Topsy Turvy

It's been a topsy turvy kind of day so here's a short meditation.

The problem with the future is that by the time we recognize it, it has become the past.

Cork History

I found a cork from a bottle on the beach the other day and started wondering about how it came to be there.

Had someone been drinking a bottle of wine on the beach and left the cork behind or had the cork come in on the tide?

Perhaps the cork had originated from a seaside restaurant on the Riviera and traversed the ocean to arrive on the Delaware shore.If so, had the restaurant patrons been celebrating a special event like an anniversary, or had it been nothing more than a casual dinner party?

The cork could have had more mundane origins. The captain of a local fishing boat could have inadvertently let the cork fall from his grip.

What if the cork had been in a bottle containing a note? Had the note been found and the cork discarded or had the cork come out in the ocean and the note lost forever?

If the note had been lost forever, and if the note had come from someone stranded on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean, what had happened to that person? Had they died from lack of food and fresh water or had they learned to survive on coconut milk and roast lizard?

It's amazing the world of possibilities that a single cork can open.

Race Cab

I was sitting at a traffic light yesterday when a dragster pulled up beside me.

The rumble of a high performance engine made the fillings in my teeth rattle. The sound waves had the rear view mirror of my car vibrating so much that the cars behind me were a blur in the mirror.

The light tuned green and the dragster raced off. Except it turned out to be a taxi cab making all the racket.

I guess removing the muffler saves on horn honking.

Time Flies

I can't believe it's already been a year since I last talked about Greyhound weekend in Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach.



That means I've been doing this blog for over a year now.



How time flies!



For those of you who are new readers - or old readers who have forgotten what I posted a year ago - Greyhound weekend is when dogs are welcomed at most establishments in Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach in Delaware. Retail stores have bowls of water and doggie treats available for canine companions and restaurants allow dogs to accompany their owners for a declicious meal. Over half of the hotels and motels allow canines during the annual event.

This started off a an event to promote the adopting of greyhounds, but has expanded to include canines of all shapes and sizes.

For more info about greyhounds you can go to: www.adopt-a-greyhound.org

Glow Worm

There's a children's song that includes the words glow little glow worm, glow and glimmer

The song has always conjured up images of a cute little worm glowing in the dim evening light.

That image was shattered forever by an episode of the television series Planet Earth. It turns out glow worms are disgusting little critters that spit out sticky strings of mucus with which to ensnare unsuspecting insects.

When I hear the song in the future I'm going to picture a slimy worm sucking a fluttering insect into its mouth and chomping the life out of the captured bug.

Glow little glow worm, chew your dinner

Tough Catering

Competition must really be tough if caterers are willing to haul bulky seating to outdoor functions.

That's what went through my mind when I passed a house with three sets of benches sitting in the front lawn. I'm talking about the type of bench seats found in Mom and Pop diners - cushioned benches that back up to one another. A vertical strip of dark wood covered the seams where the backs met and the seats themselves were upholstered with an appetizing pumpkin colored vinyl.

I guess the tables hadn't arrived yet - or maybe the benches were the first items to be moved out front for an upcoming yard sale.

If a yard sale was the true reason for the presence of the benches, I can't imagine the kitchen or dining room they were pulled from.

Because surely nobody would haul bench seats from a diner just to try to sell them in their front yard - would they?

The Price of Status

Two years ago we were forced to shop for a new car for Motivated Mom after the car she had been driving was totaled by a careless driver who ran a red light.

We ended up getting a used BMW. It wasn't the BMW name so much as the heated seats that sold my wife on the car. Motivated Mom and I share an intense displeasure of cold weather so I could empathize. Since her daily schedule includes a lot of driving time, I figured Motivated Mom was entitled to a warm butt.

I hadn't foreseen the cost of maintaining a status car. We recently scheduled service for the vehicle because of a warning light on the dashboard. What we thought might be a leaking coolant hose turned into hose repair, thermostat replacement, brake overhaul, belt replacement, and axle boot replacement.

It seemed we were assuredly heading for a budget breaking thousand dollar repair bill. I was stunned when the total came in at over two grand. (I wonder if the cashiers at the dealership have to be trained in CPR.)

I'm convinced half of the price was the BMW logo on the replacement parts.

Now I remember why I loved my first car - a Volkswagen Beetle - so much.