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Now A Proud Member of Hitchitch.com 
Progress Marches On….. Created by Michael Ultra


Generations of Valor 

hodgepodge or mishmash?? not sure.. 

Best Plans Of Man…(and mice)….

I've read about it on the Internet, other bloggers who have problems with BlogSpot. I've been trying to fix it the last couple of days, and to my horror, I have somehow inherited many of the problems I read about in blogger help. And so, my dear and faithful readers, I am reverting back to the simplest blog template available. Yes I know, it looks different doesn't it? I'm not happy about any of this, but in time, I think I can work it out. I have the whole holiday weekend to fool around with this mess. For some reason, I've lost Internet service at my house again., I have to go find me a Wi-Fi hotspot somewhere so I can post this. I'm thankful I've got Live Writer. I don't really know what God thinks of the Internet, but I asking for a little help. You think He knows HTML? If you pray, offer one up for me, please. If you don't, send me good vibes and/or wish me luck.

I do thank you for stopping by, like I've said before, it means a lot to me. Really! 

“Life is Hard….It’s even Harder if you're Stupid”

The title is a quote from that famous American, Marion Mitchell Morrison. We will celebrate his birthday on May 26. We know him better by his stage name, John Wayne. We remember him for his distinctive voice, rugged walk, and towering presence. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. Not only all of that, but he's always been one of my heroes. I looked at a lot of portraits of the Duke, and finally narrowed it down to these two. See why it was hard to choose?
I've compiled a list of John Wayne quotes. There are some from the movies and some from real life.
I haven't lost my temper in 40 years; but, Pilgrim, you caused a lot of trouble this morning; might have got somebody killed; and somebody oughta belt you in the mouth. But I won't. I won't. The hell I won't!"
- John Wayne - To Leo Gordon in McLintock!
"That'll be the day!"
- John Wayne - The Searchers
"Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!"
- John Wayne - True Grit
"Don't apologize-it's a sign of weakness."
- John Wayne - Speaking to his young cavalry lieutenants in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."
- John Wayne - The Shootist
"I'm looking at a tin star with a ... DRUNK pinned on it."
- John Wayne - El Dorado
"Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway."
- John Wayne
"Talk low, talk slow, and don't talk too much."
"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday."
"I've always followed my father's advice he told me, first to always keep my word and, second, to never insult anybody unintentionally. If I insult you, you can be damn sure I intend to. And, third, he told me not to go around looking for trouble."
I remember as a child, going to the movies and seeing John Wayne. The Searchers came out in 1956. It continues to be widely regarded as perhaps John Wayne's finest and most complex performance.

One afternoon, here in Lubbock, Buddy Holly, Sonny Curtis, and J I Allison went to see The Searchers, at the State theater in downtown Lubbock. It played there in June of 1956. John Wayne's frequently used, world-weary catchphrase, "That'll be the day," was taken home and forged into this abiding rock 'n roll hit. I love it when I can twine two of my heroes together, at one time.

I Love This
They are talking to SIR PAUL
I really didn't get a lot of work done today, I took my sweet neighbor to Walmart. It's funny when you're with a friend, even mundane chores can seem like a pleasure. I don't really feel guilty about not working outside on my house, because we had what's being considered as 'Dust Bowl 2011'. There were times, it had to be over 50 mph. But as Scarlet says, "There's always tomorrow".

I've been in Blogger-Hell lately. It's been called to my attention that my blog is not updatng in your blogrolls. I'm trying to fix it, with very little help from the blogger people, but I'm persistent, and if there is a cure, I'm going to track it down. I looked at all of my HTML, and it looked like those screens on the movie The Matrix . I'm smart enough to not monkey with code. If you do receive my blog via a feed, let me know whether or not it updates on your rolls. If you don't know what I'm talking about, drop me an e-mail and I'll try to explain it.(What little I know about it).

Thank you, everyone of ya'll, for stopping by and having a little read. I really do appreciate it. 

The End of the World or Left Behind?

I guess you've all heard the news. The world is going to end, soon. The rapture will be some time late this afternoon. At least that's what the billboards say, right? I figured I better go ahead and post this. Has Harold Camping lost his mind? He is the 89-year-old founder of Family Radio. This is not the first time he has predicted the end of the world. He predicted the world was ending back in 1994. Of course, it didn't. Mr. Camping said that he just made a mistake in addition, and that this is the real date. I decided maybe I should do a blog now, just in case he got it right. The Bible says that not even Jesus knows the last day's date. Let's listen to Terri Hendrix and her take on spirituality....

My buddy Lloyd on guitar

I got a lot done today, house-wise. I really am getting down to the nitty-gritty. The little town I live in has put out one of those huge construction dumpsters for spring cleanup. It's open to all residents, and believe me, I'm gonna put it to good use. I actually took one big load, today. I just have to keep reminding myself that all this downsizing, and getting ready to move out on the road, is a process. It took me 24 years to accumulate all this junk, and I think I'm doing a pretty good job whittling it down. I do have my mind made up, so it's just a matter of time until I get there. Then it will be time to put on my traveling shoes. Check this out...

By now, I think my loyal readers know that Billy Joe Shaver is one of my all-time heroes. He does his take on spirituality in this video. I got admit, it's pretty close to the way I believe. You wouldn't know it by looking at me, but there are four preachers in my family. Believe it or not, I was always a little different. In Sunday school I asked 'em questions that I wasn't given the answers to. Like....where did Mrs. Cane come from? I still have a lot of questions about the Bible. In my late 20s, I lived with the Crow Indians. It was almost like Jeremiah Johnson, come true. Those really were the good old days, but those Indians sure thought different from anyone I have ever met.

My first time on the reservation, I was taken over to the Chief's house for an introduction and lunch. I was a little apprehensive. My Indian partner cautioned me on Indian etiquette. He said when we're offered food, it would be impolite to not eat it all, "no matter what it is". Lunch turned out to be Navy beans, Wonder Bread, and red Kool-Aid. It wasn't bad at all. The Chief got real serious and asked me, "Who is stronger my son, the man or the woman." I knew it had to be a trick question, so I answered "The woman, of course". He said I was very wise to have learned that at such a young age. It's something I'm still learning. Here's Billy Joe with a heartfelt song.

One of the most beautiful
songs i have ever heard
While were on the subject of Billy Joe Shaver, and the Last Days, Please Listen to This One. You remember John Anderson, don't you? ('Just a Swangin"). He's the parishioner that gets up and testifies during Billy Joe's sermon. Sure do love old Billy Joe.

amen brother!
Well, if the world does and tonight and we go to different places, it sure has been good knowing you.

Oh yeah, I forgot...we need to laugh, so read this...and no, I didn't write it. 

I don't think I'm a curmudgeon, yet.

I have thought about writing this post for some time. I'm relatively new to this blogging business. In fact, I read my very first blogs this past January. I googled the Internet and found the hub of full-time RV sites. Hitch-itch.com soon became an obsession, of sorts. There were several sites that caught my interest. If I found it entertaining or informative, I would sift back to the very first entry, and read the entire blog. Several of them went back for a few years. No problem for me, I am a voracious reader. Even though I have been an RV’er since I bought my first camper in 1971, I learned a lot. I was what we referred to as a stalker of blogs. I did not choose to follow anyone, nor did I leave any comments. Finally, I started to join a few sites as a follower.

As a result, I started leaving comments. Some of my fellow bloggers were so very gracious. When I left a comment, they would snap right back with a welcome to my blog, we're glad you're here, type statement. That really made me feel welcome. Just the simple fact of answering my comments has forged some friendships that I am very grateful for. However, there were a few bloggers that never acknowledged questions or even praise that I left in their comments section. Coincidentally, it may be that budding curmudgeon in me that felt snubbed, so this morning I deleted any blog that refused to communicate back. Sorry, but I won't miss you. It only takes a moment to say “I'm glad you're here-thanks for following my blog-good question, here's my answer-and so forth”. Maybe they don't know you can reply to comments.

On the other hand, it seems I can enjoy a running communication with some of my favorite bloggers. Here's the short list:



















Okay, that's the shortlist.  I want to thank my blogger buddies. Now, while I'm on the subject, I want to thank my followers, too. It really does mean a lot to me. I warned my brother that I would include a sentence about him, just to see if he really does read my blog. So this is it, BK. You better leave a comment, everyone's watching.

You know that I believe the statement, laughter is the best medicine. With that in mind, I found is a good dose of medicine from these goofy people. These are called pranks and I'm not sure if all of them are authentic, but they're darn sure funny. Here's our dose of medicine for this morning. I hope you laugh as much as I did....

Warning, contains offensine language﻿
Thank you for listening. If I deleted your blog, and you don't feel like I should have, leave me a comment. That's really all I wanted to begin with. Oh, and be glad I'm just a beginning curmudgeoner. God bless you all. 

Wild and Woolly…….ME?

Here it is Monday, again. Isn't it funny how we can recycle? I'm serious about this. Who among us does not have some romantic tragedies? You know, heartbreak. Yesterday, I spent about two hours on YouTube. I went down some memory lanes and came up with the following. In 1982, I moved back to Texas, from Boulder Colorado, after living there (Colorado), for two years. I moved up there to change my life. Prior to that, I had been married and spent the previous 10 years, living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I had a pretty good life in New Mexico. My wife and I had two children (Mia and Janna) while we lived there. Then, divorce reared its ugly head. I hung on for about six months, and then at the urging of my friend, Earl Biss, I made the move to Colorado. I would consider those my 'wild and woolly' days. One thing I did notice about Boulder was everything seemed to be uphill, and it snows in June! Yes, I gave up and came back "home". During this early period in Lubbock, I met an amazing, older gentleman named Carlos Shipley. Carlos was quite a colorful character. He was just fun to be around. One Saturday morning, Carlos called me and said "Let's go see my nephew, he's playing in Abilene. Texas". I was very familiar with Carlos's nephew. In fact, he had been my hero for quite some time. Here’s a picture from that week-end. That's right, it's Waylon Jennings. I have been a fan of his since my early childhood. In the picture, starting from the left is a younger version of me, Waylon's lovely wife Jessi Coulter (with her arm around me), Waylon (my hero!), and Uncle Carlos. After this picture was taken, we all got on Waylon's bus, along with his mother (Carlie), and went to the concert hall. Waylon became my friend that day, and remained so until his untimely death. All of that brings me to the point of all this rambling. When I get melancholy, I tend to resort to listening to my friends, many of whom, have videos on YouTube. I had never heard this particular video, but I found it yesterday and would like to share it.

Really good, huh? Here's a couple more by Waylon. The first one, America, always gets me in the mood to travel. I especially appreciate what he says about Indians. As some of you know, I lived with the Crow Indian tribe up in Montana. Of course, that's another post that I will save for another day. The next video is really a piece of history. It's Hank Williams Jr. and Waylon having a musical conversation about Hank Williams. I think it's absolutely amazing.

the conversation
If you have been reading my blog, you also know that I am friends, and a great admirer, of Billy Joe Shaver. The amazing part is that he and Waylon have been colleagues for many, many years. Here are the two of them, singing a song about one of my very favorite places.....TEXAS!!

I love the line where Waylon's ex-wife says "I need a man with a real job." You think she ever regretted that remark? Okay enough fiddling around, I got work to do. I am marching down the road to happy destiny, you know? And I got to say, this converting to a full-time RV'er is work. I'll talk to you later.

Thank you so much for stopping by. It means the world to me, right? Right! 

Twenty Years From Now…..

That's the first line of a quote. There are quite a few about my new lifestyle choice. The Internet makes it so easy to find quotes that are pertinent. Let's explore a few of them, shall we?

I have seen many blogs about RVing that begin with this quote. And why not, it explains exactly how I feel about my new adventure. Let's explore a few more, shall we?
I went to the woods
because I wished to live deliberately,
to front only the essential facts of life,
and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,
and not, when I came to die,
discover that I had not lived.
See what I mean? Wisdom is timeless. I'm sure Mr. Twain and Mr. Thoreau were not talking about full-time RV life. Can you see a parallel between these quotes and going full time? Try this one.

The world is a book
and those who do not travel
read only one page.
It's almost like they been reading our mail, isn't it? I find it amazing that some of these quotes are custom-made for how I feel. Let's explore some quotes about downsizing. If you are a regular reader, you know that's what I've been going through. Full-time RVing is not just going camping, every once in a while. It is a lifestyle choice, and one I'm taking seriously.

It is preoccupation with possessions,
more than anything else,
that prevents us from living freely and nobly.
Bertrand Russell
Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens.
If you have them, you have to take care of them!
There is great freedom in simplicity of living.
It is those who have enough but not too much who
are the happiest.
Peace Pilgrim
Our life is frittered away by detail...
Simplify, simplify, simplify! ...
Simplicity of life and elevation of purpose.
Happiness consists, not in possessing much,
but in being content with what we possess.
He who wants little always has enough.
I have gotten to know , on a personal level , a few of the waterfowl that live around here . Every year, we get a migration of Canadian geese . For the past 20+ years, I have fed them from my backyard. They like bread , a lot ! The past few months, I have cut back on what I feed . We have a few Canadian geese that stay here year round . I took these pictures this morning , and I love wild geese eating out of my hand . I'm going to leave one more quote. I would like each of you, my friends, to read it and contemplate it's meaning . Virgil was a Roman poet. He died in 19 BC. These words ring just as true, and just as hauntingly now, in 2011, as they did back in his day. This is a less than subtle warning to get on the stick. Seize the Day.
Death twitches my ear.
"Live," he says, "I am coming." Pretty good words of advise from an old dead Roman,huh? It took me a while to decide on a video for today. This would fit the bill:
Money can't buy back
Your youth when you're old
Or a friend when you're lonely
Or a love that's grown cold
﻿Thank you so much for coming by. I've said it before and I'll say it again.... It means a lot to me. 

Tuesday…(The day of Mars)

Hello, how is everyone today? I will assume everything is just peachy, until you tell me different. I have quite a list of chores for today. First on the list was fix breakfast. So I did. I had my favorite, biscuits and gravy and bacon. Such an easy breakfast fix, and oh, so satisfying. Here's a quote for you, "Heaven goes by favor. If you went by merit, you would stay out, and your dog would go in". With that in mind, I offer you my favorite dog video.

This morning I was contemplating the time/space consortium and decided not to fear running out of time before I realized my dream. Of course, my dream is to become a full-time RV'er. If you've read my blog at all, I'm sure you know that. One of the mental problems I am dealing with is the fact that many men seem to die, right after retirement. I guess they give up, or something. All that thought about time and such, it reminded me of this band. I've always loved these guys, and saw them in Lewisville, Texas in 1970. They played at the Texas International Pop Festival. What a good time that was. (and yes, my soul was psychedelisized...LOL)

long version
Let me know if you listen
to it ALL!!! Still rocks, doesn't it? It's hard to believe this was recorded in 1966. Time flies, doesn't it?   I must be going, I want to mow and trim my yard before it gets too hot, today. It reached almost 100° yesterday. One of the perks of my new lifestyle choice is finding weather that agrees with me. I've gotten to where I don't like it too cold or too hot. IMHO, below 45° is too cold, and above 90°, is just too hot. I am also going to start loading my crap into the storage unit. I can promise you one thing, once I get a handle on all my junk, you will not see me accumulating anything unnecessarly. I guess 24 years in the same place, it just got out of hand. I am thriving in my new role as nomadic traveler.

Thanks for stopping by y'all. It gets lonely here without you

PS-My buddy, Doyle Bramhall II, is in a relationship with Sheryl Crow. Wow. Here is an Arc Angel (click) video. Doyle is the left-handed guitar player. 

I Love Week-ends! (Don’t you?) 

Music and Work… Such is Life!

It's funny how certain music will put you in certain moods.
"If music be the food of love
then laughter is its queen
and likewise if behind is in front
then dirt in truth is clean
My mouth by then like cardboard
seemed to slip straight through my head
So we crash-dived straightway quickly
and attacked the ocean bed "
I don't know why, but I've always loved this song. Maybe it's because that song came out in 1967, which was my junior year in high school. Ah, The Summer of Love. I believe that music really came of age during that period. (for me, anyhow). Those were absolutely irreplaceable times. Here's a video that exemplifies The Summer of Love. Enjoy!

Being from Lubbock Texas, I've always felt that Buddy Holly directed the way our music evolved. But I do believe the line "the blues had a baby and they named it rock 'n roll". In my research for today's blog, I found a video that was very interesting to me. Check this out...

I have played in several bands, been a road manager, managed a few bands, and put on more concerts than I can count. Here's a picture of one of the bands I played in. I'm the guy in the center dressed in black.

I'm off to town, still trying to find some guys to help me with some heavy lifting. See you when I get back.
Thanks for stopping by, it means a lot to me. 

“Itching” to get to “Hitching” instead of "Just Wishing” (Ya'll).

I've had a problem with my Internet connection today. It'll work for a little while and then it just stops. I am amazed by my dependence upon the Internet. I mentioned in an earlier post that I donated my large, if not slightly ragged, collection of books to the Friends of the Library. I had one set of books that brought back lots of memories. When I was in first grade, my parents bought a set of Collier's Encyclopedias. It was 20 volumes with several annual updates. I have had those books in my possession for over 50 years. I remember during grade school and junior high, I would pick a volume and read it cover to cover. I liked having them when I had a question about some thing or another. I laugh now, because a lot of that information has been proven to be wrong.

I think that's one of the reasons I love the Internet. Instant information. Not just information, instant anything. It's sort of like having an infinite encyclopedia, right at your fingertips. With that said, what a drag when you can't connect. Isn't it?﻿﻿ Thank goodness for Microsoft "Live Writer." It really helps one to do one's blog, doesn't it? If you don't know what I'm talking about, drop me an e-mail and I'll explain it to you. ﻿

Although I'm not officially a full timer yet, I have already started to compartmentalize my daily tasks, and noticing that I don't require near as much space as I thought I did. Let's be realistic about this. In all reality, I use my living room couch, parts of my kitchen, my bathroom, my bedroom, and really, that's about all. I am really starting to embrace this downsizing stuff. It's true! Less really is more. And more, means you got too much crap.

I was disappointed over the weekend. My three "husky boys" didn't show, nor did they have the courtesy of a phone call. What's wrong with people nowadays? Doesn't anyone want to work and make a little extra money? It sure doesn't seem like it. I remember when I was a teenager. In fact at age 14, I went and got my own job so that I would have my own money. To me, work ethic equaled independence. It still does.

That's it for now and I have my Internet connection back. I really do appreciate you stopping by and reading what I have to say. I also really appreciate when you leave a comment. That way, I know that my drivel is being read. Not only is this an "exciting" travel log of my full timing adventures, this is also my personal journal. It helps me track my own progression. (or digression). So, if you have the time, please leave a comment.

I'm going to town and find me some workers. I'll let you know how that turns out. Thanks again for stopping by. Links to Look (at) Subscribe To RV0777 My Friends..