Existing In BFE

A few years ago Neighbor Tim and I began placing a wager on the Super Bowl.  I am by nature a temperate soul who abhors vices of any kind, so when he suggested it I was appalled.  However, in the interest of fostering comradeship I acquiesced.  Along the way we each got a little creative with the payouts.  One year Tim paid in coins.  Another in Canadian currency.  I didn't lose often but when I did I tried making it as much fun as possible.  This past year I went with Atlanta and, sadly, lost.  I bought a tacky Florida clamshell with some trashy crap attached and then bought a small glass bottle with prehistoric shark teeth inside.  The original plan was to put the twenty into the bottle and then glue it onto the clamshell.  However, that plan didn't materialize because I was unable to jam the bill into the hole.  After repeated efforts, even using dish soap for lube, I still couldn't get the bi...

Two readers have answered my questions of last week regarding chickens.  No, a chicken need not engage in chicken sex to lay an egg, that happens regardless.  In order for that egg to produce another chicken however, that hen must be fertilized.  Brooder chickens lay eggs throughout their lives, and sadly, when they don't produce anymore they are not put out to pasture, but end up at KFC.   As to which came first, the chicken or the egg, the answer is simple.  Just ask me.                                                                    ++++++++++ Visited with old family friend and neighbor Dorothy Levine and son Lance who are now residents at Rosewood in G-Burg. ++++++++++ Received this picture from Kitschland of Miss Norah on her last day of kindergarten.  She is now...

While it is true that I wish all my readers a Happy Memorial Day weekend, I also wish you a conflicted one, as well.  There is a place for relaxation, family get-togethers and grilling.  There is also a place to reflect.  To think about our nation, our responsibilities and our soon-to-be 17th year of war.  The bloody remains of soldiers lie in every cemetery in the area.  Newer ones in Keithsburg, Wataga, and Monmouth.  Older ones in every town and village.  Our politics may be strained, and our country may see the ravages of slow decline, but the one constant has been the sacrifice of American youth.  They have always stood tall against the authoritarianism of the British, the Constitutional crisis of the Civil War, the imperialism of the Germans in WWI and the cruel transgressions of the Axis nations in WWII.  From Mexican invasions to the Indian wars to Grenada the American Armed Forces have been a bulwark a...

Caption Fun "Mark,  I really thought the Goddess was going to shell out." "Mark,  you're the water guy.  Why am I getting spots on my silverware?" "Mark,  I want a Jeep.  Lime green." "Mark, are twins really too ugly to be one?" "Mark, are you sitting down?  Michael's coming back up...again." The place:  The Blythe kitchen back in Seaton.  The event:  unknown.  The year:  unknown, but likely 20 years ago.  A second of time caught in what appears to be a serious conversation between the Wombie and Mrs. Wombie.  The bartender said, "Hey, why the long face."  I don't know what was going on, but it looks very much like the camera (and me) is intruding on a private chat.  It is also a somewhat fascinating picture of the hub of the family, the kitchen.  Marj loved redecorating and this final edition with the darker wallpaper and cornflower blue cabinets reflects her always interesting...

The initial shots of the First American Civil War were fired on a Union occupied Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.  The Confederate state of South Carolina had seceded from the Union in December and on this date, after having asked for their surrender, the Southern garrison at nearby Fort Jefferson opened fire.  And they fired continuously for the next 34 hours.  The Union supply lines were cut off and the fort surrendered the next day.  The next four years would be one of pitched battles, blood, and loyalties tested.  Families and friends were separated by ideology.  I don't know when the first shots were fired in the Second American Civil War.  Maybe it was the  Supreme Court nomination fight that the Democrats mounted against Reagan's pick of Robert Bork 30 years ago.  Maybe it was the  doctrine that Senator McConnell espoused upon the election of Obama of absolute non-cooperation.  Perhaps it was the Arab Spring that seemed to sh...

May 2016 May 2017 Not far from the Cabin in the Woods is a field road that goes toward a mound of trees far away.  On either side of this dirt path are fields.  As I was walking last year I spied this path and the single tree that stood tall in the middle of the field, in the middle of the path, providing a kind of sentry post where there shouldn't have  been one.  But there it stood.  Somehow against all of the adversity of the farmers ax and the weather's incessant pounding.  It provided a striking form, out there alone, and shade and perhaps shelter to wild things with four legs, maybe eight, and some with wings.  My first walk being back and I noticed the sentry has been felled.  For how ever many decades it has been at that spot, it was there no more.  Everything changes.  Everything is temporary.    

The Cabin in the Woods is providing shelter and solace to the wild Spring weather I have experienced.  80 degrees one day, then down to 55 the next.  Sunny blue skies then tornado sirens blaring to warn of impending danger.  With all due respect to those who have lost their lives in recent storms I have found it exhilarating in comparison to the stultifyingly monotonous Kitschland weather.   ++++++++++ The Emerald City DMV has solved the age-old problem of Christmas tree storage and the hassle of putting it up and down every year.  Just keep it up and decorate with the colors of the upcoming holiday.  Problem solved.  So smart.  So clever.  So lazy. ++++++++++   FaceTime on our iPads is so cool for traveling Papa's.  I'm not sure how to capture a text message but the great surprise so far was I received my first from Norah.  She's getting so big.   ++++++++++ Coolest bar in No...

We have returned this beautiful Monday in Northlandia to a trip to Tarpon Springs the family took a few weeks ago.  Part 1 is somewhere if you want to refamiliarize yourself to our adventure upstate a few miles.  I think boats, the sea and all things nautical are usually pretty neat.  I it because I grew up in Seaton?  Or is it like JFK's remark, something like we all have a yearning to the seas, from whence we came? Anyway, the large fishing boats above, the Miss Lexy and the Miss Lupe have their home ports out of Blythe Island, Georgia.  A  moored spongeboat. Someone's drink abandoned. This is the Anastasi, an actual working spongeboat.  While sitting on a bench waiting for our boat to take off, I watched the Greek bag all of his sponges he found after having air dried a while.       This one is for you Cub's fans. Our sponge diver, Frank, suiting up in authentic hundre...

A few weeks ago I wrapped up my Denver graduate school days and said that that was all I had and there would be no more.  And then I go rifling through a box and find this picture of me and Eddie and his GF Consuela.  I'm not sure where we were but as certain as I can be I believe it was a Mexican restaurant in western Denver.   If I remember correctly it is where I firmly established my dislike for Mexican fare except for a cool little dessert they had.  It was a triangular puffy bread.  You tear off one of the corners and pour honey inside.  It was quite tasty and I have never had once since.  I ask around whenever I am in a Mexican place and everyone seems confused.   Anyway, we dressed up in the stuff they had handy for other touristas, and they take the picture.  Then they collect a heavy ransom for copies.  Being touristas, of course, everyone pays.  I wonder if the place still exists?   It was ...

Beach day.  It seems to always make the hear run just a little faster.  No one hates the beach and everyone is always happy there.  It also provides a photographic opportunity to see people at play and the majesty of surf.  In another one of my personally patented quiet posts (lazy if you prefer) I present the pictures without discussion.  Hopefully they speak for themselves.    Okay, I lied.  Footprints always remind me of Bette Davis' line in the movie, Mr. Skeffington.  "When we are no longer here, our footprints are easily washed away." The sights and sounds of the beach.  Of life at play.  It never gets old.  Thanks for stopping by.