tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643896042834300022024-03-18T08:26:55.433-05:00The Blogings of Chairman JoeChairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.comBlogger259125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-67792046825867932852024-01-16T17:39:00.002-06:002024-01-16T17:39:24.645-06:00Real Madrid<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> After our hike along the northwest coast of Spain and after our week in Barcelona, we should have gone home, but for some reason we had tacked on a shapeless week in a small town in Andalusia, after which we had four days left over before our flight back to Boston from Madrid. </p><p> Madrid is an interesting place, but we had by now absorbed all the interesting things we could and were ready to go home. It didn't help that I had put off looking for a place too long and the hotels in Madrid were crazy expensive and all the Airbnbs seemed to be owned by the same guy. All his reviews were lumped together and you couldn't tell which places were great and which were dungeons.</p><p> After much looking we settled on a place two miles north of the center of tourism. It cost much more than any other place we had stayed, but it had good reviews and the room photos looked good. The hotel appeared to be in a decent neighborhood based on Google street view. </p><p> "Should we be worried if he's never heard of our hotel?" Teresa wondered as we rode in a cab from the airport. The driver followed his GPS down a narrow street, craning his neck to spot Number 6. There was a sign that said Hotel Las Vegas, but it didn't look like there was a hotel behind the locked front door. With the cab gone, I felt like I was in one those dreams in which I'm trying to get somewhere but can't, and no one around me seems to care. </p><p> Fortunately the woman in the money transfer office at Number 8 made me understand that I needed to go to Number 12 to register. The door at Number 12 was also locked but the clerk buzzed me in. She didn't speak English, but found my penciled name in her spiral notebook. She gave me a key and a smile. Room 47, my birth year. This has to be good.</p><p> The key was of no use getting into Number 6. Luckily two gentleman also going in indicated I needed to hold the little blue fob on the keychain up to a little 🔵 on the wall next to the door. Open sesame! We hauled our luggage up the steep steps to another locked door with a blue dot. It was reassuring to see that security here was top notch.</p><p> We got in the elevator to the fourth floor. The two gentleman sensibly declined to join us since a sign said in Spanish and English "More than four people and you will be trapped". The elevator opened, rather weirdly I thought, onto a tiny roofless area with a chair and a potted plant. This must be the patio/smoking area. A doorway led to a hallway with our room and one other. Teresa was aghast when I opened the door. Aesthetics are important to Teresa.</p><p> I must give credit to the photographer who made this very ugly room look like something we would book. It was good that the room's ugliness was confined to such a small space. We had been spoiled by the roominess of our previous accommodations. The apartment in Barcelona had been strange, but this place outdid it. </p><p> The usual trim that cover pipes and wires had been left off which must have made maintenance a breeze. The window was tiny which was fine because the view was of a courtyard and many other tiny windows, which meant our room was blessedly quiet. The room was also clean. My three criteria for a room are cheap, clean, and quiet, so two out of three wasn't bad. And on the plus side there were excellent reading lamps. Yes, the lighting was good though what the lights revealed was bad.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpbQNxUxeEXtr2oVbt9GpWqcmfikht-E2NLm0E21hZK4Z4UmddXOl9OVzgoUBFFtF_WChZdN7nSsAX4MhKChkwe0MBBq71uqekKDNtipAHNhNJIEChxreUCz5ck5yhqYW0orVneIsdN_QYe4GdAogBUgH_sTanyVysXYwh2aShrbzc2gOnTgbdPO9vddR4/s4032/IMG_0677.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpbQNxUxeEXtr2oVbt9GpWqcmfikht-E2NLm0E21hZK4Z4UmddXOl9OVzgoUBFFtF_WChZdN7nSsAX4MhKChkwe0MBBq71uqekKDNtipAHNhNJIEChxreUCz5ck5yhqYW0orVneIsdN_QYe4GdAogBUgH_sTanyVysXYwh2aShrbzc2gOnTgbdPO9vddR4/w480-h640/IMG_0677.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The soccer pitch in front of No. 6, the Hotel Las Vegas.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p> You don't hang around in a room like this. You get out and enjoy the sights of the beautiful capital of Spain. The rain had other ideas. It rained heavily all the next day. We walked a mile towards the tourist center which we would surely have had to ourselves had we made it that far. We had our raincoats on and Teresa had a little umbrella. I tried to buy a little umbrella for myself as we passed the many shops, but no luck. The next day I would see little umbrellas abandoned in the gutter.</p><p> I had unwisely worn a pair of moisture absorbing pants and my sneakers were fairly soaked. After a mile of this I called a halt. "Let's go into that cafe and have a nice cup of tea." Teresa gave the thumbs up. The great thing about Spanish restaurants is that you can sit over your cup of tea or coffee for hours on end. No Spanish restaurant would ever bring your check before you asked for it. That would be insulting. </p><p> We decided to order a late breakfast. We would share the Breakfast Americano. The <i>huevos revueltos</i> were not revolting eggs, but scrambled. The tortilla was a pancake with no syrup. The bacon was bacon. The fried potatoes were French fried potatoes. When dining in a foreign country, something is always lost in translation.</p><p> We enjoyed the restaurant's Wi-Fi and after a couple of hours we split a late lunch. By three pm the rain had let up a bit and we walked back to our room. It may have been depressing but at least it was warm and dry. Wait a minute! Where's the Wi-Fi? As I headed over to Number 12 to complain, I noticed the Wi-Fi worked on the lower floors. I could not get that fact across to the clerk in reception. She kept pointing to the sign behind her with the password. "Take picture!" was her only English. I would have used the translation app on my phone, but Number 12 had a different password than Number 6. </p><p> When I told Teresa this she asked me to go down to floor three and download something for her to read. While there, I used the translation app to compose notes in Spanish describing the Wi-Fi problem. "Might as well complain about the mold spots near the ceiling too," Teresa suggested.</p><p> Next morning there was a kindly old man at reception. He carefully read my phone note a couple of times then looked at me. I nodded and pointed at my note. He wrote my concern in his notebook. Then I showed him the note about the mold. He looked confused. I had used the Spanish word for the kind of mold you make jello in. Luckily a woman came in who knew English and supplied the right word. The clerk wrote the word <i>moho</i> in his notebook.</p><p> The next two days were sunny and cool and we spent them down in the tourist district. We even went to the Prado Art Museum, not because we wanted to, but because two of our sons had gone there many years before during their season in Europe and it would have been shameful for us to blow it off. We kept returning to branches of the restaurant that had sheltered us during the rainy day. The Wi-Fi clicked in automatically and we had their menu in English on our phones.</p><p> When we returned to our room, the Wi-Fi was working and though we didn't expect this, the <i>moho</i> had been removed. They tried at the Vegas, they really did. No matter, we were up early Sunday morning, our suitcase wheels clicking over the quiet streets. We had figured out the mystery of the subway card system and spent a few stress-free hours at the airport awaiting our flight. I had my best meal of our entire month in Spain in the airport. Perhaps knowing Number 3 son would be waiting to pick us up at Logan had something to do with it.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZqGUjuWeF5YKEvd6nSQSPcSpEw3VO4FD2aDrDCO_HoFyYjWCN_5ybZKF7P1wqi2rPDGaSlZ28dL5cNptjuRRDA9UL9MKqfFQ2HAgkgzy0uIFQFKkxS0UCfgJtbAEhsCjUrvS2CLqK51MPD9YB_2ukt8RL0BfVHbMxlDg8e2fgMsAgmS70tMTmrXrL2qC/s4032/IMG_0664.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZqGUjuWeF5YKEvd6nSQSPcSpEw3VO4FD2aDrDCO_HoFyYjWCN_5ybZKF7P1wqi2rPDGaSlZ28dL5cNptjuRRDA9UL9MKqfFQ2HAgkgzy0uIFQFKkxS0UCfgJtbAEhsCjUrvS2CLqK51MPD9YB_2ukt8RL0BfVHbMxlDg8e2fgMsAgmS70tMTmrXrL2qC/w480-h640/IMG_0664.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Don Quixote was always in hot water because he lacked the sense to stay home.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-82006681126435500712024-01-16T17:37:00.004-06:002024-01-16T17:37:58.521-06:00Farewell España<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> Why travel? To see what’s over the next hill. To see how they do things over there. It becomes an obsession until the traveler either dies or learns to stay home. </p><p> We wanted to find out what the thousand year old pilgrimage along the northern plains of Spain was all about. Why would people walk 500 miles for a month, sleeping in dormitories, eating rough food all for the reward of a scallop shell? </p><p> We would learn why they did it by going to Spain, not that we were going to walk with the pilgrims. Their way sounded grim. But we could go to Santiago where the walk ended and maybe do a few days of walking ourselves. </p><p> We talked to pilgrims in Santiago who had completed the route. They couldn’t put into words what the walk had meant to them but they did have a joyous glow about them. </p><p> We had found a hike along the Atlantic coast sixty miles west of Santiago. We saw practically no other hikers during our four days in this remote region called Galicia. We were on more of a tourist route though we saw very few tourists. We did see farmers driving their tractors out onto the mudflats of the deep bays at low tide to collect seaweed for their fields. We saw men nearby digging shellfish. Along the sandy beaches we saw Germans bobbing like seals in the water waiting for a good wave, their camper vans parked along dead end roads. </p><p> Our hike was a combination of beautiful views and anxiety that we might be on the wrong path. Now there's something to meditate about. We experienced language isolation because the local people didn't speak English and we didn't know their language. We couldn't get upset about it because we were in their country. Press two for English. Whenever we came across Dutch hikers or someone from the UK we had a nice chat. We only met a handful of Americans in the month we were in Spain.</p><p> After the hike we had no good reason to stay in Spain other than to see the church of the Sagrada Familia, that fantasy in stone by the architect Gaudi. Sagrada Familia is supposed to be a church and it is a church. The cornerstone was laid in 1882, but the first mass was not said there until 2010 and the place is still not done. What is going on? To be fair, it took 182 years to build Norte Dame in Paris. On the third hand, the much larger St. Peter's in Rome only took 126 years. </p><p> Sagrada Familia is in Barcelona on the Mediterranean, 700 miles east of Santiago. Cheap airfares save a lot of time, but getting to the airport and through security adds a lot of trepidation. Barcelona is a beautiful place if viewed through the lenses of the carefree traveler. We were warned off a certain area where the homeless lived. Could it be any worse than in our Portland?</p><p> We could have gone home after Barcelona but then we would have missed the Alhambra, the fabulous Islamic fortress and palace outside Granada in the south. So we hopped on a flight to the south. Once we got set up in our hilltop lodging surrounded by groves of olive trees, we discovered the Alhambra was fully booked till after our flight home. Oh well, we didn't really want to see the Alhambra anyway. We'd go to Córdoba instead and see the combination mosque and cathedral there.</p><p> We had acquired a rental car by this time. The roads in Spain are as good as at home and they drive on the right side of the road. But driving in the ancient towns is nerve wracking, so we took a ninety minute bus ride to Córdoba. It was a twenty-five minute walk to the mosque from the bus station. That gave us an excuse to stop at a cafe for pastry.</p><p> The Grand Mosque of Córdoba was gigantic. Córdoba had been the capital of Muslim Spain and North Africa. Its mosque was the second largest after Baghdad. We entered through the entrance to the mosque or former mosque. When the Christian's took over Córdoba in 1236, they converted the mosque into a church. They covered over the Koranic texts and installed altars and statues, but left the basic structure of the mosque alone. </p><p> But no one ever lets well enough alone. In 1523 the bishop of Córdoba wanted to build a gothic cathedral in the middle of the mosque. The city council said no way. The bishop appealed to the king who said way. After the cathedral was built the king was invited to mass there. He's reputed to have said, "Ouch."</p><p> After our time in the south we had four days left over so we spent them in Madrid. This post was supposed to be a wrap. Perhaps I'll treat Spain to a Minnesota goodby.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjErSnP7JQ4hkXpNOJU5qIPLgU58Y2PlMyFjKFEP26Ea8sA94wMFZ-j9X3juDpufYsIgPz4zahX4Nk8bjK_jC377omy6n9qfN7J30PS0mCqs2tkSIIDKgxFlJg6eHXwkUzJGWBQENp5oBd-susYoGWqT3ja98g8QbNItNYPtVvilpQHnT_ma7TLZGiWNVm7/s4032/IMG_0582.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjErSnP7JQ4hkXpNOJU5qIPLgU58Y2PlMyFjKFEP26Ea8sA94wMFZ-j9X3juDpufYsIgPz4zahX4Nk8bjK_jC377omy6n9qfN7J30PS0mCqs2tkSIIDKgxFlJg6eHXwkUzJGWBQENp5oBd-susYoGWqT3ja98g8QbNItNYPtVvilpQHnT_ma7TLZGiWNVm7/w480-h640/IMG_0582.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Church meets mosque. Church sits on mosque.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-36093920343649292802024-01-16T17:36:00.000-06:002024-01-16T17:36:05.304-06:00Andalusia<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> The world's first surrealist movie is called <i>The Andalusian Dog</i>. It was released in 1921. It’s a series of unrelated scenes, supposedly inspired by the director's dreams. Salvador Dali was somehow mixed up in it.</p><p> Our week in Andalusia was a little like that. To fill in the time after our hike along the Atlantic coast in the west and our week in Barcelona in the east, we hooked up with a company that booked us in a hill town in Andalusia in the south. </p><p> We flew from Barcelona to Málaga on the Mediterranean coast and picked up the car that came with our “tour”. We got out of town fairly easily but it was weird for Google maps assistant to say “Take Massachusetts 21.” The assistant was interpreting the MA21 of Málaga province as a US state. It was a nice touch of home though.</p><p> The jumbled hills north of Málaga looked exactly like Arizona. After half an hour the hills evened out and were covered with olive trees. Old olive trees, little olive saplings, and between-size trees all in neat rows on a beige soil. Only the most rugged hill tops were free of olive trees. Spain produces half the olive oil in the world and this is its most productive region.</p><p> Our contact, Pablo, met us at a restaurant a few miles from Priego de Córdoba where we would be staying. That was good because we never would have found our lodging on our own. The highways and secondary roads are just like the roads at home, but driving in the ancient towns is mind boggling. The streets are narrow and twisting and you're never quite sure if you're going the wrong way on a one way street. Even Google maps is pretty useless in the towns.</p><p> Ivan, our host directed me into his cramped underground garage and once I got in place I lost all desire to ever take the car out again, especially after Ivan told me I needed to do something to prevent the overhead door from coming down on the roof of our car as we drove out. Ivan's English was good but not good enough to make clear what that special thing was.</p><p> Our apartment had a fantastic view of the olive tree covered hills and the mountains beyond. Ivan's place was one of a connected row of buildings perched on a high cliff. Our apartment was a good size with a sink, refrigerator and microwave. There was a common area kitchen with stove and oven. This was good because getting what we wanted in a Spanish restaurant was problematic. First there was the language barrier, and then you never knew if their <i>hambueger</i> corresponded to our hamburger until it was set before us. When we had the chance to cook, we bought pasta and sauce along with the excellent bread. A cop-out but a satisfying one.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLi5XPRIFzqCUoAHQ33jMbMH_cmlyvpX0BmfIXXtdkp7EMsjSOwAnahn01aFFXrteiLCjh-TrtV06-KVCvOOk1_8AWE4XSrfs-gL79Rge-FZhEz98nkvIYwBYCEWuCNjkep362aj2v9dg9wdNjItallG-OhCd2O4MpydzxDBhfgEmW1-QJKMe-0fJVK-fD/s4032/IMG_0523.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLi5XPRIFzqCUoAHQ33jMbMH_cmlyvpX0BmfIXXtdkp7EMsjSOwAnahn01aFFXrteiLCjh-TrtV06-KVCvOOk1_8AWE4XSrfs-gL79Rge-FZhEz98nkvIYwBYCEWuCNjkep362aj2v9dg9wdNjItallG-OhCd2O4MpydzxDBhfgEmW1-QJKMe-0fJVK-fD/w480-h640/IMG_0523.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Olives of Andalusia</i> <br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p> Priego has a population of 22,000. It has a big baroque cathedral and many smaller churches. It has a big castle preserved from the Moor fighting days of several centuries ago. There's a pretty walkway along the high cliff which leads to those narrow twisting streets which are fun to wander on foot. </p><p> Pablo took us to lunch the next day. We had been disappointed to find the grocery stores closed that morning. Pablo told us it was Spain's National Day (also Columbus Day) and everything was closed except the restaurants. It was good to have Pablo to help us order something we were sure to like. Also present was a woman using the same tour company. Carol had been traveling alone in Europe since April. We admired her stamina. She had declined the rental car and taken the bus to Priego. If only we had known you could do that.</p><p> The theory of having a car was that after seeing all of Priego, you could drive a couple of hours to see the sights in Granada, or Córdoba, or Sevilla. We stretched out the delights of Priego and finally decided to give driving a chance. We chose Sunday figuring traffic would be light. Ivan conveniently did that thing needed to prevent the door from coming down on the roof and we carefully picked our way out of town.</p><p> There was a town a few miles away with Roman ruins. We drove right past the ruins and into the heart of the quiet town. We parked in front of the church and walked back to the ruins. There was just enough English on the plaques to let us know this was the villa of an olive growing estate 2,000 years ago. It was still quiet in town when we got back to the car. Google tried to get us out of town an a long narrow street that ended in a set of stairs. Was I in donkey mode?</p><p> Back on the highway Teresa thumbed through the booklet the company had given us suggesting towns in the area. Zagrilla Baja sounded inoculous, but once we got into its coils we just wanted to get out. We put Zagrilla Alta into Google. We were in Córdoba province and the assistant kept telling us to turn on Colorado such and such. Not funny anymore. Google took us on a narrow gravel road with olive branches brushing against the car.</p><p> Once back on the relatively straight highway I noticed that following the convoluted map was killing the phone battery. Our car was so bare bones it lacked a USB port to charge my phone. We got our bearings for our next destination then shut off the phone. Of course we quickly got lost and were soon heading towards Màlaga on the freeway. If we could stay here a few months and learn Spanish, maybe life would be easy. But I'm like an olive tree. Not much growth happens in a week.</p><p> It was the bat cave that did me in. Teresa found a bat cave up in the hills. Sure. Who doesn't like a nice bat cave? I checked their website. Closed 1:30 to 4:30 for siesta. The saints be praised I said. It had just turned 1:30. Teresa suggested driving up there just to see what the outside looked like. We made our way to Colorado 1362, very much a tertiary road, just wide enough for two cars to pass each other. As we wound our way into the hills and over steep crevasses, Zuheros came into view. That was where you got tickets for the cave. Surely there must be a road into the place but we settled for pictures since we weren’t going to the cave.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMeb6S6CBy4CI-YfOYI-ZHWdUanfqcQiGG4Na2a5gsekU1BjBgLeEHREL4OL5CFGgpaA6JFw_Qy33l-Lw4LHWuyb9TupSRPAAV0MItZirVPIrq_kS6pWisOQueZjthxR1rPqNOCOplACOWSIHqfRenSZDo8yFL_u0l6ru7aO0bgX5UxDu23VocXEWRSQa/s4032/IMG_1146.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMeb6S6CBy4CI-YfOYI-ZHWdUanfqcQiGG4Na2a5gsekU1BjBgLeEHREL4OL5CFGgpaA6JFw_Qy33l-Lw4LHWuyb9TupSRPAAV0MItZirVPIrq_kS6pWisOQueZjthxR1rPqNOCOplACOWSIHqfRenSZDo8yFL_u0l6ru7aO0bgX5UxDu23VocXEWRSQa/w480-h640/IMG_1146.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Zuheros: no go zone</i>. </td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p> We had enough battery life on the phone to get us home. Ivan was out. As I drove into the garage Teresa said the door was coming down so I quickly backed out. After experimenting, we found if Teresa stood in a certain spot, the door would stay up. I locked the car keys in the safe.</p><p> A couple of days later we took the bus down to Córdoba to look at the famous old mosque. It had been the biggest mosque in the Muslim world west of Baghdad. The mosque was interesting, but it was annoying to see how the Christians, once they had pushed the Muslims out, had plopped their cathedral into one end of the mosque just because they could. </p><p> We had some New York Slice pizza behind the mosque and walked the half hour back to the bus station. By riding the bus we had no car troubles, but the bus presented its own problems. The bus driver told us our bus was not going to Priego even though the front of the bus said Priego. A fellow passenger used her phone translator to explain where we'd have to changes busses.</p><p> The afternoon bus was a local so we got to see the backside of several towns which is always interesting. I was content knowing we were on our way home where a big bowl of pasta would be cooked, Americano style.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-46557636691564080522024-01-16T17:34:00.004-06:002024-01-16T17:34:33.473-06:00Sagrada Familia<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> When people asked Antoni Gaudi why his church was taking so long to build, he would say, "My client is not in a hurry." As a longterm student at Catholic schools, I too was kind of a client. The nuns would give us updates on progress on this weird building of curved spires and gaunt statues. Sister Eubestrabius told us the word gaudy came from the architect's name, but it really comes from an obsolete English word meaning joke, which in turn came from the French and Latin words for rejoice, so it all works out.</p><p> Ground was broken for the church way back in 1882. The original architect quit after a year and the young Gaudi was put in charge. Gaudi had been playing with organic designs at a housing development for the rich and he started incorporating his ideas into the plain-vanilla gothic church that was just getting under way. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNieY8p26dkBx503Xm-5rS_hYJc8e5vArlpvPnhHFGUECt1mI4JgLqoga_OIRATsdxvn8l9TxFIpAahxXiaq-hBGF0udt7UHhpukT6vyTR2Prnsy8VbVIoO0s1eu4HnS-AQnj3-dM_-Xf9LlrlKFUPxHP5O1CmcjywNaxI3p7pEIcTN0cf8UzZNbbSEpD9/s4032/IMG_0963.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNieY8p26dkBx503Xm-5rS_hYJc8e5vArlpvPnhHFGUECt1mI4JgLqoga_OIRATsdxvn8l9TxFIpAahxXiaq-hBGF0udt7UHhpukT6vyTR2Prnsy8VbVIoO0s1eu4HnS-AQnj3-dM_-Xf9LlrlKFUPxHP5O1CmcjywNaxI3p7pEIcTN0cf8UzZNbbSEpD9/w480-h640/IMG_0963.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dem bones. The Bible in stone: the crucifixion, the empty tomb, and Christ ascending. Worth the trip</i>.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p> Gaudi developed an organic style inspired by natural forms. Rather than draw plans, he made models which continually evolved as time went on. He came up with structural innovations that did away with the flying buttresses of older churches. He wanted lots of light inside. He was devoted to his work and never married though he was close to his family and friends.</p><p> Gaudi worked on the church for 43 years. At the time of his death in 1926, the building was less than one quarter complete. His disciples have tried to remain faithful to Gaudi's vision. In 1936 during the Spanish Civil War, anarchists damaged the church and destroyed some of Gaudi's original plans. Work on the church started again after the war in 1939</p><p> The builders hope to have the church completed by 2026, the centennial of Gaudi’s death, but Covid halted then slowed construction for awhile. There is one more facade to complete and a few more towers including the Jesus tower which at 566.9 feet, will make Sagrada Familia the tallest church in the world.</p><p> Gaudi was 73 when he died. He was on his way to mass when he was hit by a tram. He wore shabby clothes so people thought he was a tramp and it was a while before he got decent treatment. By the time he was recognized it was too late. There was a massive funeral and he was laid to rest in the crypt under the main altar of Sagrada Familia. Observers say it's unlikely the church will be complete in time for Gaudi's centennial. But what does it matter? Neither Gaudi nor his client is in a hurry. </p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOTv_6Py5l06UiHLZkp6AXvtLdjHaKDAW3BO0un2GwLbjY8DJMos_7POTwYnxO-PE4GzLFq9hPvRrtUhAPOAEHNts1VH9Hv1WfP6AA3OfVtkkW4tL8BdFSUIOMal-XAgGHN3LuIg85RLVb8c7kC6EVjyzt5kwpNTFZ22ipo6gSoTWTTFuZGQjnFk5AVyF/s4032/IMG_0981.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOTv_6Py5l06UiHLZkp6AXvtLdjHaKDAW3BO0un2GwLbjY8DJMos_7POTwYnxO-PE4GzLFq9hPvRrtUhAPOAEHNts1VH9Hv1WfP6AA3OfVtkkW4tL8BdFSUIOMal-XAgGHN3LuIg85RLVb8c7kC6EVjyzt5kwpNTFZ22ipo6gSoTWTTFuZGQjnFk5AVyF/w480-h640/IMG_0981.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Let there be light. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div>Photos by Teresa<br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-50564656876070838512024-01-13T14:36:00.000-06:002024-01-13T14:36:22.889-06:00Barcelona<p> </p><p><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> After our four day pilgrimage along the northwest coast of Spain we could have gone home, but decided since we were here we should see more of the country. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> From Santiago we flew to Barcelona on the Mediterranean. The parts of this large city that we saw consisted of broad avenues lined with five or six story apartment buildings. The avenues are planted to sycamore trees. The secondary streets are also lined with apartment buildings and many of these streets have sycamore trees. There is always a shady side of the street. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> Connecting the secondary streets are narrower streets and alleys of apartment buildings some with small trees. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, bikes, and pedestrians swarm these streets in greater or lesser number depending on the time of day. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> We arrived in Barcelona during rush hour. We were tired so we splurged and took a cab to our lodging. It was worth it. Our Airbnb was in a building on a narrow street. Martin was supposed to meet us there with the key, but he was not there. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> Cars, bikes and people, mostly parents picking their kids up, passed on the narrow street. We were warm. A young boy opened the heavy grill entrance door with a big key and went in. After 15 minutes Martin’s assistant arrived with the keys. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> We were on the fifth floor. Teresa and her suitcase went up first in the tiny antique elevator. The assistant yelled up the stairs for Teresa to close the elevator doors so it would come back down. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> I went up in the elevator with my suitcase, then it was the turn of the assistant. She opened the door to our dark narrow apartment, turning on lights as she went. Bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen. She pulled open the curtains, tall glass doors, and wooden shutters revealing our little balcony and the balconies of our neighbors. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhczQJ1-oDwK1sddFSh4YUkHjr8jZXPjDkHfR2Z4hVLWcQsYvkutYBgSI4K3Ez_OrYxjVV87RTIknufxWlOniR0Bzc9ZQMgdp3tQ-PrIFywmUQqtWayiqUvNNzwrfr_FJFDvfLYsjP3e6WljnJzrVjCFtznt1hhwZNb9E75sanbRF7nH7DJ-ewyKypOMGV-/s4032/IMG_0928.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhczQJ1-oDwK1sddFSh4YUkHjr8jZXPjDkHfR2Z4hVLWcQsYvkutYBgSI4K3Ez_OrYxjVV87RTIknufxWlOniR0Bzc9ZQMgdp3tQ-PrIFywmUQqtWayiqUvNNzwrfr_FJFDvfLYsjP3e6WljnJzrVjCFtznt1hhwZNb9E75sanbRF7nH7DJ-ewyKypOMGV-/w480-h640/IMG_0928.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>La vista</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><br /><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> The temperature would be in the 80s every day during our week in Barcelona. Only the bedroom had a/c. A couple fans moved air around the living room. On the spectrum between luxury and squalor, our apartment was “good enough”. After days of long hikes around the city, it was home sweet home to us. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> After four days of ten mile hikes on our recent pilgrimage, walking a few miles a day around Barcelona was not daunting. People had told us to skip the Rambla, the tacky tourist avenue, home of numberless souvenir shops, outdoor restaurants all selling the same thing, and the most skillful pickpockets in Europe. Bring it on we said.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> The whole point of travel is to feel, touch, and smell a place different from home. The chatter of the parakeets in the trees, the aroma of strange foods, the feel of my wallet gripped in my front pocket, safe from Fagan’s gang. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> The Rambla, like every other street in the city, was lined with apartment buildings. The business of the city takes place on the first floor: restaurants, cafes, bakeries, often with tables out front, clothing stores, gift stores, artisan’s shops, everything you couldn’t imagine. Add in the endless stream of humanity and it's a feast for the eyes. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> At the bottom of the Rambla not far from the sea is the statue of Columbus atop a tall tower. I had no desire to go to the top. Teresa said, “The kids would say, ‘Just do it’”. I said “Whatever.” There was no line for the tower and it was only six euros. The operator of the tiny circular elevator spoke English. That alone was worth five euros. He knew Boston is called Beantown. I told him that in Beantown they took down their Columbus statue. He mentioned Captain Cook and other expropriators. In Columbus’ day it was ok to kill people if they refused to dig in your mine. Captain Cook was skewered on the beach by the Hawaiians. Columbus died suing the king for back pay. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0FNCJBK1wfIkR658Z1h_aHdWotoZkmM_MXEQYvmx2JUrpClMugoUfxjOov6ymtA_moFW3XeEQdeK-1JAIQ9vm5SZzCBH0xSniqCe0eb8Xe8h9LXNPkyOIEGghc9gBBTpMBdueoSnQIZTa7yVyeEhUWJFA2rV19q_BAbgQQxplMHSuz0nIseQrwJlxQC_/s4032/IMG_0478.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0FNCJBK1wfIkR658Z1h_aHdWotoZkmM_MXEQYvmx2JUrpClMugoUfxjOov6ymtA_moFW3XeEQdeK-1JAIQ9vm5SZzCBH0xSniqCe0eb8Xe8h9LXNPkyOIEGghc9gBBTpMBdueoSnQIZTa7yVyeEhUWJFA2rV19q_BAbgQQxplMHSuz0nIseQrwJlxQC_/w480-h640/IMG_0478.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tear that statue down!</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> The most rewarding place we visited was the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi's fantastical church. This place deserves a post of its own so I’ll leave it for later. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> The elevator operator in the Columbus tower told us we could escape the tourist traps by visiting the Park of the Labyrinth. I could see on my phone map that this park was three miles from our apartment. The phone map didn’t show it was mostly uphill. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> Labyrinth day was warm, as the road inclined upward. Two old guys sitting by an ancient water pump invited us to cool ourselves, which we did. They had never heard of the Park of the Labyrinth. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> The straight streets of the lower city now began to twist and turn. I have offline maps on my phone but the blue dot showing our location has as poor a sense of direction as I do. Sometimes we had to walk a hundred feet before we knew we were going the wrong way. The area was as busy as downtown, but as promised, there were no tourists except us bedraggled ones. I noticed a subway stop on the map. After some zigzagging, we found it. A local showed us how to manage the tickets. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> Once home I did the research I should have done earlier. I discovered there was a different subway station just below the labyrinth park. So next morning we rode there in comfort. As a bonus, the park was free on Sundays. We joined the line of families headed that way. The labyrinth is just one part of this park, once the estate of a wealthy family. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> We entered the labyrinth and made our way between the tall cypress trees. Some people were looking at their phones. After research the next day, I realized they were following a map of the labyrinth. We could see people on a portico outside the labyrinth looking back down at us, but we couldn't reach them. After numerous dead ends, we stumbled on the place we had come in. Enough of that. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi846S8B9kTPm61jbdV-WAkpkTUx1nYwPxLYjcq8VLanSqH_G9AP7nY7aENkTNLpoL3A6PjtoqKUXCdrHToYFHQyhhbhsgbsgRKiI5g96yQv9lsOfFdS4_eztiP5jqQwMyXN3tjj5HdWWMdFY3em0YY7ttO8OJAi5qKWyTKH_6ePwlPWQex-WeNAoxM8MVO/s4032/IMG_0451.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi846S8B9kTPm61jbdV-WAkpkTUx1nYwPxLYjcq8VLanSqH_G9AP7nY7aENkTNLpoL3A6PjtoqKUXCdrHToYFHQyhhbhsgbsgRKiI5g96yQv9lsOfFdS4_eztiP5jqQwMyXN3tjj5HdWWMdFY3em0YY7ttO8OJAi5qKWyTKH_6ePwlPWQex-WeNAoxM8MVO/w480-h640/IMG_0451.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Abandon hope all ye who enter here. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> The next day we walked to another park only a mile away from our apartment where Gaudi had lived and practiced designs he would use for Sagrada Famlia. It's now a museum. It was not free during our visit. It never is. We felt we had blown our Gaudi wad touring the church a few days earlier, so after taking a few pics, we headed for the subway which we rode all the way down to the sea. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> We ended up back at the Columbus Tower. To the right were the docks where the cruise ships and freighters come in. To the left was the beach. The beach was our goal. To get to the the beach (there are several beaches stretching along the coast of the city) we had to pass a huge marina. It's good to see so many people are able to afford such massive vessels. We saw the contestants of the Ms Trans World Competition doing a publicity shoot. We stopped for a snack at a harborside café. And still we had to traipse across a Red Bull skate park and past numerous tents purveying stuff made in Barcelona. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> At last the sea appeared. Lots of people were enjoying a sunny day on the beach. A breeze spread the big decorative blankets proffered by the beach towel men. Other men delivered water, beer, and mojitos to the crowd. Catamarans zipped across the horizon. A guy on a board manipulated a hang glider sail overhead till it pulled him out to sea at a high rate of knots. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> We had done our sightseeing duty. Time to head back to the apartment to rest before our late supper. We were living like the locals. A nearby subway stop carried us quickly back to home. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> Walking around the streets of the neighborhood in the evening was like living in a Brueghel painting. This for me is the main incentive for leaving the fleshpots of Wannaska. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> </span></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-55784978045944746832024-01-09T10:00:00.000-06:002024-01-09T10:00:04.388-06:00A Camino of One's Own <p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> Teresa and I flew to Spain last week to walk a pilgrimage. I used to think there was just one pilgrimage: the 500 mile hike across the Pyrenees from France to Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. </p><p> This seemed a bit much and with further research I discovered there were many routes and these routes could be customized, by which I mean shortened. In all decency, the shortest we should shorten it to was four days of hiking. </p><p> There’s a company in England that will make the necessary arrangements for hikers like us. Our starting point would be Santiago where most people end their pilgrimage. After two days in Santiago a cab took us sixty miles west to the small fishing port of Camariñas. </p><p> I was told the seafood here was great. The catch of the day was chalked up on a board. The only thing I recognized was camarón: shrimp. Ok, a nice shrimp dinner sounded good. What I got was a heap of tiny shrimp. The waitress made a ripping off the head motion. The only way to get at the meat was to eat the shell too. The bread was good, as was the granola bar in our room. I resolved to learn Spanish before our next trip here.</p><p> The first day of our hike was drizzly. As we walked down the promenade, a strong wind hit us and we tried out our new rain gear. The rain quit after an hour but the wind stayed strong all day. I had studied the maps and printed directions the company had sent us. We were to follow the green arrows or dots that the Friends of the Lighthouse Trail had marked our path with. Going astray on a long hike in a foreign country is no joke. </p><p> The Friends of the Trail had done a fairly good job of marking the trail, and the written directions were pretty good, but at certain crucial places where the road divided I would have paid ten euros for a green dot or less ambiguity in the directions. </p><p> When we did go astray in the afternoon, it was my fault. I was getting tired and failed to scrutinize the directions closely enough. I was sure we were going the right way but we weren't. When you think you’re right it takes a jolt to set you right again. I got that jolt coming over a rise in the road and seeing the wide Rio Porto where it should not have been.</p><p> We turned around and passed a path that would have taken us directly to our lodging if we had only known it. We hiked back almost to the spot we had gone wrong but not quite far enough. I was now fully tangled up in my underwear. We proceeded to hike right past our lodging but the sign was covered with bushes so we kept going, thinking it was further up the hill.</p><p> I was about to turn on our cellular and pay the hefty tariff when Teresa asked a woman in her garden where our place was. All we could make out was <i>casita</i> and <i>derecho</i>. Go right at the little house? She pointed back the way we had come. Further on we asked another woman. She pointed the same way and said <i>izquierda</i>, left. We came to a little house. On the left side was what looked like a private home. Could it be our goal? We walked through the gate and saw the small sign for Reception. Yes yes yes! We were saved. </p><p> On day two the weather was great and we continued along the coast and through forests of pine and eucalyptus. We walked about two miles longer than necessary due to another screw up on my part which I won’t go into here as it’s embarrassing. </p><p> We cut day three short by taking a cab a few kilometers down the road. We needed an easy day after my double fiascos. </p><p> Day four was not especially long but it was the hardest because of the climbing up to the sea cliffs along the side of a mountain. It took our breath away, literally. </p><p> On our way down from the cliffs we ran into a Dutch couple around our age who told us of their hikes all over Europe. It was great to have an extended conversation in English. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVsLKpnwLpsftIoPQMYs1t_bPFzgze8BDGQd75EtBSZAj9jjUKHJbBqAzjtGKY2Kq9r33BVNoyT8QSGitrlDq77dMv2rT31k0lnIOqsCH-UWla0IZ-s1Z1QVw5UUamW0BJlZOa8SIcGs01gBUlvdzGoPY2IvAiWIpJ2m3X6as6yvHli7kFIlqLg6gByt8/s4032/IMG_0224.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVsLKpnwLpsftIoPQMYs1t_bPFzgze8BDGQd75EtBSZAj9jjUKHJbBqAzjtGKY2Kq9r33BVNoyT8QSGitrlDq77dMv2rT31k0lnIOqsCH-UWla0IZ-s1Z1QVw5UUamW0BJlZOa8SIcGs01gBUlvdzGoPY2IvAiWIpJ2m3X6as6yvHli7kFIlqLg6gByt8/w480-h640/IMG_0224.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anti-gravity girl</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p> Our hike ended in Finisterre or World’s End, the westernmost point in Spain. Our tour company had booked us in the nice hotel at the end of the point by the lighthouse. At sunset the tourists came to watch the sun sink into the sea. Goats came up the rocky slopes to graze. It was nice. And nice that we were done. </p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvU8Z61tq2mft8KbpLBoz_pRi4icg6GLve08Ojj4-VvALSNGm9bk5hz3HmL4EdknxKtv3xUf7SAkRf14ula3Pd63PQ9XpJTrp92kBE8lKaYcI26Z7-O67G-6O6uhTaAH58nsVhIDWk-XaQT_FEDjd8WZgSH4Xe-HtPitd3dPTsv1xGaIGyufm44uuMxgN/s4032/IMG_0901.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvU8Z61tq2mft8KbpLBoz_pRi4icg6GLve08Ojj4-VvALSNGm9bk5hz3HmL4EdknxKtv3xUf7SAkRf14ula3Pd63PQ9XpJTrp92kBE8lKaYcI26Z7-O67G-6O6uhTaAH58nsVhIDWk-XaQT_FEDjd8WZgSH4Xe-HtPitd3dPTsv1xGaIGyufm44uuMxgN/w480-h640/IMG_0901.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>End of the trail</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-39570672620166420762024-01-09T09:35:00.004-06:002024-01-09T09:42:29.108-06:00A Trip to Beyond <p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> "Travel is great once you get there." I don't know who said that first. Possibly Marco Polo. Maybe Lewis in a note to Clark. I know I said it to Teresa as I opened our hotel window overlooking the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela. "We are here," Teresa added.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> Some people say planning a trip is half the fun. That's only true if you're planning a day trip to the beach or some such easy destination. We were planning to go on a pilgrimage in Spain. For over a thousand years people have been hiking across northern Spain to the city of Santiago de Compostela in the northwest corner of Spain. We wanted to join them.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> The most popular route starts in France, crosses the Pyrenees Mountains, and travels west for around 500 miles. It takes most people 35 days and when they get to Santiago they get a scallop shell on a string to hang on their backpack. That sounded like fun till I read that long sections of the hike were like walking across northern Minnesota. Maybe we could just hike across the more scenic portions. </p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> That's when I discovered a British company called On Foot Holidays which sets up self-guided tours all over Europe. They arrange lodging, give you detailed maps, and move your luggage from inn to inn. One of their itineraries is on the final eleven days of the Santiago hike. We decided to do that last spring until we discovered our passports were about to expire. </p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> We applied for new passports and during the summer we started taking long walks. We realized we were not up to eleven days of 12-15 miles per day. We found that On Foot had another hike that started west of Santiago and continued on to the Atlantic coast at Finisterre or "World's End". This hike was ten days long but could be shortened to seven or even four days and those days could be shortened from 15 miles to 10. That sounded about right so we booked.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> We drove to Massachusetts in late September to visit our kids and on September 24, we flew to Madrid and then up to Santiago. We gave ourselves a couple of days in Santiago to recover from jet lag and enjoy the ambiance. Santiago probably has more going for it besides half a million pilgrims arriving in their town every year, but that's all we focused on during our stay. </p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> There was a gigantic baroque cathedral with a huge plaza out front where the pilgrims officially finished their hike. It was fun to watch them arrive and pose for photos by the paving stone with the big scallop shell. They looked <i>muy, muy feliz</i>. There were dozens of little restaurants and even more souvenir shops in the narrow, winding streets around the cathedral. There were extra churches around the cathedral and museums to explain it all.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJT3PypBFJSaWYE8BAUhKBSXXNtALtaBruaQSb9r3e5h51-uIE-shKqaixaiW7UK98Yg8ufegacLBOVB_Jh2zIb9z7LZC-SpqTPglNRjPrdAfXPahGToJdrBVe3VCLBfqfe9V_KqU7wdKKNvQjjWBFPONlPC_0r2kJGdX2yB3R_87Ss0zFnq9qmJQHunu/s4032/IMG_0113.jpeg" style="background: none; color: #24a03f; cursor: pointer; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJT3PypBFJSaWYE8BAUhKBSXXNtALtaBruaQSb9r3e5h51-uIE-shKqaixaiW7UK98Yg8ufegacLBOVB_Jh2zIb9z7LZC-SpqTPglNRjPrdAfXPahGToJdrBVe3VCLBfqfe9V_KqU7wdKKNvQjjWBFPONlPC_0r2kJGdX2yB3R_87Ss0zFnq9qmJQHunu/w480-h640/IMG_0113.jpeg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>"We made it!"</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> The Museum of the Camino explained what the big deal was about. St James was one of Jesus' favorite apostles. According to the Bible, he was beheaded in Jerusalem for preaching the gospel. According to tradition he had gone Spain at some point to spread the good news. After his beheading, his Spanish disciples brought his body to Spain for burial. In the eighth century a monk had a vision of Saint James' grave. The local bishop built a much nicer tomb and the local king made a pilgrimage and built a church over the tomb and the pilgrims have been coming ever since.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtjALoVAYzirbcQw8USsI_uGtCT3Kq3Rn3z5XJpBDmmejarzwZYkV5ZJE0PpoX1JBh3A7_FDk5kY0iwPbDMMmxBOQneX59po2clp-RC3at-kZCwbvVJH1SRBkW2M6B3Gbu9ZdElu81nH7PQazgzzxAIn6ru5SXdzeUmdKDuaLEuL0VfmtHi-JObzRlgl2/s4032/IMG_0060.jpeg" style="background: none; color: #24a03f; cursor: pointer; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtjALoVAYzirbcQw8USsI_uGtCT3Kq3Rn3z5XJpBDmmejarzwZYkV5ZJE0PpoX1JBh3A7_FDk5kY0iwPbDMMmxBOQneX59po2clp-RC3at-kZCwbvVJH1SRBkW2M6B3Gbu9ZdElu81nH7PQazgzzxAIn6ru5SXdzeUmdKDuaLEuL0VfmtHi-JObzRlgl2/w480-h640/IMG_0060.jpeg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>The Saint is in.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> St. James' bones are in a crypt under the cathedral's main altar. Does the silver encrusted chest really contain the bones of the apostle? I'm certainly not going to spoil the fun at this late date. </p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLIEpKJ1i8CagzvtqXR0HHyPBvpiIScHN3JYdCcRg4_9g6R1Q9ucdSWgjgkFzmf7-F5Qy1sO9Z2c21UmYkGFIJyWS1DXkuYIG02Aovdxb27OC1jx2yI_bPt3qc-x3PDJQI-IZ7WE7zSmPjvBDtMITliytzZwliQz0_1deiF6mUYKfl8qX1L8wTGyeCL57L/s4032/IMG_0081.jpeg" style="background: none; color: #24a03f; cursor: pointer; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLIEpKJ1i8CagzvtqXR0HHyPBvpiIScHN3JYdCcRg4_9g6R1Q9ucdSWgjgkFzmf7-F5Qy1sO9Z2c21UmYkGFIJyWS1DXkuYIG02Aovdxb27OC1jx2yI_bPt3qc-x3PDJQI-IZ7WE7zSmPjvBDtMITliytzZwliQz0_1deiF6mUYKfl8qX1L8wTGyeCL57L/w480-h640/IMG_0081.jpeg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>Donated pilgrims' walking sticks. <br />The pilgrims encourage each other with Ultreia! Further!</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-24501568207467597392023-02-19T13:37:00.003-06:002023-03-04T10:53:08.415-06:00A Streetcar Named Museum<p> </p><p> I've been rereading or rather relistening to <i>Ulysses</i> by James Joyce. My Hard Books Book Club put the hard work required into understanding this notoriously difficult book a couple of years ago. It's a puzzle. Once solved I framed it and hung it on the wall. Once a year I take it down and lose myself in its intricacies. </p><p> People in the book in the Dublin of 1904 are always jumping on trams to get around town. Sometimes characters complain there aren't enough tram lines, but a look at the old system map shows Dublin was pretty well covered. If you were in a hurry you could hire a horse drawn hack the way we use taxis or Uber </p><p> There were trains to other parts of the country and if you weren't in a hurry there were canal barges. This tram system reminded me of the system of subways, busses and streetcars of my youth in Boston. You could ride the whole system all day for a nickel if you remembered to get a paper transfer when changing lines. </p><p> By brother Bill explored the city on his bike. Not me. I have no sense of direction or memory for the way I have come. No, once I had my map of the system I could ride to the far ends of the system. To get to my high school I took a bus then an elevated train or a streetcar. I used to alternate between streetcar and train to keep things fresh. </p><p> One cold bright early spring morning our class was scheduled for a field trip to the Museum of Science just off downtown. I had ridden to the museum by myself before and knew the streetcar that went to the museum was on a different line from the one that I rode to school. I assumed we would have to ride downtown then switch lines.</p><p> Brother More led us to the stop where I had gotten off the trolley that morning. The tracks here ran down the center of Huntington Avenue. The streetcars always ran in tandem, but soon a single car arrived and picked us all up. The school had chartered a streetcar to keep us all in hand. There was always a joker looking for a chance to get "lost". </p><p>The streetcar went underground as we approached downtown. In the dimly lit tunnel it did some fancy switching and soon emerged in the light on the Lechmere Viaduct and crossed the river to the museum. Why do minor incidents like this remain so bright in the memory when I can't remember whether I turned left or right in Cleveland? If I ever write an incomprehensible novel, this streetcar will provide one of its many keys. It will, yes.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5IuKna6p33XhOW-n3xpeVcHbd-JzMN39OTIH_H9K-fNodOrw__URaQAJuqhxq8XEiQxN6yC4y3NK4fU6M4cwRE9hquds2ykwG8eIhMVe-f_c4IulNJHxp-UkYRq3X-jo60ejTNf1mAE8Ld4SIukCcYRHrFVc9B3T8JQsVE5jPHR7SPSBD4N3fx2rDw/s275/42713A3B-3521-40A3-BD80-EE6CA408EA42.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5IuKna6p33XhOW-n3xpeVcHbd-JzMN39OTIH_H9K-fNodOrw__URaQAJuqhxq8XEiQxN6yC4y3NK4fU6M4cwRE9hquds2ykwG8eIhMVe-f_c4IulNJHxp-UkYRq3X-jo60ejTNf1mAE8Ld4SIukCcYRHrFVc9B3T8JQsVE5jPHR7SPSBD4N3fx2rDw/w400-h266/42713A3B-3521-40A3-BD80-EE6CA408EA42.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Brang Brang!</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-3585630645773443492022-08-26T19:12:00.001-05:002022-08-26T19:12:14.476-05:00The Anarchist <p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> Immediately after President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, a great number of books appeared on the shelves turning the dead president into a martyr and turning a quick buck for the authors. I recently came across a beat up old book in a second hand bookstore that had been cranked out immediately after the assassination of President McKinley in 1901.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> The book was definitely a rush job, padded with photographs and purple prose. McKinley was shot twice in the chest on September 6, 1901. He was expected to recover, but died from gangrene on September 14. When the book was published the assassin was still living. The author suggested he be kept alive as an example. No one listened to him and the assassin was electrocuted on October 29 of that same year.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> Anarchism was the Terrorism of McKinley’s day. Teddy Roosevelt, a few years before becoming president upon McKinley's death, said anarchism was the main problem in the country. Anarchism is a philosophy that rejects the authority of the state. Pure communism or libertarianism are synonymous with it. Anarchists will use evolutionary change when they can. Otherwise violent revolution will be their tactic.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> McKinley's assassin was Leon Czolgosz (CHOL-gosh), the son of Polish immigrants. Czolgosz was born in Michigan and came of age during the Depression of 1893. He lost his job as a steelworker and joined a socialist club, taking an interest in anarchism. He became a fan of the popular anarchist Emma Goldman. When he tried to befriend Goldman, she and her group were put off by his odd behavior and thought he was an infiltrator. </p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> Czolgosz was rebuffed by other anarchist groups and decided to work alone after being inspired by the assassination of the Italian king by a lone gunman in 1900. Czolgosz bought a revolver and headed to Buffalo in early September, 1901, where McKinley would be speaking at the Pan-American Exposition. Czolgosz attended McKinley's speech on September 5, but was not able to get close enough to the president.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> The next day Czolgosz joined the line that was shaking hands with McKinley. Czolgosz carried his pistol wrapped in a handkerchief as though his hand was injured. This might have alerted the security detail, but the man ahead of Czolgosz in line was a dark-skinned Italian who got most of the guards' attention. As McKinley took his hand, Czolgosz fired two bullets into McKinley's chest. The crowd set upon Czolgosz and probably would have killed him if McKinley had not ordered his guards to protect him.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> McKinley lingered another eight days. The surgeon was unable to find the second bullet. There were no antibiotics then to fight the infection growing in the president's abdomen. McKinley had been a popular president. Prosperity had returned to the country during his first term and there was an outpouring of grief at his death on September 14.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> Czolgoz pleaded guilty and refused to cooperate with his lawyer. His trial was swift and despite obvious signs of insanity, he was condemned to death and electrocuted on October 19. The old book about the assassination has no personal information about Czolgosz. That would only come out in the following months. The author of the book has to content himself with describing Czolgosz as a "damnable assassin," a "murderer by profession," and "a hissing serpent in the weeds." Correction, that last was the author's description of the assassin of President Garfield in 1881. John Wilkes Booth was simply a "madman." All three assassins were "bloody miscreants."</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> The last eight pages of the book are ruled blank pages which I thought were for notes, but were actually a form for ordering additional copies, "bound in extra SILK CLOTH, inlaid Photographs. RETAIL PRICE ONLY . . $1.50. I only had to pay a dollar for my copy.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhofzO5vv0-CJvpvjrTpj93Z9mM42FdByqBgoezmKNy6kPStMVHZtecUh5uK0iVOWEnugFMuVOXka2n4BeegkdS4WfTpc_BL0h2PbWuITipA7dMsT2Nv95ovlJw2uADXjbdGWbtgcv5s7QUESCwxaiJkwvosVNmjGZZmHVb6Iy1eTonNOu16dOORUC2gw/s4032/1795004B-F4EE-41A0-B607-99E6B561A0E2.jpeg" style="color: #24a03f; cursor: pointer; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhofzO5vv0-CJvpvjrTpj93Z9mM42FdByqBgoezmKNy6kPStMVHZtecUh5uK0iVOWEnugFMuVOXka2n4BeegkdS4WfTpc_BL0h2PbWuITipA7dMsT2Nv95ovlJw2uADXjbdGWbtgcv5s7QUESCwxaiJkwvosVNmjGZZmHVb6Iy1eTonNOu16dOORUC2gw/w480-h640/1795004B-F4EE-41A0-B607-99E6B561A0E2.jpeg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>From "Illustrious Life of William McKinley"</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-91498459602664004032022-08-26T19:10:00.002-05:002022-08-26T19:10:38.454-05:00Sunday Squibs (August 21, 2022)<p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">You’ll have much better luck getting a spare part from the shop that works on the thing rather than from the place where you bought it. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The old saints wore prickly hair shirts for penance. We modern saints have as hair shirts our civilization’s bright lights and noises. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Once I was scornful of pro wrestling. Now I admire it as a rough ballet followed by truly mad balletomanes. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">A mystery movie focuses on who done it. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">A horror flick focuses on who it is done unto. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The future of the procrastinator is constantly ducking to let his present stride over it. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">When mastering any science, we don’t go down a rabbit hole, rather we dig the rabbit out of his hole. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">A faith to move mountains? Miracle enough to change hearts of stone into flesh and blood. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Saying no one loves me is ridiculous. If you say no one loves me like I want to be loved, I will believe you and make a discreet exit. </span></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-8565450407817889042022-08-26T19:08:00.000-05:002022-08-26T19:08:35.521-05:00A Birthday Bash for Ogden Nash (August 19, 2022)<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>The City of Nashville was named for Uncle Frank</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>In the war with Great Britain he held a general’s rank</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>Young Ogden said no to all that doo-dah</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>So they named after him that town in Utah</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> I love Ogden Nash for his name alone. And yes, Nashville was named for his great, great uncle Francis. I also admire him because he made a good living by his very short poems. That was his secret: he encapsulated great truths in a few lines.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i><b>A Word to Husbands</b></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>To keep your marriage brimming </i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>With love in the loving cup,</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>Whenever your wrong admit it:</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>Whenever you’re right, shut up.</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i> </i>There's a truth admitted by all to be right. And no one but Ogden Nash could have put it so prettily. It took Nash many years to settle on poetry as an occupation. He claims he started rhyming at the age of six and admitted that finding the right rhyme can be hard. It became easier when he started making up his own words which is the right of any real poet.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px;"><b>Further Reflections on Parsley</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;"></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;">Parsley</span></div><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.36px;">Is gharsley.</span></div></span><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> He tried Harvard but that was too serious a place for him. So he went to New York and tried to sell bonds, but never got the hang of it. In two years he only sold one bond and that one to his godmother. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;"><b>Introspective Reflection</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;">I would live all my life in nonchalance and insouciance</span></div><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.36px;">Were it not for making a living, which is rather a nouciance.</span></div></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> He got a job writing the ads on streetcars and started sending his poems to <i>The New Yorker</i> which recognized his genius. In 1931 he got married and published his first book which became a best seller. He never looked back. He led a charmed life appearing on TV, giving lectures, writing screenplays, and of course writing hundreds and hundreds of more poems. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> When he died at age 68 in 1971 his obituary said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the best-known producer of humorous verse in the country." He could slip a serious one in occasionally.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i><b>Old Men</b></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>People expect old men to die,</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>They do not really mourn old men.</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>Old men are different. People look</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>At them with eyes that wonder when...</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>People watch with unshocked eyes;</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>But old men know when an old man dies.</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>The City of Nashville was named for Uncle Frank</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>In the war with Great Britain he held a general’s rank</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>Young Ogden said no to all that doo-dah</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>So they named after him that town in Utah</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> I love Ogden Nash for his name alone. And yes, Nashville was named for his great, great uncle Francis. I also admire him because he made a good living by his very short poems. That was his secret: he encapsulated great truths in a few lines.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i><b>A Word to Husbands</b></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>To keep your marriage brimming </i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>With love in the loving cup,</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>Whenever your wrong admit it:</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>Whenever you’re right, shut up.</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i> </i>There's a truth admitted by all to be right. And no one but Ogden Nash could have put it so prettily. It took Nash many years to settle on poetry as an occupation. He claims he started rhyming at the age of six and admitted that finding the right rhyme can be hard. It became easier when he started making up his own words which is the right of any real poet.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px;"><b>Further Reflections on Parsley</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;"></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;">Parsley</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.36px;">Is gharsley.</span></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> He tried Harvard but that was too serious a place for him. So he went to New York and tried to sell bonds, but never got the hang of it. In two years he only sold one bond and that one to his godmother. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;"><b>Introspective Reflection</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;">I would live all my life in nonchalance and insouciance</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.36px;">Were it not for making a living, which is rather a nouciance.</span></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> He got a job writing the ads on streetcars and started sending his poems to <i>The New Yorker</i> which recognized his genius. In 1931 he got married and published his first book which became a best seller. He never looked back. He led a charmed life appearing on TV, giving lectures, writing screenplays, and of course writing hundreds and hundreds of more poems. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> When he died at age 68 in 1971 his obituary said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the best-known producer of humorous verse in the country." He could slip a serious one in occasionally.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i><b>Old Men</b></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>People expect old men to die,</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>They do not really mourn old men.</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>Old men are different. People look</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>At them with eyes that wonder when...</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>People watch with unshocked eyes;</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i>But old men know when an old man dies.</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border: 0px; caret-color: rgb(87, 77, 77); color: #574d4d; font-family: "Droid Serif", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;"></span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.36px; font-style: italic;"></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border: 0px; caret-color: rgb(87, 77, 77); color: #574d4d; font-family: "Droid Serif", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-77924423967309755482022-08-14T11:24:00.003-05:002022-08-14T11:24:10.937-05:00Sunday Squibs (August 14)<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">We need at least one friend who scares us to make us appreciate the friends who don’t. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Covid brain has given respectability to my long-term absent mindedness. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Some see eternity in a grain of sand. I see it in a dirty dish. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">History gives us an excellent chart of the past but only a rough map of the future. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The sloth would make the perfect efficiency expert if only he could organize his notes. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The alcoholic always remembers his first drink. Once dry he always remembers his latest refusal. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Sickness transports us back to the irritable age of adolescence when we were only able to focus on ourselves. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Our lives are like those Netflix series that seem to go on forever until they suddenly end, more or less lamely, and after some chatter, the fans turn to the spin-offs. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I just updated my phone’s operating system to 15 point something to improve security and fix bugs. 1.0 seemed to work fine way back when but it must have been vulnerable and buggy.</span></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-29886039795630907292022-08-14T11:22:00.002-05:002022-08-14T11:22:10.241-05:00Sunday Squibs (August 7)<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">In the future Americans will be as blended as the Japanese or the Nigerians. Those Americans will romanticize our era as a time when ethnicity meant something. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">We pray continuously to God to let us win the lottery. While God keeps beaming the message: There’s a winning ticket in your pocket. Go cash it in. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I don’t tell young people I grew up before the Internet. It only makes me look like one of those dark and alien statues from Easter island. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Old timers complain about same day surgery. "They used to keep us a week!" But back then there was less surgery attempted, the survival rate was lower, and the hospital held on to you because it needed the business. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Our once cute baby’s tummy reasserts itself with age; though no one pokes it now to make us giggle. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">After an illness I realize my sunny disposition depends on my feeling well. Let my good health ebb too much and the hulks of sunken ships soon appear. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Pride without humility: cement without gravel. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Uncomfortable, disorienting, dangerous: Travel is a form of sickness often self-induced. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The pious are accused of being cafeteria Christians, in whose food line the order to love one another is as popular as boiled cabbage. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The spry septuagenarian is still able to be physically nasty. After that, it’s mostly mental. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">A friend is someone who doesn't get mad if you don't read the book he loans you.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">But the friendship may be over if you fail to return it. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">My love is like bowl of ripe cherries</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I set in her lap. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">-Are they washed?</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Of course, my love.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">-And destemmed?</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Not yet, my love. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">-And pitted?</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">My love is like a can of cherry pie filling</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I poured into her lap. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Sanity can ruin an artist. If van Gogh had not been a tragic figure, would we pay big bucks now to see his light show?</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Eating sugar is compulsive. It feeds our joy not our bodies. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">We and the bees are alike in our love for the flowers. They use them to feed their hive; we, to feed our souls. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Clean up your mess before you leave or God might go all Hindu and send you back as a dishrag. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Gringo seniors nip down to Mexico to get their frayed edges snipped. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The wounded warrior should certainly receive help from the non-combatants. But the non-coms these days are in rough shape too.</span></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-34746375733233859682022-08-14T11:18:00.002-05:002022-08-14T11:20:23.384-05:00Grey Owl (August 5)<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> The grey owl is an elusive bird. It sits in the shadows then swoops in silently to grab an unsuspecting vole or two. The Native American environmentalist Grey Owl (1888-1938) was somewhat elusive, but he was not silent about the need to change our relationship with nature. </p><p> Grey Owl made his living as a trapper until he met Anahereo Bernard, a Canadian Mohawk woman who made him see the cruelty of trapping. Grey Owl switched from being a trapper to a writer who in his magazine articles and books stressed the need to protect the environment. Because of the Depression unemployed men were heading to the woods to trap beaver, exterminating them in some areas. Grey Owl saw the beaver as key to the survival of the wilderness and the Canadian identity.</p><p> Grey Owl also campaigned against the forestry corporations who, abetted by the government, were clear cutting the old-growth forests in the West and replacing them with monoculture plantations. Grey Owl came to the attention of the parks service and he was made naturalist at Prince Albert National Park in northern Saskatchewan where he lived until his death at age 49.</p><p> Most of us have a secret we keep to ourselves. Grey Owl had a forest full of secrets. Suspicious minds began to inquire into his origins after his death. He had told his biographer that his father was Scottish and his mother Apache. The part about his father was true enough but his mother was English. His non-native name was Archibald Belaney and he was born in Sussex, England on September 18, 1888.</p><p> Not long after his birth, Archibald's parents took off for the US while he was left in the care of his grandmother and two aunts. Archibald's father disappeared for good in America and his mother returned to England but only visited her son occasionally. Archie did well in school and loved being out in nature. He and a friend practiced knife throwing and marksmanship. </p><p> Archie was known as a prankster. In chemistry class he made little explosive packets that he called "Belaney Bombs." After school he worked as a clerk for a timber company where he continued his pranks. One day he lowered fireworks down the office chimney and nearly destroyed the building. He was let go from the timber company and his aunts sent him to Canada to study agriculture. </p><p> He immediately took off for the woods of northern Ontario to begin his career as a trapper presenting himself as a Native American. He sincerely wanted to live the life of a native. He met and married an Ojibwa woman named Angele Egwuna (this was several years before he met the Mohawk woman Anahereo). From Angele he learned the Ojibwa language and the ways of the woods. After spending a winter in the woods trapping, he said the tribe had a adopted him as a Ojibwa trapper.</p><p> When WWI broke out he joined the Canadian Army and served as a sniper. He told his fellow soldiers he was native. After being wounded twice, he was shipped back to Canada where he took to drink. Though his best days as a writer were ahead of him, his alcoholism would lead to his early death. Without letting his first wife know he was back, he partnered with Anahereo. </p><p> After his death, Grey Owl's first wife Angele got his estate which was substantial But Anahero did alright for herself. She married a Swedish nobleman and wrote two best-selling books about her life with Grey Owl. In her books she claimed she didn't know he was other than what he said he was. She said she was hurt by the revelation. She remained active in the environmental movement and was elected a Member of the Order of Canada a few years before her death in 1986. She is buried beside Grey Owl in Prince Albert Park.</p><p> It's not right to fabricate our past. Grey Owl's stock went way down after the revelations. His publishers removed his books from their lists. But with the passage of time his reputation has been resuscitated. In 1976 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation produced a documentary about him directed by David Attenborough and starring Pierce Brosnan as Grey Owl. A plaque has been erected in his honor in his home back in East Sussex. </p><p> Grey Owl's cabin in Prince Albert Park has been preserved and the public is welcome to visit, though it's a 12 mile hike in. It's only 10 miles by canoe. Grey Owl may have been a bit of a devil, but he did his bit to save the wilderness. Thoreau called the wilderness "the preservation of the world."</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPs4Nrbu0WrYdMDnDB7ca5gZGvNWsQkBQUxOpyQ2brvVAgyrBxAeIl9Yjqj7tnGfhfblC39syYCsxoWN9wOlVoATOp05S6Kw7p7ipTf2jLjzaLua4GNysvescvEIS2U1jjC7-IP2h-MJyptmWSYjWCxB42nVEMbTMAKebSfe-7Za4Rgn86H2YEuptKA/s200/ACD3F136-2837-4105-8CB3-4A5886D03D64.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="196" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPs4Nrbu0WrYdMDnDB7ca5gZGvNWsQkBQUxOpyQ2brvVAgyrBxAeIl9Yjqj7tnGfhfblC39syYCsxoWN9wOlVoATOp05S6Kw7p7ipTf2jLjzaLua4GNysvescvEIS2U1jjC7-IP2h-MJyptmWSYjWCxB42nVEMbTMAKebSfe-7Za4Rgn86H2YEuptKA/w392-h400/ACD3F136-2837-4105-8CB3-4A5886D03D64.jpeg" width="392" /></i></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Grey Owl with his pet beaver</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> The grey owl is an elusive bird. It sits in the shadows then swoops in silently to grab an unsuspecting vole or two. The Native American environmentalist Grey Owl (1888-1938) was somewhat elusive, but he was not silent about the need to change our relationship with nature. </p><p> Grey Owl made his living as a trapper until he met Anahereo Bernard, a Canadian Mohawk woman who made him see the cruelty of trapping. Grey Owl switched from being a trapper to a writer who in his magazine articles and books stressed the need to protect the environment. Because of the Depression unemployed men were heading to the woods to trap beaver, exterminating them in some areas. Grey Owl saw the beaver as key to the survival of the wilderness and the Canadian identity.</p><p> Grey Owl also campaigned against the forestry corporations who, abetted by the government, were clear cutting the old-growth forests in the West and replacing them with monoculture plantations. Grey Owl came to the attention of the parks service and he was made naturalist at Prince Albert National Park in northern Saskatchewan where he lived until his death at age 49.</p><p> Most of us have a secret we keep to ourselves. Grey Owl had a forest full of secrets. Suspicious minds began to inquire into his origins after his death. He had told his biographer that his father was Scottish and his mother Apache. The part about his father was true enough but his mother was English. His non-native name was Archibald Belaney and he was born in Sussex, England on September 18, 1888.</p><p> Not long after his birth, Archibald's parents took off for the US while he was left in the care of his grandmother and two aunts. Archibald's father disappeared for good in America and his mother returned to England but only visited her son occasionally. Archie did well in school and loved being out in nature. He and a friend practiced knife throwing and marksmanship. </p><p> Archie was known as a prankster. In chemistry class he made little explosive packets that he called "Belaney Bombs." After school he worked as a clerk for a timber company where he continued his pranks. One day he lowered fireworks down the office chimney and nearly destroyed the building. He was let go from the timber company and his aunts sent him to Canada to study agriculture. </p><p> He immediately took off for the woods of northern Ontario to begin his career as a trapper presenting himself as a Native American. He sincerely wanted to live the life of a native. He met and married an Ojibwa woman named Angele Egwuna (this was several years before he met the Mohawk woman Anahereo). From Angele he learned the Ojibwa language and the ways of the woods. After spending a winter in the woods trapping, he said the tribe had a adopted him as a Ojibwa trapper.</p><p> When WWI broke out he joined the Canadian Army and served as a sniper. He told his fellow soldiers he was native. After being wounded twice, he was shipped back to Canada where he took to drink. Though his best days as a writer were ahead of him, his alcoholism would lead to his early death. Without letting his first wife know he was back, he partnered with Anahereo. </p><p> After his death, Grey Owl's first wife Angele got his estate which was substantial But Anahero did alright for herself. She married a Swedish nobleman and wrote two best-selling books about her life with Grey Owl. In her books she claimed she didn't know he was other than what he said he was. She said she was hurt by the revelation. She remained active in the environmental movement and was elected a Member of the Order of Canada a few years before her death in 1986. She is buried beside Grey Owl in Prince Albert Park.</p><p> It's not right to fabricate our past. Grey Owl's stock went way down after the revelations. His publishers removed his books from their lists. But with the passage of time his reputation has been resuscitated. In 1976 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation produced a documentary about him directed by David Attenborough and starring Pierce Brosnan as Grey Owl. A plaque has been erected in his honor in his home back in East Sussex. </p><p> Grey Owl's cabin in Prince Albert Park has been preserved and the public is welcome to visit, though it's a 12 mile hike in. It's only 10 miles by canoe. Grey Owl may have been a bit of a devil, but he did his bit to save the wilderness. Thoreau called the wilderness "the preservation of the world."</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPs4Nrbu0WrYdMDnDB7ca5gZGvNWsQkBQUxOpyQ2brvVAgyrBxAeIl9Yjqj7tnGfhfblC39syYCsxoWN9wOlVoATOp05S6Kw7p7ipTf2jLjzaLua4GNysvescvEIS2U1jjC7-IP2h-MJyptmWSYjWCxB42nVEMbTMAKebSfe-7Za4Rgn86H2YEuptKA/s200/ACD3F136-2837-4105-8CB3-4A5886D03D64.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="196" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPs4Nrbu0WrYdMDnDB7ca5gZGvNWsQkBQUxOpyQ2brvVAgyrBxAeIl9Yjqj7tnGfhfblC39syYCsxoWN9wOlVoATOp05S6Kw7p7ipTf2jLjzaLua4GNysvescvEIS2U1jjC7-IP2h-MJyptmWSYjWCxB42nVEMbTMAKebSfe-7Za4Rgn86H2YEuptKA/w392-h400/ACD3F136-2837-4105-8CB3-4A5886D03D64.jpeg" width="392" /></i></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Grey Owl with his pet beaver</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-72094242703129455422022-08-14T11:15:00.005-05:002022-08-14T11:15:34.051-05:00Sunday Squibs (July 31)<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Thinking that the grapes in your vineyard would not make good wine is the ultimate sour grapes.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Pre-Big Bang was the egg stage. Now we are larval or maggot. Purgatory will be pupal, and at last we'll be ready to flit, flutter, or buzz around Heaven. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">If a motel claims to be just like home, keep going. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">We must make a basic smell test to determine whether we’re in the presence of God or just in the presence of ourselves. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">We call our political opponents stupid, but intelligence is evenly divided across the spectrum. Application of that intelligence to our various fears is what makes all the difference. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">No nation will ever be great that charges for a second cup of coffee. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Good writing gently corrals us readers to its logical conclusion. Bad writing forces us over an arid plain till we drop. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">When I’m confounded by science it’s a comfort to know the giant brains of Newton and Einstein were confounded too. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The alcoholic smashes his last bottle on the bows of the good ship </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">Sobriety</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">You can’t get away, you cannot escape. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">In life you are only a squatter. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">So be like the fly, when he wants to be safe,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Will land on the nearest fly swatter. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">If you see the universe in a grain of sand, you’ll never get the house cleaned before the guests arrive. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">In trying to save Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction Abraham was brilliant getting God down from fifty righteous people to ten. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">As it turned out there was no profit in bargaining with the odds maker. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The voyeur of life just looks and he looks. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The voyeur of the voyeur can at least write us some books. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">We are sometimes revulsed by our leaders’ acts before turning and saying just do it. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The truth shall make you free. Though in some realms the free all sit in the liar’s prison.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">My cogent and heartfelt explanations are called lame excuses by the boss who puts another letter in my file. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Hatred is the new leprosy; a self-imposed exile from society. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The art of mockery traces a line between giving your friend a hard time and getting a hard knock on your beezer.</span></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-21075580651180791922022-08-14T10:51:00.004-05:002022-08-14T11:26:26.567-05:00Saints Preserve Us (August 12)<p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> I found myself at loose ends in Paris one day and wondering what to do with myself. I had seen all the major sights and as I flipped idly through the back pages of my guide book, I came across this item for "those with a taste for such things." It was an entry about The Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Hmmm. I and every other Catholic boy and girl in Boston had worn a miraculous medal in our day without wondering why.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> The draw of the chapel according to the guidebook was the incorrupt body of Saint Catherine Labouré displayed in a glass case near the altar. Since I was already on the Left Bank, I hiked over to Rue du Bac. The entrance to the chapel is unprepossessing, a small archway off the narrow street, but the passageway opens into a large well-lit church.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> There was no service going on, but the church was almost half filled with what I later realized were pilgrims from all over the world. Churches in Europe can feel cavernous, but the hum of hushed prayer around me gave the place a cozy feel. I remember one large Black man standing alone in his pew with arms outstretched and his closed eyes raised to heaven. There was always a small group kneeling by Saint Catherine's glass case.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> So what was the deal with Saint Catherine? She had been a nun in the Daughters of Charity founded by Saint Vincent de Paul, dedicated to the care of the poor. In 1830, she had a series of visions in which the Blessed Virgin Mary told Catherine that people were ignoring the graces available to them. Mary commissioned a medal that people should wear that would bring down these graces.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> Mary told Catherine people wouldn't believe her but that she should persist. Catherine told her confessor about the visions. He was naturally skeptical, but Catherine was a devout young nun and after two years of observation he reported his findings to the archbishop who commissioned a goldsmith to bring Catherine's design as given to her by Mary into reality. France had just experienced a second Revolution and people were looking for all the graces they could get. The medal became wildly popular and spread all over the world.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> Catherine continued to care for the sick and elderly till her death in 1876 at age seventy. Her body was taken to the chapel on Rue du Bac where she had had her visions. Her body showed no signs of change despite not being embalmed. After checking mortuary sites I found that some people simply do not decay. They will eventually take on a sepia tone, but Catherine looks perfectly natural. Her climate controlled case helps with that. The church calls her incorrupt.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> I noticed another glass case with a body on the other side of the altar. This turned out to be a wax effigy of Saint Louise containing her bones. Saint Louise had been a co-founder of the Sisters of Charity with Saint Vincent back in the 1600s. Because of her work with the downtrodden, Saint Louise had been made patron saint of social workers. </p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> I myself was a social worker at the time so I hurried to the gift shop to buy Saint Louise medals for my social worker buddies back home. But Saint Louise medals were €1 each. Miraculous Medals however were a dime a dozen if a dime is what you call a tenth of a euro. Once back home I showered medals upon my acquaintances like graces from above. It was my good deed for the month. </p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgT8Mk8rN-T-ofmIr4wfArAkZZ1tUp3dmAGuT8YO4hmhwj116dFDqRV-LPx5cn-IJ0BDKnzDEaqgtWqTbpAqqSXJCOgkjb6xznBlIw3D6lVGs3X730-yNLva3q25yWvUZ4RyHxaR6ApEnCQNpgrYHHg_rPItZZTwGMWZhiTygg1xgPmHIh1EcCJCJ8rA/s450/80060D09-157B-4B95-8D75-D99F9CCE23A3.jpeg" style="color: #24a03f; cursor: pointer; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="450" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgT8Mk8rN-T-ofmIr4wfArAkZZ1tUp3dmAGuT8YO4hmhwj116dFDqRV-LPx5cn-IJ0BDKnzDEaqgtWqTbpAqqSXJCOgkjb6xznBlIw3D6lVGs3X730-yNLva3q25yWvUZ4RyHxaR6ApEnCQNpgrYHHg_rPItZZTwGMWZhiTygg1xgPmHIh1EcCJCJ8rA/w400-h300/80060D09-157B-4B95-8D75-D99F9CCE23A3.jpeg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>Incorrupt </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-82457914275253269002022-07-29T10:49:00.003-05:002022-07-29T10:49:52.872-05:00The Cape Cod Canal<p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> If you ever drive down to old Cape Cod, you'll have to have to cross one of two bridges that cross the Cape Cod Canal, unless of course you're driving a boat. That reminds me of the time Jerry and Marion Solom drove their boat <i>Indian Summer</i> to Cape Cod. Jerry planned to traverse the seven mile canal from west to east. </p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> Storm clouds were gathering as Jerry and Marion approached the entrance to the canal. They had lowered the sails and were motoring along when Jerry sent Marion below to monitor the compass. Just then a blinding squall hit. A violent wind churned the waters as Jerry kept heading east. At least it felt like he was traveling in the same direction, till Marion called up "You're going west!"</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> At first Jerry couldn't believe it. He was sure he had been going the same direction all the time. The rain was so heavy he couldn't see shore. "Are you sure?" He asked. "Yes, the compass says you're going west, out of the canal." So Jerry did a 180 and when the rain slackened he could see they were now headed into the canal as planned. Jerry realized the violent winds had turned<i> Indian Summer</i> completely around. After that Jerry liked to say "Always believe your compass," though he didn't add, "and your wife," but I'm sure he was thinking it.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> The Cape Cod Canal opened on this day in 1914, cutting 62 miles off the trip up or down the coast. People had been talking about a canal since colonial days. One settler in the 1700s found a way between a deep cove on one side of the Cape and a stream on the other. It was called Jeremiah's Gutter and Jeremiah collected a toll. </p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> During the 1800s there were numerous attempts to build the present canal. These schemes all ran out of money until a New York financier took on the job. He had already financed the first subway in New York and he hired the leading engineer in the country to oversee the job. </p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> In 1909 crews began digging at both ends of the proposed canal. They immediately ran into numerous 100 ton boulders the glaciers had left behind a few thousand years previously. Divers had to set explosives under the boulders to clear the way. After great expense and five years of work, the financier blended the waters of Buzzard's and Cape Cod Bays and opened the final dam. Meanwhile down in Panama Another canal would open its gates for two weeks later.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> The first vessel through the canal was a rowboat manned by the financier's son. A destroyer soon followed carrying assistant secretary of the Navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The financier planned to recover his expenses by charging a toll. Because this canal was narrower than the present one, ships could only go in the direction of the tide, which changes every seven hours. Also, a series of accidents in the canal scared ships away. The financier tried to get the government to take the canal off his hands.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> In 1928 the government took over the canal and during the depression the improvement of the canal was made a Works Progress project. The canal was deepened and widened from 100' to 480'. New and higher bridges were built so ships no longer had to wait for drawbridges to be raised. During WWII the canal was a way for ships to avoid German subs lurking off the coast.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"> The canal continues to be a popular route for pleasure boats and commercial ships. There are bike and walking trails along both shores of the canal. During the 1990s some jokers made up bumper stickers which gave drivers access to a fictitious Cape Cod Canal Tunnel. The stickers were a commentary on the horrendous traffic backups on the bridges during the tourist season. Smart people go by boat.</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFrg3ex0y6YWAPXKhVm81yU1GEwtpZVHMCSY9hRP1u5GWfDTOUh6Hr548aveJHq3JWhL2Ygn-hE0hSAsTEczNZi04FfQzxTFKc47t436YFPCHLDCpyGE0ykhkW5a4aE4j_JZvcxQAgq2Cw4iNtKMOyTTBaHjgnIKKBS9Tc71qCpcugB8CLUFTtQ3aydw/s800/8FAEC31A-ABD3-42C0-8B20-9195C8A3F841.jpeg" style="color: #24a03f; cursor: pointer; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFrg3ex0y6YWAPXKhVm81yU1GEwtpZVHMCSY9hRP1u5GWfDTOUh6Hr548aveJHq3JWhL2Ygn-hE0hSAsTEczNZi04FfQzxTFKc47t436YFPCHLDCpyGE0ykhkW5a4aE4j_JZvcxQAgq2Cw4iNtKMOyTTBaHjgnIKKBS9Tc71qCpcugB8CLUFTtQ3aydw/w400-h300/8FAEC31A-ABD3-42C0-8B20-9195C8A3F841.jpeg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>Fastest way to the Cape </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-28623263038162219992022-07-27T09:57:00.001-05:002022-07-27T10:02:42.196-05:00Tarcasso<p> Every couple of years the highway department goes up and down the roads with a vat of hot tar to patch cracks. They did our road last summer and after four seasons and thousands of vehicles, their work has taken on the beauty of an Old Master.</p><p>[Tap on the photos for full size.]</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigDHLdPq9ni32WSPx6eWe5E2lFcME0Du2JAT73NYmF5F9-VTol7IL_uH-EtV8bIbnUBlJO8mkLHmBwzxBXYhp_z0LK2US8CtdN3IgzVMAnaM62R4b8wHzg3W1uP2ivqlTYZbiSYaAxm3Uu870u5NW6UQhysbVlAdmapbc93KQ7i-aB1YqlsUzAV2Jqng/s4032/7E473355-3569-4BE5-B382-4AA4328E76EE.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigDHLdPq9ni32WSPx6eWe5E2lFcME0Du2JAT73NYmF5F9-VTol7IL_uH-EtV8bIbnUBlJO8mkLHmBwzxBXYhp_z0LK2US8CtdN3IgzVMAnaM62R4b8wHzg3W1uP2ivqlTYZbiSYaAxm3Uu870u5NW6UQhysbVlAdmapbc93KQ7i-aB1YqlsUzAV2Jqng/w480-h640/7E473355-3569-4BE5-B382-4AA4328E76EE.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-88821007762839730962022-07-25T00:00:00.009-05:002022-07-25T00:00:00.179-05:00A Near-Death Experience <p> You don't hear much about self-drive cars these days. All the talk now is about electric vehicles. But I had a near death experience in a self-drive bus about twenty years ago. The administrator of the small rural hospital where I worked was fascinated with the self-drive concept as was the hospital's IT guy who was a true genius. The IT guy, Bryce, developed a self-drive apparatus for the hospital bus. He and the administrator, Mr. Jacobs, secretly tested their self-drive system on the gravel roads in the surrounding country.</p><p> One Thursday morning in the early nineties I showed up early at the hospital. Several nurses and I were signed up for a two day conference in a city six hours away. We were all surprised to find Mr. Jacobs sitting in the driver's seat of the bus. This was most unusual because Mr. Jacobs always went to administrator's conferences in Florida or Hawaii. It was then he revealed that the bus was a self-driving vehicle. He said he and Bryce had made the trip to the city a half dozen times in the past year and had worked out all the bugs. This would be the first trial with passengers.</p><p> We were waiting for Bryce to show up when Mr. Jacobs got a call on his bag phone. Bryce was sick and wouldn't be able to come with us. Mr. Jacobs said we'd be fine without him. Mr. Jacobs sat in the driver's seat, but let the self-drive system control the bus. It worked perfectly. Once we got on the freeway closer to the city Mr. Jacobs came back and sat with us. "The freeway is the easy part," he said. The nurses and I looked at each other uneasily. One of the nurses said, "Mr. Jacobs, shouldn't someone stay in the driver's seat just in case?"</p><p> Mr. Jacobs brushed her off. He was clearly elated with the bus's performance. "We plan to license Bryce's system and the hospital will be able to expand with the added income," he said. Right after saying this, he clutched his chest and slumped to the floor. As soon as that happened, the bus slowed, pulled into the breakdown lane and stopped. The nurses started working on Mr. Jacobs. One of them knew how to use the bag phone and called 911.</p><p> An ambulance from St. Bonaventure Hospital soon arrived and took Mr. Jacobs away. Our conference was at this same hospital so we planned to drive the bus there. Suddenly, the bus door closed and the bus pulled out into traffic. I got in the driver's seat but the bus was under the control of the self-drive system. The bus cruised past the exit to St. Bonaventure, keeping up with traffic.</p><p> None of the nurses' suggestions to shut off the bus worked. I couldn't even get the four way flashers to come on. One of the nurses called 911 again and explained our situation. Soon highway patrol cruisers were in front and behind us. The one in front gradually slowed and the bus slowed as well. Soon cruisers were in all four lanes, gradually slowing until all traffic on the freeway was stopped.</p><p> A trooper told me to pop the hood and he disconnected the battery. Soon a wrecker arrived to haul the bus away and the troopers dropped us off at the hospital. Mr. Jacobs was doing ok but did not want any visitors. I went to my conference, but didn't get anything out of it which was not atypical. </p><p> Next day we rented a van and drove home. I kept badgering Bryce in his lair until he came clean. He was proud that the bus pulled over when Mr. Jacobs lost consciousness, but admitted the GPS in the bus had been mistakenly set for the St. Bonaventure Rollerdrome in another city. </p><p> The hospital paid a hefty fine to the state which agreed to keep the self-drive fiasco quiet. The nurses and I received nice "bonuses" to keep mum and no more was heard about licensing Bryce's system. Everyone involved in the bus ride is now either dead or retired so I see no harm in releasing my story in this remote corner of the web. According to google stats, my blog only has four regular readers, one of whom I know because he always leaves a comment. The other three I suspect are bots.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVEEanpD9Ujad7o5VlWyvycjwhlRI4W_HG2DJbUDprhjzY9YMpjsR2a5XeJ9fb5C7Irs7vu2c9r9E0A0mBVBdFiVM_NaxdFbIKraNbGlyFFgxw5lydHb-LeuWpTiTa9u7hB_lHjmDBbhhSqrBiIjFSRC6RcSJNHCHsjBm-RsXD52monTer-bWHyv5tQ/s839/79EF542A-1561-4EC9-B686-1795C18BB944.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="839" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVEEanpD9Ujad7o5VlWyvycjwhlRI4W_HG2DJbUDprhjzY9YMpjsR2a5XeJ9fb5C7Irs7vu2c9r9E0A0mBVBdFiVM_NaxdFbIKraNbGlyFFgxw5lydHb-LeuWpTiTa9u7hB_lHjmDBbhhSqrBiIjFSRC6RcSJNHCHsjBm-RsXD52monTer-bWHyv5tQ/w400-h189/79EF542A-1561-4EC9-B686-1795C18BB944.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>It was an OJ kind of day. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-36901684772015548332022-07-24T09:57:00.000-05:002022-07-24T09:57:23.863-05:00Sunday Squibs<p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">Men will go to a wedding to party, to a funeral for lunch, while giving the baby shower a miss to play golf.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">If my guest wants to discuss politics or religion that’s fine, but he won’t learn my opinion unless it jibes with his own, which discussion will then be mere valium. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">The WASP smiles when the LBGT group adds another letter, but what sorrow and pain is within each of those little letters.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">My role as grand puppeteer I think I’ll let go. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">It’s gotten too much for my fingers and toes</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">We must tie up this strong man Satan in order to plunder his goods. Better let Jesus to do the tying and let the plunder go to charity. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">Our eyes adjust naturally to the darkness. We need new eyes to see in the light. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">The hierarchy ranges from self to family, to country, to God. We must chose which we’re most loyal to without worshipping the idea of hierarchy itself</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">Life is a puzzle with unwritten clues. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">Life gives us a pencil. The answers, we choose. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">Negotiating old age is like flying through a field is asteroids. No matter how good we are, we’re eventually going to crash and burn. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">St. Paul says the wages of sin is death. The sinner counters: then let’s eat, drink and be merry. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">The revolutionary has bullets, the diplomat only bullet points. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">If love is the answer, the question remains how to let go of hate. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">Intelligent Design comes from a God created by man. Science uncovers the design of a God free enough to look random to us.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">The church advises looking at others as though they were Jesus. The virtue of patience is available on request. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">Marriage is a testing ground for sainthood. You’re making progress when you realize your spouse is having a rougher time of it than you are. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">Conservative dystopia: a world without guns. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">Some people no matter how much they love a book will never read it again. They feel a reread would delay their goal of reading every book ever written. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.8px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18.4px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.36px;">We’re all in favor of a clean environment so long as it doesn’t affect our comfort, our income, and we don’t have to kiss any rabbits. </span></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-86172052731869698802022-07-22T09:58:00.003-05:002022-07-22T09:58:39.657-05:00Mackenzie <div class="post-body-container" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(41, 41, 41); color: #292929; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 32px 24px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="post-body entry-content float-container" id="post-body-5351682933926905873" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: 2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 0px;"><p><br /></p><p> In Canada they call them First Nations. Them being the people living there in various tribes before the Europeans arrived. The First Nations were happy to exchange beaver pelts for steel knives, guns and glass beads, but were leery of the downsides. Disease seemed to follow these newcomers and they had strange notions about property. They thought a person could own land for himself.</p><p> The newcomers propagated like the beaver themselves. But they wanted so many pelts that when the beaver were wiped out in one place, they had to push further west for fresh pelts. If the newcomers got too pushy perhaps they too could be exterminated.</p><p> One of the pushiest of the newcomers was Alexander Mackenzie from the country of Scotland. His mother died when he was ten and his father took him to New York. When the American Revolution broke out, his father fought for the British. Alexander was sent to Montreal for safety. Soon he was working as an apprentice for the North West Company.</p><p> The Company sent Mackenzie on a mission to find a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean. He made his way to Lake Athabasca in northern Saskatchewan. The First Nations people told Makenzie the rivers all flowed northwest. Perfect. Except the river flowed more north than west and on July 14, 1789 he arrived at the Arctic Ocean. Even this would have made a decent route to the Pacific if Alaska hadn’t been in the way. The river was later named in his honor. It has the second largest drainage system in North America after the Mississippi.</p><p> Makenzie went to Great Britain to study longitude, then returned to Canada to try again for the Pacific. In October, 1792 he headed west with two native guides, his cousin Alex, six voyageurs, and a dog unimaginatively named Dog. They made it as far as the Peace River in Alberta where they built a fort to wait out the winter.</p><p> When the snow melted in early May, Mackenzie wanted to head down the Fraser River to the Pacific but was warned that the First Nations people that way were hostile. He was directed over the mountains on a grease trail, so named because it was used to haul smelt oil to the interior. Smelt oil was a valuable commodity among the tribes.</p><p> On this day in 1793 Mackenzie and his group arrived at North Bentinct Arm, an inlet of the Pacific about 300 miles northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia. Mackenzie wanted to continue west another seventy miles for a clear view of the ocean, but the local First Nation tribe brandishing spears in their war canoes blocked his way. It’s unclear what their problem was. Perhaps they had an omen Mackenzie and his ilk portended bad medicine for their descendants.</p><p> Mackenzie mixed up bear grease and vermilion and wrote “Mackenzie was here” on a rock then headed for home. He and his group had completed the first recorded crossing of North America north of Mexico and they did it twelve years ahead of Lewis and Clark. </p><p> Back east, Mackenzie published his journals, got knighted, and served in the Ontario legislature. In 1812 at the age of 48 he returned to Scotland and married the 14 year old Geddes Mackenzie (same clan, no blood relationship). They had three children and were apparently happy, until Mackenzie died of Bright's Disease at the age of 55 or 56. No one knows the exact date of his birth c.1764.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLC_PTPh6tewasggvnfG0XZrFgQBAG5cik21ZOi69xdhg69yqKQJqJYeCl-v6kdnXBj9Beyj7hTKOh2sH5xSyCmdyR0iGpDuA3jMYDocbdbr4KUiAo34bo3-U6aGvkDjsnFTROGRa5I-mS_GMbpyXlL0-uxHPl8oroYc_8sCAoy4UZBflhafEMPMok7Q/s266/D46BEC1D-CA92-4C54-B4F4-7DC07A22D124.jpeg" style="color: #24a03f; cursor: pointer; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="220" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLC_PTPh6tewasggvnfG0XZrFgQBAG5cik21ZOi69xdhg69yqKQJqJYeCl-v6kdnXBj9Beyj7hTKOh2sH5xSyCmdyR0iGpDuA3jMYDocbdbr4KUiAo34bo3-U6aGvkDjsnFTROGRa5I-mS_GMbpyXlL0-uxHPl8oroYc_8sCAoy4UZBflhafEMPMok7Q/w331-h400/D46BEC1D-CA92-4C54-B4F4-7DC07A22D124.jpeg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="331" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><i>Alexander Mackenzie, at the age of 35 or 36</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p><p> </p></div></div>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-63677869161929109622022-07-18T00:00:00.154-05:002022-07-24T10:00:49.064-05:00Pizza Repair<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> It's good to have occasional accidents and disasters as long as no one gets hurt. The other night we had a couple of guests in the Shêdeau for pizza. Normally I would prepare and bake the pizza in the Shêdeau so I could chat with our guests. But I was on the final chapter of an audio book and my loan was ending that evening.<p></p><p> I left Teresa to entertain our guests in the Shêdeau while I retreated to the big house and put my ears on. When the pizza was done I picked the pan up with hot pads and headed out the door. </p><p> The mosquitoes have been bad and as I hastened to shut the door behind me the pan leapt out of my hand and fell face down, half on the welcome mat and half on the wooden porch floor. It made a clanging noise which I thought would alert the others 137 paces away, but the noise of the river rapids covered my boo-boo.</p><p> I got our largest spatula and turned the pie face up. The half that had been on the floor looked ok. The part that landed on the mat looked like a fresh lava flow. I tried smooshing the ridge of cheese back in place while scraping the toppings off the mat and spreading them on the cheese.</p><p> I knew I couldn’t present this mess to our guests. Then I got the insight that would turn this evil into a good. I turned the oven to broil and slipped the pie onto the top shelf for a couple of minutes. Except for the dent in one part of the perimeter, it looked like new.</p><p> As our guests munched on their slices I held my breath waiting for someone to bite into a pebble. I was prepared to apologize for the stray olive stone even though I hadn’t used any olives.</p><p> A person may tell him or herself they are never going to drop their freshly baked pizza on the floor. What I say to that person is you haven’t made many pizzas.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4CJTdIZBuepTzN6YdMIxc2MGgEMsiX93-2EF7ziGhTcavAGRmgUdVlPYW6A_lODJxLtNjHIovrUY7S0P6KfkZ1Fl3Vwk9UZfQQ7dL-MmBQSyweVSIdxcL0Ke-7U0bnbVVbdnCX5Ar3kF0pZ76L0wI0QbzKbAOkGwgpdBNlz-CbtR-p9YKww1yU4U-iA/s444/49610AD2-229D-4805-A560-58670669A7F4.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="444" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4CJTdIZBuepTzN6YdMIxc2MGgEMsiX93-2EF7ziGhTcavAGRmgUdVlPYW6A_lODJxLtNjHIovrUY7S0P6KfkZ1Fl3Vwk9UZfQQ7dL-MmBQSyweVSIdxcL0Ke-7U0bnbVVbdnCX5Ar3kF0pZ76L0wI0QbzKbAOkGwgpdBNlz-CbtR-p9YKww1yU4U-iA/s320/49610AD2-229D-4805-A560-58670669A7F4.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Galileo discovered gravity by dropping a cheese lovers and a personal pan pizza off the Tower of Punza.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-59570452753107728962022-07-17T00:00:00.001-05:002022-07-17T00:00:00.224-05:00Sunday Squibs <p> </p><p><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It’s good to avoid evil, but we should not automatically dump everyone we happen not to like into that sulphuric bin. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">We’re so busy inflating our our portfolio, we don’t notice our betrothed is doing the same. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">For the retiree, hump day has been flattened into the never ending weekend. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Don't brag about your skills. People will be constantly asking for help with things they could do just as well themselves. From the meek and humble no one expects much.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Which is better? Too much time or too much money? You can spend time to making money but money can’t buy you time. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">People pity the shy and the bashful for all the fun they’re missing. But the shy are like the deer, inhabiting an austere secret world the boisterous cannot know.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I give ten percent of my income to the poor and ninety percent to the rich. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Without the promise of coffee there are many who would stay in bed all day. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The world is full of messes. Some are benign, such as the constant construction around hospitals. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">If you’re able to come up with two or three facts about the historical figures everyone has heard of, people will call you a genius. And pay for your coffee. But not your beer. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Sleep is a kind of dementia with this difference: we can’t recall the earliest, the youngest dreams of the night but only those closest to our awakening. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">A person gets rids of all his bad habits only to make smugness his new poison. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Wealth can build a road across the swamp or it can be content with simply owning the swamp.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">By taking care of number one and number two at the same time, even the slothful can be multitaskers. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Not content with loving a girl</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The poet insists on describing each curl</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">In exchange for wearing a hair shirt composed of his neighbor’s foibles, the saint is granted an occasional view of God’s back. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The honey do list is an acknowledgment that men are poor multitaskers. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">We screw up in life about as often as we screw up in typing. A back space key is more needful than a forward delete. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Though both feelings are off the mark, it’s better to live life feeling it’s too early rather than feeling it’s too late. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">We wash up on this shore like a message in a bottle, to be read by whoever finds us, while we read the message in them. </span></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-38135456582703093532022-07-16T17:48:00.002-05:002022-07-16T17:48:11.951-05:00Great River <p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqUVNDhlmzAVZy5yh_6Fwj3ZYuaCX-i_nztr3bIYuUWOpWbj1k5-qZzFY7gBE7ZRISNRQorMcabglznXEN7q50HbxWstM31SvrNljCkZukP3MJKsTrBfTLXAbTy_n0MG1DiCTkxZ1W4hN5lBod0-TwS0BIQ2L16_D1GnVSVCQ_8RzirtHC2gh_WgG6lw/s382/3824E26B-11A1-4C10-948F-03B1F65FD9CC.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="132" data-original-width="382" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqUVNDhlmzAVZy5yh_6Fwj3ZYuaCX-i_nztr3bIYuUWOpWbj1k5-qZzFY7gBE7ZRISNRQorMcabglznXEN7q50HbxWstM31SvrNljCkZukP3MJKsTrBfTLXAbTy_n0MG1DiCTkxZ1W4hN5lBod0-TwS0BIQ2L16_D1GnVSVCQ_8RzirtHC2gh_WgG6lw/s320/3824E26B-11A1-4C10-948F-03B1F65FD9CC.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />"The Nile" in Hieroglyphics </i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p> Back in the day there were four centers of civilization, all of them along great rivers: the Nile, the Indus, the Tigris and Euphrates (count as one) and the Yellow River in China. If I had to live in one, I'd choose the Nile. Every spring the Nile would flood and fertilize my fields. When the water retreated I'd plant my crops.</p><p> After the harvest, my buddies and I would go off and work on the monuments. At night there would be beer. Not bad. I might even have done some hieroglyphics carving. Not that I could read them. That was for the priests.</p><p> The last person who could read hieroglyphics died about the same time the Roman Empire expired. The Arabs later tried to translate them, as did scholars in medieval Europe. That last Egyptian priest had left a dictionary behind but it was full of errors which slowed things down. </p><p> The big breakthrough came when Napoleon invaded Egypt. It was on this day in 1799 that French soldiers looking for materials to build a fort discovered a stone near the village of Rosetta. The stone was covered with writing on one side. The soldiers' officer realized the stone was important and had it moved to Cairo.</p><p> The stone had three different scripts. The first two looked like different styles of hieroglyphics and the third was an ancient Greek script. Copies of the inscriptions were made and distributed to scholars all over Europe, and the race was on to translate the lost hieroglyphic scripts.</p><p> Two years later the British defeated the French army in Egypt and confiscated the stone. It was placed in the British Museum after the floor was reinforced. The stone weighs almost 1,700 lbs. In the early days, a visitor could touch the stone. Now it's behind a barrier.</p><p> It took many brilliant brains coming at the stone from varying angles to figure out what the stone was saying. The British scientist Thomas Young and the French linguist Jean-François Champollion made the ultimate breakthroughs in 1822. These two initially collaborated, but later a dispute arose among them over who had done the most.</p><p> The writing on the stone was a decree written in 196 BCE announcing the coronation of King Ptolemy V and establishing his divine cult. The stone would have been part of a stele or stone pillar and several would have been placed in temples around the country. The top set of hieroglyphics were for the gods. The second, a speedier hieroglyphic script, was for the priests, and the Greek script was for the commoners, if they could read.</p><p> In 2003 Egypt asked Britain to return the stone. The head of Egyptian antiquities said the stone was an "icon of Egyptian identity," which is ironic since the Ptolemys were descendants of the Greek general who took over Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great. In response to Egypt’s request, the British sent a replica of the stone, along with a note saying that they were taking care of the stone not just for themselves, but for the world.</p><p> In the room at the British Museum where the Rosetta Stone is displayed, there are portraits of Young and Champollion. French visitors complain that the portrait of Young is larger than that of Champollion. British visitors complain that no, Champollion's portrait is larger than Young's. It turns out the portraits are the same size.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFgtQurOksvOGLbBed_-uYbP9qADCQhlA_HGWgxxXL2kzPKUGtoQUV3RzyH2lkqf5Fc-Bg0XwQXXzj6mf-G88GdFraKUQszzm_Lwg-zfkYYEQar_WzpT7-K7t1zdo19mSzLvitXpzjoa4j4gWL9W3vut0js3hfAgTdp_543Fryg6yIoU5Lkmt3I7jEcA/s2048/7FD68954-DB4A-461E-96BB-9385A4B1C1BC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFgtQurOksvOGLbBed_-uYbP9qADCQhlA_HGWgxxXL2kzPKUGtoQUV3RzyH2lkqf5Fc-Bg0XwQXXzj6mf-G88GdFraKUQszzm_Lwg-zfkYYEQar_WzpT7-K7t1zdo19mSzLvitXpzjoa4j4gWL9W3vut0js3hfAgTdp_543Fryg6yIoU5Lkmt3I7jEcA/w400-h300/7FD68954-DB4A-461E-96BB-9385A4B1C1BC.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Pedestrian friendly Rosetta Stone at Champollion's birthplace</i> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1264389604283430002.post-38669114484549733112022-07-10T10:20:00.001-05:002022-07-10T10:20:19.394-05:00Sunday Squibs<p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">My defense mechanisms in the face of aggression are but a Maginot Line.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">For every homicide the police have three classes of suspects: primary, secondary, and tertiary. On tv the culprit is always from the third group. In real life the guilty party is sometimes from the secondary group, but the jails are filled with primaries. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">A writer exorcises his demons who then fly to the reader’s soul. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">If people you find preachy could spend time as you, the end of the day would find them in the confessional box. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Botany Bar pickup line: Mycelium or yours?</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Husbands are facetiously accused of having selective hearing, but it’s because they’re so busy with their wife’s current request that they can’t focus on anything else. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">A writer without feedback grows reckless. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Peasantrification: return of a previously gentrified neighborhood to its original slum state. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Only a few can follow Jesus’ admonition to sell everything and give to the poor. The rest of us are still negotiating with the devil. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The antidote to the fact that everyone is random is to swallow the pill that everyone matters. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Poop stinks to warn our ancestors not to eat it and us not to play in it. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">If I could get a vision of earth as it really is in the solar system and in the galaxies, I’d have to lie down and close my eyes till the vertigo passed. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">My Christian belief oscillates between only a few being saved or that everyone eventually gets in, depending on how much of an angel or a demon I’ve been that day. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Cooking is a solitary pleasure. The crowd is happy to talk among themselves till dinner is served. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The challenge of marriage is to make someone happy without making yourself miserable. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Flexibility? Resilience? Get married and you’ll find out how much resilience or flexibility you’ve got. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">When my investment statement comes with a cover letter offering free psychological counseling, <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I know that a bear has been gutting my piggy bank. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">That yardarm yonder is used to hang miscreants as well as to determine if the sun is high enough for the day’s first drink. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Based on how often people get me wrong, I must also get them wrong just often. Maybe more so since I presume they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I can judge the age of a vehicle by the number and size of its cup holders. The introduction of Supersize drinks in 1987 was a watershed event. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It's curious that rationalization of one’s motives has a bad name, since mankind defines itself as the rational animal.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">We howl when trying to remove a purchase from its plastic packaging. Take a deep breath. Relax and remember that it came from those puzzle masters, the Chinese.</span></p>Chairman Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768379446421164257noreply@blogger.com0