the Sheriff wants to talk to you

The guys who fear becoming fathers don't understand that fathering is not something perfect men do, but something that perfects the man. The end product of child raising is not the child but the parent. ~Frank Pittman, Man Enough

Parenthood is the passing of a baton, followed by a lifelong disagreement as to who dropped it. ~Robert Brault

I’ve been drafting blogs about “perfection” and “volunteering”, but just can’t complete my thoughts ~ still may focus on those subjects later. Instead, I’ve settled my mind today on a few Scout stories that are related to perfection and volunteering.

I’ve had a lot of fun with Boy Scouts over the years. I didn’t get into Scouting until my kids were old enough – what a great learning experience for all of us. I learned that seldom was it perfect, and we always needed more volunteers.

I’ve been a Unit Commissioner for 2 troops the past few years. The Commissioner advises the troops when needed. For the most part I’ve helped resolve a few problems. The fun part has been attending Eagle Scout ceremonies. I’m not a really good Commissioner. Frankly, my interest has always been working with boys rather than leaders. When I was a Scoutmaster, parents would complain that we needed more volunteers ~ or that we needed certain parents to be more involved. I usually responded that my mission in life was to raise kids – not their parents, and that I’d met some of “those” parents and doubted they should really be involved with the troop.

I am convinced that participation in Scouting, sports, music, or any other youth group should not be considered a volunteer activity by Mom’s and Dad’s ~ it’s a parental responsibility! It’s also a joy and opportunity for personal growth ~ for both kids and parents.

Many of my close friends are former Scouts or parents of those Scouts. I am proud of their accomplishments – Doctors, lawyers, teachers, programmers, soldiers, ect. You really get to know people well when you’ve had hundreds of meetings together, scores of nights camping, and completed projects and events. I usually see somebody daily that was associated with past Scouting activities. It’s a real joy to recall old stories – and catch up on what the grown Scouts are now working on.

Several years ago, we took an ambitious trip to the San Juan Islands. The San Juans are an archipelago located off the coast off Northern Washington. There are 4 main islands with unlimited activities. There were 24 boys, and 8 parents. We camped the first and last night of the trip in Issaquah. This made transportation reasonable. We camped 6 nights on the Islands, 3 nights on San Juan Island and 3 nights on Orcas Island. What a great trip. Here are just a few of the activities:

1. Attended Seattle Mariners game.
2. The older boys completed a 50 mile bike ride.
3. Toured an oyster farm.
4. Group 10 mile bike ride.
5. Swimming
6. Hiked to the top of Mt. Constitution – 10 miles.
7. Toured the Whale museum.
8. Toured the Air Museum in Seattle.
9. Completed several merit badges. (Cooking was GREAT!!!!)
10. Observed a “replica” Pig Wars battle.
11. ++++

Our last night of camping was back at Issaquah, at a campground outside of Seattle. We’d travelled from Orcas Island, visited the air museum, and were getting ready to call it a night. It had been a long week – and everyone was certainly tired.

As we were settling down for bed, Cody came to my tent to advise that another man in camp was harassing a lady who needed help. I was tired – told him “have her call 911”. After a few minutes, and a little prodding from Connie, I got up to see what was going on. I walk through the campground – found some older scouts working on a craft project – and everyone else seemed to be in bed. Whew – time to get back to bed. About a half hour later, Cody comes to my tent again, “Mr. Hachquet, the Sheriff wants to talk to you”.

So – I get dressed – again - and walk down to the campground office. Apparently a couple in the campground was having an argument. (After several drinks). The man disrobed himself and was chasing the lady. Four of the younger Scouts, Bob, Cody, Cody, and Aaron were by the phone checking with their Mom’s. They jumped into action when the man was chasing the lady. The Scouts assigned each other tasks – 1 followed the guy, 1 followed the girl (to make sure she was OK), one was looking for the campground host, and the 4th called the Sherriff. They believed the man was going to attack the lady – but knew better than confront him. So far the story is scary – hmmm – it get's better.

Once the Sherriff arrived, the fighting couple settled down and apologized to each other. Then he wanted to talk to me. Apparently the man had disrobed to show his girlfriend that he would give up everything for her. The Sherriff explained the situation to me, and asked me to determine if the Scouts had been offended. If so, the Sheriff would arrest the man involved. Once I explained the situation to the Scouts, Aaron immediately responded “how poetic” ~ the others laughed. They were more amused than offended. There were no charges.

We are not done yet ~ remember that I’d mentioned a battlefield replica during the trip. Once we got back to our camp area, two of the boys decided they should do their own replica for the Scouts that missed the show – including one Scout representing the stripped man. His Mom, who was in camp, was less than impressed.

We finally got to sleep about an hour later. What a memory!!!!


In "If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again" Diane Loomans writes:

If I had my child to raise all over again,
I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later.
I'd finger-paint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I'd do more hugging and less tugging.~



As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it, or leave it. ~Buddy Hackett

The child supplies the power but the parents have to do the steering. ~Benjamin Spock, Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care

Here are a few Scout pictures - sorry I don't have digital copies of the San Juan trip - I need to work on that.

Heaven has a new Angel and King

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck

"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." ~Elwyn Brooks White

WHEW – it’s been a sobering month – time to reflect on what’s really important in life. There have been several – too many – events that have caused me to reflect – even more than usual.

Nickelback has a current song on the charts entitled “If today was you last day”. The lyrics are toward the end of this blog ~ enjoy. This is a perfect song. This is the song I’d write ~ if I could write a song. I enjoy much of the music that is currently played. Frankly, I did not enjoy much during the 80’s and 90’s, mostly preferring music from the 60’s and 70’s. But – it’s sounding better the past 10 years – thanks!!!

We’ve had tragedy and success at work the past month. The great news is Kelly, my boss, is doing well after a triple bypass last week. Kelly is a relatively healthy and active guy – but discovered heart problems after riding his bike 50 miles. He went home from the hospital on Fathers Day – and has a very positive and inspirational attitude.

However, we lost 2 great friends this past month. Mike succumbed to cancer on June 2 after a long fight. He was a great guy – always had a smile. Mike worked with our growers to make sure we had product. He also has a small farm, which he was able to have cows. We really enjoyed the hamburger meat we bought every year from Mike. I’ll miss his positive attitude and great spirit.

Ted lost his life on June 11 to a sudden heart attack. Ted worked on our Maintenance crew, and had been a part of our business for 34 years. He had several family members that also work here. Ted was an active outdoorsman. He was always willing to do the extra things at work – I’m wondering who will use the tractor next winter to remove the snow.

June 25th was another tough day – as we all lost Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. WOW – how sad. There is a new Angel and King in heaven.

Farrah was 62, and had fought a long public battle with cancer. I hope that she brought even more public awareness to this dreaded disease. She proved to be stronger than anyone imagined! I have to admit that I’ve been a Farrah fan for a long time. She became an Angel on our TV screens – and I’m sure she is an Angel today. I wasn’t really into pin ups when I was a youngster. I only had 2 when I was in college – one was Farrah – do you blame me?

Michael was only 50 when he died yesterday of a cardiac arrest. WOW. There is probably nothing I can write that hasn’t been written a million times already. He was the King of Pop ….and he was Wacko Jacko. I believe Michael was a genuinely kind and benevolent person. I am convinced he had no conceptions of limits or boundaries – not that he was a villain – but he just didn’t understand why there were limits. That’s why he was so great on the stage – and so odd off stage. I believe he was certainly an odd character off stage – whether inappropriate or not, we’ll never really know, but I leave that for God to decide. I do know that he was great on stage. He was the best entertainer – EVER. I didn’t like all his music – but most of it stretched well beyond previous limits. He was a great singer. He was a great dancer. He was a great humanitarian. And there is no denying together he was a great entertainer on stage. He sold more records than anyone - ANYONE! I’d mentioned there was not a lot of music I enjoyed in the 80’s and 90’s ~ Michael was a clear exception. I can’t help but wonder if he could have extended his creativity. Maybe, as Erma Bombeck quoted "I used everything you gave me."

Hmmm~

Farrah was 62
Mike was 58
Ted was 55
Michael was 50

I’m 54, Kelly too – ouch – better make each day count!!!! Kelly and I have had bucket list conversations in the past. One of the items in our collective bucket is to ski when we are 70. I sure hope we achieve that goal.

If Today was Your Last Day (Nickelback)

My best friend gave me the best advice,

he said each day's a gift and not a given right.

Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind,

and try to take the path less traveled by
that first step you take is the longest ride.

Chorus:

If today was your last day,

and tomorrow was too late, could say goodbye to yesterday?

Would you, would you?

Would you live each moment like your last?

And leave old pictures in the past?

And don't hate any night you had?

Would you, would you?

If today was your last day?

Against the grain should be your way of life.

What’s worth the price is always worth the fight.

Every second counts, cuz there’s no second try.

So live like you'll never live it twice.

Don’t take the free ride in your own life.

Chorus

Would you call those friends you never see?

Reminisce on memories,

Would you forgive your enemies?

Would you find that one you're dreaming of?

Swear up and down to god above,

that you'll fight only for the love?

Chorus

Would you, would you?

Make up it up like mending a broken heart?

You know, it's never too late.To shoot for the stars,regardless of who you are?

So, do whatever it takes,

cuz you can't rewind a moment in this life.

Let nothing stand in your way,

cause when your hands are tied,

I’m always there, I'm on your side.

Life is simple, it’s just not easy. ~Author Unknown

Life's not always fair. Sometimes you can get a splinter even sliding down a rainbow. ~Cherralea Morgen

Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once. ~Lillian Dickson

I'm a pretty lucky golfer!!!

I'm about five inches from being an outstanding golfer. That's the distance my left ear is from my right. ~Ben Crenshaw

The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course. ~Billy Graham


I could write a book about golf – so reasonable blogging will take serious editing ~ but it probably means that I’ll have to write more in later blogs ~ we’ll see where the writing spirits take me. It’s not that I’m a good golfer ~ or even addicted ~ just that I have a great respect for the game.

Golf is an opportunity to get in a nice walk, and focus on something else. More often than not I am relaxed on the course. I like walking – you have time to reflect on your game, or the day, or whatever you want. While I play some rounds in a cart – it’s just not the same game. You don’t get the exercise, and you spend most of your time between shots chatting. When walking, I get a little more needed exercise, but you also have a lot of time to just mentally wind down. I believe a person enjoys the game if they take it serious enough to want to get better, but understand you will never truly conquer a golf course.

Golf is just like any other game or sport ~ they more you play, the better you get. You can take lessons, buy the best clubs, and the newest balls ~ but you are not going to get better until you play – a lot. While physical strength can help, a lot of the game is played between the ears. The more you play, the better you get ~ both physically and mentally!

I’m a pretty lucky golfer. My boss loves to play golf. My wife loves to play golf. There is no problem getting out. I had to institute a 40 degree rule at home. We play year round, whenever we can get away for a few hours ~ which is most weekends. This includes the winter which can get a little chilly. Connie is worse than me; she’d play in any weather. Thus the 40 degree rule – we don’t go out until the thermometer hits 40 degrees. There are a lot of days during the winter when Connie will be checking the thermometer every 20 minutes. The only complaint she has is when the wind is blowing. She’ll play in rain ~ or even snow, but hates the wind.

I had the chance to visit my boss today - after his triple bypass surgery last week. WOW - he's doing great thanks to everyone's prayers. Our conversation quickly turned to golf. Kelly indicated since he couldn't play again until August - he wanted me to hit a few for him. He added that anytime I hit a bad shot - that could be his shot - I could drop another ball for "my" shot.

While I seldom talk business during golf, I’ve had many work related golf days. You get to know people a lot better when golfing. That may be true of other social activities – but golf exposes how the player reacts to events on the course – both good and bad. Some people definitely take it a little too serious – or at least more serious than me. I don’t mind a little smack talk – it reminds me that we should just be a having fun.

I’ve had the good luck to play on some great courses, and play with GREAT golfers. I’ve played with a lot of golfers that think they are good – but probably only 3 that are really good. One friend actually played on the Senior golf tour. You realize what a really good player is when you play with him. The rest of us better just be having fun – ‘cuz the guys that are good are having fun.

Here are a few golf pics:





Leavenworth, WA

Bandon, OR #18

Lake at Bandon

Bandon, OR

Bandon, OR

Bandon, OR

Bandon, OR

Mike in a little trouble at Pumpkin Ridge - Portland ~ yes, I did get through the trees!

Golf is so popular simply because it is the best game in the world at which to be bad. ~A.A. Milne

It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification. ~Bruce McCall

Hockey is a sport for white men. Basketball is a sport for black men. Golf is a sport for white men dressed like black pimps. ~Tiger Woods