Monday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“By the time my girlfriend Hilda was eighteen she had sown enough wild oats to make a grain deal with Russia.”

                                           Phyllis Diller

One of my nephews had been wandering around in a dark and fetid jungle of uncertainty for over two years. Saturday afternoon he found a path and stepped out into the sunlight...he likes it.

Once again I read a sad story. A man was telling a very energetic and driven person to go slow, be low key so there is no pressure, live longer. Is that what we are here for to see how long we can live? It damn sure is not why I am here. A low key life will not guarantee a longer life either and all they will have left is memories of nothing. Life is not a bowl of whipped cream, it is a fiery adventure to be remembered. Years ago my father called me over knowing he was dying. He said that right after he and my mother retired they wanted to go on a trip to Hawaii but decided to not spend the money. Then he said “It is too late now, we are too old. Don't let this happen to you.” I want to sample every nuance of life I can...take chances...live a challenging and thrilling life. I am at a point that most of that is beyond my pocketbook and physical abilities but I have an ocean of memories that I would not trade to anyone. I was no Crocodile Dundee but I was not a bump on a log either. I feel sorry for those out there that all they have is memories of their job. Don't get me wrong, time with my family is very important and very memorable especially adventures with my girls, but accepting and overcoming challenges is the secret ingredient that makes you who and what you are.

For the first time in history a few years ago the state dog of South Carolina represented a breed in the prestigious Westminster Dog Show. The breed is the Boykin Spaniel. This particular breed does not have a long history.

Here is the story:

About 1900 a man named John Whitaker came out of church in Spartanburg, SC and there was a stray dog roaming the grounds. It looked like a Cocker but it was a bit larger and a solid dark liver color. He took the dog home as a pet. Whitaker saw some traits in the dog that would be advantageous to a hunter and sent the dog to his hunting partner who was also a dog breeder. His partner lived in the small town near Camden, SC. The man’s name was “Whit” Boykin. Boykin also recognized the built-in skills of the little dog and began a breeding program to take advantage of them. This little male stray dog began a new breed that is recognized today by hunters and dog fanciers everywhere. Boykin bred him with Chesapeake Bay retrievers and water spaniels until the right mix of speed, stamina and savvy was achieved. The final product is about 35-40 pounds for a male and slightly smaller for a female but all are bundles of irrepressible energy and enthusiasm when taken afield. They are superb on a dove field as well as a duck blind. When I lived in Taylors, SC many years ago my neighbor owned a female Boykin. I went with him once when he took Curlie out onto an open field to let her “stretch her legs”. When she got out of the car she was urinating in anticipation but held close to the owner until he said “Go”. Off she went in a zigzag pattern very low to the ground running at a blistering pace. Finally she slowed down and began a search running at a gait like a cheetah just before they break into a full run. Her back was low to the ground but it did not move up and down, she moved in a straight, rhythmic pattern…it was poetry in motion. It was a beautiful sight that I will never forget.

Here is a story about greed and pride. Back in the 1980's there was a Canadian scientist named Gerald Bull. Bull was an astrophysicist but his long suit was designing artillery. He designed an artillery piece that could fire a shell, even a nuclear tipped one, over 500 miles. I know it sounds improbable but Bull took his drawings to Canada, US, England, France and a couple of more countries who all agreed that the design was plausible but they had no use for it since the barrel would have to be about 150 feet long. But he finally found a buyer...Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Saddam was very interested knowing he would be able to hold the entire middle east hostage including Israel. Bull was questioned as to why he would want to put a weapon like that in the hands of a dictator like Saddam. He said that all the other countries had their chance, to hell with them. While he was supervising the installation of the 500 mile range cannon he was designing another cannon that could put something in orbit. All of this came to the attention of Iran, Jordan, Syria and especially Israel. They all knew that if Bull and Saddam were allowed to continued the entire world would be held hostage so something had to be done. It was decided that the Israeli secret police known as Mossad would get the assignment. Bull had a second home in Belgium and that is where he was spending the majority of the time while not in Iraq. They finally caught Bull in the hallway of his house in Belgium and capped him with two shots to the temple with a .22 long rifle target pistol and a silencer. Bull kept all of his drawings secret so no one else knew what he knew about artillery and Israel's problem with him was over. Why a .22 and not a 9mm you ask. It is the noise that might attract attention. Mossad has used a small .22 revolver using .22 short cartridges with half the powder removed. That makes very little noise and is very effective in an ear, eye or up the nostril. By the way, the cannon that was under construction in Iraq was abandoned...no one had the drawings nor the formula for the propellant.

This Date in History February 16

1862 US General U.S. Grant completed a brilliant campaign in the western theater with the capture of Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River in Tennessee. Just 10 days before he had captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River which severely damaged the Confederate supply routes. The Confederate troops at Fort Donelson were led by General Gideon Pillow. Fort Donelson was well defended by seasoned troops. Grant chose to attack from two directions and was initially successful but General Pillow ordered a counter-attack and drove the US army back making an escape possible, but Pillow got greedy. He thought he would win and continued the attack rather than ordering an escape. Included in those that chose to escape were CSA General Nathan Bedford Forrest and 500 cavalrymen that proved to be a thorn in the side of the Union army for the entire war. Eventually Grant was able to flank Pillows troops and they were forced to surrender. When Pillow asked Grant for surrender terms the answer was “nothing but total and unconditional surrender will be accepted”. Grants troops joked around saying that the U.S. in Grant’s name meant “Unconditional Surrender”.

1803 The fledgling United States merchant fleet had been under attack by pirates from North Africa while the ships were in the Mediterranean Sea. President Thomas Jefferson got fed up and sent our Navy there to counteract the pirates. One of the US warships, the Philadelphia ran aground near Tripoli and was captured. The US Navy felt that they had to prevent the pirates from adding to their fleet with a ship of this caliber. On this date, Lieutenant Stephan Decatur and 73 sailors and Marines sailed into Tripoli harbor disguised as Maltese fishermen. They boarded the Philadelphia, killed the crew and set fire to the ship and burned that puppy down to the waterline. Decatur and his crew escaped with no casualties. Decatur became an icon in the history of the United States Navy. There are several towns named for him.

           Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow