At least that is what the Washington Post is saying... System Worries Clinton Backers - washingtonpost.com Supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are worried that convoluted delegate rules in Texas could water down the impact of strong support for her among Hispanic voters there, creating a new obstacle for her…
Smile everybody. YouTube.com is three today. Registered on February 15, 2005... Happy Birthday YouTube... ++++++++++ Well the redbirds are back this morning. The kitchen door is open again with outside temperatures in the mid 60's. The skies are cloudy...no sun showing this morning and rains are coming according to all…
It was just eight days ago that I took myself off on my annual Birthday/Photo Roadtrip. This image is one of the ones I captured on that day. This shot was taken in San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge but it could have been taken in a number of other locations…
The sunset last evening was fairly nice. Clearing skies after a round of rough weather blew through on a cold front. Here is a shot of the abandoned jeep my ex-neighbors left behind... The back door is closed this morning and the heat pump is on in the heating cycle. …
I haven't been in tune with Garrison for a while but today's poem seems to have something to say about where I am...right now. We'll never get there, Time is always ahead of us, running down the beach, urging us on faster, faster, but sometimes we take off our watches,…
It was a great trip...not so great for pictures, but a hell of a way to recharge the psychic batteries. The weather was beautiful. Nothing but blue skies and sunshine. Temperatures started out cool in the low 40's but by afternoon had warmed up into the low 60's. The wind…
No matter what the weather brings tomorrow, I will spend the day on my annual photo road trip/beach meditation party. This will be the third annual event. A holiday from work I present to myself. A day of wandering the countryside of my life. If the prognosticators are right, the…
via whiskey river "Just as the highest and the lowest notes are equally inaudible, so perhaps, is the greatest sense and the greatest nonsense equally unintelligible." - Alan Watts I find that quote both disturbing and dishearteningly astute. It is disturbing mainly because if the greatest nonsense is unintelligible, how…
I read this in the latest "News From Vermont" sent out by Burr Morse...This issue was written by Weston Cate. It doesn't make any difference whether or not the Ground Hog sees his shadow on February 2. What does matter is that date marks the halfway point in the winter.…
Our run of not half bad weekends continues...The sun is out in a mostly clear sky. The temperature is already threatening to pass 60 degrees on this midwinter Saturday morning. As I sat here musing this morning, I was struck again by the amount of green I still see through…
'Tis the last day of January and the month has flown. We seem to be riding a weather roller coaster this week. Three mornings ago it was in the low 40's the next day was 70. Yesterday we were back in the 40's. Today it's in the mid 60's. They…
What a difference a day can make...Yesterday at this time it was 70° outside, today it's 44. It looks like winter is back for a day or two. I heard the prognosticator on the radio yesterday warning about rain moving in this afternoon and evening, so the clear skies of…
It ain't much of a question...But lately as I get up in the morning or read email of a evening, I find myself searching for a reason to start a conversation. Even if I'm only talking to myself...You would think I could come up with something to say...But, no, the…
The level of concentration that has been required for the past few weeks at my day job has had consequences on the level of posting going on at this blog. By the time I get home each day all I want to do is vegetate. By the time I drag…
I saw this in my morning email. Dear Sir/Madam, You have won One Million Pounds Pounds Sterling on the Uk Lotto-GmbH) . Always Quote the information below to us: Reference Number:EUM-347-DGS-689 Batch:538901527-Bc65 Contact Agent Below Mr Tony Risby London Representative Office. Phone Number:(0044) 7960021562 Best Regard, Mr John Williams For…
Talk about touching a chord in my psyche. Verlyn's essay on driving and learning to drive is poetic in the way it pulls memories out of the dregs of my subconscious and plants them in the forebrain, full of scents, and sounds, and muscle memory. Being from Texas, I was…
The weather out this morning was frightful...windy, cold (for SE Texas), and wet. So here is a sunrise from earlier this month. I was a little late to get the full effect...What a gorgeous morning... Y'all have a great weekend.
I heard this on my drive home... NPR : Co-Creator of Frisbee and Hula Hoop Dies at 82 All Things Considered, January 17, 2008 · Richard Knerr, co-founder of the company responsible for turning the Hula Hoop, Frisbee and many other ingenious creations into iconic toys died Monday at age…
From my email... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv7Dx2mRH5I Satish Kumar speaking on YouTube Resurgence Magazine
The pace at work since the new year has been quite frantic. I find myself sleeping late almost every morning. It's cutting down on my musing time as I have my toast and coffee each morning. Some mornings it seems like I barely get through the email and important reader…
One of the fun things about checking the visitor stats on this blog (and NC Mtn Dreams) is you sometimes stumble on someone who stumbled onto you. Just such a case happened this morning as I checked my email and munched on my toast. I started seeing referrals from a…
After three days of enjoying blue skies and shorts and t-shirt weather, it's back to the office cubicle. Low light levels and mood music as I spend the day working in virtual 3d worlds. Ever since the first of the year the workload has spiked. So that by the days…
I am enjoying a beautiful winters day of forced leisure. The sun is shining in a bluer than blue clear sky. The temperature is in the mid 60's with just a slight breeze blowing from the north. It's a quiet, lazy Friday with most folks at work or in school.…
When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. – John Muir ++++++++++ As I wandered by the weather station above the coffeepot this morning I was struck by the 6am temperature...68°! Now, the question that raises is; did I…
While I have only experienced temperatures of this nature once in my life, I do remember being surprised at the time that the cold didn't feel that cold...Of course, that was Colorado. The only time I've seen temperatures in the teens around here it's felt very, very cold...I guess that's…
I have a question for ya...Why is it that real restaurant coffee cups hold the heat so much better than the coffee cups you get everywhere else? Ever since we came back from vacation with a couple of Blue Ridge Restaurant coffee cups from Floyd Virginia both Sherry and I…
Old Farmhouse, Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia, November 12, 2007 Passage of Time - Fri Jan 04, 2008 This week's challenge: 'Passage of Time'. 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,…
It's not quite sunup outside and I've made it through my email and the necessary blogs before work. I've been playing with Twitter a bit over the past few days but I'm still not quite sure why. It seems like broadcast IM and I never saw the real reason for…
"New Year's Day--Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.~ Mark Twain I went to bed early last evening and slept late on this new years morning (unlike Fred). I thought I'd get up and…
This morning is glowing...The light outside is golden. I would be outside trying to capture a remembrance except the temperature is at 40° and the humidity is 88%. Too cold by far for the shorts and long sleeve "t-shirt" I am wearing. I don't know if it means anything, but…
It's not a happy subject, but global warming is going to move up on everyone's radar in the coming year. Here is what Bill McKibben had to say in todays Washington Post... Bill McKibben - Remember This: 350 Parts Per Million - washingtonpost.com This month may have been the most…
It's raining today so I'm sitting at the kitchen table listening to the raindrops with Mary Gauthier playing in the background. Of the things I had on my wishlist for Christmas, two were her latest recordings. Ever since I discovered her last year, I have been in love with the…
Here's a bit of trivia I am sure you all have wondered about. What...you say you haven't... Tex-Arcana: Where did Texas toast come from? | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle A miscalculation is credited with fostering the creation of "Texas Toast," the oversized grilled bread slices that now regularly appear beside…
Something is strange with my blogs. For some reason my search engine hits are climbing at (for here anyway) unusual rates. Believe me I'm not complaining, I might make some new friends. A five and six fold increase in the number of hits is appreciated, and if most of them…
Yesterday morning at this time the temperature outside my door was 36°...Today it's 61. When the sun rose yesterday the ground was white with the second frost of the year. I'll be surprised if we see the sun this morning. I see this toasty weather outside my door isn't being…
My Monday morning reading of the feeds over coffee and toast led me to this via The Ethicurean: Chew the right thing. Michael Pollan - Argiculture - Disease Resistant Staph - Concentrated Animal Feed Operations - Sustainability - New York Times Confucius advised that if we hoped to repair what…
Today's commute to work looked quite wintry. The sky was flat gray and hanging just above the power lines from the look and feel. The roads I drive in on are wide and gray under my wheels. Four and six lanes of divided concrete ribbons once I hit the expressway.…
This week's challenge: 'Sunrise'. Sunrise from Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway Sunrise Sunrise Looks like morning in your eyes But the clock's held 9:15 for hours Sunrise Sunrise Couldn't tempt us if it tried Cuz the afternoon's already come and gone And I said Hooo, hooo, hooo To…
Yesterday morning at this time the temperature was in the 70's today it's in the 40's. Other than light rain falling I like today's temperature much better. ++++++++++ I see my ex-Gov is still at it. Compassionate Conservative that he is, he has been kicking SCHIP for a decade longer…
The cold front that is putting a big chunk of the country in winter stalled just north of my house yesterday. The cooler air made it as far south as the office before deciding to run back north to more friendly environs. Though this mornings presentation is in the 60's...barely...…
On my Monday morning trek to the "curb" this morning the thermometer on the front porch was reading 72°. After dropping the garbage bag in the cage and coming in to coffee and toast I read the following... Cold, wet weather reaching into most Texas areas | Chron.com - Houston…
The weather outside is...springlike. Not what you want to get you into the Christmas spirit. The high here today could break the record for high temperatures on this date. Here we sit, just after noon on a cloudy day, under an acre of green leaves of oak trees with the…
Again today the internet connection is being problematic. I guess I shouldn't have been so easy with my praise of AT&T last week when asked about their dsl service. It almost makes me wonder if this isn't my comeuppance for saying good things about the phone company. Reading through the…
I had my first inspection of the ole vocal chords this afternoon. The Doc was happy with the appearance of my vocal chords so I guess I am too. It looks like it's time to pop the cork on that wine bottle I've been saving...Cameron Hughes Lot 21, 2004 Zinfandel.…
Sunday night as we were preparing the evening meal the power blinked off for a few seconds for no known reason. The only evident results at the time were a few clocks that started blinking when the power returned. So we reset the clocks (all on ovens) and went on…
I went out for a walk this morning with the camera because I noticed the red oak out back finally decided it autumn. The predominate color is still green around here, but what do you expect when the temperature outside is 75° at 10am on a Sunday morning. Here's what…
We seem to be having another of those foggy fall mornings...The temperature is predicted to be rising through the weekend. I have even heard predictions of 70's this weekend. So it looks like fall has teased us again. Just another example of the many changes life puts us through. Life…
As much as I remember starting the days we've spent up on the mountains watching the fog rise out of the valleys and burn off, it seems the fogs of home have been more prevalent this year. Leaving the house to go to work each day brings me face to…
For the first time in a week the temperature as I enter the kitchen isn't in the 4o's. It looks like our winter preview is over for a while...Hello autumn and 70° highs once again. ++++++++++ The invariable mark of wisdom is seeing the miraculous in the common. - Ralph…
Thanksgiving Day was the last decent weather day we had through the long holiday weekend. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all wet, windy and cold. Most decidedly cold for the wife. Forty degree weather in this neck of the woods qualifies as winter, not fall, so throw in the rain…
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We wandered over to my mother's house about noon on Thursday carrying our contribution to the feast. Both of my brothers were already there. Of my sisters one had arrived and one was running late...So far everything was normal for the day.…
The Floyd Country Store on a frosty Sunday morning. The Jacksonville Cemetery in the foreground. The Barbershop... The Stoplight... Farmer's Supply... Oddfella's Cantina...
You know it's time to go back to work when you get up and the weather outside has turned back to Texas. It's 65° with a humidity of 97%. In other words, looking outside right now you can see the air under the neighbors night lights. The prognosticators are predicting…
We've been running around trying to get ready to hit the road tomorrow, so posting here is down to a minimum. With any luck I'll be posting some autumn colors in the next week... In the meantime, you all have a great weekend and we'll catch ya down the road...In…
The mapping software I ordered from DeLorme arrived late on Wednesday night so Thursday morning was spent installing booth programs and checking the GPS receiver during my regular blogging time. I must say that what little time I've had to play with the software and the GPS sure has me…
I walked out of the house yesterday to see this sight... The color of the sky was so arresting I had to grab a shot. Then I waited to see the sun peak over the tree tops. This whole daylight saving time is screwy though...I shouldn't have to wait till…
There is a long but informative article on the effects of light on seasonal mood swings over on the Washington Post... Seeing the Light of Day Oh, the light! The autumn light! Is there anything more glorious than an October day, awash in the sun's low-slung amber rays? And yet…
Over the course of the last month or so I keep stumbling over videos from TED. This morning I came across a link which I watched . Then I went exploring...Here is one of the Talks I found interesting...Why don't you spend some time this weekend being inspired... Go explore…
Two Pigs - Verlyn Klinkenborg - York Times Over the course of just a few generations (in my case just two) we have gone from a world where everyone knew where their food came from to a world where you really don't even know which continent supplied the ingredients in…
Our first Grandson had his first birthday party over the weekend and I finally managed to process some shots. The capture above was of him and his personal birthday cake...He had fun until he noticed everyone was watching and laughing... All of the little ones at the party seemed to…
It always intrigues me when the weather goes topsy turvy. This morning when I arrived at the coffee pot the weather station on the shelf said the outside temperature was holding at 50°. The humidity reads 75%. Both readings are at least 20 points below what they were at the…
The musings from stream side, as the fall turns to winter...for the present time at least. A Late Afternoon, Mid-October Snowstorm on the Madison River - New York Times I have come again to the why moment. I suspect it may be the reason I fish. I cast, and yet…
I woke up this morning to temperatures in the 50's...yeah! Fall has decided to pay us another visit for a few days. As I sit here at the kitchen table with my ???th cup of coffee, typing this muse, the French doors are open and the outside temperature is just…
The long overdue trip into the Blue Ridge Mountains is almost here (knock on wood). I almost feel like I shouldn't even think about it unless I jinx the whole affair. This trip is about as unstructured (and unplanned) as any we have ever done. No kids(?), no agendas, just…
From my drive on Monday... I went looking for this shot as there is no way you can call this windmill "on the way home"...Though I drive by it often enough. Of all the windmills I am acquainted with I like the looks of this one the best... ++++++++++ It…
From my drive home yesterday. The weather was threatening to follow me home...but it didn't. The clouds were amazing. And a little post processing in Photomatix Pro never hurts to bring them out in HDR. I drive by this location regularly since I first discovered it last fall. For a…
A tree falls and an old friend is lost | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle It was a giant tree, upended by a freak wind, that sealed its fate — the charming, sunny little cottage next door to me. It had its own personality; for years it had been a happy…
“What politics has become, requires a level of tolerance for triviality and artifice and nonsense that I have found in short supply.” - Al Gore ++++++++++ The MSM has been abuzz ever since the announcement with the question of Al Gore running for President. I have just one question...Why? Why…
The weather out is delightful, even the humidity has fallen below 90%. Morning temperature is 64°. The skys are clear and the day has yet to break. We should be heading into a beautiful weekend. It could be time for a photo road trip... ++++++++++ Well...It looks like the Industrial…
The alarm clock is failing in it's efforts to motivate me out of bed this week. The fall weather (another tease, I am sure) is not helping it in it's appointed task. The snooze setting of 30 minutes normally gives me that extra little bit I need to go ahead…
I never thought I could get this excited...Driving home yesterday I heard the weather prognosticator calling for "seasonable" temperatures this weekend. My goodness, who would have thought that "seasonable" would be the new cool... I can only hope they are right...We can hardly complain. Our summer was not it's normal…
I am just about moved into this new blogging machine. New computers are such a pain as you try to get all of the essential programs installed...Even the ones you forgot were essential right up until they were needed. But I am beginning to feel comfortable that I can get…
After shopping around in our electrical supply market here in Texas, I can tell you, I sure don't feel like I've saved any money over the past decade. If anything it seems like the only winners have been the old utilities. And to find out the chief author of the…
The morning reading of the thermometer shows that our last few days of precursor fall weather were just a tease as usual. The morning's low is in the mid seventies again and the afternoon highs haven't been pleasant even when the lows were ten degrees less...I guess my best shot…
We are having another of those needed fall mornings here. The temperature as I made the trek to the road with the contribution to the garbage gods this morning was almost pleasant. Sadly, the prognosticators are calling for 90° by the afternoon. But any morning that starts out in the…
The Blog of Henry David Thoreau: Thoreau's Journal: 03-Oct-1859 Thoreau's Journal: 03-Oct-1859 It is somewhat cooler and more autumnal. A great many leaves have fallen and the trees begin to look thin. You incline to sit in a sunny and sheltered place. This season, the fall, which we have now…
Garrison provides a quotation upon Cervantes birthday that is as insightful today as it must have been during his life... The Writer's Almanac from American Public Media Miguel de Cervantes said, "Too much sanity may be madness and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not…
There was a post by Gina over at Lifehacker yesterday about coffee that caught my eye. How To: Make Better Coffee - Lifehacker This morning's cuppa joe a big letdown? Self-described "coffee snob" Brett Kelly says you can make a fabulous cup of coffee for a reasonable price yourself. Kelly's…
For the past week or so I have been catching myself with my mind in the clouds so this weeks horoscope from Rob Brezsny really resonated in me. Free Will Astrology : Aquarius Horoscope Aquarius Horoscope for week of September 27, 2007Aquarius (January 20-February 19) It'll be a good week…
When I got up this morning the weather had gone back to summer mode...The temperature was pushing 73° before sunup. Now, twelve hours later we are still at 83°. Even though the temperatures are still summer-like, the light out is definitely fall-like. There is a hazy smoky look to distant…
It looks like I've had one of my domains phished spoofed. All morning long the spam folder has been filling up with undelivered mail receipts. Since around 5am this morning there have been over 2,000 undelivered messages. Almost makes you wonder how many must have gotten through. I am sure…
Galveston, Texas as the sun comes up over the Gulf of Mexico on a fall Sunday morning... This week's challenge: 'The Beach'. 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…
It stole in for just a short stay and stole away in the same quiet way. The mornings weather station report was 74° at 6am. Here we are sneaking up on the autumnal equinox and the temperatures are on the rise again. It's just a few degrees difference, but my…
This morning was another of those mornings when the weather outside is livable. Too bad it will not last... Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. Heat index values as high as 102. East wind between 5 and 10 mph. +++++++++++ Andy Griffin is on roll with another essay…
When I wandered in to the kitchen for that first cup of coffee this morning the weather station on the shelf informed me that the outside temperature was at 70°. I didn't even bother to look at the humidity so I can't report what it might have been but the…
I began thinking of the wordsmiths I enjoy who make their primary living working on the farm. I haven't made it a point to search these folks out, but maybe I should. There is something about the solitude of farm work that seems to allow the wordsmiths it produces to let their words steep and age before they commit them to paper (or electronic replacements thereof).
Had I written that sentence in my earlier years someone would have answered "between the "A" and the "T" to remind me about ending a sentence with a proposition or some such semi-remembered sentence structural rule. Now, in my crotchety elderhood, I just do it anyway... The drive home from…
Humberto Update: Wunder Blog : Weather Underground A surprise Hurricane Humberto ripped into Texas near the Louisiana border this morning, bringing winds of 85 mph and torrential rains to the coast. Humberto didn't even exist yesterday morning, and grew from a tropical depression at 11am EDT to a hurricane just…