Prayer Meeting Dec 31,2021

Happy New Year!

Ted and I sure did miss you guy's for some Poor Mans Cake and cold ones ! Hope you all all have a Great Year.... Spending this past year with you Bastard's has been GREAT!!

River Day 12/20/2021 (Christmas Edition)

 

This post may be a little boring to some readers, but I think it's important to preserve history, in the hopes it gives a little insight to our offspring, family, friends, or any other readers as to how we feel about tradition.  So I'm going to recount here how the Rivertarian Christmas celebration came to be.

Twenty-some years ago there was a group of us getting together at the river every week: fishing, burning stuff, having a few cold ones, smoking stogies and generally enjoying each other's company.  The group then was Jay, Ted, David and me.

I don't remember if it was the 1st winter or not, but definitely early on, each of us had brought a small gift for the others in the group.  Just a little "Merry Christmas" present.  It wasn't planned, or even talked about prior to the evening in question.  Everyone in the group just grabbed a bag, or whatever out of their vehicle and said "hey, I got a little something for you guys".  The following couple of years went similarly.

Eventually we started planning which evening the Christmas exchange/celebration would take place.  We brought or prepared food, we played music (traditional Christmas songs), exchanged gifts, and we had a great time.

The group has changed a little since then; David wasn't able to come, and Tim became a welcome regular (now a full-fledged Rivertarian).   What started out as a happy accident has now become a tradition with us, and is probably one of the most anticipated get togethers of the year, probably second only the the Annual Fall Camping Trip.

I'm pretty sure that each of us put more thought into these gifts than we do for anyone else's, ranging from homemade, to personalized, to functional.  Part of that tradition is also a print from the fall trip, that now includes our fallen brother.

Personally, I can't imagine a year without celebrating Christmas without these guys.

So that's the story of how Rivertarian Christmas came to be.  Hope it wasn't too boring.

From each of us, to each of you, Merry Christmas, and long live the Rivertarians!!

Jay Harper

Tim Harper

Ted Hemelgarn

Mark Morgan

Prayer Meeting 12/17/2021 (Jay's Birthday Celebration)

 

Of all the Prayer Meetings we've conducted, this one was definitely one of the best.  So, the usual suspects were present: Jay, Tim, Ted and me.  The day was also Jay's birthday and he got a very nice surprise: both of his sons, Damon and William, showed up unexpectedly.  Or at least early.  

As far as the weather was concerned, we had mild temps (60ish) but with some rain.  Not bad for the week before Christmas.

There were many conversations going on during the short gathering, pretty much all at the same time.  Lots of laughs as you might imagine.

Really happy to have been part of the evening.

Enjoy the pics everyone!

River Day 12/13/2021

Jay, Tim, Ted and I got together this week for our River Day celebration at Jay's.  Not that it matters much when you're indoors, but the weather was pretty mild: clear skies, temps in the mid to upper 50's.  I've gotten into such a habit of reporting the weather for Mondays, that I just automatically add it.  One of these days maybe someone will look back and ask "wonder what the weather was like that day?".  There ya go.

Ted brought a little item over for show and tell this week, part of a follow up on our chats about Geo Caching during the past meetings.  Pretty cool little device for a micro-cache.  We've talked for years about starting and hiding one, but haven't gotten around to it yet (in true Rivertarian fashion).

Hard to believe that we're rapidly approaching the end of 2021.  I believe it makes our frequent get togethers that much more important.  Time is going to keep on speeding along, so these sessions are well appreciated.

Happy River Day to all! 

River Day 12/6/21

Hello all!! No pictures this time. Tim,Ted, & Jay did a short rainy afternoon get together, having a few laughs and some cold ones. So sorry the rest of you followers could not attend. Have a good week Guys!

Prayer Meeting 12/03/2021

 Everyone was able to get together this Friday for our end-of-week celebration (except Pat): Jay, Ted, Tim and I all met at Jay's shop.  The weather wasn't too bad for the afternoon - a little windy but mild for this time of year.

I have become convinced that Jay's Bar and Hardware Store has every type of lightbulb ever created: from the miniature crystalizing grenade shown in the picture, to the skin searing, surface of the sun bright photo bulb as shown in the short video.  Helps to be prepared.

As we're all interested in it, the conversation turned to Geo Caching.  The talk ranged from finds (caches), to our place on the planet, to elevation, to up and down, north and south, and all other things map or location related. 

At some point I'm sure there were four different conversations going on between four different Rivertarians.   This would have been a great time for a recording crew to capture the live action.  Or not.

If I remember correctly, the talk was halted by a statement that went something like this:  "Listen to me @$$holes"

Always great sharing these times!

River Day 08/17/2015

 That's right folks, two River Day posts on the same day, but this one happened more than 6 years ago!  Other than Jay, I have no idea who all was there.

I came across the old point-and-shoot camera I used to use for River Day pics and checked the card for any photos.  Low and behold I found a handful of shots from 8/17/15, and confirmed that I never made a post from that day.

Sorry I don't have any story to go with the pics but thought I'd post them anyway.  Why keep 'em to myself, right?

From the pics, it looks like we were at the beach at Mill Creek, along the river, but if anyone has any memory of it, please comment.

Enjoy and Happy River Day (again)!

River Day 11/29/2021

 

Just Jay, Ted and I for River Day this week for a relaxing afternoon in the shop.  No snow yet but it sure was a cold walk over.  Thankfully, my walk is about a 10th of what Ted's was.  Temp was supposed to be around 40 but it didn't feel like it.

Most of the talk was about the past week and everyone's Thanksgiving holiday.  No projects, just a great time catching up.  

Short post this week, but hope that everyone had a great River Day!