An Arkies Musings

C is for coast.  Last week my wife and I were able to spend a few days on the Oregon Coast.  My wife's siblings all met for a reunion.  We had a great time and the weather was beautiful for January.  Family from Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Arkansas came to the coast and we had a great time together. While we were there we visited places along the coast from Tillamook to Newport.  There is beautiful scenery all along the coast. Some of my favorite memories of our time on the coast are of the sunsets.  We had beautiful sunny days, and incredible sunsets every evening. On of our favorite stops was at the Sea Lion Caves .  This is a natural sea cave that is the home to many Stellar Sea Lions.  The attraction has been open to the public since 1932. Later, while we were in Newport, we saw a couple of sea lions right beside the pier. There are so many beautiful sights along...

B is for Baron Bliss.  March 9th is Baron Bliss Day in the Central American country of Belize. We have visited Belize several times.  On one of our visits to Belize, we were in Caye Caulker and there were many Belizeans swimming and enjoying themselves at the area they call The Split. I asked someone about it and they told me it was Baron Bliss Day and it was a holiday for many people. I later found out that every year, on the 9th March, wreaths are placed on the tomb of Baron Bliss in his memory . The day is celebrated as a public and bank holiday, and a harbor regatta is held in remembrance of a man who loved Belize. In 1926 Baron Bliss came to British Honduras, as Belize was known then, in search of big game fishing.  When he was younger he had contracted polio and decided to travel the world in a luxury yacht. After spells in the Bahamas, Trinidad and Jamaica, he arrived in Belize harbor, where he found a climate which suited him. He was extremely fo...

Article published in the January 15, 2014 issue of The Polk County Pulse featuring my wife as the Citizen of the Week.  Written by Jaclyn Rose. Regina Lawry was born in Denver, Colorado and lived in the same house until she was married.  In grade school she attended Denver Public Schools.  Upon entering high school, Regina transferred to a private Christian boarding school in Loveland, Co, called Campion Academy.  It was there that Regina met her husband and made lifelong friends that she still stays in touch with to this day.  “My father wasn't a rich man, he worked hard as a tile layer and took on extra jobs so he could allow my siblings and I to attend this great school.  It was the most wonderful experience of my life.” Regina and her husband of 38 years, Richard, or Richie, as he is known by his friends, became friends while in American History class and were assigned to work together on a project.  “Richie was painfully shy but we beca...

A is for Amazon.  When I was growing up if someone talked about Amazon they were referring to the river in South America, or a nation of all female warriors in Greek mythology.  Today, if Amazon pops up in a conversation it will most likely be in reference to the world's largest ecommerce retailer. The company currently employs more than 43,200 people in 18 U.S. states and 14 international locations. Its headquarters are in Seattle, Washington.  Amazon's goal is to become the world's most customer-centric company where people can find and discover anything they want to buy online. I am an Amazon customer.  The problem with Amazon is that they make it just too easy to spend your money.  Cd's, movies, books, printer ink, cameras, etc, etc.  Just about anything I could want I can buy on Amazon.   My favorite Amazon product is my Kindle.  I have been a Kindle reader since I purchased my Kindle in 2010.   You can read abou...

Z is for Zombie.  It seems like everywhere you go there are zombies. Movies, television, books and comics featuring zombies are very popular.  I can't understand the fascination of pop culture with zombies.  Max Brooks, who wrote the book on which the zombie movie World War Z is based. says that “people have a lot of anxiety about the future. They’re constantly being battered with these very scary, very global catastrophes. People need a ‘safe place’ to explore their apocalyptic worries. They can’t read stories about real plagues or nuclear war. That’s too scary. Zombie stories give people the opportunity to witness the end of the world they've been secretly worrying about while, at the same time, allowing themselves to sleep at night because the catalyst of that end is fictional.” Lat fall while we were visiting Eureka Springs, Arkansas we saw a Zombie Parade.  Local people dressed up as zombies and paraded through the streets.  Here are photos th...

2013 is now behind us.  Here is a listing of the top ten most viewed posts of 2013 on An Arkies Musings.  It is always interesting to me to see what topics other people are interested in. The most viewed post of the year is my post on Duck Dynasty from February 5th 2013.  I'm sure the Phil Robertson controversy had a lot to do with it's Number 1 position.   You can read the post here.  The number two post of the year was titled Happy Holidays.  Although the post didn't address the term Happy Holidays, I wonder what drove the traffic to the post.  Probably the cute photo of me as a child.  :)   You can read the post here. Number three for the year was a post on 9/11 that told the story of a 9/11 massacre that happened in 1857, not 2001.   You can read the post here.  The number four post wasn't written by me. When a friend of mine, Maurine Burden, passed away this story was found in her possessions. It was r...