After 4 months, I am FINALLY done with this video!

Descend 2023 was a wet and windy affair this year, but still was a great time connecting with friends and making new ones. Humans Being.

We didn’t see one fight or any ruckus and folks just seemed to be having as good a time as we had. The event was a little smaller this year, but better in some ways – toilet lines. In other ways, there is still some work to be done – site logistics. There were again this year YouTubers and folks on Instagram that I follow or that follow me and it was cool getting to know everyone in real life.

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all the folks that let me take their picture this year. If you see any still on the video or MP4 of you or your van and you want a copy, let me know.

Also a big thanks again to the High Desert AirCooled Volkswagen Club, the Descend Organizers and volunteers, and the temporary residents of DubTown 2023. Jonah, Misty, Daniel, Ang, Steve, Tony, and Lennon let me use some of their video and pictures for this YouTube video and I am super grateful. We did not miss the descent into the Hole in the Ground this year and it was pretty epic! A great cap to the weekend. Once again, Cesar, Daniel, Ang, Jonathon, Misty, Tony, Mason, David, Brian, Dave, Steve, Jimmy, Jonah, Scottie, Laurie, Randy, Lennon, Sara, and the rest of the group treated us like family and made the event for us!

We will be in the circle next year!

WE got 6″ of snow and ice on 1/13/24 and took Logan outside all bundled up with get a taste of the season. She didn’t hate it….

We went for a walk today during a sunny-ish break in the cloudy gloom and I took a few Medium Format 120 pictures of Laurel and Logan

We are THOSE people… We did the whole matching PJ Christmas picture thing for our holiday cards! We even got a set for Truffle – she NEEDED to match!

These are a far cry from our very first Christmas card photo together in 2004. We were so young! I love her more now than I did even then though.

My biological father, Robert A. Burns, had a picture of slain Paris Texas Police officer David Roberts hanging in the hallway of his home for years, right up until his own passing. David was his cousin and was killed in the line of duty in 1985. Bob teared up telling me the story of David’s death 37 years later. He had been part of the manhunt for the killer and had witnessed the eventual execution in 1997.

We toured family cemetery and graves and David’s was the 2nd grave that Bob ever took me to. He had so much love and affection for David and still had so much anger over his loss and the circumstances around it. When Bob passed, I inherited his papers that would eventually go to the University of Texas. As part of the preparation for that, I started trying to close looks, doing a lot research about Bob, filling in gaps, and looking for audio and video of Bob and the events of his life. I had heard about the Dateline episode at some point from one of Bob’s other cousins, but couldn’t find a copy anywhere. I contacted NBC and their digital archives only went back to 2004 and not every episode was present.

By chance, I ran across a pile of VHS tapes in Bob’s vacation home about a year after his death and the Dateline NBC: The Last Mile (S6E59 originally airing January 9,1998) was in the pile. I immediately had it digitized and uploaded it here so that it would be available to anyone that might look for the show, to preserve the story, for the Roberts family, and in memory of both David and Bob.

In a final coincidence, the day that Bob’s obituary was published in the Paris, Texas newspaper, on the page directly opposite was a tribute article about David Roberts and the memory of his death.

Bob can be seen in the footage in a few places:

As a pall bearer (second on the right) @ 06:34

With the family during and after the execution @ 38:50 , 40:12 , and 43:00

WE didn’t host Thanksgiving this year – the 1st time in over a decade. WE instead went over to a cousin’s house and let them make the Turkey and deal with the stress and logistics of what everyone eats and who doesn’t/won’t eat what.

It was freeing!

My contribution was an a homemade apple pie with a light, flakey, homemade crust – Crisco is the key! Here is a short video of my process.

From the Town of Bedrock…

Halloween is a big deal at our place. Like THE holiday when you are married to a university-trained and degreed costume designer. We go all out. No one will ever accuse us of not having the Halloween Sprit!

The missus was beautiful nd Logan was the perfect little Pebbles. We did have a couple groups of kids stop in that had no idea who we were. their parents did, but they were clueless. It made me feel sad a little.

So, I made it to 50…. I am as surprised as you are!  Truly.  As a young man, doing stupid things in far away places, I didn’t think that I would ever live to see this milestone – 30 seemed like a real reach at that point.

It has been a ride!  A really good one so far!  I have been presented opportunities that I couldn’t have ever dreamed of growing up in East Texas and have been really lucky so many times!  I have a great career, an amazing wife (more to come on that subject), three healthy children, a shop full of tools, tales of high adventure, a warm & love-filled home, and 50 years of happy memories.  There have been rough spots.  Lord knows, I have had heartache, debt, fear, injuries, and disappointments, but measured on a set of scales in my heart, the bad times are so very small compared to all the other.  

For my birthday itself…

I knew something was going on.  Laurel is bad a secrets.  There were whispers, deliveries intercepted in the driveway, probing questions, and phone calls that I was not allowed in the room for.  I knew there was going to be a “surprise” party, but I didn’t have the details.  

I was off work for the latter half of the day the Friday before my actual birthday and I had to run an errand in town around 2:00. When I came back, my buddy Mark, his wife, and their two boys were in sitting on the floor in the baby’s room playing with blocks!  There were hugs and laughter and smiles all around. This was my first time meeting his boys in person.  Shortly after that Grover rolled in.  More hugs and laughter.  Next, my son just opened the front door and bounded up the stairs two at a time.  I cried when I saw him – big tears.  Carlton almost immediately sat on my couch and held Logan. It was so moving and again the tears just flowed (there is a pattern there).  Seeing the two of them together with everyone else in the same room was all I could have ever hoped for.  There were a lot of miracles sitting in that one spot. 

Herbert was next, a huge surprise, with a big bear hug and more shock and tears.  His wife, Cyndi, came in the next day. David ninja-walked up the stairs after and I was shocked/amazed!  It is not often that a Lt. Colonel in the Army gets 3 days off in a row. Adam and his girlfriend Anny came in later.  I felt so amazing lucky and loved that night!

Ross and his son Beckett arrived the next morning (American Airlines screwed their trip up and messed with Laurel’s surprise).  There were more hugs and laughter all around.  She did this.  My wife got almost every single one of my friends together for my “Done Got Old” party.  I was so proud of her colluding and sneaking!  My heart grew two sizes filling with love and admiration for that terrific woman and what she had done.  

I don’t know if I can adequately express my feelings of gratitude for all of my dear friends, their wives, girlfriends, and children taking the time and expense to be with me on my birthday.  It was not a small thing – it was/is a giant act of love.  Travel is tough (American Airlines and all) and vacation days are precious.  The fact that Laurel and all of them made it happen, in-spite of the distance and challenges, truly made me feel as if I had won the lottery.  I get weepy about it as I type these words. Seeing all of my people come through my door brought me so much joy! It is a thing that I will carry in my heart for the rest of my days. 

It was awesome getting to spend that much time with two of my children and most of my oldest friends! Truly such a treasure.  Just sitting outside under the porch roof, sharing a beer or three and laughing, talking, smiling, listening, with some good natured cajoling thrown in.

We had a little party Saturday night, with 25 or so folks.  Old friends, family, new friends, and neighbors.  We fed everyone smoked brisket, southern sides, and Dwayne’s yummy/tender smoked ribs.  There were two ice chests full of beer, a table laden with wine, champagne in the fridge, and lots of alcohol-free choices for the folks not drinking.  I needed zero presents.  Absolute zero.  My heart was full.

But some really thoughtful and amazing presents showed up as well.

Carlton, who is a budding and talented leather crafter and holster maker, presented me a fittingly simple, old style hand-tooled holster for my Daddy’s inexpensive .22cal DA revolver.  I love it for punching paper and Daddy loved it too, maybe even more than his 30/06 rifle, but not quite as much as his Ithaca shotgun.  That pistol has needed a good holster for a couple decades and it means so much that it now rests in one that my son/his grandson made with his own hands.  I will treasure it.  I have shared pictures of the holster with a few people that want their own versions now. So proud!

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Dwayne gave me some cool VW related decor that was very much needed in addition to smoking the ribs for the party and delivering the cake.  There were giant F-YOU! glittery middle finger candles in the middle of the cake. A good egg that one.

Grover, like Carlton, gave me the gift of his time.  He made me a Star Trek (original series) themed  USS Enterprise (NC-1701) bridge diorama with my Star-Date birthday engraved on the top.  It is by far and away the “coolest” present that I have been given as an adult!  Seriously!  Grover went all out: He built the box, CNCed the emblem and date, 3D printed some of the missing and custom model parts, painted the scenery and figures, applied the decals, wired the circuit board, did some coding for the Arduino, painted and finished the box. In all seriousness maybe 200 hours of his time was put into this. When is the last time you spent 200+ hours for someone you know that is not your child, spouse, or someone you are trying very hard to make the sex with?! It is UBER nerdy amazing!  Here is his video of making it. He said nice things!

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During the party, and after the cake, I was sat down and given a large heavy box.  I unwrapped and told a couple stories while doing so and when I got to the center of that particular Tootsie Roll Pop there was a watch inside.  Not a Micky mouse watch.  Something MUCH more amazing! I was given an Omega Seamaster Professional Planet Ocean. All my friends pitched in and helped my wife buy it.  She and Ross spent days looking and deciding – something like 60 text messages between the two alone.

I was beyond stunned and I cried again – As I said, there is a pattern. A video of the occasion and me crying like a baby can be seen here.

I have wanted this watch for years.  It has been my unattainable dream.  Something that I lust after through shop windows and know I will never be able to afford – Like a 14 year old wanting a Lamborghini Diablo and a 6’2” supermodel girlfriend.  I was and am still stunned that my wife put all this together and that my friends come all the way to Oregon and then did this and the watch has not left my wrist except when I am in the shop or at the forge.

As I said to the folks that night at the house, I feel loved and seen and appreciated.  I am just so full of gratitude.

Folks hung around for the entire weekend and we went to see some of the local sites, went to the ocean and played in the sand and water.  There were video games, laughter, brunch, board games, scotch, stories and no drama what so ever.  If I never celebrate another birthday It will be OK. 

I will treasure the memory of that long weekend and of my 50th Birthday.

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So, my biological father as been gone for a year. In that time we have all said our good-byes and even had a large Memorial Service for him in Cimarron, NM. His ashes will be interred at the Texas State Cemetery next spring – something that would have made him giddy.

Everyone has a Bob Burns story. Everyone. I just heard this one recently (this is Brad Newberry’s account of the events) and thought I would post as it is pretty good and really sums Bob up:

“Bob was county judge and overseeing a commissioners court meeting.  Paris, TX had a “very brief” television station and they were filming it.  Bob was already sideways with a couple of the commissioners but one in Particular was Ronald X.   We had an over crowding problem in the jail and when Bob addressed the number of inmates total, Ronald said “why don’t you just read each inmates name and why they are incarcerated”?  So, Bob began going down the list.   When Bob got to one certain name, Ronald said. “Oh…won’t you just tell everyone who he is kin to?”  (apparently to Ronald, which was unknown to Bob at the time)

Bob was confused and asked Ronald why and he said “you know why”. But Bob was still confused so he took a recess.  The tv crew began to put cameras away etc.  Bob called Ronald up to the bench.  He said what the hell is this about and things got heated.  Bob had a reputation as a gun carrier and Ronald said “oh are you gonna pull a gun in me?”  Bob said “I don’t need a gvn for your ass”. And Ronald said “you can kiss my ass” and Bob slugged him right in the mouth.   The sheriff grabbed Bob and the county attorney grabbed Ronald.  The tv people grabbed their cameras but were only able to get the end of it.   I was driving to junior college that am listening to the radio and they had a news break saying there had been a fight between the county judge and a commissioner.  I knew Bob was sideways with a couple of them so I turned and drove to courthouse.  I went in and his secretary Nadine let me in. He was smoking a cigar at his desk and was sitting in the dark.  Is asked him what happened and he said “I knocked fire from his ass, but Katie is gonna kick mine”.   He remained sideways with several of commissioners…

Now, Katie was Bob’s very tiny and very proper wife. For a man that served two tours in Vietnam as a marine and who would fight a grizzly bear if it offended him in any way, for him to be afraid of her reaction to his behavior is very telling 🙂

I miss Bob. I miss his pipe, his drawl, the boyish twinkle in his eyes when he was being naughty, his cigars, his stories, and I morn the missed opportunities and despise the thief of time that came with his sudden and untimely passing.

We made it home from a wet and windy Descend on Bend this year and even though the weather conspired against us, we had an amazing time! Saw and laughed with old friends, made new ones, and a generally fantastic time.

Once again the circled the wagons around the DubTown Tree and our little camp was known far and wide as THE spot. We had tourists come in from Schoolie World and Sprinter Town, soaking up our small town collective vibe.

This was Logan’s first camping trip and she did great. We did great. The van was trouble free with the new engine/trans, updated electrical, and solar power to spare. We were much better prepped for this year than last year – gear, fridge, shade, hot water shower…

The plan was to take the Doka as well, but the Doka has turned into a bit of a nightmare – ask me who not to buy a vehicle from or to have any work done by in the small world of West Coast VWs… We rallied though and took the car and the van as we needed a second vehicle in case there was a hasty baby-related retreat required by one of us 🙂

I took my 1951 Medium Format Rolleiflex 3.5a and shot portraits of folks and their VWs as a yearbook-ish of this years events. I also shot a ton of video and of drone footage. I sent everyone copies of their portraits and people were so awesome about them! Made all the work and expense 100% worth it! I will post a YouTube video as well (BETTER THAN LAST YEARS!) when I come up for air soon – life is complicated 🙂

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I was an early adopter of digital cameras. They made life easy and better as a 20-something traveling engineer, parent, mountaineer, and cyclist. The old CF cards littered my desk and luggage. I still have like 8 digital cameras from 2001 (Canon 2.1mp Ixus) and onward. They are mostly point & shoot or small travel handhelds. I still shoot digital with a Canon – EOS R8 and a Canon Rebel T5i that I blog and shoot YouTube content with (Magic Lantern is my friend!). You will come to see that I am a Canon nerd, tried and true, but that is only trivia as it pertains to this post…

In the vain of transparency and honesty, I take a lot of pictures and video with my phone as well. I mean a LOT! There may be 10,000 photos on my current iPhone. 98% of my social media images have been shot with an iPhone.

However, when I want to take pictures outside of people or cars or architecture – pictures that I want to be either iconic for family, or have just a little more gravitas to them, I shoot them on film. 35mm and 120 Medium Format is my go to. I will take color pictures, especially with slide film, but mostly I shoot in B&W.

I don’t have a closet full of random cameras and I don’t trade cameras or lenses constantly. I have been mostly methodical in my choices of gear, gotten to know it, and tried not to introduce a bunch of extra stuff or gimmicky accessories to my general and simple set ups. I feel that by doing so, I can concentrate on the shot or subject instead for fiddling with the gear.

So, here is what I shoot with:

After years of looking and waiting for a unicorn and after shooting thousands of pictures (mostly b&w and slide) with a very old/crusty Canon AE-1 (more about that later), I found my dream 35mm for a fair price at a shop in Kamakura, Japan – just south of Tokyo. It is a Canon F1n from 1983 that is in perfect shape and takes stunning pictures even when I try and screw them up.

My favorite medium format camera is a Rolleiflex 3.5a or Automat MX from 1951. It is one of my tangible loves. True Rollei connoisseurs want a model 3.5F or if they have deep enough pockets a late model 2.8F. Now, I wouldn’t say no to either of them if they show up at my house, but my Automat is a fine camera that was in my budget range in 2006 and is in perfect working order. I have been lucky enough to have composed some very memorable photos with it – some hang on my wall at home, on friend’s walls, and even a couple are on public display. I had the screen replaced by Bill Maxwell and recently (2023) had a full CLA and rework done by Harry Fleenor, the current guru of all things Rollei. The work was not cheap, but it is a lifetime camera for me. If all of my other cameras went away, my Rollei is the one that I would want to keep/run into a fire for. I hope to take my last picture with it and that one of my children uses is for decades after I don’t need it anymore.

Someday, when I am long-dead, and when there is a retrospective of my life, craft, criminality, art, madness, I hope that there is a display of pictures that were originally taken on film with this camera.

My “studio” medium format portrait camera is a Pentax 67 that is a BEAST. I only ever shoot with it sitting on a tripod. I have a lighting set up, shutter speed, and lens combo that is dialed in for Black & White face close-ups and sitting portraits in my shop. I also have a setup that is sort of mostly worked out for using it set up in the field – like taking it to VW meets or for posed pictures of family and friends “en plein air”

I got the Pentax and all the lens for a screaming deal from a local shop. I never get great deals and usually pay full retail, but I am proud of this snag. I wasn’t even shopping for a new camera, but couldn’t pass this one up! The image quality is outstanding and I would say that it rivals my Hasselblad – seriously I will stand by that statement. I have a 200mm Zoom lens, a 135mm, 105mm, and the 75mm is what gets the most use. As far as accessories, I have a few filters (red and amber only ones really used) and a 3D printed right body grip. I WANT the wooden left body grip, but they are pricy ($175ish)! It is a want and not a need, so I will do without unless I find one cheap at some point.

Then there is my Hasselblad 500C/M… It is the Mercedes Benz of medium format cameras. I wanted it years and it takes amazing pictures. Amazing. I splurged during the last days of Velvia slide film availability and actually bought it is a camera shop in Hamburg, DE in 2008. After using it constantly for two years, I sold it to a photographer friend when we left Germany and actually bought it back from him a couple years later for half because he just never used it and needed some cash. I like it that much. I wish I used it more. It is just heavy and awkward to carry. The Pentax is heavier, but it is always on a tripod. The Hasselblad is “handheld”. Because of the heft, I just don’t pull it out as much as I would like and take it outside. It does have a better flash sync capability than the 67 so is better for low light shooting.

My set up only includes 2 lenses: the Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 and the Zeiss 50mm f/4. I would LOVE a 250 zoom lens, but I would also love to be 6’2″ and have a body fat percentage hovering at around 5%… It is a crazy expensive lens for a hobbyist who’s Hasselblad looks pretty on a shelf. Of all my film cameras, this is my “Shelf Queen,” but won’t be giving her up again.

There are a few other cameras that I shoot with and love to use: The Olympus Pen-FT Half Frame that gives a lot of bang for the buck in relation to film cost savings and is fun to use for artsy diptych portraits and architectural stuff. Used mostly for travel photography due to the amount of pictures that I shoot per roll. I end up doing a lot of bracketing and photos of building and tourist attractions. I have 4 different cool lenses for it as well as the glass on this little camera is top notch!

Speaking of lenses, I keep a spreadsheet of what is available vs. what I have for all my cameras. you can find that here. It is a nice reference to pull up when I accidentally find myself at a random camera shop that has a wall of lenses for sale :-).

Then, there in my Father’s Zeiss Ikon Contina 1a that he bought at an Airforce Base Exchange in Italy in 1954 and that he used for 20 years before it went into a shoe box. I remember seeing it here and there and it even sat on his desk as a memento for a few year (next to the cigar box). It was packed away again at some point in the late 1980’s for me to find many years later and after his passing. After a decade of it holding down a bookshelf in various houses, I had it CLA’ed and sourced a new leather case for it as the original had turned to dust. Because of the lens configuration, it shoots pictures that are VERY 1950s – Fun to run a roll of Provia 100F (I sure do miss good old Kodachrome!) through and I keep it in my backpack/laptop bag to pull out here and there.

Lastly, there are four (!) old and really battered Canon AE1s, the camera that I learned to shoot film on. People just keep giving them to me. Only 1 is presentable (my original) in public and the other three are the aesthetic equivalent of Quasimodo and one has the battery door permanently glued shut. However, all are solid cameras and I have all the lenses, flashes, and filters for them one would every want. They don’t see much action anymore, but with an eBay price hovering between $30-$60, I will hang onto them.

Some of my Medium Format shots that mean something to me.

Film at the lowest ASA (ISO) speeds is getting hard to come by, as is film in general, but Film Photography Project and Glazers, among others, are good sources for specialized film stock. I can still find Fujifilm Velvia50 here and there, but slide film is as scarce as a snake in heaven. I shop locally whenever possible, more than anything to keep some resources local. In Eugene, I shop at Dot Dotsons and The Shutterbug, the former being my favorite. When we lived in Seattle, I used Glazer’s and Ken’s Camera. When in Portland, I go to Advance Camera, who also get the lions-share of my cleaning and repair work. Quality work and they stand behind their warranty.

In Seattle, my Film goes to Glazers and in Eugene, I let Dot Dotson’s do my developing and scanning, but I send film out to The Darkroom when traveling or if I am going to have really high resolution scans done. They are affordable and have all the right chemical combinations for some of the Film Photography Project’s specialized film.

I am a firm believer in Peak Designs straps and accessories. I have their little buttons on every camera, but the Pentax 6×7 and the Hasselblad. I also have Peak Design Quick deploy strap clip. love it for my F1 and the Half Frame. I also use a Voigtlander external light meter. I don’t trust the ones in my 35+ year old cameras 🙂

I will continue to use film as long as it is offered. I am a hobbyist, at best. I will never make a living with a camera in my hand, so I can afford to be as anachronistic as my little heart desires.

My mother passed away a couple weeks ago after a long battle with lung cancer.  The last couple of years had been a downward physical progression and she had been in a lot of pain.  The initial Chemotherapy treatments made her so ill.  There were falls and fractures and repeated hospitalizations.  She fought like crazy all the way to the very end though.

Mom always walked her own path in life.  She joked that it was meant to be/in the stars since she was born on Friday the 13^th while it was snowing in Texas.   She bucked convention and expectation at every turn.  Mother was not a quiet homemaker, keeping house on the farm.  That is not the life she aspired to.  She smoked and drank, loved to dance, and go to Country&Western clubs (think Urban Cowboy in the 1980’s).  She was on an assortment of ROWDY bowling teams for years.  She divorced a couple of husbands, had a few boyfriends and lovers, and had a couple of long careers that she built for herself.  She bought her last home with her own money and was VERY proud that her name was the only one on the title. She wanted and needed to be her own person and be the only one in charge of her destiny. 

From my mother, I inherited an early love of books and learning.  She couldn’t play an instrument (she tried so many) or carry a tune in a bucket, but she loved art.  Both as an appreciation and making it.  She loved to paint, was truly gifted creating with pastels, and dreamed of being able to paint landscapes and the ocean in plein-air.  

Mother really loved antiques as well.  No just “old junk”, but proper antiques.  Countless days of my childhood were spent following her/being drug by the ear to shops/garage sales/auctions/estate sales/etc. for unique or valuable pieces.  She bought some, she sold some, but it was the finding of and the history of the items that she loved the most.  Antiques Roadshow on PBS had a devoted fan in my mother!

Speaking of fandom, her obituaries mention that she was a rabid Seahawks fan: 100% true.  When mom 1^st got really sick and was undergoing surgery and treatment, she lived with us and her room was at the front of the house, facing the street.  If the Seahawks were on, she was watching and yelling at the TV.  I had to once ask her to stop yelling at the Seahawk Offence during a losing game as I was afraid that someone walking by the house would call the cops and report us for Elder Abuse. She toned it down until the very next week.  That was mom.

Her last days were peaceful and she was surrounded by fresh flowers, sunlight, wonderful caregivers, and her children. There was a huge fig tree just outside of her window that she loved to look at and we have taken some grafts from it for our own yard. 

I really can’t express the amount of gratitude I have for my Father-in-Law keeping her room full of flowers, the time he sat with her, and for the treatment she received from her caregivers in hospice.  The staff treated her like family – really, really.  Several them cried with me when she passed and two walked her out to the hearse with me when it came. 

It was mom’s wish to spend eternity in the land of her birth and beside her parents and siblings.  We are honoring that wish for her.  My mother was a character and was very much loved.  Her absence is felt daily.

Paris New Obituary:

Eugene Register Guard Obituary:

Memorial Service Handout

Mother’s Eulogy

Tombstone and Gravesite

We bought a new house that we didn’t mean to buy…. Really. My wife and I meant to buy a rental house, but due to some external/internal factors (pregnancy!) our rental house has become our house.

When that switch was made, we changed the plan of what we would be doing or how much we would be doing to the home to make it livable for our family – personal touches that a renter might not want or might not want to pay for.

Normally, I do most of the work on my home myself, but with my regular work schedule, the impending baby, and our move-in timeline, I had to hire a number of contractors to help. I worked in tandem with each (except the roofing crew) and although we did not get the house finished by the planed move in date, we were close.

Follow along as I detail :

New doors: 2:04
Wall and roof framing: 3:30
A fire place insert: 7:19
All new modern HVAC: 8:13
A new electrical panel and new circuits: 8:29
Removing walls: 9:00
Opening up the kitchen/living room: 9:39
A new steel roof: 11:37
Solar system installation: 15:35
And a fresh coat of exterior paint: 17:02

This is the 1st video in a planned series of 6, but there may be a few more here and there, as we add to the house, update the yard, and live our lives here.

I bought a new truck! Well, new to me. I am also a masochist, so the truck I bought is a 1990 VW Syncro Doka. Doka is short for DoppelKabine or Double Cabin. There were very few made and most have been imported by individuals.

Syncro Transaxles are made of glass, velociraptor foreskin, hope, and disappointment. However, this truck is my unicorn! I have wanted it for YEARS. It has a 1.9L Turbo Diesel engine that is mostly great (there is a bit of tuning and tweaking to do), the paint & interior are perfect, and it is already set up to be my new work truck!

In the video I take you for along for the purchase, a complete tour of the vehicle, and a surprise for me toward the end.

Logan Talley was born at 9:41AM on February 18, 2023. She weighed 8 pounds and was 20.5 inches long. Laurel and Logan are both doing well and we are beyond grateful.

Logan was born on my father’s birthday, so there was an added measure of joy for me. Happy birthday Daddy. Happy Birthday Logan.

My van needs a little love. Ok, a LOT of love. The transmission and engine have 236K miles on them and have never been rebuilt. The engine is sad and tired and my transmission is slipping, had a synchronizer gear issue, and I could stand a new clutch. I am having Dave and Steve at Parnell Autowerks in Bend, OR pull everything down and do the engine rebuild. I know and trust Dave to do a great job.

For the transmission wizardery, I am taking the trans to a secret mechanic in Salem, OR that comes HIGHLY recommended by a guy I know that has been blowing up and rebuilding VW Syncro vans since before I was born. They are going to cast spells and mold steel to make it so my van has a new and long life – cross country road trip with the family shall ensue without worry of my transmission grenadeing on a mountain pass between Oregon and Colorado.

Parnell Autowerks: https://www.parnellautowerks.com

My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattofmanyt…

Our Steel Roof was completed yesterday! Next we get new gutters and then the solar system installation.

I love goats. They may be my 3rd or 4th favorite mammal, with dogs taking the top spot, otters 2nd, and 3rd is a toss up between goats and horses. Humans are a distant 9th…

To start the year off right, my wife and I spent some time hanging out with a local heard of recued goats and reside on a local teaching farm on New Year’s Day. Two hours just spent walking around, scratching, brushing, and hanging out with the herd.

My wife and I took some cash from the sell of our Seattle house and bought a place in Eugene to rent out. The plan was for us to stay in our currently rented duplex while we built our new home and have the newly purchased rental house bringing in a little extra income. That was the plan… If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans!

My very pregnant with does not want to live in a rented duplex with plumbing, parking, other issues with a new baby and ABSOLUTLY, 100% does not want to have a baby in or near a construction site, so the plan changed. We are moving into the “rental house” for the next “5ish” years, according to her, and then we “can see about building a house after that.” Umm, OK, I am getting with the program and will make this happen. I just need a minute to process not building a house that I have been obsessing over for the last 2 years.

We have to alter the current remodel designs for what was going to be the rental house, add a few more things, take out two walls, put in a 6′ door, build an addition, install a new roof, and have solar installed before the end of the year. Doable and I think she wants this stuff in-part to try and satiate the house building bug that I have.

I will update with progress pics as I have them. As this is a 1970’s house and very much of that era, it has been dubbed: Das Brady Haus.

Eagle Scout 
 Marine
 Fireman
 Judge
 Historian
 Texan
 Horse Trader
 Cowboy
 Blacksmith
 Raconteur 
 Bibliophile
 Teacher
 Patriot
 Author 
 Master Mason
 Story Teller
 Contrarian 
 Plumber
 Electrician 
 Philanthropist 
 Son
 Father
 Grandfather

The fires Valhalla will burn brighter and the songs grow louder with your presence.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Biographical write up in High Country Magazine, March 2023, Page 22

Paris News Obituary

Colfax Gazette Obituary

High Country Magazine Obituary

High Country Magazine Article – June 2023, Page 24

100th Anniversary Maverick Rodeo Memorial

Memorial Service Transcript – Cimarron, NM July 2023

Memorial Service Flyer – Austin, TX September 20, 2024

Eulogy I gave – Austin, TX September 20, 2024

Sweet Beulah Land – Hymn performed by Katie Bryant and Joseph Justiss – Austin, TX September 20, 2024

Memorial Marker Front, Back, Foot marker | Ashes being interned

First and foremost, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to the High Desert AirCooled Volkswagen Club. Cesar guided us in and Brian, Dave, Steve, Jimmy, Jinny, Jonah, Scottie, Laurie, Sara, and the rest of the group treated us like family and made the event for us!

We will be in the circle next year! The camping and music and vans were all great. We didn’t see one fight or any ruckus and folks just seemed to be having as good a time as we had. There were so many YouTubers and folks on InstaGram that I follow or that follow me, which is not something I am used to. It was cool getting to know everyone in real life.

Make sure to check out @drewlens Descend 2022 video – it is fantastic! My only regret is that we missed the the synchro run this year – life and work called us away, but our van Schnitzel will be in the pack next year!

It is official, We are having a baby!

Today is the day… Our home is sold, money has transferred hands, and we are moving south to Eugene, OR. Life will be in flux for a little bit as we look for a site to build a new home (or buy an existing one), figure out new doctors, dentists, drycleaners, shops, stores, a new shop for me, gyms, etc..

Leaving Seattle is bitter sweet! We loved the city, but it has changed, we have changed. Leaving our friends and neighbors is probably the hardest part.

Both of our jobs are fully remote, so there won’t be any career changes for the foreseeable future, but some other stuff is in work and we are looking forward to navigating our new life in Eugene and the challenges that the future has in store for us.

Our boy Brodie has crossed the rainbow bridge. May Valhalla welcome him! He was the best good boy…