looking laid back and cool

ok, how about just relaxed. not sure as i do not remember what/where/why this picture is about. it is dated march of 1969 so that would put me at age 14 and we would be somewhere around pascagoula. who knows? we would be headed out to tucson later that summer and man would be walking on the moon. don't forget about viet nam. march of 1969, an odd time to be growing up.

so serious

not sure why; but we both look so serious in this picture taken on oct. 20, 1968. i have no recollection of this nor do i have a clue as to what is around my neck. this is in front of our trailer in pascagoula, mississippi. i was 13 and already taller than my dad. gads, what a necromantic i was, even then. there was no 'steampunks' in the world at this time; but i was one if ever there was.

having good times with friends

this is me and some of my high school buddies having fun on mt. graham. the question you should be asking is: are the pants i'm waring really purple? yes they where and i think quite the rage for young mens fashion in 1971.

the adventures of young....

this is an amazing picture of my dad on his horse coley. i am not positive but i think this picture was taken around 1919, what an truly remarkable glimpse into his life and how he grew up. he was a young "indiana jones". the tales of getting stuck in quick sand after coley threw him; of cutting his finger off and walking into town with it to see the doctor and of course his whip. his everyday life as a boy growing up was remarkable.

another magical evening in vegas

the sights, the sounds and the excitement of the strip. neon city is still fun to see and experience.

a very proud day for them

on the occasion of sarah's graduation from the 6th grade in 1994. my father made it into the 9th grade and then got his GED years later as an adult. mom passed from the 3rd grade into the 4th but never went because she had to pick cotton. i remember this day as both of my parents remembered their past and looked forward to their grand daughter's future.

all things considered

i am still dealing with mom and her hip. everyday i try and go spend at least a few hours with her. she is, for the most part, pretty good and her spirits are up. every once in a while she is in a lot of pain and really is old and tired. i will someday, share with you the strength this woman has and her ability to endure. this is a picture of the health care facility she is in right behind saint joseph's hospital. it is not a bad place for her to be, but still feels like a 'home' each day when i walk up.

happy easter everyone

easter was always fun with the kids. both of them loved hunting for eggs and we would hide them over and over all day. it is a special time in every child's life when they still believe in the easter bunny.

the smells of easter are a wonderful memory as well. the eggs, the whole boiling thing and of course the dye. over the years we had everything from disney to star wars as decorations for the eggs. even one year, we took mom,dad and william to disneyland for easter. it was a stay up all night, go to the park then all night back home weekend. very tiring but was a special easter for us all.

talk about a goober ~

this is the extent of my baseball career. one season with the the awesome thigpen hardware team {1967} from picayune mississippi. i was miserable at baseball and didn't really care for it as a sport, either to play or watch. i hit one triple and i think i was more surprised than anyone.most of the time i simply struck out. oh well, it resembled fun i suppose and keep me from chasing 'low ward' six grade girls after school.
clue: i am the tall one.

a moment to relax

with all that has gone on in the past week; i wanted to just take a second and watch the world pass by.

a busy few days

it started last week with mom falling and breaking her hip. then i got my feeding tube taken out. xainder was born and aaron changed his name. i have either been at the hospital or the court house. here are two shots of my newest grandson. his name is xanider ryan parker.

still cold and cloudy

what we call winter (no snickering) is still with us. it has been downright cold here.
(happy birthday xandier: born march 18, 2008)

today is turning out to be a busy day.

mom is still in the hospital and doing so so. in a lot of pain but hanging in there. jessy and aaron are at the hospital right now and she is heading into labor. i go to the doctor this morning to have my feeding tube removed. jezzz. so here is a picture of heather and her friend tiffiney. they are in san diego with work. oh well, at least it's not boring around here.

a special bond

between a grandmother and her granddaughter. looks as if a giggle is going on here.

trouble in the brewing

looks like the girls are having a lot of fun at this party. it is fun to see you guys having fun. i wish moments like this would never fade.

because i need a happy place

today i am sharing part of my paper disneyland collection. this is an oct. 1963 post card i picked up the other day of main street. i like this card for 2 reasons really. one, it is of main street which is my favorite part of the park. there is nothing as special as entering under the railroad tracks and leaving the real world behind. the other is this card is from 1963, which is the year i made my first visit to the park. we went in the summer, but, this very card may have been in the park already as a stocked item, an i think that is pretty cool. this is in fact how main street looked and felt to me as a kid.

(~good luck mom and i really hope you feel better!~)

a common site

this was taken a few weeks ago on mt. lemon. taking pictures has become a big part of my life right now. i will be sharing some more recent pictures in the future on this blog. i hope you enjoy them and i will continue posting older pictures as well.

on a cool evening

like i have said, seems like all we did was either play, ref or watch soccer for several years. here is sarah coming off a field late one evening. looks to be what we call winter in tucson.

a lazy afternoon at the beach

oh, if only every day was like this day. just a stroll on the beach, listening to the waves and that wonderful saltwater smell. i think some of my most peaceful moments where just like this.

a busy weekend

it started friday night with me going to check out my buds new band called rage of angles. it was fun to see what had happened with trevor and after subnet. rage is a 4 piece band with a lead singer; taking pressure off trevor to sing. now only harmonizing and backups. this alows him to really let loose on the guitar. they did two of our old songs and that was really fun to hear. they want me to play bass, but that is still a long way off if ever. i will think about it.



then, sunday morning, before the race, i went and saw 10000 bc with kenny, pavlos, marios and his wife arrie. it was fairly good; typical storyline but with a rather cool twist to the ancient egypt story. action and popcorn and by no means gross at all. some but not a lot of blood.



after the movie, i rushed back home to catch thesecond half of the race. all in all, a busy but really good weekend.

enjoying hot beers in mexico

this is dr. thompson (l) and lloyd findley(r) in a shot from may of 1974. both of these men played an all to short but important role in my early life at the university of arizona. dr. thompson was a professor of biology and marine sciences and lloyd was a phd student and his assistant. dr. thompson finished his career in tucson and was considered the world expert in the gulf of california fauna. lloyd became the curator of the monterey bay aquarium in monterey, california for a while, then i lost track of him. we had good times drinking hot beers and collecting fish and doing a lot of research all through the gulf area.

on the back of a bear

here we have sarah, mario and holly at magic mountain in 1994. this pictures begs the question: which of these kids knew how to enjoy themselves at an amusement park?

sarah, holly and their friend

here we are from 1994 at sea world. as always, sarah has met a new friend (this is mrs. seaweed) and holly looks as enamored as usual.
{the little girl at the bottom of picture is an unknown}

a very proud mother

this is mom with one of her friends from june of 1955. a long time ago.

ahhh a cool dip in the heat of the day

here is william from may of 1979. that would make him about 14 1/2 months old. he loved being in that pool. with or without water in it.

pistol pete

when i was in junior high, i was the tallest kid on the team usually and i played center. by the time i reached high school, i had stopped growing and was now one of the smaller kids on the team and played guard. well, one of my sports 'heros' during this time was pistol pete maravich and i so wanted to play like him. i practiced all the time, every day for hours. i loved making fancy behind the back or between the legs passes. i never was the scoreing machine pete was, but i was a very good point guard who knew how to control the ball and the game. this is a picture of me messing around from jan. 1972.

one last dance from their trip to maine

they both deserved so much out of life. for no other reason than they both brought so much to it. all the way to the end, dad loved mom so much and they were so happy in each others company. someone who you could trust always and who forgave any short coming(s) you may have had. i am envious of them both and love them so much.