Last of the "Family" October Birthdays

Me and Joe on the Harley in San Francisco.

The Golden Gate Bridge in the rear view mirror of the Harley, on a
typical San Francisco summer day.

You can take the boy out of Oklahoma
but you can't make him take his boots off on the beach in California.

Yes, I have three family members whose birthdays are in October, and today is Joe's birthday. He's a great guy with a charismatic and winsome personality. I had the awesome opportunity to spend a week with him in Nicaragua (a week in Oklahoma and 2 weeks in San Francisco) this summer and it was so much fun. In Nic, everyone he met became his friend. He sat on the porch each night exchanging cultural lessons with the night guard, bus driver and translator, mano y mano (I think that's how you spell that), which means man to man. He wouldn't have it any other way but to stand in the doorway of the bus when we were traveling so he could "talk" with the bus driver (who only spoke Spanish and Joe only speaks English), be ready to jump out of the bus to open the gate, help the driver park the bus, and just generally provide a sense of camaraderie with the driver. He's always impressed me as a man that gets things done, whether it's building a small shed, or a huge shop in his back yard, putting together a custom motorcycle or repairing a friends "scooter" (i.e., Harley), whatever he puts his mind to, he manages to do. I love him, and I really hope he has/had a great day. So, Joe, this blog's for you!

Joe in Nicaragua, on a horse at the medical clinic, with Moises (one of the boys that lives on the farm/ranch), holding a little boy at the clinic, and standing with his "boys" (Donald, Dimitrio, and Lester) outside of the Jinotega orphanage.

Here's my brother and my nephew,
his son, Shane, this summer at the
lake in Oklahoma. What a great weekend!