May 1856. In 1864, a Catholic mission was conducted and a large wooden cross erected to commemorate the occasion. Masses, pilgrimages and visits were made here continuously thereafter. In order to preserve the identity of the place, Father Michael Wallrath secured a deed from Mrs. Anna Myers to this parcel of land and constructed a small shrine from hand kilned bricks in 1883."

As you can see in the photos, the chapel or shrine is small. There is only room for maybe 4 people inside the building if they stand close together. The chapel doors are unlocked and it's available for people to go in and light candles and pray. There were fresh flowers in vases on the altar and one candle was burning. In the picture to the right, I am standing just outside the door, no zoom on the camera, no special effects or flash was used. So you can see how small the shrine is. We didn't spend a lot of time at the chapel, but we were there long enough for my 5 year old grandson to spot a lizard sunning himself on the wall. Naturally, being a 5 year old little boy, he had to do some investigating of the lizard.. lol.. My daughter tried to get a picture of it, but I'm not sure that she caught it. I'll be honest. I didn't even see the lizard. I was on the wrong side of the chapel when they saw it and by the time I got around to that side, the lizard had climbed up the wall to one of the ledges. Oh well. No lizard picture for me! lol

When we left there, my daughter and started talking about other places in the area that we had been to or heard about in the past and one of the places we both remembered stories about was what was known as the "witches grave" at one of the old cemeteries in the area. I don't remember how the stories went, it's been too many years, so I won't be spinning the tale of the witch that is buried in a cemetery near the Sutter Buttes. I will say that the stories of the witch's grave center around two different cemeteries and your guess is as good as mine about which one was the source of the stories. One cemetery is on the north side of the Buttes, the "Pennington" or "North Butte" cemetery and one on the west side, the Noyesburg cemetery. We drove around the Buttes and found the northern cemetery. We parked and wandered around the old cemetery, reading the headstones as best we could. The earliest marker is from 1859 and the latest is from last year. The McMurtry monument shown in the picture to the left is one of the most complete and the most striking one that is left. There are a more than a few that have been so weathered that you can barely read the inscriptions and there are also some that have suffered vandalism. Some are laying in pieces and some have whole chunks missing. There are also a few that look like they were recently placed, perhaps to replace the ruined or vandalized marker of a family ancestor. The one new grave in this small cemetery had an epitaph that puzzled us, so I looked it up when we got back home. The epitaph said "The char-à-banc doesn't stop here anymore." I didn't know what "char-à-banc" meant! According to dictionary.com, it means "a large bus used on sightseeing tour". And I looked up the name of the man buried there. He was from Sacramento, but his family/ancestors were some of the early settlers who farmed and ranched around the Sutter Buttes in the 1800's, so he is buried here in this small, old cemetery with his ancestors.

The other old cemetery we visited was on the south side of the Buttes. It's called the Stohlman Cemetery. Apparently it is a family cemetery and the earliest marker there is from 1859. The markers there have been vandalized as well. I will never understand what the "thrill" is for idiots to go into a cemetery and destroy the memorials. We wandered around reading the markers that remain while noting that a lot of the memorials had silk flowers placed nearby, we replaced a few of the flowers that had blown over. My grandson saw my daughter and I replace a couple and then he decided that was his job. Every time he saw a flower that wasn't where it should be, he picked it up and put it near one of the head stones.

After leaving here, my son-in-law took us by one of the old one room schools in this area that is still standing. From what I've heard, there are a few of the old school houses still standing in the county. It would be interesting to do some hunting and see how many I could find. I have no idea of the history of the Slough School building, since I haven't found much information about it on google yet. Ah well.. Another day. And another tour of the area. lol...

The last stops we made on our little tour yesterday were near the Sutter Bypass. As we slowly drove along the levee road and then down onto a bridge over the channel that had a locked gate at the other end, I spotted a cormorant sitting on a log in the middle of the channel sunning himself. Since we were stopped in the middle of that bridge anyway, I got out and took a couple pictures of the bird. This log was just downstream from the old bridge that people used to drive over. The roadbed leading to the bridge is long gone and the bridge itself is rusting away. Further across the bypass, there is still a portion of the raised roadbed standing, but it's not connected to this bridge anymore either... I'd like to add one more picture to this blog entry, but I didn't take it. It was one that my daughter caught of the cormorant taking off. And since she's at work right now, I can't even ask her for the picture. I'll have to give her a call later tonight and perhaps add the picture then...

Anyway.. I hope everyone had a lovely day yesterday! I sure did!

2009 Kacie's Ride For Hope

To all my readers who happen to own a motorcycle, Here's an event that is well worth joining! If you want more information, go to Kacie's Ride For Hope and then mark your calendar for September 12th! The preparation and planning for this year's ride is under way, so you can expect a great ride in the mountains and contribute to a great cause! Just ask my brother, ChaplainLimeyGene! lol

Sightseeing in Barstow

3/30/09 (Still no internet access.. lol) ~ My Step-dad finally got to meet up with that old childhood friend of his here in Barstow. He had given me 3 names of men that he had grown up with and one of them is still living here in Barstow. (Of the other two, one passed away last year and the other is living in Washington state in the same town as my Great-Aunt. Sequim, Washington. We'll have to try to meet up with that fellow if we make another trip up there.) We met him and his wife for breakfast and they had a great time reminiscing about all the people and places they remembered. After breakfast my Mom, Step-dad and I took off to do some sightseeing in and around Barstow.

First stop after leaving the restaurant was the house that my Step-dad grew up in. My daughter wanted us to take a picture of the house so she could see if it looked like what she remembered. My Mom and Step-dad say that the house is still the same color as it was back then, but that a lot of the trees and shrubs that used to be around the house are gone. The driveway is still sandy and the area where my daughter used to play in the sand still looks like the sand is deep enough for a kid to play in, just as it was when they brought her up here when she was a little girl. I know my brother will be interested in seeing the pictures of the house as well.

After driving around in the city of Barstow checking out different buildings my Step-dad remembered, we headed out towards Calico Ghost town in the hills north of town. Back when I was a kid, we used to go camping in the canyon next to the ghost town. So, we headed out there and found the entrance to the canyon and drove back in there until my Mom and I spotted a familiar area. Of course, I had to take a couple pictures to send to my brothers. The one to the left shows part of that area of the canyon where we think we used to camp. I can remember my brothers and I exploring all the mine shafts and tunnels in the hills around this canyon. Oh, what memories.. lol...

We drove up in the canyon where the ghost town is but my Step-dad didn't want to get out and walk around the town, so we just talked our way past the gate so we could get into the paved area below the ghost town so I could take one picture. **sigh** We also tried to visit the Route 66 museum and the Railroad museum at the old Barstow train depot since we were nearby, but they were both closed. They're only open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and of course, we were there on Monday. So we wandered through the Chamber of Commerce section of the depot and looked at all the old photos and read some of the information about the depot. Then we wandered down the length of the building peering into windows, admiring the architecture. Apparently it's one of the last (and best preserved) of the Fred Harvey Houses left in the country. They've done a beautiful job of keeping the building up. Dummy me, I didn't take any pictures of it.

One last picture for this entry, and that is of a motel we spotted across the street from the building that used to be the Barstow Garage (It's now a church!) back when my Step-dad's father owned it. The Route 66 Motel... The old cars parked in the courtyard was what drew our attention. My Step-dad went inside the Barstow Garage/church and wandered around while my Mom and I wandered up and down the sidewalk outside looking at the cars across the street. Mom and I even spotted an old Nash Rambler that looked sort of like the one she had when I was a kid.

Update (4/4/09) I'm sitting with my cousin in a Starbucks in Riverside so I can get a connection to the net... This trip has been fun, but trying to get online has been frustrating to say the least! I think I will probably just upload any addition blogs articles and photos when I get home. We're scheduled to leave early Monday morning to head back north... So, Tuesday will be "upload" day... lol...

We Arrived in Barstow and I hope we don't blow away!

We're staying at a Marine base near Barstow. Would you believe that the only way I can get Internet access here is to go find the library? And of course, since it's Sunday, the library is closed. So, I'm going to go ahead and write this up and try uploading tomorrow if I can find a WiFi hotspot. Maybe I can pull into one of the truck stops near town and catch their hotspot long enough to upload this post and see what is going on.

The weather in Death Valley this morning was really nice. There were some high thin clouds and it was cool, but not enough to have to wear a jacket. After breakfast, we came out of the restaurant in time to see a motorcycle club lining up for their run through Death Valley today. There were at least 24 or 25 bikes. Some of the bikes were absolutely gorgeous and I know my brother would have drooled all over them. I spoke to one of the women with the group and found out that they are with a club in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada. The whole time we were there in Death Valley, we saw dozens and dozens of motorcycles of all kinds. From dirt bikes to choppers, from full dressers to stripped down off road bikes, you name it, they were all over the valley. But then the weather this weekend was perfect for enjoying a ride....

We decided to visit one more place in Death Valley before heading down the highway. The place is called Dante's View. And oh what a view you get from there! It's about a 13 mile drive off the highway on a semi-narrow 2 lane paved road and you go from about 1500 feet above sea level to about 5600 feet with the really "stiff" climb in the last mile of the drive. Once you get up to the view point, they've leveled off an area that gives you a 360 degree view. Part of the view is of the valley floor below and the Panamint mountains on the other side. Check out these pictures:

	This one looks North towards the area where Furnace Creek is. The air is kind of hazy because there was a bit of a breeze kicking up some of the alkali dust.
	This is looking across the valley towards Telescope Peak. (That's the one with the snow on top of it.) Down below, invisible behind the bushes and hills is Badwater, the lowest point in the United States.
	And this one is looking towards the South end of the valley.

Once we left Death Valley it was a fairly uneventful drive across the desert until we got to Baker, California. Then it got windy and we got on I15 and joined all the traffic heading towards the LA area. I'm guessing that a lot of them had been in Vegas and were heading home... Speed up, slow down, speed up, put the brakes on and come to a stop. Why? Well, someone was on the side of the road changing a tire and there was a Highway Patrol car sitting behind them. **sigh** Oh yeah... About half-way to Baker, my cell phone suddenly started beeping... And beeping... All the text and voice messages that had come in while we were out of cell range in Death Valley caught up to me. lol

Once we got closer to Barstow, we took a shortcut south and got on I40. Much better! No traffic! LOL! So now we're all settled in to a little 2 bedroom guest unit here on the Marine Base. We've had our dinner and my Mom and Stepdad are watching TV. The wind is howling outside. The closer we got to Barstow, the stronger the wind was blowing. I sure hope it calms down some tomorrow! Hmm... I think I'll go watch TV and snooze a while... lol

Update:
The library on the Marine base has internet access, but only if you use their computers. So we found a truckstop that has a WiFi hotspot, so I'm uploading yesterday's blog entry... Who knows when I'll get back on the net.... LOL... By the way, the wind isn't trying to blow us away today! Hurray!

Death Valley ~ Day 2

Today's travels in Death Valley took us to quite a few places... This morning, we started by driving north to Salt Creek so we could see some of the pupfish that live in that salty creek. Check the picture out... See the white stuff on the hills and on the ground? It's essentially salts that coat everything.

The stream is apparently very salty , so very few things live in it. The pupfish though, have adapted to the salty and arid conditions of Death Valley. There is a boardwalk that circles out around the area where the creek runs above ground, and in several areas, we could see the pupfish swimming around. This is spring and that means it's spawning season so it was pretty interesting to watch how territorial the little fish were. (They're about the size of minnows!) The males stake a "claim" to a section of the stream and then chase all other males out of that area while welcoming the females in... From what we read on the information signs posted around the area, the pupfish thrive when there is water in the creekbed. Everything is hurried though. They have to grow, mate and spawn while the water is present. Once the water dries up, the tiny little fish bury themselves in the sand and go dormant until the next rain storm fills the creekbed with water again.

Next stop was the Harmony Borax Works which is just north of Furnace Creek. Back around the turn of the century (and earlier) they used to scrape the "raw" borax off the salt flats that you see in the distance behind the wagons in this picture and then process the stuff into borax in the processing "plant" that was up on the hill sort of behind where I was standing when I took this picture. Those wagons are what the 20 mule teams hauled the borax in... Something like 36 tons worth of borax and water (1,200 gallons of drinking water!). Back then it took 20 mules to move the 36 tons.. Today one semi truck can move 40 tons.. What a comparison, huh? We visited the Borax Museum that is on the grounds of the Furnace Creek Ranch after leaving the site of the Harmony Borax Works. Then off to lunch at the ranch...

After lunch, we headed south and then followed a graded dirt road a ways down to the Devil's Golf Course. Mom and I got out to take some pictures while my Stepdad sat in the van (with both back doors open so the breeze could blow through.). Mom and I walked out onto the "golf course" a little ways so I could show her how hard those bumps of salt and dirt were. The peak you see in the background is Telegraph Peak. It's the highest peak in the Panamint mountain range at a bit over 11,000 feet. By contrast, Furnace Creek is at about 190 feet below sea level and Scotty's Castle is at about 3,000 feet above sea level!

Next stop was Badwater. The lowest point in the United States. It's 282 feet below sea level! When (and if!) you hear the weather man tell you how hot is was in Death Valley, they got the temperature from the weather station next to the cliffs here at Badwater. If I remember right, one of the signboards here said that the record high temperature was 137 degrees! Luckily, today it was in the mid-eighties with a light breeze blowing. lol... There is a pool of water at Badwater that is so salty it is undrinkable. The story goes that one of the early miners tried to get his mule to take a drink from the pool, but naturally the mule wasn't cooperating. So the miner tasted the water and proclaimed it "bad".. Hence the name Badwater and it stuck...

On our way back towards Furnace Creek, we decided to take a detour on the "Artist Drive".... It's a narrow one-way road that winds up through a number of canyons that takes you past incredibly colored hill/mountain sides... Reds, greens, purples, golds and browns all swirl around on some of the hillsides. Almost like huge buckets of paint got splashed all over the hills. It's well worth the time to take that detour.. And the plus is that the whole route was paved! (I'm already catching heck from my stepdad for getting his car all dirty and dusty from some of the dirt roads we've traveled.. lol)

Last picture for today is one of a rock that we spotted alongside the road on our way back. I haveno clue what kind of rock it is nor why it's shaped so strangely. the thing stands there well over 6 feet tall. The base of it looks almost melted. The top of it has roundish depressions in it. (I don't know if you can really tell from the pictures I took.. lol) The rock stands about 20 or 30 feet off the road and there are no signs or anything around that tells what it is and why it's there. It almost looks like some really strange modern art sculpture, but after getting up there next to the thing, I'm sure it's natural. A lot of the other rocks on the slope around it have a similar texture and some of them even have the roundish depressions in them. If anyone spots this entry on my blog and knows what the heck the thing is, please leave a comment! LOL, Mom and I are curious about it!! Hmm.. Maybe we'll have to stop by the Visitor's Center and ask a ranger before we head out of the valley tomorrow morning....
Oh yeah.. Tomorrow we're headed for the Barstow, California area.... I'll try to take some more cool pictures to share on our way down there....



P.S. Tomorrow sometime we'll actually get to use our cell phones again! I am sure I'm going to have a bunch of messages from my trucker friend... lol