Character Review #3

I have introduced nearly 30 characters in my blog.   I'm taking some time to clarify and update them.

My Oldest - My first born, businessman, triathlete
My Youngest - My last born, the only person who has been a guest blogger
Mum - The lady with enough courage to raise my sibling clan, mother
Whistle Lew - Mechanic, jack of all trades, the old Italian, father
Bullwinkle - The glue that keeps all the friends together, named by my youngest brother

Six characters left to review.

Silver Sky

I figure I spend about 400 hours a year looking at the night sky.   Nothing like the 2000 to 3000 hours a year the ancient shepherds spent, but enough that I know a little.   Yet every so often I see or learn something new.

This isn't new, but I just realized something.   On days when there is just a wisp of clouds mixed in with the stars, I can see sunrise before any hint on the horizon.   Before any sign of light in the east, the wisp of clouds begin to reflect light and turn silver.   Sunrise is not far away.

The Commissioner would tell you that he also has a device for predicting the sunrise.   It's called a watch.  

That's not much fun.

Increasing Population

 One particular character that makes his way into the blog with regularity and frequency is Larry the Communicator (formerly Carhart Larry).    That is because he tends to "communicate" on topics.   He also is good about adding his intelligence to the world population.

Last night at 10:37 PM my future readership increased by one.   Raegen Harper Hunt left the comfort of her mother's womb and into her daddy's arms.   This is number four but who's counting.

Hurry up and teach her to read.

Good Bye Mongo

The story goes that he sat in the Detroit Lions locker room after a loss and smoked 5 packs of camel straights one after another until he got sick.   He eventually took a shower, dressed and went home.   He hadn't smoked a cigarette since.

Another story says he would bet on anything.   If you and he were sitting in a car at a stop light in the rain he would want to bet which drop would roll down the window the fastest.

My story goes that he was a renascence man.   A mean, tough competitive athlete on the field and an intelligent sensitive actor off the field.

But for sure...

                   ...No one ever knocked out a horse on screen before Alex Karras.

Those Who Walked Before

Walking in the hollow on a mild October morning always brings me in mind of Washington Irving.   He saw what was there and imagined something different.   He saw a man on horseback, late for home, carrying a pumpkin and imagined an American classic.   I see what is around me and wonder about those who walked before me, centuries ago.

I wonder about those who were allowed to grab land given to them by the government with the stipulation that they worked the land.   These people were called settlers and pioneers and were adored in our history.   Sometimes, when the winters were harsh, the government would throw their way a little feed for the livestock and food for the families.    When the original land occupiers (Native Americans) returned to chase them off,  the government provided military protection for these settlers.   Individual pioneers couldn't fight off a band of Indians.

I wonder about another time when the down trodden were given a chance to regain their dignity.   Folks that tried and failed were called pioneers and their names were sung in song.

Today, these settlers would be part of the "47% of our nation looking for a handout".

Character Review #2

More characters to explain.

Ma: The Commissioner's wife.   Major dog lover.
Annie Oakley:  A straight shooter that keeps me in her sights.   A trusted friend.
South Dallas Suzie:    My answer to Punxsutawny Phil.   A skunk.
Yellow Cat: A lost neighbor.   The fourth of the non-human characters.
Shortie: A lazy owl with an abbreviated call.  Last of the non human characters.
Doc and his wife: A neighbor with horses that live well and dogs who are well trained.
Techie Gordon: A walker who chimes in about walking with an edge.
Bean Counter: Long time friend and hater of my other blog.
Phunny Phil: A brother who is sometimes critical of my boring content.
Granddaughter Number #1: Never reads my blog but owns my heart.

Coyotes to Copperheads

Whenever I would write anything about coyotes. Tri Limb would respond several times and always with pictures.    He always has pictures of something.    This summer he started writing about snakes, copperheads in particular.    Of course, he had pictures.

I see snakes on my land all the time but I never see snakes when I'm walking, unless they are dead; squished attempting to cross the grey gravel river.

The way Tri Limb tells it, he has made a deal with the snakes.   If they stay away from his buildings, he will let them live.    If the come near the house or barn they are fair game and he will kill them.

The only other time I heard of a human making a pact with a snake was Adam and Eve and that didn't work out so well.

Moving Day

Some mornings the critters are all on the move.    There are deer everywhere moving from one field to another.   Little furry mammals (I'm never sure if they are possums, raccoons, or ground hogs ) move as shadows across the gravel road.   Every half-mile I smell a different skunk.   I hear  the coyotes and owls when I haven't heard them for weeks.   I'll even at times see an owl swoosh from one stand of trees to another.

I don't know if it is a phase of the moon, barometric pressure, change in wind, or change in temperature.   I wish I kept record of such things but that might steal a lot of joy out of my walks.

The one constant on moving day is that my dogs wear out my arms..   They test the limits of a canvas strap leash and an old man's endurance.   A great upper body workout.  

Character Review #1

I have introduced nearly 30 characters in my blog.   I'm taking some time to clarify and update them.

Patience: My longest walking partner.   One of four animals to become a character.   One of two characters to have a photo available.
Violet:  Walking partner, animal character, photo available, princess of Dallas County.
Paper Boy: My only regular walking partner that never walks.   His car is why I wear red flashers.
Daring Dee:  Walking partner away from home.  Caring Kim's good friend and travel partner.   Sometimes not that daring.
Louisiana Bob: Made a mean dove breast gumbo.
Fix-it Chuck:  A good neighbor when I walked more west in Dallas County.   His name says it all.
Poker Dave: A friend we lost too soon.
Park Ranger: The only character to introduce himself.   Shows up when I screw up my nature facts.
The Farmer: Current neighbor who serves both as a character and a landmark. 

Memory Web

I've been questioned for why I waste a good walk with thinking.   I guess some folks clear their minds and it becomes meditation.   I'd be worried if I cleared my mind I wouldn't find my way home.   Caring Kim would be worried about the dogs.   Anyway, I love the time to think without interruption.

I easily forget half of my aha's on the road.    It used to bother me until I was reminded that I easily have forgotten half of everything I think about.  

I have contemplated strategies or tried a few ideas to bring my thoughts from the road to the computer.   For a while I tried to write everything down as soon as I got home.    That became a job.   I thought about bringing a mini-recorder but I would either lose it or lose a dog.   Now I just jot down a few words on a scrap of paper whenever the memory flashes.

Actually, I like the process of writing the blog in my head, editing as I walk and then leaving it on the road.    My ideas are all out there suspended above the gravel like a spider web.   When I walk through them the thoughts will return.

The Golf Cart Lady

People that live far from heavily populated, residential areas are out there for a reason.   There are as many reasons as there are people but they are where they need to be.    They are not hermits or criminal deviants; they just have peculiar habits that have become a life style.   In the "neighborhoods", they would be the topic of whispered conversations and never invited to the barbeque.    I know.   I live on a dead end lane surrounded by trees.   My nearest neighbor is a quarter mile.   I am one of those relegated to living in semi-isolation and I love it.

So is the golf cart lady.   She lives on a beautiful sprawling acreage that looks like a set for the Dallas TV series.   A large brick ranch home with an attached cottage;  well-aged, beautiful landscaping, plenty of garage space for vehicles, fine stables with horses, freshly painted white wooden fences and three dogs.   It's the dogs that form the peculiar habit.

I first noticed it during the 5th mile of a 9 mile walk with my dogs.   Instead of walking down gravel roads, she exercises her dogs by chasing them around her acreage.   I was expecting maybe her galloping on horseback along side her dogs; or speeding along on a four-wheeler, dogs on each side.   But not a golf cart with the canopy roof bumping along, dogs running ahead.

The golf cart lady, wrangling her dogs, will always live in he country.

I'm Back with Decisions

It has been a while since I sat to write this blog.   I've done plenty of writing.   Most of it technical for the job.   So my excuse is: Between this being my busy time of year and trying to stay in shape I haven't written any reflective thoughts.

However, most of that time my mind was working.   I even made a few decisions. 

There are too many benefits to my morning walk to ever make a list and the benefits change regularly.   One benefit that stays constant is a walks ability to clarify decisions.    My first moment of clarity arrived and it became clear that Caring Kim and I should get married.    We are not married, be we made the decision to do it.    I thought about the tax implications and she thought about strangling me for having the thought.  

Then there is big decision number two.   How I spend my days.   For 56 years straight I have been part of a school community as a student, teacher or principal.    I think that needs to change.   It hasn't changed yet, but I made the decision to do it.   Some folks may suggest that I left the building already, but they should leave that type of humor to me.

Marriage and a new job...whew...that's a lot of deciding.   Maybe on my walks I'll think about great smells, frogs, the golf cart lady, deer, spiders, and ancient Eastern philosophy.

Shortie

It is easy to recognize the call of a Barred Owl.   Most say it's a "who cooks for you" call.   Or something like that.   Sometimes they just use one short trill, but mostly they use the longer call.   Except for Shortie.   He only uses the short trill.   As I walk east, at about the one and a half mile mark, I often hear Shortie.   For the next half mile in any direction I can hear others answer him.

I like to think I'll hear him for many more years.   I don't know how long owls live but I assume I'll live longer.    Maybe I'll live long enough to see Shortie some day.   I'm sure he's seen me and my dogs.

The comforting thing about living and walking where I do is that it isn't necessary to see something to know it's real.   I guess that's part of something bigger than Dallas County.