The Birthday Man of the Day

J. grins from the cab of 'Snort'n Nort'n' his '92 Dodge Cummins which has undergone several reincarnations.

My favorite photo of J. and me, taken in June, 2004.

Changes since then: J. has less hair to hide beneath his cap, mine is grey and frames a face aged by wrinkles and sags.

J. playing the vintage auto-harp which belonged to his Mom.

J. and Pebbles on a summer evening in Wyoming.

She was expecting a carrot, not a handful of grass.

J. with an arnful of wood split from the old elm tree.

He claims he likes 'getting up wood.'

'Where, oh where, are you tonight?"

J. at the church Christmas party which featured spoof acts from the T.V show Hee-Haw.

J. loves tractors, trucks, bulldozers--and he loves trading them.

He comes from a long line of 'wheeler-dealers.'

This photo of J. was taken in 1997 by my sister C. who knows how to use a 'real' camera.

It is my favorite 'portrait' of him.

My husband and children [when they are living near us] have the priviledge of choosing their birthday meal.

J. chose grilled rib-eye steaks [thank you Howard and Heidi]

baked potatoes, pickled beets.

His special dessert is always the same--pineapple-upside-down cake, which I have been making for years

from the recipe in an old Watkins cookbook which his Mom owned.

The whipped cream to top the cake is courtesty of Dory the Cow.

I've been told that J.'s father had chosen his first and middle names [James Alton] in anticipation of his first son.  The names were put on hold for the birth of two daughters, whose names also followed a family tradition of J. A.W.

I later learned from the meticulous research of J.'s cousin, D.W.C. that he is the third to bear this name.

I'm guessing that his late Dad grew up knowing the older 'cousin' of that name, loved him, and chose to honor him by giving this name to his oldest son.

J. is an identical twin, so his brother, another J.A. W., is also celebrating a birthday today.

I don't have permission from Jim's twin and wife to post a photo of the two men together, so you'll have to use your imaginations.