Summer daze.
My last post was in the Spring. Now it's mid summer. Just had a blue moon on Friday. And now it's August. The mornings have been wonderful. I sit in the shade There is always a bit of a breeze. Wife occasionally joins me. We drink coffee. Evenings have been fantastic. Sunsets. Lightning light shows. Bright moons and moon shadows. Saturday, August 1st I took the little airplane about 14 miles to Cambridge to fill it up with gas. It only holds 14 gallons. My Ford pick up hold 25 gallons. I made this flight in the morning when the temperatures were in the seventies. They have a restaurant at the Cambridge airport, and it was packed. I had a great breakfast and reflected on the great summer and how crowded the "ramp" (airplane parking lot) was. The temp got up to eighty by the time I left for home. Wife had taken her show dog to the doggie workshop. Her dog won big on Sunday. My buddy Clark was over later. It got up to ninety on the temp! We swam in the pool. Too hot to do anything else. Toward sunset when it cooled back down we went to Federalsburg, a town 5 miles away. For dinner in the diner. We took the VW with of course no AC. But it has those little wing windows, remember those? Clark drove, and he used to have a "V" about 35 years ago.
Trump.
I like Trump. He's entertaining. And funny. Everybody likes him. GOP's like him because he's critical of Obama. Dems like him because he will harm the GOP. I like him because he's zest for the boring news cycle. I'm a liberal. All my friends are conservatives. All my friends hate Obama. I love Obama. I'm getting older. I mean we are all getting older. I don't care too much about anything anymore. So I'm not into politics much. But I'm curious about religion and politics and how they mix. I want everyone to like me. So I hope you will still like me if I like Obama. And maybe I can make some points with my conservative friends by liking Trump. Right now there are two things that I don't understand about the coming debate: 1. Why don't we hold off about all this until November when the election is about a year away! This is like xmas decorations before Halloween. 2. Why is the media and electorate so excited about the upcoming debate? The debate is a pseudo event. Invented by a cable network. The number of candidates allowed to debate is arbitrary. You could have such a debate any time you want. It's unofficial. Also, aren't all the candidates Republicans? They are on the same side.
Religion.
Lately I've been hearing more and more folks say the expression "have a blessed day". Some people just can't help but try to advertise the fact that they are Christian. By saying "bye bye" in that way, they are including me in their religious world. Maybe I should reply: "Blessed by whom?" There are lots of gods to choose from. Muslims seem to be doing 90 percent of the terrorism in the world.
Faith based murder. I wish Christianity could distance itself from Islam. Christians don't believe in "killing the infidels". Too bad that the Christian God is the same God that Islam worships. The God of Abraham. Granted, he is a pretty violent God.
Ethanol
A few Sundays ago in this beautiful Summer it was another gorgeous day with the usual chance of showers. I was in need of non-ethanol gas. As you know, all our gas at the pumps is 10 percent ethanol. Forced by the government. Why, I don't know. All vehicles run worse because of it. The fuel does not store well. It rots engine parts. Turns everything black with a layer of crud. I
needed some "non eth" for my mower. So I went in my truck with some gas cans to find non eth in Cambridge about 20 miles south. The place I had heard about did not carry it. I had heard of another place further south. So I went looking, but no joy. I found myself about 20 miles north of my friend's new place on Hoopers Island. So I decided to go there. I had never been to Hoopers or Taylors Island. With no directions, I got lost and wound up at Taylor's Island. Got directions to Hoopers. Crossed it's bridge. Got more directions at the general store. Found my friends place.
OMG. I couldn't believe it. 700 feet of bay front with 270 degree view of bay from windows of the house. The sea wall was of incredible quality on the whole 700 feet. The house is a 65 year old cottage in desperate need of renovation. With a small guest cabin and two nice sheds, all in need of renovation. If you want waterfront, then you need to do what my friend did. Go big on land, small on house. I was so impressed, I was speechless. (that's indeed rare for me). I need to do a whole post on this place. I was supposed to go to Easton for a date dinner with wife that night. I followed behind my friend to go back to Cambridge, but I was way late for our dinner plans. I couldn't call with no cell service on the island. But I finally got hold of wife and she agreed to take her car and meet me at our favorite rendezvous. As my friend George was leading me in his truck I got him on his cell and told him we were driving in the area where I had heard about the non eth but there was no station where the directions took me, George then said "Look to your left, a Marine Gas sign! I did, and there it was! I made a ubee and said goodbye to George.
A dark quiet booth. My seafood and her veggies. A Sam Adams summer ale. Wearing a dressy shirt my wife had brought for me to cover my salty grey t shirt. We ate in satisfied silence. I was going to tell her all about Hoopers Island. Finally I said: "Honey, you look like a million dollars clear of taxes"
Monday, August 3, 2015
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Easton Easter Saturday
The equinox has past. And Easter is today. I was awakened by a cough bothering me. The end of a mild cold I've had for two weeks. Or allergies, or both. So I got out of bed. When I went downstairs to the kitchen and looked out the window, there was the sunrise. I stood there and stared. The bright orange large ball had just broken over the eastern horizon. Bare trees were softening the brightness which helped my eyes and I could see the sun's shape perfectly. I watched the sun rise through the trees and then over the trees. It always happens faster than I expect. And halfway through I could no longer look directly at it. It was a real Sunrise Service just for me. And my thermometer was just above freezing. I was maybe going to have a spiritual rush, But I couldn't slow my mind down enough to meditate. My "me" was standing still at the window watching. My "self" was suggesting things: Hey maybe I should go outside to watch. Hey maybe get bundled up real quick and put shoes on, brew some coffee? Hey that fence line scrub brush really needs some attention. Is my wife awake? Etc. It was over so fast. I was too keyed up to play my sunrise/sunset game where I force myself to visualize the earth spinning. Standing on the earth like you're on a surfboard and you are moving toward that sun and revealing it as you ride.
Then I came upstairs and started writing to you. That's Easter so far. So good. Wife and I are going to Easter dinner with family on the Western shore today as well as visiting her father on the way.
Yesterday was pretty and windy. I had a small load of straw in the truck for my wife's friend and my wife lead me to the location in the Subaru. They were going to lunch, but I was afraid my cold might be contagious. So I took off on my own and spent a few autonomous hours in Easton, my favorite town. I parked the truck on the street downtown and did some walking. I went to the library. (I can say that sentence in Spanish). I wanted any book by my hero Bart Ehrman. I asked and was directed to the card file. Oh God I thought. Will I be fingering through cards? But no, it was just a dedicated computer that could tell you if they had a book and how many copies of it they had. They had one book by Ehrman. So I inquired again and the nice lady came up with a number by looking at her computer. So I checked out the book, his latest. I walked half way across town which takes five or ten minutes and went to the Goodwill store. I looked at the books, but didn't get any.
I looked at shoes and found two pair perfect for me. They must have just come in because usually all the 9's and 10's are gone. High quality leather dress shoes for $15. Kinda gross? Yea I agree. But I love these shoes and will wear a pair to the Easter dinner. Next stop: "Rise Up" a coffee brewery. I'd been hearing about it and had to see it. Fantastic is all I'm going to say.
Then to Easton Diner. I had a long slow meal in a hidden booth. Started my Ehrman book.
Then the last stop before home. The "Dollar Tree". I've talked about dollar stores before. They are a phenomenon. In this store: everything is actually a dollar. I bought 18 items. One item is worth mentioning here, this Easter morning. I'll get to it in a few more lines. The Dollar Tree had loads of Easter bunnies. Candy eggs. Stuffed animals. Cute stuffed bunnies. Also an isle dedicated to the fourth of July. The stars and stripes on anything you can imagine. They had a top hat made I guess of paper and foil. I will be getting one of those for sure in the near future. Don't know why I didn't buy it, but I will!
OK, I'll tell you about the most AMAZING thing I got at the Dollar Tree and this will wrap up my story. In with the candy eggs, the candy bunnies, bags of jelly beans, Chinese versions of Chuckles, etc. an item caught my eye. It was a chocolate cross. A chocolate cross! For $1. You can't get a very big piece of chocolate for $1. Yet the "presentation" of this product is fairly large. About the size of a paperback book. A cardboard box with a clear window on the front displaying the product. The cross is surrounded and embedded by gold plastic shrink mold.
Unlike virtually everything else in the Dollar Tree, it is American made! When I saw this, I had to buy it. Had to. And I can't explain why. It seems to me that it would be offensive to devout believers and Christopher Hitchens fans alike. And on many levels. I both hate and love this cross.
I'm a cultural Christian. And I want everyone to like me. If I have problems with all the faiths, I think I'm better off keeping them in the closet. I could write a separate post just about this candy cross, but I'm not going to. You can think about all the weird things about the cross. The paradoxes.
I could say a lot. But I'm not going to.
Just permit me one little remark. I want to imagine a Vampire. Picture a defenseless woman cornered. She has no silver bullets, nor a wooden stake. But she had been to the Dollar Tree in Easton and there on the table within her reach is the Palmer Happy Easter Candy Cross. She grabs it and faces it to the bloodthirsty creature. He yelps and backs away like Superman being hit with a kryptonite snowball. He cries in horror. The woman is saved. He agrees to leave, sunrise is near. Then his eyes turn from red to aqua blue and gleam a bit. The woman thinks he is leering at her sexually. The gleam increases and the vampire says: "hey is that cross milk chocolate? Does it have nuts? I don't like nuts or mint. It's not bittersweet is it? I'll be human in an hour. I can hang out."
For me, it seems it's always about the carbs.
Happy Easter.
LLITTY ::::+::::
Then I came upstairs and started writing to you. That's Easter so far. So good. Wife and I are going to Easter dinner with family on the Western shore today as well as visiting her father on the way.
Yesterday was pretty and windy. I had a small load of straw in the truck for my wife's friend and my wife lead me to the location in the Subaru. They were going to lunch, but I was afraid my cold might be contagious. So I took off on my own and spent a few autonomous hours in Easton, my favorite town. I parked the truck on the street downtown and did some walking. I went to the library. (I can say that sentence in Spanish). I wanted any book by my hero Bart Ehrman. I asked and was directed to the card file. Oh God I thought. Will I be fingering through cards? But no, it was just a dedicated computer that could tell you if they had a book and how many copies of it they had. They had one book by Ehrman. So I inquired again and the nice lady came up with a number by looking at her computer. So I checked out the book, his latest. I walked half way across town which takes five or ten minutes and went to the Goodwill store. I looked at the books, but didn't get any.
I looked at shoes and found two pair perfect for me. They must have just come in because usually all the 9's and 10's are gone. High quality leather dress shoes for $15. Kinda gross? Yea I agree. But I love these shoes and will wear a pair to the Easter dinner. Next stop: "Rise Up" a coffee brewery. I'd been hearing about it and had to see it. Fantastic is all I'm going to say.
Then to Easton Diner. I had a long slow meal in a hidden booth. Started my Ehrman book.
Then the last stop before home. The "Dollar Tree". I've talked about dollar stores before. They are a phenomenon. In this store: everything is actually a dollar. I bought 18 items. One item is worth mentioning here, this Easter morning. I'll get to it in a few more lines. The Dollar Tree had loads of Easter bunnies. Candy eggs. Stuffed animals. Cute stuffed bunnies. Also an isle dedicated to the fourth of July. The stars and stripes on anything you can imagine. They had a top hat made I guess of paper and foil. I will be getting one of those for sure in the near future. Don't know why I didn't buy it, but I will!
OK, I'll tell you about the most AMAZING thing I got at the Dollar Tree and this will wrap up my story. In with the candy eggs, the candy bunnies, bags of jelly beans, Chinese versions of Chuckles, etc. an item caught my eye. It was a chocolate cross. A chocolate cross! For $1. You can't get a very big piece of chocolate for $1. Yet the "presentation" of this product is fairly large. About the size of a paperback book. A cardboard box with a clear window on the front displaying the product. The cross is surrounded and embedded by gold plastic shrink mold.
Unlike virtually everything else in the Dollar Tree, it is American made! When I saw this, I had to buy it. Had to. And I can't explain why. It seems to me that it would be offensive to devout believers and Christopher Hitchens fans alike. And on many levels. I both hate and love this cross.
I'm a cultural Christian. And I want everyone to like me. If I have problems with all the faiths, I think I'm better off keeping them in the closet. I could write a separate post just about this candy cross, but I'm not going to. You can think about all the weird things about the cross. The paradoxes.
I could say a lot. But I'm not going to.
Just permit me one little remark. I want to imagine a Vampire. Picture a defenseless woman cornered. She has no silver bullets, nor a wooden stake. But she had been to the Dollar Tree in Easton and there on the table within her reach is the Palmer Happy Easter Candy Cross. She grabs it and faces it to the bloodthirsty creature. He yelps and backs away like Superman being hit with a kryptonite snowball. He cries in horror. The woman is saved. He agrees to leave, sunrise is near. Then his eyes turn from red to aqua blue and gleam a bit. The woman thinks he is leering at her sexually. The gleam increases and the vampire says: "hey is that cross milk chocolate? Does it have nuts? I don't like nuts or mint. It's not bittersweet is it? I'll be human in an hour. I can hang out."
For me, it seems it's always about the carbs.
Happy Easter.
LLITTY ::::+::::
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
