Joy of Friendship

May 22, 2018 / doubledacres / 5 Comments

=-“The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.” –

Ralph Waldo Emerson

My story begins in a small second grade classroom located in the High Ridge Elementary school in the year 1961. That is when David Tripp and I became friends. I begin writing about our friendship on the eve our next adventure. I hope you find it entertaining.

My house for the weekend

David’s home for the weekend.

As I have stated in the beginning David and I met in second grade. We went on to become graduates of Northwest High School in House Springs, MO. We went our separate ways and were actually reunited through social media. In 2010 our ole buddy Tommy Parton planned a fishing day and we saw each other face to face for the first time in over 35 years. After that reunion David and I started getting together once a year to do some fishing and reminiscing. The subject of this blog is our 2018 trip.

David is quite an accomplished artist and is quite busy with art shows so it is hard for him to get free. We finally got it pinned down for this year and we decided on Silver Mines. I did a blog on Silver Mines in the fall 0f 2017. I used to visit the area when I was a teenager.

Trail leading to the old dam.

We arrived around 11:30 am and began setting up camp. The weather forecast called for rain and wouldn’t you know it, they actually got it right. Now I am here to tell you when two 64 year old men go tent camping there can be some humorous moments.

The first one was getting our lean, athletic (yeah right LOL) into those tents. Now let me tell you that is no easy feat. The best way I found was to just drop to the ground like you are on fire then do the worm through the tent entrance. Ahh, I am safely with in the cocoon. Oh crap! At sometime I have to leave the cocoon. When the time came I once again did the worm through the entrance and there I lay on my belly. A grown man who looks like he has fallen and can’t get up. I finally muster enough energy and coordination to get up and it sounded like somebody poured milk over a bowl of Rice Krispies, snap, crackle, pop.

David in his element.

Now I have to tell on my friend David. The ground was causing David some problems. so to help him sleep we went to town and he bought him an air mattress. Now David’s tent wasn’t 2,000 square feet. So David sets about placing this spacious mattress within the confines of his tent. I now know what it looks like when someone tries to put a size 38 waist into a pair of 34 jeans. However I do now know it can be done!

The old dam. You can see we did get some rain.

Well the weather more than PPed on our parade. It poured. I lost track but I think we survived four typhoons and a hurricane. Both our tents were one man tents. David had a Magellan and I had a Bushnell. I can say they both were fantastic through the storms. Only tense moment with my tent happened at 3:05 am. My bladder woke me from a deep sleep and when I tried to get out, the zipper was stuck. When you are 64 years old you just don’t have the holding power and knowing this I began to panic. Finally I was able to get it unstuck and I found I could get out of the tent easier than I thought I could.

Old overflow at the damn.

Path to dam.

Near Turkey Creek.

Part of the dam that is left.

Bridge across Turkey Creek.

“Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship.” – Epicurus

Friendship is the greatest gift someone can give you. Don’t take it for granted.

Thank you reading my blog. I hope you enjoyed it. Spread the love.

(All pictures were taken by me and are the property of Double D Acres LLC and can not be used without my permission.)

Life Suggestions

April 30, 2018 / doubledacres / 9 Comments

“Life is but a dream for the dead.” – Gerard Way

Have you ever thought, who am I? What am I doing here? Is there a purpose for me to be here? If you are like me you have thought of these and several more.

I think most of us have seen the movie “Its A Wonderful Life“. George Bailey is shown the lives he had touched and what would have happened if he had not been born. “A Christmas Carol” depicted a miser with no compassion, who is visited by three spirits and shown the error of his ways.

Now back to real life. You pretty much don’t have any control of your birth, so the beginning of your life is pretty much controlled by where the birth canal you come out of resides and the owners outlook on life. Until you leave home your parents are pretty much in control of your life. Your parents are a crucial part of your road to adulthood.

“The anguish of death hangs over and leads the human spirit to wonder about the mysteries of existence, man’s destiny, life, the world.” E. Morin

So you finally make it to adulthood. Your prize: work your arse off to make ends meet. Now you are going to spend the next 40 to 50 years of your life going to work and dreaming about retirement. Life is grand. Really it is.

There you stand at the beginning of the road of life with some big decisions. May I make some suggestions? First off I am not a psychologist, or the owner of any big degree title for that matter, but I have graduated from the school of hard knocks.

Are you happy with your life?
Are you harboring any grudges or bad feelings toward anyone.
Do you love yourself?
Do you keep a journal?
Do you take me time?

If you aren’t happy with your life take a step back and figure out why. Once you have figured that out then devise a plan to fix it.

If you are holding a grudge or any ill feelings toward anyone, STOP! Drop it! Forget about it. FORGIVE them. As long as you are holding a grudge, that negative energy is holding you back keeping you from being what you are capable of being.

You can be the type of person that loves everyone but don’t love yourself. Why don’t you love yourself? Do you not think you are worthy of your own love? You have to figure this one out. I am a firm believer that life holds those back that don’t love themselves. This is a very toxic negative energy.

If you don’t keep a journal may I suggest you keep one. You don’t have to write a book. Just keep track of your thoughts for a day and 6 months later go back and read it. You may learn a lot more about yourself.

If you don’t take time for yourself then please start doing so in the very near future say, like yesterday. There is so many ways you can enjoy “me time”. Yoga, meditation, reading, fishing, drawing/painting etc. Just find something that you enjoy, love doing, something that oozes of positive energy. Take this time to clear you mind, body and soul of the negative energy that has hitched a ride with you, trying to bring you down.

Don’t get caught up in it. Focus on the positive energy. The only one who will hold you back in life is you! Have fun and enjoy life.

I hope you enjoyed my blog. Thanks for taking the time to read it. I appreciate it very much. Make the world a better place and spread the love.

“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” – Norman Cousins

Change; Good or Bad?

April 22, 2018April 22, 2018 / doubledacres / 9 Comments

“Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will, and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… the power to choose, to respond, to change.” Stephen Covey

Once we squeeze through the birth canal and leave the warmth of the womb and take that first breath there is no turning back. Our “life clock” has began ticking and we have so much to learn and everything we learn is subject to change. Sometimes change is good and sometimes it isn’t.

Life experiences are responsible for defining our character and preparing us for adulthood. The leaders of life experiences are parenting and schooling. One prime example of change is parenting. Parenting of the 50s and 60s was a whole lot different than the parenting of today. My life clock began in 1954 and I have seen parenting change for the worse in my opinion. Schooling has changed immensely also and all I have to say is I am glad I was a child of the 50s and 60s.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela

Unfortunately as we are rolling along down life’s highway with adulthood in our sights, we can pick up something like “bigotry” or other negative energies and they pollute our hearts and minds and if we let it, it will pollute everything around us. Therefore we need some kind of filtration system and be smart enough to identify these negative energies.

My filtration system is Mother Nature. It might be camping out along the river, kayaking the river or sitting on a high spot on a ridge watching the sun set or rise. Mother Nature does a good job of absorbing those negative energies that have hitched a ride with me. It doesn’t have to be Mother Nature but should be something you love doing. Shedding those negative energies is a positive change.

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” – Maya Angelou

I don’t think we understand that “egos” cause a lot of problems and changes. I call it the “hungry beast” because it seems like it needs to be fed a lot. I know some people who are constantly feeding their egos without realizing how much damage that massive ego can do. It can be a person’s worse nightmare. It can completely change a person from well liked to a person who can clear a room by just walking into it.

Sometimes society goes head first in the world trying to change things. A lot of times they do this without thinking it through and not taking the time to envision what these changes are going to do in the long run. What impact is this change going to have on the highway of life? Is it going to be full of speed bumps or is it going to be like gliding down a toll road? We really need to start looking at the full impact of changing something before we do it. Just this humble bloggers opinion for what it is worth.

“Just when I think I have learned the way to live, life changes.” – Hugh Prather

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. It is deeply appreciated. A big shout out to all of you who follow me and read my posts. I finally broke 200 and I thank everyone of you who made it possible. Remember, spread the love. It will make the world a better place.