Wow, it Seems Cold

I am not enjoying my first taste of cold weather.

Not at all.

It is just plain cold!

I do not like seeing my breath as I exhale when I stumble outside in the morning to allow Makayla to do her thing--and then realize that I really needed to put on a coat because it really is cold and only about 32 degrees.

Ugh~!



Jupiter Beach, Florida
July 2010

 I am ready for the winter--but do not look forward to its arrival.

Someone reminded me the other day that in a couple months I will be looking back upon these days with fondness for their warmth.

But last week's high 70's were so much more enjoyable.

It really is awful having to drive my convertible with the top up and the heat running.

And it really isn't cold, yet.

Hey, Spring is only about 136 days away!

Pool opening day is only 169 days away.

Yellow Today and Gone Tomorrow

They are nearly bare now,
the trees.
Last week adorned in royal autumn robes
now cast aside like confetti
A bright colored canopy strewn on the ground,
the parade has passed and the heroes are gone
they stand still tall,
bare
branches reaching up into the sky
defiantly calling to the north wind
unafraid of the snow and ice.
Some will not see another spring
to wear green leaves again
they will stand
for the beetle and woodpecker--
though dead
they will support life
until they too fall like the leaves
for so many seasons before
to renew, restore and live again.

Mid-Term Elections: The Day After

They voting is over--although the counting is not complete in some areas. Absentee ballots will not be counted until November 12th in Maryland, I understand.

I find election nights to be more exciting than any sports championship. Why? It is real and it matters. I was glued to the TV watching the returns coming in. Many of my candidates winning--but most losing.

With the campaign ads off the air we can again watch our favorite beer or feminine hygiene product ads. We no longer have to be assaulted by grown adults bickering over who did what, when, and to whom.

It all sounds the same after a while.

And the telephone computer robot ads never seem to cease.

The phone is quiet now. Yay!

I don't have to worry about whether a fee is a tax anymore. By definition a fee is not a tax--but if it is coming out of my pocket, do I really care about the difference? And that, for those of you not in Maryland, summarizes the Maryland governor's race.

I have read some pretty scary projections about incredible increases in taxes that are coming as a result of new programs and policy shifts--but I really could not tell how much of that was pre-election hype.

Heard on CNN (really): "President Obama has done more than any President since Ronald Reagan to unite and focus the Republican party."

Also heard on CNN: "Now they are all going to find out how hard it is to transition from being outside and pointing out the shortfalls in policy to being in office and having to do something about them.'

I wonder what the future holds.

I am sure it will not be more of the same--it is just, what does that really mean?

Can someone actually have a workable plan? It is real easy to toss boulders from outside--but once on the inside, can the rocks be turned over to create economic prosperity and peace?

I sure hope so.

Space--the Final Frontier, Ends

Sadly, as Chris and I were discussing over dinner the other evening, we are witnessing the end of an era--U.S. manned space flight.


The shuttle Discovery is scheduled to launch on Wednesday, November 3rd, on a mission to the International Space Station and then be retired after its return to Earth. The other shuttles will be retired next year and by the end of 2011, the U.S. will no longer have the capability to launch humans into space. Scary enough--only the Russians and the Chinese will be capable of launching people into space.

I was one of those kids who grew up watching the heroes of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions blaze trails into space and onto the moon.


There is no follow-on program. The program to develop the next generation manned space launch vehicle and capsule has been canceled.


Space was a source of national pride and technological achievement. Remember the space race with the Soviets--who could put the first man on the moon? And we won!


Space was a place where only the best of the best could fly and survive to return for another mission.


I fully believed that one day I would lead the first manned mission to Mars--and looking back, it seems we have lost our desire for exploration.


Here is a fact from the Smithsonian website: Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, still holds the distinction of being the last man to walk on the Moon, as no humans have visited the Moon since December 14, 1972.


It has been almost 38 years since mankind stepped foot on the Moon. We could not even do it today, we do not have the heavy space-launch capability anymore.


With the retirement of the shuttle fleet next year--little by little the United States is losing its vision. As a nation we are losing the drive and enthusiasm which set us apart from the other nations of the world.


I remember the phrase: "The difficult done immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer."

I know there are arguments about whether the space program is a waste of money--but really, the money pit of social programs that the money is being reinvested into shows no return on investment at all. At least space pushes the boundaries of technology and gives us products and things which otherwise might not exist.

As a nation, we used to push the frontier.


But no longer. We are mired in a budget catastrophe of our own doing that has our sights turned inwards and not seeing what is happening around us.


We have lost, it seems, our mojo.


So the tombstone for U.S. manned space may ultimately read:

US Manned Space Program
1961-2011,

For 50 years we led where others feared to go

Monday Musings - November 1, 2010

1. It is November already. Where did October slip off to?

2. Halloween is over, bring on the turkey's.

3. Seems the grand kids are learning the ways of Halloween a lot better--things went pretty quickly this year.

4. Football. baseball, hockey--who can keep up with all of it?

5. Makayla was a trooper last evening in her costume watching the festivities of the kids running from door-to-door.

6. Shopping in Ellicott City on a nice autumn Saturday was an almost fun experience.

7. The trees have lost their leaves already. Yellow today and gone tomorrow.

8. Just a bit of frost--the other night. We've pulled the sensitive plants inside. But there will still be nice days.

Halloween dog

Makayla is being a good sport about Halloween. She is dressed and ready for some serious trick or treating.

Halloween 2010

Anyone who knows me, knows that I do not appreciate Halloween.

I'm not sure what the purpose is to dress up as scary creatures and troll the neighborhood looking for trouble.

Asking unsuspecting homeowners to pay a ransom or be tricked!

But that written, Makayla does have a costume and will be trick-or-treating tonight with the grandsons.

While on the surface this festival is all about goodness and fun, it has very dark undertones which pull at our hearts and cause sleepless nights.

But, funny enough the name Halloween really draws from the day it precedes--All Saints Day. A holy day celebrated by the church where the saints of the church are remembered and celebrated.

Now the festival (I refuse to call it a holiday) has become a huge commercialized venture coupled with parties and many social events and opportunities.

But, on the other hand, I do enjoy the little kids in their costumes and the fun that they have coming to the door and saying those magical words: "Trick or Treat!" It makes me smile to see their smiles behind their masks.

So while I don't appreciate Halloween--as such, I do enjoy the children and their enthusiasm and I guess that is what it is all about.

Spider lurking in the tree

Outside Nicole and Mike's home the other afternoon was a very large spider--going about the business of creating a huge, just in time for Halloween web.

The web was not confined to only one tree, not this industrious arachnoid was busy involving two trees into its web. I wonder if it was hunting for small birds or children? This is an example of an orb-weaving spider and according to the description, it was doing exactly what it is known for--weaving a large web between objects.

This also must be small animal week--given the depressing blog yesterday about the small frog that attempted to cross the parkway.

This spider though is big! Compared to spiders.

It was a very industrious spider and I am sure it will be rewarded with a satisfying meal of some large insect.

I was fascinated, for a few moments, watching the spider work. After a while though, it noticed me and ceased working and began watching me watching it.

It was an interesting stand-off and the spider proved victorious when I got bored watching it do nothing and moved along.

But is was a beautiful afternoon after the storms to notice the bugs and animals around the area.

Frog and Traffic

It was suicide--I knew it was.

There was nothing I could do but watch and wait for the inevitable to happen on the rain swept morning highway packed with other commuters headed on their way to businesses, schools or other places of labor to spend their day.

It was still night even though it was morning. Made darker still by the low-hanging graphite colored clouds pouring rain down upon the landscape.

The headlights of my car reflected very little of the wet, soggy scenery back to me.

Although my speed was significantly reduced from the normal 50 to 60 miles per hour--even creeping along at 15 mph there was no hope.

I first saw it as a streak of white bounding in front of me. It continued with some regularity bounding across the road with all of the traffic.

A small animal, I presume a small frog, crossing the Baltimore-Washington Parkway at the height of the predawn rush hour. It was bounding up into the air and back down again. Playing a real world game of Frogger--only this time there would be no resurrection for round 2. The consequences this day were permanent.

In the steady rain even with the wipers removing the water from the windshield only moderately efficiently, it was easy to see this small creature and consider its impending fate on the three lane wide highway.

I was saddened.

But, I am always saddened by the carnage along the roads.

I wonder if the frog had a last thought as the tire of the car in the lane next to me transformed it into a two dimensional creature like a cartoon drawing.

What is it like to be alive--and then not? That fast.

I looked down the road at the miles of red tail lights strung out before me like so many Christmas lights. I turned up the radio to see how bad the delay was going to be this morning and worked to remove the thought of that ill-fated road crossing from my mind.

Still, it haunts me a little.

I don't like unhappy endings.

The endings where the underdog fails--and then dies.

What chance does a small frog have against a car on a parkway?

The same as a cat or a dog or a raccoon.

None.

The Enemy of Good is Better

It's true.

Sometimes I spend so much time trying to achieve perfection that I become wasteful--can I make it just a little bit better?

How much time do I spend trying to make something good, perfect? Or a little bit better?

Is it an act of pride?

Is it productive?

No, sometimes it is not productive at all. I can spend 90 percent of my time striving for a modest improvement--and I could have spent the additional time doing something really important.

An acquaintance of mine is publishing a new book of his poetry titled The Enemy of Good is Better.

Chris and I sit in front of him and his wife at Orioles baseball games as we have the same 13-game plan package. Over the years we have gotten to know them and look forward to chatting with them during the games. Catching up on life and talking about friends and family and the rhythm of life.

Only within the past year did I realize that he is a published poet--with his own book and a number of very prestigious awards. I purchased his first book--The Clock Made of Confetti. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and the poems--they are complex reading poems full of images and history and emotions.

So it was the title of his new book in pre-publication which really stirred me thinking about the use of time trying to make thing just a little bit better--when they were really good.

Nothing good, it seems, survives. It must be better or it decays into chaos.