Retired & Thinking

For those crafty type people here is a great idea for gifts for those hard to buy for folks on your list. You could even cover it with contact paper and personalize them. If my shirts looked that good it would clash with the rest of my wardrobe. Alan

1.) What first tells you that Summer is here? Portland gets above 70 and I put on shorts and put the jacket away. The travel vest comes out and the slugs return to the garden. 2.) Name your five of your favorite distinctively Summer habits or customs. Sitting on the back deck with a slight breeze blowing and cold drink in my hand. Listening to the pond, [I hate raccoons] and this year enjoying a hammock. It's not so distinct but it's nice when the "kids" [they're now 20 somethings] from the church invade our home on Sundays and I feel like I hold court on the deck. It's just nice 3.) What is your favorite smell of Summer? Barbecue, 4.) What is your favorite taste of Summer? Did I mention Barbecue? Brisket. mmmm mine's not as good as Allen's BBQ in Abiliene but I'm learning. 5.) Favorite Summer memory? as a kid Flashlight tag till 11 pm in Hawthorne fishing the Elbow of the Walker River 6.) Extreme heat or extreme co

A special hat tip to Toby for the wonderful link from the WCC and the stellar work they are doing in the world around us. I read the preamble and something just snapped in me and I thought, "I need to break this down so any liberals who read this will understand just how stupid it sounds." So here goes. "We are in Cuba, a country that approaches the celebration of 50 years of its revolution. Cubans describe the present period as a “Kairotic” passage, a time of crisis and opportunity." One should check out various meanings of words before they use them. The Urban Dictionary defines the WCC's term Kairotic as "used to express gayness or queerness or just to make fun of people who you don't like." To be gracious let's just accept the idea of a critical time. When has Cuba, the U.S., or any other nation NOT been a time of crisis and opportunity? "The people’s suffering is acute because of the U.S.-imposed blockade and the general forces of e