been a while

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"