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Remy Ledoux. If that name doesn't look familiar to you don't worry. It really shouldn't be. That is, unless you are one who fancies him or herself as a purveyor of ancient treasures. According to legends, and some historical documents, Remy Ledoux was the soul survivor of a group of Frenchmen from New Orleans who struck it rich in the gold mines of the San Juan Mountains in Colorado.

In the late 18th century a party of Frenchmen from New Orleans traveled to Colorado on news of massive gold strikes in the San Juan Mountains by the Spanish. In an area now known as Treasure Moutnain…  ( Click for more )

Perks. Most of you know what those are. They're the difference makers in pay packages when the wages are close and a choice must be made between two jobs. Perks are the important things that make income really income. Things like having your health insurance covered, complete with a dental and vision plan. Or having a rental car provided for you to drive in your work.

Speaking of rental cars, professional golfers oftan have courtesy cars provided for them for the various tournaments in which they compete. Sometimes those cars are just common automobiles. Sometimes they are…  ( Click for more )

Golfers like to be able to enjoy playing the game. Many times we will choose courses that play to our strengths or, as in my case, lack of them. Such as a golfer who has trouble putting the ball in the fairway from the tee will look for a golf course that, though it has rough, is wide open with little or no trees and no out-of-bounds. We like it as easy as we can get it.

Every now and then I personally like to see just how good I am. That is when I try to find a course that magnifies my weaknesses. It is on such courses that I begin to wonder if anyone can ever truly play…  ( Click for more )

I had not taken the trip for some time and felt that it was that right time again. It was a beautiful day for January. Sunshine and temperatures in the mid to upper sixties. It seemed like the right time to make the trip from my home in Georgetown, Kentucky to my ancestral burial grounds near London, Ohio. My mother and father are buried there along with my father's parents and a brother-in-law.

It's kind of interesting to me just how the burial site reflects the family. My grandparents, Ora and Leota Kelly (no, that's not a misprint, that's the way Pawpaw spelled his last…  ( Click for more )

Napoleon Hill, he of Think and Grow Rich fame, once said, "What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." He has a very valid point. Joe Gawzner, founder of Parrot Products, was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the comfort stations he was encountering across the United States. The bathrooms he was finding in rest areas and truck stops were completely grossing him out.

Tired of accepting the substandard conditions he invented the Enable Kit in March of 2002. Each kit costs $3.79 and includes hand wipes, area and fixture wipes, rubber gloves, toilet…  ( Click for more )

You've heard of flying saucers, right? You know, the stuff of UFOs. But have you ever heard of a flying pancake? No, you aren't seeing things in print. I did type, "flying pancake." The flying pancake is a special plane that was built for the government by Vought Aircraft and designed by Charles Zimmerman. The plane was designed to take off and land in a short distance to facilitate its use on carriers.

The V-173 was first built in 1942. Its first flight was on November 23, 1942. The reason it was called the flying pancake is because the plane was designed with a broad…  ( Click for more )

The mind can play terrible tricks on us. Hallucinations can seem as real as the world around us. Fantasies can overwhelm us to the point that real relationships mean little or nothing to us. Obesessions are also a trick of the mind and can be just as frustrating and deadly as the other things I have already mentioned. Consider the odd life of one Arnold Schoenberg, the famed Austrian composer.

Schoenberg was born on September 13, 1874. As he grew older he became convinced that he would die on the 13 as well. But what year? He reasoned that it would probably be the year 1951…  ( Click for more )

The wildcat is a predator. It makes its livelihood off the carcasses of animals it is able to capture. One of those animals is the rabbit. Or, as many people are prone to refer to them, the bunny. Wildcats in many regions have become very adept in getting the bunny every time and miss few if any. Last night I watched in horror as an entire bevy of wildcats missed getting bunny after bunny. In the end they were still able to secure a gamecock.

The wildcats I watched were the University of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team. The "bunnies" they missed were layups, which,…  ( Click for more )

First it was a simple weight bench. Then came the membership to the local gym. Then there was the stepper. A nasty device that demanded fast footwork to make it work. Then came the Chuck Norris approved get-rid-of-your-gut-and-make-your-biceps-pop machine. Then came the treadmill to walk off those pounds when the weather did not want to cooperate. Then we added the heavy bag for me to work out on.

The newest addition to the collection is an inobtrusive little device that sets in our living room. We saw it advertized right around Thanksgiving. My wife watched the infomercial…  ( Click for more )

Every Sunday morning at the Minorsville Christian Chruch I know that at least one person will be paying attention to me as I preach. Every Sunday morning this young lady's eyes follow me as I preach. Her head comes to attention at the sound of my voice. There are those odd times that she sleeps. But then she is only eleven months old.

Ellie Morgan Hastings was born last year on February 10. She was an instant hit with my wife as February 10 is my wife's birthday. For some reason, from the time she was able to focus her eyes, she has watched me intently. Her extended family…  ( Click for more )

It is only one week away. Well, not even a week. Actually it is just days away. It begins Friday. What is IT? The Lexington Golf Show.

Why am I so excited about a golf show? The same reason people are excited about bridal shows, gun shows, car shows, etc. I love golf. There is no other game quite like it. It is the one game where if you do something right it's right because of your skill (or, in my case, blind squirrel luck) and not because of the faliure of another person to stop you as in the three major sports here in America.

It is the only sport where you can…  ( Click for more )

It's almost that time again. The same time that rolls around this time of the year every year. It's alomst time to say good-bye to this year. Yep, sure nuff, it's New Year's Eve.

Time to say good-bye to all the mistakes of 2004 and hello to all the opportunities in 2005...to make the same mistakes.

Time to say good-bye to all the problems of 2004 and say hello to all the new problems waiting in 2005.

But...

It's also time to say good-bye to the old friends we may have lost in 2004 and hello to those whose lives we may bless in 2005.

Time to say good-bye to all…  ( Click for more )

Tsunami is the Anglicising of an Oriental term for a tidal wave. Tsunamis are caused by a seaquake or volcanic eruption. The tsunami that recently hit the Thailand area was triggered by a massive earthquake the likes of which had not been felt for many years. The devastation is disheartening. Tsunamis develop so suddenly, move so swiftly and reach so far inland that the only escape is not to be within its reach. The power of the water as it ebbs and flows is so great that people cannot resist its force and are swept away.

The deadly nature of the one in Thailand and the carnage…  ( Click for more )

Tonight my beloved Ohio State University Buckeyes will play in San Antonio, Texas for the right to call themselves the Alamo Bowl Champions. A few days from now the University of Southern California Trojans will play the Oklahoma University Sooners in a bowl game for the right to call themselves National Champions. I guess I miss the Buckeyes' 2002 season when they were the Champions.

I remember when I would pull for the Buckeyes to be able to play in the granddaddy of all bowl games, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. That used to be where the champions of the PAC 12 and…  ( Click for more )

With the year 2004 coming to a close I can't help but take the time to say something about, well, time. This year I read a story about a man who was going to walk across the United States, all forty-eight contiguous states. That reminds me of a statement I once read by a man named Steven Wright. "Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time."

Ah yes, if you have the time. That is the one complaint that I hear from so many. They complain that they just don't have the time to do certain things. They get asked to help with a church program. "I don't have the time."…  ( Click for more )

It's just one day away. Tomorrow is Christmas. Hopefully tomorrow my family will be together to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus called the Christ. My son is to leave from Wisconsin today after supposedly being ready to leave on Wednesday. The snow storm in Indiana has kept him from coming thus far. Join me in praying that he, and others, make safe journeys to their homes for that special time of the year. As for you good folk;

It's Christmas time once again, time to remember a birth. Time to remember the one who received gold, frankincense and myrhh. Time…  ( Click for more )

This morning I am listening to automobiles running outside in their driveways to warm them up. It's cold this morning and somewhat icey. The temperature is thirty-one degrees and it has been drizzling rain all night. With that in mind I find it rather odd that these neighbors of mine are running their cars to get them warm enough to drive to work. Why? They all have garages.

Every house on our street has a two car garage. That's twenty-five houses with two car garages on this street and seventeen of them have cars sitting in the driveway. It makes absolutely no sense to…  ( Click for more )

It is definitely that time of the year. My e-mail bin is starting to include mailings concerning Santa Claus and other Christmas traditions which are a tad skewed but tolerable nonetheless. Some are funny, some uproarious, some thoughtful and others, well, bless their hearts, I hope they like coal. Which brings me to my favorite Christmas tradition that has nothing to do with the Christ.

I can remember as children my sister and I being told that we had to behave or Santa Claus would put a lump of coal in our stocking. Recently, on "According To Jim," the youngest of the children…  ( Click for more )

The long running sitcom "Cheers" spawned a number of characters which every regular viewer seemed to recognize from their own experience. That is what made "Cheers" so successful. Like the resident know-it-all, mailman Cliff Claven. People tuned in each week just to hear what mishmash Cliffy would come up with that would begin as an intelligent sounding remark and digress to the ridiculous.

One day as the regular barflys were discussing music, Cliff threw in, "I wonder if you know that the harp is a predecessor of the modern day guitar. Early minstrels were much larger people.…  ( Click for more )

The story is told of a man and his wife who had been fiercely devoted to their work. So devoted were they that they hardly ever had any time to themselves. They decided enough was enough and set a night to go out on a "date" together to their favorite restaurant. The husband even rented a limo for the evening to make the evening that much more special.

The couple were dressed to the hilt when the limo arrived to pick them up and take them to their destination. As they sat eating their meal a man approached them and started jumping back and forth and frantically waving his arms…  ( Click for more )

People seem to love to complain. They can look at the best of situations and see the minutest of flaws, so no wonder they can look at normal situations and absolutely rip them apart. Griping seems to be the one thing most people have down to a science. The sad thing is, the one place people seem to be able to complain the best and the loudest is in church.

A friend of mine called me last week and shared a new complaint with me from one of his flock. The complaint? There were too many new people in church whose backgrounds were less than sterling. My friend was at his wits…  ( Click for more )

In the mid to late nineteenth century lived an actor named Charles Coghlan. Coghlan was born in 1841 on Prince Edward Island, Canada. Though a world traveler as an actor he always returned to his home on the Island. He loved his beloved Canada and could not see spending his retirement years anywhere but there on Prince Edward Island.

In 1899, while appearing in Galveston, Texas, Charles Coghlan became gravely ill. He died before the turn of the century and, instead of being sent back to his native land, he was buried in a local cemetery in Galveston. His beloved homeland was…  ( Click for more )

I am so excited!!! It is almost time for Winter Holiday. Tis the season to be jolly and all that. I mean, let's show some gratitude to the governments of so may countries that came up with the idea to have a Winter Holiday. However did they think of such a thing. And it so perfectly meshes with when the children are off from school in the winter time. Maybe that's why they did it.

Yeah, why did they set it at this particular time of the year? Is it because all the retailers have so much inventory left over from the beginning of the year that they want to have some huge sales…  ( Click for more )

It's December. The air is colder. The rain is coming much too frequently. The wind is much too brisk. This is not golf weather. What does a person, whose only weekly distraction is golf, do with himself when he cannot play golf? When I figure that out I'll let you know. No, seriously, I have no idea. There are any number of things that could serve as substitutes.

I could play cards. There are a myriad of card games available. I remember playing euchre growing up with my family. My wife and I were introduced to pinochle sometime in the seventies. Of course, as a kid…  ( Click for more )