A moment of silence to ponder. A moment of awe as I again understand just what they have given . . . and why.

This world that we have forged . . .

Today I will celebrate by living out loud. I will leave my home . . . the property that my work and toil . . . and the sacrifices of those that defend this country . . . allow me to own. I will drive somewhere I want to, without asking anyone’s approval or getting permission to travel, to do something that’s not the slightest bit necessary and has absolutely no benefit to the state (not, by a government’s definition, productive).

I will do this because I want to. I will do this because I can. I will do this because over a long and colorful history my countrymen have stood to the mark, fought, and died to make sure that I could.

They died to make sure I could live . . . not merely survive . . . not just get by . . . not to serve the needs of the state . . . but live.

How could I do any less?

Thanks, and Godspeed.

You did it right.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

In our surburban “blah” house in Garland, Halloween had faded away. The number of kids sliding each year and the effort they put into the costumes fading into nothing.

Even so, in our new small town, we figured (and it turns out, rightly so) that it would be a good holiday.

I wove a spider web out of 150′ of rope light, and then had to have a spider suitable to go with it.

A few pumpkins that we somehow never got around to converting to jack-o-laterns added some fall festiveness, and a bunch of red lightbulbs cast an appropriately eerie glow over the entire thing.

I was a pirate, and the wife was a cat-lady (Rowr!). Sorry, no pics of us (we forgot). Maybe next year!

We figure we’ll add one major decoration each year. This was it for this year, as time was limited for setting things up. In future years we’ll light the tower as well.

We had LOTS of kids. Well over 100. Probably closer to 200. Most had great costumes and showed that they had made some effort. All were polite and behaved. Many “knew” the house was haunted.

Some were “eyes on the prize” and didn’t notice the giant spider till after they had scampered up the porch and gotten their treat. Others would talk to it…one adorable little girl dressed as a witch noticed the broom and witches’ hat trapped in the spider web and got right up in the spider’s face and scolded it, “You aren’t eating THIS witch!”

One little boy (toddler) in dragon pajamas grabbed it by the pincers and said, “No! Bad spider!”

All in all, a good time. We probably gave out 50 pounds of candy, insuring dentists everywhere will have work in the coming year.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

To give a little size perspective…that is the “round room”…our entry parlor…the room is something like 24 feet in diameter…

You should see the spider!

More pictures later!

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

There are terrifying things afoot in this picture:

This picture was taken by the wife…catching me working on the water heater. There are scary things going on here.

That the wife caught me working is scary enough…but that’s not it.

The fact that I managed to use nearly $200 worth of parts to simply hook up a water heater is truly terrifying…but is not the point here.

See the pumpkins? The wife probably thinks I’m losing it…as in crazy…but they are stalking me. Yeah, the pumpkins. They weren’t there when I started…they just began showing up! First one…then another…then a third. Closer and closer they came…only moving when nobody was watching. The eventually crowded me out of that workspace.

And…I swear, one of them stole my pipe wrench…

And if a pumpkin with a pipe wrench isn’t a scary thing…I don’t know what is!

And oh…there’s more of their gourd-brained buddies waiting in the wings…

Halloween is coming! Spooky things are a-brewing at the Old Vic!

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

We do love this town.

The 1880′s part Victorian, part Gothic, and part Italian Renaissance courthouse is absolutely gorgeous and has been described as being Late 19th Century Debatable (I love that!)

This town is covered up with historic houses in MANY different styles…including, of course, our Queen-Anne Victorian. They range in condition from perfectly restored, to falling down, to gloriously remuddled (but occupied, which is what gives a house a soul), to everywhere in between.

Clarksville is the oldest, continiously occupied settlement in Texas. I’ll get around one day and take pictures of a sampling.

In the mean time, the Lennox house…

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer