These are pictures that I took showing how far if it from the dock to Grandpa’s house. Just a few hundred feet between the dock, and Grandpa’s house. I climb those stairs a dozen times a day.
3/4 pound of ground beef
1medium onion chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz of sour cream
8 oz of cream cheese
I bag of wide egg noodles
Sauté the onion, and add the beef to brown. Add salt and pepper to taste at this stage.
Place onion/beef mixture in Dutch oven, or baking dish, along with the remainder of the ingredients.
Add enough water to about 3/4 of the way up the noodles.
Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes, stir, replace lid and put coals back in place, or back in oven.
Bake for another 30 minutes, still at 400°F
Pull from heat, stir, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Serve and enjoy. Serves 8
In 1982 a US Army dentist took out my top right wisdom tooth with a hammer and a chisel.
Fast forward to 2011, and I went to my dentist about a smell from my mouth expecting the worse, rotten teeth, Periodontitis, etc. only to be told that there was a “pocket” where the Army dentist had taken bone with the tooth, in 1982. That pocket was a perfect trap for everything, allowing bacteria to build up, and attack heathy tissues. Antibiotics cleared it up that time, and a few more times.
The battle continued, until 3 weeks ago, when the area started causing me pain. First it was hot and cold sensitive. Ok, a trip toe the dentist and more fluoride was added to the top of the area. That didn’t help much, but the pain did drop down to a constant throb. I thought it was just normal recovery, but it wouldn’t go away, so back to the dentist I went, 9 days later. He found what he thought was a crack, and we talked about bite guards, stress, and as a last resort he sent me for a CAT scan of my mouth.
The tooth next to the “pocket” was slowly being resorbed by my body. The 9 years of battling the infection had finally taken it’s toll. The reason the pain had abated is that the nerves in that tooth were dying, and the tooth was now a ticking time bomb. It wasn’t “if” it was going to abscess, but “when.”
I asked the standard question, “How long can I put this off?” and was advised to take care of it as soon as possible, because if it did go from bad, now, to worse, later, it could mean an emergency surgery to remove the tooth and surrounding tissues.
That was on Thursday. 30 minutes before my dentist closed his doors for the day, I mustered my courage and made the appointment for Monday morning. Here is the part that bothers me, none of this is covered by any of my three government insurances, (TriCare, Delta Dental and VA Dental), and I just can’t understand why there are some morons out there that still want “ObummerCare.”
Monday morning rolls around and I’m nervous. I’ve had my last wisdom tooth pulled just a few years ago, and I remembered the pain. I show up early, and refuse to be sedated, insisting that we do this with a local, leaving me to focus on what is going on around me. Numbed up, the oral surgeon goes to work. The tooth come out in parts. The infection sis scraped away, as it had actually started to abscess, and a bone graft was put in place.
I am looking at 28 days for the stitches to dissolve, and up to 6 months for bone fragments to quit poking through. Antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory medication to be taken until gone.
I keep running through my head about what could have been, and what should have been. I’m lucky that the dental crew kept looking when I said something didn’t feel right.
I’ve been asked this a number of times so I figured I’d get it down in writing.
If you are thinking about tying flies, here are my guidelines:
I didn’t graduate high school, but I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering. How does this happen? It was a long road, and a tough story. I put this in writing so I can tell my grandkids the story.
Capt. Mark put me in the right area at the right time.
A true friend will give you the shirt off of his back, and a great friend will actually loan you his lucky shirt. I caught my first snook on this trip thanks to Capt. Mark, and Q.
Around Christmas time I got a call from a friend that I had lost touch with, Crawford P.. We talked about the upcoming fishing year and he extended an invitation for us to come up and fish with him.
November:
During a home vacation, I was exposed to virus that causes a minor lung infection. With my compromised lungs (Kuwait fires, gas chamber, etc.), I could feel the drain on my body, as my energy level dropped, and my desire to do anything went to nil.
Dough
2 cups of milk, scalded and let cool to 95-110°F
1 tablespoon of yeast, or 2 packages
1 tablespoon of sugar
2½ teaspoon of salt
2 eggs
4 – 8 cups of flour
Filling
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon of flour
Raisins (optional)
Nuts (Optional)
Topping
Powdered sugar
Vanilla
1 tablespoon of milk
Add all but the flour in a large mixing bowl, and stir. Add flour until it is difficult to stir and pulls from the side of the bowl.
On a flour coated surface knead the dough until it feels slightly stiff, and keeps it’s shape when let go. You may need to add more flour until you reach this stage.
Let the dough rise until double in size. This completely depends on the yeast, temperature, and a few other factors. What I do is draw a circle in the flour that is the doubles size, so there is no guesswork.
Mix cinnamon, brown sugar and flour thoroughly.
When the dough is double in size, roll the dough with a rolling pin to about the thickness of about 1/4″
Wet the dough with water or milk, and sprinkle the cinnamon mixture evenly. Add nuts and raisins if desired. Roll the dough up, trapping the filling.
Lightly butter a cookie sheet or 11×17 casserole dish
Cut the dough about finger width across the grain, and place in the pan, as shown in the featured image.
Let rise for another 30+ minutes, until double in size again.
Preheat oven to 375°F
Bake for 20-35 minutes. The tops will be a golden brown when done.
Mix the topping, and blend until smooth.
Let stand for at least 10 minutes before drizzling the topping on the rolls and serving.
