Our Fathers, Their Sons ~~

At the 'Queen Mary' 1983

 His smile was larger than life as we ventured through this most magical place. Our journey lead us from adventure, to fantasy and even into the future. Yet more than the magic, more than the journey ~ what became most spectacular, was nothing more than a mouse. Well, perhaps not just any mouse. No, this particular mouse goes by the name of ‘Mickey’.

More than fifty years ago ~ when Hiroshi Imaizumi and I first met. Since 1971 he has been known as Uncle ‘Mickey’. My father and Mickey would begin a partnership, no actually a brotherhood, that continued until my father's death in 2010. And his new name ~ given by yours truly ~ was after that visit to Disneyland, and his love of ‘Mickey Mouse’, so the name stuck. In such a way, that through his world travels over the past fifty years, no one calls him Hiroshi. Ha!

Mickey & Dad ... circa 1990

Those early years provided many memorable experiences with Uncle Mickey. But none greater than the infamous ‘Dune Buggy’ ride. I had become good friends with Shotoshi Takahasi, a foreign exchange student from Yokohoma, Japan, who was a fellow ballplayer, neighbor & best friend. Shos, as we would call him, had been in the States for six months when Mickey arrived for a two week stay. My father, by the same name, Rick and I had built a four seat dune buggy just the year prior. With a 2100cc VW engine, back seats that sat six inches above those in front and buggy reign brakes (for turning on a dime), this buggy remains as one of my most favorite memories.

It was a gorgeous Spring afternoon as the California sun glowed upon the Santa Clarita dry riverbed. Mickey & Shos sat in the back seats. Rounding corners and topping hills while completing 180 & 270 degree spins, made for nothing more than pure joy! And then came ~ ‘the spot ‘. Dad slowed ... glanced toward me and we both nodded. Ahead ~ a lone puddle, that appeared inches in depth. First, then second and third gears provided more than sufficient speed enroute to the puddle. As the front, then the rear tires hit ~ a wave of water, no, of mud lifted above the buggy and landed perfectly upon our unbeknownst passengers. Dad with excellent precision grasped the left buggy reign as we spun a perfect 180 degrees to a stop. What seemed like seconds of silence, the two passengers, with almost choreographed synchronization ... lifted their arms toward the sky and shouted ~~ AGAIN!

Mickey, Kuni & I ... Tokyo 07'

“Well done sir!”, the announcer proclaimed as Kunitaka crossed the finish at the 2019 Portland Marathon. His second place finish with a time of 2 hours and 46 minutes was more than sufficient for qualification to the famous Boston Marathon. Kuni (as he prefers to be called) and I ironically first met in Japan in 2007 at the Tokyo Marathon. I was in Tokyo for a weeks visit after a return from a training operation in Sri Lanka. Uncle Mickey took the two of us on a tour of his lovely city.

Autzen Stadium ~ Fall 2019

The 2019 Portland Marathon, my first ~ Ha! ... as I rode my bicycle around the city capturing video of Kuni and his run to his second place finish. It was our fifth of six meets while he attended the University of Oregon for nine months that year. A July visit even included his parents, Mickey & Kyoung Mee who traveled from Japan for a brief visit. Together we enjoyed Silver Falls State Park and also lovely afternoon baseball game watching the Salem Volcanoes.

Rick & Kuni ~ Go 'Red Sox'! Oct 2021

And now, months have past since Kuni ran with the top 3% in the 125^th running of the Boston Marathon. We enjoyed great lodging in Natick with my nephew Daniel, along with morning breakfast at 'The Bagel Table'. A beautiful ride out to the Atlantic coast. And let us not forget the 'baseball marathon'. Yes, the night before his race we had the privilege to enjoy great seats in the Major Leagues oldest stadium, Fenway Park, where the Red Sox were victorious in thirteen innings. Oh baby!

Kuni's Finish in Boston

How life so quickly changes. After Kuni’s return to Japan in late 2019, I began making tentative plans for a trip to Japan in the Fall of 2021. Then in early 2021 Uncle Mickey would have a stroke and later even diagnosed with cancer. Unbeknownst at that time that I would still have a Fall 2021 connection with the Imaizumi family. Only not in Japan, but rather Boston, USA.

Then came the news toward the end of January 2022, Uncle Mickey had died. Blessed ~~ I’ve been to have had him as part of my life’s journey. Blessed that Kuni made the University of Oregon his school of choice in 2019. 

Not sure if their sons will have another twenty-five years in order to match the forty of which our fathers so enjoyed.  What I do know ~ an ocean was never able to diminish their friendship. Not then, and not now.

Kuni, Karen, Rick, Kyoung Mee & Mickey

Post Boston Marathon Delight :)

Silver Falls State Park - July 2019

2nd Place - Portland 2019

~ Mickey, a major role in Tokyo's Olympic Stadium ~

https://weldingproductivity.com/article/olympic-assist/

                                                Kuni at the 2019 Portland Marathon

Thanks ~~ For The Pace

Rounding the corner, his remarkable orange shirt grabbed my attention. As I turned to shake his hand, he looked to the other athletes whom he'd been relishing about the climb, and said, "Thanks for the pace!"

This was my twelfth climb over the past three years. And though some in the 'Stairclimb' competition business might climb twelve in a year, I was happy to just be a part of this amazing event.

The Empire State Building 'Runup' was celebrating its 35th annual climb. A competition which required each competitor to have participated in climbs such as the Sears Tower among others, and to have set certain time limits. Both of which I fortunately met. In December of 2011 I received notification that I was invited to the 2012 'Runup' to be held on February 8th. The excitement brought an increased enthusiasm to train with greater intensity..

Most reading this will say, "Stairclimb competition, what's that?" But for those who've been a competitor, it becomes a science all its own. Knowing how many steps per landing and per floor. Is it left turn or right turn? How many crossovers are there? How many stories are there? Do I wear gloves and use the handrails? These are but a few of the questions we ask.

The Empire State Building was the most unusual of stairwell configurations. Of the 86 stories, more than sixty had crossovers of ten plus feet. Being the competitor that I am, I tried to determine the best way to account for these crossovers. What I came up with was using a guy who was similar both in age and times in races in which we competed together. With the 'time science' calculated, I decided to attempt a time under seventeen minutes.

I'm not sure when the man in the 'orange' shirt became a mutual pacer. All I know, is that we raced together somewhere between 50 to 60 stories that night. At times I was the pace, and at other times it was the man in orange. Where I lost him, and if he was ahead of me or behind, this I did not know. You might say that all of us were a tad oxygen deprived.

So shaking his hand I smiled and asked, "So how old are you"? Returning the smile, he said, "Twenty three". And I asked, "What was your time"? He said, "Man you burned me up, I had to stop briefly and ended up at 18:20". "And you", he asked. "You don't want to know". I smiled again and said, "Sixteen minutes and fifty seconds". We both smiled and again shook hands.

A decade has now past and I'm still amazed that for one night in February 2012 I became a 'pace' for a kid thirty years my junior. A night in which I took Third Place for the 'Masters' division. And even now, ten years later, a smile still beams at the memory of such a night.

 

‘Gizmo’ ~~ A Very Good Friend’

 I can’t remember the first time we met. What I do remember ~~ is an amazing amount of times that we worked together. And of all the people that I’ve ever met in my life ~ Mr. Gizmo ~ was not just a friend, nor a good friend ~ no, I consider Jim Towle to have been a very good friend! And I’m going to miss him.

There was the major plumbing crisis at our rental in 2008 ~ Jim and I, a week later completed a total overhaul. Or replacing our cold water pipes, along with Jay, where I would see first hand the true meaning of claustrophobia. Five minutes was all he could take under my ‘Army-man Crawl’ of a house. As well, along with Jay, they would repair a leak in our main water line. So many plumbing adventures ~ something of which we both noted our dismay and our mutual saying, “Haven’t I ever told you how much I hate plumbing”? But none of these adventures, or perhaps tragedies, would compare to December 2013.

The story actually backs up to March of the same year. Jim and Marna’s mother Marian had died. Jim with a couple traveling restrictions, and myself having just retired, asked if I would be interested and able to travel to Ketchikan, Alaska to assist with his mother’s house. To which I said, absolutely! But then, time would happen. Only a week before Thanksgiving I would receive a call from Jim. “Rick, is that offer to go to Ketchikan still good”? To which with a smile I replied, “You do realize that it’s Winter”? After a pause, I said, “Of course”!

Jim, Roger & Steve

Twelve days and more than twenty inches of rain, Marna, Travis and I, along with multiple calls to Gizmo for his guiding assessment & direction, completed an incredible amount of items off of the ‘to-do’ list. None perhaps greater than, you guessed it ~ a plumbing project on the bathroom. More than fifty years had passed and that pink, yes, all pink bathroom, had not been witness to a change. The main objective was to replace the shower surround. In the middle of that project comes the below, now infamous picture. Yes, I really do hate plumbing! But wait, for you my friends I now provide a special rate. Yes, all your plumbing needs for only $250 an hour. And wait, there's more ~ call now and receive your very own 'Ginsu' knives for only an additional $129.99 Ha!!

Ketchikan 2013

Anyway ... as fate would have it ~~ at the exact time that I was working on Jim’s house in Alaska, Oregon had one of only two times since 1982 where temperatures dipped below 10 degrees. Fortunately for us a neighbor was walking by and saw water leaking from our second story. Unfortunately for Jim (and Jay once again) his plumbing dismay was called into action. And I’m pretty sure that his thoughts were ~ ‘Haven’t I said how much I hate plumbing’ …

You’d think that plumbing was all we did ~ but fortunately, NO! There was his ingenious creation and fabrication of a part in the shape of a kidney bean in order to repair the drivers door on my 85’ Honda Prelude. Which he cleverly attached using aircraft rivets from his father's collection. Or the fabrication from a street sign (shhhhhh ~ don’t tell the County) of the plate which holds the ‘Tail Bag’ on my Yamaha FJR motorcycle. Or the seriously countless times when I called or visited to inquire some ‘Gizmo’ brain time. Outside of the brilliance of my own father, I don’t believe that I ever personally knew someone who obtained such a mind of genius. And how humbly he would dispense of his wealth of knowledge, to myself and whomever might ask the same.

Milling the Siding for our Garage 2011 

Wow! Where do I stop with projects. Gas lines and stove in our Rental (yes, with Jay). Or a complete overhaul of a porch at the Rental. Of course there were other projects at our own home. I’ll always remember his blue face spraying under the eves. Or our front porch, in which we laid marine grade plywood down. And there was our multiple week chore of a complete overhaul of our 100 year old garage. Steve would help as we removed the ‘tumor’ from the back of the house. With a chain wrapped around the roof timbers, Steve gently backed his truck up as the roof slowly lowered. Jim kept saying, “It’s ok, it’s ok”. As my face grimaced waiting for the moment of collapse. Once again, Jim was right, the roof remained intact. Whew! We even milled our own siding from wood purchased at the Yoder Mill, and routered the exact contour to match the siding on the house.

Rental Porch Remodel 2016

He was the 'Altoids' man ~ Indeed!

Somewhere along the way when the final act of the project was completed, we would say, “And now the ‘Fat Lady’ sings”. To which we would bellow … “Laaaaaaaaaaaa”!

So Jim … the final act of this side on heaven is now complete, and the ‘Fat Lady’ ... well, she gives her final bellow ………… Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa……….. 

 

Written on Travis' 37th Birthday January 28, 2022

 

You ... and I

 Hey son, watched this movie on Tuesday with some friends. It is called, 'American Underdog'. It is the true story about Kurt Warner. I followed his story some as it was unfolding in the early 2000's, but now with the movie ... wow, even more so for sure.

Ready to work, yeah baby!

In the YouTube interview called, "Kurt Warner, Zachary Levi (the actor who plays 'Kurt' as well was the lead in the show 'Chuck'), and Wally Talk American Underdog", Kurt says these words.  

.... talking about ‘facing’ the aisle, i.e. pulling the store product to the front of the shelf. “I don’t know if when you make your trip to the grocery store at 5am in the morning you’re ever going to notice what my aisle was like. But I never left the store at night until I said, “I’m gonna have the best aisle in this store”. My aisle is going to be faced better, it’s going to be cleaner, it’s going to look better than anybody else's aisle in this store. And I would walk out at night and nobody ever told me, “You got the best isle”. And nobody ever walked in and said, “It looks great”.

But it was a moment for me...

“Doesn’t matter where I’m at, doesn’t matter what my circumstances are. There’s a way that I want to do everything. There’s a way that I want to live, and I want to live with excellence. ~~ I found myself in that grocery store and had no idea why I was there. But it was something that I learned in that moment that I took with me everywhere I went from there. Whether it was my football career, whether it was being a husband, being a father, being a Christian. Didn’t really matter. That mindset was shaped in a grocery store at two o’clock in the morning, but would ultimately shape who I would become as an individual.” Kurt Warner

And I thought about that morning when my son (you) was working as a Merchandiser for Coca Cola. I went to the Fred Myers in Newberg to drop something off for you. You were kneeling down while cleaning up from a fellow merchandiser. It was a Wednesday, though your first day back ... i.e. your Monday. While kneeling down you stopped, looked up at me and said, "You know dad it's a curse". "What", I said. "This work ethic that you gave me".

I'm sure that I've said before, that it comes naturally as through my very own mother. Kept in balance with life ~~ it will always serve us well. And take us to places ... wow ... I would never have imagined where my Paramedic schooling would take me. Now across this globe a few times. All because, as with Kurt, I want to live with excellence!

And even baseball ~ from those young days with my coach 'Joe'. It didn't matter what others thought or did. I was ALWAYS going to do it best. Show the best. Be my best! And now I have the privilege to take those skills and that ethic to Mexico and beyond to prepare the next generation to always give their best regardless of their circumstances ~ Who knows where it will take them. Or who knows which one might become an amazing builder, a doctor, a scientist ... discover or do that which might provide for their community in amazing ways. And to know that it all began ~~ just because someone 'did their best'. Because someone 'lived with excellence' in such a way that they took a hold of that ethic and did something amazing with it.

Anyway, just thinking of you ~~ my nearly 37 year old baby. Ha!

Love you, Dad

 

                                                            "I want to live with excellence!" (Minute 6:30 and on ...)

                                                    "Life made him an underdog ... Faith made him a Champion"

 

 

 From the 'Wally Show' ~ https://youtu.be/0uqCpSqKMPY

Second Class – Yeah, I Don’t Think So –

But … I am Good at it :)

So today I experienced for the first time, what has become a ‘Second-Class’ citizen event amidst the COVID (bio-weapon) insanity :( The “jabbed” & the “un-jabbed”

 Before I get to that ~~ I did a search with the question, “Are the unvaxed now second class citizens”? The very first result was an article dated July 7, 2021 from Bloomberg, it states, “Royal Caribbean has restarted sailings with two classes of passengers on board—those who’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19, and those who have not. Jabbed guests, identified with special wristbands.” It goes on to say, “Those with a hole punched in their SeaPass—indicating that they haven’t been jabbed or declined to show a vaccine card—will be segregated to one deck of the main dining room and will be banned from some of the better, more intimate for-a-fee dining venues.” Aye, yi yi, yi yi … But here’s the best part. The name of the 4,275-passenger ship, ‘Freedom of the Seas’. Now that’s what I call ‘ironic’!

So, back to my experience. A couple days ago a new friend (Jeff) at the condo complex where we are currently enjoying a six week siesta. Yeah, rough I know. But, before you get excited, we are very service oriented when we travel. So caring about others always stands in the midst. Ok Rick, back to your point. Yaba, yaba, yaba … Anyway, Jeff invited me to play ‘pickleball’. I’ll let you take a moment and search that if you need. Or better yet, read my blog found at the link below. Before heading away Jeff said that he just got off the phone with his friend that told him where the courts were set up, and the friend mentioned that a ‘Vaccination Passport’ is required to play. Seriously ~ they realize that the game is played outdoors. Right? Oh, but we’re not always six feet apart. How silly of me.

I decided to go just in case the ACTUAL disease preventer ~~ “Natural Immunity” ~~ might be excepted. Though honestly … I was sure that I’d be turned away. And much to my chagrin I was right. I had become a ‘Second Class’ citizen!!! For those of you (even some friends & family) who say, “Just get the jab”! Sorry, but you’re viewing all of this insanity from such a narrow lens. And most who do so, will continue to. I will likely continue to respect those with dissenting opinions. But to NOT be mutually respected. No, this has gone TOO FAR!!!

Grateful that the CDC & MSM are Protecting Us ~

I hope that in the months, perhaps years ahead, those who treated me and hundreds of millions of others as ‘Second Class’ citizens will finally realize the truth of this insanity. That they in fact have been lied to. That is not to say that covid is not real. It is! But to the extent in which fear, tyranny and classing of people is concerned … It is with these that I oppose. 

Until then ~~ I will do everything in my power to withstand those who present me as the problem. And ~~ Second-Class ~~ I don’t think so... 

 

https://rikaman.blogspot.com/2013/02/can-you-saypickleball-champion.html

 

Imagination ~ Don't Lose It!

It was Thanksgiving Day in Puerto Vallarta and standing next to the pool was none other than ~ wait for it ~ Spiderman! I’d seen him before, but seldom without his mask. I asked if he’d seen the ‘Hulk’ lately. And then asked, “What color is he again”? Not giving ‘Spidee’ a chance to respond, I said, “He’s blue right”? No, no wait a minute, “Yellow”! Spidee smiled, about to say the color when I said, “No, no I, I remember, “He’s red”! “Oh, I give up, I can’t remember”. “He’s GREEN”! Spidee said with a glee in both his voice and smile that made him too proud to have something on this grandpa-like man. “Yes, yes, yes, you’re right”, I said.

Then looking at Spidee, I told him a secret. That secret still adds a bit of pride to this old guy some nearly sixty years later. When I was about Spidee’s age now ~ Oh this Spidee with whom I had the privilege to meet on Thanksgiving Day was six years old. Anyway, I was only a couple years older than he right now when I sat in the original ‘Batmobile’. Oh yes I did! Spidee, of course, was more impressed than he had been in quite sometime. Of course, through his adventures, Batman, and especially the younger Robin, were some of Spidee's acquaintances. Wait ~ has that Marvel/DC crossover ever happened? Oh baby … you bet. Anything is possible with imagination :)

The day would become night and Spidee would occasionally venture over to my table and we’d converse about the colors of other superheros. So … “What color was Groot”, he said? Or, “Captain America”? Later I asked if he knew the color of Daffy Duck. Wait, he’s not a superhero. But even Spidee’s mom was not aware that Daffy was black :) As well we chatted about ‘Thor’. Both with puzzled faces, eyebrows crunched and lips pursed … we thought for a few moments. Then I said in a question, “Wait, his hammer. It’s silver, isn’t it”? “Yes, silver”! Spidee said, with still a bit of quizzical look. But surely, he must be silver!

These masked hero's can be found roaming Nicaragua

It was nearly bedtime for Spidee, you know slightly after 7pm. Now shhh you … Yes, almost past my bedtime as well :) Just before he walked away, I thought that I’d help him out if ever he found himself in this same predicament ~ that is, without his mask. I showed him the finger position, and then turned around, only to face him again with my finger mask in place. Oh, he was VERY, very impressed! And rightly should he be. I don’t pass this secret mask on to just anyone. But Spidee, well he has always been a special friend. And to get to meet him without his mask. That just made my day.

If you have yet to pick up on the moral of the story ~~ perhaps the best way for us sixty somethings to keep that six year old self alive ~~ Have imagination, and never … no never, lose it!

 

And ~~ if you need a visual/song to help with your imagination today ~~ might I suggest ~~

 

When I Was ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’

    They sat at the end of two long driveways. 

The driveways themselves were unique, those that had

only concrete for the tires alone. If my memory serves me correctly, there were two, maybe three homes toward the outside of each driveway. And between the drives were a line of deciduous trees. As a boy in the 1960’s this home holds some of the greatest of memories.

For children, likely the predominant ingredient to growth & enjoyment is merely imagination. And for a city raised boy, this home on Eucalyptus Ave in Hawthorne, California, with a field for a playground, not much more was required. Yet, more is exactly what we were about to receive!

Most adults would likely see the weeping willows that sat at the end of the driveways. Yeah, they were cool. But ~~ sitting in a ditch between the willows lay two vintage cars. I was seven, perhaps eight years old, so cars were not part of my repertoire. Not only was ‘Google’ not available, their inventors had yet to be born. So, I was up to my own to research on these fine antique cars. I discovered that they were 1930’s or 40’s Studebaker Champions¹. I’m sure that someone left these beauties behind just for Georgie and me.

Now yes, most of my spare time you’d find me outside, playing ‘Hot Wheels’ in the city that Georgie and I created within the deciduous trees. But it was the mid-1960’s and TV shows made for kids were plentiful. Whether it was the Andy Griffith Show and my favorite Don Knotts, Gunsmoke, The Addams Family or even ‘Batman’, of which I sat in the original ‘Batmobile’... Oh yes I did :) None could match my favorite childhood show ~~ ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ Such a favorite, that for one Christmas, mom wrapped the best present ever, my very own U.N.C.L.E. ‘Spy Kit’.

So with Weeping Willows, Studebaker's, my ‘Man from U.N.C.L.E’ spy kit, the only other ingredient, you guessed it ~ 'imagination'~. I became the better looking Kuryakin … I could never say his first name. So off to the Studebaker’s were Georgie, as ‘Solo’ and me (Ricky) as Kuryakin. I’m pretty sure we were able to solve and protect our country from all and every type of threat possible.

That old home ~~ now a parking lot for the U.S. Post Office. And ‘Kuryakin’, played by David McCallum, now plays ‘Ducky’ in one of my current favorite TV shows, NCIS. 

 

 RIP David McCallum ~ September 25, 2023