Welcome to another year of Randy’s Ramblings.  A tradition started by my mother when I was only 1 year old.  Through the years I have found it comforting as I review the year and chronicle the life I’ve had . . . while I still remember it!   I do admit that I have had CRS for decades, so it is good for me to review the year.  If you don’t know what CRS is . . . it stands for “Can’t Remember Shit”! 

This review of the year reminds me what a full and fun life I have actually had.  It never ceases to surprise me about all the things I actually did during the year.  I highly recommend everyone do a Christmas letter, or a yearly review. 

You get a copy because somewhere in my life you have made an impression.  If you want a hard copy, you only have shown enough interest to write back.  Occasionally, when I am late, some have called and asked, “Where are my Ramblings?” (It’s always nice to hear that some of you look forward to them.)  And now the internet brings old friends closer.  So whether you get a hard copy, or one online, or from my webpage (www.RandyKarst.com), I hope you enjoy this year’s Randy’s Ramblings.  

For those that ask, “What is Randy’s Ramblings?”  It is the compilation of  changes, celebrations, children, crafts (Kayaks), computers, company and kin, clans, casting, complaints and comforts, competitions, contagions and congregations, that have contrived their way into my character over the previous yearly cycle of my life.   All that, or I just tell you what happened this year.  

Twenty Twenty Three  ended with Christmas at my sister’s.  I have to admit I’m very grateful for her.  She always includes me for Christmas, and often includes me for any family gatherings when she is home.  But she is often gone.   Her husband and her have found that they love to RV, and their RV club takes them on trips at various times all through the year.  She makes a special trip back from her winter playground just to have Christmas with the family.   This year was another great year, and I believe everybody had piles of presents that they enjoyed opening.

I saw New Years roll in with a quick trip to one of the local casinos. Leah and I had a good time bringing in the New Year. Yes, I am still seeing Leah and Marguerita.  And yes they both know about each other.  I realize it is a bit of a strange situation, but we seem to make it work.  Don’t ask me how?  I’m just a guy.  🙂

My birthday this year fell on a Friday, which is a pickleball day for me most weeks. It was really nice to see lots of people who seem to care about you, and an impromptu gathering at the local Braums saw me surrounded by friends. We had a nice time.

Before the day was done I had other friends come and join me, and my nephew David Kooy,  came with his wife and their new baby boy, Owen, to wish me a Happy Birthday.   We had a wonderful dinner at La Casita de Martin’s, in Grove.  Since you asked I turned 68.  Which means I will be almost 69 by the time you get this letter.

Diane, a good friend of mine for many years, and a previous tenant, got married in January. She asked me if I could take pictures.  I hope I did a good job. It was a beautiful ceremony and I believe she and Eric will be happy for a very long time.  

I know there are a lot of people that say I should get married. I just don’t see that happening for quite a while, if ever. But life is still wonderful. Life is what you make of it, and what you believe you get in return. Life is good.

Unfortunately my life is not all parties with friends and family. I thought when I retired it was supposed to be more like that.  By the end of January and the 1st of February, I was dealing with rentals again.  Does anybody know what happened to that life of retirement and sitting on the front porch in a rocker?  And yes, the first picture of me in this Christmas letter is me helping a friend split some wood. Whatever happened to taking retirement easy?  At least I love it here at the Lake.

In March, Leah left for another trip.   Seems she is going somewhere all the time.  I am glad to see that she is able to travel and visit her family. She has friends and family on both coasts, and in Hawaii.  Of course, I stay busy.   I am still doing pickleball and Aikido whenever I can. And of course I love to have company whenever you can make it by.  

My nephew David came by in March with one of his (in-law) cousins to see if the crappie were biting early.  We didn’t catch much, but  we managed to catch a few little ones and then there was that one giant carp that hit a tiny crappie or bluegill jig, on a very small Crappie rod!  I believe that is a fight they will talk about for quite a while.   Do you think David’s cousin was happy to get that one in?   What a fight!  I believe it came in at over 11 pounds.

In April, Marguerita brought her grandson to do some fishing around the dock. I don’t believe it was better than it was for David and his family. But it’s always fun.  It was still a month or so away from when the crappie would be easier to catch.

April also saw me working on another rental.   I know I say I am semi-retired, but these things sure keep me busy.   Maybe I should just stop renting them out!  I think I would prefer to be fishing!  🙂

April did turn out to be a good month for catching catfish on the trot-line. I believe I caught a Blue Cat that came in just under 9 pounds.   And I caught a big old Flathead that came in over 16 pounds.  Leah could barely hold the 16 pounder up. It looks half as big as she is.

Also by April I had started considering my next hobby.  I already have my chickens, and sometimes they lay a few eggs. But I’m not raising new chickens.  If I’m going to buy chickens to eat I may as well have them cleaned and cooked for about the same price. So I wondered what I could do that would give me some meat.   After considerable research I finally settled on having three rabbits;  One buck, and two does.  According to what the internet tells me, with three rabbits it is possible to get up to 300 lb of meat a year.  I knew from the chickens that before I got started I had to have everything in place. So I slowly started looking for rabbit cages I could buy, or other cages I could use to keep rabbits in.  Yard sales are my friend.  🙂

In May, my pickleball group decided to get together for dinner after pickleball one day. Granted most of us are older, so eating a bit early doesn’t seem to be a problem.  I was able to make dinner and still get back for Aikido.  We had a big crowd, and it was great to get together with the group and do some socializing. Randy Oldham and his wife Lee were there along with Danny Howard, and many others.   The little restaurant in Afton is catty- corner across the street from the Buffalo Ranch.  Their Friday specials on fried chicken are really tasty.   

May also found Randy Oldham’s wife, Lee, having a birthday.  I’m not sure anyone told me how many years she was celebrating but I’m pretty sure it was 39. 🙂   By the way, if you believe that, I’ve got this bridge for sale. . .   Everyone seemed to have a great time. There was cake and dancing and lots of people.

By the end of May I finally got with my friend Bob, and we worked on something he’s been talking about for a year.  He had a couple of large limbs that hung out over the road at his house. We finally took the chainsaws and cut those limbs off. I believe he cut up the wood to use for firewood this year.

By the end of May everything was beginning to warm up, and garage sales and rentals kept me busy.   I also had a few extra projects around the house that I wanted to get done. I was able to work on a shed to keep 2 x4’s and Plywood in. So instead of having to let it go bad outside, or take up space in my storm bunker, I built a little place to put wood next to my tool shed. It’s nothing very pretty, but it keeps the rain and weather off of the wood. I’m not going to guarantee that will keep the bugs out of it or the Wasps out of the shed.  Maybe some mothballs will  help with that.

By June the white bass were back in the lake. During the winter they tend to run up into the rivers where the water can be a little warmer. I believe I’ve been told that that’s one of the places they spawn.  But as the lake warms up they head out into the big water. There is usually more Shad in the lake.  So they go where the food is. That makes them a shorter boat ride to catch.  Taking my boat all the way up to the rivers is a very long drive and I don’t see the point in spending that much gas just to catch a few fish. I actually don’t think I got out very many times this year to catch fish.  I did get out a couple times.  I always had a good time and put at least a few fish in the boat.

June also saw me getting some work done on the rentals in Grove. The neighbor across from those rentals was cleaning up his land.  He hopes to sell it.  He was able to put a river rock driveway on the north side of one of my duplexes there. Why is there never enough parking?

By the end of June, Leah was off on another trip.  She has asked me to go on some of these trips before. But, the truth is I’ve been to all the places she goes and I’m very happy here.  Although it’s beautiful in Hawaii, and in Florida, and in California.  But,  none of those places have my bed and very few of them have the view I have right here. It’s hard to beat the fact that I can get up, walk out my door, and have a view of an absolutely beautiful Lake year-round. Have I mentioned that I like it here before?

July brought more catching, more company, and more kinfolks. I caught a few more nice catfish, and some nice white bass, and my nephew David came and brought my great nephew Owen with him. I love it when they stop by.  I just wish all my family could come by more often. I’m always happy to have them stay over as long as they would like.  I also had Diane and her husband Eric come by for the 4th of July fireworks.  The ones I go to on the water out here actually happened on the 5th.   They were beautiful. I believe we caught a few fish while they were here. 

Marguerita  also found out that she loves to have time on the water in a kayak. I guess it’s probably my fault. I let her try a small kayak that blew in here a few years back. I advertised on Facebook to see if anyone was missing one, and no one claimed it, so after hanging on to it for a couple of years I decided she could at least give it a try. She loved it and wanted one of her own. Eventually she got her a bigger one and by the end of season I ended up buying me one.

July was actually quite busy.  My friend Danny Howard  was no longer able to play Pickleball.  The cancer that he had been fighting for years got too bad. So I would stop by and visit him fairly regularly.  Unfortunately we lost him later in the year.

July also found warm weather and warm water in the lake. That allowed me to have the Aikido Club join me on the dock for a lesson in how to throw other people. Since I do this for free, and most of us are older, and don’t get to meetings all the time, we are not used to doing rolls. So we tend to stop our moves when we are just working on the mats. We don’t want anyone hurt. But the wonderful thing about the warm water and the dock being right here, is that everybody can wear a life jacket and when you get thrown into the water it doesn’t hurt. What a great way to learn the art of Aikido and not have to worry about being injured.

In August I was still playing with my chickens, and working on getting more rabbit stuff.  Every now and then I would lose a chicken, and would go buy another one. It seems I couldn’t stop myself from buying more than one. At this point in December, I seem to have gone from 10 to 16 chickens. But I have to admit they are fun. Every now and then one or two prove to be quite friendly. The chicken Leah is holding here has been known to jump up on my lap when I have a cup of seeds to throw out for the rest of them.  She wants to get her seeds from the source and doesn’t mind being petted while she eats.  I have a couple of others who have actually flown across the coop to land on my shoulder.

August also brought more company. Eric and Diane came with their grandkids to do some fishing and swimming in the lake. The little kayak was used and was a hit.   I believe it was fairly windy that day so we didn’t take the boat out, but the Cove was nice. Everybody seemed to have a great time.

I was working on my rabbit cages in August.  I had the cages but didn’t have everything exactly the way I wanted. I didn’t want to have to build a separate building for them like I did the chickens. The rabbits shouldn’t need that. The rabbits live in a cage with a wire floor in the bottom. that allows their pee and their poop to flow right down into the dirt below.  Below the rabbit cages, I put big black bins with dirt and leaves in them to catch the rabbit poop. I added a few worms into the bins, because rabbit poop is supposed to be excellent worm food, and fertilizer. So not only will I be raising rabbits, but I will be raising worms.  If everything works the way it’s supposed to. We’ll see how things actually end up. 

I’m still trying to figure out how to get my Greenhouse to produce the way I know it should. I keep trying new things.  This winter I will be setting up drip systems in my Greenhouse. I’ll go in and fill up a couple of five gallon buckets and they will slowly drip water on the plants that I plant next spring. 

Last year I told you about my friend Aaron. He’d gone fishing with us a few times, and he lives fairly close.  He’s continued to come over on occasion and sometimes when he comes over he’ll bring one of his girlfriends and we will all play cards.  Company is always enjoyed.  Even if it’s just a phone call that says, hey I’m on my way.  So of course if you are ever looking for something to do, and you’re in the neighborhood feel free to call and say “Set up the card table”.  Come and play some Rummy, or maybe some Five Crowns, or maybe even dominoes.

In September I got another visit from my nephew David and his wife Laura and their little boy Owen.  Again we went and had dinner. it is always a special treat when they come over. 

September was also the time to restock my wood pile. I have a fire-stove, and it’s really nice to be able to burn $200 worth of wood for the entire winter instead of $200 or $300 a month on electricity to keep my house warm. Of course my family will tell you that I keep my house way too warm. I will admit, I keep my thermostat about 77°. I do like to have it comfortable and warm. and when my fire-stove is going it is usually even warmer than that. At least as long as I can remember to keep it stoked. Do you remember what I said about CRS?

 September and October also kept me busy trying to evict a tenant. I hate when I have to do that, but you can only let them get so far behind in rent. I still have bills to pay. 

October also saw some other friends coming over to try their hand at fishing. Richard, my friend from pickleball, brought a friend over and they did some fishing on the dock. It got late and so they even tried their hand fishing at night for a while. I don’t believe they did as good as they had hoped.  But it always makes for a fun time to be able to get a line wet.

Aaron was over again in October catching the last of the warm water. He brought a friend and her kids, and they all went swimming. Okay, I said the last of the warm water, but you don’t catch me in the water in October. It may still be in the low 70s, but I don’t get in unless it’s about 85 °. But they seem to have a great time. I live across the way from Serenity Point Resort.  And if you become a customer of theirs by swimming over and going into their store and buying something, they will let you play on their swim Dock for a little while. They have a trampoline that jumps into the water for the kids, and a large high dive that is about 13 to 15 ft off the water with stairs going to the top so everybody can take the leap . . . Provided you are daring enough.  It always makes for a good time.

I also got a visit from my friend Sinjin, a son of my good friend Bob. He and his girlfriend decided to come for a visit. The fishing was not that great since the white bass had already moved towards the rivers, but we did get a boat ride in.  I believe everybody had a great time.

October also brought a visit from my cousin Don Karst.  He and his wife Pat came to the lake with some friends and decided to check in.  We got together at the condo they rented one night and the other night we went out to dinner.  It was great to see him.  They are always fun.  I just wish they would come by more often.

I finished up my rabbit cages and got two of the three rabbits I hope to have. The male that I have is what is called a silver fox rabbit.  Although he is black he has silver tips on his hair.  That makes for an absolutely beautiful coat. They are also extremely soft.   The second rabbit is a simple Californian. They are all white with red eyes and black on their paws, nose, and ears.    As you can see from this picture my rabbit cages fit very well behind my chicken coop. It makes it pretty easy to check on all of them at once.

I believe it was late in October when I finally had to update my computer.  I hadn’t done any major upgrades on it since 2014 when I had the house fire and I lost my old one.  I had all new guts put in my old box so that I could keep the various drives and connections I had before. Hopefully this one will last me another 10 years . . .  or more.

As November is rolling around I am still dealing with rentals, getting used to checking on my rabbits, helping friends with things around their house, and having friends help me at my home and my rentals. If it’s not one thing it seems like there’s a dozen things that need to be done.

My great nephew Owen also had his first birthday party in November. It was wonderful to be invited, and I believe everybody had a great time. The drive to Tahlequah is always worth being able to see my nephew and his family.  I had a wonderful time. I noticed that Laura seemed really busy so I was very happy to entertain Owen. I was fine with giving him up anytime somebody wanted to hold him, but I was thrilled when he wanted to come back to me.  I think I got to hold him about 70% of the time that I was there. 🙂  As you can tell by the picture I was very happy to be with Owen.  Maybe it’s just me, but does that look on his face say, “ Don’t even think you can get me away from my Uncle Randy.”  😀 

But this party was not just a party for Owen’s first birthday. It was also a baby “sprinkle” for what is soon to be Owen’s sister Maya.  Yes, David and Laura are getting ready to have their second child.  From this picture it is hard to tell who is having the baby!  If I understood correctly, Laura will be induced around the 7th of December,  2024. So little Owen will be a big brother. I haven’t heard when they are inducing David.  😀   I wish nothing but the best for all of them.

As you can see by the pictures below the chickens are a big hit with Marguerita and Leah. The Rabbits are a bit of another story.  Everyone loves to pet them while I hold them, but getting them out and putting them back risks getting scratched pretty good if you are not really careful.  So far they have not bitten me, and I believe the scratches I have gotten are somewhat accidental.  But no one else wants to risk it.  I don’t blame them.  When I am wearing a short sleeve shirt I put on leather welding sleeves to avoid getting scratched . . . Again!  Okay . . .  it took me a few times to figure that out.  Maybe I don’t learn as fast as I used to.  😀

As I sit here and finish this letter, I’m just getting over a bit of a cold. I try not to go out when I have something like this.  So it seems I have plenty of time to sit here at home and do this.  Maybe somebody is looking out for me.  Otherwise it seems I’m so busy I never get to this stuff.  Whoever is looking out for you, I hope they do as well for you as the Angels over my shoulder have done for me.  Even this cold may have been a blessing.

It has been an amazing year, and I’ve been surrounded by wonderful people.  I thank all of them and of course all of you who are reading this. You help make my life wonderful.  I wish the same for all of you.  My home is always open to my friends, like you.  Come on out and spend some time at the lake.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year’s, and may your life be as wonderful as you want it to be.

Randy Karst

Merry Christmas  from:

Randy Karst

32104 S. 571 Rd.

Jay OK  74346