War

I've been sort of watching the Ken Burns special "The Civil War" on PBS tonight.  Americans versus Americans.  Thousands, no, tens of thousands killed on both sides.  For what?  145 years later we are still inflamed in this country over the same issues.  No, not slavery.  State's rights.  The disagreement over whether the individual or the city or the state shall determine one's destiny or whether that destiny shall be decided by a federal government.  It is, apparently, a disagreement that shall never be settled.  The sides are about evenly divided and therefore there shall mathematically never be agreement.  Both sides are sure of their way, of their mind.  How can a nation, a people be so divided?  After decades of observing this indecision, I cannot understand it.  And I mourn  the separation of people and their minds.   It is the same in every country, it seems. 

No agreement. 

No peace.

No hope.

Just war.

Why I don't brag much about my cookin'

My wife, the famed SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed, for you newcomers), has left the cooking to me for several weeks.  I've had some successes, more than a few failures but I have learned to make whole wheat bread (in the bread machine) pretty good.

But.

And that's a pretty big "but".  SWMBO has been cooking for 60 years and she does it instinctually, which is to say she doesn't look at recipes very often, she just cooks.  And it turns out fantastic, without any of that beauty queen business I have to go through in the kitchen.  I watch in amazement and think "how does she know how to do that?"  But as she says, she's been doing it for 60 years and things just stick after you've done them a trillion dozen times.

So she cooked tonight.  A pork roast, mashed sweet potatoes, sauteed apples, a salad.  Pretty basic.  Except what she tossed together in an hour or so would have taken me until the middle of next week.  And it still wouldn't have been as good.

So, I can brag a bit about my delicious meals.  But if I really want one, nothing is better than Mama's home cooking.  Thank you, dear one, for many, many, many good meals.

(Now if I could just get rid of this spare tire around my middle . . .)

One more game, one more time

The Butler Bulldogs once again will play Monday night for the N.C.A.A. basketball men's national championship.  Butler is the first team from Indiana to reach the Final Four in consecutive years and today they defeated this year's Cinderella team, Virginia Commonwealth University.  So, after a heartbreaking loss last year, Butler will try again.


This is Blue Two II, the mascot bulldog of the team.  He looks ready.

Black and White

My "all" black cat has a surprise for me when she likes to warm my bed for me at night.  As she turns onto her side, she reveals a bit of white underneath!

Color is everything!

How to make sure no one can miss your business.

A word of wisdom about cats

My friend, Tom, has blogged today about an incidence of vicious, bloodthirsty, killer cats.  You can read about it on his blog by clicking here.  Just scroll down past his commentary on elephant seals.  Or, better yet, read about the much larger and more threatening seals to get to a link about the sweet little house cat.  Then come back here.


Okay.  Done now?  Then to lead further credence to his story, I'll relate one of my own which occurred only yesterday.  I was sitting in an easy chair, watching a basketball game on television, when a large black cat landed in my lap.  My beloved Blackwell.  But he's gotten pretty fat and pretty heavy and a surprise is a surprise.  So, to tease him a bit, I picked him up and suspended him for a moment or two upside down.  Now, I can tell you, cats don't like to be upside down.  I don't know why.  Perhaps it is uncertainty about whether they will remain suspended or be dropped.  At any rate, he lashed out.  Not viciously.  Just looking for some element of "purchase", as my wife's father used to say.  He found it.  Here's the proof.


So it goes.  Never tease a creature that is much faster and has longer sharper claws than you do.

Jus' Lookin'

When the back door is opened to the outer world, Blackwell is the first to arrive . . to look and listen, to ponder on this world of chirping birds and barking dogs.

But like any good watch-cat, he is also aware of sounds behind him.  Take a look at these next two photos to see one of his ears turned on it's 180 degree axis to detect what may be creeping up on him from his rear.


Ah, that we could do the same.