New Photos

I just got some new photos from my annual summer trip to the Alvord Ranch in July 09. Thank you so much, Kim, the photos are wonderful!

Life's Lessons and Memories

I got woken up this morning by the phone call I knew was going to come soon, but you never want to get. After complications from a surgery that my father didn't need to have, his body finally gave out and he passed away this morning.

My father was WWII veteran and a world traveler. While working for the government in the 50 and 60's, he travel to Saudi Arabia where he met personally with King Fisal. I used to collect the different colored baggage tags off his suitcases when he returned for a trip.

He lived in Alaska when it was really wild. One of his projects was putting the DEW Line across the top of Alaska and Canada when the cold war was still a threat. I remember a story he told me about flying into the wilderness, landing on a lake in a remote location and the plane being attacked by a moose.

My father taught me to sail and we navigated the Lake Michigan together. He raced Star class sail boats every weekend. Because of him, I can single had a 55ft sail boat alone and even have raced ice boats across a frozen Mecox Bay in the Hamptons. He was a photographer and would let me help in the dark room he set up in our basement when I was 5 yrs old. He was a pilot of both fixed wing and gliders. As a young child, we would fly to Grandma's house in Ill. instead of driving. This was long before the interstate highway system was built.

Dad seem to bounce from one hobby to another. He was an amateur radio operator, his call sign was W8EDN. He would sit for hours with stacks of electronic equipment in front of him, talking to people all over the country. I was usually sitting on his lap.

He raised, trained and showed dogs, and always had a dog or two on his lap or lying at his feet.

Dad always had sports cars, MG's and later V-12 Jaguars, and could super tune two 8 barrel carbs to perfection. The last Jag he owned was called Miss Kitty. I remember the day I got that car, he cried in the driveway when it was being loaded on the flat bed, taking it to its new home. It is parked in my garage right now. Because of him, I was a Jaguar judge at a Jaguar Concourse D'Elegance.

Dad taught me to respect firearms at an early age, taking me to the pistol range when he was target practicing.

He told me how proud he was of me when I was training exotics and elephants. My only regret is that he never got to see how much I loved riding or showing my horses, or rope a cow or doctor a calf.

Life is short but when someone you love leaves this earth, they leave behind a lifetime of memories. Thank you Dad, for all you left with me.