More Football Than I Bargained For

This Saturday was one of the best Saturdays of football that I can ever remember. Arkansas beat Tenessee by a whole bunch and Louisville, Auburn, Cal, and Texas all lost. This means the Razorbacks will be significantly climbing in the polls as well as in the BCS standings. Another contributor to this great football day was that ESPN Game Day was filmed right here in Fayetteville. Now, I realize this is not news to many of you. The highlight of this Saturday came at 10:55, just before Corso wore the Razorpig head and held up that weird little razorpig head on a stick as he picked Arkansas to win...I finally passed this kidney stone that I've been working on since Nov. 1st (which is exactly two years to the day that I passed my first kidney stone). I felt it was very fitting that in this awesome day of football my stone passed in the almost perfect shape of a football. Kind of crazy that it came at 10:55 and then all this great football took place. Anyway, I think I'm going to carry it around with me through the rest of the season. If anyone wants to rub on it to bring our Razorbacks a little extra luck just let me know.


And here is the most recent Crag pic.

October is for getting out

We're in the swing of fall here in the Ozarks. Carrie and I have done a lot of getting out this month and will continue to get out with a trip planned for next weekend. Here's our list of recent hiking trips and outdoor activity.

• Lost Valley

Lost Valley Pygmy Rattlesnake

• Hideout Hollow
• Artist Point
• Buffalo River Trail (Goat trail, Carrie)

Upper Buffalo River, low water, from Big Bluff

• Beaver Tailwaters (Patrick)

• White Rock Mountain Loop
• Hawksbill Crag (next weekend)

The fall color should reach it's peak this weekend. Everybody get out and enjoy while you can. The long, depressing winter will be here soon.

You can't see me but I'm raising the roof

#15 Arkansas 6-1, 4-0SEC!!!!!!!

Recent Happenings

So, I'm liking these "Messin with Sasquach" beef jerky comercials. Mostly I like them because they remind me of my college days at John Brown. There was this guy in my friend group who was large and hairy and we called him Seabass. We used to play pranks (just the kind that were fun and not mean) on him and then he would clobber us. I always knew the beating was coming but it was still worth it. Usually it wasn't my idea but somehow I was the first guy he came after. Or maybe just the slowest. Anyway, here's to you Seabass and if you read this, I miss you buddy. So, hope you all are well. Carrie and I are well. Fall is just around the corner and we're quite excited about that. Labor Day weekend brought a trip to the Buffalo with Community Group friends. We hiked the Hide Out Hollow Trail and it was well worth the one mile in and back out. Very scenic. Dusty climbed everything we walked by. Other news.......I just got Willie Nelson's Countryman CD and it's pretty dang good if you ask me. Saw my Mema and Papa recently and had some cod at the Crackel Barrel with them. Had a good time. I only see them a few times a year. I love you guys. Football's off to a pretty good start. I got to go to the Arkansas vs Utah State game with my buddy David. Good game. Even better was watching David sit down in a huge wad of gum left in his chair. Carrie and I are cruising through Lost Season Two on DVD before season three begins Oct. 5. We decided to have two regular shows this fall--Lost and Survivor. I guess we like shows on islands and with plenty of drama. Well, those are a few of our recent happenings. Other than that we've been working hard and doing the regular house chores. We've got nephews comin this weekend. New pictures at Ozark Trout Bum (link to right).
At the trailhead.
J-Mill posing behind tree.
Dusty climbing.
HideOut Hollow

Last post follows pictures

Carrie soaks her feet in millennium park, Chicago
weird, cool art thing in millennium Park
A little cornhole with the cousins, Lake Michigan background

Could that be the Sears Tower?
The Bash Brothers at Wrigley Field
Jump Pick!
Chicago Skyline

Eden Cave at Lost Valley
Lost Valley, Buffalo River
Check these babies out
Razorbacks!!!!

Hey

Hey gang. Sorry so long since the last post. I'll catch you all up on our last month or so. Some of you will have shared some or many of these things with us while the New Mexico folks won't have been so lucky. We've been busy around the house as we have officially moved into our new home on Hawthorne Way. Two moves in two months. Dang. Our community group was especially helpful to us. We were able to help the Burts as they moved into their new home on Saturday and thus giving us a chance to pay it forward (God's blessing that is). That makes three moves for the community group this summer and we are the most buffed out group that you'll meet. Also in the last several weeks we spent time in Chicago at a wedding and enjoying the sights and flavors (Gino's East baby!) It was especially good to see my sister and Matt as well as many cousins, aunts, and uncles. I got my hands on a good Cuban cigar but never got to smoke it. We got hooked on Cornhole while we were there, also sometimes called Baggo or Bags or Indiana Horseshoes. I was off this last week and made myself a nice set of boards (pic enclosed)so we could play here. I hear this game goes on at Razorback tailgating parties though is not as popular as it is in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky. We spent a lot of time settling into the house this week, painted a dining room and a bedroom, had the nephews over for some slip and sliding action, and took a nice little hike up to Lost Valley with the Davises. I built a workbench in the garage and did some mowing. I fished one day at Sugar Creek in Bellavista, catching several smallmouth and several other bass of which type I'm a bit unsure--maybe Rock Bass. The football season is fast approaching with the Hogs season opener against USC coming up on Sept 2. Community group guys are also to have our fantasy football draft party this Tuesday night and poker on Fri night. I get to play in a golf tournament this Friday with my good friends. I've been watching the PGA Championship so that I'll be good come Friday and not let the guys down. Lots to be excited about. Carrie and I are also excited to be co-leading a community group with the Millers this fall. Well, I'll enclose a few pics for everybody to enjoy and maybe I'll do a better job keeping you posted in the weeks to come.

El Verano De Patricio

Hey all. All is well with Carrie and I as far we know. We'll soon be moving out of Harbor Meadows and into a beautiful home on Hawthorne Way in Johnson, AR. Boy are we ready. It will be nice to be out of boxes again and not be house shopping or taking care of house business. We're looking forward to having our own space again and a yard to play in and landscape. This is my first summer in a few without a garden. I miss my tomato plants. We'll be just down the road from the Millers and I hear there are pumpkins being grown there. Our close date on the house is the 27th and Carrie and I will start moving some stuff over that afternoon. Many of you have been asking when the big move date is so you can help. I'm going to get a Uhaul for Saturday the 29th and anyone who wants to help out would be so greatly appreciated. I'll feed you and do whatever else will make you happy. Just let me know. We'll shoot for about 10:00am (poker pals let me know if this is too early as this will follow our monthly event on the Fri night before). Shouldn't take long as everything will be boxed and ready to go. Many of you helped last time and you can't know how awesome that was. Well, Carrie and I will head for Chicago for a wedding and vacation next Thursday and be gone about a week. If you've ever been there and have suggestions please comment. This truly has been a great summer as far as slacking goes. Carrie and I have been blessed with lots of time off this summer--four weeks by the time the school year starts back up. I've decided to officially call this The Summer of Patrick (not really funny unless you've watched lots of Seinfeld) Oh, I've been studying Spanish in my free time. Borrowed a book from Maestra Miller and been studying it a lot. So, feel free to comment in Spanish, I can translate.

A shopping trip I won't forget very soon.

Carrie and I went shopping for a bigger matress as we just can't share a full-sized bed forever. We happened to meet a guy at Denver Matress who was quite helpful in informing us what not to pay for in a matress. I've never done this before (just went to Sam's and bought the only one they carry--Serta--last time) and so don't know much about matresses. Apparently, when it comes to matresses you don't usually pay the asking price but try to talk the salesman down to a price you're comfortable paying (like when you buy a new car, something else I've never done yet). Unless you go with Denver Matress and get a nice outlet price. This is not the interesting part of this day's shopping experience. Here we go.....Did you know that the average person loses a pint in fluids (sweat, oils, dead skin cells) every night. A PINT! That's like a gallon a week. And the matress absorbs a lot of this which then attracts dust mites and other things. This is why when we moved recently our matress seemed so much heavier than when I bought it. It's getting heavier. It's gaining weight. Sorry to the community group guys who helped move it. The matress guy said a matress may be 25% heavier over several years. That got me thinking....I've been sleeping on the same pillow for like seven years. It's like a sack of bricks, twice as heavy as any other pillow in our house. Sick huh? So, good reason to change sheets often and wash matress covers and so on. I can remember in college only changing sheets once per semester. I didn't share this with the matress guy. So, hope everybody sleeps well tonight. Clean sheets anyone? Buenas Noches.

Our New Pet

Carrie and I have this gold finch that loves to perch on this branch just outside the window to the main living area. He will sit there for hours sometimes pecking at the window (he comes every day, several times per day). He obviously sees his reflection in the window and so thinks he either has a friend or a competitor. We're not sure which. He does account for much of our dialogue around here lately. Occassionally he has a leaf in his mouth. That usually makes me think of U2's song, Beautiful Day, "See the bird with the leaf in her mouth...after the flood all the colors came out." Sometimes we talk about whether the bird has a good or bad self-image. Good in that he thinks he has a friend (his reflection). Or bad, in that he is doing battle with another male and he is always the first to leave the scene (making him the inferior loser). Either way, it's nice that he is around. One evening Carrie thought I'd left the oven on (as it will make this infrequent clicking sound when on) and then when going to check it out it was indeed off (as I said it was off) and it was this darn bird pecking at the window. So, he made a nice little I-told-you-so moment for us. The students I work with think it's crazy I don't have any pets. I'm thinking of telling them I have a bird. He is kind of ours. If I move really really slowly I can go all the way up to the glass without him seeing past his reflection and can put my nose on the glass and feel him peck the other side of the glass. Pretty sweet! That makes us intimately friends. I need a bird name our friend. Any suggestions?

Short One

Here's a short update for everybody. We've been busy like crazy lately. I just started a new job (still OGC) full time yesterday. All is well with that. We sold our house at 537 Clearwood Ave to a great gal named Trudy who truly is our newest friend. We are currently living in Harbor Meadows in my mother-in-law's rental home which she is trying to sell. So, we're looking for a good home in a great location. In the meantime we're enjoying Harbor Meadows as we're right across the street from a swimming pool, park, and huge fishing pond. I've been tying bass flies and I've got several 14+" fish. Just back to work after a week off. Spent the week moving of course (HUUUUGE thanks to the community group guys and Jeff for helping us move) and a few days fishing on the Norfork and White Rivers (so make sure check out as always my fishing report on my Ozark Trout Bum link). I'll try to be more regular about blogging soon.

He is Risen Indeed!

Carrie and I hiked into Hemmed-In Hollow waterfall on the Buffalo River (Ponca Wilderness Area) this last weekend. All sources said it was a very difficult hike out of there but we defied all odds and made it out in one piece. One piece each that is. I guess that it is two pieces all together. We even enjoyed the uphill climbing. We hiked the 2.5 miles down to the falls in 1:25 and only took just less than two hours to hike back out. We camped at the Steel Creek campground afterwards, had a little Easter sunrise service by the riverside. It was a good time. Boy are we glad we made it back for lunch at the Essen's. The ham was delicious and the company couldn't have been better.

Sign at the Compton trail head

A pretty overlook at mile 1.5

Hemmed-In Hollow Waterfall

Don't mess with me, my wife will take you down

Opposite view

Pretty little trail

Wild Vic's Cabin

My cowgirl

Using my new camp stove at the Steel Creek campground

This rock knows many canoes

Hey Gang

Well, it's been a while since I last blogged. I've been busy, the weather has been just beautiful, hard to get in front of this computer. I just updated my fishing site (Ozark Trout Bum link to the right) so check it out if you're into that. Gosh, I love when it's finally time to set the clocks forward and the days are so long. I started my tomatoes, basil, and a variety of flowers indoors this weekend and they'll be ready in five weeks or so. I'm going to get my onions, lettuce, arugala, spinach, and peas in the ground this weekend. We've been enjoying fresh lettuce greens of several varieties already as they just came up when it got warm. Remnants of last year I guess. Got the bird feeders out as well as the hummingbird feeder. I haven't seen my first hummingbird yet but I think it's still early. I think they start showing about April 20th here in NW AR. It's time to get out and enjoy the natural state. Carrie and I are going camping Easter weekend with the plan of being back in town just in time to go to the Essen's for supper. If anyone wants to camp with us let us know. You are welcome. I'll include a few pictures here of some things we've done lately. We took off for spring break and enjoyed a crawfish boil with Carrie's family, a few days in Eureka Springs, and several days fishing.

Baldwin Family Crawfish Boil (Ford boiled 100lbs of crawfish!!)
Declan, Blakely, Uncle Patrick enjoying a day in the backyard
Nephew Parker with spiffy hat
"Come on boys, I want thems weeds gone"
I got a new tie for a wedding Carrie and I went to.
Carrie was a bride's maid at Kristy's wedding
Outside our Woods Resort cabin in Eureka Springs.
A little post crawfish dialogue around the tractors
Ty's my crawfish=eating buddy. He'll show you how to get it done.
Declan, you're teaching Uncle Patrick bad manners
Eastern Bluebird on our fence
Declan in his new cast.