Our third school bus arrived last night and now in place in the backyard. Makes me wonder what the neighbors are thinking. We also have a 16-foot long travel trailer filled with storage, mostly boxes of Christmas decorations. Surprising how much stuff you gather in 39 years of marriage and the last 18 years right here. We are piling up all the stuff we hope to sell in a yard sale, most of it covered under tarps to keep it dry. We were given the opportunity to clean out a large storage garage, keep what we want and haul the rest to the dump. Renters had lost the place due to non-payment and owner of the facility just wanted it all gone. We found a lot of treasures, and also a lot of junk that got hauled to the dump. I also came across a woman's cremated remains, will probably take them to the ocean. This is where I released my mom's ashes too. Lots of fishing gear, clothes and such, knives, arrows, collector plates, a few furniture pieces, collector cars, but no firearms. I had really hoped to stumble on one or two pistols or rifles. Sort of like Christmas though. Mona and Ava have stayed busy cleaning up the yard before first snow. Ava really went to work on our gardens, that had turned to weeds after several years of no one doing any gardening. We are looking at seed catalogues for next spring in hope to replant all of our garden spots with veggies and flowers. I have several dryer tubs that I used to grow potatoes in. We also hope to raise chickens again next summer, like we did in North Pole. Maybe turkeys again, I enjoy turkey eggs as they have a distinct taste I like. We'll have strawberries, blueberries, lots of flowers and rhubarb.
It appears Canaan and Patrick will be moving soon for Soldotna, where Canaan now works as a caregiver. Patrick has left for his job in Oregon. Elizabeth hopes to convert the kid's small house on the front part of our property into a bead store, like she had in Soldotna. Chris presented us with a small tractor with trailer for us to drive around the property. Great way for me to haul firewood, as I was piling it into a pull sled and that often sent me back to bed. Funny how fast the body begins to fail you when you have an old injury and you get real old. I went from 350 lbs down to 178, Mona thought I was going to disappear. She is 61 now and still looks like she is in her early 40's, hardly a gray hair on her head.
So, life goes on. I'm working on Chapter Six of my latest Arizona Rangers story, "Dangerous Path". Expect to have it ready for Ava to edit it by end of October. I write out the whole story, then I edit it myself for changes I desire and then give it to Ava. My next book about the Rangers will be about the gunfighters of old Arizona, as the Indian Wars are over and the tribes are now confined to their reservations. I may have mentioned it, but I am a blood brother to the Apache. My foster brother who shared a bedroom with me during our senior year in high school was about to become the next hereditary chief of his tribe in western New Mexico. His father was dead and his grandfather, the current chief was getting on in years. Andy and I lost contact with each after he went off to college and I joined the Air Force. I've tried to find him, but so far I have been unable to. Our high school alumni has no address for him and there is an amazing number of Salcedo's in California and New Mexico. He told me he had planned not to except the hereditary title and apparently he didn't as the tribe was no help in locating him. Andy was my best friend for 3 years and he was also a devout Catholic. But in College he tossed that all aside and became a communist. One of the reasons we parted. I don't even know if he finished college, but he got real strong into protesting and this was the early 1970s. But it was our friendship that lead me to writing about the Arizona Rangers and the Indian wars. The Great Cochise was a truly remarkable leader, sort of like the Abe Lincoln of the Apache people. But Geronimo was a thug and Cochise was always having trouble with him. Cochise eventually went to live on the reservation and became a farmer, while Geronimo continued to battle on between Mexico and the US, until starvation forced him to surrender. By then it was 38 warriors going up against thousands of US troops and even more Mexican Army troops.
Here's some Headlines for the last few days: "Hong Kong Protesters Wreak Havoc on Hong Kong Airport and Train Station"..."5 people dead and 30-People Reported Dead in Diving Boat Fire Off California Coast".... "Tens of Thousands of School Students Boycott School in Hong Kong".... ""Hurricane Dorian Downgraded to Category One, Devastated Bahamas and Now Hitting Southeast US"...." US to Withdraw Five Thousand Troops From Afghanistan and Close 5 Bases. (Reminds me of what happened with Vietnam)"...." "Russia and Iran to Hold Joint Naval Exercises in Indian Ocean".... " "Australian Government 'Urged' to Stop Child Marriages".... " US Intelligence Reports an Explosion at Sea as Russians Attempted Raising a Nuclear Powered Missile Used in Failed Test".... "General Strike Looms in Hong Kong, China Says They Are Growing Weary of These Protests".... "Japan Announces it is Launching Special Police Force to Guard Disputed Isles in East China Sea, Upsetting South Korea".... " "Tension and Weapons Fire Increases Between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah".... "Bahama Sees total Destruction and Damages to Over 13,000 Homes from Hurricane Dorian".... "Ebola Cases in Uganda Approaches 3,000 Cases".... " Report: Extreme Leftist and Anti Semitic Billionaire George Soros Pumping Millions into US Local and Statewide Elections In Hopes to Decrease Prosecutions of Criminals, in His Way to Bring Down the United States, as He Did in Greece, Italy and Spain and Then Announced He Would Focus His Attention on the United States".... "George Soros Spends $9 Million on Lobbying and Now He's Targeting US Guns".... "Google to Pay $170 Million Fine For Illegally Collecting Children's Data on YouTube"...."Kashmir Protest Rally Turns Deadly As Indian Security Officer Opened Fire on the Crowd Protesting the Indian Government".... "San Francisco Brands NRA a Domestic Terrorist Organization, Which is Reportedly Unconstitutional".... "China Cracks Down on Sunday Schools in Churches, 'No Children Allowed to Attend' ".... "US and Europe Team Up to Protect the Earth From Asteroids".... "Chinese Government Orders Schools to Enhance Security After 8 Students Killed in Brutal Assault".... "Scores of People Arrested in South Africa for Looting Foreign Shops".... "5.2 Quake in New Zealand".... "China Announces it is Ready to go to War if Taiwan Tries to Gain Independence".... "Bangkok, Thailand Rattled by 6 Terrorist Bombs".... "US and China Agree to Resume Trade Talks in October".... ""Tornadoes Hit Carolinas From Hurricane Dorian, Floods Charleston and 200 Thousand Homes Without Power".... " "Report: Unions Sent $1.6 Billion to Liberal Groups, 99% of Union Political Spending Went to Left Leaning Causes since 2010".... "Asia-Pacific Countries 'Spooked' by Rising Seas Due to Climate Change".... "Report: Scientists Now Claim Loch Ness Monster is Real, But is Actually a Giant EEL"....""Deadly Blast Kills 20-People Outside Cairo, Egypt".... "China's 'Huawei Telecom' Accuses US of Cyber Attacks on Their Company".... "Taiwan To Buy (66) F-16s From US, Upsetting China"....
That's it for the headlines. As Climate Change worsens, tensions among the various people groups increases. China is said to have an incredible amount of Muslims being held in camps, awaiting to be deported. Tension between Japan and South Korea worsens. Terrorist of so many different factions, with numerous causes, hitting all around the world. Protests in Moscow, Kashmir and Hong Kong becoming more violent. China is being accused of trying to set up a foothold in the Bahamas, coming there as so-called 'rescue workers'. Russia, Iran and China militaries training together on sea and land, and in the air. Then we have the increasing growth of 'racism' and 'antisemitism' . Germany now maintains a force of 12,000 Nazi.But not as an official military force, yet the wear uniforms and march in the streets. Very reminiscent of 1933 Nazi Germany.
I've become impressed with NASA, they've finally admitted our future skies are worrisome as the amount of asteroids coming by us is increasing and the big 1,100 mile long one still looms in our future... I believe the last estimate for this was 5 years away, but still believe to miss us, but MIGHT affect our gravity. Find a good sturdy chain to hold you down with when the time comes, but please secure to something sturdy, as the oxygen can get real thin up there.
Wind is now blowing, bringing clouds into our valley, so we hope for more rain to put the last of the fires out. Used to be you could guarantee rain on the first day of moose hunting season. There was a couple times I thought we were going to drown the rain was so heavy. Once we had light snow. Oh, I have another monitor to go with my computer. We moved the big TV up from the living room and put it in our bedroom, Chris and John did that. So I replaced my damaged monitor with our old bedroom TV, which is nearly twice the size of my old one...I think it's about 25 inches so it's easier for this old man to see. Were converting our living room into Mom's sewing center/workroom and have an actual dining room table to sit down to. Been 18 yrs since we had a dining room table to sit down at. Have to find another use for our TV trays.
So, time to say so long and wish you all a blessed day. Were feeding some 11-12 people here now, so if you happen to have an extra steer hanging around to donate and fill our freezer..... A cow too, we go through a lot of milk and half & half. The chickens will handle our egg problems
There are times I really believe my Dad dropped me on my head too many times.
God bless, BILL