Thoughts on Father's Day

Just a few that crossed my mind this past Father's Day:

1. Father is both a noun and a verb. The noun is taught in first grade. I'm not sure when the concept of the verb is taught. Or where or by whom.

2. My four brothers are fathers.

3. My three sons are fathers.

4. My father is going to be 82 next week. He has lived to a greater age than his father.

Dad constantly amazes me. On Father's Day, I spent the afternoon with him. We "made dirt".

Then we filled in and seeded some bald spots in the front lawn. All the while, he told me stories I'd never heard before about the summer before he entered Princeton. He was 20 and had just completed his "extra" year at Haverford after serving in the Navy. He took a bus out to River City, Iowa and worked in his Uncle Jack's fertilizer plant. He told me about the various jobs he did in the plant and about his friends there. (This came up because we were discussing the word "screen".)

Then, when the bugs became intolerable and we discovered it was past 5:00, we adjourned to the house for our libations. It was a great afternoon. Thanks, D.O.D.

How to Begin?

The full moon will arrive later this week and that will mark one month since my friend Don's death. The full moon has become a reminder rather than a counter for me. I spent an hour down at our dock taking pictures of the rising moon on the night that Don went missing, November 12th. I have not taken any pictures since then and that bothers me. Damn it. I have to shake this off and get back to living. I would never have thought this would be so difficult. Where has my sense of humor gone? Where is my passion for anything? How to begin again?

Seamus

No, not the Most Eligible Bachelor...this Seamus is a border collie rescue dog who is now living with Sarah.

Thoughts Post-Election Pre-Travel

Yah, it was a happy evening at The Homestead on Tuesday. The SO brought down his shop radio to follow NPR's coverage and we were surprised at the quick 10:01 pm announcement that M had conceded. WOW. The phone rang constantly today as all our friends were making contact to share the enthusiasm.

What do you think - can this last? Will the US "me-generation" wake up?

I'm heading down to the Winter Palacio on Saturday. There are a whole 'nuther set of trubbles going on there right now related to the "new" ownership of the electric coop. There was a coop vote to sell 51% of the shares to a US company with specialty in alternative energies. Sounds good, right? However, one of the other companies bidding for the shares was a Domincan Republic company (spanish). The spanish-speaking locals (aka "mainlanders") were upset at the time about a gringo company being in control. The kettle was on simmer for months.

Then lately the burner was turned up when the new owners finally started cracking down on the many many households who do not pay their bills and who illegally hook up to the grid. It was no wonder that the old owners had financial problems when they never collected except from the gringos! It is almost as if the locals felt they were entitled to free electricity!

So a couple of weeks ago, a mob set up barracades on the streets and disrupted the tourist business. They were rioting about a billing increase (applied to everyone) and the shutoffs. That was quaffed in short order. But word is that the blockades are up again AND that the electric company has had some sort of major equipment failure causing the power to have been out for the past 2 days with prospect of 3-4 more days with no power. Seems the blockades are keeping the repair people from getting things turned back on.

And I fly in on Saturday afternoon. It is paradise...of the 3rd world variety. This is the sunrise view from our deck.

Bulow Day Off

I took a break from being hostess-with-the-mostess for The SO's technician class today and visited the Bulow Plantation State Park. I bet you did not know that this SP was the first in the nation to win a Gold Award for Best State Park two years in a row! Yep. Big sign announced that one.

Bulow Creek was beautiful and the nature walk through the former sugar plantation was great. This was founded back in the 1700s and was burned in the Seminole Wars mid-1850s. It has been returning to native woodland since that time. Tall pines draped with spanish moss. Palms dressed with air plants. Armadillos rooting in the pine needled forest floor. Just great.

I had hoped to take a swim but oh well...

I found a little pond with water lilies and spent a few minutes trying various camera settings. This one was a wide angle shot and I think it turned out pretty nice.

Loves Walking Barefoot On The Beach

The SO and I have been in Flagler Beach, Flah-di-dah, for the past week. It is a stuck in the fifties town which is quiet and quite nice actually! Helping The SO with his teaching gig is keeping me in street shoes instead of barefoot however. And not a single Sudoku completed! We did take a walk Sunday morning and I had some POs. Here's one shot that required some patience and cold toes.

I have grown so sick of hearing the word "fundamental" lately. So I got interested in the definition. Typed "define:fundamental" in The All Powerful Search Engine. Hummm...

Which is your favorite?

How about: In the area of knowledge management, a fundamental category illuminates a relationship between the subjects and objects of knowledge. A fundamental is basic; it is important because it is something that other things can be built upon.

I think I like this one:

"What I call a surrounding earthiness to the fruit or flavour: a wine with its feet on the ground, not an airy wine. "...www.drinkrhone.com/glossary.html

Substitute that into the next phrase you hear using "fundamental".

I recall a few of these to have contained fundamentals! We need more wine consumed by prezidenshul candy-dates! Then we'll get to the fundamentals!