After "The Chunk" I started to hide out again. After all, I'd been to a place with lots of people. So I should be good for a while. But I wound up going to Fredrock Saturday to a hangar party where I could sing a bit at an "open mike". That always gets me out of my cave. Can it be about me?
And it looks like tomorrow I'm going to a pickin party out towards Fredrock again. I am going to be on the Western Shore anyway, as I am driving wife to the airport for a flight. I like to drive her and drop her off so she doesn't have to fool with parking or vans or anything. And of course I will pick her up and chauffeur her when she comes home, and take her to dinner. This is what we call in the airline industry "Princess Parking".
So it seems I'm out of my shell. Today I actually worked around the place. Perhaps Punkin Chunkin and folksinging energize me. I got my International tractor started. It required oil, gear oil, grease, hydraulic fluid, anti-freeze, charging, airing up, a change of implements, a battery hold down, fueling, stabilizer for the fuel. I actually bush hogged an overgrown pasture and got it done. And got the tractor put away and on charge.
After that, I had enough energy to visit with wife. She went to bed and here I am writing to you. I must have had too much caffeine today. I actually did more than one thing. So after I chauffeur wife and attend the pickin party, I expect I'll crawl back under that insulating rock crutch I have and not come out until Thanksgiving.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Bridgeville, Delaware. It's on the Map
Last weekend I went to Punkin Chunkin. It's an Eastern Shore thing. The locals call it "The Chunk". I had never been to it in it's 26 years of operation. So it was all new to me. It's very big now. Discovery Channel covers it. It's a bunch of people gathering to see another bunch of people toss pumpkins. There are alcohol, tobacco and firearms too. I didn't know there was an "open carry" law in Delaware. This refers to guns, not alcohol containers. It is an outdoor gathering, so you can drink, carry a gun, and smoke. I did none of those things. But I do not disapprove of those things. I paid ten bucks to get in. Here's what I saw and did. I got up close to the fence. The fence is a snow fence type deal which keeps you back from danger, but you can see over it. (The fence was stolen, by the way, this year. A new fence arrived just in time for the event.) There's a pun in there somewhere about "fencing" a fence, but I can't set it up. Anyway I got up close to the fence and spent a nice time watching the catapults. Some were man powered. There were flywheels and springs, and windlasses, trebuchets, and all kinds of clever devices. They would chuck a pumpkin about five hundred to two thousand feet. Crazy crews in crazy costumes. Sometimes the pumpkins fragmented during the launch. People cheered for this more than for distance. Hence "Punkin Chunkin"
Then I wandered away from the range and into the midway. There were games and rides for the kids, and for adults who wanted to act like kids. A mechanical bull. A rock climb. Pumpkin toss. Pumpkin eating. Carnival rides. A food court full of tent booths. I had chocolate covered bacon for the first time. It was pretty good. Later I had candy coated almonds which were great. There were displays. There were two live bands. I watched and enjoyed them both. But I soon learned that it was all about the "cannons" which they save till the end of the day. I had picked up some of the culture and when I spoke to the venders for some reason I pretended I had been there for previous years. I would say things like "so when are they going to fire the cannons?" Or "will they start with 'old glory' down on the end?" I talked to a vender selling wood stoves. I looked at the wares of a vender selling solar panels. I looked at t shirts, ball caps, etc. but I didn't want a souvenir really. I was afraid the carnival food I had eaten might be enough of a memory to take home with me. I found a bale of straw to sit on for a while. I noticed the film crews and infield folks all moving in one direction and it was toward the line of gigantic air cannons that were to be the stars of the show. They did not disappoint. their barrels looked to be 40 feet and more. Their air tanks great giant cylinders. When they fired you could barely see the pumpkin it moved so fast. Often I missed it. But when I saw it, it would fade from my sight while it was still climbing. Several cannons shot their pumpkins over four thousand feet. It was a good time. After twenty one years on the Eastern Shore I may be starting to blend in. Maybe I shoulda got a ball cap.
Then I wandered away from the range and into the midway. There were games and rides for the kids, and for adults who wanted to act like kids. A mechanical bull. A rock climb. Pumpkin toss. Pumpkin eating. Carnival rides. A food court full of tent booths. I had chocolate covered bacon for the first time. It was pretty good. Later I had candy coated almonds which were great. There were displays. There were two live bands. I watched and enjoyed them both. But I soon learned that it was all about the "cannons" which they save till the end of the day. I had picked up some of the culture and when I spoke to the venders for some reason I pretended I had been there for previous years. I would say things like "so when are they going to fire the cannons?" Or "will they start with 'old glory' down on the end?" I talked to a vender selling wood stoves. I looked at the wares of a vender selling solar panels. I looked at t shirts, ball caps, etc. but I didn't want a souvenir really. I was afraid the carnival food I had eaten might be enough of a memory to take home with me. I found a bale of straw to sit on for a while. I noticed the film crews and infield folks all moving in one direction and it was toward the line of gigantic air cannons that were to be the stars of the show. They did not disappoint. their barrels looked to be 40 feet and more. Their air tanks great giant cylinders. When they fired you could barely see the pumpkin it moved so fast. Often I missed it. But when I saw it, it would fade from my sight while it was still climbing. Several cannons shot their pumpkins over four thousand feet. It was a good time. After twenty one years on the Eastern Shore I may be starting to blend in. Maybe I shoulda got a ball cap.
Friday, November 11, 2011
eleven eleven eleven
My dear friends I have to write something today. I have to, in some way, print, publish, or record something. Because of the date. 11-11-11. The picket fence, corduroy, railroad tracks. Lucky or unlucky in dice. 11. I wrote some checks today for some bills that weren't quite due because it was fun to write the date.
I didn't forget Veterans Day. I'd like to thank all of our veterans who have served through history for their sacrifices. I and my countrymen owe our freedom to you. I salute you.
I said the other day I just don't like the flag waving Republicans who think the USA should rule the world and make the rules and use up the most of the resources and not be questioned. But they have their say too, under freedom. I have an urge to quote the last line of the last verse of our anthem "In triumph shall wave. O're the land of the free, and the home of the brave."
LLITTY :::::+:::::
I didn't forget Veterans Day. I'd like to thank all of our veterans who have served through history for their sacrifices. I and my countrymen owe our freedom to you. I salute you.
I said the other day I just don't like the flag waving Republicans who think the USA should rule the world and make the rules and use up the most of the resources and not be questioned. But they have their say too, under freedom. I have an urge to quote the last line of the last verse of our anthem "In triumph shall wave. O're the land of the free, and the home of the brave."
LLITTY :::::+:::::
Friday, November 4, 2011
I Tuned in and Dropped Out
Early November. Highs in the low sixties. This is the time of year that our grass is beautifully green. And yet, I do not need to mow it. It's too cold for it to grow. At the winter solstice the grass will be brown, or tan like straw. The same way it gets during the hottest part of the summer, when it is too scorched to thrive. So October/November is really when my airstrip looks best. And needs no mowing. I was walking on the strip yesterday. It felt so soft to my moccasins. Fearing it was soft because of dampness I did a little test I often do. I knelt down on one knee and put my weight there. Then I stood up and the corduroy of my trousers was perfectly dry. The airstrip is indeed perfect. The trees aren't even halfway turned. And New England has already had a snow storm!
I've been doing a lot of nothing lately. This is what I haven't been doing: mowing, writing in my Journal, taking my meds, following my diet, having campfires, going anywhere, clearing brush, picking up firewood, playing guitar, reading magazines that I subscribe to, walking Yukon the dog, playing with the airplane, working in the shop, playing with the Triumph, going on outings with wife and her father
This is what I have been doing: sleeping at all times of day- no more than three hours at a time, following news on the computer, watching retro TV and old movies, writing a very few little posts like this one, daydreaming, reading, watching the weather without going out in it. Recharging I hope. Perhaps just being lazy.
In the process of keeping track of the economy and current events yesterday I noticed something I thought was odd. The headlines rattled off. Such as "Obama in France", candidate "Cain" in trouble over scandal, Will EU bail out the going broke Greece, Sexy Lohan gets 30 days, Connecticut still with power outages. And then this little tiny almost footnote remark about Obama mentioning sanctions on Iran during his conversations with the French President.
Is anyone else troubled, surprised and uncomfortable about this? Here we have the regular stuff. A snowstorm, a minor earthquake, a belly landing of an airliner in Warsaw,......and oh yes, also there is a country that is developing nuclear weapons because they want to destroy the world starting with the United States. This country believes in a doctrine that includes killing infidels, those who are not followers of Islam. This is in their holy writings and is their holy quest. And by the way, they don't care if they die in the process of killing everyone else. In fact they believe it's even better that way. They will be impossible to stop. And back to our CNN studios........" a third woman has now come forward in the Cain scandal......
Wait, can you go back to that story about the inevitable thermonuclear exchange? What are we trying to do about it? Are we trying to be politically correct to Iran before they wipe New York off the map? I didn't catch what will happen next because you moved on to the story about the Bride who was texting while walking down the isle.
Just another news day. I guess I really don't have to worry about global warming or QE3 .
I think Sam Harris is right. Deal with religion now. It's the elephant in the room that will make all our other problems in the headlines go away. But in a very bad way.
Let's see... flip on the cable...what are my chances of finding that damn TV channel clicker?
Remote.
Fox news? I'm strangely sexually aroused by that Ann Coulter. Hmm. MSNBC? I'm strangely aroused by that lesbian lady Rachel Maddow. CNN? Bingo! We 'ave a wiiiner! Now they have Erin Burnett!! OMG
LLITTY :::::+:::::
I've been doing a lot of nothing lately. This is what I haven't been doing: mowing, writing in my Journal, taking my meds, following my diet, having campfires, going anywhere, clearing brush, picking up firewood, playing guitar, reading magazines that I subscribe to, walking Yukon the dog, playing with the airplane, working in the shop, playing with the Triumph, going on outings with wife and her father
This is what I have been doing: sleeping at all times of day- no more than three hours at a time, following news on the computer, watching retro TV and old movies, writing a very few little posts like this one, daydreaming, reading, watching the weather without going out in it. Recharging I hope. Perhaps just being lazy.
In the process of keeping track of the economy and current events yesterday I noticed something I thought was odd. The headlines rattled off. Such as "Obama in France", candidate "Cain" in trouble over scandal, Will EU bail out the going broke Greece, Sexy Lohan gets 30 days, Connecticut still with power outages. And then this little tiny almost footnote remark about Obama mentioning sanctions on Iran during his conversations with the French President.
Is anyone else troubled, surprised and uncomfortable about this? Here we have the regular stuff. A snowstorm, a minor earthquake, a belly landing of an airliner in Warsaw,......and oh yes, also there is a country that is developing nuclear weapons because they want to destroy the world starting with the United States. This country believes in a doctrine that includes killing infidels, those who are not followers of Islam. This is in their holy writings and is their holy quest. And by the way, they don't care if they die in the process of killing everyone else. In fact they believe it's even better that way. They will be impossible to stop. And back to our CNN studios........" a third woman has now come forward in the Cain scandal......
Wait, can you go back to that story about the inevitable thermonuclear exchange? What are we trying to do about it? Are we trying to be politically correct to Iran before they wipe New York off the map? I didn't catch what will happen next because you moved on to the story about the Bride who was texting while walking down the isle.
Just another news day. I guess I really don't have to worry about global warming or QE3 .
I think Sam Harris is right. Deal with religion now. It's the elephant in the room that will make all our other problems in the headlines go away. But in a very bad way.
Let's see... flip on the cable...what are my chances of finding that damn TV channel clicker?
Remote.
Fox news? I'm strangely sexually aroused by that Ann Coulter. Hmm. MSNBC? I'm strangely aroused by that lesbian lady Rachel Maddow. CNN? Bingo! We 'ave a wiiiner! Now they have Erin Burnett!! OMG
LLITTY :::::+:::::
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
it's just my opinion, i could be right
Never argue politics or religion because you can't change any one's mind. And you just piss them off! I know I shouldn't, but I sometimes do anyway. I'm always sorry that I do. Kind of like eating sugar as a type two diabetic. I eat it anyway. Then feel sorry afterward.
Last week I was with two good friends chatting. They were making fun of Obama and his "failed" policies, and laughing about how he will be trounced in 2012. I smiled and nodded and said nothing. I'd like to be proud about having kept my mouth shut, but I really just didn't feel like disagreeing with two people that I like. Two people that I want to like me.
A while back another friend of mine was telling me about Herman Cain and how he was now this friend's best choice. And how he liked 9-9-9. I was wincing on my side of the phone conversation but I said nothing and tried to change the subject. I want this friend also to like me. You see, I don't have very many close friends and I like it that way.
I guess my close friends know that I am a liberal and an atheist (or agnostic or non believer). But just about everybody that I talk to assumes that I believe in God. And since I'm a white collar, white male, over 50 they just assume I'm a republican. If they suspect I'm an atheist liberal, they still talk to me as if I am a right wing republican like they are. I think this must be to "help me" and pull me over to the "high moral ground" that they are on. They are my friends after all. They're just looking out after me.
So every once in a while I just like to air out a few things lest my friends mistake my smiling silence with tacit approval for their beliefs. We don't have to agree on everything to be friends.
so here's a few position statements using as few words as possible:
I am a liberal Democrat. Not because I agree all the time with that platform. But only because it is a default position due to my hating what the Republicans think.
My vote for Obama in 2012 will be against the Republicans, not for Obama.
I disagree with 10 commandments in court and faith based initiatives
I disagree with "pro life" including the name "pro life"
I disagree with the "war on drugs" and favor decriminalization of all drugs, as far as possession.
This is a social, not criminal, problem.
I agree and accept the reality of global warming, but I think we have more pressing environmental and social problems to be dealt with first
I disagree with prayer in school and consider "creation" equivalent to fairy tales.
I consider it impossible not to believe in evolution. This blog post I am typing is "evolving" as I write it. We are bigger sized humans than we were in WWII. All of us alive today are descendants of people who were more successful at reproducing, for one reason or another, than their contemporaries. "Everything is the way it is because it got that way"
I don't think you should tax the poor. Set a limit and give the poor that break. I'd rather give someone a free ride they don't deserve than put someone deeper into poverty that doesn't deserve it.
Government is imperfect. Just like the private sector.
I believe we should tax the rich. This is what our graduated income tax is supposed to do. If you don't redistribute the wealth you have a class society. That's better than socialism, but just barely and you spend a lot of money policing the have- nots. Of which there will be a lot. Just because our tax system is antiquated and has flaws like loopholes, and is complicated and cumbersome doesn't mean the graduated income tax is a bad idea. Lets come up with a simple and fair modern tax code. No loopholes.
If you want to make the government smaller, and I think we all do, that's fine. But don't lay off government workers and then complain about unemployment when you just created unemployment during a recession.
Democrats and Republicans criticize each other for trying the same program again after it has already failed. Democrats and Republicans criticize each other for programs that failed when it is uncertain how , when, and if, the programs actually failed. They need to stop doing that. Just do your best. Don't worry about who started the program or who should be blamed for it. We all just want to fix the economy.
Lets put term limits on every seat in congress.
Let's limit the President to one term
Let's encourage a third party. Perhaps there is a way to prevent it from being a spoiler. Such as, if it can't or doesn't win, then it is out and another election is held.
Don't come down on the "Occupy Wall Street" or "Tea Party" movement. You don't have to agree with them. Just read the First Amendment. And don't underestimate them.
I don't know about my conservative friends, but I really, really, don't care if gays get married. No one is asking anyone to be gay. Or even like gays. Or go to a gay wedding. Do you really want to trade votes on Bills in congress over this? What does this have to do with the government? Are we going to wind up spending more money on this?
I would gripe right now about stem cell research, but it's going to become a moot point. The bio tech world will leap frog this if they haven't already. Sooner or later the religious right will have to decide what they want to try to do about cloning and the manufacturing of body parts, and spare parts and androids. They will lose every battle because you can't stop knowledge. Knowledge is power and the church has less every day.
Second Amendment. I don't have good happy feelings here. Guns scare me. They are powerful. The bearer of a firearm has the responsibility of that power. Bad people who are violent and not responsible scare me. If they are bad people with a firearm, the average citizen is dead or a slave soon to be dead. It scares me very much to have everyone have a gun. I don't like it. BUT.... as long as there are guns, everyone should have one and be trained to use it. Not because that is my hard thought out opinion, but for two reasons: 1. each citizen needs to protect himself and his family from danger and 2. the constitution doesn't just permit each individual to own and bear a gun, no the document has a special separate amendment to insure the right to bear arms for protection against enemies and for use in coordination with militia should it come to that. I hate it when the Republicans wave the flag and talk about "traditional" values. But the US Constitution gives us rights. Without the rights we are slaves. I'm a liberal and I wish we could all live in peace, but for now while we can't seem to, we need the protection the founding fathers wisely put in the document.
OK. I'm almost done with this rant. One more thing while I'm on the subject. If we are spending too much then let's cut defense right along with everything else. But let me be clear. Once we have a person in uniform who is sworn in to defend our country. Who puts his life on the line and his family on hold, be he front lines or rear guard, he is ours. He is supported by every taxpayer, every citizen, every businessman, every single American. We thank that person every day. We do not cut his pay or benefits to try to make up for some banking snafu we had while we were safe in our beds and that individual was in Afghanistan. We not only give him or her all that we agreed on when they were sworn in, but we give them more. When they come home we give them their benefits and more. People running for office take note... we all feel this way. Cut defense all you want and pull the troops home, fine. But nobody gets a pay cut. If we want a smaller peacetime army fine. Just pay these people what they sign up for. We can never compensate them enough for their duty and bravery.
Last week I was with two good friends chatting. They were making fun of Obama and his "failed" policies, and laughing about how he will be trounced in 2012. I smiled and nodded and said nothing. I'd like to be proud about having kept my mouth shut, but I really just didn't feel like disagreeing with two people that I like. Two people that I want to like me.
A while back another friend of mine was telling me about Herman Cain and how he was now this friend's best choice. And how he liked 9-9-9. I was wincing on my side of the phone conversation but I said nothing and tried to change the subject. I want this friend also to like me. You see, I don't have very many close friends and I like it that way.
I guess my close friends know that I am a liberal and an atheist (or agnostic or non believer). But just about everybody that I talk to assumes that I believe in God. And since I'm a white collar, white male, over 50 they just assume I'm a republican. If they suspect I'm an atheist liberal, they still talk to me as if I am a right wing republican like they are. I think this must be to "help me" and pull me over to the "high moral ground" that they are on. They are my friends after all. They're just looking out after me.
So every once in a while I just like to air out a few things lest my friends mistake my smiling silence with tacit approval for their beliefs. We don't have to agree on everything to be friends.
so here's a few position statements using as few words as possible:
I am a liberal Democrat. Not because I agree all the time with that platform. But only because it is a default position due to my hating what the Republicans think.
My vote for Obama in 2012 will be against the Republicans, not for Obama.
I disagree with 10 commandments in court and faith based initiatives
I disagree with "pro life" including the name "pro life"
I disagree with the "war on drugs" and favor decriminalization of all drugs, as far as possession.
This is a social, not criminal, problem.
I agree and accept the reality of global warming, but I think we have more pressing environmental and social problems to be dealt with first
I disagree with prayer in school and consider "creation" equivalent to fairy tales.
I consider it impossible not to believe in evolution. This blog post I am typing is "evolving" as I write it. We are bigger sized humans than we were in WWII. All of us alive today are descendants of people who were more successful at reproducing, for one reason or another, than their contemporaries. "Everything is the way it is because it got that way"
I don't think you should tax the poor. Set a limit and give the poor that break. I'd rather give someone a free ride they don't deserve than put someone deeper into poverty that doesn't deserve it.
Government is imperfect. Just like the private sector.
I believe we should tax the rich. This is what our graduated income tax is supposed to do. If you don't redistribute the wealth you have a class society. That's better than socialism, but just barely and you spend a lot of money policing the have- nots. Of which there will be a lot. Just because our tax system is antiquated and has flaws like loopholes, and is complicated and cumbersome doesn't mean the graduated income tax is a bad idea. Lets come up with a simple and fair modern tax code. No loopholes.
If you want to make the government smaller, and I think we all do, that's fine. But don't lay off government workers and then complain about unemployment when you just created unemployment during a recession.
Democrats and Republicans criticize each other for trying the same program again after it has already failed. Democrats and Republicans criticize each other for programs that failed when it is uncertain how , when, and if, the programs actually failed. They need to stop doing that. Just do your best. Don't worry about who started the program or who should be blamed for it. We all just want to fix the economy.
Lets put term limits on every seat in congress.
Let's limit the President to one term
Let's encourage a third party. Perhaps there is a way to prevent it from being a spoiler. Such as, if it can't or doesn't win, then it is out and another election is held.
Don't come down on the "Occupy Wall Street" or "Tea Party" movement. You don't have to agree with them. Just read the First Amendment. And don't underestimate them.
I don't know about my conservative friends, but I really, really, don't care if gays get married. No one is asking anyone to be gay. Or even like gays. Or go to a gay wedding. Do you really want to trade votes on Bills in congress over this? What does this have to do with the government? Are we going to wind up spending more money on this?
I would gripe right now about stem cell research, but it's going to become a moot point. The bio tech world will leap frog this if they haven't already. Sooner or later the religious right will have to decide what they want to try to do about cloning and the manufacturing of body parts, and spare parts and androids. They will lose every battle because you can't stop knowledge. Knowledge is power and the church has less every day.
Second Amendment. I don't have good happy feelings here. Guns scare me. They are powerful. The bearer of a firearm has the responsibility of that power. Bad people who are violent and not responsible scare me. If they are bad people with a firearm, the average citizen is dead or a slave soon to be dead. It scares me very much to have everyone have a gun. I don't like it. BUT.... as long as there are guns, everyone should have one and be trained to use it. Not because that is my hard thought out opinion, but for two reasons: 1. each citizen needs to protect himself and his family from danger and 2. the constitution doesn't just permit each individual to own and bear a gun, no the document has a special separate amendment to insure the right to bear arms for protection against enemies and for use in coordination with militia should it come to that. I hate it when the Republicans wave the flag and talk about "traditional" values. But the US Constitution gives us rights. Without the rights we are slaves. I'm a liberal and I wish we could all live in peace, but for now while we can't seem to, we need the protection the founding fathers wisely put in the document.
OK. I'm almost done with this rant. One more thing while I'm on the subject. If we are spending too much then let's cut defense right along with everything else. But let me be clear. Once we have a person in uniform who is sworn in to defend our country. Who puts his life on the line and his family on hold, be he front lines or rear guard, he is ours. He is supported by every taxpayer, every citizen, every businessman, every single American. We thank that person every day. We do not cut his pay or benefits to try to make up for some banking snafu we had while we were safe in our beds and that individual was in Afghanistan. We not only give him or her all that we agreed on when they were sworn in, but we give them more. When they come home we give them their benefits and more. People running for office take note... we all feel this way. Cut defense all you want and pull the troops home, fine. But nobody gets a pay cut. If we want a smaller peacetime army fine. Just pay these people what they sign up for. We can never compensate them enough for their duty and bravery.
A Dog's Life
After we got back from our trip to California I stayed "in gear". Dempsey was here. He worked on projects and I caught up on corespondence. I kept moving. Wife and I went to town and out to dinner a few times. Dempsey went home. I was caught up a bit and I slowed down. Wife was a bit tired and stayed around over the weekend. I got into a little routine where I kind of hid out in my room and watched old movies and read. Wife had gotten me a book from Amazon. It was called "Breaking the Spell". It took me two days to get through the book and I kept "saving" a bit for later like you might do with a box of cookies. That's pretty good for non fiction. The guy who wrote it is a popular philosopher and he dumbed his information down for laymen like me.
I'm still in "hide in my room" mode. The fact that I can write to you means I am coming out to join the world. Wife has gone to town. Her dogs are hanging out with me it seems. But they are really just waiting for her. If I talk to them and pet them it makes me feel better. It reminds me of my dog "Jake" who is gone and never forgotten. Thinking about Jake is both sad and happy. It is not "mixed emotions". It is the same emotion.
Speaking of loyal dogs. My friend Steve B. went to Alaska recently. He often goes there to be with his buddies, and work on his cabin, and help his buddies build their northern empires. I guess I could write all day about his amazing buddies, and he. But of all his adventures and deeds I am most impressed by this last Alaska trip. This is a guy who has sailed the Carribean. Sailed the Chesapeake in his own beautiful wooden sailboat. Can jump bareback and barefoot on his horse and ride through the woods at night. Has hosted fabulous festivals at his place in Maryland and has flown as a crewmember in the "show" of traveling town to town in restored WWII bombers which are so old and precious that people come from miles around just to look at them. And to hear them. You have to hear them. He can work on anything and if he can't do it, he'll tell you that. And he knows someone who can. He's a minimalist in a world of runaway technology. But what most impresses me is his recent Alaska trip. Even though he could barely afford his own fare, he took his best friend "Reno", the German Shepherd, with him. On an airliner, for 3,000 miles each way. Steve has taken many friends to Alaska with him, including me. But none of his friends wanted to go with him as much as Reno.
I have a great life. A great wife and son. A great place on Delmarva. My health, such as it is. A few toys. Great dreams of future fun. I envy no man. But for Steve to take this beautiful, smart, wild, faithful companion with him to this place that he so loves to visit, and share it all with a creature who not only loves him, but can love the site more than we can imagine, that action, the doing of it, I must say I have to envy. Thanks Steve. Thanks on behalf of Reno, and all of us dog lovers for the inspiration. You lived a dream.
LLITTY :::::+:::::
I'm still in "hide in my room" mode. The fact that I can write to you means I am coming out to join the world. Wife has gone to town. Her dogs are hanging out with me it seems. But they are really just waiting for her. If I talk to them and pet them it makes me feel better. It reminds me of my dog "Jake" who is gone and never forgotten. Thinking about Jake is both sad and happy. It is not "mixed emotions". It is the same emotion.
Speaking of loyal dogs. My friend Steve B. went to Alaska recently. He often goes there to be with his buddies, and work on his cabin, and help his buddies build their northern empires. I guess I could write all day about his amazing buddies, and he. But of all his adventures and deeds I am most impressed by this last Alaska trip. This is a guy who has sailed the Carribean. Sailed the Chesapeake in his own beautiful wooden sailboat. Can jump bareback and barefoot on his horse and ride through the woods at night. Has hosted fabulous festivals at his place in Maryland and has flown as a crewmember in the "show" of traveling town to town in restored WWII bombers which are so old and precious that people come from miles around just to look at them. And to hear them. You have to hear them. He can work on anything and if he can't do it, he'll tell you that. And he knows someone who can. He's a minimalist in a world of runaway technology. But what most impresses me is his recent Alaska trip. Even though he could barely afford his own fare, he took his best friend "Reno", the German Shepherd, with him. On an airliner, for 3,000 miles each way. Steve has taken many friends to Alaska with him, including me. But none of his friends wanted to go with him as much as Reno.
I have a great life. A great wife and son. A great place on Delmarva. My health, such as it is. A few toys. Great dreams of future fun. I envy no man. But for Steve to take this beautiful, smart, wild, faithful companion with him to this place that he so loves to visit, and share it all with a creature who not only loves him, but can love the site more than we can imagine, that action, the doing of it, I must say I have to envy. Thanks Steve. Thanks on behalf of Reno, and all of us dog lovers for the inspiration. You lived a dream.
LLITTY :::::+:::::
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