Dogs In My Life

I spent time yesterday thinking about the many dogs in my life.  One stands out as the most unusual.  Her name was Sweet Pea.  I adopted Sweet Pea while serving in Vietnam in 1969.  She was one of a litter of 8 puppies born to a dog belonging to the villagers next door to our compound.  She was the center of attention because one of her ears flopped over.  This was apparently a sign to the villagers that she must be food and eaten.  To save the little puppy from this horrible end, I purchased her for the sum of 500 piasters, a little more than $5 U.S.  Sweet Pea became our "Team Dog". She lived where we lived.  Every time the team was relocated to another village, Sweet Pea went with us, 

usually on a Chinook helicopter.

Over time, Sweet Pea's floppy ear stood up straight like all the other respectable dogs of the villages.  She became our "ears" and "noses" at night, always watching for anything attempting to enter our compound through the barbed wire uninvited.  She had a job.  She was a vital member of my mobile advisory team.

When my time was up in Vietnam, I came home, but I had to leave Sweet Pea behind with the remaining team members.  I stayed in touch with some of the members for a couple of months until they, too, eventually went home, leaving only strangers as team members.  I have always wondered how long Sweet Pea was one the team. I saw her last in 1970 when I left for home.  Did she see the end of the war with the team?  Or, was she also a casualty like many others?  Sweet Pea was a good friend, and a good dog.

Relaxing on a hot summer day...

As the title of this post states, I did just about nothing but relax yesterday.  I took Spud, Hoppy & Peaches on a romp before it got too hot, then went to Sam's and got a couple of nice looking Boston Butts, took 'em home and smoked 'em.  They turned out pretty good.

The meat was falling off the bone when I finished them, and it melts in your mouth.  Perfect BBQ in my estimation.  I'll chop it all up today.

Just listening to the weather report on TV.  Seems like we're going to get some pretty heavy rain off & on today.

Later today, Spud & I are scheduled to resume our visits with the patients at University Nursing & Rehab in Athens.  This will be a good time.

So, that's about it for today.

Hot day, busy day...

Spud & I met with the Administrator of University Nursing & Rehab yesterday.  All is good. We resume therapy dog activity there tomorrow, and each Thursday, at 2:30pm.  Now, it's time to reschedule our therapy dog visits to Freedom to Grow Unschool in Hull, Ga.  Spud enjoys the kids reading to him there.
   Freedom to Grow Unschool   

Nancy leaves today with Sally for a visit with our daughter, Bonny, in Orlando, FL. Hoppy & Peaches.  I have some fun activities planned for them.  It's time for Peaches to learn how to jump up into the passenger side of my truck.  She can do it.  She's smart.
She'll be there for the next 4 or 5 days.  I'll be home babysitting with Spud,

The political presidential campaigns aren't really sticking.  The Republicans can't stop the influx of candidates (now 17, I think), and nothing much has been heard from Hillary on the Democrat's side of the fence.  Donald Trump is the only one kicking up dust in either party.

  I'm hoping that some of the issues that he's bringing up fearlessly without political correctness will stick with some of the other candidates.  But, I would never vote for Trump.  He's too much of an entertainer.  I think he's in it just to light a fire under the asses of some of the other Republican candidates.  He'll eventually drop out of the race after he makes his points, I think.

Later...

I'm back...

After having triple by-pass open heart surgery and my gallbladder removed within the past 2 years, I'm feeling much better.  Even my arthritic knee is getting along.  Dr. Medders, my orthopedic surgeon, fixed my knee up with 3 injections in the arthritic knee joint of something derived from chicken combs.  I've had virtually no pain in the knee in a little over a month.

A PUPPY!  We've got a new puppy!  Her name is "Peaches" and she's a Black Labrador Retriever.  Peaches is a little over 6 months old, now, and learning the ropes fast!  Peaches promises to be an avid dock diver.  She's already obsessed with retrieving anything you throw out there for her.

It's been a typical Georgia summer; hot & humid.  So much for the weather. 

Spud & I resume our Therapy Dog activities today after a long absence.  I'm feeling well enough, now, that I can do the visits without pain, knee & chest pains, to be precise.  We're visiting with the new Administrator at University Rehab & Nursing Home in Athens.  That's where Daddy passed away.  Our meeting is at 10:30 this morning with Ms. Sandra Wilkinson.

I've contacted the asst. principal of North Oconee High School to see if we can finally get the therapy dog thing going there.  I've been trying off and on for 2 years to get this done.  I'm proposing that therapy dogs be used to help students in stressful situations, such as at exam times.  The University of Georgia has been quite successful with this in the past 2 years.  Therapy dogs at UGA.

There's also a therapy dog program on the horizon for North Oconee High School.  That program is still developing.

That's about it for now.  I'm out of gas for the present.

Personal Challenges

For sometime now I've experienced heart palpitations accompanied by mild to severe chest pains. During the past 18 months, the chest pains, although mild, have become more frequent.  I finally made the decision to see a cardiologist.  Last week, I underwent a stress test with several other tests to diagnose my heart problems.  For sure, I have a heart murmur which I could have had since childhood and never knew about it.  What's not for sure is whether I have one clogged artery or more than one.  The doctor thinks only one, but to know for sure, I'm scheduled for a heart catheterization test on September 11th.  If the problem is not too severe, it may be cured with a stent. If the problem is more severe than the doc thinks, open heart surgery is the fix.

So, now I'm among the legions of Americans who have nitro tablets with me at all times. I don't leave home without it.  Assuming a stent is all that will be required to but the beast to sleep, I plan to be back to full speed 3 or 4 days after the procedure.

I write this in my blog rather than on Facebook for several reasons.  #1, I'm not looking for a pity party as is often seen in Facebook posts, and #2, I only wish for a few of my closest friends to know this. I literally detest the begging for a pity party.  So, if you're reading this, you know that you are counted among my closest friends. I ask that you not share this publicly.

Meeting Strangers

     This past Saturday, I ventured out to the J&J Flea Market on US Hwy 441 just north of Athens. My mission was to watch and photograph folks selling their treasures. I met a gentleman who was sitting on a bench outside one of the boiled peanut vendors areas, near the front door of the Flea Bite Cafe.

     I asked him if he minded if I photographed him, and he said, "No."  He asked me if I was going to publish his picture somewhere and make him famous.  I told him that I might want to publish his picture somewhere, but I doubted that I had the ability to make anyone famous with my photography.  He proceeded to tell me that he was already famous.  Of course, I had to ask him to tell me his story.  And, he did.

James Fielding, Chief Petty Officer, USN Retired

     This is Mr. James Fielding, retired Chief Petty Officer, US Navy.  James began his story by telling me that he lived just up the road in Madison County, and that he was a retired Navy man who had served in both Korea and Vietnam.  I told him that I, too, had served in Vietnam as a young Army Infantry Lieutenant, and asked him what he did in Vietnam and where.  He, then, commenced to tell me his story.

     James commanded a PBR (Patrol Boat-River) boat on the Mekong River near Sadec & Vinh Long provinces in what was once South Vietnam.  His mission was to block the enemy (Viet Cong) from running supplies up and down his sector of the river.  James explained that the Viet Cong made a lot of their money to finance their war effort by cultivating small, hidden fields of marijuana in the jungles adjacent to the Mekong.  This was really getting interesting, so I asked him did he have any specific occurance that he remembered about his Mekong River operations.  He went on with his story.

US Navy PBR on patrol in South Vietnam

     He recounted one river patrol in early 1970 in particular that was a joint operation with a couple of Army advisors leading a company of South Vietnamese Popular Forces to find and destroy some reported marijuana patches along the Mekong near Sadec Province.  He explained that the the two advisors, one an Army Infantry Lieutenant and the other an Army Sergeant, rode with him in his boat with the 80 man-strong Vietnamese combat unit following in 6 other PBR's.  James explained that that particular patrol was the only patrol he ever led as a joint Navy-Army operation.  I asked him what was so memorable about it.  About this time in hearing his story, I'm experiencing a little deja vous.  James continued to recount the experience.

     After dropping the advisors and their combat unit off at a suspected "target" along the river bank, James and the other boats under his command anchored close by to offer fire support if needed.  He and the other sailors observed what then had to be a very comical scene.  The Vietnamese soldiers did in fact locate a marijuana patch, seizing a large number of plants and piling them in a huge pile.  After the patch was cleared of the plants, the Army Lieutenant ordered one of the soldiers to set fire to the piled up weed.  The Navy Chief said that was a huge mistake.

     Once the fire got going large clouds of smoke from the burning plants began to hover low around the ground because of the heavy humidity of the day.  And, you guessed it!  The Vietnamese soldiers all forgot about the dangers of their mission and where they were, and proceeded to get high on the largest toke of weed in that part of the country.  James pointed out that if any enemy forces had been close by, the Army guys and their band of happy Vietnamese, would have been no match.

     The Chief' ended his story telling of  the safe extraction of all involved.  James and his Navy delivered the Army guys and their soldiers safely back to their village and bunkered compound to sober up and fight another day.

     It just so happens that I experienced a hauntingly similar experience in early 1970 while an advisor to the South Vietnamese Popular Forces in Sadec Province, South Vietnam.  But, I didn't inhale!

     I shook hands with the Chief and strolled on through the maze of vendors, thinking that James Fielding looked awful familiar.  Could it be...?

Finally!! Sunshine and Hot, Steamy, Georgia Summer Weather!!

According to the weather service, the local temp. right now at 1:01 pm is 89F, with humidity at 60%.  That's just about the norm for summer weather here where I live.  This afternoon, another trait of Georgia summer weather appears; Scattered Thunderstorms.  They usually don't last long.  Just long enough to give all the grass and plants a good watering.

I've been following a friend's photo posts to his family web page.  Steve Bacon & family live somewhere in Ohio.  We met the Bacons at a DockDogs event.  They're fine folks.  I'm adding their URL to my blog.  You can meet the Bacons here:  H2O Sport Dogs. Steve is active on Twitter, also.  You can follow him on Twitter @H2O Sportdogs.  With these folks, it's Family First!

Nothing special going on around here today.  I'm shooting publicity photos tonight for my friend Rick Rose.  Rick is directing a theatre show for  Town and Gown Players.  The name of the show is God of Carnage. If you're in the area, attend one of the shows.  You will definitely be rewarded with some of the finest theatre in the South.