The Trail Since 2006
It began with a spark of inspiration from a few kindred spirits scattered along the Appalachian ridges, mostly in North Carolina and Virginia. Back then, we were virtual friends who—for the most part—never shared a physical porch, but we built a digital one together. Some were writers, some were poets, and some were photographers, each of us finding our way through those early “virtual woods” on the internets.
What follows is a collection of my latest musings (and perhaps a bit of blathering), a trail of thoughts that winds all the way back to those first steps in 2006.
Or just meander through my past muses… Just hope the coffee isn’t stale!
Family Reunion Time
The descendants of my dad’s family gets together each year for a family reunion…Today was the day for this years get together. It was a bit of a drive on a beautiful summer day. I…
End of the week muse…
Like many of his fans I discovered Utah Phillips late in his life. My daughter, a fan of Ani DiFranco, introduced me to him a few years back… U. Utah Phillips, 73; Folk Singer Championed…
What would you have done?
I’ve been reading Leon Hale as long as I’ve been reading anything other than the funny pages in the Houston Newspaper…Occasionally I link to his blog or the weekly column he has almost retired to….
Wunder Blog : Weather Underground
For those who are following the rough weather… Wunder Blog : Weather Underground The tornado that devastated Parkersburg, Iowa on Sunday has now been rated an EF-5 by the National Weather Service. An EF-5 is…
Musing After The Work Day Ends…And Before The Next Begins
Tuesday Evening It was good to get back to work after a long and busy weekend. It seems to have been one of those weekends that requires a work week to recuperate from. I spent…
Sunday Morning Musing On A Three Day Weekend
I know I shouldn’t complain… Currently (on Sun 5:53AM CDT from Pearland Regional Airport) Cloudy Temp: 81° (Heat Index 86°) Dewpoint: 73° Wind: SE 6 MPH But come on…A heat index that tells me that…
Authors@Google: Michael Pollan
You really have to appreciate Google putting these talks out on the web via YouTube…Here is Michael Pollan…
Solar Energy Becoming Competitive…
I saw this via KurzweilAI.net… Photovoltaic Moore’s Law Will Make Solar Competitive by 2015 (Tech Talk) Silicon-based solar technology has decoupled from the semiconductor industry and is achieving steady cost reductions, so that those following…
Evening Muses With a Glass of Zin…
Susan Albert linked to the National Arbor Day site and their animation showing the changes in hardiness zones. Lifescapes Yep, it’s true–101.8 on our digital thermometer yesterday, and that’s in the shade. Austin hit 101,…
Summer Mowing
Leon is having the same thoughts I am as I drive circles around my place… Leon Hale: Cutting a 42-inch swath So now I mow the four acres myself, on a John Deere riding mower…
My Morning Muse
This is how I spent my morning muse today…
Monday Evening Muse – Summer Is Back
But it left the humidity behind for today at least…The weather station on the shelf tells me that as the sun sets in the west the temperature is still floating at 86°. Amazingly the humidity…
Sunday Morning Musing…Spring Is Back
I woke up this morning and spring appears to have made a return…At least for a couple of days. The house is open, windows and doors, and the cool breezes are blowing through. The temperature…
The Weekend Muse
A few years back this note would not have even made it through the clutter of my brain… Robert Mondavi, 94; Noted Vintner Who Raised Quality of American Wine – washingtonpost.com Robert Mondavi, 94, who…
If You Build It…Will They Come?
No ships coming to new Port of Houston cruise terminal | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle The gleaming new $81 million cruise terminal at the Port of Houston will open soon, but don’t expect throngs of…
Sometimes You Have To Ask, Huh?
Shifting winds: A victory for island development | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle Weather forecasters and climatologists have long warned that unbridled development of the vulnerable Gulf Coast is setting the stage for a disaster that…
A Plague of Ants
Looks like another import causing problems here in SE Texas. A Plague of Ants in Houston – The Lede – Breaking News – New York Times BlogAs recently as Wednesday, all was well in Houston,…
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Middle of the Week, Middle of the Month, Middleing Muse
I’ve linked to the writing of Andy at The Ladybug Letter before. I first stumbled across him in a link to his history of field greens and spinach during the spinach disaster a year or…
May 13 Twenty O’Eight
Summer’s back…Both the temperature and the humidity are back. No wanting to spend the morning in the backyard today. Though I must admit the birds seem to like the weather just fine. Loud greetings to…
This Man Makes Me Proud To Be Texan
There are many people in the public eye that leave me embarrassed of my home state…Bill Moyers is not one of them.
Just When You Write It Off…
Spring decides to pay another short visit. We had another “cold” front slide through yesterday. I think it would be more accurate to call it a dry front. Sunday morning we watched the humidity drop…
Scamming the Budgetary Process
Why do we keep seeing this? When the Republican Presidential Candidate see us in Iraq for 100 years (it really doesn’t matter what the role is), how can the budget for these operations still be…
Closing Down a Blog
Today I imported all of the posts and comments from my old political rant site “Blues From The Red Side Of Life” into this blog and shut down the old Blogger site. It seemed the…
The Music I Grew Up With
Heading south on I45, middle of the night, looking to catch the sun rising on Galveston Island. This is the sound that blasted out of the 8-track in the VW Bus we used to haul…
Friday Political Muse
This could explain the Republican love affair with GW Bush… Michael Gerson – Sticking Points for Obama – washingtonpost.com A president is expected to be a patriotic symbol himself, not the arbiter of patriotic symbols….
The birth of a Blog
Two years ago today I started North Carolina Mountain Dreams, my first blog. That first post was entitled “Inventing the Myth as I Go”. It seems that not much has changed in two years. I…
It looks like summer musing time is here…
Crank up the AC: 90-degree days return to Houston this week | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle Summer’s coming, and right on schedule, too. Forecasters say Houston’s mercury should top 90 degrees Thursday or Friday. During…
Bill Moyers Journal . Transcripts
Bill Moyers Journal . Transcripts | PBS May 2, 2008 BILL MOYERS:Welcome to the Journal. I once asked a reporter back from Vietnam, “Who’s telling the truth over there?” Everyone he said. Everyone sees what’s…
Mmmmmm…muses
Interesting little legal quandary… McCain’s Birth Abroad Stirs Legal Debate – washingtonpost.com The Senate has unanimously declared John McCain a natural-born citizen, eligible to be president of the United States. That is the good news…
Pesticides In Your Food?
Check the Guide… Environmental Working Group || foodnews.org Be A Smarter Produce Picker — Get Our Free Guide! EWG always recommends buying organic, but we know you can’t always find it. Our new Guide —…
Mid-Week, Mid-Morning, Mid-Life Muse
Monday Morning Muse
The weekend weather was trying…Thunder boomers rolling through on Friday night. Rain off and on all day on Saturday as we were chained to the house waiting for a furniture delivery. More rain and thunder…
Playing with some photos…
Playing around in photoshop on some of the images I shot last fall on our vacation in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This is a shot of Fred First’s barn on Goose Creek out of Floyd….
Photo Friday: Electricity
This week’s Challenge: ‘Electricity’. Please read our Participant Guide before deciding to submit a link. Your link must be to a static page that will always show your challenge image, and not your website’s main…
Pre-Weekend Musing…
We appear to have fallen off of the weather pattern we have enjoyed for the past month or so. It was nice while it lasted…Cold front on Thursday-Friday to blow out the stale air, cool…
The Road Goes On Forever…
And the party never ends… Robert Earl Keen is a hell of a story spinner and a pretty good songwriter. Sherry was a waitress at the only joint in town She had a reputation as…
WordPress Upgrade…
Well I finally took the plunge and upgraded my WordPress to the latest version. If you should happen to hit any glitches, please…please let me know… It looks like I’ll be spending a little time…
A Victory in Pa?
‘The tide is turning,’ victorious Clinton says | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle “Because of you, the tide is turning.” I suppose the question is…Exactly how many Republican voters does it take to turn a Democratic…
Earth Day 2008 – The Countdown Is On…
Happy Earth Day…Twenty-eight years ago on Earth Day I, I could have been anywhere…I really do not recall what that sophomore in high school was doing. Especially since those days were lived down wind from…
The end of spring?
The last couple of weeks have been really nice. Cool nights days in the mid 70’s at the highest. Today though it looks like summer is coming on. The temperature this morning at 6am is…
Is it just me?
Watching the Democratic Debate the other night left me with the strong suspicion that it isn’t just Washington and politicians living in a bubble…It appears the mainstream media is living right in there with them….
Tuesday in Spring…
The small number of posts this week can be blamed on the beautiful spring weather we have been experiencing. I have been spending most of my free time out in the yard enjoying the cool…
Saturday Morning Muse
Occasionally a blog entry will touch a spot in me that makes me do something…Cate’s “ramble” today was one… Beyond the Fields We Know: Looking for… Some places arrange themselves perfectly in eye and viewfinder,…
Quick Quotes From The Left…
Eugene Robinson – The Surge Turns Into the Stall – washingtonpost.com Of course, Bush long ago lost any credibility with Congress and the American people on Iraq. It’s understandable that he hides behind Petraeus’s breastplate…
End of the Week Musing
“The most alarming sign of the state of our society now is that our leaders have the courage to sacrifice the lives of young people in war but have not the courage to tell us…
Wednesday Morning Muse
Current Weather (on Wed 5:53AM CDT from Pearland Regional Airport) Partly Cloudy Temp: 72° Dewpoint: 66° Wind: SE 6 MPH What isn’t shown in that snipit from my email is the humidity. Right now it…
Nothing Good To Say…
Corporate Croesus – New York Times It’s hard to square the conceit that chief executives are rewarded for improving companies’ performance with the fact that chiefs at 10 financial-services firms in the study made $320…
Sobering Thoughts for a Monday Morning Muse
Paul Krugman’s latest column focuses on food. Wander on over and check out his thoughts… Grains Gone Wild – New York Times These days you hear a lot about the world financial crisis. But there’s…
Weekend Musing
The first wealth is health. – Ralph Waldo Emerson If you are as skeptical as I am about most of modern medicine’s miracle drugs, you might not want to read this book review. It will…
