Slow Ride weekend

Yesterday JJ placed Carolyn’s bedroom TV on the wall where she could better see and hear it; she is in video nirvana now. It is much better up higher; I watched To Have and To Have Not last night and didn’t have to turn the volume as loud as I used to. I’ve seen the movie many times but never get enough of it; anything of Bogey’s in this period is on my favorite list. I also watched my Youtube videos and subscriptions along with my Flickr photos. They all look pretty good on big screen.

Not quite as warm today and cooling even more for tor the next few days; heat of summer will hit us come Wednesday when I have to go back to heart doctor. This better be the last doctor office visit before knee surgery; I am tired of waiting and the knee isn’t getting any better. I am to the point now where I don’t even try to go to the porch to sit.

Speaking of summer, Mark’s Summer would have been in a panic last evening when thunderstorms hit all around the house. He says she is fearful of thunder and we had plenty of it; not a lot of rain, though.

acta est fabula plaudite

Culinary tramping

They still make Squirt soft drinks. Squirt was never very popular in this area except as a mixer but I think they are the best citrus drink made. I haven't seen any in years but I bet the local night spots have them. I first came across the brand while tramping in West Virginia in 1970; it mixes well with bourbons and blended whiskeys.

Another brew I discovered in W.Va. was Stroh's beer. It is a Detroit beer and was more popular in West Virginia than was even the mighty Budweiser. Stroh's was an ok beer and actually much better than the bitter Bud but I will stick to my Miller High Life. A couple of brews I first tried in Pennsylvania were Rolling Rock and Iron City beers. I liked Iron City ok, but Rolling Rock's taste reminded me of how cow pee smells. My mother-in-law liked it.

I enjoyed my time tramping--except in Georgia--and could have liked living about anywhere I went with little problem. Southern Maryland was too far from the hills and I once spent 70 days straight there. They had great, fresh sea food and the best root beer I've ever bought. Still don't make up for the lack of tall oak trees on a high ridge, though.

Mark is going to have one of his photos of his house seen nationwide. Bravo television will be using it in a documentary film. Congratulations, my friend.

Are you ready for the weekend?

—————

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

The above lines were all I was ever required to learn of Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner … thank ye gods. The whole is a long, boring piece of verse but a darn good story and these few lines nicely fit conditions in N.E. Tennessee at present. When I was at Watauga Lake early last month, the water was as high as I’ve ever seen it. Now it is more than three feet (@one meter) higher than it was then. Fortunately I live on a high ridge which is not on the Watauga watershed but is on the Nolichucky watershed. At my granny’s house in the springtime of my life, we were on the line between the two districts; I could pee off the front porch and it could conceivably  find its way to the Watauga River. If I peed out the back door, some would eventually wind up in the Nolichucky River. Granny frowned on such practices but little boys gotta do what they gotta do.

Get ready … a great weekend coming!

Thinking out loud

Sammy and Mason visited for an hour or so last evening. I was hopping around on the crutches and Sammy wasn’t too happy about it. Carolyn was at work so I had to get his toys and entertain him the best I could. Mason laughed at me.

I would like to say the lousy, wet weather we are having is typical of early May and it is up to a point. The problem is that it is lasting much too long. The ninth of May has always been our last frost day but like a couple of years ago when it frosted on the fifteenth, I am not so certain about this gardening season. Anyway, it all keeps my sinuses clogged.

The first week in May is almost over and it will be autumn before we know it. I am longing to get this knee fixed so I can get out and live a bit.

Have a Tuesday!

Norman

The past few weeks have been saddening for me, mostly because a boy I grew up with and have known all my life passed away. Norman was seventy-one years old when he died and was the oldest of and the leader of the community kids with whom I played. Norman was my main influence to join the National Rifle Association when I was young. He had a great sense of humor which the rest of us had to pay for in sometimes embarrassing situations. He lived a good life and had a great family. The color photo is his obituary photo for the newspaper and the other one is part of our gang from the mid-1950′s. Norman is the tallest and I am the long-legged kid at his side. Others are his brother, his two cousins, and his sister. The photo was made in my grandmother’s front yard and his family’s home is the white house just over Norman’s left shoulder. Losing someone such as a life-long friend is the most difficult part of growing old; much more difficult than any physical infirmities. The memories are cherished but the reality of the present is a bit overwhelming.

It's all about the music

HE'LL HAVE TO GO

Joe Allison

Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone
Let's pretend that we're together all alone
I'll tell the man to turn the juke box way down low
And you can tell your friend there with you he'll have to go

Whisper to me tell me do you love me true
Or is he holding you the way I do
Though love is blind make up your mind I've got to know
Should I hang up or will you tell him he'll have to go

You can't say the words I want to hear
While you're with another man
Do you want me answer yes or no
Darlin' I will understand

Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone
Let's pretend that we're together all alone
I'll tell the man to turn the juke box way down low
And you can tell your friend there with you he'll have to go

Although I never particularly liked this song, mostly because it was country and country was not cool to most of us teen cats of my day, it was immensely popular. It was known to be the basis marital disagreements, arguments, fights, brawls, mayhem, and even murder. Even my house wasn't immune to the persuasive croon of Jim Reeves at his best. When the song was on radio or TV, my mom would say something like 'hang up on him, girl' to which my dad would retort 'lady, you know you want 'im so tell the guy there with you to scram'.  For some reason I had a premonition to keep out of their "discussions" about the lyrics. Being a 14 year-old country kid, I wasn't supposed to know much about "adult" stuff. My parents arguments about it were mild, actually. The newspapers, which I dutifully read while sitting in the outhouse waiting to put them to their original intended use, had many stories about otherwise normal couples whose disagreements had led to mayhem of one sort or another. Women were divorcing their husbands because he happened to agree with the caller. Men would get "tipsy" in a bar, play the song on the jukebox, and phone their wives at ungodly hours just to aggravate her. More than one of these last jokers ended up on a mortician's slab and their wives were in jail before the night was over. Life, it's all about the music.
1959 was a very normal year; I got my first handheld transistor radio--a Motorola--for Christmas, I was miserably failing Algebra for the third time in high school, and the rest of my grades were at the C- to D level. I was too shy to talk to girls and too dumb to try to overcome the bashfulness. I still am shy and dumb about it.

May the Fourth be with You!

Rain without ... Beauty within

Teach your children well

In our great society, even 5-year-olds are allowed to own and bear firearms
http://news.yahoo.com/5-old-boy-shoots-2-old-sister-ky-161229579.html
I don’t think even Hitler stooped this low. Was this kid part of a “well regulated militia”?
What kind of parent would allow a small child to even be around something like a rifle which is made for one thing: killing?  I’m sure the NRA approves of this type of weapon usage.

Supposed to rain all weekend; maybe some shooting next weekend.

Hope Mark has a successful yard sale.

May Day 2013

Jerry came by yesterday and brought Carolyn a Mother’s Day rose bush from him and Tammy. She put it in the ground this morning and I hope it does well. I have better luck with roses than does she.

Why has Obama not brought under control Bush’s patriotic war against Americans. The answer is that he likes and intends to use that kind of power over people. He is but one step away from being a parliamentary dictator.

On the way home from work one night a couple weeks ago, Carolyn saw a coyote not far from where we live. I’ve never met one of the critters but I hear they are moving into the area. Also Armadillos are supposed to soon be here. I heard several years ago that fire ants would soon spread into the hills, but I know of none. Another rumor was that cattle egrets would be here but I don’t know of any.

I’m here and I’m what counts; I am so pretty!

Reading

Anyone besides me like Studs Terkel’s writing?

————————————————————————————
“The creak of bed springs suffering under the weight of a restless man is as lonely a sound as I know.”
― Patrick deWitt from his book The Sisters Brothers
The Sisters Brothers will be my next reread. A very good western.

Tuesday!

Sunday du jour

Much rain and some flooding across Tennessee. Even though I live atop a hill, I think I should roll-up my britches legs.

Mason went for his three-month checkup; he weighs 17 lbs (7.7 kg). He won't be three months old until tomorrow. At this rate, he will big enough to play college football when he is eight years old.

Sammy is talking more each day but most of it is still unintelligible. Mostly he says Batman and Spongebob.

I have my short poem ready to post to the The Sun; it is one I wrote a few years ago. Not counting on much but would be very disappointed in myself if I didn't try. It has been many years since I tried to sell or give away my writing. Even if this one does not sell, I'm going to submit at least one other poem (the one Mark recommended) and a story or three. I need to resurrect my rejection database and make a few voo-doo dolls and stick pins for the publishers who reject me.

I love building databases. It is the one thing I can do with techie software which makes me feel like I have accomplished something.

I am off of methotrexate at least until I can find out something from the med-squad. If by chance I am cleared for surgery, I will be one week ahead. If I am not cleared and if I have to have a heart catheterization, I will be ahead on that too because I need be off the drug for it. If I have to have a stent inserted, it will be about a year before the knee surgery can be done. Beginning in a few days, I am going to be sore and out of the real world for at least a short while.

Saturday

Does anyone care that 348 people died in Bangladesh building collapse? Tragic death only counts for news if it happens in the United States and if even in a perverted way the American Press can  make it look like terrorism. America, the cowardly selfish.

What happens to the rest of the world if the United States suddenly decides to return to some of its isolationism policies of pre-WW2. Let’s stay out of other peoples business and let each nation decide its own affairs. Keep our defense strong and in hand with some military alliances and drop others. Do away with laissez-faire trade policies and replace the lazy-fare for the rich with fairness to all parties and enforce tariffs for equality. Never take anything for granted or, as Teddy Roosevelt warned, “Walk softly and carry a big stick”.

Cool cloudy weekend so far.

Let me sleep ...

Persons 65 years of age or older should not be allowed to get out of bed before 9:00 am each day and then they should be required to cogitate for one-half hour before deciding to let their feet hit the floor. Ain’t nothing good going to happen before nine to anyone, especially geezers.

This doctor bullshit goes on and on just like I knew it would. I wish some of these s.o.b.’s understood what kind of life I am living and how much freaking pain I am living with. Pisser!

Goodbye George (Possum or No Show) Jones; I didn’t particularly like your twangy country voice but I appreciate you having balls to stick with it through the ‘pretty boy’ era of country music. George sang his life.

WEEKEND!

Obtuse reason

Our American middle-class capital economy is heading into a new recession. This is my forecast based on what I am seeing. We are once more spending our savings or going into debt for mostly unneeded big ticket items, Wall Street is tickled, the stock market is soaring; all a sign of a coming slowdown. Wages are static or falling, few good paying jobs are being created, more and more jobs are being exported, more Americans are suffering and dying because of lack of health insurance, infrastructure is still falling apart, and federal government is in partisan deadlock. Americans are talking but few are walking. Wake up America!

I’m hoping tomorrow’s echocardiogram is all I have to go through before surgery. I do not want another stress test and I damn sure don’t want a heart catheterization. The latter may mean an overnight stay in hospital but I barely will be able to afford the knee replacement. Life is a trap.

Goodbye psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman (Allan Arbus). He was my favorite M*A*S*H actor with my favorite quote from the series: “Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice.” I think it means that we should take time to live.

I’m not as pretty today as I was day before yesterday.

On this date in 1684, a patent was granted for the thimble.

Thursday all day.

dies Martis

Salon

I’ve been rereading some of my older stories and poems on Lord Bubbha’s Blog. Some I still like, some I like a lot, some need work, and some need be put away where they can’t harm anyone. I have a few which I think I will send around to The Sun magazine and other periodicals of its kind. There are a few of the poems I really like.

Carolyn has gone to hair dresser and JJ is off somewhere mowing; my knee hurts and my feet stink and together the two maladies are making me sneeze. I won’t reveal which two make me sneeze.

Tuesday, what the heck is it good for? It would be a much better and meaningful day if it was called 

“Kensday”. I’m so pretty!

Earth Day '13

Walt Kelly created these comic strip panels for Earth Day 1970. The slogan “We have met the enemy and he is us” has become the rallying cry of America’s green environmental movement
 

Be kind to Mother on Worshday and everyday

'Cause you're mine ...

Sunday morning Joe

———–

Happy Birthday, Chris!

I won’t tell your age because it makes me feel very old.

——–

Earth Day tomorrow … and everyday.

—

Sunday!

Shades of Pale

These are thoughts I conceive at night between sleep periods; I sit on side of bed and type them into the tablet PC. All are unedited. The last one sounds interesting. I may use some of these in future efforts on this blog.

Mac is the kind of person who comes along too few times in life but who changes us and our futures for the good. He doesn’t dwell with us for very long but makes a subtle yet profound difference in how we live the remainder of our lives. He becomes one of the foundation blocks of whom we will become

 —- 

Final right of passage. No indifferent nursing home just because you don’t like us enough to care for us. Don’t feel obliged to us as the reason you take care of us. We are still human and we know when we are loved. It would be better to die from exposure to elements than from heartbreak of exposure to a cold heart from one we’ve loved and trusted

. —- 

Don’t try to walk in my shoes; they never were very comfortable

 —- 

Book of Numerals — The Cooties Chronicles

Get Yourself Home

I don't have faith in much at all. I don't even have faith in truth. Truth is fickle and fluid; today's absolute certainty may be tomorrow's fantasy or be an all-out lie the next day.

It makes my cynical heart happy to sometimes be right about something and be able to say 'I told you so'.

The one great thing which the ninety-eight percent have that the two percent don't have is the careless, unadulterated love of drinking beer.

Friday!
Weekend!
I'm so Pretty!

Muted

Like the Dogs of War video, I feel muted

I was planning a diatribe about our American spineless government for today, but I am so disgusted–not surprised–over yesterday’s Senate vote I’ve come to the conclusion that average Joe Six-pack don’t really care. Maybe we each should buy an AK-47 to protect ourselves from each other. Again, please read Mark’s blog poem and listen to the Monster.

After reading some of the hype about a book titled The Hunger Games, I decided to watch the movie last evening. The acting was good but the plot was much déjà vu from other sources. I hope the book is better but I doubt it. I rate it at 2.5 out of a possible 5. Talented actors saved it from being a “2″.

Thursday!

Sentenced

Once again I have been overlooked for consideration of being honored with a Pulitzer Prize and I think it is sad when a writer of any caliber has to publish an entire book of fillers like 'the' and 'them' and 'they' modified and punctuated by a paltry few words or phrases with real cognizability of purpose or clue to a semblance of a sensible or sensuous climax or an ending causing readers to crave more, or to pen an esoteric short story which stands erect and tall on its brief clarity only to be considered by a few paid dolts whom are constipated with pomposity and use skewed but semi-ambidextrous verbosity which has been handed down from generation to generation of hack newsmen calling themselves "literary" critics in an attempt to pull such lilting prose into their dark, oozing prisons of flaccid sentence phalluses all petered out and shorn of their will to make a difference in the thoughts of literati or the amusement of the paperback masses.
Ah well; there is always the Ignoble Prize for Literature to look forward to.

Mark has a very good blog today with a music video we all need to heed.

Wednesday!

Springtime from megashot photo-artists

If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills,
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time,
If you can overlook when people take things out on you when,
through no fault of yours, something goes wrong,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
If you can do all these things,
Then you are probably the family dog.
~Anon

Tuesday!

Writing when there is nothing to write about

It is Sunday afternoon and I am a bit lonely therefore I write.
This wasn’t my best weekend ever. It was good that Sammy and Mason spent some time with us Saturday, and it is always good when friends celebrate birthdays, but the remainder of the weekend was mostly a downer. I am just now getting over the ordeal at the surgeon’s office. A bunch of hobbling on crutches, no place for someone in my shape to sit therefore I stood for nearly thirty minutes in the waiting room. I propped myself in a corner and did some book reading on my phone until the pain made me nauseous and I told Carolyn I would have to leave. Luckily, they called me back just at that point. After a long walk came the x-rays; one standing and one laying down. After that, I was herded into an exam room and again started reading, however from a sitting position this time. That is when I heard someone outside say “Man, would you look at that?” I figured there was something exciting on FOX News TV at the nurse’s station. It was actually my doctor looking at pictures of my knee. It was the first one he ever saw with nothing between the knee bones; one side or the other usually has at least some cartilage left for cushioning. This little piggy had none. In some fashion or another, good or bad, I always seem to amaze people when they meet me.

Surgery will take about 55 minutes from the time they slap on the tourniquet until they remove it and I will be in hospital for three days. All this is nominal, of course. Then a couple of weeks or longer of physical therapy at home and I should be good to go after a few weeks of being very careful how I land when I jump off roofs; I’ll just do the opposite of what Mark did. Probably not long after I’m healed, it will be back to have shoulders fixed and by then, the hips which were replaced in 1994 will most likely give out–their life span is usually 12 – 15 years. My cup runneth over.

This old freak entered onto blog on this, the fourteenth day of April, 2013.

Children

Artist: Carl Vogel von Vogelstein

If I had written the Christian Bible, this would have taken care of a huge amount so scripture:

Jesus spoke to his followers saying this; “Bring unto me the children of the multitude so that I may bless them”.
And his disciples went forth into the gathering of nations and said to the many, “The Lord has commanded us to bring all the children unto him so that they be blessed by him.
When the children were gathered in front of Jesus, he called each one by name bade them come unto his bosom and he blessed them.
He said to his followers “Feed the children first for they are my Father’s children and give them drink for many are poor and have had little this day”
When the children had taken their fill, Jesus bade the disciples to provide food for the multitude and give them water to drink.
When this was done and evening approached, Jesus arose and spoke to all the nations before him, saying “Behold the children for they are first in My Father’s house.
On the day of reckoning, first judgement will be upon those who teach the small and helpless to walk in the way of worldly enlightenment and divine forgiveness.”

Happy Birthday, Jola

Happy Birthday, Jola. Hope you have many years of happy returns. Winter has been very tough but is is now time for you to step away from the cold shackles of old days and test your wings beneath warm, sunny skies. Little birds were born to fly.

I got all the taxes finished and filled yesterday. Happy it is over because the standing, pulling, and yanking my joints went through yesterday have left me in a painful stupor today. Sammy and Mason are here but I don’t have energy to play with them.

Fixing to take my weekly dose of methotrexate; I hope it will be the last one for a few weeks.

Ahhh, good times. Plenty more to come

Karma ... it comes and goes

Three well known people died this past week; one I loved, one I liked, and one I detested. Much like many other newly-teened boys, I had a crush on Annette Funicello, my darling Mouseketeer. Later on when she began starring with Frankie Avalon in Beach Party movies, I realized my dream of  marrying her were but fantasies. No wonder teenagers freak out so much. Annette died at age 70. Jonathan Winters, a comedian with wry mind and a good heart, also passed. I liked him a lot. Lastly, Margarette Thatcher passed. She was the one time Ronald Reagan clone of British politics. I won’t miss her.

Sammy and Mason are due here for the day tomorrow.

Visited orthopedic surgeon this morning; sometime between a few weeks and a year from now, I will have a new knee. If my heart passes muster the surgery will be soon but if not, it may be a year or a bit longer before the knee is fixed.

Friday the 13th comes on Saturday this month, so says Churchy’s Almanac. This is normally not a good thing unless there is a special celebration on Saturday and don’t you know, we just happen to have a birthday to observe tomorrow. We shall see.

Weekend!

Bitcoins

What are bitcoins and why do I not have a lot of them in my bank account instead of a few paltry dollars? Should I have bitcoins at all?
Hoping for good news at surgeon’s tomorrow.
Thursday!

Wilbur

I wanted to do a regular blog Saturday but the cable company had other ideas. Internet was off until late in the day and TV was not viewable until sometime that night. I was pissed about the net and Carolyn was pissed because she couldn’t watch Hopalong Cassidy. I really didn’t have much to do on the net anyway, but I get antsy when I know I can’t have it. I finally rigged up a useable connection via of connecting tablet Bluetooth to cell phone Bluetooth.  At least the tablet screen was big enough for most things.

I was offline most of the day yesterday. Carolyn drove me around Wilbur and Watauga lake areas; we both needed to get away from the house. Didn’t get any decent pics but I had my big zoom lens back on the Pentax. Since the time I was very sore last year until now, I’ve been using nothing but the 50mm; it is a lightweight and easier for sore fingers to hold. Every one of the photos I made was from the Escape window except I made a couple in Jonesborough through the windshield.

When you can’t get the photo you want, you must want the photo you get.

Seems we have jumped from mid-winter directly into mid-spring in just a couple of days. I am a happy boy in the sunshine of your smile.

Worshday!

A Summer Rose

In a vase beside me the last rose of summer dips its head slightly as I sit in near darkness of my flat. Earlier, I showered and made myself ready to meet a lady at my door and then we would proceed to swankier parts of town for our first date. We were introduced at a dinner party a week earlier, using up most of the evening in each other's company, finally making a date for this evening.

It is almost time for her arrival and I have been sitting here for more than an hour. Darkness has real presence and it is beginning to weigh on my shoulders but I cannot make my body rise out of the chair and turn the lamp on, light will be more oppressive than any heaviness dark can muster. Instead I sit with the only illumination coming between the closed door and threshold.

When the clock chimes and she hasn't arrived, I think maybe she won't come at all; I feel a sense of relief. As the seventh and final note fades, I hear the door opening at the end of the hall; I know it is her and my heart sinks. The click-click of her footsteps come nearer and finally I hear what I dread most; puk-puk, puk-puk as her knuckles rap against the wooden door. Puk-puk, puk-puk once more but I cannot move; I am emotionally frozen in time. After a minute, one more puk-puk and her shadow moves from the threshold, footsteps echo back down the hallway and the door to the outside opens and quickly closes.

I sit afraid and I have no idea of what or who I fear; I sit still for more than hour as my muscles stiffen and ache. I sit. Beside me, the last faded petal of the summer rose loosens its grip and quickly falls to the floor. I close my eyes from the remaining light and I am alone.

I am alone.

Saturday!

Twitches

Kilroy was here

I finally found the answer. Last night was bad; I was having spasms in my knee and could not sleep. When I can’t sleep I am guilty of thinking. For some reason I was thinking about shopping the net versus real stores. I like browsing small shops but the big stores are like Facebook; they give me the creeps. Because of the bad knee, my store of choice is Amazon.com. I was remembering how I used to shop with Carolyn at Wal-Mart and a few other impersonal big stores. While in the middle of a memory, I remembered the reason I quit accompanying her to shopping back before my knee turned bad. I was wondering why my bride is a compulsive shopper and will tackle almost anything that has a “Sale” sign on it. A sudden spasm caused me to vividly see her going down an aisle displaying things for sale. She would move along and all of a sudden she through on the brakes and start tossing things from both sided into her cart. A lot of merchandise was knocked to the floor during her unusual activity and she bothered not to pick it up. She would walk awhile more and do the same weird thing again. Last night I realized she was having spasms; shopping spasms. She is one of the latter-day compulsive-spasmatics. Other shoppers would cringe in fear as her arms went flailing like a Dutch windmill on steroids, hands grabbing and tossing. I kept lagging farther and farther behind her in the store, hoping no one would know I was with her. Finally she would fill her cart and holler for me to push it while she went for another one. Her eyes became glazed like that of a reefer freak and there was an evil glint in her eye that threatened “don’t fuck with this girl while I am shopping!”. Her strange behavior is the real reason I quit going shopping; the knee became a convenient excuse. Even now when we are browsing in Amazon or Wal-Mart web stores, she periodically begins twitching her arms and some of the old look comes back to her eyes. When it happens, I tell her that my hands are hurting and I am going to quit. It is usually at least a half-hour more before I can get away from her frightening shoulder twitches and shelf-roving evil eye.

Friday!

Your money's worth everyday

Spring woods

You probably already know I have previously used the above photo in this blog; I posted a larger size this time. Chilly, damp, gray day. Is there no end to the winter of 2012 - 2013? N.O.A.A. is claiming that 2012 was the warmest year on record. I claim if this be true, 2012 must have borrowed warmth from 2013. I think it is time for last year to make a big payment on account Daffodils have come and gone, red buds have been blooming for a couple of weeks, and I have my thin, springtime pants on. I know there is a very good weather forecast for the weekend, but I ain't going to jinx it with wishes, hopes, and prayers. 'Nuff said.

Where has this week gone? Shouldn't today be Wednesday? My life is screwed up enough without the gods jerking a day out from under me.

Last evening I did an edit of my little story from Tuesday. I think I have forgotten how to write ... if I ever knew how. I will chew on the changes for a few days and maybe show you what I came up with. I need to read it to myself and record it and listen for uneven word flow. Problem; I can't stand to hear my own recorded voice. I sound like a bullfrog who swallowed a fiddle.

I'm thinking of beginning an online periodical, a photographic and literary one page masterpiece to begin with. Maybe title it One Cent Pieces with a sub-title of Your money's worth everyday. I'll purchase a Wordpress domain for $25 and ask readers to donate a penny to help defray costs if they can spare it. All is flexible at the moment.

Thursday?!

Should I answer the phone?

A Facebook phone is coming soon. It is basically like any other smartphone HTC makes but this one will be special in that the home screen reflects your Facebook page and it is interactive. I don’t want one, thank you. In fact I am slowly moving to Google+. I like its setup  and its “circles” of friends. Easy to connect with other people with the same likes as you. With this phone, FB should be able to know where you are 24 hours each day, know whom you are with, and know what you are doing. Imagine if you can; in the middle of having wild sex, your phone says diddle-de-blinkity and ads for Viagra, Trojans, and a Book of Lies to Tell Your Wife pops up on the screen.

————————————————————————————————————–

I have begun my last story and this is the first written draft:

I desire the touch of a true friend to walk this last mile with me; the path is clear but old legs seem to weaken and stumble even on the commonest ground. Please take my hand in yours. I won’t bore you with endless natter about life wasted or years enjoyed; instead, I want to listen to you speak of life, the small things which is making it be “your life”. Smile and guide me by fresh morning lilacs and afternoon roses; accompany me to pale evening irises and by midnight honeysuckle. Let soft April rain cover my face with gentle, wet kisses. There; wild strawberries along the path and I must have some of them on my tongue as I hear a little sparrow singing from the bushes. When we have made our way far enough and as I begin to feel the tug of darkness which awaits, hold my hand a little tighter. No, this is not melancholy I wipe from my cheeks but only dew drops from the cooling air. I am not afraid of the unknowable where fireflies do not play; my time is nigh to be a part of the dark. Please, one last embrace, one gentle hug from you my friend before I step over the threshold of memory. Thank you, my friend; the touch of my fingers will slip away from your hand and you must turn and go. There are others who need a friend and one day soon enough you will be asking a trusted soul to walk with you. May you passage be as sweet as you have made mine.

————————————————————————————————————–

Tuesday!

Pieces of April

Mason stayed with us last night. He slept in our bed. He is a very noisy little man.

Hopefully one day this week I will pen my final story. Don’t worry as it will be very short and sweet.

Seems like spring has arrived in these hills; if the forecast holds true, the weekend coming will be glorious.

Lack of sleep and eye allergies have me grounded on this first day of April. Please be patient with my blogging; I know it must be addictive for all of you.

Carolyn says I have to have a haircut and take a bath before I have surgery.

Those who are virtuous by their own mouths have little of it in their hearts.

Worshday!

Life ain't half bad

Sammy and Mason are coming here to color Easter eggs. It is a fine day.

I am pretty well back up to par on Megashot.net. Getting some welcomes done for new members. There are now more than 6,200 registered souls on Megashot.

I am once again active on Flickr but it is limited to a few good friends. Any site can wear you down if you are on it too much.

For my practicing Christian friends, I hope you have peaceful Holy days. For my pagan comrades, carry on.

Have a good weekend!

Easter goodies

Mr Gnome likes Peeps

Meant to write a smash-bang masterpiece of blog prose on this day but I feel so lethargic after two straight nights of serious sleeping pills. Sleep or pain? No-brainer; sleep!

Have a great Friday!

Lost Highway

Had my annual P.C. doctor (hell no, not a computer doctor; ‘Primary Care’) checkup yesterday. Before she even saw me, her nurse had an appointment set up for me with a orthopedic surgeon so I can get my knee fixed. Maybe, possibly in another month or so I will be free of this pain. Walking again has become secondary to relief from this physical hurt. I haven’t slept since Monday morning; yesterday’s limited activities caused the knee to go into spasms every few minutes last night.

It is bad that we have to find out what people think about stuff by using Facebook and Twitter instead of a “trusted” news source.

One of my FB contacts posted this:
Warning…thinking out loud again…maybe those who want to force the gun issues should move to the states who allow same sex marriage and abortions…that way they could all be happy together and leave the normal people alone to enjoy their lives in peace!
I find this extremely offensive and I say she is a “Facebook contact” because there is no way I could ever know someone so hateful as a friend. She cannot be “thinking out loud” because her life learned-biases will not allow her to use her mind to think rationally yet she seems to refer to herself as “normal people”. Gods help us if she is normal people.

From today’s local rag:
Building managers and legislative staffers have sought to reassure some concerned Tennessee lawmakers that recent renovations at the state Capitol did not install special facilities for Muslims to wash their feet before praying.
“I confirmed with the facility administrator for the State Capitol Complex that the floor-level sink installed in the men’s restroom outside the House Chamber is for housekeeping use,” Legislative Administration Director Connie Ridley wrote in an email. “It is, in layman’s terms, a mop sink.” Read more: http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?id=105724#ixzz2OfFibFK9

Have a Tuesday!

Justified

Sammy was here all day yesterday. He won. He had Carolyn and I both ready for the knockout when he left us. We began his entertainment with Pink Floyd of course and then moved to Tedeschi and Trucks via Mark’s blog. That was fine with him. I decided to apply a bit of KISS with a closeup of Paul Stanley in makeup. That was all it took to send Sammy running to his granny’s lap. A good day for all three of us.

Rain today and snow tonight.

Fer Shur!

 

Have any of you seen the comet? I saw it shortly after it swung into the evening sky but it was a bit hard to locate. Not as bright as I thought it would be but still brighter than anything round it other than the new moon. I may have missed it if it had not been fuzzy looking.

I will wait until the last minute to file our taxes; the wars will still be in session. I don’t know what I hate most; my tax money going to pay for wars which help no one except corporations or my tax money being handed out to subsidize those same corporations.

Which paragraph above is not justified text?

Have a great final week in March!

Taking notes

Google this week released a note taking application by the name of Keep for its Android OS 4.0 and higher. I’ve  been using Evernote but it is a bit complicated for taking a quick note like when I wake up in the middle of the night with a wonderful idea for this blog. The interface for Keep is easy to use and it also links to Google’s cloud service, Google Drive. I think I will use it all the time as it also has a app for Windows which will sync with all my devices running Android.

The Boss is supposed to be here tomorrow! I miss Sammy when he isn’t here at least once a week. Mason comes over more than does The Boss but he just sleeps and eats.

Have a good weekend!

Long road

I now have my taxes about 70 percent completed; I spent nearly seven hours on them yesterday. Foreclosure on our old house is a major exercise in tax code foolishness.

New black, metal roof. Hope to have a photo later.

A couple weeks ago a person known to my daughter beat her extensively. No one has been convicted of a crime but someone is awaiting a jury trial for the deed. My daughter has a broken nose, broken cheek bones around her eye sockets, and a lot of dark bruises yet to heal. She may lose partial vision in one eye and her nose will remain crooked.

I need a Sammy fix; haven’t seen The Boss in awhile.

Snowed last night.

Have a good Thursday, my friends.

Time

Another sunny day in the hills where the gods come to play.

I’m thinking of buying a new fedora, something like this one. Don’t laugh … yet.

I am up to my ears in taxes today; took a break to dissolve some of the crap from my brain. It ain’t working; I can shut my eyes and see lines of gibberish text and meaningless numbers. Time is running out fast for tax filing and I am barely begun.

The time is gone
The song is over
Thought I’d something more to say

Have a Tuesday!

Geeking

My Droid is acting crazy; must be close to time for a new one. I’ve had it for two and one-half years which makes it at least four generations behind the times. Since I bought the tablet and since Carolyn now has a smart phone, I don’t see why I need anything more than a regular cell phone. I suppose I will try to find a good deal in something but I don’t know that it will be a contract phone. Google is rumored to becoming out with a smartphone with data usage that isn’t tied to any cellular company. It is supposed to cost about $100 for the device plus discounted data and calling. A lot of intrigue in the consumer electronics world these days.

Beautiful day yesterday; if March winds hadn’t been blowing, it would have been near perfect. Still a lot of folks working in their yards and enjoying the finery; supposed to cool down a lot this week coming. I am ready for a trip to the mountains but the knee is refusing to discuss it.

Have a good week!

Small gods

Scientists again say they have discovered the “god particle” which means the one found earlier was a “false-god particle” and we know that God doesn’t like false gods. All I can say is this: If a “god particle” is needed in the cosmos, then it does exist. If it is needed and doesn’t exist, then neither do we.

Sunshine today and warming a bit. Still not very much like mid-March would be if I was the god-particle in charge.

I am not a religious person in the normal sense of “faith”, but I know that personal prayer does no harm. It is what we expect from praying that many times leads us to doubt and self defeat.

Have a good weekend, y’all!

Pope Francis

Unknown ladies
Photo from my Grandmother

I won’t do it! I will not refer to and defer to my wife as Pope Francis because her middle name is “Francis”. Not even Pope-ette Francis. And no way is she going to make me wear a red skull cap around the house. Hell no! It’ll be a long journey for me until the next Pope is elected.

Spring will never get here. I believe the new ice age has begun but it will hopefully take a few years before the first glaciers arrive in East Tennessee. They didn’t come quite this far south last ice age but they surely will this time just because I’m here. There goes the ol’ global warming bit.

Have a tarantism Thursday!

Ides and comets and no. 13 … oh my!

Gulf Fritillary on Zinia

Portends! Portends of doom and gloom! How often do we have a great comet stealing across our evening sky at the same time the Ides of March are in their death throes?* Even worse, Friday the 13th is here today—a Wednesday. The Holy Roman Church has no leader and my roof still leaks. Fate has dealt us a losing hand this month. Portends!

Have a safe day, my friends and don’t blame the messenger if your luck turns bad.


*This happened once before in recorded history in the year 607 and we all remember how terrible that year was.

Guido Sarducci for Pope

A lot of old men are going to elect one of their own to govern the Vatican and be head of a church which has a membership around the world of 1.2 billion people. About half of the church members are women who have absolutely no say in the selection of a new Pope. It would be nice if the Catholic Church and all Christian denominations would allow women to have status equal to men. Holy men fear women. As a matter of fact, I fear women and I ain’t hardly holy!

Wasn’t Sunday a near-perfect day. If not for a bit of breeze I would have been on the porch for many hours instead of less than one hour. Bleak, gray skies today and another cold week in store. Patience, our day will come.

Happy Birthday, Jack Kerouac.

Have a Tuesday!

Moonflower

Sammy spent Saturday with us; just his presence seemed to say “things are all right now papaw, your buddy is here”.

Have a good Sunday …

One

Family;
In a crisis like the one we are now experiencing, we must be a family of One. We must pull together, hope together, and if any of us are religious, we must pray together. Togetherness is the key when one of us has been seriously hurt; if blame must be placed on one of us or some of us by any of us, it can better be done in the future when we have the gift of hindsight to guide us. Right now, one of us needs all the help and love we can give.
Daddy (Paw, Papaw, Wayne)

Around the home place

Trout fishing on Wilbur Lake

Those high winds of last week took a toll on the house’s roof shingles; we have four major leaks on the ceiling and walls. One leak is directly over my head. The landlord is supposed to have his insurance man out here Monday; he knows the roof can not be successfully patched and is hoping insurance will pay for new shingles. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about things like that.

Carolyn washed our “dry clean only” mattress pad in the washing machine; now the machine is stopped up from stem to stern with polyester filling. A new pad from Amazon came yesterday. It too is dry clean only.
Mason is here today but all he does is eat and sleep. I’d love to see Sammy, too.

Have a good weekend and Spring your clocks forward!

The comets are coming

Sunset

Snow; at least it had the decency to lay on the ground this time. Supposed to be 66°F (18.9C) by this weekend. If so, I will do a springtime Irish jig while on my crutches!

We should have a good year for naked-eye comets if you like such things and no one likes them more than I. Early next week should be good viewing of comet Pan-STARRS in the Northern Hemisphere. View west just after sunset and it should be easily visible. To add to my boyish excitement, comet ISON should be about as bright as the moon as it sweeps by the sun and earth in November. I’ve seen a few comets in my days (nights) but ISON should be the best one yet. November is the time for the Leonid meteor shower, also. However, it will peak during full moon and won’t be as spectacular as it sometimes is. Nothing arouses my senses of wondering and humility as does the night sky.

Photo is from the community where I grew up. There are only four of the old homes being lived in. This abandoned one was the Rome Sifford house; I used to sit on the front porch here and listen to school-day stories from the early 1900′s.

Have a good Wednesday, y’all!

Hot and dusty

Water-lily — Nymphaea

Cold and rainy once again; my joints are tender and sore. Snow showers for tonight and tomorrow then warming a bit. We may get more than showers if the snow front now moving toward Chicago drops a bit further south than is anticipated.

The National Rifle Association is sponsoring a NASCAR race in Texas this year. I wonder if Ted Nugent will play and sing the National Anthem while our military jets fly overhead? A bit ironic, I think. Yee-Haw for the good ol’ boys!

In a related note, last Sunday’s race was won by Carl Edwards but I had to wait until Monday to find out. The first headline I saw on Sunday was “Danica wrecks”. How come a mere wreck is more important than the race winner? How come the lone female racer gets first name treatment from the media and the 42 men who participated are referred to by their last names?

I haven’t seen Sammy in quite awhile. He had a cold and was being contrary. He must have gone to the local kid’s museum yesterday because Ashley put a couple of his pics on Facebook. Chris gave a baby shower for Mason last Saturday and he got a lot of baby-type loot; clothes, toys, and diapers.

Have a Tuesday!

Burrrp!

Washington, D.C. 1913
Women’s suffrage march on Pennsylvania Avenue

What is it with women, give them the right to vote and they think they have to scold a man over an innocent but well earned burp. A beer and pizza burp. Lots of garlic. Just as she turns over with her face toward mine in bed. I should’ve worn shin pads and face guard. A man ought to have rights other than the right to remain silent.

Lech Walesa sure screwed around with his legacy by claiming gays have little or no roles to play in Poland’s government. He is now just another old man.

We’ve had some serious weather this past week but not one bit of it was springlike. One day was wind gusts more than 70mph (113 kilometer/hr.) which ripped shingles off our roof and knocked the power out for a few hours. High winds and hard rain are not unusual for changing seasons, but the weather is usually a lot warmer when it happens and then it cools down quickly. This time it was cold before, during, and after the storm. Lots of rain this winter but there is no break in the colder than normal temperatures in sight. It has been snow showers for the past two days. I need some porch time.

Have a good Worshday, my gentle friends.

Horse burgers

Europe is undergoing a bit of panic because of horse meat allegedly being mixed with beef and being sold to the public. Well, I’m here to tell you that horse meat ain’t all that bad and when mixed with beef in the correct proportion, it is much better than beef alone. When I was a kid, there was a burger joint which sold the best sandwiches in town but it had a reputation of using some horse meat mixed with beef for the meat patties. I’m not saying it is true about the rumor but once it was out and about, the little restaurant’s business declined to where it finally had to close. After 30 years, it reopened on the same spot but by then, demographics of shifting population insured it could not succeed. However, Steve and I did sample the burgers and they seemed to taste the same as I remembered them form the 1950′s. Do I believe the food contained horse meat? I doubt it it did. Most likely the rumor sprang from a competitor and the unique flavor of the burgers came from spices known only to the proprietor but they were tasty even if they once did pull a plow.

I am about sick of the Danica Patrick hoopla. For one thing, she is a cutie-pie but has never asked me for a date. Second, NASCAR and its talking heads press corps have her on a throne–watch out Vatican, she could be elected Pope by the racing crowd. Third, she is a cutie-pie but has never asked me for a date. Actually, I think she and immensely popular Dale Earnhardt Jr. should breed up a few kids; any one of their brats could easily be a world dictator or at least King of the South. Oh Danica, please ask me for a date! Another thing, why is junior so popular? He hasn’t won many races; he doesn’t drive the Budweiser car, and he has come nowhere close to winning a championship. Of course, he is daddy’s boy and daddy had a big reputation as a red neck bad guy who gave no quarter on the track. Junior inherited the adoration of the fans when his dad was killed; he certainly hasn’t earned it. Okay Danica, you can play hard to get for now but I’ll be here when you come begging.

Shaking the family tree

Not a lot happening in my corner of the universe. I’ve had recurring bellyache and nausea for about a week but it seems to lessen its discomfort each time it hits. Winter is refusing to go away. Do you remember last year when spring came at least least two weeks early?

I reposted the photo so I could name names. The little boy in the dress on the left is Claude Shipley, grandson of Elizabeth (Liza) Jane Oliver who is holding him. Liza was also my g.grandmother. Beside Liza is her daughter–my grandmother’s sister–Elizabeth (Liz) Phillips. Next is the new bride–my grandmother–Julia Ada Oliver Phillips and beside her is the new husband and my grandfather, Joseph Alexander Phillips. All  the clothing worn by the child and the ladies was homemade by them, including my grandmother’s wedding dress and hat. I well knew each of these people except little Claude who died at age seven in 1921. Memories of my grandfather are few because he died a month prior to my fourth birthday. Claude’s, Liza’s, and Liz’s clothes were most likely made from flour sacks sacks.

Have a good evening, my friends.

I missed ...

Damn, I missed the Daytona 500 race.
Damn, I missed the Oscars.
No … I didn’t miss seeing them at all.

If any of you visit Megashot.com and notice it is a bit slow (at times, a lot slow), don’t leave in a huff. Things are being worked on and changes are being made. When version two comes online, it will be worth the wait.
Speaking of Megashot, Maggie oversees one of my favorite communities titled Butterflies are free. Please stop by and take a look at all the flying flowers she has collected and is still collecting. If you are not a member of Megashot, joining is free and easy. Maggie’s community has a very good discussion group and forum about the colorful critters. Be sure to drop in and share the nectar.

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s ObamaDrone! Phooey!

Hope you’ve had a great Worshday!

Gleanings

My parents and my first wife

Get ready for it folks. Being dead means being dead even if it happens by mistake in your front yard.

I know the talking heads on MSNBC are trying to at least shed some light of truth of Fox News Channel’s perverted view of the world, but that doesn’t mean they should rubber-stamp everything President Obama says and does. Wrong is wrong no matter which side of the political world you are supporting.

Mason is coming over today but Sammy is with his granddad Rollins. Hope Mason stays awake so I can get him started on rock ‘n roll.

I am almost over the stomach flu of the past few days; I even felt like shaving this morning … and I did shave, too. My bride is also feeling better.

Have a good final week of February!

Sickly

Carolyn and I have been sick with an intestinal bug since Wednesday evening. Neither of us could get out of bed yesterday except that hard-head went out and cleaned a few buildings last night. She paid dearly for being so unwise. We are feeling better today but she isn’t as tough as am I
.
I looked at some of my old postings from 2006 ad 2007 on Blogspot/Loose Laces. Lots of readers from those days have fallen by the wayside for one reason or another but some of you are still hanging with me. One thing for sure, the quality of what I write now is not near as good as it was then. I began blogging to be able to keep producing when I was having writer’s block on my short stories. I suppose aging and a couple years of mental depression have changed me; I have lost a lot of the spark that a person needs to do any kind of decent output. I sincerely appreciate you guys whom have stood by me.

Have a great weekend!

Easter dinner

When I was a kid, my Easters were mostly non-religious. My mama said that the communion was a thing of the heart and soul and should always be in the back of our minds. Where we went to church, each Sunday morning service was was ended by the Communion. However, she did like to buy me and herself each an outfit of new spring clothing which we wore on Easter Sunday; I suppose that was Dot’s Easter religion. While we were at church, many more of our clan were gathering at grandma’s house for a big dinner. Grandma, always an early riser, was up by 3:30am to start the day’s food preparations. Her day began by building a fire in the living room fireplace and then doing the same in the kitchen cook stove. She then donned a coat and used the outdoor facilities which were on the hilltop back of the house. When Dot and I got home from church at about 12:30pm, the food was generally ready, the table was taken up by men-folk, women were serving, and kids grabbed a plate and, if the weather was good, went outside to the porch to eat. In bad weather, which we had most of the Easters I remember from those days, kids were sprawled all over the living room floor while they ate and made a mess. After the meal was finished–women ate last–the entire crowd would gather inside or outside and the reminiscing about Easters past would begin. Men talked men talk and smoked and women (according to the men) gossiped. I couldn’t tell much difference between the two. Sooner or later, Jim Butler would go to his car and retrieve his guitar and a couple of hours of picking and grinning would ensue. If we were trapped inside by bad weather, kids had no choice but to endure but if we were outside, we scattered into small groups as far away from the adults as possible. Where ever we were, we managed to hide our colored Easter eggs and then tried to find those of the other kids. Many of the family would leave for home or other amusements as the afternoon dragged on, but a few would stay for supper which was leftovers usually served with fresh bread at around 4:00pm. My day normally ended by accompanying Dot back to church no matter how hard I plead to stay home “just this one time”.

Have a Tuesday!

Hillbilly News

A few stories from the local rag today:
In the name of God, gimme back my serpents
In the name of God, gimme back my water
We don’t want you Yankee dope-heads in Tennessee
Lift them up as if they were your own children

If you have an Amazon Prime account, you can borrow ebooks for Kindle and Kindle apps at no charge. There are some good titles available such as the “Hunger Games” series and thousands more. You also get free movies like in Netflix and you get free two day shipping on Prime  eligible purchases from Amazon and other stores. $79 per year. Netflix has more movie titles, mostly junk, but it costs nearly $100/year.

Have a decent Winter Worshday!

Thoughts

Mason, Sammy’s brother — born Jan. 31.

Daffodils yesterday and snow today. Early spring is so Charlie Brown.

I wonder if UFO sightings will rise because of yesterday’s meteor explosion over Russia? Close encounters, anal probes, weird sex, vivisection; legends are made of such stories.

Happy Birthday Weekend, Michael Jordan. You can never be surpassed.

__________________________________________

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
—————————–
~ Thomas Gray Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard

Have a great Sunday!

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird; it’s a plane; it’s Superman!

I still have a quantity personal meteor shields for sale if you are interested, and after the near disaster in Russia this morning, you should be extremely interested. My shields not only protect from meteors but also from comets, asteroids, and bird droppings. Some folks have been seen using their shields as rain protection but it is not recommended for these high-tech devices. Place your order while supplies last.

Reasonably warm today but supposedly reasonably snowy tonight. Along with daffodils, the yard was host to many robins today. The lonely peckerwood is still just that; lonely.

Have a great weekend, my friends!

Sea Cruise

A song from back in the day when I was young

A lifetime of lovin’ is not enough time to love your lover like a lover should

Happy Valentine’s Day, my friends

Feed the Byrds

Friday the 13th is on Wednesday this month; odd … very odd …

Be sure to put out food for the birds in this wet weather. Robins are like the rest of us; they don’t like for their worms to get soggy and limp. They eat small pieces of fruit when normal stuff isn’t available.

Mark reminded me that anyone can be Pope of the Catholic Church, a fact I did not know until I read it in a Dan Brown novel. As big as the Catholic Church is, I have a feeling there is less known about how it works than is true of any other Western religion. I bet that most people whom have been life-long followers of the church do not really know too much concerning it. About all I know as an outsider is that it takes more than white smoke to be a Pope. Mysterium fidei.

Have a thoughtful Wednesday.

Today; don't waste it

Powitanie z Górą Strękową, Poland
Photo courtesy of Jola.-

Pretty and mild day in East Tennessee; the sunshine has that slight misty springtime look to it. Or am I just thinking wishfully?

I tuned on the radio this morning and The John Boy and Billy Big Show was on; I turned off the radio.

I wonder just what has really transpired in the Vatican? I never much liked the guy who resigned but he is whom or what he is. Dona nobis pacem.

No, I won’t watch the President’s State of the Union speech tonight. Hogwash it is.

Have a Tuesday.

Seasonish

A little peckerwood must thinking it is spring mating time; he was hammering beside my bedroom window this morning. I hope he has a lady friend before tomorrow morning. The days have been feeling springish in spite of this early date. lot of winter left to go, though.

Parts of Connecticut caught 38″ snow, nearly a meter. Marks parents got 30″. I am thinking of moving farther south; Rio sounds good.

Netflix has s series on called House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey. I saw part one and liked it a lot. Although it is a drama, it should give some insight into how power is wielded out of public sight in Washington, D.C.

Sammy is here but he is sick.

Have a good Worshday, my friends.

Satisfaction; I got some

Sammy

Feb. 7, 2013 – 5:30pm. A beautiful evening; sky is cloudy with rain imminent. Temperature is mild and the spring grass is greening. A fat male robin is making the best of waning daylight, peeping out earthworms; he is the first one I’ve seen this year. On limbs above him are two male cardinals inspecting the feeder … and each other. Close by, daffodils are blooming. A bit of wind comes from the west but the ambiance is stillness. For the short time I luxuriate in this dusky evening, I have complete serenity, a contentment I seldom find. Darkness and late winter’s cold quietly settles over the back yard …

I suppose that when America couldn’t find a fresh non-Christian foreign nation to slap around with its mighty military, it has chosen to go to war with itself. I have never seen this nation in this much deep, internal turmoil as it now is. Why is it like this I ask myself? Because the president of the United States is not a white conformist. I ‘ll admit that Mr. Obama has been a huge disappointment as chief executive, but far-rightists, disturbed leftists, and even unwavering ignorance among the middle-of-the-roaders are blaming him for every conceivable malfeasance in their pitiful lives no matter how small and unimportant. My god, the birthers are still screaming for impeachment. No one it seems, including the president, is taking our Constitution seriously. It is like a lot of Christians do with their Bibles; the scriptures mean what they want it to mean no matter how diverse it is from what is written. I think it is too late to wake up, America.

I am once again a great-grandfather. Mason Elijah _____ was born on January 31, 2013. He is Wonderful. More about him later.

Have a good weekend, my friends.

Whiter Shade of Pale

I’ve been under the weather for a few days but today is very good. Sammy is on his way over; I haven’t seen him in three weeks.

W.I.N.E. for Android is coming to a phone or tablet near you … but I have no idea when; possibly this year. W.I.N.E. is a Windows OS emulator which allows you to run many Windows programs on Linux and has been popular for many years. It is not geeky; load it like a regular program then load the Win programs to it. Not all programs work with W.I.N.E. but the developers keep updating it and it just gets better. I have used it for many years on my Linux setups and I like it. Yes, Android is a Linux based OS.

I bought myself a new keyboard. The characters are larger than on a normal keyboard and the best part is that they are back-lighted; I won’t have to turn on my desk lamp just to see to type. Now to get it filled with snacks.

We are having some sunny skies but it still isn’t warm. No robins as yet.

I hope to have an announcement on this blog within the next few days; a few things have to happen before I do my bit.

Spring fever

Jezioro Rajgrodzkie

Sitting around waiting to see if the weather hammer is going to fall. Snow for next two days. I want robins and daffodils and honeybees! I don’t always get what I want. Also, today is Groundhog Day and the sky is cloudy. That means he sees no shadow of himself and that means winter should be about over; hope the furry critter isn’t lying … again.

I’d love to be able to tramp once again; I know I disliked the journeying that I as a Journeyman Wireman had to do back in the early 1970′s,  but now the rose-colored glasses are on ant it seems much more like Camelot. It probably wasn’t as bad back then as I thought it was at the time and it surely was worse than how I am remembering it at these melancholy moments. I mostly worked in the South and in the Appalachia; I met a lot of darned good people where ever I roamed but the poorest ones in the hollers of West Virginia were the most obliging to a stranger. All I had to do was go into a country store and strike up a conversation with about any loafer, mention that my grandfather worked sawmills in the area back in the early 1900′s, and the tales would start. Everyone has a story and there is nothing better for these old men and women than to have a stranger in their presence who wanted to hear them. I was treated like a preacher on a Sunday afternoon.

Snow has begun falling.

Have a relaxing Sunday!