tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308072522026-05-20T08:27:48.088-04:00Just some memories I want to put down in no particular order, just as they come to me. Gotta do it before I forget them. Even got some non-memory type stuff too. Poke around & enjoy my muddled musings and, if you have time, post a comment so I'll see what you think of the place. Enjoy Yourself!Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-74049418484364637082012-08-25T00:29:00.001-04:002012-08-25T00:31:32.626-04:00

  It's been a longer, and somehow shorter time since I last posted anything on this poor old thought repository. No real reason for the lapse other than simple human failing. The months have been some of the most hurried, yet excruciatingly slow in passing on their way than hardly any since I was a very young man. That too was a period of disease, uncertainty, sudden death, loss of friends,

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-85357930373868319852011-11-25T03:38:00.001-05:002012-01-03T00:29:57.906-05:00

.....arrived one winter day in March of my 11th year. It was a Saturday and my Uncle 'F' and his wife had gone to the small city on an 'errand'. Rather an unusual occurrence in winter, especially on the sketchy backwoods roads of Maine in the 1950s. Around two in the afternoon I heard his old Studebaker straining and spinning its way up into Uncle 'Rs' barnyard. Going out to see why he'd come

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-24911872863544842632011-07-11T01:01:00.006-04:002011-07-11T01:06:15.017-04:00

                                     A Short Tale of Man & Boat   It's been awhile, but hoping it won't be so long between posts again. This is just a short story told to me by a friend when discussing the stuff tourists and visiting sportsmen do when here.     About 3

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-61953666233908194472011-06-04T23:13:00.000-04:002011-06-04T23:13:17.108-04:00

   Ahhhhhh. After too much time away, finally able to get blogging in earnest again, or probably for the first time. I've been trying for some time to get back to it, but the old grey cells have failed to find the writing rhythm needed. Tonight, the Blogging Muses took a bit of pity on me and at the same time reminded me of the signs often seen in non-English speaking countries. the fun

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-38593842360747432862011-02-20T02:11:00.000-05:002011-02-20T02:11:25.314-05:00

  Sometimes, during the course of our lives, occur events which force us to move on. A change of jobs, location, economic or cultural differences for various reasons, retirement, etc. My adult life while I was working required I move about pretty regularly, much of it overseas, and often meant having to involuntarily cut ties with folks I'd come to cherish as friends. Often this was due

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-40592072675439585772011-01-16T03:21:00.001-05:002011-01-16T03:22:50.180-05:00

Oryctotagus cuniculus(domestic rabbit)  Once upon a time, in a land very near where I now sit, there lived two young boys. The boys were close friends and shared many good times. One such time, or rather, series of good times, was the annual outing to the nearest Agricultural Fair. In our case, this was the State Agricultural Fair as our county was actually too rural to support such an

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-50903426025468552852010-12-05T00:38:00.001-05:002010-12-05T00:41:17.536-05:00

I don't mean this to be taken as a mean-spirited, sour grapes, type post. It's just that history is written by the victorious, which means it often gets distorted far from the factual accounts of what happened. This has been, and continues to be, one of the great failings of schools the world over. The result is even greater misunderstandings between different groups about the true history as

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-9131503480138614732010-10-31T01:15:00.000-04:002010-10-31T01:15:59.672-04:00

                                                    T. Remington photo   Well Folks, it seems I've survived another year aboard the Big

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-91919081466687747062010-09-05T01:15:00.000-04:002010-09-05T01:15:56.115-04:00

My good friends George & Linda Allen of Spokane, WA belong to a Walleye Club that holds an event called C.A.S.T. where they take disadvantaged kids fishing for a day. This year it seems they were blessed to have with them this little bundle of perky sunshine in pink. Her name is Kenadie Hansberry, age 2, of Spokane.It seems that at that early age she's already developed her own sense of style

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-50485515698914050082010-07-31T19:24:00.138-04:002010-08-01T16:39:13.252-04:00

   At one time, I was actually a pretty rugged young man. Somewhat lacking in 'altitude', but endowed with an overabundance of 'attitude'. In those days, when I was freshly moved off the farms, I was up for just about anything, especially so if monetary gain was involved. At that time, in the little city near my hometown, every Friday & Saturday night had entertainment in the form

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-933783811415663552010-07-16T02:46:00.001-04:002010-07-16T02:49:11.792-04:00

Some old trees don't disappear, they get transformed. Yarmouth was home to New England’s largest American Elm tree – affectionately known since the 1950s as “Herbie” – that used to reign over the corner of Yankee Drive and East Main Street. Like so many American Elms, Herbie finally succumbing to Dutch Elm Disease, an introduced fungus that is spread by bark beetles. After decades of diligent

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-32529191068368196462010-07-05T02:06:00.003-04:002010-07-05T02:15:08.691-04:00

"...she's a Grand Old Rag Flag..."   And with that simple line and a little more, a wonderfully insightful and very special friend broke through my writer's blogger's block and inspired these post July 4th musings; and here's some of the stuff I discovered, some new, some known, all neat to know. I hope you like reading it as much as I liked posting it.   To start, a well known and

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-51096963038145442752010-06-19T23:52:00.001-04:002010-06-19T23:58:22.174-04:00

Sometimes little things become such a part of our lives, we don't even think of them after awhile. Things that become habitual when we're young often follow us through our entire lives. Some of these things are good, some not so good, a few bad, and often of no consequence other than how they shape the person we've become. One little habit that almost everyone has is that of being susceptible to

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-56690094653793424642010-05-21T00:40:00.003-04:002010-05-21T00:50:09.072-04:00

....core? A post by Lua Fowles on her blog  http://likeabowloforanges.wordpress.com/  sparked this idea, and for that I'm truly grateful. After reading her thoughtful words, I decided to share exactly what keeps this Old Indian farm kid grounded, a concept I was introduced to by my Group Leader when I was a wet-behind-the-ears 20-something who was trying to find out who I really was

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-73697860780137989352010-05-03T06:57:00.001-04:002010-05-03T06:58:01.075-04:00

.....should be shared. Therefore, here it is: Nothing Twice Wislawa Szymborska Nothing can ever happen twice. In consequence, the sorry fact is that we arrive here improvised and leave without the chance to practice. Even if there is no one dumber, if you’re the planet’s biggest dunce, you can’t repeat the class in summer: this course is only offered once. No day copies yesterday, no two

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-83148403676530543492010-05-01T06:29:00.003-04:002010-05-01T06:42:27.623-04:00

.....once again. I've let my ambitions, which still think I'm a 25 year old, run the show. This obviously ignores the fact that I'm a somewhat decrepit 'Older Fellah'. This should have been driven home to my dull thinking apparatus by now, especially as my latest 'reminder' arrived last week in the form of a 'Power Chair' to attempt to prevent my nearly regular tendency to fail to remain vertical

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-49296081197071124882010-04-11T16:45:00.000-04:002010-04-11T16:45:12.919-04:00

This article was recently published by CNBC and I thought it deserved as much attention as possible.Spotting Counterfeit Bills. All photos by Fred LaSenna for CNBC.com In order to stay ahead of counterfeiting, the United States government redesigns paper money on a fairly regular basis. The latest installment, a new $100 bill, is slated for unveiling on April 21. The last bill to be redesigned

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-38615533189079540352010-03-07T22:37:00.004-05:002010-03-07T23:02:57.018-05:00

......once again my brain has unexpectedly gone on another vacation. And so: IT'S TRIVIA POST TIME ~El Salvador is the only nation named for Jesus Christ. ~Henry VIII of England decreed wearing a beard a taxable offense to the crown. ~Einstein's first published scientific paper was about drinking straws. In particular, he looked at the capillary forces acting on a drinking straw. It was in 1901

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-73946200106148427692010-02-05T08:15:00.004-05:002010-02-05T08:21:37.258-05:00

Today's post is on a subject that really intrigues me. I LOVE any sort of old industry, tools, products, and antiques in general. Hope you enjoy it. Until next time, stay safe and stay well.

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-60005766103105243492010-02-01T01:03:00.005-05:002010-02-01T01:44:11.699-05:00

Well Folks, it's finally happened to the Old Indian's little blog. Commenters posing as readers, but as phony as the infamous Non-Professor, Non-Doctor, Non-Indian, political and academic con-man, Ward Churchill, have targeted this little corner of cyberspace for their own hateful uses. This means that, in order to keep clear space for REAL readers, I've had to enable 'comment moderation'. Rest

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-38567690525509094042010-01-17T23:33:00.011-05:002010-01-18T00:27:19.281-05:00

One evening last month I was idly poking about in different parts of the Internet when I happened upon some photos of something that evoked old memories of my years in Japan. Manhole covers! Actually, they're not all technically 'man'hole covers as some are quite small. One thing they have in common is that they're just one more place artistic flair can be found in that enigmatic country.

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-30454537522146111342009-12-30T05:52:00.005-05:002009-12-30T06:08:36.416-05:00

Happy New Year Everyone!!! Mike S

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-62796646600306767952009-12-21T14:42:00.009-05:002009-12-21T15:28:29.153-05:00

One Tribal Emblem of Many As another year draws to a close, I'd like to thank everyone who wandered by for your interest & warm comments. It's my strong desire to be able to return to blogging and reading blogs on a more steady basis. I miss reading the adventures & thoughts of my blogger friends and being able to share my thoughts with those who happen upon this site. My other abiding

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-70613262432390521512009-11-20T00:15:00.005-05:002009-11-20T03:40:30.467-05:00

Tonight I stepped out onto our porch/balcony for some fresh air. What struck my senses first wasn't the rain, it was the aroma of the rain. The wind was wafting softly up from the river in the bottom of our valley already infused with the unmistakable scents of woodsmoke from the houses on the other side. Along its journey it gathered the soft marshy odors from the river banks and the fresh smell

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30807252.post-72478130331662840572009-10-25T17:38:00.009-04:002009-10-25T18:40:25.439-04:00

Found this little clip and really like the message as it closely mirrors the way I was taught. At times I slip into being thoughtless and inconsiderate, at times it seems all in vain, at times it seems like the problems of myself or others are just too huge to tackle, but somehow we always seem to plod along and try to stay positive until either success is achieved or failure is thrust upon us.

Mike Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06117271444345617080noreply@blogger.com8