From the East Wing Reading the Calico Manifesto, Thinking 'bout Ed, The Cracker Barrel Supper, In Front of the Storm Running Home

Greeting to all and welcome to new friends to the East Wing.

As the long time East Wing friends know I seldom ever cross my Sunday visit with all of you and the Wednesday visit I have with the people in Iraq and now Afghanistan. But I ran across something which touched my heart, and I think will touch yours too.

An East Wing friend from North Carolina sent me a web address site which I checked out and was amazed at what I found. It’s legit and well worth your time to visit. Xerox, along with other corporate entities, has put up a site which will allow everyone interested to do so, to send a card of thanks which will be delivered to the military around the world. Ya can even sign you name on the card, at www.LetsSayThanks.com

Sorry to disappoint those who believed the story of the White Winter Mushrooms of the Mountain. There are no winter mushrooms growing in southeastern Kentucky. The pictures on Facebook are frozen water. FROZEN WATER ! Had no idea so many people would want to know where they could go and pick the mushrooms. I found out one thing about that mushroom story, there are lots of mushroom lovers, even those adventurous enough to want to pick the beautiful White Winter Mushroom of the Mountain. I’m glad those White Winter Mushrooms of the Mountain aren’t akin to the Destroying Angels, now those folks are truly Death Angels, seems they’re the same color too, ‘cept my kind don’t kill ya.

For those who have never been in the Kentucky Mountains, it’s kinda neat to see water running from the hillsides for much of the year. As a kid I used to wonder how the water got all the way to the top of the mountain before it ran out. Ya’d think it would all run out the bottom of the mountain, not the top, it don’t and I still wonder.

I’ve been stargazing a bit lately, Thursday night two weeks ago was good, was cold, 5°. This time of the year it takes a little additional effort to stargaze. It’s worth it for what ya see in the wintertime, ‘cause it ya look real close and focus just right, ya can see almost to the end of your imagination, but not quite.

Did ya see the ring Around the Moon the last Friday in January? It was a large circular band of light surrounding the moon? If ya saw that Friday Night Show, ya saw a lunar halo, and they’re kinda cool.

A lunar halo is caused by the refraction, reflection, and dispersion of light through ice particles suspended within thin, wispy, high altitude cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. As light passes through these hexagon-shaped ice crystals, it is bent at a 22 degree angle, creating a halo 22 degrees in radius (or 44 degrees in diameter). A double halo, sometimes with spokes, may be seen on rare occasions when light reflects off water or ice. But that double halo thing is really rare, I’ve only seen it a couple times, and I look at the sky a lot, ‘bout every night.

The prism effect of light passing through these six-sided ice crystals separates the light into its various colors, resulting in a halo tinged with very pale rainbow colors with red on the inside and blue on the outside. The phenomenon of a lunar halo is similar to a rainbow produced by sunlight and rain falling between your eye and the sun. I’ve got a special lens for my telescope which makes the moon halo look like a rainbow, it’s kinda cool, but once ya see it… well yah.

Old Weather Lore says a lunar halo is the forerunner of imminent unsettled weather, especially during the winter months. It’s often proved true, as cirrus and cirrostratus clouds generally precede rain and storm systems. Lunar halos are, in fact, kinda common. So watch the night sky, and keep your umbrella handy. This is one of the old weather things I talked about several weeks ago that mostly holds true. But that umbrella handy part was for spring, summer and fall. In winter we’re talking shovel here, and sometimes big shovel.

Anybody feed the wild birds? Got problems with male Blue Jays. These Blue Jays at the East Wing are making me mad. They eat all the food and chase all the little birds away. I don’t like that one bit. I like birds that get along. And if the birds at the East Wing don’t get along, well, the Red Rider BB Gun makes the final call. It’d be best those Blue Jays go to charm school or something like that for birds.

Maybe someone should tell the Blue Jays ‘bout that big bird who jumped on my humming bird, that little brown eyed friend of mine. We buried that big bird last summer. It’s best not to pick on little creatures of the East Wing. ‘Cause these little fellers have a “protective umbrella” in the Red Rider.

I’ve never seen the 2girldogs more proud of President Obama than they were when he gave his first State of The Union Address. The 2girldogs, staunch democrats all, put on their Sunday Best for the president’s speech. The Gray Lady James put on her red white and blue scarf for the special occasion and Mustina (the Pup Baby James) went to the extreme and had from paw nails done with little American Flags. I think on one nail she had a likeness of the president.

When Sophia the Republican Cat saw that paw nail job, I thought she was gona fall out of the chair laughing. Sophia does that from time to time, fall out of the chair laughing. Living with the 2girldogs gives her ample opportunity.

We all four, the 2girldogs, Sophia and I watched and listened to the President deliver the State of the Union Address. The 2girldogs loved every word, especially that part that said the girls were gona get paid more than the boys. Sophia took notes, and as soon as the speech ended, she hightailed it to the Cat House and didn’t come out till morning.

When Sophia came out of the Cat House she carried two documents, one a listing of issues with the president and the other she called the “Calico Manifesto” and informed me the manifesto would be posted on our front door.

When asked why, Sophia said she was just following the faith and practices of her religious mentor, Martin Luther, in posting things that are not right in this world. And so it was with this posting of the Calico Manifesto that I find out Sophia the Republican Cat is a Lutheran.

Not only is Sophia a Lutheran, but has ancestry all the way back to Lake Wobegon Minnesota. Lake Wobegon Minnesota, the hot bed of Lutheran activity in the United States. Lake Wobegon which also has ties to one of my heroes, Garrison Keillor. For anyone who has never heard of Garrison Keillor, may I suggest you look him up on public radio. The best complement I can give my friend Garrison Keillor is, he tells stories that you can see. Garrison Keillor tells the News from Lake Wobegon.

The Posted Calico Manifesto stated: THERE HAS NEVER BEEN AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THIS NATION WHO HAS MADE SUCH A PUBLIC ATTACK ON THE SUPREME COURT IN THE PUBLIC WAY PRESIDENT OBAMA DID IN HIS FIRST STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH. AS AN AMERICAN CAT, I’M EMBARRASSED TO THINK WE HAVE A PERSON IN OUR HIGHEST ELECTED OFFICE WHO WILL STOOP SO LOW AS TO HUMILIATE THE JUDICIAL BRANCH OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IN FULL VIEW OF THE WHOLE WORLD.

Before the State of the Union Speech, I thought Sophia was starting to lighten up on President Obama. This attack on the Supreme Court has forever put her opposing all future actions of this president. Sophia has even threatened to post on every door in the neighborhood, or even take the door posting to town.

I offered to find out if she could use the door of the Catholic Church in North Judson, but she said no, “That door caused such a big stink with Martin and the Pope back in the day, I’d just as soon not go there this time around, unless I have to, on second thought, go ahead and ask just for backup”.

The 2girldogs tried and tried to take down the Calico Manifesto, but to no avail. Even standing on the shoulders of Gray Lady James, the Pup Baby couldn’t reach it, just too high up on the door. Cats post manifestos high. (Damn Republican Cat)

For the second time in less than a month, I thank you one and all for your kind thoughts, words and prayers for my family with the loss of my brother in law, Ed Lopez. Me and Ed were kinda buds, we hung out on the computer, It was kinda cool. We just talked ‘bout stuff, sometimes stuff Ed liked to talk about, sometimes stuff I liked to talk about. And that’s why Ed and I got along, we mostly liked to talk about the same stuff. The current telescope I use for stargazing, the best telescope I’ve ever had, a gift from Ed. One of the things that Ed would always do, if he gave ya a present that needed batteries to operate, the batteries would always come with the gift. I’ll miss Ed, the email conversations, the webcam visits. It’s hard to lose a family member, even harder to lose two so close together. January 2010 has not been a good month for this family of Howard. I have every reason to believe that the remainder of this year 2010 will be a much better time for everyone.

My son John and I had a memorable experience returning home from Roswell GA last Thursday. The plan was to drive four or five hours that afternoon and evening, sleep somewhere around Nashville TN and come home Friday in the daylight. We’d made the trip south in total darkness and had slept little the last five days, we chose not to come home as an all nighter.

When we stopped for Supper at the Cracker Barrel, John pulled up the national weather on his cell phone, and what we saw was frightening. The largest winter storm in several years bearing down on our location within hours. Forecasts of snow to be measured in feet not inches. Projections of 12” to 18” snow between where we were setting and Indianapolis within the next 24 hours.

Having talked to the 1wife ‘bout an hour earlier and having been told to make sure I go to sleep before coming home, I decided to let the she make the call. I called Regina and said “ Well babe, here’s the deal, the biggest winter storm of the year and it’s coming right on top of us. We can come home tonight or we can come home Sunday or Monday”. She said “you be careful out there” And so we drove, Johnny and me, into the darkness, into the rain, forever looking out for that first flake of ice. The ice didn’t come that wet winter night. The rain stopped several hours later,’ bout 20 miles south of Indianapolis. The Night God of the Highway had ridden along, he had kept us company on hard trip, both directions.

I almost forgot to tell ya about the supper. Soup Beans and Cornbread, hamburger stake, macaroni and cheese, cold, very cold white milk. In fact the mug they brought me for the milk was so cold that when I poured the milk into the mug ( ya gotta remember at the Cracker Barrel, the milk comes in those little boxes and ya gotta pour it in the mug yourself), it froze the milk. Good thing I didn’t stick my tongue to that ole mug, else I’d be in a world of hurt. The mug must have come out of a zero degree freezer. The supper was good, in fact, the supper was great. There may be a prude or two who reads this and dismisses the meal as peasant food. Too bad you’ve never eaten at the Cracker Barrel and had Soup Beans and Cornbread. It may well change your whole attitude on life, and after all if ya don’t like Soup Beans and Cornbread, well, ya just need all the help ya can get anyway.

My world is at peace this Sunday Evening, this first Sunday in February. The 2girldogs asleep, along with Sophia The Republican Cat. A sight to behold, and one seldom seen in the East Wing, all three asleep on the same couch, Sophia in the middle sleeping between the 2girldogs. The three laying so close they touch each other. Even asleep and in the middle, I somehow have the feeling Sophia’s still in charge. She even smiles when she’s sleeps.

Stay safe in Iraq and Afghanistan.

From the East Wing Reading the Calico Manifesto, Thinking ‘bout Ed, The Cracker Barrel Supper, In front of the Storm running home

I wish you well,
BobbyRay