Challenged by a friend on Facebook to have yogurt and green tea for breakfast this morning posting a photo of same in exchange for his donation of $10.00 to the non-political charity of my choice, I skipped my usual ration of oatmeal made with brown sugar, dried fruit, and boiling water, and strong black coffee. Not very filling, but it was for a good cause.
Facebook Breakfast Challenge 4/30/09
Listening now to music for small children it occurs to me again that songs or melodies occur families. For instance, Mary Had a Little Lamb is very nearly the same melody as London Bridge is Falling Down. Yes, they are different, but very similar. They are related. They are song siblings.
In the same way Skip To M’Lou and Shoo Fly, Don’t Bother Me are song siblings. My wife thought it was funny and laughed when I sang to Seventy-Six, “Shoo Fly, Skip to M’Lou, Shoo Fly, Skip to M’Lou…” I thought those were the song’s words.
Probably you can think of other tunes, melodies, songs that are so similar they’re very likely derived from the same ur-melody, a barbaric rhythmic grunting in Proto-Indo-European, a song from the fabled homeland of our people now only spoken of in fairy tales.
Our First Communist President's Role Models
Saturday I spent most of the day trimming bushes, clearing away the resultant horticultural debris, scraping and sanding a window, assembling my single-seater Pouch E-68 kayak, attempting to repair two vinyl floatation bags, discovering an impenetrable plug has developed in my tube of otherwise malleable (therefore presumably usable) Aquaseal, and priming that one window and four others previously scraped and sanded.
Let me say that I hate doing yard work. Hate having to touch the plants. Hate the bugs. What I didn’t mind was the fragrance of cherry blossoms (three or four trees blooming in the yard), being in the sun, the smell of bug-spray.
Abrasion bummer
Setting up the boat I noticed the triangular patch at the cockpit’s fore-end has worn through the outer layer of PVC. I don’t remember seeing this last year. I guess it must have resulted from the coaming rubbing against the patch during use or transport. Certainly it could not have occurred while the skin was folded up in the ancient vinyl Folbot bag that’s been repurposed for the Pouch’s use.
Each of four bags purchased from the manufacturer developed leaks like this. The first set of two the company replaced in good faith. After the second set failed, I decided I wouldn't hassle the company further.
I managed to smear some vinyl adhesive (because I couldn’t get past the Aquaseal plug in the tube mentioned supra) into the gaps on two bags, and plan to check on the repairs’ efficacy this afternoon. Also this afternoon, I’ve got to finally set up a computer and get it ready for shipping, and make a DVD. It’s unlike me to be this busy on a weekend.
A short, peering guy in camo jacket turned and looked right at me, then brought his camera up and pointed. I shot back.
My scheduled events yesterday afternoon did not fall out as planned. I’d intended to show up at the South Stepford Civic Center for the TEA Party tax protest after work and then head home to supper with the family. But a realtor’s office phoned me in the morning requesting permission to show the house between 5:30 and 6:30 in the evening. My amazing wife volunteered to rush home after work and tidy the place, then we agreed to meet at a restaurant in town about 5:30. So I only got to observe about 15 – 20 minutes of the political event.
The crowd was made up primarily of normal looking people dressed appropriately for the cooler than average weather and the come-as-you-are nature of the event.
Last Saturday we met some friends for lunch at their home in Cleveland, Tennessee. Afterward, we drove over to Collegedale to attend the Sonrise passion play at Southern Adventist University. Because we had a long way to drive, we were in the last group of the day. Apparently the event organizer botched the ticket distribution, and did not require tickets for our group. Consequently, there was a huge, diverse throng present for the spectacle. The play’s projected ninety minutes took our group between three and four hours to complete. We started in the campus church building, then for about mile around the campus that had been decorated to resemble First Century Jerusalem populated by costumed actors playing vendors, disciples, Roman soldiers, priests, money-changers, mourners, dancing girls, and so forth. I took many pictures. By day’s end, we were all tired, but it was nice to spend a day with friends.
Below are some of the pictures I took. I doubt the software will display them in order. The Cautious One said Judas hanged was disturbing, she was also a little worried Seventy-Six would be bothered by all the fake blood on the Jesus character, but at his age, he doesn’t even know what blood is. The one thing that did frighten him was a loud explosion during the resurrection scene. All in all, he was more interested in all the people around him than in the staged scenes. I carried him throughout most of event in an R.E.I. baby/toddler backpack. Worked great, and he was able see over the heads of the crowd. He even kept his sun hat on for about 20 minutes. He was fine without it because we’d used SPF 50 baby sunscreen on his arms and noggin.
The guy who played Jesus in the play portrayed him as a guy who could not control his emotions. A lot of sobbing. After the first such utterance, I mostly tuned him out and reflected upon the gospel accounts of the scenes acted out.
A storm came through here about 40 minutes ago. We all sat in the hallway and listened to the sirens wail, tried to hear the weather radio in the other room. My wife is more concerned about this sort of thing than I am, but now that we have a small son, I am willing to exercise some caution.
The photo above was taken just before the storm hit. A little while later hail fell, larger than mothballs, smaller than ping-pong balls. Below is a screenshot of the weather radar taken just a few minutes ago.
Yesterday afternoon I started a physical therapy program after a range of motion evaluation – cervical spine, shoulder and arm strength, etc. Painful and uncomfortable massage. Patient education about posture – that was the most difficult – understanding that my habitual sitting posture has over the years resulted in chronic pain that thinks Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen are candy. Spastic trapezius.
Today I’ve been practicing the exercises the therapist prescribed.
I’ve procrastinated some, but also got some paperwork completed that has been left too long undone.
The physical therapist told me not to kayak for a “short time.” Maybe some time this month I’ll get on the water.
Back yard apple tree, probably 50 years old
Christov_Tenn 