Stuart Family Reunion '06

Last week marked the _th official Stuart Family Reunion (I don't know how long we've been having them — a long time). Lake Tenkiller was the location of choice, up in north-eastern OK. A clean lake and a nice area. We have a reunion every other summer and it's always a grand time, seeing the numerous relatives and re-figuring out who's who.

This year, I decided to hold no pretenses and admit right away if I didn't know someone. "I'm in the Don Stuart side of the family...Dan's youngest son. Who are you again?" The trick is to use that "again" word in there, signifying that at one time you knew their name, even if you've really no idea who they are, how they're related to you or if you've even seen them before in your life.

But it's always a joy to mingle with everyone from far and wide (Oklahoma, Colorado, California, Kentucky, Kansas, Arizona, Washington, Massachusetts, Florida and of course, Texas — someone has to live there...)

Highlights included late nights of Mexican dominoes (a family tradition), introducing the fam to the glorious game of Kungen (my team dominated, of course), sailing on Lake Tenkiller and observing my relatives interact with Sam. As usual, my briton brother-in-law was quite the familial novelty, his cheek and witty humour adding, no doubt, to his intrigue. Good looks AND a sense of humor. Hot damn. Quite the double threat, no?

Oh, I also found out that two of my relatives fought for the North in the Civil War and marched through the South with Sherman's army (much to Sam's chagrin). I guess that means we're Yanks through and through...sorry Samuel.

Here are some shots of the action.


The Don Stuart Branch
My grandpa, Don Stuart, had four siblings, two of which are still living. The reunion encompasses each of my grandpa's siblings' families, as well as my grandpa's line, which happens to be the most prolific. My grandpa Don died in 2003, but certainly his lineage is alive and well. This mass is testament to that. There were 42 people from his side alone.


9 new babies since the 2004 reunion.




Sailing on Lake Tenkiller with Uncle Bob. Powerboating is fun, but for my money, you can't beat windboating. Fortunately we had hearty breezes to fill the sheets.


Cousin Malena.


Me and my co-pilot, Cousin Karina. Some firefighters were doing training nearby and we got to check out their helicopter. The kids got to grub around on all the controls and a few even got to go for a ride in the chopper. We heard about this ride A LOT for the rest of the day.


Nephew Carson in the pilot seat.


Touchdown after "the big ride."


My bro grilling some venison steaks and sausages from the deer he shot in January. Baby Josh is supervising.


Sam hitting the frisbee golf course. For the record I finished one under and Sam a paltry five over.


Some sweet Kungen action.


Bocce ball.


Me and Grandma Stuart


Grandma feeding the kiddos some ice.


My cousins, the Cordovas, who live in Arizona. I'll be visiting them next week out in Phoenix on my way home from picking up mi amiga Julie who has an internship in Tucson this summer. Should be good times on the road.



And what do you know, Milt showed up at the reunion. He was a big hit. I was even a bit jealous with all the compliments he got on his attire. His style is quite unparalleled.

Singapore or bust

Well, some hours of packing followed by an early morning wakeup saw the venerable Mr. Ling moved out of the dorms and off to the Singaporian motherland. Bon Voyage, Dan-o. Perhaps by the time this posts you'll have endured your 28 hours of traveling to bask in the east asian equatorial bliss.

See you in a few weeks, brother.

~J.




Dan's improvised guitar/clothing bag.

Some things

Well, it has finally arrived. The 2006 Sooner Yearbook. It's odd seeing the physical embodiment of so many hours of work. I pored through it today when it arrived in the post. So many things look soo good.
But of course the errors shriek out at me like demonic gremlins. "Didn't catch us in the editing process!!! HAHAHA!!!" Eat me, gremlins. I'm proud of it. And by the way, Annie Petzinger, I have your yearbook. It was mailed to my house, remember?


An ad in the Norman Transcript from the other day. Yibble.


The definitive Jonathan Ramsay.


We all get those aberrant glacial masses in our ice machine trays from time to time. I thought I'd have fun with this particular glacier. I sprinkled sugar all over it and let the girls enjoy some sweet, cold licking on a steamy summer day.

first shave

Dan borrowing my razor for an unroutine facial hair removal. Whew. Kids. They grow up so fast...

Typical drill weekend

We played for the annual division dining out on Sat. night. Basically this is when all the officer/enlisted higher-ups of the 95th division dress up, eat, drink and hob-nob. "Oh, Colonel Mustard, you're looking positively smashing this evening..."

During the dinner program they showed a slideshow of 95th division soldiers deployed in Afghanistan. I shifted back to a thought I'd had before of transferring units and becoming an army combat photographer (this job really exists).

Part of me wants to get a first-hand experience of what's going on "over there." Taking photos amidst the action would certainly offer such a perspective if not much more. But then I think I'm pretty happy just honking out sousa marches. Yeah, I think I'll stick with what I know.


Spc. Kimmel and I.


chase(euphonium), me(t-bone), josh(trumpet) and patrick(trumpet).


You've heard of the war on terror? Boy howdy.


Me and saxamaphone player, Spc. McWhorter. This weekend was her last drill with the band. In August she leaves to get retrained as a military policewoman. This job pretty much ensures an all-inclusive vacation to sunny Iraq. But that's what she wants to do. Be careful, McWhorter. We bandees will be thinking of you.

Parting Shot

Not to belabor the point, but this is my favorite scenery shot from Maine: near Swans Falls in Fryeburg.

Home again, home again, jiggedy jig

We made it back safely to Okiehoma this evening, somewhat tired and QUITE hot. I'll miss those 60 degree evenings and frigid river swims. The real kicker now would be to experience a Maine winter — many feet of snow and days of below zero weather. Sounds great to me.

But it's good to be back. And I have my mowing cut out for me as it seems the grass has exploded in my absence...


God's temperature: 68 degrees Fahrenheit.


The fam, from left: Aunt Jill and Uncle Reuben (he's my mom's bro), me, Ma and Pa.


Mommy Stu handling a behemoth crustacean at the lobster store.


The mean two pounder.


Imagine a commute to work with this scenery.


_______________________________________

Talk like a New Englander: a few words from up north

caw = car
seerup = syrup
Mass = Massachusetts
Mainah = Mainer
wicked hot = "really hot"
sammich = sandwich
fayah = fair
winnah = winter
summah = summer

A Religious Experience

Sunday in New England

Our old church — White Mountain Chapel, in Conway, New Hampshire.


The Saco River beach in Fryeburg. COLD water.








The good life.

Portland Headlight — Port Elizabeth, Maine

This is the oldest lighthouse in America, and George Washinton, in part, commissioned its construction in 1787. We made the hour drive from Fryeburg to Portland today and saw some sights, including the lighthouse.

Where's Milt?

Well, I got a neat email from Milt today, filling me in on his most recent summmertime escapades. Seems he's having such a wonderful time...

He attached this picture of him on his trip. Do you know where he might be? Indeed, where is Milt?

Maine Farmhouse

This is a clip I shot Thursday of the land around my uncle Reuben's house. With some additional commentary.

Family History Revisited

Today began the fulfillment of a trip long in the making — 17 years, to be exact. My parents and I arrived in Fryeburg, Maine this evening, our former town of residence, and a place we've not seen since 1989 — the year we moved back to Oklahoma.

In the '80s, my fam lived in Maine for about 3 years, calling Fryeburg (and its one stop light) home. Since '89, none of us has been back to visit. It's good to be back here after so long, though I was merely a young lad of five years when we left Maine.

I'm wracking my memory trying to remember things here. Unfortunately, I don't recall a great deal. But I do know that everything seems much smaller now than it did in 1989. Interesting how that works.

We'll be here through next Wednesday, and so far the trip's off to a poignant, enjoying and sentimental start. Primarily I'm excited that it's 68 degrees and raining right now. That alone is reason to celebrate.

Here are some shots from Wednesday.


Mama and Papa Stu, celebrating entrance into The Pine Tree State.


My uncle Reuben's farmhouse in Fryeburg where we're staying. It's over 200 years old and sits on 10 acres. Very quiet and contenting.


Here she is, the old Stuart family home. Lots of memories here. The people we sold it to still live here and they've done some nice improvements to it over the years. Looks pretty good. We're going to try go over and talk with the owners sometime during the trip for some reminiscing.


Not a sign you'll see in Oklahoma.


Driving on I-93 in New Hampshire toward Fryeburg. We flew to Manchester, NH, rented a car and rolled 2.5 hrs up to Fryeburg.


The cast before takeoff at Will Rogers. Unfortunately, the whole fam couldn't make it for the trip. Some day we'll all make it up here together.


Vibrant Maine foliage. Green is the dominant color up here. On ground level, it's pretty much the only thing you see.

Trees...bushes...shrubs...ferns...trees...bushes...shrubs...ferns...

10 easy tips for better gas mileage

With prices at the pump continuing upward, there's little a consumer is to do. Or is there? Yes, yes, friends, there's much you can do. Follow the ten easy steps and you'll be skipping to better fuel economy like me (I've filled up twice since early May).






1. Get a bike
2. Ride it everywhere (with a helmet)
3. Revel in your improved fitness after observing step #2
4. Ask yourself this question: is 20 miles to the gallon really that great? (No, no it isn't. Get a car with at least 30 mpg)
5. Set a walking or biking limit. Example: I will walk everywhere I need to go that is within three miles of my house
6. Schedule more transportation time to allow for your walking or riding places
7. If you have a kid, get a kid porter that you can attach to your bike
8. If you have two kids, get your spouse to get a kid porter on his or her bike also
9. Sell your car (you've got a bike, remember?)
10. Ditch the house, the flashy job and the city. Join a tree-hugging, bio-diesel producing colony where you can walk to work — where you thresh corn (for the bio-diesel of course).

America's Holiday

Mr. Ling proudly celebrates his first July 4 in the United States.



My folks made some tantalizing homemade ice cream. I got first licks though Dillon (the dog) was pressing me to share the creamy goodness.


Sam and cousin Isabella after swimming. Isabella lives in Phoenix and got COLD after swimming. 90 degrees is a cold spell to her.


Sam giving Abby some Pina Colada. The holidays aren't just for humans right?

230 candles on the birthday cake