Another Work Of Art In Progress

Newbie is four weeks old in this picture and working hard on his smile among other things.

This smile was for his Mom.

Now I have to get one from him for me.

And Once More Into The Breach

A Movie And A Trip To The Fish Park

We started out this afternoon with a trip to the movies. Horton Hears A Who was the starring attraction. We were accompanied by two grandchildren, one age three the other age four. Both sat there and watched the entire movie basically moving only to ingest popcorn or to take a sip of my soda. They also liked some of the previews. The three year old was particularly impressed by the scenes showing sword fighters working on Narnia, The Caspian Prince. He said "wow" and then told his Aunt that the movie was not scary and he would be able to watch Narnia.

After we had some eats at Moe's, we went to play at "The Fish Park." I told my three year old grandson that it should be "The No Fish Park." He said "Its The Fish Park silly." So looking at the second picture you can see why it is called "The Fish Park."

We are now just starting to hit some summertime temperatures. You can tell by how the little people are sucking down their drinks. To say nothing of the red faces and missing shirts. The shirts started to come off within minutes of hitting the park.

Here is newbie in the arms of Nana. He was paying attention real good so I thought I would see how he looked in a straw hat. He comes from a couple of lines of "Florida Crackers" and "Gators." He didn't seem to mind having the hat on. As long as he is not hungry he is a real mild mannered dude.

Here is Newbie in the arms of his aunt who is visiting this weekend from NC. She is pregnant and will be delivering a granddaughter at the end of May. We will be in NC for that event.



Here is another shot of Nana holding Newbie at The Fish Park. Like I mentioned, he is a happy little fellow as long as he is fed. Regardless of what position you hold him in he likes to pick up his head and look around. I haven't seen a grin yet but a couple of times he sure looked like he was thinking about it. I probably just haven't told him the right joke yet.

Here is the older brother. He had a minor difficulty yesterday and again so he did not go to the movie. However, him and his Mom met us at Moe's for some Mexican type food. Then we went to the park to burn off some steam.


I would say all those in this family who attended "Horton Hears A Who" would recommend the movie.

Hope Y'all Had As Great Of An Easter As We Did

Here is a picture of the back porch. There are Easter eggs on the round table, the lounge on the left and also under the window on the right. You may not be able to see all the details in the picture.


There are also a couple of eggs visible in the grass. The eggs had to be put in the shade as the sun would melt any candy inside the egg.


This is Will searching for eggs. He is just now getting into it but we have to be careful because he has an older brother who is slightly faster and has done this more times.



This is Gus. He is almost a professional. Not quite though, he only got one of the eggs over his head without help. Although he was fast, he sometimes ran past closer ones to get the one he was looking at.



As you can see by their Easter baskets, both of them managed a good haul at the Annual Cheez Easter Egg Hunt. Now it's up to Mom and Dad to be the bad guys and make sure they don't eat all of that stuff all at once.


Newbie was not allowed to roam much. Between his Mom and Nana his feet never touched the ground. He spent his day taking on stores, blowing sanitaries and mooring alongside the two mother ships that were available. He must have had a real good time, because except for a short case of hiccups, we hardly knew he was there.

We had such a good time this weekend, we are going to try and do it again next weekend when even more family members can be there.

Aloha

Riding With His Lady Friend

Every guy knows that riding is much more fun as a pair. Even a four year old can figure that one out.

His grandpa, locally known as "The Safety Officer," will have to have a discussion with him on helmets.

Snoozin

Newbie likes it whenever I drop by. He likes to prove that he can sleep anywhere. Of course He realizes that I am not much value when hunger strikes.
Occasionally he raises his head to look at me but at this point sleep is highest on his priorities.

Check This Out

These two rascals are Newbie's older brothers. I would love to tell you what they are doing but no-one has the foggiest idea, including their mom who took the picture. They are ready to show Newbie the ropes.

Todays Prayer

Lord,
Keep your arm around my shoulder
and your hand over my mouth.

Now In Port, Moored Alongside The Mothership

Here is the Beautiful Bride holding her youngest grandson. On 29 February he left the hospital where he was born and transferred to his new home port. Aside from one self-inflicted scratch on his cheek he seems to be in 4.0 condition.

Notice that he has his head up and is looking at me while I take his picture. I don't know a lot about really little tykes, but this little fellow tracked me with his eyes and by turning his head as I continued taking his picture. He was like a little fire control radar following my movements.

I remember years ago how the Mark 37 torpedoes would track on the below-decks watch, or anyone who walked by, when they made their rounds through the Forward Torpedo Room. The rudder and depth controls would shift position in an attempt to keep the torpedo pointed at the sound source. The torpedo was strapped into the skid and could not actually move but not from lack of effort on the torpedo's part.

I was really impressed by Newbies' effort to track my movements.

Welcome Aboard Newbie

The Old Salt and His Beautiful Bride are shown here welcoming the newest member of their crew. Launched today at 0832 hrs, he displaced 8 lbs 12 oz with a keel length of 19 inches. So far this recruit seems to be laid back and relatively peaceful. However, may I point out that recruits have been known to demonstrate attitudinal changes during their first few weeks in service.

May he have "Fair Winds and Following Seas" throughout his life.

Happy Birthday Ise & Cheez

Today is our birthday. One of us is 64, the other is 4. I will leave it to the reader to figure out who is who. Sometimes you can't really tell by observation.

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
You look like a monkey,
And you smell like one too.

WAY TO GO NAVY, A FANTASTIC SHOT BY THE USS LAKE ERIE (CG-70)

The USS Lake Erie (CG-70), launched a SM-3 missile designed to knock down incoming missiles (not orbiting satellites) at 10:26 p.m. EST. The Lake Erie hit the school bus sized target about three minutes later as the spacecraft traveled in polar orbit at more than 22 times the speed of sound or about 17,000 mph.

Talk about wingshooting!

The three-stage SM-3 Navy missile has been very successful in a series of tests since 2002. The previous tests targeted short- or medium-range ballistic missile but never a satellite. The Navy had to adapt the SM-3 programming for this shot. Navy officials have said the changes would be reversed once this satellite was down.

A Runny Nose Type of Day

Well all of our weekend company has left the building. They left only two snotty noses behind, one on the Nana and the other on me. As I write this, I think I have already used about 12 pounds of Kleenex today. Of the three local grandchildren, I think two recovered enough to go to school today but the other one had to stay home. In fact, he got somewhat worse and had to go to the doctor today.

Tonight is going to be a hot shower and go to bed early night.

It's Here

This is my grandson helping me check out the newest addition to the family. He is also the one who saw me looking on the internet and then announced to everyone at the other end of the house that I was buying another one.

I quess that would make him like his uncle, my youngest son who asked me one day: "Which Glock is that your cleaning Dad, The 9mm or one of your 40s?"

I told my youngest then, "Son you never ask those questions in front of your mother. All Glocks look alike and she doesn't need to be bothered with how many we own."

However, as you can see, Friday the long awaited new toy arrived. It has been wiped down and the bore run through with Hoppes #9 and many patches. The bore was fully crudded but overall the rifle looks like a nice little piece. If nothing else, it should be fun to shoot and could be used as a hunting rifle. At this point, I have a little more checking of the bore to do to see if I have more crud, some erosion, or rust up by the chamber. I guess I'll have to find some kind of reasonable bore scope to check it out with.

Anyhow, I have to work on the bore some more and some of the screws need replacement since they have been torn up by using the wrong screwdrivers. The sling swivels are probably from Uncle Mikes. All in all though, not bad for a rifle over 100 years old. It's age alone made it a good deal. It should be a good shooter and hunting rifle.

A looked For Delivery Never Comes, But Turn Your Back For One Second

While I have been waiting for my new toy to arrive, the Btoh has stopped at my house three times. Today, while I was inside helping my blushing bride of double digit years, we heard a thump. As she just had L4-5 back surgery three weeks ago and is still coming back up to her normal operating speed she is in need of occasional assistance.

I quickly headed to the porch and arrived to see the BToH driver jump in his truck and drive away. I could see through the sidelights of the front door a brown box sitting in the chair out front.

Yep, a fifty pound box, one I recognized immediately because I recieved one just like it only two days ago. I ordered a McCulloch 1800 psi pressure washer from Target and lo and behold here is a second one.

SweetHeartFace called up Target and Surprise, both distribution centers had sent me one. Almost thought I had someones Christmas present for an instant.

If the BToH driver had not been running so fast he could have taken that back with him. Now Target is going to send the BToH back to retrieve the second delivery.

The good news is that my e-mail confirms that all paperwork and payment have been recieved and my new toy is actually enroute.

Gotta keep an eye on the curb.

Sitting By The Curb, Waiting...... Impatiently

This morning the temperature was almost 32 degrees. Luckily around here we are normally on the high side of 32 degrees. (I had to crop this picture so y'all would feel sorry for me. You can see my lawn on the right side of the driveway.)

Normally I wouldn't care but I have to be outside in case the BToH arrives. That's the Brown Truck of Happiness for the unknowing folks out there.

I sent in my money immediately with my order along with a copy of my C&R License.

I don't know why it is taking so long. Snail mail is a bummer. So are weekends when you are waiting for your new toy to appear. Saturday the BToH dropped my brothers new toy off in North Carolina; sooooo maybe I am next.

The C&R Adventure Continues

Today after much thought and consideration I used my C&R License for my first purchase, a US Springfield 1898 Krag Sporter. As I write this my USPS money order and signed C&R are headed North via snail mail.



The purchase was really more difficult than I thought it would be.

First, there are a lot of items out there that I want that exceed what I want or am willing to pay. As my brother Rick pointed out today while we discussed options: "So many guns, so little money."

Secondly, I really don't know what I want. I can sail along for quite some time and then, ZAP right out of the blue, I want that one right there. Sometimes what I want is an extension of one of my collectible categories, sometimes it is not.

Thirdly, I noticed there appears to be a noticeable number of firearm dealers (FFL) who do not want to accept a C&R License for transfer of the firearm. I believe in some cases, the problem may be due to more restrictive state laws. (You know those legislators believe a lot of evildoers arm themselves with 50 year old firearms they buy from collectors.) Additionally, I also believe some dealers failure to accept a C&R License is to ensure their livelihood since government inspectors are not neccessarily there to assist the FFL dealer if perhaps the law is actually misinterpreted.

During the time I was trying to decide what to buy, I contacted Brownells, Inc. and ordered a Firearms Record Book (S/N 108-006-000) to maintain my required C&R logs in; as well as a Brownells Personal Firearms Log Pkg (084-225-000) to maintain information regarding each specific firearm. They, as always, responded promptly with excellent service.

I also forwarded a number of signed C&R License copies to various companies that require a signed FFL/C&R to be physically on file with them before accepting any order.

Now the wait begins again. This time it is for the Brown Truck of Happiness to arrive. I know the BToH is busy right now because he/she has to drop another package of at my brother Mike's house before they can come to my house. Don't slow them down Mike, I am already getting excited.

It's A Tough Job But Someone Has To Do It

Throughout my the majority of my life I have been a rabid McDonalds fan. I drove two wives crazy with that place. In fact my kids will tell you that I can navigate around most of the known world by going from one place to another.

One time years ago while during a military cross country transit my spouse asked me if I knew where we were. The answer was, "Certainly, we can't be lost there is McDonalds."

Well over time and with many weird looks from my doctors I have managed to lower my numbers of visits; along with the size of my order.

Now I occasionally visit McDonalds and it's usually with one or more of my grandsons in tow. They kind of look at it as a treat to have a Cheeseburger Happy Meal with the Cheez (a nickname that has nothing to do with cheeseburgers).

It has been reported to me that my oldest grandson, age 4+, who had just been invited to his friend's birthday party, asked his friend if he would like to go with him for a Cheeseburger Happy Meal.

Upon hearing his question, his mom asked him if he was buying the Happy Meal.

His answer was no, but his Cheez would buy.

My C&R License Has Arrived

Friday, the USPS delivered my brand new shiny and crisp C&R License. I sent it in about 14 January, 2008 with a check and it arrived here dated for 1 February, 2008. That would be about 17 days.

Now comes the big decision, what should be my first C&R purchase.

There are certain requirements that are mandated such as it must be 50 years of age or more. Or it must be specifically listed on the Firearms Curios or Relics List as C&R eligible. And I also have to find someone who is willing to sell to a C&R License (03) holder rather than a Federal Firearms License (01).

Even more importantly, I have to find something I really like. I am somewhat enamored of 22 caliber training rifles; particularly those with a military background. But I am also fond of the various Lee Enfield, Krag Jorgenson and US Military rifles out there. Then there are old deer rifles and lots of nice shotguns out there.

There is also the question should it be a shooter or not. I'm really not into firearms that don't work although I do have a couple.

Well time to get on with the search. Whatever I find the adventure is on now.

Still Good Advice Even Today

This quote is from The Gene Autry Show, "The Fight on Peaceful Mesa."

Gene Autry's answer to his sidekick Pat Buttram's question on whose side should they take in the shooting that has erupted in front of them.

"We will have to find out which side is right and which side is wrong; when somebody is shooting you can't stay in the middle."

When The Navy Had Iron Men And Wooden Ships, And Their Priorities Straight.

Some little known naval history: The U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides), as a combat vessel, carried 48,600 gallons of fresh water for her crew of 475 officers and men. This was sufficient to last six months of sustained operations at sea. She carried no evaporators (i.e. fresh water distillers!).

However, let it be noted that according to her ship's log, "On July 27, 1798, the U.S.S. Constitution sailed from Boston with a full complement of 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of fresh water, 7,400 cannon shot, 11,600 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum."

Her mission: "To destroy and harass English shipping."

Making Jamaica on 6 October, she took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum.

Then she headed for the Azores , arriving there 12 November. She provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine.

On 18 November, she set sail for England . In the ensuing days she defeated five British men-of-war and captured and scuttled 12 English merchant ships, salvaging only the rum aboard each.

By 26 January, her powder and shot were exhausted. Nevertheless, although unarmed she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland . Her landing party captured a whisky distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons of single malt Scotch aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.

The U.S.S. Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February, 1799, with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, no wine, no whisky, and 38,600 gallons of water.

Who Would Have Thought

Today I was sent to the bookstore to find a novel for my "Sweetheart Face" who is recovering from back surgery. After scouring Books A Million with no luck I decided to go across town to Barnes & Noble where I had the same luck.

With a full head of steam up, I was leaving Barnes & Noble when out of the corner of my eye I happened to notice a dark haired man in a brown corduroy jacket walking towards me from the right.

Wow, I though to myself, that looks just like the guy who writes all the articles I really like in those gun magazines. Sometimes my brain is really quick, although not often. So I swooped around to check and sure enough he looked like "whats his name."

Now I am in a quandary, he really looks like him, my favorite gun writer of all time and I can't get a handle on his name. After 45 plus years of Navy, Law Enforcement and now retirement I sometimes think some one looks like someone and most often it's not them.

So I swoop around again and I see he has just put down a gun magazine and is looking at a gun book. I tell myself this information is a real clue. He looks like him and he reads about firearms. Suddenly, I remember his name.

So on the next pass I said, "Excuse me sir, but are you a writer?" And his response was "Yes I am." So I said "Is your name Massad Ayoob? And again he responded with a yes.

We chatted for only seconds because it really is not my style to interfere with a person who I really do not know. At the airport where I worked, I was acquainted with John Walsh of America's Most Wanted and he tried very hard to maintain his privacy. Although, he never got upset if someone talked to him but he mostly stayed away from the crowd.

I really have to say, I could not have been any more excited over meeting Massad Ayoob than I would have been if I met Gene Autry, Roy Rogers or John Wayne. I have admired Ayoob's writings for a very long time.

Thank you sir for a very pleasant interaction.

C&R License Application On Its Way

Today I sent my Curio & Relic Collectors License Application to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. For a fee of $30 this license allows me to purchase eligible firearms across state lines, transfer eligible weapons between licensed people, and order eligible weapons through the mail (UPS or FedEx).

Curios or Relics: Firearms which are of special interest to collectors by reason of some quality other than is associated with firearms intended for sporting use or as offensive or defensive weapons. To be recognized as curios or relics, firearms must fall within one of the following categories:

(a) Firearms that were manufactured at least 50 years prior to the current date, but not including replicas thereof;

(b) Firearms which are certified by the curator of a municipal, State, or Federal museum which exhibits firearms to be curios or relics of museum interest; and

(c) Any other firearms which derive a substantial part of their monetary value from the fact that they are novel, rare, bizarre, or because of their association with some historical figure, period, or event. Proof of qualification of a particular firearm under this category may be established by evidence of present value and evidence that like firearms are not available except as collector's items, or that the value of like firearms available in ordinary commercial channels is substantially less.

Hopefully in the near future I can stand with my peers on the curb awaiting the brown truck of happiness to deliver my newest adoption.

Those Who Seek To Be Leaders May Wish to Remember These Words

"Leadership must be based on goodwill. Goodwill does not mean posturing and, least of all, pandering to the mob. It means obvious and wholehearted commitment to helping followers. We are tired of leaders we fear, tired of leaders we love, and of tired of leaders who let us take liberties with them. What we need for leaders are men of the heart who are so helpful that they, in effect, do away with the need of their jobs. But leaders like that are never out of a job, never out of followers. Strange as it sounds, great leaders gain authority by giving it away."

ADM James B. Stockdale, Medal Of Honor
1923 - 2005

It's A Beautiful Thing

This is a beautiful thing for digital camera lovers. With a 1 gigabyte card in it I have over 400 pictures on it and have used 512 megabytes. The pictures are clear and detail is excellent. I did set them to 4X6 size before installing them on the compact flash card I am using but that was only to prevent any blank areas on the side. All the pictures I used were horizontal or landscape views. I am going to need another digital frame to showcase pictures in the vertical or portrait mode.

With a few of these babies located in a wall grouping you could cycle through a large number of digital photos in a small amount of wall space. Also, contrary to my original thoughts you do not need to have the largest sizes to be able to enjoy your pictures.

Years ago, I remember the grandparents back pedalling at all of the 8x10 school pictures coming at them yearly. They use up a lot of wall space in a very short time. I understand their reasoning a lot better now as the grandfather of a growing number of grandchildren.

Things To Look Forward To In 2008

I will update this list as we go through the year as more things to look forward to occur to me.

These fine collectable books are available at:

Cape Publications
P.O. Box 1027, Tustin, CA 92781
1-800/745-9714

Website: https://www.northcapepubs.com/

E-mail: ncape@ix.netcom.com

A Motto For Consideration

Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

The Old Salt really loves this motto to live by but believes you have to aim for distance; skidding in sideways in your early twenties eliminates a lot of fun that you may miss if you can last until your nineties before you end the ride.

Men's Rules

Here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules!
Please note these are all numbered "1" on purpose!

1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl, it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one:
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.


1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials..

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really .

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as shooting, sex or movies.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

It Was Pumpkin Patch Time This Weekend

Blue Daddy Got Home In August

Isaac's "Blue Daddy" is finally home.

Isaac was very excited and somewhat anxious.

He was running laps around his parents and Cheez at the airport. I think he was so excited he didn't know what to do with himself.

The Cowboy Code

Gene Autry created the Cowboy Code or Cowboy Commandments in response to his young radio listeners aspiring to be just like Gene:

1. The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.
2. He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him.
3. He must always tell the truth.
4. He must be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.
5. He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.
6. He must help people in distress.
7. He must be a good worker.
8. He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.
9. He must respect women, parents, and his nation's laws.
10. The Cowboy is a patriot.

The Old Salt thinks these are ideas are as valuable now as they were when Gene Autry wrote them years ago.

This is the South side of the house, Maudie is getting her plants installed nicely. The lawn is centipede grass, that is supposed to be short, but it seems to grow fast. An early sprinkler problem caused some stress but recovery seems imminent.



This shot is closer to the East. You can see a fairly nice water oak that was left during the construction. We are only mowing the sod we laid down at this time. It is our intention to leave some wilder areas around the lot. But it also takes time and money to get these projects completed.



Here I have taken the shot a little North of East so you can view the side of the house as well as some of the backyard. The lot is 1/2 acre which is not huge, but a lot more than we had with our Mercedes Home in Brevard County.



As you look at the backyard, it is about 60 feet from the back porch to the fence line at the back of the property. This angle really does not show the whole backyard. Not all of it will be mowed although we do plan on making it deeper in the future. Some of it will be left rough. The day we moved in, our daughter and grandson saw two deer on the other side of the fence. We often see red tailed hawks and hummingbirds out here. There is also a large owl who lives in the area.



This a closer shot of the back porch. Maudie is putting in a patio to increase the area for entertaining. It will be concrete pavers with sand packed around them in the finest HGTV tradition. A pergola will be constructed to hold more plants and provide some shade.


The sandy area will be filled in for the patio and the pergola will be located in the area where the kiddie pool is leaning against the house.

The Other day

Author Unknown, this was passed to me by a pal of some 40 years:

The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old.

I was taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old.

Upon seeing my reaction, he was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question, and I would ponder it, and let him know.

Growing Older, I decided, is a gift.

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be.

Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body ... the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the cellulite.

And often I am taken aback by that old person who lives in my mirror, but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly.

As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend.

I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avant garde on my patio. I am entitled to be messy, to be extravagant, to smell the flowers.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon, before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 a.m and then sleep until -- ?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50's & 60's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love.....I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the bikini set.

They, too, will get old. (if they're lucky)

I know I am sometimes forgetful.

But then again, some of life is just as well forgotten and I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken.

How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when a beloved pet dies? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion.

A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect. I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.

So many have never laughed,and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

I can say "no," and mean it.

I can say "yes." and mean it.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive.

You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore.

I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being older.It has set me free. I like the person I have become.

I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day... (if I want).

Today, I wish you a day of ordinary miracles. Love simply. Love generously. Care deeply, Speak kindly.

The Old Salt heartily passes these sentiments on to all of his relatives, friends and acquaintances.

P.S., I would write more but I have an important movie date with a my 2, 3, and 4 year old grandchildren and a large bucket of salted, buttered popcorn. TTFN.