Uncle Jim came back out tonight.  He wanted to check the water around the place.  And get a free supper.  And it was his 79th birthday.  He’s trying to act like he’s getting old but his mind is still whirring and way ahead of most if not all.  If I was smart, I would start writing a book about this guy and his life experiences.  He is actually a true renaissance man.  Jet fighter pilot in Vietnam, retired Air Force with extensive service record, wine taster, wine maker, violin maker (can’t play one but has built several–why?  Just wanted to see if he could discover the secret of the Stradivarius violin.  I mean, hell, who hasn’t thought about building a violin or 6), low rent fisherman extraordinaire–fly, bait cast, spin cast or old school Zebco 33, food critic to the Nth degree, gunsmith, blade smith, opinionated (makes me look MILD) and can talk any topic you want.  Pick one–religion, politics, food, engineering, weather and on and on.  He was raised Catholic, attends Catholic mass but also teaches bible study at a Baptist church.  And he isn’t afraid to correct a Priest or Preacher about a bible passage.

It is easy to tell when a topic is new to him or that he doesn’t know much about it.  How?  He starts asking questions but they come at you in a conversational form, not direct.  And he asks questions that make you think just how much you really know about the subject.  For example, the art of showing livestock at a highly competitive level.  The moment he grasps that the $ amounts are retarded, he will quantify the value by discussing the study of nutrition and genetics, throw in some politics, a job well done reward, family bonding, work ethics, building character and then spin it back to you in the form of a poorly planned jr. high school science fair project that failed miserably so you then use all of the aforementioned crap to justify showing livestock.  And he isn’t wrong.

In all honesty, he makes it fun.  He makes you think.  And after he leaves, you are left thinking about what the heck it was that you thought you were thinking.  I suspect that he goes home and laughs about how he made you think about something that you do on a daily basis.  Then he researches it for his own knowledge and is better prepared for the next time.

It’s good.  Real good.  I mean, this has to be the first time that a Stradivarius violin was ever mentioned on a goat or livestock blog page.