Emma Lazarus ( please, we changed our minds)

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed, to me;
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

from The New Colossus (1883)

quiz: where is that inscribed?
can you do it without googling?

many loves

I love: ( in no particular order)
my blog - it is a constant imaginary friend
driving slow - it really freaks out the tourists and teens
watching the sunrise, I survived another night

I love hot coffee and fresh sourdough toast
the way birds fly crazy, even on short trips
the feel of a dogs thick fur between my fingers
the power of my muscles ( but not so much the ache afterwards)

I <3 reading the paper because I can skip all the depressing "city" stories that do not apply to me.
reading detective novels, massage manuals, and canoe construction books
not having to read instructions, because mostly I can figure it out
seeing beneath weak anti God arguments for what they are: fear of truth

I luv being a man, with an axe and a chainsaw and a four wheel drive,
eating way to much good food, watching a movie
I enjoy not pretending, just being.

I truly love these moments with you, the computer, my coffee
and the brightness of a brand new day .

( must sign off now, sounding too much like Barney.)

ten for tuesday

the color of tuesday morning is green,
like the fresh oregano waiting to be added to the herb garden.

the flavor of this morning is rasberry tea, hot with wild honey

the smell of this fine morning is mint, also destined for the herb garden

texture this morning is wool carpet under bare feet ( i almost typed bear feet! hehe)

the attitude is "not a statistic" go get help with your insanity

the inspiration of the day is people who have adversity, but follow God and make a good life, counting it a blessing to raise wise children, for they are the future.

the humor for the day is provided by an unnamed atheist, who objects to hearing "God bless you" when she sneezes. to her I say 'Zeus watch over you!' funny how people will pick a fight over stuff like that. why not just ask God if he is real, and to reveal himself to you?

I ate too much and lived to tell,

here are 52 things:

side lighting marigolds is the best, how does God do that every day!

back lighting new oak leaves makes them appear liquid

skin is the most amazing sensory organ, even my typing fingers agree.

wood is the most abundant of construction materials other than mud
( a nod to the elbonian engineers)

I have not three, but at least six saws.

when I want disgusting heat and crowds they are only an hours drive away

blogging in your underwear is over-rated. Too confining

I survived my birthday dinner with only minor swelling

it was swell

when was the last time you used 'swell' as an adjective?

birds are my last pet, until i get more zoo space

seems silly to have caged birds when the wild ones come right up to the window

when I took the time I could handle my pet birds, so I guess there is a difference

you can have a break, I think you are halfway through.....

back already? good!

if you understand light, please explainit to me, I am in wonderment

why did the young scrub jay hop right up to me yesterday and allow mw to talk to it?

flowers have no time to complain, they are busy being naturally beautiful

I missed my dentist appt. yesterday, I was 11 days early, hehe

any one left out there who doubts my insanity?

for those two I will go on:

I work with electric circuits HOT because there is NOthING like 110v scampering across your skin.
I taught my sons to do the same, as I must leave weird legacies

(more because you soak up this stuff :-)

the hum of a computer fan draws me like a moth to a flame

i still have no prescription, which means i am still blogging.

If I get "well" and stop blogging is that a cure that I can tolerate?

number 1 son has fixed my computer, it is only 5 hours away.

that means I could be back in time for more of michele's meet-n-greet.

i am almost tolerating a laptop's different keyboard

but I think I still like the one that sits on a desk

could you imagine me with a portable computer?

tomorrow is a big day for a good friend's family

clear cool weather in August would be nice for an outdoor event

I really need more work time and less "down time"

who EVER says THAT?????

i also could use a lottery win

I have more plans than HGTV..... hehe

I am going to a "progressive dinner" at our church tonight

I hope that is not what they now call "Liberal dinners"

I will eat conservatively, no matter what

enough about me, lets talk about my pets:

Mango is a love bird with no spouse

Beautiful is half of two parakeets I received from my good friends

the other parakeet did not make it

I do not mourn lost birds, or hamsters

I still miss my cat Patches

and double that my dog, Chipper

( evening break)


more later - as access permits

for now I am able to post, and read YOU ( if you comment)

shalom is the perfect word, it says it all
Peace

you bet your bunny tail...

yes, we boiled and dyed eggs here tonight.
Miss Hannah and I - playing silly kids together.
remembering days long past when holidays were
filled with joyous together times. Too soon she will be grown and off to college, so I treasure this sort of Father-Daughter time. Precious.

Now to go put them on the front porch so that when the Rabbit gang comes they wont' kidnap anybunny.

i actually wrote this:

this was my end of the year letter from 2005
- i was a bit depressed then,
but still made it fun, and funny.
read if you dare!

Happy new year wishes to you
( and  you and you and you!)
i'm glad to have made it through '05,
my fiftieth year on the planet.
increasingly it seems a place I am not comfortable with,
a foreign land filled with thorny plants,
and gritty sand blown into my face by hot
dry winds.  
( dude, this happy new year letter is a drag!
I know I know!)

I have lost a lot,my mind was the big one. 
my faith remains, but hangs a bit,
not the sail filled with wind that
used to power me across the seas fo change.
it is more worn, and less well trimmed as
I have not been watching where the wind was
coming from nor was I really caring about
using the rudder to get me anywhere. 

( please do no use the weary sailor on the
drifting boat analogy - that is too sad!  Ok ) 

Starting again:

Yello friends and neighbors!
I read the news today - OH BOY!
pensions are going bust! 
children are being murdered by their caretakers
they ones who are lucky enough to get
an ATV for Christmas will
probably be crushed to death by it. 
corruption is rampant. 
volunteerism is down. 
celebrities are worthless brainless twits! 

No wonder I am in a crappy mood
not two or three but almost 5 hours waiting
for a wheel alignment that proved nearly fatal
 to my back pocket and next weeks earnings too
and there is a rain storm headed our way 
just send me a cloud wig to wear on my head,
so I can enjoy maximal gloominess

and the ACLU threatened the Redlands city council
with a lawsuit if they did not take the cross
off the police officers shoulder patch, and the
weak spined city council did just that. 

maybe Fresno state will win big Saturday
in the liberty bowl and lift my sagging
spirits.  Maybe my lotto numbers will match
 up, finally. maybe pigs will fly,
making a pizza with Canadian bacon self delivering.
From the depths, to you on the surface,
send more air!
David 
in the mountains

tale in two pictures

below, a serene duck pond.
I love ducks, even when the start quacking at the first gray light of the dawn.
These live across the street from me for as long as they are on their nests and raising their young.

below that - my pond away from home. I pampered myself with a night at the Raddison, where even the bed has a remote control ( Select Comfort) for good sleeping after a day of concrete, and a good hearty breakfast in the morning. I liked the mirror shot, reminded me of my friend Carmi, and all his hotel pictures.

I have added e few new friends to my list of favorites
Do check then out often - and ALWAYS go see Minerva,
She has excellent writing skills, a great vocabulary, and a pure heart.

not so good

not BAD either,
but I am just getting hemmed in
and feeling less free.
as that happens I need to resist
the urge to run or the temptation to collapse
( not in a literal sense)
I have stuff to do ( like all of you)
I just need to do my stuff
and not worry to much about stuff that is beyond my jurisdiction.

I liked a joke Jay Leno told last night
Something about the eight federal prosecutors getting fired.
He said you know its really bad ( for the Bush administration)
when people ( the press, democrats) take the side of the lawyers
and are sympathetic to them. I only liked two lawyers in my whole life
and one of them was my brother.

God bless you all, praying for you, as I post this.
----------------------
ps. my right little finger hurts, almost all the time. not sure why??

you know what?

I am just excited
so many things going on
small things:
like my mom doing better every day
and the peace I have that overcomes nagging doubts.

Big things, like good work and challenging
projects and renewed contact with good clients.
healthy activities and beautiful art work.

not to mention all the mornings I wake up here
at 7000 feet and enjoy the clean air and deep blue sky.

and maybe, just maybe God will let me have that sailboat.
some day this week I will go inspect it, after laying my hands on it
my heart will be knit to it, and the blood in my veins will go a bit saltier
even though I know that
Yes there is a sailor inside of me,
but he does not have permission to cast off shore just yet.
"Patience, your time will come, Lad."

Aye Captain. ( sighs)
someone go to my paypal account and put in xx,xxx.00
just for fun, ok?

Globaloney

Yeah, its hot out there! somewhere,
and later it will cool off, Thank God.
and surprise, when the sun comes back up, it will get warm again, maybe really warm. Even uncomfortably warm. Let me tell you, it was cold in my room last night, darn cold.
but then, i climbed under three blankets and a comforter and warmed up just fine to sleep right on through the COLD night until my eyes popped open at 5:30 ( my ears opened first, haha) and made my way down to feed the infernal combustion machine that is my woodstove.
PRESTO - I had warmth.

all this to say... I have no idea about the Global warming and cooling cycle EXCEPT to say that it is a cycle and it does manage itself. THE BIGGEST source of heating of this planet is our own SUN and we need that, so until the eco- enviro- hollywood- leftists find the Thermostat for the sun, we are going to have cycles of global cooling and warming.
I am ok with that.
we should worry about other things that we CAN do something about
and then DO something about them.
SUPPORT kids clubs, coach a team, hug your children and tell them you love them.
Take good care of your parents when they are old.
AFTER THAT, if you can catch the emissions from a cow, and use it to boil some water, have a cup of tea, and read Ann Coulter ( side bar ) and here. She is funny, and brilliant ( like me!)

waxing poetic

My feet - by Henry Gibson.

My feet are neat
I really think so

to have a pair
to carry me here
and there

Size thirteen
what ever does that mean?
Now clean
Bathed in parafin
relaxin'

Hard work they do
carrying tools and boards, concrete, rocks
and my 200# too

The Shrink is BACK in!

Ok my turn to analyze you.

You are reading this for one of two reasons: You are crazy or you think I am.
I am also psychic so I know a lot about you: You are male, or perhaps female.
You are in a relationship or you are happy, one of you is both.
if you are crazy, female and happy, and reading this then my analysis that follows will surely offend or attack your senses due to its simplicity and lack of subtlety. So be it.
I am not a doctor, and I do not even have a white coat, yet i have some experience with life these fifty years.
If I am crazy, you are male and happily deluded into thinking you are happy, you will need to read elsewhere for psychological help. My insights today are for the weaker sex. ( ouch, put down that rolling pin!)
According to a source I have near the white house, who wishes to remain anonymous there are at least two different types of women:
there is the lying, controlling, deceiving, back stabbing, don't get in my way type, only out for herself. She tries to manipulate and control her man but is hard at work convincing the world that she is really loving her man. ( harsh- but thankfully NOT my words)
my source alows that there is also a woman who is "gracious, fun-loving, nurturing and caring, who knows in her heart that she is precious to only one and does not have to prove it to anyone. She lives by example."
I admit I would like to see more of these types in the world.

I have yet to say I agree with this dichotomy, even if I have seen it around me. Every time we try to boil down human relationships we lose something in the cooking process, but we may gain as well.
Here is where I am at this moment: truth or dare time!
I do not like being manipulated, yet have been many times in the past.
I do not like being controlled, but have given up control too often through my own lack of initiative and internal weakness. Today I am choosing to be responsible for my own life, health and wholeness.
Manipulation and control are not tools given to help woman overcome their "beneath men- natural status" It seems it is a trick of Satan himself and all his minions to create chaos in the human race and family so that he could work his evil on the children of these unions. When men are not a strong presence in the home the child is more likely to go astray ( which of you would like to disagree with that one statement from personal experience?) - I am not allowing men to be abusive or dictatorial, cruel or aloof, they need to be strong in a positive way, helpful to their families, and caring about ONLY what brings about good in the lives they are entrusted to guard.

I will take a whole new post to work on my men theory, but there you have a 'tidbit from the trenches' from the sicko doctor to the unstars. Me myself and I in my attic room - bloggin away on a Saturday.
Thanks for reading, double for your comments!
Link to me and I will do a somersault!
I am working today on a stone wall nearby and musing on the nature of man and woman.

Oren cracked up!

This glove is an orphan, no brother or sister. It has been laying around.
so yesterday I am wearing it and Oren says, "what's with the glove?" I said, "I wear it when I blog"
He thought that was the most hilarious thing.
it's good when I can make them laugh. Thanks, Dawn, for appreciating my Faux marble walls. still some veins to add and some kind of color wash over the whole thing. Black veins and a gold wash? white veins we shall see. stay tuned for "As the walls turn"