NYS Fair - Really?

It's in moments like this (read the sign) that one has to really wonder... I mean, have you ever seen a giraffe tongue? They can pick/lick their noses with the thing, and often do. The existence of the sign definitely implies that someone has tried.

I'm getting a visual. A carrot firmly clasped between two smiling lips. A kid, or perhaps a drunk adult, looking with anticipation toward the sky. A spotted neck swirling around and decending like a great steam shovel. The black slimy tongue comes out like the creature in alien, slimy and dripping with stringy slurg. The stuff flies everywhere as their lips meet

What on earth?!

Layover in Charlotte

"Bucky"

I called ahead. "I'll have half a Wills (corned beef, swiss, slaw and Russian), and she'll have...a Jerry's? Yeah, a Jerry's." I gave our last name, "Great, we'll be there in 10 minutes." Ahead of schedule, a plan, arrangements made...I was feeling pretty good about life. Isn't it amazing what a mouthwatering sandwich can do?!

We walked in to an empty deli. Perfect. "You called right," she said. "Yes." Is it Charles or Bucky?" "What," I thought, and apparently said out loud. I'm Charles (name changed to protect the guilty) but what's the order?" It was wrong. Hmmm...."What did Bucky get?" she read our order to the letter. "That's us." We grabbed our drinks, a bag of chips, the sandwiches and a good laugh.

I don't know what's funnier though, that she called me Bucky, or that we live in a town where being called Bucky doesn't even raise an eyebrow!

Perspective

Perspective is everything isn't it. We all see the same things, but we each see it differently. Every week a new photo shows up on the Colleges website hilighting a new and exciting event. Some pass by me without event while others really grab my attention...like this one. Look closely, excluding the 1/3 of a man to the far right, what do you see? Ten dark coats and a light one? Two red scarves? One red tie? 11 closed jackets and one open one? The Obama children peering through the bulletproof glass? Just kidding on that one! Five from William Smith and six from Hobart? Maybe you noted that it's cold? Not me. I missed all of these things. All of them. I even missed the eleven and one third people in the photograp...but not the 12th. The twelfth man is the only one I really saw. Probably holding a 300 Winchester magnum with tripod and scope.

It's all about perspective isn't it?!

Don't step in the exhaust (my carbon footprint series #2)

We live in the rural upstate NY town of Waterloo. The smaller town of Ovid exists some 15 miles south, with its rich Amish presence and that romantic horse and buggy culture. You see them frequently, distinct forms riding along the side of the highway. Along the roadside are sings for fine crafted canned goods, jams and jellies and of course those amazing quilts they make. Men in black hats and robin egg blue shirts with no buttons. The women so conservatively dressed. Perfect models of what a Utopian society could be...except, like the rest of us, they suffer from problems with their vehicular exhaust. I lie awake some nights sleeplessly wondering if I should care about greenhouse gasses? If I should buy a hybrid, or even a volt??? Am I wrong to be so selfish and just not care? But then I pause and look at "Utopia." The Amish with their amazing values...and I realize that they care even less. I mean, when it comes to vehicular waste products, at least I have a cataletic converter.

Note the handwritten silver pen-work below the wheels, "Please use the shovel." And to think, it's not just me who needs to be concerned about my negative contributions to the environment.

By the way, if you're ever in Ovid, be careful not to step in the exhaust!

God and Architects

I heard a great joke today...
"What's the difference between God and an architect?"
"God doesn't think He's an architect."

The 1982nd Forward Surgical Team

Did you ever say anything really stupid? Like, imagine this young woman in this photo as she walked up the jetway in Chicago. "Where are going?" I asked. "Afghanistan." "Ooh," I replied with concern in my voice." I sort of recovered with a heart felt, "Thank you." She said "You're welcome," and we parted. The exchange has haunted me since that moment in Chicago. These brave soldiers heading off to Afghanistan, and my last words to one of them was one of impending danger.

So, my penance...an hour of googling to figure out who these fine men and women in uniform were. I was hoping I'd remember the unit patch, instead I found her face, their faces. I'll find their address now, and this time I'll chose my words much more carefully as I write one letter to Specialist Ashley Richardson, and a second to the commander. They're brave, they deserve to know it, and they deserve more from me. As I read their story I realized that while I was being inspired by General Colin Powell (Ret.) at Greenbuild 2010, they're following another general.

So to all of you who serve or support the 1982nd Forward Surgical Team from Niagara County, NY, from a former Infantry LRRP, God bless you...HOOAH!

1803

Honestly, I have no idea who this guy is. I'm just an itninerate blogger who shoots a few photos and embelishes them with words. We're not related, and as far as I know he has no historical significance. Who knows if anyone alive still remembers him, or where he's burried? I stumbled on this stone while out geocaching near the town of Cheshire, NY. There are a number of these clay stones...they're really quite unique and beautiful. What strikes me deeply about these old cemetary's (1803 +/-), is the reverence for God by those resting here. Maybe it was a sign of the times? Maybe in the 1800's reverence for God and acknowlegement of heaven was more important, or at least socially acceptable? There are a lot of these around upstate NY, actually around the country. I guess I found myself wondering about William Gooding, age 42. I even googled the text to see if it was an poem...


So, as William Gooding was ushered into eternity, the question that I pondered was this. Did he live up to these words now immortalized in stone, or did he just have a good speech writer...

This saint of God, that sleepeth here,

Will at the judgement day appear;

In shing garments will be dres'd

And live forever with the blest

While he lov'd here, had praying breath

Smil'd often when he talk'd...

His conversation soar'd....

What this vain world in...

October 31st

I didn't write the name of the holiday up there, just the date. We don't really celebrate. But still, in the context of October 31st, I offer a few images...Right out of Psycho isn't it? Reminiscent of the Bates motel. And for the record, it is the Butler Psychiatric hospital. We stumbled on it geocaching yesterday.

To coin a phrase from my daughters, even "creepier" is the site right across the street. A short walk up a neatly hidden path leads to two discreet cemetaries for the patients. People who aren't worthy of names, but rather only numbers. 12" high plate metal markers with numbers raised on them. Life is but a vapor isn't it?

Life is precious...every breath. Isn't it? Something happened this week to make it all clear once again. Life. It could be a minute. Could be 80 years. Could be two days. My blogging is simple for those who haven't read the early stuff. Take and post, or find, a picture. Write something about it. It's bound to be inciteful, or snarky...one or the other. Repeat. I still have my facebook account. Not sure for how long, but FB does get one thing right. The sanctity of life. I don't know a thing aout j-puff, but I do know about the baby. "Created." 3 months ago. Must be a pre-me to be photographed ; ) But created none the less!

Hug your kids tonight!

I love the Great New York State Fair...the things that come out at the Center of Progress building is a mix of hucksters and great new ideas. I'm sure this photo represents one of those new ideas. Wire brush tires! For only $89.99 each, these tires not only roll down the highway, but they also scrub it whispy clean. And if you purchase by 2pm today you get 10 gallons of cleaner fluid to go with it...but wait, there's more!

OK, just kidding. Ever see the big black tire aligators on the side of the highway? This is where they come from. Kind of cool isn't it. I think the trucker doesn't feel the same. First - he now has to change the tire, and second - he had to put up with a car full of weirdo's passing and slowing and passing and slowing just so we could get this photo.

Funny, usually the family makes fun of my posting but not today. Today I heard a unanimous from the back seat, "you so have to blog about this day;" with a "yes hon'" from my foxy babe in enthustiac support!

Stand By Me

"The kind of talk that seems important until you discover girls..."

Stand by Me

...is one of those movies that wraps so many wonderful ideas, memories and notions of what being a boy is all about. The talks, the adventures, the deep importance of everything. "If you could have only one food for the rest of your life..." for example!

And just before they discover the body the main character (whose name I'm too distracted to look up) is the only one awake in the morning. A deer stepped out into the clearing. The moment for him was magical for him. But like all magical moments a train like event takes it away. "The freight woke the other guys up and it was on the tip of my tongu to tell them about the deer, but I didn't. I kept tthat one for myself..." My advice for you...for me...find a few of those moments and just keep them for yourself.

The Bucket List

I love the movie "The Bucket List." Jack and Morgan Freeman - a cast doesn't get much better than that. It's a great movie. It makes you think. It makes you feel. And it ends perfectly with Morgan Freeman narrating in just the right amount of detail...not a cloud in the sky.... Here it is, but don't take my word for it. Watch the movie.

"Edward Perryman Cole died in May. It was a Sunday in the afternoon and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. He was 81 years old. Even now, I can't claim to understand the measure of a life, but I can tell you this: I know that when he died, his eyes were closed and his heart was open, and I'm pretty sure he was happy with his final resting place because he was buried on the mountain, and that was against the law."

Redneck Lawnmower

This is the best I can do for a photo...what we really saw was a fairly nice riding lawnmower... towing two running push mowers. I guess there are are many options to solve the same challenge. Now that I think of it, NYS could save hundreds of thousands of dollars. Instead of replacing those $40,000 mowers that have 60" decks and AC, we could simply have our states skilled mechanics rig four, or even six mowers to small and inexpensive riders!

My middle daughter and I drove up and down the road trying desperately to get a photo. Each slow pass he turned around and glared. On the last drive by he ducked off the road and out of sight obviously hoping to avoid a debut on youtube! But now we know he's there...and so will we be every Sunday afternoon until we immortalize him and his magnificent machine in digital imagery. Bet you can't wait for the real "redneck lawnmower!"