The Humanitarian In Me...

bomb's away

...has decided to spare you...and thus no mention of politics...

gotta be a Casablanca fan to get this one...

...or any other subject that might angry up your blood...

...and the Art of War by Sun Tzu fan to get this one.

...will be mentioned in this blog entry.

So, on to happy pics time:

we start with some pics from Larry up at his cottage...moon over the water...

...mirrored water on the lake...

...and a loon swimming past his cottage

now around the ol' homestead...happy to report our Oriole is back for another year...

...enjoying orange slices and grape jelly

Ryan's tree is blooming again...

...a constant reminder of the fleeting beauty in our lives

Larry shared this meme with me...as a transplanted Texan, I had to smile

one of our projects for this year just got underway...patching and seal coating the driveway

the King and Queen admiring one of the White House honey bees...I cropped King Charles out of the pic bc, you know, no kings

while visiting a local greenhouse we admired their koi pond display

this was supposed to be a picture of my sub-par scorecard but I must have misplaced it...so I opted for something else you'll never see in this lifetime

and speaking of hickory golf, this week's outing was canceled due to a freeze warning...looking forward to next week

There...not too painful, I trust.  Gave our collective cerebral cortex a break and allowed our <limbic system> to shift into neutral for a much needed rest.

But don't get too comfortable; reality awaits, crouching right outside your door, ready to pounce on you, its unsuspecting prey.

What a segue!  Lines up nicely with this week's parting verses:

8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

    - I Peter 5:8

37  What I say unto you, I say unto all:  Watch.

    Mark 13:37

later, mcm fans...

Imagine How Proud...

Cole Allen: from graduate to gunsel

...his parents must be!

"Ma," Dad crows as he points to the TV screen, "our boy Cole just tried to assassinate the president of the United States!"

"I know," she replies contentedly, "we're practically famous now!"

Their son certainly is, but according to the left, the profound mystery here is "who was he really trying to kill?"

Reporters?  Celebrities?

The Gray Lady (aka The New York Times, and here we must assume "Gray" is used as a synonym for "Delusional") claims we may never know:

But wait...the overweening Mr. A was condescending enough to leave us a detailed explanation:

<Gunman's Manifesto>

Very revealing!

He explicitly states his target was Trump and his administration.

Ironically, he chose the White House Correspondents Dinner to make his doomed-to-failure attempt, but then again, why not?

Was there anyone in that room who hadn't written a hit piece on Trump?

With a democrat to republican ratio of almost 100 to 1, rare indeed is the msm journalist who doesn't despise Donald J Trump.

The dems have been calling Trump and Maga "Hitler" and "Nazis" for years now, and their lapdog stenographers have dutifully regurgitated every attack.

Intellectual featherweights like Jamie Raskin...

..and Temu Obama, Hakeem Jeffries...

...have been leading the charge, while the propaganda arm of the DNC have been faithful apparatchiks, breathlessly repeating every outrageous claim.

Cole Allen was simply the weak minded weapon they locked and loaded with their <non-stop litany of hateful rhetoric toward Trump and his followers>.

In the aftermath of yet another attempt to assassinate President Trump, there will be the usual farcical political theater, hand wringing and of course, "DARVO":

Deny the accusation;

Attack the accuser;

Reverse Victim and Offender.

We've never tried to incite violence against Trump, but Trump constantly attacks us!

He's not the victim, we are!

Of course it's Trump's fault!

Just another day in paradise.

My daily prayer:

"Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered."

    - Proverbs 11:21

Lord, let it be so.

We're going to change subjects without even a half hearted attempt at a clever segue:

You guessed it, my first round of the season!

The good news?

This pretty picture is not the best thing that happened on the course.

In other words, it was a decent round for my first time out.

Hit ok from the tees, well from the fairways, and surprisingly well around the greens with my lofting iron.

Putting, as usual, was my downfall.

I play bogey or better wins the hole, double bogey or worse loses, and this was a win, 5 holes to 4.

Definitely committed to playing better as the season progresses, but I walked off the course feeling ok about my round:

A little exercise, a little solitude, and a pleasant stroll through the countryside.

Let's hit the 23 Skidoo trail:

big happenings this past week: #2 grandson tied the knot...

...and Larry opened his cottage up north.

we're making some progress with the courtyard...

...and Lady Baysweep is back in action.

the ornamental cherry tree in Ryan's Corner is getting ready to bloom...

...and the lilacs are making their welcome appearance.

in springtime Tom Turkey's thoughts turn to love...

...while the thoughts of his intended turn to fleeing.

It's an oft repeated request, but please pray for peace:

"I exhort therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men;

"For kings and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty."

    - I Timothy 2:1,2

later, mcm fans...

Couldn't Happen...

...to a nicer dumber guy. 

Sleazebag dem taken out by his own party - why?

Because they have such high moral standards they can't tolerate his criminal behavior?

It is, as they say, to laugh.

His predatory behavior was an open secret, ignored by the morally bankrupt dems because they liked him as an obedient attack dog.

When Pelosi was briefed by the FBI on Dirtbag's involvement with the Chinese honeypot spy Fang Fang, her response was to place him on the House Intelligence committee.  (I know, the oxymoronic jokes write themselves.)

In short, dems don't care about anything - not morality, not sexual predators and certainly not truth - other than power; THAT they care about.

And when you get in the way of their grasping, all encompassing lust for power...

...you're immediately and irrevocably toast.

So buh-bye Eric!

Mother Pelosi used to love you...

...<until you stunk up the joint>.

Guaranteed, she pulled the trigger and 3 days later he's gone.

Now if we can just have the Pelosi treatment for Pelosi herself, along with Schumer, Jeffries, Schiff, Goldman, Raskin, Murphy...

Closer to home, Spring has sprung - leaks that is, and big ones...

flood hazard map - blue shaded areas have flooding

...all over the state.

Record rainfall / snow melt has produced serious flooding issues from Grand Rapids...

the Grand River overflowing its banks

...all the way up to Traverse City...

the Beitner Bridge washed out

...and east to Rogers City and beyond.

Proving I'm self-centered enough to somehow make every issue all about me...

hey, how come Harry Vardon gets to play?

...my first tee time of the year was canceled since my local links are currently underwater.

Now that's a crying shame, but it could be worse:

from this week's RBC tournament in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

That's why you don't try to retrieve water balls down south.

I know you'd love to hang around and discuss Iran's schizo desire to be totally destroyed by US firepower (Hormuz - now it's open, now it's not) -

shades of Monty Python

- and the IRGC may get that wish - but for reasons I'm not free to divulge at this juncture (translation: I'm bored), we're going to 23 Skidoo instead:

a rare sunny, dry day allowed our magnolia tree...

...to strut its stuff.  sadly, the blossoms are already falling due to high winds and rain again.

if they did an all human cast for Shrek, guess who'd be perfect for Donkey?

it was sunny but only 35 degrees when I got up today...lovely to have a warm fire on a cold spring morning

a little closer look at the mantel: that's my dear Aunt Velma and her beloved hound Belvedere on the left, my beautiful wife in the middle, and one of those irksome, ubiquitous Aldi critters on the right

and speaking of, you'll never guess where we found that carrot wreath

8:40 am, solar time; 9:40 am, DST

life is better down that old dirt road

During this chaotic time of war against Iran - when both the dems and their propaganda arm, the mainstream media, are rooting for Iran and against the United States - I've been reading through the book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah is known as "the weeping prophet", and no wonder.

He prophesied during the time when Israel was taken captive and carried away to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.

In all of his ministry, there is no record of anyone actually heeding Jeremiah's warnings from God and repenting of their sins.

Given this backdrop of national disaster and headstrong rebellion against God's counsel - sound familiar? - it's amazing to read of God's gracious and forgiving plans for His people:

11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

    - Jeremiah 29:11 

It puts me in mind of something else Jeremiah wrote in the book of Lamentations, chapter 3 and verses 21 through 23:

21  This I recall to mind, therefore have I hope.

22  It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.

23  They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.

    - Lamentations 3:21-23

later, mcm fans...