serotoninrain

I haven't touched mail in three weeks, but it's back to work tomorrow. Since I've been gone one sub has been canned (the new one, the one whose presence raised me a notch in the food chain) and another regular has changed his day off to Saturday, so now all the regular carriers but one are off on Saturday. As a result they shifted me around so I'll be battling the monster; it's Jim vs. Route 5 tomorrow, Monday too.

Hope I remember how to do this.

Mountain View, CA is having a bad squirrel problem. The furry little creatures are attacking. This sounds silly, but not if you're little Andrew, who will never go into a park with trees again.

"It was such a horror," his mother, Jennifer, said of the attack, which left her boy with a trail of red claw marks, a bite on his upper arm -- and a regimen of painful rabies shots"

Ouch! None for me thanks. So Mountain View's gonna come out shootin'! Well, okay, not shooting...

"Over the next three weeks, the city will set tube-like traps in the trees of Cuesta Park and euthanize captured squirrels "in a humane way," said David Muela, Mountain View's community services director."

That quote comes from the local CBS affiliate's story (which features video! Nice).

This situation is not doing much for America's image abroad. German based Short News is running with the headline Rogue Squirrels Jumping Into Strollers, Attacking Picnickers, and says,

"A series of ferocious squirrel attacks has residents of a California neighborhood on edge, with some wondering how to curb their recent aggressiveness. Picnickers are being bitten mercilessly; some of the animals are even jumping into baby strollers."

this stuff is good. just thought you'd like to know.


*Browse around the Cafe-Tasse website. Spiffy design. I didn't even mind the flash intro (note to all flashophiles:if you're going to subject me to flash, at least show me chocolate!).

Julie posted a mix of hers and I wouldn't denigrate her idea by calling it a meme, but it is sort of like that. This link will take you to her main blog page because for some reason, I can't get a post page. At the moment her mix post is the top one (as an aside, I'm not sure why I was surprised to see that Julie is into Philip Glass. I must have missed her post about him back in May).

This is a cool idea. I like it much better than those random iPod posts people were so heavily into some months back. In fact, it's so cool that I think I'll share my own perfect mix. This one kicks a##, IMHO. It took an effort of will not to grab this disc every time I opened the CD case on The Road Trip:

1. Learning to Fly by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
2. Saturday by The Judybats
3. The Way by Fastball
4. Singing In My Sleep by Semisonic
5. Still Greater by Joel Hanson
6. Makin' Some Noise by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
7. When I Believe It by Dogs of Peace
8. Turn to Me by Political Suicide
9. Secret Smile by Semisonic
10. Out of My Head by Fastball
11. In the Event by Dogs of Peace
12. Steam by Peter Gabriel
13. Innocent Man by Tony Congi
14. Secret World by Peter Gabriel
15. It's You Jesus by PFR
16. Cry Holy by Sonicflood

And now, of course, I'll have to make another mix. This time I'll put some Beatles and some Phil Keaggy on it. Oh yeah! Or perhaps I'll find the obscure, and only, recording of PFR doing a Beatles song with Phil Keaggy (yes, there is such a recording... here's a sample).

As soon as I saw this meme at Gwynne's, I knew how I would type out!

Lo and behold, I was exactly right...

You Are Surrealism

Dreamy and idealistic, you've created a world that is all your own. It's very likely that you've either dabbled in drugs or are naturally trippy. You are always trying to push beyond the boundaries of your culture and society. You believe that art, love, and freedom can change the world.

So I haven't been called to work at all this week, until today. But I didn't get called by the post office.

Today I'm single-handedly staffing the best (only) coffeehouse in Pottstown. I'm a friend of the chef/owner and she was short handed today. And it's been busy too, I've been making lattes, macchiattos and chais by the score since 8:30.

It doesn't pay nearly as much as shoving mail into boxes, but I get to write the occaisonal blog post during lulls.

This is that post. Excited? Of course you are.

Cool happening of the day: A couple of guys came in as soon as I opened the doors and sat down on one of the new comfy couches Tanna (the owner) put in here while I was roaming the country. These guys didn't order anything, they just sat down and started talking, so, being the good salesman that I am, I said, "Can I get anything for you guys."

"Nothing for me thanks," said one.

"I'll have a coffee. Oh, and between now and 9:30, we're buying the coffee for whoever comes in."

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yep."

And they did too. Props to the two angels from Mainline Financial Advisors, who apparently, Tanna tells me, do this on the last Thursday of every month. Wow!

Do a good deed in Boston, get some donuts.

"Jim Monahan , the T's deputy division chief of bus operations, was dispensing the good will yesterday at Park Street, Ruggles, and Haymarket stations, and got off to a slow start. By 7:15 , more than two hours after he began searching for the courteous, Monahan had given out just two of his 20 gift cards.

About an hour later, however, he had just nine left. About 30 minutes later, he was down to five. By 9 , he was out. Four hours, and 20 acts of kindness."

Slow start alright, but a start nonetheless. It Almost makes me sorry I didn't go there on the road trip.

Almost.

H/T: Obscure Store

UPDATE: I'm changing a few words in this post that seem to be creating an impression that it's about either being "for peace" or "for war." Which is really not at all what I'm getting at. I'm not changing the scriptures, though. They say what they say.

Blanco posted a rant on his blog, some of which is thoughtful and some of which is, well, wrong and some of which is just a tad reductionist. If you'd like to read it, go ahead and form your own thoughts about it.

What got me fired up was this, because I'd heard it before:

anyways, there we are (my wife and i), driving around austin, killing some time before our concert, when i spied in a yard a placard that read, "american for peace." after thinking about it for a second i began to get a quizzical feeling brewing in my mind (and probably on my face), then a feeling of frustration and finally one of outright resentment and anger.

you see, the very premise of that placard was falsely come to by this "american for peace," as though he/she were somehow taking a noble high road by choosing non-violent coexistence with, well, whomever they felt we were at war with. certainly that included iraq, flaming "war" that it is, but could also mean afghanistan or kosovo or darfur, or basically anywhere arms are being used to either make or keep peace.

the notion that being "for peace" somehow makes peace a reality is, flatly, stupid.

As I said, I'd heard this before, though Blanco doesn't go as far as the first person I heard articulate this sentiment. Now, I can't remember who said it but I remember where and when I heard it. It was on the Mars Hill Audio Journal and it was the last issue of that usually fine and thoughtful publication that I received. The subject of the particular interview was the theory of "just war." The statement was (and this is not an exact quote) simply that anyone who advocates pacifism is stupid, that anyone who doesn't subscribe to the concept of a "just war" is stupid.

I'm not even going to bother with disagreeing with such a statement since it is patent nonsense and not even worth the space I'm taking up now talking about it.

There are lots of arguments to be advanced to justify war; the war(s) we are currently engaged in and all others besides. Some of them do make sense, I can see where the people who voice them are coming from, but honestly I've yet to hear a single argument for war that is in the least bit compelling as far as I'm concerned. War is failure, miserable failure on all sides. It may in the end be necessary (though this word doesn't describe the current one, in my opinion) but it is still failure.

Certainly thoughtful people can be "Americans for peace," --and do you know anyone who isn't? Though I don't know what to say about anyone of any stripe (red, or blue) who puts glibness on a sign and sticks it in their front yard; whether that glibness shouts "American for Peace" or "Support Our Troops."

Now, Mars Hill Audio Journal claimed to come at their issues from a biblical point of view. With that in mind, I'd like to offer a few scriptures to close this post. Believe me, I'm well aware that God is a God of wrath and that under the command of this God, actions were taken and statements made in the scriptures that would at the very least have to be called 'violent' and 'warlike,' anything but 'peaceful.' And Jesus is the one after all who said "I do not come to bring peace but division," (or, in another place, "but a sword"). Notwithstanding this, and so we don't forget, here is a small sample of what a person with a biblical worldview must contend with when thinking about the arguments for peace versus war:

Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. -- Psalm 34:14

Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech, that I must live among the tents of Kedar. Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.-- Psalm 120:5-7

Deceit is in the mind of those who plan evil, but those who counsel peace have joy.--Proverbs 12:20

When the ways of people please the Lord, he causes even their enemies to be at peace with them.--Proverbs 16:7

Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." --Jesus, in Mark 9:50

"There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one." "Their throats are opened graves; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of vipers is under their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." -- Paul quoting from a couple of Psalms in Romans 3

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.--Romans 12:18

Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.--Paul from 2 Corintnthians 13:11

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. -- Paul describing the Gospel of Peace in Ephesians 6

Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. --Hebrews 12:14




As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.-- Jesus, weeping over Jerusalem in Luke 19:41-42

Whisky Prajer gave his own spin to a meme that I find interesting. So here's my spin of the wheel of possibility, wherever it may roll (with apologies to Fastball)...






1. DarkoV has perfectly stated my number one reason so I'm just going to steal it verbatim: Blogging's a porch where you can bring out your opinions, your verbal skills, your life experiences and, usually, have positive connections and comments from folks climbing those 3 short steps from the Internet street.

- I could probably write a longish magazine article to unpack this statement, but maybe D himself ought to.

2. I like it. Originally I was going to make this the number one reason, but I don't do anything just because I like to (I'm not saying that's good or bad, it's just what I do, or don't). I enjoy the experience of putting stuff up and inviting others to look at it.

3. There aren't enough polite, mostly apolitical, non-vulgar, blogs. That's the only kind I can write. It may not be the most interesting blog but you'll never find something on this one that you won't be able to quote in mixed company. It's what I write and it's what I like to read.

4. I've met some interesting people virtually, and have recently met some of those interesting people in person. If you read about my recent trip then you know what I'm talking about. In every case, I felt like I was almost instantly able to connect with the other bloggers I met. These aren't all the same kind of people either, in fact, my views and the views of a couple of these others are miles apart, especially in terms of theology and politics. This didn't seem to matter to them and it certainly made no difference to me.

After I visited Midland, TX and saw three other bloggers at one time (my head is still spinning), one of them, Jimmy Patterson, wrote...

"But when people like Jim come through town and you have lunch and talk like you've been friends your whole life, there is a certain shrinking of the global community occurring. If technology helps us build new friendships and introduces us to good and decent people... there's good in this whole technology thing."

I offered a strong Amen to that.

5. Because I'm still repenting for thinking that blogs were stupid and juvenile. They don't have to be and one day maybe mine won't be either.

6. Why not?

That's what I can think of for now. Anyone else care to share with the rest of the class?

I went nuts at the Grand Canyon gift shop and bought something for everyone in my household, myself included. My gift to myself was a mug, a beautifully crafted ceramic number with a southwestern design scheme featuring little petroglyph-ish horses doing laps around the outside and "Grand Canyon" in a plain-yet-lovely script on the inside. This same mug is presently employed in the containment of some french roast coffee I am sipping.

So, yesterday when I returned home, I doled out the gifts--to the delight of everyone I'm sure. Minutes later my wife, my soulmate, my bestest friend in all the world picked up the mug and, reading from the pricetag which I had neglected to remove, called out in a loud, clear voice:

I heard about this a few days ago on the road and you all probably know about it already, but Hewlett-Packard is co-sponsoring an award, the Privacy Innovation Award. This award is given to organizations that have "embraced privacy as a competitive advantage."

That in itself is a scream, as I'm sure you've heard. Although, I guess HP's a worthy sponsor of the award since technically it's about privacy as a competitive advantage and HP was spying on its own people. So, they got that going for them.

Even funnier, in my opinion, is what HP's co-sponsor (IAPP - the International Association of Privacy Professionals) had to say in the wake of the HP scandal, as related on the story page at NPR:

"HP's co-sponsor says the company is good on privacy issues, once you set aside the acts of its board."

Um, yeah.

There's a Kansas City man, a teacher, who is campaigning for Oprah as an '08 presidential candidate.

Says this article, he's even selling t-shirts.

Oprah's not down with it though. She and her flacks are trying to shut the guy down and have accused him of copyright infringement. Because...

"A spokeswoman for Harpo* said that Winfrey has said she has no political aspirations."

Let us all pause in a moment of silent thanksgiving for that.



Harpo is the O's media conglomerate, her name spelled backward, and yet another display of her endless creativity.

Well, the bags are unpacked, a load of clothes is in the wash, the Beige Bull is safely back in his stall and I am already trying to capture my thoughts for the book, as you can see.


It is good to be home, though a little bit strange I must admit: strange not to be checking in to a room right now, strange not to be putting together a list of free hotspots for tomorrow, strange to be thinking about delivering the mail again. It wasn't strange at all though, getting a hug and a big smooch from my wife and from my kids. Delightful, yes, but not strange.

I'd like to say thank you again...

to Gwynne who had a major impact on my trip with her suggestion of the Grand Canyon,

to Cowtown Pattie and her beau who were so much fun to hang out with and whose house is such an amazing home,

to Eric and His Lovely Bride who took time out of their busy lives to open their home to someone they've never met and who certainly must be two of the most gracious people on God's earth.

to Jimmy Patterson who gave me some road music and much else besides and who is just a terrific and humble man,

to Jeff McDonald who wrote such a flattering post today (the feeling is mutual, my friend) and who gave me that delicious Pecan Toffee (dude, that stuff rocks!),

to A. C. Mattern who gave me food for the body and the soul.

to Kate who just radiates sunshine all the time,

to Brian and Jenn who have an amazing ability to launch a friendship with weird strangers from Pennsylvania,

to Ashley and Carrie who hung out with me last night. Gosh, I love you guys... well, you're not guys but... oh, you know what I mean.

to Sam and Stefanie who let me crash at their place last night and woke themselves up early only a few hours later to see me off.

and also to Ashley W. and her mother who I just happened to run into at the restaurant in Westlake, Ohio and who insisted on having me join them and then wouldn't let me pay for my dinner. You'll probably never see this post, but what a blessing you always have been to me, and still are.

I'm home and I'm gonna be staying here for some time now. But even though I just spent the last two weeks on it, that road still beckons.

T. Blues closed down tonight and my buddy Sam was invited to play their swan song. Great show, of which a digital live recording was made to be freely distributed to everyone present. Sam played smokin' hot guitar, as usual including his trademark "All Along the Watchtower" during which he plays an unbelievable lead, made all the more incredible by the fact that he puts the guitar behind his head to do it.

Here's a pic from the show and one of the band with T. Blues owner (who got to sing a sizzling lead vocal to Little Lover Boy to close the show).





The Sam Getz Band, from left to right: Tom Getz (Sam's dad. Drums, vox) Club Owner whose name I don't know, Sam Getz (guitars, vox), John McElwain (bass, vox), Jeff Alten (keys, vox).

My next post will, Lord wililng, be from my favorite chair in my living room.

See you down the road.

Okay, this is freaking me out. I pass through Las Cruces, NM and the next day the news comes over the wire that they've received an anonymous threat and demand for ransom. And then I pass through Denver and again, the next day comes a news story about a dragging death in one of that city's suburbs.

eeeugh. Think I'll stay home for a while.

I wanted to chat with another blogger and longtime friend, Kate.

You know how sometimes the image you have of someone is sort of frozen in the past and it takes a totally new encounter to shatter and replace the old, inaccurate picture? Well that's what happened this morning. Kate was, some seven years ago, a student in the youth ministry I used to lead. She used to babysit my kids, and they loved her of course because Kate was a sweetheart. And even though I've seen her a few times since leaving Ohio, I had this image of her in my mind as the teenaged former babysitter.

So when this beautiful, professional yet stylish woman stepped out of a car and into the parking lot of Panera this morning, I believe I had to pick my jaw up off the pavement. Kate will correct me if I'm wrong about that but it sure felt that way. In my usual traveling outfit of shorts and a plain t-shirt, I felt (and, in fact, was) completely outclassed. She will perhaps forgive the fact that "Sunrise/Sunset" started to play on the iPod in my head. One thing hasn't changed: Kate's still a sweetheart.

We had a great time and caught up on too many things. Many blessings to you Kate, thanks for supplying a healthy dose of sunshine to this dreary, rainy day. And I hope those classes you're taking go... um, smoothly.

After saying goodbye to Kate, I left Columbus. Tomorrow I head home but in the meantime, I've got one more stop to make...

I actually hung out with three of Columbus' finest today, but I forgot to take a picture with A. C. Mattern who writes Agape's Stable. He cooked up some awesome sish-kabob.

Meet Brian of Beanquest and Jenn of Jennifer's Nest

This winsome couple of the drastically differing heights is letting me crash at their pad, er, um, nest tonight.

Synchronized blogging. You know what they say, the family that blogs together... well, I can't think of a good rhyme. Anyway, the three of us immediately got to work blogging when I stopped by. We began by checking out one of our favorite blogs. Can you tell which it was?



We were going to do much more but those posts about baby squirrels left us plum tuckered out, so it's time to turn in. Brian's redoing his basement and after digging out that coaster from underneath a huge pile of discarded old stuff, we found there was more than enough room for me to sleep down there.

Seriously, thanks Brian and Jenn for a wonderful visit.


These are some great folks they got here in Columbus. If you're real good, you might even meet one more!

I have arrived in a place not too far from the place I once called my place. It's in Ohio, I suppose you can tell that much from the picture. I'm in another sports town, one which has a huge and pleasantly fierce rivalry with yet another sports town in a neighboring state. Right now, I'm blogging from a shopping megaphenomenon which, like the Iowa 80 Truck Stop, seems only to get bigger with time.

There's a special surprise (and perhaps special surprises) here, too. Oooh! Just you wait.

Where am I?

You know, I didn't take any pictures of the place, I was so tired. So I ran out early this morning and snapped a few just for you. And I said a special hello to Green Street from you. It was eerily quiet in response.

I heart Iowa! This state has a reputation for being flat. Now, come on! Does this look flat to you? If it does than you've obviously never been to West Texas, Western Kansas, or Nebraska.













Judging by the driving displays I saw in Iowa, these (yes, I saw more than one) warnings are absolutely necessary.







This place just gets huger and huger:truckers' museum, barber shop, showers, laundry, movie theater(!), "family den" with large screen tv. You could live your whole life here and I think some people do. The only thing is, they have no Chipotle, so you'd have to go out once in a while.

Okay, I did not go to North Dakota. Apparently some wagering was going on.

I've been to North Dakota, twice. Both in the same year. It's a lovely place. It would be great to make another visit. The only reason I'm not going there is because I forgot to make a left turn at Omaha.

One day I do hope to visit North Dakota and see the vast tracts of state-itude that exist to the left of Fargo and Grand Forks.

So there.

This midwestern Big 10 college town has a mascot known as The Chief but that's not what its football team is called.

Where am I?

Sorry, no pictures. I got bored today and slept most of the way here.

We've had a couple of erroneous guesses so far about my current destination. Here's another map of where I've been and a hint: I did not go south or southeast from here.

I'm at one end of this state, but the whole thing looks like this...



Well, except for this...



Dig those bugs on the windshield. It's still summer alright.

UPDATE: Blogger is now accepting my photos. Here they are...


















Okay, since blogger doesn't want to load photos here are some links to what I would have posted this morning from Estes Park. These are especially for you mission trip veterans, both of you. I'm in Estes Park how could I not?

Hey you guys!

Why can't I upload photos? Do you even know what there's a problem? Do you give a rip?

...to let you know that BLOGGER SUCKS!!!

You get what you pay for, I guess. Once again this morning blogger won't upload my pictures. Of course this would happen today.

And also, I experienced my first blip of the whole journey. Somehow, despite checking and double checking my bags yesterday, I managed to leave my attache bag in Taos. Not a major problem but it necessitated a trip to the Estes Park Safeway (once I came down from the mountain). I tried very hard to avoid breathing on anyone while I was in the store... I might have been arrested under the patriot act if I had.

Hopefully I'll have better luck uploading these photos than I had earlier today at Panera in... some other town.

Some of you who've known me for a while, particularly you younger folks should have no trouble with this one...

A view from downtown...

Hint: I can't yet bear to head east, but I'm no longer heading west either.

I only counted seven different kinds of olives... must have been a slow day. However, there were 43 different varieties of strange people inside. Woah.

Me and the Beige Bull sneaking out of Gallup, NM before dawn.

"Today's day 9, why are you still stuck in yesterday?" you ask.

Because there's this one more thing I wanted you to know, sort of as a warning.

Heading west out of Flagstaff yesterday toward Winslow, AZ (where you can get your picture taken with a girl in flatbed Ford; I didn't) I came across a sign that said "Meteor Crater." I'd forgotten all about the meteor crater! I remember seeing pictures of it in an Astronomy book I used to page through when I was a kid. It was a graduate level astronomy book, which I still wouldn't understand and would probably still only look at for the pictures.

The signs had a tourist trappy tone to them, and there were about 500 of them, give or take, so that was another clue. Yet, at the last minute I cut off the 18 wheeler I was passing a made for the exit. Driving down Meteor Crater Road I noted how well maintained it was. This should have been another clue.

So I get to the Meteor Crater visitor center and R/V park and get out hoping to take one quick picture and then be gone. But, see, there's no way to get up to the crater. There's a fence around it; one of those fences you see lining federal prisons, with the razor wire on top. You think I'm jokind don't you. So I would have to go through the visitor center to see the thing. I approached the window where a sign said "Ticket Sales." and below that "Adults $15"

So, here's a picture from Google Earth instead:




Driving away at a high rate of speed, I repeated the DJ's voice over from the Winslow promotional station, AM 610: "METEOR CRATER! Experience the impact." Go ahead, try saying that in a really intense voice. Eventually I began making up my own slogans...

"METEOR CRATER! Experience the impact on your wallet."
"METEOR CRATER! The biggest friggin' rip off in the United friggin' States!"
"METEOR CRATER! We'll take your money and use it to maintain our nice road!"
"METEOR CRATER! Less fun than you'll have all week, for more money!"

& c...

It is almost devastating, one's first ever view of the Canyon. People gasp when they pass out from behind the pinons and see the whole vast multicolored hole in the earth. I felt like I might actually cry. We're reduced to "LOOK AT THAT!" "WOAH!" ... almost mindless expressions of awe. The reality of the canyon actually makes the whole Chevy Chase "Okay, then" moment from Vacation especially funny. You should only watch that film after your first visit to the canyon. There's absolutely no way to be dismissive about it. It stops you in your tracks, maybe makes your heart stop momentarily. I grabbed the railing and not from vertigo.

The shuttle buses run by the parks service travel three routes. I took the Hermit's Rest route. All the pictures below with the exception of two or three are from that trail.





























One never knows where the ant will take its next bite.











From right to left, languages heard as I passed by: French, Asian, Indian, German, English. Pretty cool.


*A special thanks to Gwynne who talked me into actually making a plan (shudder the thought) to include the canyon in my trip. I am in your debt, Skinny Latte.

*oops, this one was sideways. All fixed now.

Cowtown Pattie correctly surmised that I am in Arizona tonight.

But where? I'll give you one hint. It's not Yuma.

A couple of driverview pics that I don't have time to put in order 'cause I gotta fly!



"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" --- Somewhere in Arizona on Friday.













---West of Midland, TX on Thursday with some pretty heavy thunderboomers.












--In El Paso, Texas on Thursday looking at Mexico












--Just over the border of New Mexico, south by southeast of Las Cruces on I-10 Thursday evening.

























--between Lordsburg, NM and Wilcox, AZ early Friday morning.

Eric and HLB took me out to dinner and I experienced asado for the first, and certainly not the last, time. HLB had to leave to back to work and after she left, I said "she's great" because HLB is a wonderful person. Eric replied, "Yeah. I definitely married way above my class," or something like that.

Now, this is somewhat true. But not completely. His wife is cooler, for sure, but not by much. Eric is one class act. Humble, gracious, and funny too. It was a pleasure meeting the man behind the Ant.

Plus, as if that weren't enough. I got to meet Jeff of Archeotexture too, and of course, Jimmy Patterson of Sticky Doorknobs who was the impetus behind my devotional blog earlier this year. As you saw from the previous post, we all had lunch together (the food, though not pictured, was terrific--good pick Jimmy).

But wait, there's more! As if that weren't enough, my visit made the paper. It was in 9 point type at the bottom of page one, but it was there. Cool, huh?

But all of that aside, here's the real reason I made the 2000+ mile trip to Midland:

Left to Right:

Jeff McDonald, Me, Jimmy Patterson, Eric Siegmund

Yesterday upon arriving at my current destination, I went to a certain famous grocery store to look for a certain product that had been pleaded for.

While there I sat down briefly at a table to pop open the laptop and retrieve a certain phone number. I set my brand new sunglasses, the ones I had purchased the previous day in Oklahoma City, down on the table.

I accidentally left them there. Typical of me, actually.

Realizing my mistake shortly after my unsuccessful attempts at searching out the chocolates, I ran back to the table only to find that someone had absquatulated with my sunglasses. I don't know who she was. I never saw her face, all I saw was a rapidly retreating, and admittedly callypigous, female form with what appeared to be my new sunglasses riding atop a head of long, chestnut colored hair.

I mumbled a few choice words. Just now however, I read this week's lectionary passage from the book of James:

If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!

Indeed.

Back in my car, chastened, I proceeded to my host's abode from whence I type these humble words and eat a small portion of crow.

Abilene.

Where the trees squawk.

This city, home of the One of A Kind Texas Lady and her husband is also home to uncountable Grackles. They roost in the trees and make an unholy racket that can be heard from behind the tinted windows of top floor corner offices

We strolled through downtown last night, following the jen-yoo-wine Texas BBQ, admiring angels with trumpets poised and ready to sound a strong clear note. They say it will happen when a virgin passes by. A man on the street dressed in a work vest of municipal orange wielded a strange looking device like a gunslinger itching for a fight.

"He's probably frying grackles," I joked.

The Lady said, "The laser annoys them so they'll fly away." I replied to the effect that she couldn't possibly be serious, but she insisted she was. I maintain that it only makes them grackle all the more.

Later we enjoyed bluesy Telecaster perfectly picked by this man at this place.

And hospitality? These two Texans are its very embodiment. Their house is a thing to be treasured with lots of books, art--both pleasurable and practical--and neighborly love. Their backyard, as I told them yesterday afternoon, is a revelation. My exquisite host should post a whole slew of backyard pictures. It wouldn't be nearly as refreshing as being there in person but at least you would understand what I'm talking about.

Thank you, thank you, thank you my fine hosts and Texas friends.

recunize this?















how 'bout this?




If not, don't worry. There's more to come from this locale.

Roger, team leader. Target acquired.

sonicflood's Cry Holy...

Yesterday a lovely, endlessly interesting and anything but shallow CPA bought me lunch!

So... where was I?

And a huge thank you to my fellow Starbucks fan with the skinny latte. That was fun.


Big hint!

patriot's day

The soundtrack into town today included this...



This post especially for Brett. May you be moved to sing the Name today.

*Sing Your Name from the disc "Broken" by Joel Hanson.

Wherever I am, it's certainly not PA!

They don't show me these kinds of prices there.

For years I’ve nursed an inexplicable yearning toward the west.

Maybe it started back in high school. I had a girlfriend who lived a short walk from a bridge across the turnpike. We took a lot of walks. I remember standing on that bridge many times, gazing down at the cars heading off into the… well, actually it was north because this was the New Jersey turnpike, and so of course there was no sunset to head into. Work with me here. I thought “west.”

So I’ve dreamed about doing something like what I’m doing now for a long, long time.

Fittingly, I started my adventure by heading north and not west. Here are couple of pictures from my first stop on the tour. See if you can guess where I took them and at what event.

You already have one hint: this place is north of Pottstown. Here’s a second: It’s not the first time I’ve been there and it’s not the first time I’ve blogged about it either.








































In a comment on a previous post, Eric wrote, “see you down the road.” I think that’s a nice way to close my travel blog posts, so…

See you down the road.

It's Wednesday. I have an article to finish, mail to deliver, clothes to wash, maps to peruse, bags to pack, and peppers to... oh wait, can't share that.

So consider me on hiatus until the vacation starts... which happens Saturday after I finish my mail route. Check back here for a first installment of mystery picture(s) on Sunday or Monday. In the meantime, feel free to leave comments that are more meaningful than my sorry excuses for posts, or visit the blogs on the sidebar.

See ya when I see ya.

Got nothing on today's highlighted writer.

The estimable Prairie Home Companion host has written/spoken lots of funny personal essays. I'm reminded today of one in particular, a hymn of sorts to Ball Jars (I can't find a link to the audio or text of it, but it can be found on his audio release, "Mother, Father, Uncle, Aunt" and is worth the price all by itself.

The reason I was reminded of this Keillor classic can be found on Julie Neidlinger's Lone Prairie Blog. She has written what must be the funniest essay about zucchini ever. Don't believe me? You will.

How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie roll tootsie pop? The world may never know.

But we do know about this meme, currently in circulation, for which I've been tagged by Gwynne. Thanks G.


1. Three things that scare me:

-Tree limbs falling from the sky as I am delivering the mail
-God... it's more of a holy fear than a scare but I can't think of anything else.


2. Three people who make me laugh

Steve Martin (more so as a writer)
Julie
Doug (whos sub I am)



3. Three things I hate the most:

-Gossip
-Selfishness
-Greed -- this is exactly the same as Gwynne's list but she nailed it.



4. Three things I don't understand:

-Children
-Our political process
-Anything else


5. Three things I'm doing right now:

-Responding to questions
-Still trying to think of a third response to #1
-Sitting in the screened patio of my parents' house, right here.


6. Three things I want to do before I die:

-Write and publish a book
-Write and publish a second book
-Visit all the National Parks, especially the western ones.


7. Three things I can do:

-Play guitar
-Write songs
-Cook


8. Three ways to describe my personality:

-Introverted
-Compassionate
-Moody


9. Three things I can't do:

-See through walls
-Read minds
-Think of a funny third item for this question


10. Three things I think you should listen to:

-The Beatles
-PFR
-Phil Keaggy


11. Three things you should never listen to:

-Madonna
-The RIAA
-Pat Robertson


12. Three things I'd like to learn:

-How to blog
-How to break into publishing without trading away my life, my sanity (such that it is), and my ethics
-How to fold a fitted sheet


13. Three favorite foods:

-Homemade bread
-BBQ anything
-Tiramisu


14. Three beverages I drink regularly:

Coffee
Water
Good micro brews (yes, I am a beer snob. So?)


15. Three shows I watched as a kid:

-Mr. Ed
-Soap
-Taxi


16. Three people I'm tagging:

Stephen
Ashley
Randy (maybe he'll podcast it!)

Normally I wouldn't post something like this. Politics quite honestly bores the stuffing out of me.

However this BBC graph entitled How 9/11 Changed America In Statistics is so oddly humorous I thought I'd point it out.

There are very little in the way of conclusions to be drawn by the article (other than perhaps it was a slow news day at the BBC), probably because they aren't warrented by the graphs themselves. Look at each graph by clicking on the tabs above window. Notice how defense spending begins to trend upward before 9/11 and continues after. Notice also how air travel, notwithstanding the blip at 9/11, trends slightly upward throughout the graph.

The couple of graphs that actually say something say only the obvious:

- Bush's popularity rose as he responded to the 9/11 attacks, then dropped slowly back to pre 9/11 levels. Since the beginning of operations in Iraq, Bush's popularity has dropped steadily.

- Hate crimes against Muslims were up in 2001. Yes, and...?

The one thing that did change is that we've had to endure more stories about Bin Laden since Sept 11 2001.

So, it seems to me, the graphs show us that we haven't changed at all. Which is exactly what I was concerned would happen.

I didn't know much about Steve Irwin, the popular Australian naturalist but enjoyed the couple of commercials he made and his devil-may-care attitude toward dangerous animals.

Well, Mr. Irwin was killed yesterday by a stingray. Ordinarily, with something so remote as this, I would simply be vaguely sad and go to the next news story. But I came across this sentence in the article:

Mr Irwin was married with two young children.

This puts his career in a whole new light. I'm tempted to change the adjective I use in describing his interaction with animals to something closer to 'reckless.'

Attacks on humans are a rarity - only one other person is known to have died in Australia from a stingray attack, at St Kilda, Melbourne in 1945.

"Stingrays only sting in defence, they're not aggressive animals so the animal must have felt threatened. It didn't sting out of aggression, it stung out of fear," Dr Bryan Fry, Deputy Director of the Australian Venom Research Unit at the University of Melbourne said.

Given Irwin's history, Dr. Fry's quote is particularly believable.

Please don't go thinking I'm implying that Irwin "got what he deserved." Not at all. But I guess for the sake of his wife and two young children, he might have chosen to be a bit more careful.

Just my aritcle about the Spring-Ford Business alliance, which is now up at the 422 Business Advisor website. The Alliance has a pretty interesting set-up going and it's working out pretty good so far. If you want, you can read the article here and see what they're doing.

I will embark on my Whoa: Where Am I sojourn one week from today. That's the plan anyway. Between now and then I have to deliver a ton of mail (more than that, probably), write another article for the 422 Business Advisor and pack.

But, glory to God!, One piece of essential equipment arrived today. It's a.... well, I can't actually tell you. That would spoil the fun.

I can tell you about another essential traveling companion that should arrive by Wednesday. It's this. A great resource for the Insterstate traveller (though it's not as good as the exquisite and now denfunct Interstate Exit Authority -- when I got that book to use as a guide on a sr. high mission trip long ago, some of the kids laughed at me. During the trip however, the chief mocker was easily won over when he discovered he could find each and every Sonic between Cleveland and Rapid City with a few quick page turns).

Contrary to many travel writers, notably this one, but also this one, I like interstate highways. I love back roads too, especially in the midwest and west where many local highways make a straight ribbon all the way to the horizon. Interstates offer a decidedly different but, in my opinon, no less interesting travel experience. For a good paean to interstate travel, try Roads by Larry McMurtry or Uneasy Rider: The Interstate Way of Knowledge by Mike Bryan. I like them because they're so quintessentially American: big, brash, unapologetic, and absolutely fanatic about convenience. They're the great societal equalizer.. you meet all kinds and lots of them on the interstate.