Sad news fell upon the TNP family this past week. Long time engineer, company founder, friend, mentor, and a true man of God died Thursday afternoon. Gary Teague was a wonderful person. He conducted a fulfilled life in no uncertain terms. His was a life lived unconditionally by the Lord’s guiding hand. It is an honor to have known such a man. Continue reading “A Legacy to Celebrate”
It seems y’all were gone at the same time…except for Mac and me.
My Dad, brothers and their families will be coming off the mountain this weekend. Dad spent the last two weeks at a family vacation tradition – Seedhouse Campground in the Routt National Forest north of Steamboat Springs. My brothers, sisters-in-law, and 2 nieces joined him last week. I found myself checking the weather in Steamboat – 70° highs, low 40°’s lows – throughout the last two weeks, taking heavy, heavy sighs and wishing I were there instead of the +100° heat of Dallas. Oh well – Deb told me to go but like a typical husband I didn’t take her advice. I did check out plane fares to Denver and rental cars…almost booked a trip but figured my employer would not appreciate me just packing off for a few days without any prior notice. Perhaps the family can send pictures to add to this post. The rubbing-it-in phase will probably start Sunday. Continue reading “Where did everyone go?”
The new pictures in Flickr were taken at nephew Drake’s birthday party last Sunday. The kid turned 7 years old earlier in the week so I handed him my camera to get his first (I think) family photo session done at his own party. He’s a quick study as he picked up on a quick 10-second lesson on working a zoom lens. Credit to Drake is noted for his photos. A few more movie lines/quotes have been added to the page of the same name: Lonesome Dove, Chicken Run, The Sandlot, Lion King, and others. tm Continue reading New stuff – Point and Shoot, Grin and Bear
Giving credit where it’s due: FD Tiffany took the picture now in my Blog header with my FugiFilm FinePix S5700 camera in Maine last summer (that was pre-Canon Rebel XT). She ungracefully scaled a fence and traversed down to the rocky shoreline at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse (scoll down on the web page – those are FD’s perch rocks in the picture) to take this sunset photo. The mosquitoes practically carried her out to sea. Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse is the only lighthouse on Mount Desert Island (Acadia National Park)
Check out the 7-16-08 posting on Tyler and Tammy’s Weblog. FS Tyler has a dry wit – sometimes wet – which comes through in his writing. His recent story of “getting old” (yeah right) brought laughter tears to me and his sis. And what causes (or triggers) laughter tears, in our family…and our family can sometimes have a rather “odd” sense of humor, is a future story. His “waning youth” barbershop visit story A Sign(s) of My Waning Youth is worth the read (not to say any of his other postings are not). tm Continue reading TylerandTammy’s Weblog
The story goes something like this: In 2000, my lovely bride ventured to her ancestrial homeland of Scotland. I won’t go into that trip (since I didn’t go with her, but perhaps I could write about the time I had at home during her 2 week excursion…on second thought maybe I shouldn’t). Let’s just leave it at she had a grand time with her U.S. family, and new found family across the pond (or at least with the statues, monuments, and castles). Now Deb is not the type that postures a “wants” attitude very often. But she did insist on one thing as a result of her trip. That would be a Scottish Terrier. Continue reading “Queen of Scots”
A self-appointed duty of mine is taking pictures of the family – sometimes for no reason at all. They’re not that good, but check out a few of my favorites taken over the past few months on the Flickr. And no, I’m not out of things to write about. Continue reading Digital Duty
A few weeks ago FD Tiffany asked for pictures of our week long vacation last August to New England. In finding those pictures hidden in a remote folder on my computer, I took a minute for a memory and smile. We have taken a few family vacations in the past but this one had something special attached. Perhaps it was all the laughing that we did; maybe it was because none of us had been to 
Providence, Boston, Boothbay Harbor, Bar Harbor, and Acadia National Park before…yeah, all those made it special but I think it was the realization that it was most likely the last vacation we would spend as a family, just the four of us (BTW, I don’t think I ever thanked Mark and Tammy for giving us that week with our kids). Continue reading “The Maine Objective was Fun”
I realized I have posted serveral references to my favorite son Tyler, but have yet to introduce my favorite daughter Tiffany in my stories. As with Tyler, there is much to brag about Tiffany, and I struggle knowing where to start. But really neither has been formally introduced. So with Tiff as the first-born, I will go last with her…. Continue reading “Favorites”
A blog or two ago I wrote of a pending game of golf that was to be played amongst family members. I am here to say the game is now history. It was played in near-perfect weather (for north-central Kansas): a slight breeze and 90° temperatures. Everyone showed up early for the tee time (thanks to Trevor’s wake-up call to Tara); cold beverages (adult and otherwise) were strategically placed every third hole or so for our convenience and solace. It was a grand day despite a 5+ hour round of golf and nearly 2 hours worth of fundraiser auctions.
We all had our moments around the course. Some of us had longer moments than others (the author for one and for the most part). Missed shots, missed putts, missing golf balls, and cart partners missing their ride (thanks Dad). What made this game special was the May’s made up two of the 30-odd foursomes playing. Dad/Grandpa was so proud when the course Marshall broadcasted the shotgun starting holes as “on the number 1 tee…all the May’s”. That was really kind of cool for all of us, not just Dad. Continue reading “Reporting on Golf”
Next week Tyler and I venture to the flatlands of Kansas to join other family in a “Gentlemanly Pursuit” (as Tyler writes) game of golf. It is fast becoming a highly anticipated round – one that has already been met with arrival time coordination, sleeping arrangements, practice range practice, and yes…”ungentlemanly” smack. The event is for a good cause: a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, aka Relay for Life (Mom has a great vantage point and will be our Field Marshall that day). Continue reading “Club Selection”
A couple months ago marked an anniversary of some family bizarreness. The event is one that has been talked about and laughed at by many, many times. I am delayed in documenting this event through my weblog for various reasons, but the one most apparent is I finally found my notes…and I wanted to be sure I captured the accuracy of the event. Yup, I admit my age and memory has caused me to invest in several hundred 3”x5” note cards that I scatter about in a number of different places (so I don’t forget where I put just one stash).
Here’s my story and I cannot be persuaded otherwise:
In the winter ’07, I made a collegiate visit to my alma mater to do recruiting for my company. The timing of the event just so happened to coincide with one of my brothers visiting another, in a city about an hour from the campus. I decided I would take advantage of this coincidence and spend time with my siblings and their spouses. I folded up my vendor booth at the end of the day and took to the road for a visit.
Typically, our brotherly reunions are laced with friendly and sometimes down right mean barbs and jabs about college sports (they prefer the rival state university over my degree-giving institution of higher learning). I expected the same would be the case this time, but I would get to at least drink my brother’s cold beer while enduring the grief. Little did I know how this reunion would turn out. Continue reading “21-Bizarre Salute”
Many times our hectic lives cause a failure to ask the questions of family that are important when painting the picture of who we are and how did we get here. For the most part (and most of us) we all know who we are – name, address, parents, siblings, etc. – and we snicker a little knowing how we literally got here. One should however pry a bit deeper with someone that knows. Some will not volunteer family histories but when asked, a whole new family education and heritage emerges. Then we pause (or should) and reflect on the similarities of this life versus those that preceded us.
This weekend I had a special opportunity to share time with my Father…back home. It’s always a cherished time when I’m able to see him and have the one-on-one time. This trip, this time, was infused with serious weather (another blog forthcoming) but we managed our usual how-is-everybody conversations, television watching, golf talk, arguments over who is paying for lunch, and so on. The Memorial Day holiday posed a unique experience with Dad. Every year since I can remember my parents have tended the gravesites of relatives in various cemeteries on Memorial Day weekend. The last time I remember being a part of this tradition was when I thought girls were from another planet. On this weekend, for the first time in oh-so-many years, Dad and I together made the “cemetery run”. And he shared with me a few things to make me pause and remember family. Continue reading “A Memorial Trip”
I use much of the available technology these days to stay in touch with family, friends, and for business. Then favorite son Tyler plants this bug in my ear to start a blog…suggesting I use WordPress (like his at tylerandtammy.wordpress.com). Perhaps “Beeba” thinks I can better communicate and express myself to my network audience via this media. Hmmmmm, I probably have several from that lot that may not want me to reach out and communicate any more than I already do. So anyone that happens to read this, please continue the personal and work email correspondence, text messaging, cell phone, home phone, U.S. Postal Service (who?), etc. We will see if this works out as an outlet of and/or for creative expression. In the mean time Tyler, you’re going to have to show me all the bells and whistles of the blog site cause I might just come up with something to say, sometime.
And speaking of the U.S. Postal Service, here’s a blog first story for y’all – it has played out over the past several days: Continue reading “Tyler’s doing and boomerang mail”
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