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 |  I've maxed out. Closed this blog. |
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This is a way of making myself write something coherent and grammatically correct almost every day. I'm opinionated and need an outlet. I'm also prone to flights of fancy. Thanks for stopping by. |
| I learned some new things today about big game trophies. I went to an older friend's house, which I knew was in a very nice neighborhood. She's been widowed several times, and I knew from the sound of her rental properties, etc., that she is very "secure". Today she mentioned a safari to Africa. She bought a piece of artwork from a struggling young African artist which is displayed in her living room. Today he is indeed a well-known international sculptor, and the work is worth a lot more. I thought that was nice that she had been on safari once. Turns out that "husband number one", the father of her children, liked safaris, so they went frequently. He had s special wing added to their rather large house just to hold his trophies. Another person present had seen these: a lion, moose heads, tiger, etc. I can't remember them all, but they were legion. She doesn't have them now. She gave some away. She sold some. Something I never would have thought of, the upkeep on these "preserved" carcasses is quite extensive. You have to apply Vaseline to the eyes to keep the lashes from falling out. You have to do things to their noses and ears. It just sounded gross. You have to groom dead, stuffed animals! I don't know how husband number two lived with all these things.(She's been widowed twice.) The art work and all the nature pictures are quite nice. She has a beautiful house and garden. But the animals. I think I'd rather have fake ones, if any. |
| Falling short of anything original to say, I want to talk about a black and white movie I saw. The Gangster is a film noir about crime. (Duh.) It stars Barry Sullivan, Harry Morgan, Belita, Joan Lorring, and a very young, slim Shelley Winters. I'm a big Barry Sullivan fan, mostly because of The Tall Man, a TV series he did with Clu Gulager back in the early 1960's. He also appeared in a lot of westerns over the next decade or so. Apart from westerns, I don't know much about his work. So he's the primary reason I watched this movie. The film was shot in 1947, so he would have been about 35. He had a convincing scar on his face, but he was still very good looking. And tall! Belita (real name) was a tall blond with a soft alto voice. She had a hard-to-spell last name, so she didn't use it professionally. Joan Lorring played the young, innocent cashier who knew what the criminals were doing. She quit, but told Shubunker (Sullivan) what she thought of him. She served as the voice of conscience, the harsh, critical voice of right and wrong. The young Harry Morgan was astounding. Who knew he could do that? So unlike Dragnet and M,A,S,H,, this role let a whole different person come out. Shelley's role was minor and came towards the end. She was such a new actor that she wasn't even credited. The camera work was excellent. Being in black and white, the contrasts were wonderful. The shadows played well into the story line, since we were expected to be a little afraid of what would happen next. When a storm comes up suddenly and empties the streets, the effects were great. Barry Sullivan did a stellar job. I felt sympathy for his character, even though he was cynical and a criminal (they didn't actually show him committing crimes). He smiled at his girlfriend so sincerely that I wanted things to work for them. I wanted Joan Lorring to show him some kindness. Alas, it was a dark film. It had a dark ending. Justice prevailed. Things were set right, at least temporarily, once again.Still, I just wished it could have gone differently. Made in 1947, but it still speaks to me. |
| We're having a heat wave! We're expecting record breaking highs. I don't know how today turned out statistically. I watered all the plants on the back porch, and the tomatoes in pots in the back yard. My dad will hose down the garden in a few days. I pulled weeds by the back door and the elephant ears and under the deck. I didn't have a heat stroke or turn red. So it must not have been too bad. I guess we don't usually have these kind of temperatures until July or August. But at least I know summer is here unofficially. I ate a sandwich on the back deck at lunch time, just to be summery. We have outdoor tables and chairs, but it's always so windy, that we seldom serve company outdoors. But my dad likes to shuck corn out there. He also peels cantaloupe and watermelon on the table on Sundays. I go out while he's napping in the chair to pick up the bowls of fruit, the knife and the cutting board. When he wakes he bags the trash. This year we're growing some kind of purple plant that grew from bird seed spilled on the ground. He transplanted some of it into pots. They're healthy plants with no blooms. We'll see if anything develops. I pulled the vines out of those today, too. We have a big weed by the side patio. We thought it looked nice, so we left it. Two weeks have gone by, and it's tripled in size. It's about 3 feet tall now, just as wide, with big well shaped leaves. We keep asking visitors to identify it for us. I'm just hoping it's not something out of The Little Shop of Horrors. |
| I was at dinner last week with friends. One couple is retired. She is getting confused somewhat. She knows every word to every Broadway musical song, and she still has a pleasant voice and carries a tune well. But some days she doesn't know which purse is hers, or where she left her coat. One day I was a little upset like several others when she suddenly didn't know the man with her. She told him he wasn't her husband. People wanted to help and reassure her, but she didn't want them staring at her. After a few hours, everyone addressed him by name and she left with him to go home. He is so patient with her. He looks rather thin and frail himself. He's always polite and friendly. She is nice, too, actually, just frightened sometimes. At dinner the other night, she was doing okay. I watched the two of them having conversation just among themselves. The smiles on their faces made me think they were on a date, not having known each other long. I realized she's not a burden to him. He loves her. They are still tender with each other. They still show interest in what the other says, unlike so many other established married couples. What I saw in them, despite the burden they bear, is a long burning flame that troubles can't extinguish. They still have that sparkle in their eyes. They are very fortunate to have each other. I know it's hard for him. But the joy of being with someone with whom you've spent decades must make it bearable. I;m certain that he would not have it any other way. |
| If there ever was such a place as the Garden of Eden, what happened to it? If it was figurative, what does it really tell us? Was it really perfect? If Adam was placed there as a caretaker, what does that mean about his career? What kind of care did he take? Did it need a lot of weeding; were there predators like Peter Rabbit; were there adverse weather conditions like frost, hail, drought, flood? Or was caretaker just a title while he lay around all day eating apples and appreciating naked Eve? If you read Genesis, the serpent is never equated with Satan. In fact the experts say Satan does not appear in the Old Testament. The serpent is "the deceiver", the craftiest of all the animals. Apparently, he walks or flies or something. He doesn't slither until after God punishes him for helping Adam and Eve disobey. Since they weren't literate in the Garden, whoever told this story many generations later was not an eye witness. Makes you wonder was the serpent, which most people dislike, guilty of anything at all. He didn't lose his brain or his power of speech. He probably never had them. I'm not invalidating the story. Even figuratively speaking, it's a powerful story that we often misunderstand. It sounds like the first humans had to work, but were content in their labor. They had everything they needed. They weren't ashamed of their sensuality and suffered no consequences for expressing it. The problem for mankind came from desiring to be like God, to know everything that God knows. The only thing God said Don't to was what they wanted, like children you tell not to hug Grandpa. They run to Grandpa. They were told "Don't eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge". So they did. That brings me to another dilemma. Did evil not exist before they ate the fruit? The knowledge is about good and evil. So it they had never eaten the fruit, would evil never have existed? Was disobedience to God in the first place, taking the fruit (not an apple), not evil itself? If you keep reading Genesis, God didn't get mad because they now knew good and evil, but because they had disobeyed and were now lying about it. Further, these original story teller in the patriarchal society, and through the millennia since, placed the blame on the woman. Adam, figurative or not, was the caretaker, the manager. In business, the manager ultimately is responsible for what takes place on his shift. Why wasn't Adam onto the serpent? Why didn't he protect his helpmate Eve? Why didn't he stand up for his woman when they were caught? Why did he throw her under the bus? And through the centuries, man has used the claim, the woman made me do it, like he had no nerve of his own. He was vulnerable to her charms. He couldn't think straight. The woman caused his fall, so she pays the price. Man has passed the buck ever since Adam. I think we are supposed to question it, examine it, think about what it means, why the story endured, first verbally, then in writing. What meaning does it have for us? But don't take somebody's word for it. It will be biased. A good teacher or preacher will make you think about it for yourself. |
| I'm trying to learn a little U.S. history that I didn't know or have forgotten. I've watched 4 of the 5 installments of Texas Rising on the History Channel. To tell the truth it's a little hard to follow the line of history in it. There are some sweet little love stories scattered among the rangers and volunteers. The first 3 episodes spent a little too much time with the men relieving themselves or sitting on toilets. TMI. It does reveal the bloodshed and ruthlessness on all sides.So far there haven't been any great heroic moments. There have been some speeches and selfless acts at all levels of the army. They have also shown personal greed, prejudice, and dishonesty, Of the cast, a few are giving outstanding performances. Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Emily D. West, the "Yellow Rose of Texas" according to legend, has done a stellar job. She's made a fan of me. Miss West was an indentured servant who had met Sam Houston in New Orleans and ends up spying on Santa Anna to avenge her brother's execution at the Alamo. Also standing out to my naive eye were Brendan Fraser as a half-Indian member of the Texas Rangers; Jeffrey Dean Morgan as a man with TB, married to a Mexican woman, but dedicated to Texas independence; and Olivier Martinez as Santa Anna. I guess you can say it's a successful endeavor in that I want to research it for myself and figure it out. It's repeated all through the week at various times of day on the History Channel, so you can play catch up. The final episode will presented as a new show next Monday. |
| I have a friend who gives water to the homeless in the summertime. He and sometimes his wife would go downtown and sit in the park with a cooler of ice and a couple of cases of water. This year he has had medical problems. He;s not up to strength yet. He's worked out details with a day center opened by a movie producer only a block away. They can get a light lunch there and see counselors, and so forth. As they leave, they can pick up a cold bottle of water to take with them. Then a few afternoons when he can break away from work, he will carry the cooler with water bottles in it down on the mall. (Our Main Street area has been bricked in as a pedestrian outdoor mall.) It's easy to pick out the homeless and the down and out from the artsy crowd and the business people. There are professional beggars and crafts people out there, too. I admire this couple. They feel like this water deal is their calling. The people recognize them and know why they are there. They exchange good clean conversation, only sometimes talking about church or God. You can't force people to listen to lectures on how to clean up their lives or keep a budget. You can show them mercy on a hot day. |
| I am exhausted. I babysat from 6:30 am until 8 pm with a 22 month old child. She opened every drawer and every door in the few rooms in which she was allowed. She touched everything that she could reach. The refrigerator and freezer were being opened every time I turned around. Even after my brother and my father came in after 6, she ran us ragged. I have run up and down the wheelchair ramp with her, marched around the house, pulled her in the wagon, and pulled weeds with her.I tried to teach her how to roll in the grass. I have a frozen shoulder that is only half healed, but I forgot about it until I was lying in the grass. I tried rolling over while protecting that shoulder and landed at the bottom of a short hill near the walkway. I tried to get her to do it and keep her legs straight, but she rolled and bent her knees every time she went over. She ended up crawling down the hill. We got up and brushed off grass and went on to other things. We did the hokey pokey out front where the neighbors could hear us singing (I hope they weren't looking through all the vegetation). We colored, read Peter Rabbit, watched a few minutes of SpongeBob, and stirred some little plastic Easter bunnies in some aluminum pie pans. We called it Rabbit Stew.We used every diaper she brought with her, and let her use shorts without diapers tonight. Which meant we changed her shorts several times, and were lucky she did it outside. She got mad and cried a lot when I told her she had to take a nap, but she sat in my lap and cried herself to sleep in less than 5 minutes. Her mom, an RN, came in tired from a long work day, to pick her up, to eat supper, and to pack their things. She throws tantrums with her mother. It's amazing how kids know who to test. And her mom doesn't give her everything she wants. She is very patient with her. I realized I don't usually go outside much in the evenings, mostly because I have an aversion to mosquitoes, while they have a lust for me. I'm usually out in the hot part of the day. It was very nice out this evening. I had put bug spray on both of us earlier in the day, so I made it ok. I might try to get out more those last hours of the day without a child to chase. |
| One of the things required for my forestry class were team projects. In addition to extensive and boring reading, laborious note-taking and Saturday field trips, we had self-directed projects. My team started out as 4 people who seemed reasonably interested. I felt like the idiot in the group. It narrowed down to just me and an ex-Marine when it came time to get started. Our particular project involved studying a particular plot of wooded land south of town. We had permission to be there. We were studying the effects of drought and forest fire on the woods in that area, We followed instructions for gaging the height of trees, taking soil samples, and counting rings in a section of tree taken with a special tool. We recorded wildlife and flora that we spied. My ex-Marine knew how to read a compass, so we didn't get lost. He also kept a machete (from Vietnam) under the seat of his pickup truck. He used it to clear away brush for us. I couldn't have made it through the project without him. He had some knowledge of the forest, as well as survival skills. I acted mostly as recording secretary. I wrote up our findings. Despite his skills and expertise, he didn't want to face the class, so I had to do the oral presentation. I felt like a fraud. I didn't think we were really answering the questions. I have no problem with public speaking, however, and delivered our findings. Surprise to me! We got an A on the project! Both of our names went on the paper. The professor liked it so much, he filed it with the Department of Forestry in our state. There are people who do that all the time for a living, and it's no big deal. But for me and this machete Marine, it was quite a feat. {A good forester knows that not all fire is not bad for a forest, as long as it is a controlled fire.) It was great, not just to learn and get a good grade, but to know we had produced something useful. Maybe some landowners, some timber owners, would find it helpful. |
| I don't know what made me remember my forestry class, but it brought back such good feelings, I want to share them. I thought it would be an easy course at the community college, get some hikes in the woods. I was in my 20's still, already had a B.A., so this was just for fun--no pressure to succeed. Boy, was I surprised. It was a real science class! The professor did advisory work for land owners. This was just a little side thing for him. He lectured for 3 hours with only a 5 minute break. We wrote notes for the whole class. We had to read a tremendous amount of homework. To understand the current state of forestry in our area, we had to study back to the ice age to see how it affected parts of the world, including ours. What had I gotten myself into? I didn't want to drop out and waste my money. The field trips that were short were okay. We walked through some property with the landowner and he explained his land management. What may look natural to you actually takes a good deal of planning to keep it healthy. Nature evolves. Sometimes during class, we'd walk outside and sit in the grass on the hill. It was late spring, so the evenings were still light. He tried to teach us how to tell what it looked like 50 years ago, and what it would look like 50 years from now, if left as is. All I remember now is that nature does not stand still. One Saturday, we took a big trip to Skyline Drive and hiked two hours uphill with Boy Scouts and an extension agent studying the deer in the National Forest. I started out trying to keep up with the Boy Scouts. After the two hours, I couldn't stop coughing. I discovered for the first time, that I have pollen allergies. I stayed sick after that for the rest of the summer. At that point the agent and the professor told me that, even though the rest would be mostly downhill, it would be off the beaten trail. I probably should go back. So I hiked back down alone. It took two hours going down. I didn't drive my car, so I sat there without water and coughed and gagged. Hours later, they came straggling in from another direction. All of the women looked beat, scratched and dirty. Only the Boy Scouts still looked alive and perky. The men were tired, but not bellyaching. I was glad I didn't continue with them. As it was, the next day, my legs were too stiff to stand up easily. The final exam was open book. By that time, half the class members had dropped out. I find it hard to believe that with access to all our notes and all our books, people still couldn't pass the exam. I thought it was hard, and took almost the whole time limit, but I got an A. Whew! I worked so hard for that class. I succeeded with only pressure from myself to do so. I appreciate nature so much more now because of the understanding I have of the cycles of life. It was so worthwhile. |
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