Crime or punishment?

When Thanksgiving was over and everyone was gone except grandad and gamma, and we could all finally relax a little, he had the look of a great Russian book, but no one could figure out if his face was witnessing crime or punishment. We opened the windows!

Zen ruination

Playing with the grand kids is loads of fun. We spent considerable time in the sandbox. The problem is they kept messing up my Zen garden designs. They had designs of their own.

Thanksgiving

We had a great time at Thanksgiving. There is so much to be thankful for besides food, shoes on our feet, and a roof over our heads. We have our family and friends, our health, and so much more. We trust you too had a special time with family and friends.

Thanksgiving

It's a good thing I'm not cooking on Thanksgiving. I'd put the turkey in the microwave and we'd probably eat at seven-thirty in the morning. I won't say this has been a trying year, but this is the first Thanksgiving we had a turkey that volunteered! Last year the turkey was sick. All day long it had a thermometer in it.

Ruined pants

Last week I was flying from Seattle to Portland on Horizon Air. The guy next to me by the window ordered red wine. Of course the flight attendant spilled it on my white dockers! I guess I should be happy, I got a drink to go. And I was worried about terrorists! Then I realized, you only need to worry about hijacking if your pilot's name is Mohammed, or if your filet mignon is served in pita bread.

Cars vs. autos

I've decided that the difference between a car and an auto is about $30,000. My friend wanted a 1950 Plymouth ever since 1950. He finally realized his dream. Last week he bought a 1950 Plymouth. The car pictured below has been there as long as I can remember...

Common Sense

Common sense is what we all have so much of, and can't understand why everybody else doesn't have any. For example, when we had the Democratic convention here in Denver a few years ago, all the hotels got ready by putting their Gideon Bibles on chains! Now that's common sense!

Cruise ships

The latest cruise ship disaster sent the ship back to port with thousands of hungry and smelly passengers. For all the cruise ship disasters, click here. On my last cruise I became so ill I was afraid to yawn! It was a great ship. I think they called it SS Deadly.

Another hike on another beautiful day

I got up this morning to go hiking with our little group and the temperature was 30 degrees and foggy. I checked my email and yes, the trip was still on. By 9:30 when we left it was 55 and sunny! Ahhhh, Colorado.

We hiked up to the summit of Carpenter Peak and enjoyed seeing a big beautiful buck several times on the hike.

At the top we enjoyed a nice view of the "brown cloud" over Denver (an inversion layer had set in), and we also enjoyed a nice lunch.

Being deaf

According to Nancy, I'm at that age where people have to start repeating. So I got a new voice mail that starts each message with "What was that?" One of these days I may get a hearing-aid dog.

Now here's the perfect marriage. She's blind and he's deaf.

Mountains and mosquitoes

On a recent hike near Breckenridge we enjoyed some magnificent views. Pictured below, our group is hiking down from a beautiful alpine lake high in the Mosquito range. Mosquitoes do grow big in this area. Recently a man in this area found one with six ticks on it. A mosquito is like a kid. When he stops making noise, he's on to something.

Flying saucers

I found out that Initiative 300 in Denver was voted down. The Initiative would have demanded the legitimization of flying saucers in Denver and required the city to post information on sightings and recent research on their web site. It also required the city to get a group of scientists together to form a committee to do more research on first contact preparedness.

You see, there are flying saucers over us all the time. Their occupants want to talk to our responsible leaders, but they're having trouble finding one!

Sunrise

The views from our house in the morning are sometimes stunning. It also means I'm getting up early in the morning to go exercise. It's mornings like this I have a real desire to exercise. So stay in bed till the desire goes away!

Deficit

It was Everett Dirksen who commented about the spending getting out of hand. On the Senate floor he said, "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money." Now we're talking a trillion here, and a trillion there! So now, you have to tax people more, but they're unemployed! And Uncle Sam can't tax unemployment benefits. And since unemployment benefits have been extended, it really isn't all that bad. When you get up in the morning, you're already at work!

Where's my plane?

If the Lord had wanted to people to fly, he would have made it simpler to get to the airplane! So the other day I go over to the ticket counter of a no-frills airline and say, "Can I have two chances on your six-fifteen flight?" Looks like I lost. But it all turned out okay because at the end of the flight I didn't have to steal back my luggage. You see, it's a little disconcerting when you go to the airline counter to complain about lost luggage and the ticket agent is wearing your clothes!

Congressmen and cows

A Colorado congressman, returned to Western Colorado to his constituents for the first time since he'd been sent to Washington. He was trying to explain all the unpopular things he'd been voting for and the lack of results. His audience, irate farmers who'd been promised much weren't pleased with his explanations and pressed him. He tried a final explanation:

"You men ought to know the facts of life. You can put a bull in the pasture one evening, but you can't expect a herd of newborn calves by morning."

One farmer from Fruita, CO jumped up and said, "No, but I'd expect to see a heap of smiling from a heap of cows!"

Ymer

According to very old Norse mythology, clouds are formed by the giant Ymer's brain. I think this is because clouds make you reflective, they make you think and you never tire of looking at them. It reminded me of a profound thought. One way to live longer is to cut out the things that you want to live longer for.

Too busy?

November 15, 1905

A father and his young daughter were great friends and much in each other's company. Then the father noted a change in his daughter. If he went for a walk, she excused herself from going. He grieved about it, but could not understand. When his birthday came, she presented him with a pair of exquisitely worked slippers, saying, "I have made them for you." Then he understood what had been the matter for the past three months, and he said, "My darling, I like these slippers very much, but next time buy the slippers and let me have you all the days. I would rather have my child than anything she can make for me." Some of us are so busy for the Lord that He cannot get much of us. To us He would say, "I know your works, your labor, your patience, but I miss the first Love."

-G. Campbell Morgan

Hope

Perhaps the difference between heaven and hell is the proud courage which arrogantly thinks it can dread everything and the humble courage which dares to hope everything. I think it's those who learned to harden their hearts with a certain proud self-satisfaction that life stinks, who have the hardest time trusting in God. Perhaps it's better to have our heads bowed down in affliction and suffering.

I like what Herman Melville wrote about it.

"Hope is the struggle of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable, and attesting her eternity."

-Herman Melville

Evergreen Mountain

Our group hiked up Evergreen Mountain yesterday. The result was this this nice view of Mt. Evans from the summit on a beautiful November day! You can't get much better than this.

Colorado is fantastic. We had a nice, warm 76 degree Colorado day for our hike. Our next hike is up to Carpenter Peak in a couple of weeks. Let's hope the weather holds out.

The opera

Nancy and I went to La Boheme last night, the opera. The way I see it is that no matter when you go to an opera, you've gotten there on time. I figured I'd go to the opera whether I needed the sleep or not. Actually, it was very good. The girl who played Mimi and was the main character was wonderful and her voice magnificent. Opera would be great if it weren't for all that singing!

Autumn in the morning

I walked around the lake yesterday and enjoyed a beautiful morning. It reminded me of the words of SK, "Everything during autumn indeed reminds us of decline - and yet it strikes me as being the most beautiful of seasons. When I begin to decline, would that someone might think as well of me as I do of autumn!" My prayer is that I finish strong.

We need to live more with nature if for no other reason than to get more of an impression of God's majesty. Huddled together in large urban centers we've pretty much abolished all overwhelming impressions of God's creation. By the way, I saw a beaver swimming in the lake but I was unable to get my camera out in time.

Miracle of the loaves and fish

I wonder if a man who could perform miracles would think about having the crumbs collected? Jesus collects the crumbs and it's no surprise that a poor person might say: 'He does not disdain the crumbs.' It is no surprise that a poor person says: 'The scraps, too, are bread - but now the richest one of all gathers up the scraps as if he were the poorest of all.' Now this is divine. Then, Jesus makes something big out of something small and feeds 5000. He becomes poor so that we might become rich.

I like what Leif Enger said about miracles:

"My sister, Swede, who often sees to the nub, offered this: People fear miracles because they fear being changed--though ignoring them will change you also. Swede said another thing, too, and it rang in me like a bell: No miracle happens without a witness. Someone to declare, Here's what I saw. Here's how it went. Make of it what you will."

Skull Valley

My Dad and I drove down to the little town of Skull Valley, AZ over the weekend. We went to the general store and got a couple of root beers. Skull Valley is a town of about 500 or so people, and believe it or not, it's quite lovely, charming, and quaint. The name Skull Valley came from the early pioneers to the area who found Indian skulls everywhere. Evidently, there was a major battle between two tribes and they just left their dead.

Below is a picture of the Skull Valley Elementary School. I know if I were a kid, I'd be climbing in those big cottonwood trees. You see, there are two important days in the life of a student: the day he starts school and day he's booted out!

Car manufacturers spend years designing cars with smooth, sleek lines. Then you have to get gas. What I want to know is, why do auto mechanics carry rags when they have perfectly good seat covers to wipe their hands on? Ah, Skull Valley. My guess is, these guys will fix your car and do a pretty good job.

Top Secret

They just added a new classification to secret papers in Washington. "Top Secret" used to be the ultimate. Then later you got, "Destroy Before Reading." Now you have, "don't bother reading it because it's too long." Did anybody ever worry about what the initials of the Senate Office Building were?

Voting

Some late-breaking news - with six cemeteries still to heard from, the election is too close to call! And, if Acorn is in charge of things the new motto will be, "Vote early, and vote often."

So, I thought I would impart a few words of "wisdom." Such as it is these days. I found voting for judges to be the most difficult thing. You have to go on-line and read all the reports about each one of them. Because I remember the Memphis judge who gave a hillbilly a divorce from his fourteen-year-old bride because she'd acted like a kid. Then there was a judge who had mirror in his chambers. Every time he passed it, he asked, "Who's the fairest of them all?" You just can't be too careful. After all, they were appointed by politicians.

As it relates to the rest of the candidates, I am reminded of the words of Woodrow Wilson, "If you think too much about being reelected, it is very difficult to be worth reelecting." And we've certainly seen a lot of that this year. It was former House Speaker Tip O'Neill who said, "As we all know, the truth is a frequent casualty in the heat of an election campaign." House Speakers say the strangest things, don't they! Maybe they should stop speaking!

Weather

I'm not sure how much more biking we'll have this year. Below is Nancy biking near our house, close to Chatfield State Park. We've had unseasonably warm weather but it won't last long. Knowledge of bad weather and preparing for it just doesn't cover the agonies of a morning when the temperature is zero. You know it's winter when you see a Dalmatian with thermal spots!