Wonderful Wildlife-

 Up before dawn, I find myself on my patio watching the sunrise. 
I'm also present as our deer make their way to their daytime sleeping quarters and the family of geese on our pond make their way from the center of the water to the bank to eat their breakfast.
And then there's our squirrels-
We have four hickory trees on our property and the squirrels absolutely LOVE them. In the early morning hours I have counted as many as ten of the little grey "tree rats" chasing one another around our property.
They're fun to watch. But...
They're also destructive as all get-out.
They chew on our home.

We live in a home made of logs. I think squirrels are one of those rodents that must chew in order to wear their teeth down. When they chew on the logs of the exterior of our home the sound is amplified throughout our home. It's disheartening and a little helpless feeling to hear the sound of your home being eaten away by these pests-
Why aren't they just taking advantage of the hickory trees?

And then it happened-
They started gnawing on the screens of our upstairs windows. 
Sara Jean was confronted in our upstairs bathroom by a squirrel that had eaten a hole in that screen, and it was the straw "that broke the camel's back". 
I got the "havaheart" trap out of storage.

Using sunflower seeds as bait, over two days now, I have trapped NINE of the little grey devils. 
They're still a pain in my backside because I want to treat them humanely-
Each time we catch one I load the trap into our car and transport, then release them in a stand of trees about a mile away from our home.

So we're giving them  a new lease on life. A neighbor suggested we paint the tails of our captured rodents red so we know if they're finding their way back to chew on our home.
We haven't done that.That may be a mistake. 
Our hickory trees are mighty tempting.

Faces

 I am, and always have been a sucker for a beautiful face.
Fox News knows this.

Another Reason To Come To Tennessee-

Our son is now living in Clarksville Tennessee near Ft. Campbell. We make the three hour drive to visit him every couple weeks.
 Yesterday, while running errands here, refueling the Dodge/Cummins I paid $2.889/gallon at the "Speedway" gas station. Across the street at the Shell station the sign out front advertised their diesel fuel at $3.599 per. The price of gasoline between the two outlets showed a similar difference so I also filled a couple portable five-gallon containers to use in the Taurus when we return home.
In spite of that disparity in price the Shell station still had customers lining up to refuel.

 Do people simply not pay attention to the signs?

Fat Tuesday-

After I made reservations for our cruise departing 2March a couple months ago I panicked, realizing our departure from New Orleans might coincide with Mardi Gras. My initial research indicated the festival would begin on March 4th. Suspicions began at the Car Rental return when the lady guiding us to our parking space was festooned with what appeared to be a Circus Clown outfit in VIVID Purple, Gold, and Green.
My comment while observing the crowd on our way to the French Quarter was, "Boy I'm glad we got here a couple days early!" Purple, Gold, and Green was the "Uniform of the day" being displayed by THOUSANDS. We had to disembark our Uber ride early because the walkers were moving faster than we.

Surrounded by music, dancing, drumlines, and  huge numbers of people looking to have a great time, it's impossible not to have a smile on your face... until the numbers of folks become so numerous you fear losing contact with family members... which I did twice.
I'm glad we are here.
Never again.

Our NCL ship departs for a week tomorrow afternoon. First stop- Cozumel.
We have the package including WIFI.
Updates will follow.

Lewy Body, Update 1-

Sara Jean never comes here to "Pitchpull", so I intend to use the blog to update you on what is going on in our dementia experience.
(She reads ALL my FaceBook posts and has already forced me to delete some of my comments there.)

Yesterday she was chatting with someone on FB and turned to me to ask, "How do you spell 'us'"?.
Seeing my reaction she realized the depth of her question and started to cry.
This is no longer my wife. The disease has taken over.

Today her temper is on a hair trigger. I cannot point out changes in her behavior without getting an angry response. I MUST learn to be more careful with my answers to her questions.

I married this beautiful woman "For better or worse; in sickness and in health."

The road we are traveling will be more and more difficult as we continue.
I don't seek sympathy here. I know how this story unfolds.
I just need a place to vent.
If you see "Lewy Body" in the subject line, you may want to skip what follows.

Dateline- Duc Pho, Viet Nam

(This ain't no B.S.!)

I was on the ground on standby at the airfield at Duc Pho, Viet Nam commanding a team of two UH-1C Huey Gunships to provide support for a subordinate infantry unit of the 123rd (Americal) Division.
This was a typical "Hurry up and wait" type mission for us and we were sitting/waiting on benches outside the operations shed.

We watched as a guy, (almost certainly CIA), flying a "Helio Stallion" landed and carried a box full of "Who knows what" secret stuff into the OPS office. When he walked out of the office he turned to us and said, "You helicopter guys think you're SO special? Watch this!").
The wind was blowing straight down the runway at about 30 knots. He started the big turbine on the nose of the airplane, taxied to the runway and got airborne.
He then flew straight to the departure end of the runway, reduced the throttle on this unbelievable flying machine and allowed the wind to blow him back to where he started his takeoff roll. He then landed on the spot on the approach end of the runway from which he started his takeoff.

Were we "Helicopter guys" impressed?
You Bet!

Cummins Diesels-

A Saturday last summer-
I had just pulled into the parking space at the WalMart in Clarksville, Tennessee and was allowing the turbocharger on my truck to cool. This normally takes about a minute or so.
During my wait I became aware of a man standing just outside my door.
He didn't look threatening. I opened my door.
"What year is your truck?" he asked.
"It's a '97."
"How much you want for it?" he asked with a smile, (with no idea how many miles were on the clock. 268,000.)
Knowing exactly where he was headed I responded "What's it worth to you?", even though I have NO INTENTION of selling my truck.
Again, he smiled.

We chatted for a few seconds and together we realized two things-
1. He initially thought I might not know the value of the truck and that he might be able to lowball me.
2. He soon realized I knew exactly what I owned and that he wasn't able to take advantage of my ignorance.
That settled, we had about a 15 minute discussion about the market for old Dodge/Cummins trucks, and parted amicably.

I had spent several months on eBay searching for the truck I wanted to buy...
A two-wheel drive extended cab Dodge Ram truck with a 12-valve Cummins engine and long bed.
I wanted a truck with a standard transmission. They are FEW and FAR between. I had to settle for the automatic.

Growing up in Central Indiana I had a friend whose Father had a pickup... a '53 Ford F100 with a Flathead V8 engine.
I LOVED that truck... loved the looks and the sound of it. It was simple and ready to do work.
It was A TRUCK!

Over the last years I've owned a few trucks-
Two Chevy S-10's that served me well during the almost 200,000 miles I drove them.
A '95 Chevy K1500 bare-bones truck that was geared WAY TOO LOW for Interstate driving that I sold within two months of purchase for exactly what I paid for it..
I wanted a truck, and knew what I'd need in the future.

As a kid my family went camping, and I had fond memories of that.
Sara Jean's indication of early stage dementia made me realize while she was still "with me" I wanted to do some traveling with her. I figured some sort of camper in our future would serve that need, but would require a truck to tow a camper. A 3/4-ton truck would be most comfortable.

I'm a HOOSIER kid; Indiana born and raised. I have been aware of the Indiana based Cummins company since Freddie Agabashian drove a Cummins Diesel powered race car in the 1952 Indianapolis 500 and shocked everyone with the power of that race car.

A few years back, Cummins had gotten together with Dodge to produce a pickup truck and those trucks had proven to be "Torque Monsters" and reliable. Buyers seeking a pickup with the power to tow heavy loads without niggling troubles have sought them out. 
Early "12 valve" versions like my truck are now respected and sought after.

-The following Sunday, literally 24 hours after being approached in the WalMart Parking lot, the doorbell at my son's home rang. At the door I found two nice looking young (30-ish?) men.
"We're interested in the truck. Are you interested in selling it?"

I LOVE my truck and I'm not interested in selling it right now.
But it's nice to know it will probably increase in value from this point forward.