California..you gotta love it. Last week I was prattling on about rain and hoping that the sky would open and give us a much needed drenching. Well, we got our rain, although it was nothing more than a good shower. Today, the temperature is expected to hit 95 degrees and set a record for this date. Last week we were fifteen degrees under our normal and this week we are 20 degrees over it. Yesterday was 92 degrees and I have a bit of a sunburn on my back courtesy of some koi pond maintenance in my backyard. The temperature of the pond water has risen to the point that I had to reintroduce the filter to the water. In order to fit the pump and filter back into the water, I had to pull out the six water plants that I have arrayed in the pond and cut them back. I ended up in the pond moving blocks and placing the filter where I wanted it. The boys were inside watching all of the labor from a soft spot on the couch. We've been talking about having a pool put in next year and Daniel said to David that, "Ken thinks we have the pool already". Wise guy. I'm still debating on the pool. We have such a nice back yard and I hate to upend things with a pool contractor. We'd lose the pond and gain a pool, but I'm concerned that the stamped concrete would be damaged in the process. I will say this, IF we get a pool, it will be a small lagoon style pool, meant more for cooling off and relaxing than swimming. We'll see how my bonus shapes up before taking that on.

Well, praise God and pass the smelling salts, Jennifer is back in the United States of America!! She flew back in on Thursday and was in Texas for all of a day, just long enough to get prodded and pricked (seven or eight shots and a blood sample), turn in her equipment and catch a flight Friday back to Augusta. She was on a plane Friday that stopped in Houston and then flew on to Augusta. She got her car out of hock and reopened her apartment (barracks) and got caught up with some of her friends and fellow soldiers at Fort Gordon. I talked to her Saturday morning and then again last night let the boys get caught up with their sister. Jennifer will be in Augusta until about November and then she will be deployed to her new duty station in Kuwait. She has about a month of vacation saved up and will come home to California for about three weeks in June or July. I am exceedingly proud of Jennifer's accomplishments with the Army and consider her my personal hero for her bravery and love for this country. Like Pat Tillman, who was killed in Afghanistan, Jennifer was profoundly affected by the events of September 11th, 2001 and she did something about it. She was in a position to react to the threat to the United States and rather than simply condemn the American haters, she joined our country's military and she served in Iraq, carrying a weapon at all times and fitting the Coalition Headquarters at Camp Victory with state of the art communications technology. My hat is off to her and my heart is filled with intense pride that my soldier put her life on the line to defend this country. No, she isn't in infantry, but the grenades were exploding around her just the same. God bless you, Jennifer, and all of the brave men and women in Iraq and in service to our country.

I played golf this weekend at Rio La Paz, a course near the Sacramento River in a little town called Nicolaus. I played with three of the true hackers in our club. Gary Krohn is an ex-president and he loves playing golf with me. I prefer to play golf with better golfers than I am. Gary is a 22, his friend is a 24 and the other guy in our foursome is a 19. I shot 87 and watched those three shoot a combined 317. The fact that I managed an 87 while the threesome was hacking and whiffing and shanking their way all over hell's half acre is amazing. I had asked Steve, our tournament director, to put me in with some golfers and I owe him a smack upside the head. It was a beautiful day in Sacramento and I watched numerous families park their cars along the levee and herd the children with inner tubes and blankets and coolers down to the river. I wished I could join them as I often waited interminably in the fairway for the wayward three to join me somewhere near the short grass.

We survived our weekend without Mom and Darla came home yesterday tired and suffering from flu-like symtoms. She was running a fever and slept most of the afternoon. I think she may take today off and get herself healthy. We ate McDonalds on Friday and pizza on Saturday and I barbecued a london broil last night. I took the boys to church yesterday morning. Rick, our pastor, was talking about conflict and how Christians should deal with it. He told the story of a couple who were fighting and just couldn't get along. The husband was fed up and said to his wife, "I was a fool when I married you!" The wife said, "I know, but I was too much in love to notice it at the time." ..........Think about it.

Give Jennifer a call and thank her for her bravery at 310-927-6311 or write to her as follows:

Specialist Lyon, Jennifer
518, 63rd Sig Bn
Box J3
Ft Gordon, GA 30905