The Three Minute Grandparent

Seat belts fastened, maps within view, time machine activated.....the hum and vibration increase to monumental proportions...the view changes and suddenly, we are viewing......Garnet.  The travel time was actually 1 hour and we never left 2010, however we suddenly are in the presence of the past.  Garnet Ghost Town was an active mining town on Bear Creek, founded around 1895 as Mitchell and quickly renamed, "Garnet." A fire in 1912 devastated much of the town...log cabins, bars, and hotel.  The town was inhabited in 2 separate time periods, each interrupted by World Wars 1 and 2.  Gold, Silver and Garnet stones were the searched-for items.  Some of the original cabins and store buildings are standing with much history attached.  We wandered in and out of the buildings, absorbing the history, allowing the voices from the past to speak, touching the historical surfaces and trying to imagine....what would it be like........ I took pictures....of everything.......

Missoula to Glacier National Park...a short drive...well, it is actually 150 miles or so.  The drive is lovely with sights of mountains, lakes, colorful trees among which are cherry and maple, and time in the car with family.  We made such a trip yesterday and had a great time. Our drive was in and out of rain showers as we passed Evaro Hill, the Mission Mountains, Flathead Lake,  thousands of Flathead Cherry trees and the scenery on the East side of Flathead Lake.  The drive...ahhhhh, the drive.  It is always lovely and relaxing...well,.... as relaxing as driving will allow.  The Montana scenery is always worth the drive, however, the fun was inside our car.  Our oldest son, Sam and our Daughter-in-Law, Ashley were with us as we drove.  As confirmed empty-nesters, we are thrilled when family comes to town.  Both were with us for the visit to Glacier Park....and we had fun!  Several hours in the car are sufficient to catch up with grown ...

According to a winning coach, winning becomes a habit.  Perhaps this coach is on to something.  We have many football teams in and around our city...high school and college and winning seems to be the goal. The high school of our 4 children's history is experiencing a winning year...so far.  The crosstown rivals are not, in fact one team has yet to win.  The college team in our lives has a win and a loss with another game today.  Our thoughts are toward winning the game, however a red herring has arisen....literally the opposing team has red turf.....yes, the playing field is RED. Playing football is a sport which uses a grass playing surface.  In recent years, some teams have switched to an artificial grass or turf which looks better on television and is easier to maintain.  My team's football rival for today's game has gone one better and made a switch to red turf.  After viewing a news video, I have come to the conclusion that the turf in ...

Win, you have to WIN.  Winning is everything.  No one loves a loser! Have you heard these chants?  Have you been part of a team when one of these chants was hurled at you?  Have you ever lost and felt like a loser?  If so, you're in good company, because everyone has lost at some point.  Is it fun?  Definitely not....but it is part of life.  (Don't you hate those cliches?) My team lost tonight and I feel ____________(fill in the blank). Vince Lombardi said, "If it doesn't matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?" Lou Holtz said, "I think everyone should experience defeat at least once during their career. You learn a lot from it." I agree with both statements; they come from the mouths of knowledgeable men who have both won and lost.  So, where does my team go from here?  Back to the practice field, back to the basics, perhaps sweating to the oldies? The team will be back next week as will I, cheering for them, su...

Sounds, they are everywhere.   I hear the sound of rain outside my open window, the sound of the coffee pot doing its perking thing, even the sound of neighbors bumping around in our apartment complex.   Our world is a noisy place. The most immediate sound in my life is coming from a computer as my wife plays a card game.   I question why a sound is needed for a computer card game?   As she moves cards from one column to another, a swoosh sound is made.   It almost sounds like a card dealer in a live game.   Another sound results from winning a hand??   The sound a child makes when he is victorious….”Ta-daaaaaaa”. Now don’t get me wrong, sounds make a common-place event sound uncommon or even spectacular.   Think about movie sounds, for example the sound of Bruce Lee’s hands moving in a fight scene, the sound of the starship Enterprise moving through space (even though space is soundless) and the sound of laughter or a laugh track in respo...

The sound of rain is relaxing, especially when I want to sleep or just relax in my chair.  Listening to rain beat gently against my windows is comforting, however, feeling the rain beat against me is just plain cold.  Montana rain is cold; winter, summer, fall....it's cold. The Dufflepuds from C.S. Lewis' The Voyage of The Dawn Treader , said, "Ah, you've come over the water.  Powerful wet stuff, ain't it?"  Not only is Montana rain "wet stuff," but it is also cold to feel.  Perhaps you have already guessed...it's raining, not hard but a gentle, steady rain and the air is getting cooler by degrees.  I stand at my upstairs window and watch the rain, feeling the cool wind blow against my face, while viewing a man walk his dogs, a young boy running to school, trying to avoid the rain, and the grumbler looking up at the sky, shaking his head.  Then I realized it....I need to go to Walmart, and that means....getting wet...and cold. I will try not t...

Death and Taxes....as sure as the weather is cold in Montana...or something like that.  Death is coming sooner or later, taxes are coming sooner and the weather is cool today, and sure to get colder.  Is that a problem?  No, No, No!  I like the weather in Montana. Liking the weather actually has nothing to do with what the weather is for the day, but it seems to be fun for some people to knock it.  I personally look forward to the new day and the weather that it brings.  The nip on the legs...yes...I am still wearing shorts.  Today, I wore jeans and it seemed to warm a bit.  As I was saying, the nip on the legs or nose, if you will, the biting wind blowing in your face and birds flying somewhere as if Old Man Winter were chasing them - these all point to Winter in Montana. WOW, I can hardly wait for snow and cold weather.  Hope you have your warm jammies, because....a fantastic Montana Winter is coming.  Bring it on! Warmly, Ken

The Handsome prince tells his princess, "I love you and we will live happily ever after."  And in make believe, they do.  The same statement was made in the movie, Enchanted , by the handsome prince and answered by Giselle (the princess) with, "but what about the day after ever after?" A good question....What about the day after ever after ?  Are we so goal driven that we stop thinking at ever after ?  Perhaps the drive is to make it to ever after , but then what? Are we even looking at the ever after ?  Or perhaps at what will happen in ever after ? In response to your thoughts, I realize that ever after is make believe, but what about your after ?  After what?  After your job...the death of a mate or friend.....your death?  According to The Bible, there is an after , and it is spent either with God or separated from God. Ever after....it's worth thinking about. Ken