Category Archives: Family & Friends

Bountiful iNDeed

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I’m easing into a project of scanning some old family photos that have recently arrived from a relative who now lives far away. This one of my grandparents particularly caught my eye so far, even though I have many to look through. I don’t know when it was taken, although I know it was taken prior to 1955. It’s a particular treat to me because I’ve seen relatively few photos of my dad as a kid and can’t recall ever seeing a photo of his father, who died when my dad was a boy.

Date night sunset

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Date night with my lovely wife this weekend consisted of a portable generator and some speakers, my iPod, and a nice blanket upon which to watch the sun go down and the stars come up. Fantastic. There were some pretty neat clouds on the horizon too, but I put the camera away after snapping this shot. After all, it was date night.

Today’s the day I get to read about my wife. For those of you who may not know, the book of Proverbs in the Bible has 31 chapters. That means daily Bible reading includes a chapter of Proverbs every day. On months with 31 days, I get to read chapter 31, which is all about the virtuous woman. My lovely bride fits the descriptions therein to the letter. I’m abundantly blessed.

You can never get it back…you can only let it go

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I titled this post after the most profound Grasshopper Takeover lyrics I’ve ever heard. And with a name like Grasshopper Takeover, you know they’ve got to have something interesting to say.

My wife and I took our boys walking downtown today. They’re so precious, and we live in a city where we can take them walking in any area we want and not have to worry about crime or most other dangers. We’re truly blessed to be raising our little family in the Bismarck-Mandan area.

We’re also blessed to have each other and the two most handsome little tow-headed boys ever. Walking along on a perfect July night with my 1 yr old Sparky holding my finger, life couldn’t get any better than this. Well, except if we’d set the camera on my wife’s new phone to something other than “grainy postage stamp” resolution first.

As for me, I’ll never have to get it back. I’m never gonna let it go.

Laid back weekend

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I thought I was over that nasty cold, flu, H1N1, whatever it is that I’d caught a week or so ago. Then it hit me Friday as I was rushing to get a DVD prepared and sent to a client. Ugh. Instead of going home early to recover, I was at work later than expected, but managed to get the disc in the mail at the last minute. I then came home to play Couch Pilot all weekend. As you can see, my little boys took it easy as well.

After lots of sleep and Theraflu, I think I’ve got it handled. Now it’s time to bring on the nice weather so my boys and I can play outside! Oh yeah…and the camera, too.

Here come the planes

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“Here come the planes……..they’re American planes. Made in America…” That’s how Laurie Anderson sings it in “O Superman” anyway. My little boys, particularly my 2 yr old, love anything mechanical. PJ loves watching airplanes land and take off, so I decided to take him to my favorite spot. This is where, if the wind is right, planes come really close overhead while landing. I had my camera bag, of course, so I grabbed my wide angle lens and used a fill flash to document his encounter with the jet.

He was actually scared as it went overhead, which was surprising because he hasn’t been before, but then asked for “one more airplane” after it had passed. His 1 yr old brother took it all in stride, and gave me a bonus when he started to say “Daddy!” for the first time, and kept saying it as we drove around in the truck. What a summer this is going to be!

Out with the fellas tonight

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My little boys wanted Daddy to take them out in the truck tonight, so out we went. They got to see their share of trucks and heavy equipment and snowblowers, and Daddy go to stop and take a picture of the sun setting. They’re both old enough to walk now, one of ’em is talking up a storm, and we’re both sick of winter. That combines into a chance for some more photographic opportunities these days, as we’re actually getting out of the house more. The sunsets are starting to resemble summer more than the bluster of a North Dakota winter!

Farewell, Gentleman Wade (Updated with tribute)

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I got the call tonight…Gentleman Wade Westin has passed away. I still don’t know the nature of the mysterious ailment that took him so suddenly. All I know for sure is there are a LOT of people who are going to miss this great guy and who have fond memories of the times they spent with him. I had the honor of joining over six hundred Facebook folks who joined the Wade Westin Family Prayer Team overnight in seeking God’s hand in this situation. I rest assured that the Lord didn’t let those prayers go unheard. His will is beyond our understanding, especially at a time like this.

I’ve known Wade since he joined KFYR back in the 1990s; since then I’ve had many noteworthy memories, even though our opportunities to see each other grew farther and farther apart. Guys get busy, you know…that’s just how it goes. I wish it wasn’t so. It seems like just a short time ago that Wade and I met up at Taco del Mar and chatted it up about what we’ve been up to, fatherhood, and that kind of thing. In reality it was months ago. That’s the last time I got to spend time with Wade.

We did a commercial for a furniture or mattress store many years ago, one where Wade played a guy who snuggled in under the covers of a comfy new mattress. It took a while for the nickname “Snuggly” to wear off. I had a printout of that shot somewhere in my souvenir box, but in my search for it tonight I came up empty handed. Bummer.

The photo above was from the Medora Musical on my honeymoon trip with my wife. I’d booked front row center tickets of course, planning a Medora weekend on our way back from a week in the middle of nowhere back in my beloved Rocky Mountains. We drove past the turn to Wade’s home near Grenora, ND and it prompted me to call his cell phone and say hi. When he heard we were coming, he arranged the VIP treatment and a backstage tour for us, and we got to chat with him and his family briefly before he left to prepare for the night’s show. He then congratulated us during the show. That’s just the kind-hearted, generous guy that Wade’s friends will all remember.

We used to hit the China Wok restaurant in Mandan on Sunday evenings, striking a friendship with the owners over time. When their visas came up for renewal, Wade took it upon himself to get his friends from the Sunday night dinners to sign testimonials to aid in their renewals.

As a guy in my late 30s (ahem), and a new Daddy to boot, it’s a shocker to have a friend and fellow family man snatched away so suddenly and so early. Of course one tries to make sense of it, but there’s no sense to be had. What we can do is take comfort in the message from his CaringBridge page: “Thank you for your love, support and prayers. Wade is at peace with God His Father and Jesus His Savior in the healing presence of the Holy Spirit.” The Bible talks about a peace that passes all understanding…I pray for that peace for his family and everybody who misses Gentleman Wade.

Updated: I remembered that I had a copy of a TV commercial Wade did for KNDX (Channel 26) back when they first went on the air. It was a “dance contest” making fun of contestants with the numbers of other local TV channels. It features Wade being Wade. I attached a brief tribute at the end. It isn’t much, but it’s a token of my respect for a friend. The music is a portion “In the Sweet By and By” performed by my friend Sarah.

I know there are lots of people out there who are touched by Wade’s passing as they were by his personality. Hopefully this will trigger some of your best memories as well.

Prayin’ for Gentleman Wade

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My friend Wade is in need of prayers right now. He fell victim to a very serious, sudden, and mysterious medical complication and it’s uncertain what the future holds. I know many of you enjoyed Wade’s performances as Gentleman Wade in the beloved Medora Musical in years past. He’s truly the nicest guy I’ve ever met, a distinction echoed by everybody I know who’s ever met or worked with Wade.

I don’t feel it’s my place to discuss a friend’s medical details, especially when things are so serious and the time so grievous for his family. If you’re a Facebook user, there are a couple of Wade Westin prayer groups set up where you can receive updates and voice your support. I know they’d appreciate your support on his behalf.

So that’s what happens to my workstation when I’m gone

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The workstation in my office at home is pretty mean. I have a ton of RAM, a very expensive broadcast video editing card, and enough drives and devices that I literally have A: through Z: with only O: missing. Just think, if I still had a Mac I would have to come up with 25 names for them!

When I leave home, apparently, my workstation takes on a slightly different duty: virtual aquarium. I won’t say it’s necessarily light duty, because this program actually renders realistic 3D fish on the fly. I found this photo in my wife’s camera. I’m not surprised, because little PJ asks me to “see fish” whenever he sees me at the computer. His other favorite, or standby if I say “no” to the fish, is “bridge go boom!” He saw my video of the demolition of the Memorial Bridge’s west span and now associates my website with that video.

As long as he doesn’t mess with any of the knobs or sliders on my mixer or other gear at the desk, I’m more than willing to donate my computer to the entertainment of my PJ and his little brother while I’m away at work. No worries there; if we tell him not to go into the office and that virtual aquarium is running, he stands obediently by the doorway and gazes in. I hope he and Jonathan always listen that well!

Little boy, big capitol

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Not only did we fire up the grill and have a burger day at work today, but I also had the opportunity to take off a little early. That provided me the perfect window of time to take little PJ up to the capitol building for his first time! He wasn’t scared when he first saw the view from the 18th floor windows, but he was surprised. His favorite was watching the little cars driving around down there. He always likes elevator rides too, and the capitol has fast ones. He asked to hit the buttons, of course.

This is the only mall I feel like visiting during the holiday season. I find it interesting that there was so much green grass under the snow. I noticed the same thing at the Tom O’Leary tennis courts. Bring on more November snow storms! I’m from the Rocky Mountains, so I remember trick-or-treating in snow so deep my dad had to carry me. I wouldn’t mind October snow here either.

Once our capitol mission was accomplished, it was time to go look at things like motorcycle shops, trucks, and airplanes. Those are PJ’s favorites, and he seems to remember everything he sees. When I tuck the boys into bed, I always talk about our day and all the fun things we saw. I expect they’re going to grow up loving Bismarck-Mandan, and North Dakota in general, as much as their daddy does.