Morning Cycle

The tree had a halo.

At least that's the way it appeared as the yellow globe rose from behind the ancient oak tree early this morning.
Though in full green leaf, the tree looked black against the brilliant glow.

It was the beginning of another cycle. I could almost hear the deep resonant chanting of a hundred Zulu voices, could almost see hundreds of animals converging on the towering tree, could almost see a baboon climbing amidst the branches while a certain Red-Billed Hornbill flew in from above.

I would not have been surprised in the least to have heard Circle of Life start playing on the radio.

King of Many Colors

I had been looking straight at him and in the blink of an eye he disappeared.

Only to raise his his head from a position five feet to the right.  Thing is, his head had changed color.

It was lunch break and I was out on the green watching King Herman, the resident ground hog, forage for tasty bits in the lawn.  The field King Herman occupies is thick with grass of varying hues of green.  In the mere seconds it had taken the heavyweight King to waddle from light to dark green turn, his coat had changed to matching colors. 

And I got to wondering, had his coat changed all at once - or had it been gradual as he crossed into new territory.  If I were to be able to entice the King to walk along a piece of wood painted in two inch wide stripes of different colors, would the groundhog's fur change as quickly as he walked?  Would he look like a psychedelic slinky?

Weekend Americana

If was a weekend of traditions. The kind of annual events likely to be captured in a Norman Rockwell montage.

Motivated Mom was vigorously scrubbing both plastic and metal patio furniture in anticipation of entire weekends spent outdoors.  At the opposite end of the yard I was transferring vegetable plants from plastic green containers to freshly turned soil.

Dinners were plated directly from the barbecue grill and the hours after sunset were spent in front of the glowing coals of a fire in the outdoor fireplace. Fire-side discussion was of toasted marshmallows, chocolate bars, and graham crackers.

Late night treats under starry skies rolled into breakfast on the patio followed by still more barbecued treats.


Some of the best memories are those created outdoors.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Welcome to the one day of the year when every American speaks fluent Spanish.  Well, they speak fluent calendar in Spanish anyway.

Everywhere I went today people were discussing their Cinco de Mayo plans:  office lunches with a Mexican theme, margaritas at the local watering hole after work, tortillas, tacos, and fajitas for dinner with margaritas to wash it all down followed by, well... more margaritas.

So now I'm wondering...  If we Americans are so anxious to embrace a Mexican day of celebration, why are we building a wall between the two countries?

I say let's reallocate the money for the wall.  Let's just pay the money to Mexican farmers to grow more Agave plants!  To support all the extra farming, Mexico will have to call their migrant workers back home.  Everybody stays on their own side of the border, everybody's happy, and Tequila flows like water!

Speaking of which.. my, ah, water glass is almost empty. Time for a refill.

Wishing you all a spectacular fifth... of May that is.

Why Is That Doggie in the Window?

It isn't all that unusual to see a dog hanging its head out of a car window. But when I saw a canine face hanging out of the driver's window I got a little concerned.

The furry head was poking out of the window of a slow moving car two vehicles ahead in the adjacent lane.  I wasn't sure whether the slow speed of the car was due to the driver's vision being blocked, or if the operator was waiting for the dog to bark when it was time to turn left.

I sincerely hoped the car wasn't losing speed because the dog was trying to keep one paw on the wheel and one on the gas while peering out of the window.

Then I wondered... what if the canine head was actually attached to a human body?  The name Abernathy came to mind and I sped up to see if there might just be a vest and tie below those floppy ears.

Alas the traffic light changed before I could catch up. The car with the dog head in the window continued lazily through the intersection and I was left to wonder if there was more reality in fantasy than I had believed.

Was It Real or Was It.....

....Ninety-six, ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred.  Osama or not here we come.

And of course there's plenty of folks out there who say it wasn't.

I have to admit I can understand their skepticism.  When the U.S. nailed Sadam the news media was spitting out images of Hussein like a printing press had gone wild.  This time there's nothing. The closest we've come to seeing proof is media footage of a ship from which Bin-Laden's body was supposedly dropped into the ocean after a lightning fast DNA check.

Can you say Jimmy Hoffa? Howard Hughes? JFK?

The lack of substantiating evidence has given rise to a plethora of conspiracy theories. I'm putting my money on the been frozen for five years theory. In this scenario President Obama had Bin-Laden's body dragged out of the deep freeze Sunday night just so that the Pres could disrupt the television ratings for Trump's Celebrity Apprentice and drive Donald out of the presidential race.

Hit the road Trump and don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more. Hit the road Trump and don't ya' come back no more

Commencement & Transition

Throughout life there are moments when "normal" is redefined.

I experienced one of those transition moments this weekend. The transition was marked by College Dude's commencement. One day a college senior and the next an electrical engineer, our son moves into the work-a-day world of business folks everywhere.

Motivated Mom and I spent the weekend as guests in the western Pennsylvania apartment of College Dude and Language Lass. We've spent time there before, but this weekend was different. We were visiting not students, but a couple in the birth moments of a new life.

It seems not that long ago that College Dude was the new birth in the lives of Motivated Mom and I.

On our ride back home, Motivated Mom and I will be leaving a couple whose lives will now run parallel, rather than is series, to our own. (Like how I worked an engineering related phrase in there?)

 Though College Dude will always be our son, we have entered a new era. I'm still trying to get a read on just what this new road entails.