20
both show up for the race, and low and behold,
Shaky’s got a pair of speed skates with him,
much to Stew’s chagrin. It was not the best outcome for Mr. Stewart — Shaky clearly smoked
him. But Shaky’s win will always include a major asterisk attached to it. I’ve got little doubt
that Stew might relate a different version of the
story.
Sounds like Nick Bartow is struggling a bit
with the Alaskan weather, and worried about
his Son Nick in Iraq.
It was great seeing all you guys at the reunion
and special thanks to Hag and family and all
those who made it a really good time. I am still
up here in Alaska, with the emphases on “still,”
but I won’t get into that right now. Marianna
just loves it here taking care of little Max and
the rest of us. My daughter Becky has been accepted into the commission corp., which is the
military type end of healthcare involved with
the federal government. She will have to wear
a uniform which sort of looks Army like if you
know what I mean. She has been offered positions at more than 30 locations around the
country, half at federal prisons and half at Indian reservations. I am not so sure I like any of
those choices, but I must say working here in
Ketchikan for the tribes is a very good job that
she likes a lot.
My son Nick is in Iraq and this time it’s really
scary. After he was there for over three months
I asked him what he was doing, he finally said
“Dad, just watch Al-Jazeera”…end of conversation. When he was in Afghanistan last year he
always sounded bored but his calls from Iraq
sound tired. You can just tell when he talks that
it’s bad. We are worried. My son-in-law just got
a job with FedEx and he loves it because he says
his day goes fast. I am having a hard time living
here in Ketchikan because for eight months a
year it is rainy and overcast. The winters are depressing and I am not faring well. Looking forward to a lengthy vacation in the Florida Keys
this summer and I am working on the details of
such a trip. NickB7W4
Gary Marlin is taking advantage of the reduced price of oil (and my reduced bonus) to
sell cheaper carpet: Not much to report. I’m
having lunch with Ken Taylor tomorrow, but
I guess that’s too late to get into your report.
Enjoying these low gas prices, hope it hasn’t
affected your job security. Business has been
slow, mainly because people don’t want carpet
anymore, they all want hardwood floors.
I’m headed to Kauai in April, don’t know how
far I’ll be from Vince, but if I’m close enough
I would love to surprise him. My son moved
back home, but is now going to be starting a
traveling nursing job. They are 13-week gigs,
and his first assignment is South Florida in
three weeks. I’m so jealous. Gary
Finally, from Vince in Maui: Aloha Rick,
Thanks for continuing to hold this space for us
to write about what’s up in our sojourn through
life. I have been busy with our farm producing
400 pounds of greens a week on 2,000 square
feet. I’m farm growing our greens in a plant
based compost in flats on tables on the 7,000
square foot lot we live on.
I am also representing a chapter of the national farmers union here in Hawaii as its state
president (www.hfuuhi.org). We have 460
members across eight chapters and are growing state wide in support of family farms.
Our son Kekai is 30 and works full-time on
the farm while my daughter Kahanulani just
turned 21 and has her own business designing and fabricating bikinis along with a jewelry line, shipping them around the world. It’s
a beautiful thing when our children have their
feet firmly on the ground in a world that is trying to frack it. My wife Irene (when not ordering me around on the farm) works part-time
as a stevedore down at the docks. She never
ceases to amaze me and is a dynamo; x