Greeting to all, and welcome new friends to the East Wing.
As Johnny and I climbed back up into the Rocky Mountains from the Northern Utah valley town of Tremonton, I put the sun at our back and drove into the high desert of the West, all the while still amazed at the contrast of the terrain from Toto Indiana.
With Saturday being my turn to drive the wagon, less time was available to snap the pictures. But the utter lack of change of scenery meant if ya took a picture every 50 miles the scenery didn’t change. Stark mountains thousands of feet high in the distance seem to go on forever. A mountain range in the windshield field of view I estimated in my mind to be ‘bout 10 miles in front of me. An hour later, at 75 mph, I decide to change my estimate of how far the mountains are in front of me.
The destination for Saturday night was Rawlins WY ‘bout 360 miles in front of me right on Interstate 80 meant long, long stretches of unchanging landscape. On two different occasions I measured distances of 77 and 62 miles absolute dead straight road. Had it not been for a slight degree of arch in the road bed it could have been many miles more of nothing but nothing, straight ahead.
Ya know you’re in the high desert when the sign along the way says “no services next 110 miles”, and in the high desert the signs don’t try to fool ya, they try to save your life. My 2010 covered wagon had a few amenities not afforded our forefathers who crossed this most God forsaken land before me. The availability of options such as the rate of travel, (75 mph) air-conditioning or heat of summer, Johnny and me, well, we chose the air-conditionings, navigational aids, both direct GPS as well as Global Positioning Satellite Mapping direct to my laptop computer from outer space. I that cool or what? Directions so precise ya can’t get lost, even if ya want to, and lord knows that here in the desert Ya don’t want to get lost.
Passing through this desert land, mile after mile with an un changing landscape before me, my thoughts again turn to those who’ve come this way in the distant past. From the east they came, first small numbers of brave adventures, and later by the thousands. Not knowing what lay afore them, not knowing the difficulty of survival in a land without water, not having a clue on the difficulties of crossing the Rocky Mountains. Never dreaming of the combination of heat and altitude and what it could do to the human body in what someday would be Western Wyoming.
Yet they came, men, women and children, mostly walking, animals pulling wagons, horses, cows, goats, dogs. Whatever animals the family had made the trip with the family. I find it impossible to grasp the true difficulty of such a trip. The decision to start seems to be beyond my comprehension. The prospect of a better life for the family drove people west in this country.
After seeing with my own eyes the vastness of this great land from Indiana to Utah, I’ll forever have a different appreciation for those brave men and women who settled this land we all call home.
Late Saturday afternoon I drive into a place called Little America, ‘bout 200 miles or so west of Cheyenne WY. A pleasant surprise out here in the desert, that Little America. We ate supper in a most elegant restaurant at Little America. It was nighttime in the Rockies when we pulled into Rawlins Wyoming. After sunset the jackalopes roam in Wyoming, and we was ‘em roaming.
We’re up and running north early Sunday Morning when Johnny proposed breakfast at McDonalds, a choice we’d live to regret as this day went on. The desert heat came early that Sunday Morning, by 10 o’clock the inside thermometer showed the outside temperature 101°, while showing the inside temperature at 65°. With that being said ya can kinda appreciate our choice of opting to take the air-conditioning over the desert heat. An option not available when families walked into the west. Don’t know how far ya could walk in this heat, but I’m sure we traveled farther in one hour than the pioneers traveled in several days.
We’re on our way to Custer South Dakota this hot Sunday Morning when what was to become known as the “Curse of the Breakfast Burritos” reared its ugly head. Details of the Curse of the Breakfast Burritos aren’t necessary or pleasant, suffice it to say, McDonalds’ Breakfast Burritos are not recommended by me or Johnny when ya drive north from Rawlings WY on as Sunday Morning when the temperature says 101°
After leaving Laramie WY a few days back without a full tank of gas, Johnny and I have a new appreciation for those signs along the way that identifies not services, so every time we move from place to place, we make sure the tank is full. And this hot Sunday Morning was no different. Full tanks were needed tracking north from Rawlins WY to Custer SD.
On the way we’re deciding where to have lunch, Johnny proposes one town, I propose the next one just 12 miles up the road according to my laptop computer . Johnny keeps on driving. We’re now off the interstate driving a two lane road which we’ve not seen in our lives. But the next towns sounds nice, so we’re looking forward to stopping for lunch. In a few short minutes we are within site of the sign for the town.
The only disappointment in the whole trip was not stopping and taking a picture of that town’s sign. It read: LOST SPRINGS WY, POPULATION 1 It’s hard to take a picture when you’re laughing at a road sign. And lunch, it was the next town up the road, an hour away, 75 miles in a place called Lusk WY. Shortly after Lusk WY we enter the extreme western edge of South Dakota. Still in the high plains desert of southwestern South Dakota.
An amazing transformation occurred right before our eyes as we drove northeast into South Dakota. Within 40 miles of entering South Dakota, the world started to turn green. At first just a hint of green. Not having seen green in so long, I thought it was a mirage, but soon a few green pine trees started to dot the hillsides, and before ya knew it the world turned green.
An interesting conversation ensued between Johnny and me ‘bout missing the green. After sending a few days in the Rocky Mountains with what seemed an absolute void of anything green unless covered by a center pivot irrigation system, we both agreed that seeing green vegetation of whatever source just made ya feel better. I guess ya can take the hillbilly out of Indiana, but ya can’t take the green out of the hillbilly. Green is good.
Arriving in Custer SD early mid afternoon afforded us the opportunity to visit the Crazy Horse Memorial Mountain before the sun went down. Just six miles or so out of Custer is the Crazy Horse Memorial. A mountain carving of such giant dominations it’s hard to imagine. The amount of material that has been removed from the mountain so far measures many hundreds of millions of tons, and the sculpture is far for being completed.
History lessons are to be learned at Crazy Horse Mountain. Sad history of the Lakota People, Shameful history of the white man. Back in the day when we somehow thought Indians were something less than human, something to be disposed of and no more than any other lower life form. The human tragic events at Wounded Knee speaks volumes as to how the American Indians were treated in South Dakota.
After Mount Rushmore was created as a memorial to the great men in history, the Lakota Elders decided it would be fitting and proper that the world know the Lakota People too have great leaders of their people. And so it was decided by the Lakota Elders that a monument be created of Crazy Horse. A sculptor was selected, a man who was destined to spend the rest of his life on carving the mountain.
The work continues to this day long after the original sculptor died. His wife, along with 7 of this 9 children continue the quest to complete the dream. The dream of the Lakota People, a monument to a leader of people, Crazy Horse, the Warrior Chief.
In the 5th grade I remember reading an article in the “Weekly Reader” ‘bout the Crazy Horse Memorial Mountain project. It was right then and there hat I decided I’d go see that mountain some day. It took a while to get there, but on Sunday, August 22nd 2010 at 6:15 PM nothing stood between me and Crazy Horse Mountain except the clean blue sky of South Dakota. I had come to the mountain.
With a tears in my eyes, I looked at the finished face of Crazy Horse. To give ya some idea of the enormous size of this monument, the face of Crazy Horse is 22 stories tall. On his out stretched right arm, ya could lay the Washington Monument on its side. All the carvings on Mount Rushmore would fit in the hair behind the face of Crazy Horse. And ya gotta keep in mind that Crazy Horse is setting on a horse. Big monument, that Crazy Horse Mountain. For my model building friends, to give ya some perspective of the size of Crazy Horse Mountain. The original sculptor made a model of the actual work in 1/34th scale. In this scale, the model stands 16 foot tall, do the math. Big rock carving.
An interesting fact ‘bout the Crazy Horse Monument is, unlike Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse is being built WITHOUT, I repeat, WITHOUT government funding. When was the last time ya ever heard of anything major not being funded by the government? Seems the original sculptor had a distrust for the promises made by the federal government and he didn’t want the government determining what the outcome of the mountain would be. So he refused when offered funding by the National Park Service. In light of the promises made to the Lakota People by past governments, it seems the decision not to accept federal funding was the right way to go.
With the Crazy Horse Project is being funded 100% by private donations, we done my part, Johnny and me. We each bought a piece of the mountain, a chunk of rock blasted from the mountain, and mine destined to forever sit in the East Wing amongst the other important stuff in my life. Things like my pooping moose, the pop bottle collection, the Family of Howard Dolls, my pink flamingos, the my ceramic chickens, the books, computers, stargazing equipment, and the list goes on and on, my important stuff. Sure hope I got room for the Crazy Horse Mountain Rock. I may split my rock and give half to the she if I don’t have room.
Spending time at Crazy Horse Mountain was truly a dream come true for me. Johnny on the other hand was looking more forward to visiting Mount Rushmore. Not that he didn’t enjoy Crazy Horse Mountain, he just hadn’t been waiting since he was in the 5th grade like I had.
Monday morning we ate breakfast at the Cowboy Café in Cluster South Dakota. Bout as cowboy as ya can get and still not have to get on a horse. I sat with the real cowboys and said cowboy stuff like Buckaroo, doggie and Yep and nope, while trying to sound like John Wayne. Ya know how to tell real cowboys? They got dirty hats. Don’t think anybody mistook me for John Wayne probably ‘cause I didn’t have any boots, or dirty hat. John Wayne always wore boots and dirty hats. At least the John Wayne’s I saw. And then we went to Mount Rushmore.
Truly a moving experience, the first site of Mount Rushmore. Seeing something live that ya have know about all your life is kinda neat. The movie there at Mount Rushmore is really interesting to watch. It tells the history of how the monument was carved, of the men who worked the mountain. In pictures and words the displays at Mount Rushmore demonstrate the importance of the men whose faces are reflected in the stone. Pictures speak louder than words so we took lots of pictures, and Mount Rushmore is among the lot.
There’s a place up there in South Dakota, a place called Bear Country USA. A tourist trap for sure, and Johnny and I fell into the trap, and are so glad we did. One of the most fun places ever, Bear Country USA. It’s an open zoo. Many different animals such as mountain goats, big horn sheep, mountain lions, skunks, lynx, deer and antelope playing. And the bears, my o my did they have the bears, hence the name, Bear County USA. Bears and bears every where ya looked. Walking all over the place. Running bears, playing bears, fighting bears, sleeping bears. But he fun part of Bear Country USA was watching the baby bears.
There were maybe two dozen or so baby bears in an area ‘bout 4 acres. These baby bears acted much the same as a dozen little boys and girls on the playground. Ya could just tell the little boys, rolling ‘round fighting each other, weaseling and chasing one and other. Climbing trees at an amazing speed. Four baby bears up the same tree is a site to behold. The baby girl bears, ya could tell them too. ‘Cause every once in a while they’d just go over and slap the baby boy bears. Baby Bears, sugar and spice and everything nice, hammer and nails and puppy dog tails, that what’s little bears are made of. I think babies of the world are all the same.
After visiting the bears we headed for Deadwood South Dakota. it being mid Monday afternoon and Johnny was hungry so we stopped at a little roadside restaurant that advertised “Best Burger in The Hills” The Black Hills that is. The restaurant was no larger than a trailer, 12’ wide tops, but after eating the hamburger and talking to the cook, Johnny and I told her the advertising sign outside didn’t do the hamburger justice. And with the best hamburger in the hills eaten and enjoyed, we trucked toward Deadwood.
The very first thing we done in Deadwood was visit the grave of Wild Bill Hickok. Paid a dollar a head to get in to a cemetery. Never thought I’d pay to get into a cemetery, but I did, actually Johnny did and I snuck in with him, or maybe he paid two dollars. Either way, before ya knew it we were walking up hill, really up hill, looking for Wild Bill’s grave. We didn’t have to look too hard, ‘cause for Johnny’s two dollars they gave him a map of the cemetery. The two most popular grave sites in the cemetery are Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Side by side, it was said that when Calamity Jane lay dying, she said lay me by Wild Bill, ‘cause he’s been there before.
Now Calamity Jane was, among other things, a lady of the night so when they buried her four gargoyles were placed one on each corner of the grave. The gargoyles used to ward off spirits from the deceased past. One time when a highly recognized madam passed away, rather than identifying her real profession in the Deadwood Newspaper, her occupation was listed as “local social worker” Some people think we could still use more local social workers.
Wild Bill Hickok shot dead in the back of the head while setting at a card game while holding a five card poker hand consisting of two pairs, aces and eights and a nine card. To this very day such hand is know in poker circles as the dead man’s hand.
After the graveyard visit, we made it toward the Number 10 Saloon in downtown Deadwood, determined to have a drink at the bar. Johnny had Rye Whisky and I once again had that Rot Gut Makers Mark with a straw.
The # 10 saloon was so named ‘cause at the time, there were so many saloons in Deadwood, it was more practical to just assign numbers rather than names, cause they were lined up anyway.
Monday evening was spent at Cadillac Jacks, and a good time was had by all. Tuesday morning, not so bright and not so early, Johnny and I started home. Wednesday evening we got there.
Like Dorothy said, “there’s no place like home”
Stay safe in Afghanistan
From the Mobil East Wing Custer, Crazy Horse, Rushmore, Baby Bears, Hamburgers and Deadwood.
I Wish You Well
BobbyRay
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
From the East Wing with,A Garden Lost,The Fog of August,Snake Doctors,Sophia on The O’Reilly Factor
Greetings to all, and welcome new friends to the East Wing.
Even notice how we seldom ever think ‘bout the real important things in life. Don’t know ‘bout you, but I sure don’t. That changed a lot last week. A friend of mine, not only a friend of mind but also a relative, and being hillbilly, those two, friends and relative, don’t always go together, stopped by my office for a visit.
Seems he came for a couple reasons, one to check on my health and well being,‘cause he heard I’d been ill, and had been diagnosed as a diabetic, and he wanted to instill in my mind the importance of taking care of my self while managing my diabetes.
The second reason for the visit to my office was to apologize for being unable, this summer, to provide me with fresh garden vegetables of corn, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, etc. like he’d been doing for many years. With the apologizes made, it was the next spoken words that forever burned into my memory when my friend, and my cousin said, “ya just can’t garden with one hand. I tried, Lord knows I tried”.
Standing before me, a man in his mid seventies with one functional arm, the left. A man who like most all of us, had spent his entire life living right handed. A stroke victim, several months back, who awoke from a long coma one day without memory of his own name. A person who awoke to a world without the use of his right hand, his whole arm paralyzed. His world changed forever in the blink of an eye.
My cousin, several years older than me, a man that could present a rather intimidating figure on the streets of downtown North Judson in a different time, and in what now seems like a different place. There was never a Dalton Gang in North Judson, but back in the day, there was the Howard Boys. Not bank robbers, those Howard Boys, but there were certain things ya just didn’t do to the Howard Boys, like tug on Superman’s Cape.
As childhood memories filled my mind, I looked into the eyes of 75 years of living and realized how important the real things in life really are. How important health and body are above everything else in life, and how we tend to never give such thoughts a chance to creep into the sunshine of our mind.
A friend of mine who came by to check on my health and wish me well, and with a simple statement changed the way I’ll forever look at life. “Ya can’t garden with one hand. I tried. Lord knows I tried”. And so he had.
One of the important things ya gotta watch for in August is the first heavy fog in the morning. The reason is ‘cause that’s gona be a hard frost on the same day in October. Now this fog and frost deal is like that cricket telling ya the temperature last week, don’t know why it works, it just does most every year. And much like the cricket and temperature, don’t spend too much time trying to figure out why on the fog / frost thing.
Before I start getting emails from Alabama telling me they don’t get hard frost in October, or somebody from Cape Town telling me I'm crazy, I'm talking ‘bout the cold country of Indiana not your part of God’s Country. Last year I received an invitation to visit South Africa. This year the invitation was again extended. I again declined as the bridge’s not yet completed. I’m not sure if that’s gona be a toll bridge or not, to South Africa. But I told ‘em I’d be right over soon as the bridge is finished, that I’d let ‘em know before I started out so they’d be looking for me, and could leave the light on.
Now if ya like August, ya like hot. I love August. But I like air conditioning as much as hot. My office is too cold by some people, but It has to be, ‘cause my two office cats wear full length fur coats. I think I told ya ‘bout the office cats, Miss Kitty and Little Brother. The black & whites of downtown North Judson. I gotta keep ‘em cool. Did ya ever try to live with two mad cats? Sophia’s bad enough and she’s not even mad, some times.
Did ya know that ants won’t cross a thick chalk line. So if ya go to an outside picnic and take a pie along, draw a chalk circle around the pie to keep the ants away. When I was a kid in Downtown Toto, I always carried a piece of chalk in my pocket just in case I ran across an ant walking on something I could draw a quick circle on so I could watch the ant try to get out of jail. I don’t think I ever left an ant inside the circle, when done watching, I’d always open the door with my finger. Oh, I almost forgot, that chalk line don’t keep little hillbilly boys away from pies. One time at a family reunion I know some little hillbilly boys that took a whole pie, chocolate it was, and two spoons and didn’t even give that chalk circle a thought. We, no, they took a quart of milk too.
As the Dog Days of Summer 2010 bark to a close, the 2girldogs are making the most of season. Sleeping in and doing nothing all day long is the norm for the 2girldogs. The Bentley dog is too young and too hyper to fully enjoy the Dog Days of Summer. But he’ll learn, he’s still young, and ya know that stuff ‘bout teaching young dog new tricks.
Sure hope ya saw the Perseid Meteor Shower last week on the 12th. It was a perfect moonless condition to look at meteors, and there were lots to see, I estimated seeing 50-75 per hour. An extra treat that night was seeing Mars, Saturn and Venus in a tight clump when ya looks to the south and just a little to the east. If ya had a good clear view ya maybe even could see Mercury really low on the south horizon, but ya had to have a long clear view to see Mercury.
I couldn’t see Mercury from the East Wing, so I drove 4 miles to the west to see if there was a better vantage point. There was. Ya seldom see four planets that close together in the sky. It was worth the trip. I love to stargaze. Sometimes just use the high power binoculars and just look at stuff, always wondering if somebody’s out there with high power binoculars looking toward me wondering if somebody’s out there with high power binoculars wondering…….. I just do.
Just one of the many simple pleasures of summer is the amount of aromatic herbs available. Fresh herbs are as far away from dried as hot is from cold, it’s truly like day and night, they’re just not the same.
Now the she would always pick Basil as her favorite ‘cause it always goes in the tomato sauce for the spaghetti, and she always picks pasta as her favorite food. I too like Basil, but not like the she. I too like tomatoes, but not so much in tomato sauce. More so as light bread with bologna, tomato and mayonnaise. Now for those folks who’s never eaten a bologna sandwich with tomato and mayonnaise, its your loss, I feel sorry for ya, and for everybody else, that’s what I'm talking ‘bout.
Not only do our garden herbs this time of the year liven up our meals, they also bring some other side benefits that are often over looked by many people. Such as drinking tomato juice with fresh basil to ease a headache.
I think Oregano is second only to Basil for the she, it too goes into the tomato sauce. It’s also used for scorpion bites, so far we’ve not had to use that part of the Oregano Plant, just the spaghetti sauce part.
One of my favorites in the herb family is Dill. I like Dill. Know what Dill and Fennel have in common? Well don’t feel bad not too many people do now days. But some time back everybody knew what those two had in common. As a matter of fact, back then not knowing what Dill and Fennel had in common caused nothing but heartaches. Nothing but heartaches.
One of the key pieces of damming evidence in the Salem Witch Trials was the lack of Dill and Fennel in every garden of every woman on trial. In fact this was the major supporting pieces of evidence in addition to the reliable eye witness testimony. None of the accused had either Dill or Fennel growing in their garden. Back then everybody knew that Dill and Fennel kept witches away, and it always worked.
No wonder they didn’t plant Dill or Fennel, those witches. Those convicted witches. They’d been better off to plant just a little bit at the very edge of the garden. I don’t think a little bit would keep witches away, just slow ‘em down a little bit. Maybe they were afraid even a little bit would make ‘em fall off their brooms.
There was a time during the Roman Empire that Anise was used to pay taxes. Sophia, setting on the back of my chair, reading as I talk with my fingers, just whispered into my ear “by the time we get rid of Obama, Harry Reid and Pelosi, we’ll all be paying taxes again with Anise”. Damn Republican Cat.
Another favorite of the She is Garlic. That’s her Italian thing. I think it ya went to a true Italian Store, you’d find Garlic Ice Cream. I guess the Greeks are big on garlic too. Seems I read some where ‘bout Aristotle making reference to garlic being used to ward off the fear of water. That maybe could be the reason I never learned to swim, never ate garlic.
Do ya have a favorite summer creature, the things ya can see in the sunshine? I do and it’s the dragonfly. Now if ya look at this little feller real close you’ll be amazed. Talk ‘bout a complex machine. I’ve watched dragonflies most all my life. They don’t sting, don’t hurt ya in any way. But watch ‘em for a while and you’ll too become a dragonfly fan.
Lou told me ‘bout dragonflies at Southfork. Told me ‘bout ‘em being able to fly in six directions. The only creature to be able to fly in six directions. Up, down, left, right, forward, backward. Now that little brown eyed friend of my, my hummingbird can’t even do that. It’s that left, right part that gets the hummingbird, they seem to be able to move left, right but if ya look close, they change altitude to move left or right, very slight altitude change but not true left, right without altitude change like the dragonfly.
I watched a dragonfly for ‘bout 10 minutes or so last week, tried to get him to land on my arm, no deal. I don’t think he liked me, ‘cause I couldn’t get within two foot of him. But he was pretty cool to watch.
Lou called the dragonflies “Snake Doctors” ‘cause the mountain people thought they followed snakes around and if the snake got hurt the dragonfly would take care of ‘em. Glad I’m not a Snake Doctor, I’d be a bad one. I’d let ‘em die, I don’t like spiders and snakes.
After the President took a position on building the mosque at ground zero contrary to the view of 70% of the American People, Sophia tells me that she once again supports the President on this issue. And just as soon as hell freezes over she will, as national spokescat for the CCCA, (Conservative Calico Cats of America) recommend that the membership support the President on this matter, and turn a blind eye to the will of the people.
One of the enjoyable things about living with Sophia is watching her ability to reach a compromise among different peoples with opposing points of view. Sophia is offering another alternative condition in which she could support the President. She told me “when I can put a litter box in every mosque in Mecca, I’ll go on the FoxNews Channel to try to convince Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly to support our President”. The cat smile lit up the room, as the green eyes sparkled. Pretty cat, Sophia.
Like I said before, Sophia is so good at bringing people with different points of view into the harmony of full love and fellowship, I sometimes think she should have been a Baptist Preacher. She still may, when she gets out of politics and answers a higher calling, something even above the CCCA. I think Sophia would make a good Television Preacher. I’m not sure we could handle the gospel according to Sophia.
An interesting observation on the need for the President’s people to clarify his remarks on the mosque thing. The very next day a press release said Oh no, the President didn’t mean THAT MOSQUE, he just meant any mosque and he’s sticking up for freedom of religion as required by the constitution, not supporting THAT MOSQUE.
Given that position, I wonder why earlier this year the President canceled the National Day of Prayer Service at the White House, and last Friday had a dinner to celebrate the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, where he laid his mosque support speech on ‘em.
I wonder why the President didn’t have a State Dinner to celebrate the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday? Or why he didn’t go to Nashville to celebrate the start of the annual Southern Baptist Convention. Why would the current President Of the United States write in a book some years back “I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction”. I wonder what an ugly direction is, are we now looking in an ugly direction? It’s just stuff like that, that makes ya wonder, sure makes me wonder.
If ya think hummingbirds are small, did ya ever see their babies? There are now two baby hummingbirds at the feeder all day long, one or the other, and most of the time both. Little things, not much taller than a paper clip, but they sure fly good.
For you “Smokey and The Bandit” fans, when I see a baby hummingbird with his father, they remind me of Big Ennis and Little Ennis Burdett.
Stay safe in Afghanistan.
From the East Wing with,A Garden Lost,The Fog of August,Snake Doctors,Sophia on The O’Reilly Factor
I wish you well,
BobbyRay
Even notice how we seldom ever think ‘bout the real important things in life. Don’t know ‘bout you, but I sure don’t. That changed a lot last week. A friend of mine, not only a friend of mind but also a relative, and being hillbilly, those two, friends and relative, don’t always go together, stopped by my office for a visit.
Seems he came for a couple reasons, one to check on my health and well being,‘cause he heard I’d been ill, and had been diagnosed as a diabetic, and he wanted to instill in my mind the importance of taking care of my self while managing my diabetes.
The second reason for the visit to my office was to apologize for being unable, this summer, to provide me with fresh garden vegetables of corn, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, etc. like he’d been doing for many years. With the apologizes made, it was the next spoken words that forever burned into my memory when my friend, and my cousin said, “ya just can’t garden with one hand. I tried, Lord knows I tried”.
Standing before me, a man in his mid seventies with one functional arm, the left. A man who like most all of us, had spent his entire life living right handed. A stroke victim, several months back, who awoke from a long coma one day without memory of his own name. A person who awoke to a world without the use of his right hand, his whole arm paralyzed. His world changed forever in the blink of an eye.
My cousin, several years older than me, a man that could present a rather intimidating figure on the streets of downtown North Judson in a different time, and in what now seems like a different place. There was never a Dalton Gang in North Judson, but back in the day, there was the Howard Boys. Not bank robbers, those Howard Boys, but there were certain things ya just didn’t do to the Howard Boys, like tug on Superman’s Cape.
As childhood memories filled my mind, I looked into the eyes of 75 years of living and realized how important the real things in life really are. How important health and body are above everything else in life, and how we tend to never give such thoughts a chance to creep into the sunshine of our mind.
A friend of mine who came by to check on my health and wish me well, and with a simple statement changed the way I’ll forever look at life. “Ya can’t garden with one hand. I tried. Lord knows I tried”. And so he had.
One of the important things ya gotta watch for in August is the first heavy fog in the morning. The reason is ‘cause that’s gona be a hard frost on the same day in October. Now this fog and frost deal is like that cricket telling ya the temperature last week, don’t know why it works, it just does most every year. And much like the cricket and temperature, don’t spend too much time trying to figure out why on the fog / frost thing.
Before I start getting emails from Alabama telling me they don’t get hard frost in October, or somebody from Cape Town telling me I'm crazy, I'm talking ‘bout the cold country of Indiana not your part of God’s Country. Last year I received an invitation to visit South Africa. This year the invitation was again extended. I again declined as the bridge’s not yet completed. I’m not sure if that’s gona be a toll bridge or not, to South Africa. But I told ‘em I’d be right over soon as the bridge is finished, that I’d let ‘em know before I started out so they’d be looking for me, and could leave the light on.
Now if ya like August, ya like hot. I love August. But I like air conditioning as much as hot. My office is too cold by some people, but It has to be, ‘cause my two office cats wear full length fur coats. I think I told ya ‘bout the office cats, Miss Kitty and Little Brother. The black & whites of downtown North Judson. I gotta keep ‘em cool. Did ya ever try to live with two mad cats? Sophia’s bad enough and she’s not even mad, some times.
Did ya know that ants won’t cross a thick chalk line. So if ya go to an outside picnic and take a pie along, draw a chalk circle around the pie to keep the ants away. When I was a kid in Downtown Toto, I always carried a piece of chalk in my pocket just in case I ran across an ant walking on something I could draw a quick circle on so I could watch the ant try to get out of jail. I don’t think I ever left an ant inside the circle, when done watching, I’d always open the door with my finger. Oh, I almost forgot, that chalk line don’t keep little hillbilly boys away from pies. One time at a family reunion I know some little hillbilly boys that took a whole pie, chocolate it was, and two spoons and didn’t even give that chalk circle a thought. We, no, they took a quart of milk too.
As the Dog Days of Summer 2010 bark to a close, the 2girldogs are making the most of season. Sleeping in and doing nothing all day long is the norm for the 2girldogs. The Bentley dog is too young and too hyper to fully enjoy the Dog Days of Summer. But he’ll learn, he’s still young, and ya know that stuff ‘bout teaching young dog new tricks.
Sure hope ya saw the Perseid Meteor Shower last week on the 12th. It was a perfect moonless condition to look at meteors, and there were lots to see, I estimated seeing 50-75 per hour. An extra treat that night was seeing Mars, Saturn and Venus in a tight clump when ya looks to the south and just a little to the east. If ya had a good clear view ya maybe even could see Mercury really low on the south horizon, but ya had to have a long clear view to see Mercury.
I couldn’t see Mercury from the East Wing, so I drove 4 miles to the west to see if there was a better vantage point. There was. Ya seldom see four planets that close together in the sky. It was worth the trip. I love to stargaze. Sometimes just use the high power binoculars and just look at stuff, always wondering if somebody’s out there with high power binoculars looking toward me wondering if somebody’s out there with high power binoculars wondering…….. I just do.
Just one of the many simple pleasures of summer is the amount of aromatic herbs available. Fresh herbs are as far away from dried as hot is from cold, it’s truly like day and night, they’re just not the same.
Now the she would always pick Basil as her favorite ‘cause it always goes in the tomato sauce for the spaghetti, and she always picks pasta as her favorite food. I too like Basil, but not like the she. I too like tomatoes, but not so much in tomato sauce. More so as light bread with bologna, tomato and mayonnaise. Now for those folks who’s never eaten a bologna sandwich with tomato and mayonnaise, its your loss, I feel sorry for ya, and for everybody else, that’s what I'm talking ‘bout.
Not only do our garden herbs this time of the year liven up our meals, they also bring some other side benefits that are often over looked by many people. Such as drinking tomato juice with fresh basil to ease a headache.
I think Oregano is second only to Basil for the she, it too goes into the tomato sauce. It’s also used for scorpion bites, so far we’ve not had to use that part of the Oregano Plant, just the spaghetti sauce part.
One of my favorites in the herb family is Dill. I like Dill. Know what Dill and Fennel have in common? Well don’t feel bad not too many people do now days. But some time back everybody knew what those two had in common. As a matter of fact, back then not knowing what Dill and Fennel had in common caused nothing but heartaches. Nothing but heartaches.
One of the key pieces of damming evidence in the Salem Witch Trials was the lack of Dill and Fennel in every garden of every woman on trial. In fact this was the major supporting pieces of evidence in addition to the reliable eye witness testimony. None of the accused had either Dill or Fennel growing in their garden. Back then everybody knew that Dill and Fennel kept witches away, and it always worked.
No wonder they didn’t plant Dill or Fennel, those witches. Those convicted witches. They’d been better off to plant just a little bit at the very edge of the garden. I don’t think a little bit would keep witches away, just slow ‘em down a little bit. Maybe they were afraid even a little bit would make ‘em fall off their brooms.
There was a time during the Roman Empire that Anise was used to pay taxes. Sophia, setting on the back of my chair, reading as I talk with my fingers, just whispered into my ear “by the time we get rid of Obama, Harry Reid and Pelosi, we’ll all be paying taxes again with Anise”. Damn Republican Cat.
Another favorite of the She is Garlic. That’s her Italian thing. I think it ya went to a true Italian Store, you’d find Garlic Ice Cream. I guess the Greeks are big on garlic too. Seems I read some where ‘bout Aristotle making reference to garlic being used to ward off the fear of water. That maybe could be the reason I never learned to swim, never ate garlic.
Do ya have a favorite summer creature, the things ya can see in the sunshine? I do and it’s the dragonfly. Now if ya look at this little feller real close you’ll be amazed. Talk ‘bout a complex machine. I’ve watched dragonflies most all my life. They don’t sting, don’t hurt ya in any way. But watch ‘em for a while and you’ll too become a dragonfly fan.
Lou told me ‘bout dragonflies at Southfork. Told me ‘bout ‘em being able to fly in six directions. The only creature to be able to fly in six directions. Up, down, left, right, forward, backward. Now that little brown eyed friend of my, my hummingbird can’t even do that. It’s that left, right part that gets the hummingbird, they seem to be able to move left, right but if ya look close, they change altitude to move left or right, very slight altitude change but not true left, right without altitude change like the dragonfly.
I watched a dragonfly for ‘bout 10 minutes or so last week, tried to get him to land on my arm, no deal. I don’t think he liked me, ‘cause I couldn’t get within two foot of him. But he was pretty cool to watch.
Lou called the dragonflies “Snake Doctors” ‘cause the mountain people thought they followed snakes around and if the snake got hurt the dragonfly would take care of ‘em. Glad I’m not a Snake Doctor, I’d be a bad one. I’d let ‘em die, I don’t like spiders and snakes.
After the President took a position on building the mosque at ground zero contrary to the view of 70% of the American People, Sophia tells me that she once again supports the President on this issue. And just as soon as hell freezes over she will, as national spokescat for the CCCA, (Conservative Calico Cats of America) recommend that the membership support the President on this matter, and turn a blind eye to the will of the people.
One of the enjoyable things about living with Sophia is watching her ability to reach a compromise among different peoples with opposing points of view. Sophia is offering another alternative condition in which she could support the President. She told me “when I can put a litter box in every mosque in Mecca, I’ll go on the FoxNews Channel to try to convince Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly to support our President”. The cat smile lit up the room, as the green eyes sparkled. Pretty cat, Sophia.
Like I said before, Sophia is so good at bringing people with different points of view into the harmony of full love and fellowship, I sometimes think she should have been a Baptist Preacher. She still may, when she gets out of politics and answers a higher calling, something even above the CCCA. I think Sophia would make a good Television Preacher. I’m not sure we could handle the gospel according to Sophia.
An interesting observation on the need for the President’s people to clarify his remarks on the mosque thing. The very next day a press release said Oh no, the President didn’t mean THAT MOSQUE, he just meant any mosque and he’s sticking up for freedom of religion as required by the constitution, not supporting THAT MOSQUE.
Given that position, I wonder why earlier this year the President canceled the National Day of Prayer Service at the White House, and last Friday had a dinner to celebrate the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, where he laid his mosque support speech on ‘em.
I wonder why the President didn’t have a State Dinner to celebrate the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday? Or why he didn’t go to Nashville to celebrate the start of the annual Southern Baptist Convention. Why would the current President Of the United States write in a book some years back “I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction”. I wonder what an ugly direction is, are we now looking in an ugly direction? It’s just stuff like that, that makes ya wonder, sure makes me wonder.
If ya think hummingbirds are small, did ya ever see their babies? There are now two baby hummingbirds at the feeder all day long, one or the other, and most of the time both. Little things, not much taller than a paper clip, but they sure fly good.
For you “Smokey and The Bandit” fans, when I see a baby hummingbird with his father, they remind me of Big Ennis and Little Ennis Burdett.
Stay safe in Afghanistan.
From the East Wing with,A Garden Lost,The Fog of August,Snake Doctors,Sophia on The O’Reilly Factor
I wish you well,
BobbyRay
Sunday, August 8, 2010
From the East Wing, Sophia’s Emails, Mississippi Lessons, Stargazing Talk, Crickets & Mayonnaise Jars
Greetings to all, and welcome new friends to the East Wing.
And I thought Sophia had a following before last week’s fiasco. But truly didn’t have a clue as to how large. I now do. The email response to Sophia flip-flopping in her political views was almost overwhelming. That little episode with Sophia going to the democrats produced more email than any thing from the East Wing to date. The cat has a following to say the least.
Not sure what caused such a response, but something flipped the switch, and the emails rolled. Almost had to get help answering the mail last week, offered a temp job to Spike, but it turns out he’s off on sick leave. I didn’t even know he had a job, much less sick leave. Spike told me ya don’t have to have a job any more to get sick leave, that’s part of the new health care program, ya just have to be democrat, and wanta be on sick leave. So he did.
The 2girlsdogs wanted to help me answer the emails but were afraid they’d mess up their unemployment status. They’re drawing from the Presidents new unemployment program. It turns out that they too don’t have to have had a job, just be a democrat and want to draw unemployment. What a country! When asked to help, Sophia said she’s doing her nails and besides she don’t do emails. So I done it the old fashion way, by myself.
With Sophia using a sizable amount of postage with her involvement with being the National Spokescat for several rather conservative organizations last week after replenishing her postage supply on line went into a tirade on the upcoming postal increase.
Sophia said “do you know why you’re ‘bout to get covered up with email”. ‘Cause if ya do, that’s just another example of why the Post Office is having to raise the price of stamps. We don’t use the post office as much as we used to, so everybody has to pay more for using it less. WOW ! That’s such a novel idea, paying more for using less. That truly must be our government in action. I can always tell when Sophia is starting a roll, her Calico Coat starts to glisten as she struts her stuff.
She went from the post office to health care without missing a beat. “This is the very basic rational thought process used to construct the Federal Health Care Program. Just like the Post Office, it only stands to reason the if we’re gona pay more for postage ‘cause we’re using less, then if we used more the cost would go down. Applying that same logic to health care, I can now see why it was necessary to create this massive federal health care program.”
“The only way to get health care costs down it to provide service to 40 million more people and sure as shooting watch the health care costs drop right to the bottom of the bucket. Especially if these 40 million or so don’t have any money to pay for the service to begin with.”
“ Why, it’s such a brilliant plan, no wonder the people had such an overwhelming support for this thing last summer. it won’t surprise me at all if within 3 or 4 years going to the doctor will cost less than going to McDonalds. It’s good solid thinking on the part of us democrats that’ll keep the republican opposition on the sidelines for many years to come.”
After listening to her goings on ‘bout the post office and health care all at the same time, and seeing that little Sophia smile when she used to be a republican, I’m not sure ‘bout her using the term “us democrats”. The green eyes defiantly now do twinkle when she says “us democrats”. Damn Republican Cat.
Every once in a while something comes along in my email that’s just too good not to share. The little story below is one such example. It comes from Meridian Mississippi, and is purported to be a true story. Having been to Meridian Mississippi and met some of the people of Meridian, I can just see this story playing out in the old South.
Meridian Mississippi, a hundred and fifty or so miles southwest of Birmingham, Alabama. Out there along the way on Interstate 20. Where the magnolias grow and the Spanish Moss hangs heavy in the Live Oak Trees. Where the four seasons have different names, they are Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer, Christmas. Where the temperature and humidity are usually the same number up till ‘bout Christmas. Meridian Mississippi, a pretty town, with gentle people, way down yonder in that land of cotton. But don’t make ‘em mad, down there in Meridian Mississippi.
##0##
An old man from Meridian, Mississippi, was going upstairs to bed when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, ‘cause she could see from the bedroom window. He+ opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed who were stealing his stuff.
He called the police, who asked, "Is someone in your house?" He said "No, not in the house, but some people broke into my garden shed and are stealing from me". The police dispatcher said "All patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be there when one is available ....."
The man said, "Okay." He hung up the phone and slowly counted to 30. Then he phoned the police again.
"Hello, I called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing stuff from my shed. You don't have to worry about ‘em now, ‘cause I just shot and killed ‘em both. The dogs are eating on ‘em right now," and he hung up.
Within five minutes, 6 police cars, a SWAT team, a helicopter, 2 fire trucks, a paramedic, and an ambulance showed up at his residence and caught the burglars red-handed. One of the policemen said, "I thought you said that you'd shot them!" The old man said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"
##0##
A true Mississippi Lesson well learned, don’t mess with old people in Dixieland.
Did ya know that August used to be called Weodmonath (weed month). If you haven’t been weeding your garden all along, now’s the time to jump in and get ‘er done!
Now for my stargazing buddies, remember that on a clear night ‘bout August 15th put a blanket on the grass, lie down and look up to see Jupiter as a sparkling magnitude -2.8. Now for my non stargazer friends, just spread out the blanket and lay down and look up, you’ll know what I’m talking ‘bout.
But for those who jump on me for not talking “stargazing talk”, here ya go. Magnitude is the degree of brightness of a celestial body designated on a numerical scale, with the brightest star a magnitude -1.4 and the faintest visible star a magnitude 6, with the scale rule such that a decrease of one unit represents an increase in apparent brightness by a factor of 2.512. Also called apparent magnitude.
Which brings up a whole set of other questions like what the %$^&$# is absolute magnitude? (now ya know why I don’t talk stargazing a lot) but oh well, here we go again.
There are two specific types of magnitudes distinguished by astronomers, they are Apparent magnitude, the apparent brightness of an object. For example, Alpha Centauri has higher apparent magnitude (i.e. lower value) than Betelgeuse, because it is much closer to the Earth.
Absolute magnitude, which measures the luminosity of an object (or reflected light for non-luminous objects like asteroids); it is the object's apparent magnitude as seen from certain location. For stars it is 10 parsecs (32.6 light years). Betelgeuse has much higher absolute magnitude than Alpha Centauri, because it is much more luminous. Usually only apparent magnitude is mentioned, because it can be measured directly. Absolute magnitude can be derived from apparent magnitude and distance using the distance modulus.
Now I’m not even gona talk ‘bout that distance modulus thing, ‘cause it just gets into other stuff and it can go on and on what seem like for ever. I never got too hung up on that stargazing talk. I think it’s kinda like talking and spelling. I learned to talk before I learned to spell. Now some folks point out that I don’t spell too well from time to time.
Stargazing’s much the same way, what’s more fun talking ‘bout it, or looking at it. For those who would say, “talking ‘bout it”, I would propose ya haven’t seen the rings of Saturn up close, or the red dust on Mars or even what lays outside the Milky Way. It just seems to me looking at it's more fun than talking 'bout it. But ya wanta know something kinda cool, I knew ‘bout that parsecs stuff before it was ever spoken in the STAR WARS Movie. But I didn’t know ‘bout the force before STAR WARS.
The middle of August starts little subtle changes to the East Wing, cooler nights, a shift in the quality of light, both day and night, cleaner nights. And the sound of crickets replacing those other sounds in the night. Those little creatures that ya never see, just hear. The sounds of summer nights. Those sounds.
They start out with the Peeps of Springtime and ends with the crickets, with a lot of other little fellers thrown in there in the heat of summer. August bring an abundance of flying things at night. Just turn on an outside light at night and look after a few minutes, 1,000 new friends came to visit.
The nighttime sounds of summertime, ya gotta love it. Now if ya really want to have fun on a summer night, to out in the nighttime and find those little creatures making those sounds, you'll be amazed at what you'll find. Now if you’re gona look at these little fellers this year, ya better get on it, they’ll be gone soon. But they'll be back when it’s springtime in the Valley.
Did you know that you can tell the temperature by listening to a cricket? Yeah, ya can, it’s the darnest thing, but it works. Now to convert cricket chirps to degrees Fahrenheit, count number of chirps in 14 seconds then add 40 to get temperature. An example is 30 chirps + 40 = 70° F
Now for many of the folks who visit the East Wing and don’t use the Fahrenheit system, it turns out the crickets chirp in Celsius too. To convert cricket chirps to degrees Celsius, count number of chirps in 25 seconds, divide by 3, then add 4 to get Celsius Temperature. An example is 48 chirps /(divided by) 3 + 4 = 20° C
I don’t have a clue why this works, it just does. My only guess is the crickets carry around both a Fahrenheit and Celsius thermometer and work out the details as need be. Remember a few week ago, we’re talking ‘bout stuff that ya don’t spend a lot of time wondering why, well, the cricket temperature deal is just one of ‘em.
Have you ever considered having a chirping cricket for a pet? Think ‘bout it, how many people do ya know that’s got a pet cricket? A shinny little black feller with brown wings, they’re just lots of fun. The don’t eat much, don’t mess much and ya never worry ‘bout taking care of ‘em long term, ‘cause they don’t live a long time. Oh, by the way, they’re not green like Jimminy Cricket, they’re all just black with brown wings, both boys and girls.
The girls are a lot bigger than the boys. Like half again as big. A boy cricket is ‘bout 1” and a girl cricket is 1 ½” Big girls for sure. Boy crickets are the only ones who sing, guess they’re looking for those big girlfriends.
Another little neat thing ‘bout crickets, they can eat and sing at the same time. Is that cool or what? Like all the things that makes sound of summer, crickets are cold blooded little creatures and as such they sing depending on how hot they are. I think I know some boys who sing depending on how hot they are too.
Now if you’re gona get a pet cricket, ya gotta have a place for him to live. When I had pet crickets, I always used mayonnaise jars, I think it was Kraft Mayonnaise Jars, they always made better cricket houses, those Kraft Mayonnaise Jars, but ya gotta take the label off if ya want to see the cricket really good, and don’t forget to punch holes in the lid else you’ll have dead crickets.
Ya gotta put stuff in the jar for the cricket to live with, dirt and something to set on like a stick or a piece of bark or a leaf. Ye can’t just expect your cricket to sit on dirt his whole life. I always put two things in my mayonnaise jar for my cricket to set on.
Ya don’t have to go to Pet Mart to get your cricket, chances are it’ll come to you. By the middle of August these little fellers are starting to look for warmer housing and sure as shooting they'll come in you house whether ya want ‘em or not.
Once ya get ‘em in the Mayonnaise House ya gotta feed ‘em. Crickets eat just ‘bout anything vegetable. I used to feed my crickets cornflakes, oats, birdseed, and lettuce. It’s real important that your cricket has water, cause they’ll sure die without water. Ya need to feed and water your cricket every day. I think I used pop bottle cap for the cricket watering trough. It was a Pepsi cap, made of steel with a little round piece of cork glued inside the cap. The outside edge of that Pepsi Lid looked like the outside edge of homemade pies. A neat way to get water in the cricket house, use a straw. Suck it up, put your finger on it, and put some in the watering lid.
The sad part is, a cricket’s life is very short. If ya get a good cricket in August or September, he should last till somewhere ‘bout Thanksgiving. You’ll know when you’re done with that cricket, ‘cause they don’t sleep upside down.
Then when that time comes, if ya want me to preach that cricket’s funeral, I‘d be most proud. I’ve never preached a cricket funeral before, but I think I could. ‘Cause the crickets, they’re mostly Baptist, and that’s the kinda funerals I've preached the most. But I did preach a funeral for a Jewish Frog one time, that was most interesting, the other Jewish Frogs in attendance at that funeral, they ribbited in Yiddish.
Stay safe in Afghanistan.
From the East Wing, Sophia’s Emails, Mississippi Lessons, Stargazing Talk, Crickets & Mayonnaise Jars
I wish you well,
BobbyRay
And I thought Sophia had a following before last week’s fiasco. But truly didn’t have a clue as to how large. I now do. The email response to Sophia flip-flopping in her political views was almost overwhelming. That little episode with Sophia going to the democrats produced more email than any thing from the East Wing to date. The cat has a following to say the least.
Not sure what caused such a response, but something flipped the switch, and the emails rolled. Almost had to get help answering the mail last week, offered a temp job to Spike, but it turns out he’s off on sick leave. I didn’t even know he had a job, much less sick leave. Spike told me ya don’t have to have a job any more to get sick leave, that’s part of the new health care program, ya just have to be democrat, and wanta be on sick leave. So he did.
The 2girlsdogs wanted to help me answer the emails but were afraid they’d mess up their unemployment status. They’re drawing from the Presidents new unemployment program. It turns out that they too don’t have to have had a job, just be a democrat and want to draw unemployment. What a country! When asked to help, Sophia said she’s doing her nails and besides she don’t do emails. So I done it the old fashion way, by myself.
With Sophia using a sizable amount of postage with her involvement with being the National Spokescat for several rather conservative organizations last week after replenishing her postage supply on line went into a tirade on the upcoming postal increase.
Sophia said “do you know why you’re ‘bout to get covered up with email”. ‘Cause if ya do, that’s just another example of why the Post Office is having to raise the price of stamps. We don’t use the post office as much as we used to, so everybody has to pay more for using it less. WOW ! That’s such a novel idea, paying more for using less. That truly must be our government in action. I can always tell when Sophia is starting a roll, her Calico Coat starts to glisten as she struts her stuff.
She went from the post office to health care without missing a beat. “This is the very basic rational thought process used to construct the Federal Health Care Program. Just like the Post Office, it only stands to reason the if we’re gona pay more for postage ‘cause we’re using less, then if we used more the cost would go down. Applying that same logic to health care, I can now see why it was necessary to create this massive federal health care program.”
“The only way to get health care costs down it to provide service to 40 million more people and sure as shooting watch the health care costs drop right to the bottom of the bucket. Especially if these 40 million or so don’t have any money to pay for the service to begin with.”
“ Why, it’s such a brilliant plan, no wonder the people had such an overwhelming support for this thing last summer. it won’t surprise me at all if within 3 or 4 years going to the doctor will cost less than going to McDonalds. It’s good solid thinking on the part of us democrats that’ll keep the republican opposition on the sidelines for many years to come.”
After listening to her goings on ‘bout the post office and health care all at the same time, and seeing that little Sophia smile when she used to be a republican, I’m not sure ‘bout her using the term “us democrats”. The green eyes defiantly now do twinkle when she says “us democrats”. Damn Republican Cat.
Every once in a while something comes along in my email that’s just too good not to share. The little story below is one such example. It comes from Meridian Mississippi, and is purported to be a true story. Having been to Meridian Mississippi and met some of the people of Meridian, I can just see this story playing out in the old South.
Meridian Mississippi, a hundred and fifty or so miles southwest of Birmingham, Alabama. Out there along the way on Interstate 20. Where the magnolias grow and the Spanish Moss hangs heavy in the Live Oak Trees. Where the four seasons have different names, they are Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer, Christmas. Where the temperature and humidity are usually the same number up till ‘bout Christmas. Meridian Mississippi, a pretty town, with gentle people, way down yonder in that land of cotton. But don’t make ‘em mad, down there in Meridian Mississippi.
##0##
An old man from Meridian, Mississippi, was going upstairs to bed when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, ‘cause she could see from the bedroom window. He+ opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed who were stealing his stuff.
He called the police, who asked, "Is someone in your house?" He said "No, not in the house, but some people broke into my garden shed and are stealing from me". The police dispatcher said "All patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be there when one is available ....."
The man said, "Okay." He hung up the phone and slowly counted to 30. Then he phoned the police again.
"Hello, I called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing stuff from my shed. You don't have to worry about ‘em now, ‘cause I just shot and killed ‘em both. The dogs are eating on ‘em right now," and he hung up.
Within five minutes, 6 police cars, a SWAT team, a helicopter, 2 fire trucks, a paramedic, and an ambulance showed up at his residence and caught the burglars red-handed. One of the policemen said, "I thought you said that you'd shot them!" The old man said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"
##0##
A true Mississippi Lesson well learned, don’t mess with old people in Dixieland.
Did ya know that August used to be called Weodmonath (weed month). If you haven’t been weeding your garden all along, now’s the time to jump in and get ‘er done!
Now for my stargazing buddies, remember that on a clear night ‘bout August 15th put a blanket on the grass, lie down and look up to see Jupiter as a sparkling magnitude -2.8. Now for my non stargazer friends, just spread out the blanket and lay down and look up, you’ll know what I’m talking ‘bout.
But for those who jump on me for not talking “stargazing talk”, here ya go. Magnitude is the degree of brightness of a celestial body designated on a numerical scale, with the brightest star a magnitude -1.4 and the faintest visible star a magnitude 6, with the scale rule such that a decrease of one unit represents an increase in apparent brightness by a factor of 2.512. Also called apparent magnitude.
Which brings up a whole set of other questions like what the %$^&$# is absolute magnitude? (now ya know why I don’t talk stargazing a lot) but oh well, here we go again.
There are two specific types of magnitudes distinguished by astronomers, they are Apparent magnitude, the apparent brightness of an object. For example, Alpha Centauri has higher apparent magnitude (i.e. lower value) than Betelgeuse, because it is much closer to the Earth.
Absolute magnitude, which measures the luminosity of an object (or reflected light for non-luminous objects like asteroids); it is the object's apparent magnitude as seen from certain location. For stars it is 10 parsecs (32.6 light years). Betelgeuse has much higher absolute magnitude than Alpha Centauri, because it is much more luminous. Usually only apparent magnitude is mentioned, because it can be measured directly. Absolute magnitude can be derived from apparent magnitude and distance using the distance modulus.
Now I’m not even gona talk ‘bout that distance modulus thing, ‘cause it just gets into other stuff and it can go on and on what seem like for ever. I never got too hung up on that stargazing talk. I think it’s kinda like talking and spelling. I learned to talk before I learned to spell. Now some folks point out that I don’t spell too well from time to time.
Stargazing’s much the same way, what’s more fun talking ‘bout it, or looking at it. For those who would say, “talking ‘bout it”, I would propose ya haven’t seen the rings of Saturn up close, or the red dust on Mars or even what lays outside the Milky Way. It just seems to me looking at it's more fun than talking 'bout it. But ya wanta know something kinda cool, I knew ‘bout that parsecs stuff before it was ever spoken in the STAR WARS Movie. But I didn’t know ‘bout the force before STAR WARS.
The middle of August starts little subtle changes to the East Wing, cooler nights, a shift in the quality of light, both day and night, cleaner nights. And the sound of crickets replacing those other sounds in the night. Those little creatures that ya never see, just hear. The sounds of summer nights. Those sounds.
They start out with the Peeps of Springtime and ends with the crickets, with a lot of other little fellers thrown in there in the heat of summer. August bring an abundance of flying things at night. Just turn on an outside light at night and look after a few minutes, 1,000 new friends came to visit.
The nighttime sounds of summertime, ya gotta love it. Now if ya really want to have fun on a summer night, to out in the nighttime and find those little creatures making those sounds, you'll be amazed at what you'll find. Now if you’re gona look at these little fellers this year, ya better get on it, they’ll be gone soon. But they'll be back when it’s springtime in the Valley.
Did you know that you can tell the temperature by listening to a cricket? Yeah, ya can, it’s the darnest thing, but it works. Now to convert cricket chirps to degrees Fahrenheit, count number of chirps in 14 seconds then add 40 to get temperature. An example is 30 chirps + 40 = 70° F
Now for many of the folks who visit the East Wing and don’t use the Fahrenheit system, it turns out the crickets chirp in Celsius too. To convert cricket chirps to degrees Celsius, count number of chirps in 25 seconds, divide by 3, then add 4 to get Celsius Temperature. An example is 48 chirps /(divided by) 3 + 4 = 20° C
I don’t have a clue why this works, it just does. My only guess is the crickets carry around both a Fahrenheit and Celsius thermometer and work out the details as need be. Remember a few week ago, we’re talking ‘bout stuff that ya don’t spend a lot of time wondering why, well, the cricket temperature deal is just one of ‘em.
Have you ever considered having a chirping cricket for a pet? Think ‘bout it, how many people do ya know that’s got a pet cricket? A shinny little black feller with brown wings, they’re just lots of fun. The don’t eat much, don’t mess much and ya never worry ‘bout taking care of ‘em long term, ‘cause they don’t live a long time. Oh, by the way, they’re not green like Jimminy Cricket, they’re all just black with brown wings, both boys and girls.
The girls are a lot bigger than the boys. Like half again as big. A boy cricket is ‘bout 1” and a girl cricket is 1 ½” Big girls for sure. Boy crickets are the only ones who sing, guess they’re looking for those big girlfriends.
Another little neat thing ‘bout crickets, they can eat and sing at the same time. Is that cool or what? Like all the things that makes sound of summer, crickets are cold blooded little creatures and as such they sing depending on how hot they are. I think I know some boys who sing depending on how hot they are too.
Now if you’re gona get a pet cricket, ya gotta have a place for him to live. When I had pet crickets, I always used mayonnaise jars, I think it was Kraft Mayonnaise Jars, they always made better cricket houses, those Kraft Mayonnaise Jars, but ya gotta take the label off if ya want to see the cricket really good, and don’t forget to punch holes in the lid else you’ll have dead crickets.
Ya gotta put stuff in the jar for the cricket to live with, dirt and something to set on like a stick or a piece of bark or a leaf. Ye can’t just expect your cricket to sit on dirt his whole life. I always put two things in my mayonnaise jar for my cricket to set on.
Ya don’t have to go to Pet Mart to get your cricket, chances are it’ll come to you. By the middle of August these little fellers are starting to look for warmer housing and sure as shooting they'll come in you house whether ya want ‘em or not.
Once ya get ‘em in the Mayonnaise House ya gotta feed ‘em. Crickets eat just ‘bout anything vegetable. I used to feed my crickets cornflakes, oats, birdseed, and lettuce. It’s real important that your cricket has water, cause they’ll sure die without water. Ya need to feed and water your cricket every day. I think I used pop bottle cap for the cricket watering trough. It was a Pepsi cap, made of steel with a little round piece of cork glued inside the cap. The outside edge of that Pepsi Lid looked like the outside edge of homemade pies. A neat way to get water in the cricket house, use a straw. Suck it up, put your finger on it, and put some in the watering lid.
The sad part is, a cricket’s life is very short. If ya get a good cricket in August or September, he should last till somewhere ‘bout Thanksgiving. You’ll know when you’re done with that cricket, ‘cause they don’t sleep upside down.
Then when that time comes, if ya want me to preach that cricket’s funeral, I‘d be most proud. I’ve never preached a cricket funeral before, but I think I could. ‘Cause the crickets, they’re mostly Baptist, and that’s the kinda funerals I've preached the most. But I did preach a funeral for a Jewish Frog one time, that was most interesting, the other Jewish Frogs in attendance at that funeral, they ribbited in Yiddish.
Stay safe in Afghanistan.
From the East Wing, Sophia’s Emails, Mississippi Lessons, Stargazing Talk, Crickets & Mayonnaise Jars
I wish you well,
BobbyRay
Sunday, August 1, 2010
From the East Wing, Sophia’s Apologies, Gule of August, Garlic & WD40
Greetings to all, and welcome new friends to the East Wing.
A most amazing transformation has taken place at the East Wing. It defies logic, it’s beyond description. It goes against all that has been said and done in the East Wing. Such things have to be seen to be believed. It’s proof that miracles do still exist. Sophia has seen the fallacy of her political thinking and will spend the rest of her days trying to atone for the error of her ways.
Early last Monday morning, out of nowhere Sophia came to me said she’s rethinking her involvement with the CCCCC (California Calico Conservative Cat Conformance), NCCOA (National Conservative Calico Cats Of America) as well as the NRCCA (National Republican Calico Cats of America) , and the NTCA (National Tea Cat Association). She tells me that she'll take some time to reflect on her thoughts and actions of the past several years and come to some kinda conclusion by the end of the week as to how best go forward into her future.
All day Monday Sophia was down in the dumps. So down in the dumps, she even refused homemade mouse and gravy for supper, and ya gotta keep in mind, I make really good mouse & gravy, my secret is in the mouse. The cat was low, really, really low. Never saw a cat so down in the dumps.
Sophia didn’t smile. Nothing I could do or say could brighten up her day. It was as if a dark rain cloud floated overhead wherever she went. Sophia was having a dark and gloomy day, and it showed in her eyes. Those beautiful green cat eyes were now eyes of a different color. Blue eyes crying in the rain.
That evening, as I was getting ready to tuck her in for the night, inside the Cat House, ( yes I still tuck Sophia in every night in the Cat House, so don't laugh this is serous stuff) she asked for one favor. With Sophia having such a down and dreary day, I said anything I could do, I would. Sophia told me how embarrassed she was to think of all the bad things she had said about the President, and all his men. How her venomous words had pierced the very heart and sole of so many good people for whom she could apologize never enough. Sophia hung her head in shame. I had never seen a cat cry.
Sophia expressed regret that she could never look the Sunday Evening visitors to the East Wing in the eye again knowing how bad she had sinned. Sophia said it hurt too much to speak of such things, but she had to get her message out to one and all, so that the world could see the change in her life. The cat asked me to help with that mission. Sophia wanted my assurances that I would send her printed apologies from the East Wing. And so I agreed.
As I tucked Sophia in bed that Monday Night, I assured her whatever she put to paper would be sent from the East Wing. As I stopped at the door of the Cat House to turn out the lamp setting on the corner of her dresser, right next to her autographed picture of Hubert Hoover, I looked back as Sophia, and for the first time that day I saw that beautiful Sophia smile, and, just as the light went out, I’d swear I saw a twinkle from those green cat eyes.
All day Tuesday and Wednesday and most of Thursday, Sophia sat in front of her computer, composing or her word processor. The cat was putting her heart and soul into the chosen words. Early Friday Morning, just as I was leaving for work, Sophia brought the following message. The message I’d given my word to pass on to you. And so I present to you Sophia’s apologies.
##0##
It has taken all this time for me to realize that my views on certain aspects of my political beliefs in general and more specifically on the current administration have been in error. For that I want to set the record straight. This will serve as a one time document to clear any misconceptions about my loyalty to our President Barack Obama.
Our President is to be congratulated for his many accomplishments. His ability to set records is unsurpassed. He has set more first time records than any other President in the history of this nation. Those records include, but are not limited to the most broken promises ever, the largest deficit ever, the most use of teleprompters ever, the largest number of self serving speeches by a President, and the fastest decline in popularity. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in the fastest time of any President, for nothing accomplished , but something he might do in the future. Our President has accomplished all this in less than 2 years. Truly and amazing accomplishment for such a shy, unassuming person, who never makes any effort to call attention to himself or impose this political will on anyone. He is a true consensus builder in the mold of Thomas Jefferson, or was that George Jefferson, I think it was George Jefferson.
I want this record to show that I, Sophia, also agree with President Obama 100% when it comes to saying that it’s all George Bush’s fault.
It was George Bush’s fault that kept our (yours and my) President from keeping his promise of putting all congressional bills on the White House Web site for 5 days before signing them into law.
George Bush insisted the President break his promise that the health care debate be broadcast on C-SPAN. It’s George Bush’s fault that a new area of bipartisan cooperation has not been instilled in Washington D.C. and in all areas of the Federal Government.
George Bush is to be blamed for all the closed door meetings where secret deals were worked out and never seen the light of day, buried deep into 2000 page laws, that no body ever read before voting. None of these type political practices were ever condoned by the President. Such secret meetings and secret deals are being forced upon this poor President by non there than George Bush.
It certainty’s George Bush’s fault that our President can’t keep his promise to publish the names of all those in attendance at all closed door meeting at the White House. George Bush is vey insistent that these names never be seen in public.
All the problems in Arizona are defiantly George Bush’s fault. Just as George Bush has kept our President from closing Guantanamo, and bringing all the bad guys right here to the USA, George Bush has also kept our President from making peace with the nations that want to see the United States destroyed, and bringing in a new era of global cooperation.
It was George Bush who insisted that the Attorney General hold terrorists’ trials in New York City, not the President. It’s George Bush who will not allow the President to put an end of hiring former lobbyists into high profile jobs in the White House.
It’s George Bush who’s insisting that “Chicago Style” politics be used in all White House activity. It’s George Bush’s fault for appointing all those to high government positions that had not paid their income tax before hand.
George Bush alone made the decision to fire Shirley Scherrod. The President didn’t even know about it, until after George Bush had already fired her, so the President called her up and offered her job back and told her not to listen to George Bush anymore and if he calls her again, she’s to call the President right away.
The Senate seat in Massachusetts vacated by Ted Kennedy was won by a republican for the first time in 50 years simply because the voters in that state hated George Bush so much, they wanted to send a republican to the Senate to illustrate their discuss with George Bush. And so they did.
That new Governor in New Jersey is much the same situation, those New Jersey voters hate George Bush so much as the people in Massachusetts. They just wanted to make sure the whole country knows how much they hate George Bush, so they elected a Republican Governor for the first time in many, many years. The voters in New Jersey now consider their new governor an “in your face slap” to George Bush.
George Bush has even kept our President from choosing a home church in Washington like he promised. It’s so disgusting that George Bush is keeping the President from going to church in Washington DC.
George Bush has kept the President from ending the no-compete contracts the federal government like he promised. As well as keeping the President from creating the most open and transparent administration ever, as he promised.
It seems the President can’t do anything to shut George Bush up. Every time the President starts to do something or has a good idea, up pops George Bush, and all hell breaks loose. Just look what he done in the Gulf of Mexico. If ya stop and look at it, BP and GB are pretty close together, no wonder the Presidents having so much trouble out of those two.
It’s with these thoughts and words that I’ve truly seen the light when it comes to our President. My only concern now is how bad will George Bush’s gona mess up the November elections for us democrats. With these few words in print I’ve cleared my mind of any wrongdoing and I’m now able to face the future knowing that I’ve set the record straight with my views of our President.
I’m now sure that he did come to my establishment when I operated that Cat House on the South Side of Chicago. I remember now, I hosted an open house when the Community Organizers’ Convention was held in Chicago. They all came to the Cat House, those community organizers. They liked that stuff, those community organizers.
With the above statements of fact being put to paper, I can now get on with my life.
Sophia
##0##
Damn Republican Cat !!
August sure showed up fast, seems like yesterday was July 4th, I just blinked and August came knocking at the door. I’m not sure if Julius Cesar named August after his cousin Augustus or not, but I do know those Cesar boys liked to keep stuff in the family. Sounds like hillbillies, we like to keep stuff in the family too.
Did ya know that August 1st is Lammas Day? And someone said there were no holidays in August. Were they ever wrong. We start out on the very first day of August with Lammas Day. Now for many that's not a major holiday. Guess what, Lammas Day pre dates Labor Day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, and Presidents Day, all combined. I think I may have told ya ‘bout Lammas Day last year, but that’s ok, ‘cause all to few celebrate such an important holiday. Now if it was the first Monday in August, watch ‘em flock to it.
Lammas Day marks the beginning of the harvest. In old England, loaves of bread were baked from the first-ripened grain, consecrated in churches, and eaten. Derived from the Old English hlaf, “loaf,” and maesse, “mass” or “feast,” Lammas is very old indeed.
An ancient English Festival called the Gule of August, which marked the beginning of the harvest, started on August 1st . Now this Gule of August was kinda like the original 4-H Fair, just not quite as well organized.
Actually the Gule of August and its evaluation into Lammas Day is much like Easter and the Easter Bunny in the since that the very early Christian church took pagan festivals and adapted them into them into the church calendar in the hope of attracting more people to the church. That strategy may account for the large numbers of pagans in the church today. An old, old proverb says “After Lammas Day, corn ripens as much by night as by day”.
I’ve a friend that grows gardens and brings me stuff. The other day he brought garlic. I’m not a big fan as many of you know, but for the Italians in my life, WOW ! Almost like Manna for Heaven.
Did ya ever hear the term “the stinking rose”? It’s an old Greek thing from way, way back, even farther back than the Gule of August. Another term was the “poor man’s antibiotic. ” Garlic was used in Europe as far back as the Middle Ages and in China possibly as far back as the Neolithic period.
Not only do folks eat the stuff, they say it’s good for just ‘bout everything ya can think of. Keeps bugs away from plants. Rub raw garlic on insect bites. Rub crushed garlic on you skin to keep ticks, mosquitoes and hillbillies away. Eat lots of garlic to speed recovery of a cold. Chewing garlic is supposed to increase stamina and courage (at least the ole Greeks and Romans thought so). I wonder ‘bout that stamina part, I’ll have to ask some old Romans I know. These Italian people I know think garlic is as good as WD40 for what ills ya, and maybe it is.
The pleasure of your company at the East Wing is forever growing in our hearts.
Stay safe in Afghanistan.
From the East Wing, Sophia’s Apologies, Gule of August, Garlic & WD40
I wish you well,
BobbyRay
A most amazing transformation has taken place at the East Wing. It defies logic, it’s beyond description. It goes against all that has been said and done in the East Wing. Such things have to be seen to be believed. It’s proof that miracles do still exist. Sophia has seen the fallacy of her political thinking and will spend the rest of her days trying to atone for the error of her ways.
Early last Monday morning, out of nowhere Sophia came to me said she’s rethinking her involvement with the CCCCC (California Calico Conservative Cat Conformance), NCCOA (National Conservative Calico Cats Of America) as well as the NRCCA (National Republican Calico Cats of America) , and the NTCA (National Tea Cat Association). She tells me that she'll take some time to reflect on her thoughts and actions of the past several years and come to some kinda conclusion by the end of the week as to how best go forward into her future.
All day Monday Sophia was down in the dumps. So down in the dumps, she even refused homemade mouse and gravy for supper, and ya gotta keep in mind, I make really good mouse & gravy, my secret is in the mouse. The cat was low, really, really low. Never saw a cat so down in the dumps.
Sophia didn’t smile. Nothing I could do or say could brighten up her day. It was as if a dark rain cloud floated overhead wherever she went. Sophia was having a dark and gloomy day, and it showed in her eyes. Those beautiful green cat eyes were now eyes of a different color. Blue eyes crying in the rain.
That evening, as I was getting ready to tuck her in for the night, inside the Cat House, ( yes I still tuck Sophia in every night in the Cat House, so don't laugh this is serous stuff) she asked for one favor. With Sophia having such a down and dreary day, I said anything I could do, I would. Sophia told me how embarrassed she was to think of all the bad things she had said about the President, and all his men. How her venomous words had pierced the very heart and sole of so many good people for whom she could apologize never enough. Sophia hung her head in shame. I had never seen a cat cry.
Sophia expressed regret that she could never look the Sunday Evening visitors to the East Wing in the eye again knowing how bad she had sinned. Sophia said it hurt too much to speak of such things, but she had to get her message out to one and all, so that the world could see the change in her life. The cat asked me to help with that mission. Sophia wanted my assurances that I would send her printed apologies from the East Wing. And so I agreed.
As I tucked Sophia in bed that Monday Night, I assured her whatever she put to paper would be sent from the East Wing. As I stopped at the door of the Cat House to turn out the lamp setting on the corner of her dresser, right next to her autographed picture of Hubert Hoover, I looked back as Sophia, and for the first time that day I saw that beautiful Sophia smile, and, just as the light went out, I’d swear I saw a twinkle from those green cat eyes.
All day Tuesday and Wednesday and most of Thursday, Sophia sat in front of her computer, composing or her word processor. The cat was putting her heart and soul into the chosen words. Early Friday Morning, just as I was leaving for work, Sophia brought the following message. The message I’d given my word to pass on to you. And so I present to you Sophia’s apologies.
##0##
It has taken all this time for me to realize that my views on certain aspects of my political beliefs in general and more specifically on the current administration have been in error. For that I want to set the record straight. This will serve as a one time document to clear any misconceptions about my loyalty to our President Barack Obama.
Our President is to be congratulated for his many accomplishments. His ability to set records is unsurpassed. He has set more first time records than any other President in the history of this nation. Those records include, but are not limited to the most broken promises ever, the largest deficit ever, the most use of teleprompters ever, the largest number of self serving speeches by a President, and the fastest decline in popularity. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in the fastest time of any President, for nothing accomplished , but something he might do in the future. Our President has accomplished all this in less than 2 years. Truly and amazing accomplishment for such a shy, unassuming person, who never makes any effort to call attention to himself or impose this political will on anyone. He is a true consensus builder in the mold of Thomas Jefferson, or was that George Jefferson, I think it was George Jefferson.
I want this record to show that I, Sophia, also agree with President Obama 100% when it comes to saying that it’s all George Bush’s fault.
It was George Bush’s fault that kept our (yours and my) President from keeping his promise of putting all congressional bills on the White House Web site for 5 days before signing them into law.
George Bush insisted the President break his promise that the health care debate be broadcast on C-SPAN. It’s George Bush’s fault that a new area of bipartisan cooperation has not been instilled in Washington D.C. and in all areas of the Federal Government.
George Bush is to be blamed for all the closed door meetings where secret deals were worked out and never seen the light of day, buried deep into 2000 page laws, that no body ever read before voting. None of these type political practices were ever condoned by the President. Such secret meetings and secret deals are being forced upon this poor President by non there than George Bush.
It certainty’s George Bush’s fault that our President can’t keep his promise to publish the names of all those in attendance at all closed door meeting at the White House. George Bush is vey insistent that these names never be seen in public.
All the problems in Arizona are defiantly George Bush’s fault. Just as George Bush has kept our President from closing Guantanamo, and bringing all the bad guys right here to the USA, George Bush has also kept our President from making peace with the nations that want to see the United States destroyed, and bringing in a new era of global cooperation.
It was George Bush who insisted that the Attorney General hold terrorists’ trials in New York City, not the President. It’s George Bush who will not allow the President to put an end of hiring former lobbyists into high profile jobs in the White House.
It’s George Bush who’s insisting that “Chicago Style” politics be used in all White House activity. It’s George Bush’s fault for appointing all those to high government positions that had not paid their income tax before hand.
George Bush alone made the decision to fire Shirley Scherrod. The President didn’t even know about it, until after George Bush had already fired her, so the President called her up and offered her job back and told her not to listen to George Bush anymore and if he calls her again, she’s to call the President right away.
The Senate seat in Massachusetts vacated by Ted Kennedy was won by a republican for the first time in 50 years simply because the voters in that state hated George Bush so much, they wanted to send a republican to the Senate to illustrate their discuss with George Bush. And so they did.
That new Governor in New Jersey is much the same situation, those New Jersey voters hate George Bush so much as the people in Massachusetts. They just wanted to make sure the whole country knows how much they hate George Bush, so they elected a Republican Governor for the first time in many, many years. The voters in New Jersey now consider their new governor an “in your face slap” to George Bush.
George Bush has even kept our President from choosing a home church in Washington like he promised. It’s so disgusting that George Bush is keeping the President from going to church in Washington DC.
George Bush has kept the President from ending the no-compete contracts the federal government like he promised. As well as keeping the President from creating the most open and transparent administration ever, as he promised.
It seems the President can’t do anything to shut George Bush up. Every time the President starts to do something or has a good idea, up pops George Bush, and all hell breaks loose. Just look what he done in the Gulf of Mexico. If ya stop and look at it, BP and GB are pretty close together, no wonder the Presidents having so much trouble out of those two.
It’s with these thoughts and words that I’ve truly seen the light when it comes to our President. My only concern now is how bad will George Bush’s gona mess up the November elections for us democrats. With these few words in print I’ve cleared my mind of any wrongdoing and I’m now able to face the future knowing that I’ve set the record straight with my views of our President.
I’m now sure that he did come to my establishment when I operated that Cat House on the South Side of Chicago. I remember now, I hosted an open house when the Community Organizers’ Convention was held in Chicago. They all came to the Cat House, those community organizers. They liked that stuff, those community organizers.
With the above statements of fact being put to paper, I can now get on with my life.
Sophia
##0##
Damn Republican Cat !!
August sure showed up fast, seems like yesterday was July 4th, I just blinked and August came knocking at the door. I’m not sure if Julius Cesar named August after his cousin Augustus or not, but I do know those Cesar boys liked to keep stuff in the family. Sounds like hillbillies, we like to keep stuff in the family too.
Did ya know that August 1st is Lammas Day? And someone said there were no holidays in August. Were they ever wrong. We start out on the very first day of August with Lammas Day. Now for many that's not a major holiday. Guess what, Lammas Day pre dates Labor Day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, and Presidents Day, all combined. I think I may have told ya ‘bout Lammas Day last year, but that’s ok, ‘cause all to few celebrate such an important holiday. Now if it was the first Monday in August, watch ‘em flock to it.
Lammas Day marks the beginning of the harvest. In old England, loaves of bread were baked from the first-ripened grain, consecrated in churches, and eaten. Derived from the Old English hlaf, “loaf,” and maesse, “mass” or “feast,” Lammas is very old indeed.
An ancient English Festival called the Gule of August, which marked the beginning of the harvest, started on August 1st . Now this Gule of August was kinda like the original 4-H Fair, just not quite as well organized.
Actually the Gule of August and its evaluation into Lammas Day is much like Easter and the Easter Bunny in the since that the very early Christian church took pagan festivals and adapted them into them into the church calendar in the hope of attracting more people to the church. That strategy may account for the large numbers of pagans in the church today. An old, old proverb says “After Lammas Day, corn ripens as much by night as by day”.
I’ve a friend that grows gardens and brings me stuff. The other day he brought garlic. I’m not a big fan as many of you know, but for the Italians in my life, WOW ! Almost like Manna for Heaven.
Did ya ever hear the term “the stinking rose”? It’s an old Greek thing from way, way back, even farther back than the Gule of August. Another term was the “poor man’s antibiotic. ” Garlic was used in Europe as far back as the Middle Ages and in China possibly as far back as the Neolithic period.
Not only do folks eat the stuff, they say it’s good for just ‘bout everything ya can think of. Keeps bugs away from plants. Rub raw garlic on insect bites. Rub crushed garlic on you skin to keep ticks, mosquitoes and hillbillies away. Eat lots of garlic to speed recovery of a cold. Chewing garlic is supposed to increase stamina and courage (at least the ole Greeks and Romans thought so). I wonder ‘bout that stamina part, I’ll have to ask some old Romans I know. These Italian people I know think garlic is as good as WD40 for what ills ya, and maybe it is.
The pleasure of your company at the East Wing is forever growing in our hearts.
Stay safe in Afghanistan.
From the East Wing, Sophia’s Apologies, Gule of August, Garlic & WD40
I wish you well,
BobbyRay
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