My Dad

Well, it's been exactly 10 months since he passed away. Hard to believe how time goes by so quickly. On this first Fathers Day since his death I reflect on what a great father he was to Michelle and me. I learned so much from him and was so fortunate and lucky to have spent a lot of time with him in situations that did not involve "father and son".

As a teenager and during college I worked summers at his business, Comfort Heating & Air Conditioning. What a great experience. I learned so much from him by watching his style of leadership. He was so good with people. He was demanding and would have high expectations but there was also that other side that you knew was there. He really cared about the people who worked for him and they respected him because he didn't consider himself better that the blue collar workers the company depended on to survive. I wasn't given any special treatment working there. But that taught me a lot. Every employee has a job to do and it doesn't matter who you are, you better get it done and get it done right. But then he was always around to eat lunch with workers, buy us a case of beer and let us have Friday afternoon off when we busted our butts to get a big, difficult job done early for him, and just generally really care about everyone who worked for him.

That same attitude carried over to his officiating football and basketball. He did that over 40 years! I was SO lucky to have worked on his crew in both high school and college football. How many sons get to do something like that with their father for more than a decade? I cannot put into words how much fun that was. Again, I learned so much from him. There was the preparation for the season which included studying the rules. He did not tolerate a crew member not knowing the rules and mechanics of officiating football. That instilled in me today the same expectations for myself and those I lead in my job. Be prepared.

I watched him walk out onto the game field and take charge. He didn't let coaches, players, fans, affect how he did things. There was no doubt Bill Raymick was going to be prepared and his crew of officials was going to be prepared. I have carried over those experiences into how I lead in my job now.

There was so much more. Taking me fishing for bream with my grandfather on Lake Conway. Supporting, encouraging, and coaching me for so many years of playing baseball. The vacation trips to West Memphis and Six Flags Over Texas. His love of gardening. Buying me a new car on my 16th birthday. Allowing me to move back home after three very fun but not very good academic years at OBU. Being a wonderful grandfather to my girls. Teaching me to handicap the race horses at Oaklawn. His love of a good cold beer at the end the day.

I miss him.

My Name Is Earl

Weather.

It occurs only within the first 8.5 miles of our thin blue line of atmosphere. Like Hurricane Earl here, the weather does what it wants, when it wants, where it wants. Out of our control. Or is it?

Global warming. Climate change. Have its inhabitants affected earth's weather?

I believe Earth is billions of years old. I believe Earth's weather has gone through all sorts of cycles and changes during that time. I believe it will always go through cycles and changes that are a result and a condition of the naturally occurring geological and extraterrestrial events that have shaped our Earth and it's weather over the eons.

This year has already been extraordinary in terms of extreme weather events around the nation.

Chicago blizzard.

April tornado outbreak.

Joplin tornado.

Floods.

Drought & wildfires.

And hurricane season has just begun.

Even here in Northwest Arkansas we had a devastating tornado to a small community on New Years Eve, 20 inches of snow in one day in February, 18 degrees below zero a day later, and fifteen inches of rain in a couple of days in April.

Is all of this extreme weather a result of Earth's inhabitants' influences over the last century or so? Have we dumped so much pollution and carbon emissions into the atmosphere that Earth's inhabitants ARE affecting the weather and the health of our Earth for the first time in history? When I look at those photos from space of our thin blue line of atmosphere I can't help but worry that the answer is yes. That thin blue line appears very fragile and delicate. There is not much there to protect us. How much can it take? Can Earth's natural defenses and regenerative abilities keep the atmosphere healthy and in balance?

Or have we doomed ourselves? Only during the last century and a half of humankind's existence on Earth, during the industrial revolution and the invention of the combustible engine, have we dumped tons of poisons and pollutants into the atmosphere. How much can it take? Will future generations turn this around?

Why am I still driving an SUV with a V8 engine?

Puff Daddy Moonshine

Water from a bowl. Water from the faucet. Nothing like water from this can. Puff Daddy Moonshine.

Cats. Never had one until LuAnn and I got married. One day she said if anyone at work has kittens she would like to have one. And so it began with Boo Radley & Scout. The latest is Sammy. In between....well we won't go there yet as the total number is a closely guarded secret. Is there some bright, flashing neon arrow over our house or a rotating beacon of light that only cats can see that point the way to sanctuary?

When we see all of our kids show up together at the front door, and it is not Thanksgiving or Christmas, we will know that the intervention is coming. But really, no need for that. We have it under control. LuAnn, we have it under control don't we? Puff Daddy, get off the keyboard I'm writing! Go drink some Puff Daddy Moonshine.

62 Miles

That's all there is that separates us from the violence of space. This thin atmosphere, fueled by our nearest star, gives us the air we breath and the water that sustains us.

I often think about how lucky I am to have been born in the first century in the history of mankind in which we could explore this atmosphere and space beyond. As a small boy I witnessed the very beginnings of space flight with the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. I loved (and still do) anything that is aviation related. I regularly heard sonic booms while growing up in Pine Bluff as our military developed aircraft that continued to break barriers going higher, farther, faster. I wondered what kind of jet just flew over that left a sonic boom that sometimes shook things in the house. Maybe it was that B-58 Hustler I saw taking off, low, right over our heads during a family trip in Texas.

These ventures into the skies above us and space beyond give us all a new prospective on how we view Earth and its existence in the Universe. So small. So beautiful. So delicate.

Welcome to my journal of life in this thin blue line.