Author Archives: Lummer Steve

what I am working on right now

PEOPLE THAT LEAVE A MARK

 
For 28 years I have visited people in the hospital or at least did my best to follow up on the sick, the injured or the one who just needed a visit.
I have always felt a compassion on people who for one reason or another have been knocked down in life.
Maybe I do it out of ministry duty or being taught all my life that no matter how busy you are, people who need a visit should be visited and encouraged.
Well, today the tables were turned.

After week three of no driving a car, no walks in the woods, no mtn. bike, and no anything that I enjoy, I was getting “cabin fever ” pretty bad until some mountain bike buddies showed up at my front door to visit me.

WOW, it was great to laugh, joke and to see my friends again.

I usually ride with these guys at least once or twice a week and today they came over to the house after their 22 mile ride.

Pictured below are:

(left to right) Jack, Billy, Joni, Coomsie, Middlemore and the famous Steve Becker

These guys are all top level mountain bikers and I have learned so much from them all.

 

 

 

After they left the house we all headed for a local Mexican joint for a bunch of carbs.
That was when they all “Left their mark” on me.
The “signing of the cast” is an American ritual and tradition that happens when a friend breaks something.
I have signed many cast in my day but I have never known what it was like to personally have people “leave their mark” on me in this way.
 

 

 

Thank you Prescott mountain bike friends for the ink and leaving your mark of friendship with me today.
 
 
 
 

 

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family

SPECIAL DELIVERY

SPECIAL DELIVERY TODAY
A few days ago I was talking with my brother Gary over the phone and I had mentioned to him how boring t.v. can be.
I explained to him after watching the entire 2005 Tour de France DVD set and all three Bourne Identity trilogy movies not to mention CNN, Fox News, The Discovery channel, Food channel and every other channel available to us on cable and that I became so desperate I tuned into the Spanish channel and watched a BABAR cartoon in Spanish.
He got a good laugh from that.
Well today I received a surprise from my brother Gary. His daughter Lindsay and her two sons Christian and  Brandon age drove up from Phoenix and hand delivered Gary’s Xbox for me to use during recovery.
I’m not much of a “game guy” , but I’m going to give it a shot.

 

 

 

 

Thanks G for your compassion and your unending giving spirit.
You are my hero.
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What I'm missing right now

WHAT IS MISSING IN THIS PICTURE

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This is a camp site just along the Taylor river in Colorado.

What needs to be here is pictured below….Got to have one someday.

Why suffer in a tent when you can have a home by the river?

AIRSTREAM IS IN THE FUTURE.

 

 

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Life experiences

SINGING IN THE PAIN

Monday was a great learning experience for me.

I went to Doctor Phluger’s office to get the “hard cast” on my right leg.

To fit the cast, doctor Phluger needed to bend the recovering ankle in a position that would allow it to heal right.

It was at that point that I began to appreciate the gift of singing.

As my doctor began to do his work I had a choice. I could concentrate on the pain or I could focus on something else.

In my best attempt to not be a “baby”….I looked to the other side of the room and began to sing to myself a song.  Not loud enough to distract anyone in the doctors office but enough to get through the needed tansition until the artist finished his work.

Lesson learned:

It is better to worship than it is to whine.

I think SINGING IN THE PAIN would be a great book title….. But it has already been written by a pastor friend of mine.

Walt Weaver pastor’s Faith Assembly of God in Indiana. Walt’s story of falling from a construction sight mutiple stories to the ground is an amazing story.

Here are some pictures of my reason to sing. (music not included)

click the pic to enlarge if you like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want to thank Doctor Paul Phluger for his part in getting me to this point.

He is a good doctor with some great fishing stories.

Thumbs up to you doc!

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What I'm missing right now

Liquid History pt. 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All I can tell you is that the Holitna River in Alaska still flows in my memory to this day.

I witnessed 6 grizzlies in the Alaskan wilderness and all of them where along the Holitna river.

I spent a fantastic week at the Holitna lodge and fished one of the best rivers in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alaska’s Holitna River is one of the most remote southwest float trip options. Part of Alaska’s second largest drainage, the Kuskokwim drainage, the Holitna supports all five species of Pacific salmon and is the best char fishing river we have ever fished. The char are plentyful and their size and appearance is impressive by any standard. The king fishing is excellent in areas as is the sockeye and chum fishing. The river also has grayling, northern pike and even sheefish at times. One of the least used rivers I have ever floated, it is very likely that you will not see another person on this river system! It is also one of the easiest rivers I have ever floated and seems to have endless large gravel bars making for virtually unlimited camping opportunities.

We landed a small plane with our gear on a gravel bar on the upper Holitna and camped for two days and nights.

Wildlife on the Holitna River includes bears, wolves, moose, bald eagles and beavers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special thanks to Rocky Mclveen of Alaskan Adventures for a great adventure and to my good friend Steve Parisi for the trip of a life time. 

This is my last “Liquid History” post….but not my last day on a river.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.alaskan-adventures.com/

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What I'm missing right now

Liquid History pt. 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE GIFT OF THE GUNNISON RIVER ABOVE

THE TAYLOR RIVER PICTURED BELOW THAT FLOWS INTO THE GUNNISON.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a great week I had with my son Caleb to celebrate him graduating from Full Sail University as well as my 50th birthday.

Brenda was the enabler to allow us to spend the week together in Colorado for  week of fishing and outdoors.

Highlights of the week included:

Hanging round the cool little town of Durango and the Animas river

Spending time in Quray, Gunnison and Crestted Butte.

What a great adventure and gift to celebrate 50 years of God givin life.

The next time we head up to the area again  we plan on rafting both the Animas and Taylor rivers.

There are so many outdoor activities to do in the Southwestern part of Colorado.

So thankful to have so much …..so close.

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family, what I am working on right now

Liquid History Pt. 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a picture of a day in the canoe with my son Caleb in Arizona.

He and I have floated in a lot of places but this is one of the most scenic.

Here is a partial list of a few more gifts we have floated.

The Gaconade, the Little Piney, the Meramec, the Courtois, the Huzzah, the Bourbesue,the Northfork, the Current, the Jacks Fork, the Black, the Big Creek and our (ROC) river of choice, THE ELEVENPOINT RIVER in Southern Missouri……….It is the crown jewel! JUST THINK……THAT RIVER IS FLOWING RIGHT NOW JUST LIKE IT DOES EVERYDAY.

Some of the greatest memory makers for my son and I have been in a canoe or at least around one.

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rivers

Liquid History pt. 2

 

Issac Walton says it perfectly when he quotes an old Spanish Proverb that says; “rivers were made for wise men to contemplate and for fools to pass by without consideration.”

 

“The mark of a successful man is one that has spent an entire day on the bank of a river without feeling guilty about it”. – Chinese Philosopher

Someone told me along time ago that families that play together, stay together.
Then a friend a couple of years ago told me this one, “married people shouldn’t canoe together.”

I have found the opposite is true. Tandem canoeing has at least for Brenda and I been a great barometer for our long term success in marriage.

The canoe literally and figuratively, forces two people to work together through some very challenging circumstances. White water, “sweepers”, log jams  and situations can really bring a couple together and help you handle other difficult water in life as well.

A trip on a fast moving river can present in a single day challenges and opportunities that a couple might otherwise only experience over a lifetime.

How two people interact under such circumstances says a lot about their compatibility both on and off the water.

Two people can become one as they work their way down a stream bound together by a sixteen foot canoe and one common destiny.

Rivers are great marriage counselors . 

 

 

 

 

The Colorado River in Topock Gorge

This is an 11 mile float trip that eventually takes you

to a “take out” just above Lake Havasu.

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rivers

LIQUID HISTORY

 

 

 

 

 

I talked with John Rodgers today. John  is the Environmental Coordinator  for the Phoenix Expansion Project and the Transwestern Pipeline Company.

His job is to make sure the pipeline that is being laid from New Mexico to somewhere south of Phoenix with the purpose of providing natural gas to the masses of the Southwest is complying with the environmental agreements made between the necessary parties.

As I hobbled past him on my crutches at the coffee shop, I could not help but notice the picture displayed on his lap top. It was a great photo of a southwestern stream.

Being someone that absolutley loves rivers, I had to stop and ask what river was pictured on his lap top.

He told me, it was a picture of the upper Verde river where the company was laying pipe under the river.

With that, I couldn’t help but show him the picture on my computer of my wife and I canoing the Verde river  just south of his pipeline crossing.

He was impressed and we had a nice talk about his line of work and about how mountain biking is fun but risky.

The picture above is taken of Brenda and I  at this year’s Verde River Canoe Challenge.

The Verde was flowing at 550 cfs and we floated 10 miles in about three hours.

It was three hours of absolute fast flowing  fun and a great memory maker for us.

Brenda did great on the trip and she has been my canoe partner for the past three years for the Verde River Canoe Challenge.

http://www.prm.nau.edu/PRM325/verde_river_canoe_challenge_informati.htm

The Verde River is becoming liquid history for her and I.

More on rivers in the next few blogs.

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