Mom and brother Bob (a.k.a. Bobbie Butane) were up this past weekend for brother Bill’s memorial service in Grand Rapids. We sat out on the deck at the cottage a good share of the time and watched the world go by. On the warm, sunny days, the bluegills were on their beds, getting ready to spawn. On each bed, and there were a jillion of them, there were the male and female that were about to culminate their dating experience. All around there were a hundred of the nerd bluegills that didn’t have the nerve to ask out one of the females and looked like the guys that stand around the room at the prom with no date.

Cruising in the wings were several bass, some large and some small, and about twenty five carp. The carp would cruise back and forth for hours until “that magic moment” happened, then rush in and eat all of the just spawned, fertilized eggs. The “would be” bluegill babies were gone before their lives even started. If you think about it, the life of a fish isn’t just wandering around the lake eating worms. It’s eat or be eaten and the danger never goes away. The bigger the fish are, the more they can act like bullies and decimate the smaller, weaker fish. It’s almost like what we are doing in Iraq these days but don’t get me started down that road.

Bob and I took turns running the power washer to clean the siding, sidewalks and the deck at the cottage. We worked on Saturday from about 10:30 until 4:30, nearly non-stop. I would keep going until I ran out of gas, then Bob would take over. When he ran out of gas, I would take over, and we did that all day long. I still think that Bob was adding gas while I was running the power washer with my head turned the other way, but Mom says he didn’t. When it was my turn it seemed like it would never end and when it was Bob’s turn, the time went really fast. Also on Saturday, I caught my first mole of the season, so the day started off well. One down and  ninety nine to go.

The website I wrote about a little while ago isn’t quite finished, but you are welcome to look if you want. It contains slightly edited copies of all the “e-mail to friends” I’ve sent through the years along with copies of eulogies I’ve written and a section I call “ramblings”. The ramblings section contains TriStory, the historical record of how the Trilanders got their name and the stories we read at the next couple of Trilander dinners. There is also a section of “reader favorites” that is really writer favorites. I repeat, the purpose isn’t to show off my writing skills or the lack thereof, but it gives some of the people who haven’t been on the list since the start a way to go back and read about things I refer to in current writings like “my buddy at the YMCA in Florida”.

Visit if you want and I won’t be offended if you don’t. The website is http://www.jackswriting.com/ . Not very original, is it? There are 166 separate posts and they are in date order with the latest post (this one) first. I’m still missing a couple of obits and I plan to add some pictures to them so people will know what they looked like.

Just (My Prostate Is On Prayer Lists Around The Country) Jack