Belated Thanksgiving

This year, I am thankful for:

The great turkey dinner we had at my parent's house.

My kids and husband. They all drive me crazy in their own ways, but my life is definitely enriched by them. I wouldn't trade them for anything (at least not today)!

My extended family and friends.

The health of those I love.

The beautiful weather and seasons of Michigan (and photographers who can capture it, like this one of Tahquamenon lower falls by curlyson (see the link at left)).

I am thankful that my whole family has jobs and homes and love to spare.

Operation Selleck continues...

The cheesiness continues to...um...grow. I am planning a stache-off, but everyone else must be too chicken to play. You can manup via camposto@comcast.net

Note the lovely grooming technique...kinda like supertroopers. So sexy!

Deer Hunting 07

Here's my Dad's nice 6 point, taken near Kalkaska. Ryan H. got a nice 6 point with his bow too.

Russ T. took in two huge bucks this week near Fremont. I only have a picture of the first one, but the second is even bigger. Nice job!

En Garde!

T-Bird is fencing. He is learning to attack with a foil.

Veteran's Day

MIKE CHRISTIAN: A POW STORY

As you may know, I spent 5½ years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. In the early years of our imprisonment, the NVA kept us in solitary confinement or two or three to a cell. In 1971 the NVA moved us from these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as 30 to 40 men to a room. This was, as you can imagine, a wonderful change and was a direct result of the efforts of millions of Americans on behalf of a few hundred POWs 10,000 miles from home.

One of the men who moved into my room was a young man named Mike Christian. Mike came from a small town near Selma, Alabama. He didn't wear a pair of shoes until he was 13 years old. At 17, he enlisted in the US Navy. He later earned a commission by going to Officer Training School. Then he became a Naval Flight Officer and was shot down and captured in 1967.


Mike had a keen and deep appreciation of the opportunities this country, and our military, provide for people who want to work and want to succeed. As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home. In some of these packages were handkerchiefs, scarves and other items of clothing. Mike got himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of months, he created an American flag and sewed it on the inside of his shirt. Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike's shirt on the wall of the cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance. I know the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important part of our day now, but I can assure you that in that stark cell, it was indeed the most important and meaningful event.

One day the Vietnamese searched our cell, as they did periodically, and discovered Mike's shirt with the flag sewn inside, and removed it. That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all us, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours.

Then, they opened the door of the cell and threw him in. We cleaned him up as well as we could. The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which we slept. Four naked light bulbs hung in each corner of the room. As I said, we tried to clean up Mike as well as we could. After the excitement died down, I looked in the corner of the room, and sitting there beneath that dim light bulb with a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian. He was sitting there with his eyes almost shut from the beating he had received, making another American flag.

He was not making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was to us to be able to pledge our allegiance to our flag and country.

So the next time you say the Pledge of Allegiance, you must never forget the sacrifice and courage that thousands of Americans have made to build our nation and promote freedom around the world. You must remember our duty, our honor, and our country.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

A True Story by John S. McCain

Submit your 'stache

Send your lush moustache photos to the Camp Director at

camposto@comcast.net

Progress report

Camp Osto has received two submissions for Operation Tom Selleck...so far the progress is pretty good (and so cheesy)! Please rate them above...

Stache #1

Stache #2

All things 'stache...

ID your 'stache...





















Maybe you should consider attending this event? (Who knew these things existed?)


For those of you who can't grow your own, you may need to purchase a moustache (honey, this one's for you)....click here....only $25.00 each and they come in a variety of colors and styles! Please note there are no returns on moustaches.


And, for the ladies...click here...tough calls to be made, but someone has to provide input into the important things in life...



And, let's not forget last year's handsome "winner"!

Operation Tom Selleck

Please submit your photos.

All Matt Wants for Christmas...is Cabela's Trophy Hunting Property

Anyone want to go in on this with us?

Nawakwa Hunt and Gun Club
Price: $5,700,000


This rare large tract of Michigan's northern lower peninsula is truly a sportsmen's paradise. After passing the gated entrance, the 5,000 foot air strip, professionally designed skeet and trap fields, sporting clays course and many food plots you can only wonder what will be next. Traveling miles of trails and groomed road ways the mature hardwood forest and rolling terrain is met with a beautiful ending at a secluded Lake front lodge. The lodge offers all the comforts of home with casual living space and massive decking for entertaining, numerous stone fireplaces, central air and lake views that cannot be described. Invite the family, with accommodations for up to 30 guests and a commercial grade kitchen the Nawakwa lodge will not disappoint. Turtle Lake, completely surrounded by private ranch property has through a strict catch and release program, produces some of the best bass fishing the state has to offer. The property offers almost 1,600 acres, that has for years, been professionally managed for whitetail habitat and quality buck sightings are to many to count. With professional forest harvest management and conservation efforts in place this deer population is insured for years to come. The attached garage, 9 stall storage building, maintenance building with all required grounds care implements and equipment and completely tooled work shop leave nothing to need. The unobtrusive, below grade gas well sites double as managed food plots and produce royalties averaging approximately $100,000 annually. When combined with the forest harvest management plan this sporting property is truly an investment worth looking at. Buy it for yourself, as a corporate retreat or with friends, and own a one of a kind property in Michigan.

Happy Halloween 2007

This show is some images of the festivites from last Saturday's neighborhood party and Halloween. Put your cursor over the photo for the captions.