Two Big Dates Are Upon Us!

Two big dates are coming upon us folks, in just a week or so we will be celebrating a phenomenal resource in my life.....An outlet of anguish, a tablet of my ramblings......A journal of my joys, woes, and trivial everyday life.....ALMOSTGUNLAKERS will soon be one year old....I am planning a big celebratory post for the one year anniversary.....I must warn you to be excited and also to know that I will be bringing some items to the forefront that I only spoke of in code on this blog....Some will be angered, turned away, others intrigued.....Some will embrace it and others will flee.......GET READY! I am opening up even further....

The other day which approaches is Valentines Day. I must admit that I get more sentimental and in touch with my inner emotions as I get older......Which brings me to tell you of a few things which I love:

The sweet breath and warm embrace of my beautiful daughters as they sparkily tell of some exciting moment in their young lives.....

The torque and pull of a lively monster fish on my line.......

The wonderful relaxing feeling I get when I swing open the door to my castle after a 36 hour weekend of work only to see a pin-neat kitchen and living room....And the fresh smell of clean linen.....And to see my tired wife who toiled for this spotlessness sleeping softly in a warm bed....

The angel like countenance of my mother as she gleefully passes a basket of homemade valentines for my daughters.....All at 0640 in the morning as she got up early and drove to cater to my odd schedule....The passion she has for her unselfish serving of others and the truly Christ like manner in which she delivers her loving servant craft.....

The heavy fog on a warm lake as the sun cracks above the horizon as I slowly motor and throw my lines into the deep abyss.....

The tangy quench of sour mash whiskey after a belly full of fresh fried fish and bitter coleslaw....The contrast of an orange glowing embered cigarette on my lips.....

Brisk morning air and birds hammering away their early day chorus of joy.....

The strong pull of my Jeep in four wheel drive launching forward as the sky spits wafer sized snowflakes....

My dear sister who really knows and laughs at the depths of my craziness.......Her unfaltering pursuit of that which is Holy, Just, Righteous, and her undying vaults to partake in all life has to offer beside the everyday worldly rush in spite of all who would question her....

My dear father and his unquivering wisdom as I tell of what struggles I have......The calm re-assurance in his voice as he says, "son, I've been there."

A hot shower cascading on sore muscles and a peach apricot shampoo/conditioner soaking in my hair.......and overloading my senses......

The hot panting of my lover in my ear as I hold her tightly in my grasp....

The thump-thump-thumping of the ol' farmer's antiquated tractor across the street as he flawlessly careens across the field dragging a disc for yet another season of harvest. To watch his perfect execution of steering with a feather's grasp on the steering wheel all the while his gaze rearward at the fresh earth he has uncovered and tossed asunder for the 100th time......

Natalie's beautiful smile and gaze as I break, smash, and spill one more thing and the confidence in her eyes that she saw it coming all the while....

The familiar garbled voice of my brother as I flip open my cellphone and hear, "what'r'u'doin Gene?" The ease in which I can tell him of my struggles, laugh of his, and share in our common passion for ADVENTURE..........The ease of which we can begin garbling the words "allright" and simultaneously hang up on eachother without malice as the conversation dies....

Roaring fires....

The final click of handcuffs on a demon who has pilfered and stole innocence....

The roar of a siren and flashing strobe lights nearing close as I struggle with one much larger than me.....Only hoping to hold on long enough for that warrior behind the wailing siren and burning strobe light tubes to arrive and help me tie up the evil and haul it away for a too temporary incarceration.....

Big snowflakes.......

The hot glow and desolate warmth of an ice fishing shanty in the middle of a lake in darkness.....As I pull up a lunker Crappie through the ice......

The puffy softness of a dear pet snuggling and snoring softly against my leg.......Unaware of the toils and struggles of daily life.....

November, December, July, October, June-.....

A really big fat ass crazy big paycheck!

Ol' School Country.....Waylon, Willie, Merle, George, Don Williams, Paycheck......Nora Jones......

God in all his majesty.

My wife.


These things I love. These things are such a part of my soul you could not separate them with the finest of scalpels in the best surgeon's hand......