Living in the "Hood"

Last night, we headed out to go to dinner. When we reached Portland Av. we noticed the road was blocked with police cars, right in front of our church. We turned the other way on Portland and I said, "It's most likely an accident." We continued on, had a wonderful dinner, and headed back for home about two hours later. As we came up Portland Av. we could see the street still blocked off; obviously, not an accident. We went home and continued with our night, not talking about the road block. This morning, when I checked the news, I found out, a guy stabbed his girlfriend, and was out in front of our church with a butcher knife. Police responded and needless to say, told the guy to drop the knife. He did not and resisted them. One policeman drew his gun and again advised him to drop the knife. Instead, he held it up to his own throat. Over and over, he was told to drop it. Then the policeman said "I am going to shoot you" three times. After more threatening gestures from the guy, the policeman shot him in the upper leg. All the people that gathered to watch the sensation, screamed to the police, that he had no business shooting the man. I don't know about you, but if a cop orders me to do anything, I have no problem following his orders, but there again, I would not be in his position, stabbing someone, either. The violence is escalating fast. People are shooting each other, stabbing each other, on a daily basis. I'm not sure what the murder count is in Rochester, NY but in four months, I guess it to be between 30 and 40 people killed, murdered, dead, gone from this earth.
I am not a violent person, but I believe the policeman did the right thing. For one thing, the man is not dead, nor did he stab himself. The situation is so sad, so sad. I ask all to pray for the violence to end. Prayer is all we have. Pray for our cities, pray for our law enforcement authorities, and pray for these enraged people, endangering our lives.

As a Christian

The homily at daily mass today hit home hard. It was about the things we should be doing aside from attending mass and praying. It was about embracing the various ministries, involvement in working in the community to do our part as God calls us to.

I like to believe that what we do, in our neighborhoods, our towns, to give support and help to those in need, not only makes a difference, but allows God to shine through us. I invested the past five years, playing in the church band, sharing my gift from God through my music ministry. I only recently have moved on to other musical ministry, composing music for the Psalms in the bible. I post the daily Psalm link on Face Book, each day for anyone to listen and hopefully gain renewed insight in the good word. I am known at our church's food cupboard as "Potato Man", as I go to the Public Market, weekly to buy potatoes for the Food Cupboard to share with those in need. I constantly ask myself, am I doing enough? I constantly pray for inspiration from God, to lead me to where I can make some difference. I read the bible, arming myself with the knowledge of the good news, prepping myself to give answers to those asking about God. Many times I have stumbled, attempting to talk with those willing to listen. I have bumbled more than one opportunity to spread the Gospel, through embarrassment and other lame frailties I bear as a human being, but looking back now, I can believe, I have dusted myself off, continued to learn, to listen, and to lean on Jesus for strength, courage, and fortification to continue forward being a servant in the name of my Lord.

Silence is Golden

A man joined a monastery, where you can not talk for two years and then only two words.
The days turned into weeks, then months, then finally after two years, he was brought in to the Abbot. "Well, what do you have to say?" The man replied "Food awful!"
Back into the silence he went. Days passed into weeks, then months and finally years and the man was again brought before the Abbot. "Well", asked the Abbot, "What do you have to say this time?" The man replied "Bed, lumpy." Back into silence, he went. Days turned into weeks, then months, and again, two years finally elapsed. Again, he was brought before the Abbot. Before the Abbot could ask him what he had to say, the man spouted out "I quit!"
"And no wonder" said the Abbot, "All you've done is complain, complain, complain!"

Patience is a virtue

I strive to consider myself a patient person, able to take all matters in my stride, not freaking when things don't go as I hoped for. All through the day, however, God throws these tests out to me to see how I will handle them. I can honestly say, that too many times, I don't do so well. My patience does not react half as fast as my human instincts. Oh God, when will I learn to change my attitude? I had a great oppertunity, just today as I was out shoveling the driveway. A couple doors down were three teens, shoveling also, and kabitzing among themselves. The F word sprung form their mouths as natural as breathing. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stick out and attempted to not hear their comments but it was impossible. Anger and contempt bubbled up from deep inside me, no matter how hard I tried to control myself. Worse yet, I knew I should have gone over and tried to plant the seeds of the Gospel in them, but being the wretch I am, I resigned myself to the conclusion that they were going to turn their wrath on me and kept my mouth shut. I chickened out for fear of persecution. I dropped my cross in the snow and ambled back into the safety and quiet of my home. Lord, please forgive my sins.

Facebook Friends

I find it so amazing that so many people sign on to Facebook only to report they are now friends with so and so and 29 others. Never do I see any of their posts really talking to their "friends" I mostly only see who their new friends are, or what stupid new group they are fans of or support. I may be way off the mark, but why not just sit at the computer and play solitare. Grantite, most of what I post is my daily Psalms, but I surely correspond with those who are sharing their lives on FB. A few of my friends are now friends with over 1,000 people, but yet they never post any thing one can read or write back about. The sadest point, I guess is some whom I considered good friends never share anything with me or even comment on my posts.

Oh well........................

Jn 4:11-18

Today's daily reading is so beautiful, I thought I'd share it with all who care to enjoy it!

Reading I
1 Jn 4:11-18
Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.
This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
that he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.
God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
In this is love brought to perfection among us,
that we have confidence on the day of judgment
because as he is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love,
but perfect love drives out fear
because fear has to do with punishment,
and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love

Facebook

By viewing the majority of posts on FB, what with all the surveys, quizzes, food fights, incomplete phrases like: so & so is in a relationship, so & so is frisky, chillaxin,etc. I wonder, what was it I logged on for? Not once have I seen a post about a new book one is reading. It seems to be all about Mafia wars, farmville, fish farms, fairly ridiculous surveys like, Are the Bible predictions true or false.

I get new friend requests daily, accept them, then never here a single word from that person again! I love it when artists share some of their work, when musicians post where they are playing, or post a link to the new song they've written. When I see someone bashing someone else, I remove them from the friend list. When I see repeated vulgarity posted, I remove them. When all I here from someone is the surveys, the IQ tests they've taken, the games they are playing, the nasty things they may say about folks, I wonder why I'm there in the first place.

Am I too, wasting my time filtering all this stuff, so useless, so meaningless, so trite?

I have been repeating to my son lately, Use this day as if it were your last. Perhaps I should practice more of what I preach!

The Cars in my Life

I started driving at about 12 years old when we moved to Ontario, NY on 35 acres of land.

We had a 1948 Oliver tractor, and a 53 Ford pickup truck, we used on the property. I cut my driving teeth on these two vehicles first, off the road. The poor truck, which we nick-named "The Beetle" had many scrapes and dents thanks to my ineptitude in driving, but, I did learn to drive.

At about 16, one day, my sister fell while in our back garden and broke her leg. I did not have a drivers license, but eased her into the back seat of Dad's 59 De Soto, and drove her into the village to the doctors.It was late spring with the yards still pretty wet and I drove the car right up to the doctor's office door, leaving muddy tire tracks in my path. The next visit to the doctor, revealed cut telephone poles, staked and lining the edge of the parking lot! Oh well!

My first real legal drive on the road car was an old 61 Volkswagen. I paid $ 300.00 for it and it was tired. I loved it to death. Faded red, rusty floor pans, 6 volt, no heat, I could drive it for two weeks without a fill up. After Dad deeming it unsafe, he bought a 65 Dodge Coronet 440 from our neighbor, handing me the payment book and wishing me luck with it. It was barely two years old. To an eighteen year old, it was kinda boring in contrast to the ole VW. Soon afterward, I found an old 1957 MGA roadster convertible in Rochester for $ 200, and towed it home with a hunk of rope, my friend, Lonnie in tow with my new toy. It had no top, it would not start, but I bought it anyway. We began the long tow trek home to Ontario from Rochester. Unknown to me, Lonnie, instead of keeping the car in neutral, put it in high gear while I towed it home. Right in the four corners of Webster, I heard a loud bang and looked in the rear view mirror. I could not see Lonnie or the MG; they were shrouded in a thick cloud of black smoke. the car started! As the smoke cleared, there sat Lonnie at the wheel of the MG, a big grin on his face. He put the car in neutral, and we continued home to Ontario, the MG, idling roughly. It only ran on 3 of the four cylinders, having a cracked head. I found a used head at a junk yard, and it now had all four cylinders banging! The car was more fun than a barrel of monkeys. I drove it about a 1 1/2 years, till I went into the Navy.

Once I settled in Norfolk, Va. in the Navy, I bought a 1962 Rambler. This was the one and maybe only piece of crap car I've owned. It smoked from bad rings, and broke down on a regular basis. Among the more famous break downs, I recall the single strap holding up the gas tank breaking, tank scraping on the road. Another time, while in the morning traffic jam on route to the Navy base, a tie rod end let loose, making it impossible to turn the steering wheel to the right. The single U-joint assembly broke one time, leaving me stranded again. I was forced to drive it for a couple years till I could afford something better.

Than came the 1968 Camero Rallysport, with the hidden headlights, 327 CI and Muncie 4 speed transmission. Very cool! By then, I was slowly learning how cars worked, and fixing most of what I was capable of. I guess I got more than a few speeding tickets in that baby! I had it almost five years, and just got bored with it, moving on to a 1968 limited edition MGC with a six cylinder engine they only made one year. being a fan of the British sports cars, I loved it dearly. I was not the first owner, not the fourth, but about the fifth owner to have that, and was forced to fix all the things the previous owners did not! It needed something done to it on a weekly basis. Being a limited edition auto, parts were hard to come by and it might sit for weeks, waiting for some stupid part. Another problem with it was, it was a two seater convertible, and I was married with two kids. Picture a wife, two kids, and 11 bags of groceries jammed into it! So the time came to get an additional car for family use too! I got a 89 Ford Galexie, purchased from a neighbor in my apartment complex. He had taken great care of it, and it served me well. Oh, and it was automatic, so my wife could drive it. So we had the MGC, and the Ford. After a long wait for parts for the MG, and I had it running like a top, I decided to sell it. A young Ensign in the Navy fell in love with it. His problem was that he had to sell his car before he could afford mine. I looked his over; a 1967 VW convertible, very well maintained. WE made a swap, he paying me money as well for the difference, and I was the proud owner of my second Volkswagen. What a great care free car it was. Peppy, sporty, a full back seat for the kids, a top that went up and down without calling on the neighbors to help stretch it into place (like the MG!)

After a couple years with the convertible, there was still a need for a second car, and I found a beautiful 1972 VW camper. We now were a two VW family. The camper was perfect for any driving condition. With screened in windows, curtains, table, sink, foldout bed, cupboards and stowage galore, it was heaven, whether driving to work, the beach, or taking it on vacation. Eventually, wife # 1, took the camper, left me with the kids and was seen no more, leaving me with two kids and a very tired VW convertible. It was however, easy to work on, and I managed to get many many more miles and a year or two before retiring it to service. Even when I sold it, Kelly, my youngest daughter, actually was the driving factor selling it. While I was at work, she made a sign for the window, and I came home one night, met at the door by the kids, who tossed $ 700 up in the air! It had sold the first day it was advertised, purchased by a sailor who only had a motorcycle, and needed a car too!

About that time, my girlfriend, later, wife # 2, got her income tax refund and wanted to get a car. She was hell-bent on looking at a French car, I can't even spell. A friend of mine, working at a car dealership had just called, informing me that they got an older car in trade that the dealer was going to auction off, being too old to sell. For $ 431.00, tax, registration, everything, turn the key, we got a 1967 Dodge Dart, we affectionately named Nelliebell. Another goldmine for a car. We drove Nellie for time out of reckening, till the interior, literally flaked away, and still got $ 70 bucks for her! With the VW convertible gone, I also got a 68 Ford Falcon for $ 100. It had a 3 speed on the floor, but reverse did not work. I backed it up by sticking my left foot out the door and pushing it backwards. I drove it a while till the first cold day and discovered the heater core was shot. For $ 100, it was a good ole car though.

We were back to one car, Nellie Bell. We needed two like most families. We planned on going to Florida to visit my in-laws and find a southern car to bring back up. My father in law called one night before we went down there. He said he had found a car and went ahead and bought it. He loved it and if we did not want it, he would keep it. It was a 74 Chevy Caprice, the last year of the HUGE cars! He was right, the car was nice. It was loaded, 350 engine, power everything. We drove it many years.

About that time, Nellie Bell was tired, really tired, and we looked for something else. Actually, the Caprice had given us good service, but was ready for the demolition derby too.

I found a 1978 Volvo 240 DL, the first of many Volvos for me. It was owned by a nursing student from California, no rust, and ran great. It was a hand me down from her father, another Volvo man, and well taken care of. She was firm on her price, and we bought it for $ 1500.00 Two days later, my wife and I took it to Cape Cod. Our first Volvo, we named Olga. We passed Olga down to our first daughter, Lisa who drove it for a while too. About that time, my wife and I were going through separation and I bought a 72 Volvo, I named Shven. I got Shven for $ 490.00, because it had a clunk in the rear somewhere when you shifted it. I drove it with the clunk for many many years before getting the clunk out. Shven, was a worthy car by any means.

One day, my friend Ron called and informed me that my car needed to be replaced and offered to sell me his 1990 Chevy van. The van had an oddity for going through U-Joints on an all too regular basis, but was a great vehicle. It had 368,000 miles when I retired it!

When Dad turned 97, the family talked him into giving up driving, and he gave me his 1994 Buick LeSabre. Being the black sheep of the family, I thought it was too much of an old man's car, and sold it to my room mate, who thought it was just fine. I then bought a 72 BMW 2002, and my ex gave me her husband's 87 Ford F150 pickup. I drove the BMW in the summers for about three years, and the truck all year. Whatever they say about Fords being bad, is just not true. It was a great truck, all the greater for it was free.

Eventually, the BMW needed work that my old back was not up to fixing, and I sold it and the truck.

I bought an 89 Volvo, Gustoff, which I still am driving. Gustoff, just turned over 249,000 miles last week! Good car!

Reflections on the end of a decade

Good bye, 2009, good bye, decade, good bye, red in my beard, good bye, country living.

Good bye, Eddy Cete, John Knar, Gary Comacho, Steve Freelove, Ronald Paul "Ugly" Albright, Ken Cummings, Steve Waldo, Dave Vogt, Kit Austin, Gary Zefting, Michael DeFrancesco, Terry Gore, Mark Manetta and Tom Chappell. If I've omitted anyone, I am truly sorry.

I only counted those my age or younger; I'm sure many others have passed in their natural way, like my Dad, Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Jane, Clyde Briggs and many others. For some reason, the ones, younger than I seem to leave a more lasting hurt then the ones who lived a long fruitful life.

Good bye, past vehicles of the decade. Goodbye, Chevy Van, who I put the most miles on: 368,000. Good Van; got it from my good dear friend Ron Ugly Albright. Lets not forget the 87 Ford pickup, I got from my ex for free. Once I fixed all the million little things broken, it served me very well. Good bye, 72 BMW. I had that beauty for only three years, driving it in the summers. sold it to get the 89 Volvo, I still am driving: Gustoff. Gustoff just turned 249,000 miles last week. In the future, I will do a blog on just the cars I've had over the years.

Good bye, Puddies. When I moved into an old house in Palmyra with a friend, she had two puddies, Mr & Mrs. Puddy. They were really brother and sister but I called them Mr & Mrs anyway. They were up there in age and pretty special to me. Mr Puddy had a very outgoing personality, and Mrs Puddy, a bit more shy. Mr Puddy, passed first at about 18 years old, right there in the old house where he always lived, his domain. When my room mate moved with her fiance to Seattle, she took Mrs Puddy with her, all the way cross country. She too passed on about a year later. When I was living alone there in Palmyra, they were both pretty darn good company to me.

Good bye Life Teen Mass. After five years, playing in the Life Teen band, and two years, directer of the band, the time has come to resign from that venture. The church management and i do not agree on how things should be done, and that's all there is to that. I am still in mid-stream, composing the 150 Psalms that make up the weekly readings over a three year cycle. I have about 50 to go.

Happy New Year, and Happy new decade. Time to look forward to the things to come, social security, composing and recording more music, writing memoirs, and canoeing more. It's been said before, and time to say again: "Old too soon, and wise, too late"

Monday after Christmas

Hello, Blog World!

Dec. 28th 2009 Wow; where did the time go? I guess it's true, the older we get, the faster the time seems to pass. But what have I learned? This year did seem very dis-heartening in many respects. Good folks going their own separate ways, a step son, trying to find his place in a big world, and creating havoc along many lines, the economy taking a dump into the abyss, and wow, I am whining, aren't I?
The good news: I'm still above the grass, the Volvo turns over 249,000 miles and although experiencing some problems, still rolling down the road. Jesus has not left my side. Though all my transgressions, sinning, insulting him, he's still there, merciful, forgiving, loving, the perfect Father. The perfect Father in an imperfect world.

Hold me, Jesus, for I am weak
I hunger for your presence
Seeking the rock to plant my feet
How glorious, my Saviour

Wrap me in your warming cloak
I'm shivering outside it
Only You wash clean my stains
My precious God, my Saviour

Stick your cell phones,computers and Ipods where the sun doesn't shine

OK, this digital age has gotten out of hand, or should I say people have gotten out of control with the cell phones, laptops, I Pods,etc. You can't have a meal in a restaurant, shop, sit in a waiting room, car, or any other public place without the annoying drone of people on their precious phones. In New York, we put into law talking or texting while driving, and it has not stopped people one bit from what I can see. When are we going to learn? Last week, at a diner, a jerk at a near-by table gets a call, leaves his table, stands right behind me and talks on his stupid phone. I hear them going off in the midst of Mass for crying out loud. They can't even put them on vibrate. Don't get me wrong; I do have a cell phone. It's on 90% of the time, always on vibrate. I turn it off or to silent when I step into the church sanctuary for Mass. If I am in a group of people, I do not stop to answer it; I may check and see who is calling then step out in private and talk. If I am driving, I either pull off the road, or not answer at all. The texting crap is out of control too. We are media crazy all together. It's driven me nuts to the point that I have not even watched TV or gone to the movies any more. Many people don't even watch TV; they simply have it on as a white noise. How stupid is that? Yes, I am on the computer at this moment (obviously) I am not saying all the high tech gadgets are useless; I am saying that most people are way over-board with the continuous use, 24/7. If some terrorist really wanted to pour havoc to the world, they would figure out how to knock off the satellites we use for phone and Internet service. That may be all we need to bring an end to the world!

Rochester NY Skyline

I was driving around this morn, taking photos and sight seeing like a tourist in and around downtown Rochester, NY. I passed through some neighborhoods and my heart sank as I passed house after house, some with boarded up window, some just plain busted out and no boards. It seemed as though I passed through an area of a war zone. In-between the boarded up houses, some families still resided, kids playing in the streets, people out on their porches. I was only going to post the nice scenic pics of the Rochester skyline, but decided to show the ugly along with the beautiful. I wish I knew the solution to the problem, but where does one even begin? Is it imperitive to change the inner city society before we can repair the landscape and neighborhoods? If one started with one busted up home, and fixed it, people would be breaking in and stealing the copper wiring, pipes, and anything else they could sell before one night was over. I wonder if there is a fix at all!

Free Downloads Christian Psalms

As the previous Post described, I compose, record, and post my Psalms weekly on a web-site. Go to www.last.fm.com and type bucky gelo in music search. My songs are free to listen or even download. Enjoy!

The Psalm Story

I play in a rock band for the Life Teen Catholic Mass now, going on 4 years. It is still a Catholic Mass, complete with two scripture readings, a Gospel reading, and a Psalm. (There are many other things done, defining it as a Mass, but for today, I wish to talk about the Psalm. The Psalms were written by King David, and intended to be sung, as they are songs to God. The majority of the years I have played in the Life Teen band, I was the lead guitar player. For almost a year now, I have acted as music director,when the original band director moved to another city. The band not only plays music before, during and after Mass, but becomes an integral part of the Mass, providing musical cues to the priest, and other ministers. It took some time for me to get "comfortable" with all the subtle cues the band supplies throughout the Mass, but the Psalm, is something different, a new song that rotates on a three year cycle, 50 per year, for three years. The Psalm can be read, but the preference is to sing the Psalm. I had the task of learning the Psalm each week for the service. As I said, we are a rock band, providing the musical ministry for teens. I perceived the already composed Psalms as sorta corny, considering the majority of our music is rock related. Also, it took time to learn them each week. One night on the news, I heard a story about a computer programmer, who quit his profession, and started playing and composing music. When asking a friend if he thought it feasible, the friend replied "Write one song a week for an entire year and if you can do that, it could be feasible. Well, the guy started writing these funny little tunes which took on the label of "Geek Rock" and made a name for himself. I thought, well, if this geek can cut a path in that direction, I can do the same thing with my Psalm dilemma. So I began writing a Psalm a week, in a more contemporary style, better suited to the teens, and also taking on the challenge of writing a song a week. The main difference is, my focus is to magnify the glory of Jesus instead of geekism. I took on this challenge to myself the first week of January this year. I've had a few stumbling blocks with creativity, but for the most part, have written a song or Psalm a week, for the last nine months. Some are not as creative as I'd like them to be, but some are really special to me. Many, I have hastily recorded to pass on to my band to learn for the Mass. Many have not been recorded at all. Darn that summer; so many other things to do! Now that fall is here, I will attempt to go back and record the missing ones so that I will have a record of them. If I can keep this up for two years and three months, I will have completed the three year cycle of them! I have made available these songs on my blog site. The work is far from completed. Many of the recordings, are not too hot, and need to be fixed or totally re-recorded. So, my friends, that is the Psalm Story! Peace be with you!

Notes on Embedded Music

OK, so I did figure out how to get this Last.fm web site to host my music, and link to this blog, but the blog only shows three songs to choose from. Clicking on the Last.fm site, will take you to the actual Last.fm site and you can find the left side row of boxes and click on albums. That will show you two albums, with all the music posted so far. Check often, and I will continue to add as the compositions are recorded.

Peace be with you

Bucky

Let There Be Music

Well, hopefully, I have successfully added the appropriate links to bring my audio files to the blog. I have been converting, embedding, pasting, encrypting, and God only knows what else to try to get this done!

Music Lessons at your Home

Friends II

I have played in many, many bands over the 45 years or so that I have played. For the most part, once ya leave a band, you very seldem see the other musicians. Long about 1989, I got a call from a guy looking for a guitar player in his band. His bass player had seen me playing solo at some festival, and took my card. Well, it so happened that the guitar player I was replacing, and I met at our mutal friend's house. I ended up playing in this band for 6-9 months, but not only did I become very good friends with this guy, but his friend that left the band before me. This friendship has lasted over 17 years and growing. My friend, Shadow, as we call him, and I see or talk to each other on a regular basis. And Down Home Dave, the guitar player whom I replaced in Shadow's band, and I see each other a couple a times a week for lunch or jam on guitar. Its so strange how friendships overlap, and link others together. I have gotten to know these guys' families, friends over the years, and they too have become friends with the other friends I already know. If I tried to do a reunion with all the past band members I played with, wow, what a huge ensemble that would be!

FRIENDS

I am approaching 60 years old, and I guess I'm getting sentimental in my old age, but I was just this morning thinking of some of the old friends I had in high school, and later in life. High school, takes me back to the early to mid 60's. We moved to a small village (at the time) of Ontario, NY in 1960. The day we moved in, a kid was out in the road, watching us move in. He came up in the yard, and smile on face, stuck out his hand, and said "Hi, I'm Tom Briggs" Well, we ended up being great friends. As you can see, He's a clown, still yucking it up and making us laugh to this day. The previous pic, is him in high school, with the guitar. I taught him how to play, and we formed a band in high school, called the Chillers. We did dances at school, parties, etc. Just this week, we talked about doing a Chillers reunion, for fun! We ended up marrying two sisters, and becoming brother-in laws. One sister divorced me, and we're back to best friends. Our friendship has lasted 48 years. Life for me, would have been very different, growing up without Tommy.

The Irondequoit Bay

Sept 4,2008

So.........I have not blogged in way over a year!

I fell in love, I got married, I moved, I ..............

well, you get the picture!

Anyways, I have not had a chance to paddle canoe, since I did all of the above, either. But, last week, I paddled three days in a row! The first day, I went and forgot my camera. I saw so much! The second day, I had the camera, but after a couple shots, the batteries went kapout! The third day, I brought plenty of new batteries, and got some wonderful shots. The south edge of the bay is a labrynith of reeded channels. I used my otter-tailed paddle to go as silently as I could. I rounded one corner, and there was a Great Blue Heren, right off my port gunnel. I don't know which one of us was the more startled! As a rule, they see you coming, and only allow you to get so close before they take to flight. This time, I was already right next to him (or her!) It did take off, but it was closer than I'd ever gotten before to one. I most likely would have not had time to snap a pic, even if I had the camera! Later, I saw an Eagle way up, circling around and around. But the highlight of the day were these Swans. Two of them were doing this mating (I guess) ritualistic dance. I have seen this sort of thing on nature shows, but this time, it was 6-8 feet away from me. Their heads bobbed and swayed in perfect unison. It was a spectacular ballet. The climax was their head and necks entwined around each other. I was simply entranced. Wow! Life is good. The Lord has made such a wonderful world for us.

Peace be with you!