Does this guy belong in jail?
I am going to jail August 5. I will be unfairly arrested on trumped up charges, of course, but the jury is still out.
The local Shriners, in particular Klaus Knorz, the king of rascals, are responsible for this unholy travesty.
I will be asking for your help to spring me, and to raise some money for hospital equipment and transportation assistance for physically challenged kids.
I'll know better next week when the gloomy rapscallions tell me what the charges are.
Please help.
I will take you for a boat ride and put your picture in a glossy photo book.

It's official. I've gone cuckoo.
I'm sitting in the Palace with a rack of ribs, a pork roast, and a basket of peanuts in the smoker.
Along the way I decided to try a slab of birch wood for some smoke, so I grabbed a small piece from the wood pile, scraped all the bark off, and put it on top of the hot coals.
A half hour later, as I sat entranced, watching little loons on the lake I smelled sweet smoke, closed my eyes, inhaled a few whiffs, and said to myself, "YES! That'll be very good. Very nice!"
Soon, I opened my eyes, and there was the mosquito coil smoke, wafting right into my face. Guess I'm about as much of a gourmet cook as a cat licking its butt. I'm almost ashamed enough not to put it in my journal.

The moon is still high in the southwestern sky at 5:30 this morning as the sun rises in the northeast.
It was such a calm and beautiful sight that I thought at first I had woken up in heaven, but then I pinched myself and realized I was at camp.
Pretty much the same thing.

My 12 - year - old nephew was visiting many years ago and I taught him to drive my boat.
Once he was ready to go solo I turned him loose to circle the island, practicing.
John was thrilled and spent the next hour in pure ecstasy. Probably the only ones to enjoy that hour more were my mother, dad, and me as we watched my nephew putt putt slowly, painfully slowly, as he rounded the western point of the island and came into our sight. He glided slowly, carefully, studiously, timidly, and oh so damn painfully slowly, as he made his way from our western sighting to the far edge of our eastern panorama. A lazy turtle could have crushed him from behind.
Once out of sight, my outboard revved and roared like I never knew it could! My innocent, young nephew must have flogged that Mercury to beat billy hell on the far side of the island.
Beautiful memories of youthful mischief brought tears of laughter to the eyes of the two generations watching the growing up of young John, reinventing the wheel for another round.
We bought Mary a boat this summer - nothing special, just basic transportation back and forth between home and camp so she, now retired, can travel the lake whenever she feels like it.
I took this video today as Mary left the dock at camp for a quick run to town. Don't know why it reminded me of my nephew's early boating experience 35 years ago, but Mary did mention that the trip seemed faster after she was out of sight...

I was just sitting at my lakeside bar in the shade of an umbrella, snacking on a little dish of peanuts and raisins, and thinking I should take a picture of something and send an update on a glorious summer Friday afternoon.
Since I didn't feel like leaving the deck to search out an interesting picture I thought, why don't I take a shot of my raisin and peanut dish sitting on the bar beside one of the worn spots I sanded this morning and daubed some preservative on in preparation for a full new coat of finish that I'll probably spread on Sunday afternoon before we head back to town.
It's a gorgeous spot to sit and watch the lake and the universe unfold to the background music of Fats Domino, who has a tremendous repertoire of New Orleans blues and jazz in addition to his old time rock 'n roll.
Although the temperature didn't register much above 20 C this afternoon, the sun was bright and the wind was still, so the ambience was about as good as it gets. If I didn't have to take a group out for a two hour cruise this evening I'd probably be sipping some wine, but that'll wait until I get back at about dusk. In the meantime a tall glass of tap water topped with ice cubes washes down the peanuts and raisins real smooth-like.
My loon family, both chicks and both parents, have been doing manoeuvers out front. I'm always amazed that the young ones grow so fast. I'll bet the chicks have doubled in size since last weekend.
I haven't seen my town mallard family all week. Yesterday as a friend and I were smoking cigars on my deck at home a lone mallard hen flew in and landed in front of us. Mallards are plentiful so no way to know if that's the one I've seen with the ducklings. I'm not sure how long the little ones stay with the mother. Possibly by the time they're a month old the mother leaves them, even if they're not able to fly yet. I'll have to pay closer attention to that aspect of their behavior.
My crawfish traps are starting to capture good numbers of the tiny lobsters. They seem to start getting active about this time of the summer - just in time for my Rotary Crawdaddy Cookout which we'll have in two weeks.

Sunsets put me in mind of my friends. Sometimes brilliant. Sometimes subdued. Always beautiful. Forever wonderful.

I took a picture this afternoon looking out the back of the Palace. I was reminded of wisdom long ago from the father of my best friend in high school. Pete told me to be sure to polish the back of my shoes - the heels. He said I'd never notice, but everyone else would see the backs.
The lesson was about more than shoes and shoe polish - much more.
Years after I was impressed with the wisdom handed down that integrity is measured, partly, by how a person acts and performs when nobody is looking.
Looking out the back of the Palace this afternoon I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the bush. Usually it would jump out. Awe would ooze from the mere glimpse.
Over powered by the siren song of Lady Lake viewed in the front, the back yard has been relegated to neglect, but it's more than a mere pee pasture for the beer boys letting off steam. I think it's another of life's hidden treasures needing some nourishment.