Look what the cat dragged in...

Like a bad case of herpes, I'm back... And no offense to any of you, but I really, really didn't want to come back.



A path in Bahia Honda State Park I walked along enjoying the 70F degree weather and gentle breezes. I saw a couple larger Iguanas sunning themselves - perhaps they were Geico spoke-lizard stand-ins. I couldn't understand a word they said to me, the you allin' southern Iggy-talk (dats "youse awe'lin sudern iggy tawk" to us nude joysians) accents were too much for me to decipher.



Two female "Magnificent Frigatebirds" (Fregata magnificens) - These birds can fly with effortless grace for hours on end and never land on level ground or in water, and always take their food items in flight since they can't take off unless they drop out of a tree.



A pelican checking me out as I paddle a small dingy over to the town dock. I think he was giving me the "evil eye" since I caught a much bigger fish than he did that day.

I was enjoying the sun and the warmth and the swimming so much I barely noticed the lack of the orange traffic cones for a day or two - but thank gosh - February is a road construction month in the Florida Keys so they were out in force. I chose not to photograph them though... I could say I "chose" not to photograph any squirrels too, but actually, I didn't see any.

I really enjoyed the sun and the warmth and the swimming...

It might take me a while to say something coherent (if indeed, that happens at all) and it's going to take me a while to catch up on reading and commenting on every one's blogs and e-mails. Please bear with me - the sunburn I got is itchy. :)

Oh, did I mention I enjoyed the sun and the warmth and the swimming?

Iggy Spotted!

..or actually that's an Iguana striped...



I only have ten minutes on the computer here - so I have to be quick! I miss you all - and am enjoying the warm sunshine and water. Swimming has helped my shoulder a lot.

This little two foot long Iggy was in the parking lot and it walked across the road with me acting as a crossing guard in Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys.



In another parking lot on Big Pine Key, I encountered a wild rooster (is it Cedric?) and his family, consisting of one hen and about 8 chicks (one of which I named Marble) having walked to the car from Blue Pool - an alligator and Key Deer refuge. I saw one 8 foot long, very sleepy, alligator and one key deer - I might post the pictures later.

I hope all of you are well - I am being tapped on the shoulder as my time is up - more laters!!

Happy Valentine's Day

I have been very busy the past few days - actually working overtime - and will be going away tomorrow for a couple weeks for a dandelion break - so I'm busy getting ready - but the first thing I want do today is give a big splash of sunflowers to my friends.

Happy Valentine's Day!


Photo from Anil Ranganatha's Nature Photography. If you have time - it's well worth the visit.

OCHA Frolics (Rated PG-17)

Recently, LadyStyx told me she observed the filming of a new segment of the hit straight to video show, OCHAs Gone Wild! it was hard really hard to contain my jealousy. It was equally hard to sit still while eagerly awaiting the sale of the video on DVD. In fact, I nearly put a countdown clock on this blog for it!

Today, the mailman, bless that man in blue; brought the long awaited DVD, discretely wrapped in brown paper of course, and I practically tore it out of his hands and shredded the paper off on the way to the TV.

And oh my... Words fail me! Here are some screenshots from my TV for you to enjoy.



Like Atlas holding up the world on his shoulders, here we see three OCHAs playing the human swimming pool game of "Chicken" with the girls riding on the top of some broad-shouldered Wrinkled Black Beatlejuicean Worms.

There is nothing like some cold splashing to get a naughty OCHA nipply wet.

I found the placement of the Atlas truck bearing the words "pumping - jet spray" to be a little over the top though.



Opps! She fell flat in her face in the mud! Oh my, you should have seen her when she stood up.



As we all know, this partying leads to drunken playfullness.

Here we see some partying OCHA girls heading to the next scene so giddy from doing body shots of Orange Fizz, Orange Rush, Harvery Wall Bangers, and Screwdrivers (what else?) that they are riding upside down.

I know, I know, I'm certain they made someone named Tiff proud.



Ut oh, it looks like a man-eating blue boxy had too much of a good thing - and this DVD is a good thing too - I give it two-thumbs up!

All pictures courtesy of roving photojournalist LadyStyx. Lame story by me.

Its Been A Year Already

This entry is dedicated to those who have gone on before us.

Jopete, LittleWing, Catywampus and too many Others. They showed me the meaning of courage and tenacity and are badly missed.

There's a grief that can't be spoken.
There's a pain goes on and on.
Empty chairs at empty tables
Now my friends are dead and gone.

Here they talked of revolution.
Here it was they lit the flame.
Here they sang about `tomorrow'
And tomorrow never came.

From the table in the corner
They could see a world reborn
And they rose with voices ringing
I can hear them now!
The very words that they had sung
Became their last communion
On the lonely barricade at dawn.

Oh my friends, my friends forgive me

(The ghosts of those who died on the barricade appear)

That I live and you are gone.
There's a grief that can't be spoken.
There's a pain goes on and on.

Phantom faces at the window.
Phantom shadows on the floor.
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will meet no more.

(The ghosts fade away)

Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me
What your sacrifice was for
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will sing no more.
"Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" from Les Miserables

The HobOCHA from Hoboken

As you know, the economic downturn has been very hard on many people.

What you might not know is that it has been hard on some of the less fortunate OCHAs too.

A case in point, Billy "the Hobo" Conehead. Billy was born to plain and loving parents that were very, very poor. His father was never able to afford to get Lil' Billy a reflective stripe when he was growing up - and troubles plagued Billy at every turn. As a rebellious teenager, Billy ran away from home and got involved in petty thievery, drugs, booze and loose "working" female coneheads.

It wasn't until he had a run in with the law and spent some time behind bars that he found religion and was saved. Released to a halfway house late last year, Billy found work selling Christmas trees at a local corner lot.



By dint of hard labor, frugalness, and an economic stimulus check, he was, at long last able to afford a couple stripes. Alas, the tree selling season was short and Billy was let go. Unable to collect unemployment, he fell on hard times - and in order to eat, he resorted to sifting through trash, looking for a morsel or two that would sustain him for another day.



Now, Billy was a rough and tough lil' cone from the streets and it turns out he had a uncle that worked for the state - and with a little bit of political patronage lubrication (yes, I do mean a well-placed bribe), Billy got a really sweet job with the highway department that was complete with full benefits, a 4-week vacation plan, a guaranteed retirement plan, and even more priceless, a small amount of power, that he immediately (ab)used to make the ordinary taxpayer's lives miserable.



Thanks to roving photojournalist LadyStyx for the first two pictures.

Happy 200th Birthday

Abraham Lincoln, born on February 12, 1809, was the 16th President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery. As the war was drawing to a close, Lincoln became the first American president to be assassinated.

Abraham Lincoln was born to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, two uneducated farmers, in a one-room log cabin in southeast Hardin County, Kentucky, making him the first president born outside the original Thirteen Colonies.

I am always moved when I read his Gettysburg Address:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Charles Robert Darwin, like Abraham Lincoln, was also born on February 12, 1809. He was an English naturalist who realised and demonstrated that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection.

His 1859 book On the Origin of Species established evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. He examined human evolution and sexual selection in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, he examined earthworms and their effect on soil.

In recognition of Darwin’s pre-eminence, he was one of only five 19th-century UK non-royal personages to be honoured by a state funeral, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, close to John Herschel and Isaac Newton.

It is merely odd coincidence that these two brilliant men were born 4,000 miles apart within hours of each other. It is no coincidence they are both honored by their countries by having their likeness appear on money (the five dollar bill, the penny, and the 10 pound note). The impact that these two men had on modern society is incalculable.

650 Kilogram-Meters/Minute (LBE)

When I woke up this morning before the sun rose to get ready for Physical Therapy I heard every joint in my body creak... The tightness in my lower back and the stiffness in my fingers made me slow and sluggish. Trying to rouse myself, I mentally shouted "TGIF!! TGIF!!" but even that brought me no cheer or energy.

Arriving at the hospital where the personal torture takes place, the sky turned a rosy but still gloomy grey and I was directed to the hand-powered stationary bike where I pedal with my arms to loosen up the stiff shoulder muscles.


Today's unpleasant surprise was being told that it was time for route "C". I have been doing route "B" which had turned into a pleasant "little ride" in which I know all the (missing) turns and changes of pace - in fact I can do this route with my eyes closed and no strain whatsoever. That lack of strain or perhaps my lack of smile when I muttered "mornin'" to the PT Associate prompted them to turn things up a notch.

I have no idea what the 650 Kilogram-Meters/Minute signifies on the gauge other than it meant wheezing, panting, huffing, and wincing from the shoulder complaining about it. The PT Associate kept an eagle eye on me this morning and every time I slacked off a little, he shouted "650 Kilogram-Meters/Minute! Keep it at 650 Kilogram-Meters/Minute!"



While pedalling like Benny Hill after a bleached blond, I thought to myself, "Should I get a dog? A cute one?" and about how recently I've not feeling so well - I'm not going to complain about it here - I just want you to know if I don't get around to comment on your blogs it's because I'm just kind of running with an empty gas tank.

I don't know if its depression, tiredness from stress, or just ...feeling old. While I pedal the bike and hear the PT Associate shouting at me, "650 Kilogram-Meters/Minute!" when I slow down, I am reminded of John Denver's "Poems, Prayers & Promises" in which he sings:
The days they pass so quickly now - the nights are seldom long
Time around me whispers when it's cold
The changes somehow frighten me - still I have to smile
It turns me on to think of growing old
For though the life's been good to me - there's still so much to do...
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After I had staggered out of the hospital and plodded across the parking lot that felt like it was being blasted by Artic winds, I forlorningly got into my car and started my drive to work. It was but a short time later, when I suddenly felt much better having just noticed one of life's simple pleasures. It was probably nothing anyone else would get excited over - but I smiled to myself and thought, "I've never had a car with one before and as a kid growing up, I probably wouldn't have noticed, nor cared about it, but this heated car seat is soooooooooo nice!

----------
Being in whatever mood it is that I am in, I want to give a "shout out" to some of you that have been the source of good feelings the past few weeks when I needed it most.

To do so, with LadyStyx's helpful graphical talents, we have created a brand-new award - one not ever given before. The "Warm and Fuzzy" award for bloggers that leave me feeling better, better about myself, about the world in general, and/or give me a laugh, a smile, or somehow generate a deep-seated feeling of warmth that can only be called happiness at just the right time. It could almost have been called the "better than chocolate" award. I've probably omitted some folks I should include and if so, I apologize and will make amends when it comes to my attention.



I'd like to give this award to:
The Wife O Riley
Tori Z
Celtic Spirit
Marmite Toasty
Lainie
ChicagoLady
MemeLove
Gypsy Heart
Punkn
Alice Kay
Karla
LadyStyx
and to
Karen who is Tori's mom. This remarkable woman who has just gotten her driver's license over in Wales after 18 months of learning and preparing (at about my age) has raised two remarkable children, Tori and Carl to overcome being blind and to be the kind of people the world really needs - talented, cheery, caring and strong. They are a living testament to their mother's care and dedication. Hats off to Karen!
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I have been remiss in posting recent awards - I am always delighted to win one - and I do try to make interesting entries in this blog. Some days, I think I do and other days I don't. Sometimes just thinking about what to say in a comment can be hard - since I don't feel like I fit in and some of the topics aren't "for guys" anyway.



From The Wife O Riley I can't read this award, it being written in Swedish (I think) but the part I can read says Nobel Prize - who can resist one of those?



From The Wife O Riley I can't read this award either beyond the title and tracked it back through four or five blogs hoping to find one that I could but without success. But the part I can read - I surely can appreciate.

Edited: My thanks to LadyStyx who sent me a "old fart" size of the award so I could read it - the award says, "You are truely beautiful. Beautiful means so much more than just a face! It also means that you are unique, and oh so full of grace. The things in you that go much deeper than the softness of your skin. Are the things that make you beautiful, both outside and within. You are hereby given this Certificate in Recognition that you are 100% Beautiful."

Well...gee... golly... me and my "soft skin" are blushing... big time.



From LadyStyx, the talented graphical artist, music critic extraordinaire, and roving photojournalist without equal. Thank you LadyStyx - you help me make this blog what it is - perhaps more so than you realize.

I apologize for this long and meandering entry. It just needed saying.

The Ducks That Wouldn't Eat - (FD, LBE)

Deep in the Endless Mountains that are called the Poconos in Pennsylvania, there is a country inn that my Grandparents used to visit for a long weekend, once a year, year after year after year. It was their special place - and no, it wasn't for them to get away from us or from it all - it was for family gatherings - and a time for all of us to share with each other the fresh mountain air - the quiet stillness of the mornings - the greenness of the forests - the babbling of the brooks - walking and hiking, complete with picnics, along the wooded trails and some mighty fine evening dining and very comfortable beds.

That inn was the Sterling Inn, run by the Logan family with whom my grandparents were on first-name basis. I say "was" because, although the Inn is still there and is still running - the Logans have passed on and rumor has it, the Inn no longer lives up to the standards it set when the Logan's owned the place. A sad passing - I am, in a way, glad my grandparents will never know about it though.


The narrow wooden walking bridge over the creek behind the Inn

For those of you not familiar with the Poconos, here is a map showing where the Inn located.

I've a great many pleasant memories of the place... There was a game room with a ping pong table - a miniature golf - putting course on the front lawn - and a pond that had some leaky paddle boats. While my brothers and I would go and play golf in the afternoons - my grandparents would go shopping in the many little country gift, antique and general stores that dotted the Poconos then, and even more so now.

And the food! Each evening, having donned diner jackets and knotted our ties, admittedly with grumbles of protest, my brothers and I would enter the dining room, spot our grandparents waiting patiently for us at a table, quickly get seated and dive in!

It was simple but hearty fare after a day out in the fresh air - Prime ribs.. juicy turkey... honey'ed ham, potatoes, and nicely cooked vegetables (something that we didn't get home since my Mom always cooked vegetables into mush because my Dad liked them that way) followed by desserts of every sort and kind imaginable! No one ever left the table less than completely stuffed.


After my older brother got married - he and his wife (my new Sister-in-law) came to the Sterling Inn for the first time together later that summer. At that time that year, there was an annual carved decoy and waterfowl festival - and the pond at the Inn was used to float some of the prize winning ducks.

Now, my new Sister-in-law, having hurried into the dining room got a glimpse of the ducks in the pond - hurrying past them because she had just learned my family members are all punctuality freaks and we mean it when we say we won't wait for you - decided to take some of the fresh baked bread out to feed the ducks after dinner was over. I am sure no one missed the bread - I think we might of had 3 loaves to ourselves (the 6 of us) - I do remember she ended up with a whole loaf.

Now, before I go on, I should point out my new Sister-in-law wore glasses when she thought no one was looking, like late in the evenings while reading in bed and she went to great lengths to make sure that no one knew she wore glasses... So she was a little, shall we say "disadvantaged visually" during and after dinner, because of her own silly vanity. Goodness knows she would have fit right in with my family wearing glasses - there were and are none of us without them.


At any rate, we all left the dining room and groaning under the load of full stomachs, went out to see the prize winning decoys... the wooden ducks... the ducks that my Sister-in-law was dead set on feeding. While the rest of us sat in the comfortable pond-side chairs, she broke the loaf of bread into pieces and tossed them to the unmoving, uncaring and quite unhungry ducks.

My brothers, grandparents, and I all broke out into roaring laughter when, nearly in tears, she turned to us and said, "Something is really wrong! Those poor ducks must be really, really sick! They won't move or eat! Should we tell Mr. Logan to call someone for help?!?" After several minutes of trying to regain his composure, my older brother took pity on her and told her the ducks were carved from wood and would never have an appetite. My Sister-in-law learned another thing about her "new family" that day - and that was how much we enjoy a good laugh at practically any expense.

25 Random Things

Waldo with his look-a-like cousin, Maldo

Well, Lainie challenged her blog readers to list 25 random things about themselves. If you aren't sleeping by number 8, you drink way to much coffee.

1. I got the vacuum cleaner out to do the rugs, got sidetracked doing something else so I left it out, its been in the hallway so long now, the vacuum cleaner needs dusting.

2. I have no children and it looks like I never will.

3. I enjoy watching cartoons on TV instead of prime time shows. Thomas the Train, SpongeBob SquarePants, Sitting Ducks and Fairy Odd Parents are my favorites at the moment.

4. I used to think the original Star Trek was a really cool show but I never saw it before it was syndicated and re-aired.

5. I am diabetic and look longingly at ice cream and candy bars. If I splurge on ice cream it HAS to be the original Bryers -

6. I work for my brother as a computer consultant and think any job that takes more than 3 months to complete is really, really boring.

7. I'm single and live alone. I normally sleep on the sofa - I guess I figure its good training for when and if I ever get married since I figure I'll be in the "dog house" most of the time.

8. I enjoy foods of all kinds and am not afraid to eat something new (remember Marmite?) I just can't eat massively spicy food - like "real" Indian curry.

9. I completely wear out my shoes every 3 or 4 months or so.

10. When I was young I thought being a forest ranger would be the coolest thing in the world to be...until I learned how much they just sit around most of the time.

11. I can still belly laugh at the memory of my then new sister-in-law throwing bread to some wooden ducks in a pond and watching her growing increasingly alarmed and upset when the ducks wouldn't eat the bread.

12. My elementary school was torn down and made into a parking lot that I park in now and then when I do work for Merck and Co. in West Point, Pennsylvania.

13. I wish I had a dog today.

14. I packed up all my vinyl records (albums) and took them to the thrift store and ditched them there last week.

15. I enjoy science fiction movies. I'd rather read fantasy like "The Hobbits" than watch the movie though.

16. Someday I hope to take the perfect, National Geographic quality, picture of a squirrel. I can die happy after that.

17. If I could retire today, I would sell everything I have and move to some place in the Florida Keys and basically be a hermit.

18. Lainie, I never could see the point of sham poo when there is so much real poo around.

19. I rarely take things completely seriously (see #18).

20. I think nearly all athletes, singers, and other entertainer professionals are massively overly paid.

21. I've been watching a TV show called "Spain, On the Road Again" lately and have enjoyed watching Claudia Bassols and Gwyneth Paltrow eat, while I wish I was as free-spirited and successful as Mario Batali.

22. I only do jigsaw puzzles while rocking on the houseboat.

23. My ears ring nearly 24/7 and the tinnitus drives me batty (battier?) about half the time.

24. My definition of success is owning more than one pair of underpants.

25. I want to be cremated and have my ashes thrown in the river in Valley Forge National Historical Park - doing that will probably be illegal, but then, I won't care.

Happy Groundhogs Day!

As of February 1, 2009 2:00 PM
Steps: 1,934,124
Miles: 826.07

Virtual Walkers Status: Lost somewhere in the UK.

Overall since July 1, 2005
Steps: 20,827,207
Miles: 8922.42

I've been slowed down with the shoulder and more so with the time spent on the physical therapy for shoulder as well as by the icy cold weather - but the shoulder about 80% back to what it was - and certainly no longer a impediment to walking. In the short time I've eased up on the walking, I've "lost my long" walking legs - took a couple years to get them the first time - and they are gone in only a couple months. So I'm going to have to back off to about 4 miles a day until therapy is over and gives me back an hour of my time on three days a week.

Things at work have picked up a little bit - I was actually busy for about 4 days last week - and look to be mostly busy this week. If time permits I'll locate the missing virtual walker guy, if not - I'll be working and out there trying to find my "long walks" legs as well as continuing therapy.

I went to the Norristown Farm Park for the first time in a while and did some walking up and down the hills - I feel good from the workout and the air was fresh and not too cold. Below is not the of best pictures - I forgot to take my garage sale bargain camera... but it shows the view I had.



Sycamores in the distance - across a snowy field.