Springtime: It’s Not All a Bed of Roses

In a previous posting (In the Springtime an Old Man’s Fancy Turns To…10 Mar 2007) I wrote a paean to the virtues of Spring.  The birds chirping and cavorting, flowers blossoming, trees abudding and that sort of thing.  But like every thing good, beautiful, and pure in life there is a dark side that we don’t like to recognize, or if we do, we wrap our thoughts in words like   “on the other hands” and “howevers”. There can be no denying that Spring has it’s own special baggage that we ordinarily do not discuss in polite company.  For example, June Bugs.  There I’ve said it.  My most recent encounter with these most distasteful of critters was yesterday...

And Then There Are Liars…

We all know the old saw that goes, “how do you know if a politician is lying?” Answer, “if his lips are moving”.  I am glad to see that the Bushies continue to run true to this form.  As a matter of fact the latest episode with”Scooter” Libby is a perfect case in point. First of all, let me say that anyone who answers to a nickname other than Bill for William or Jim for James is automatically suspect.  The only knicknames that ever made sense to me were “Pee Wee” as in Pee Wee Reese the legendary shortstop for the old Brooklyn Dodgers and “Moose” Skowron, first basemen for Yankees.  You may ask why then, would I like these particular nicknames while eschewing...

In Springtime an Old Man’s Fancy Turns to ………….

One notices things living in the country.  The weather that we only tolerate in the city demands focused attention every day of every season.  The sound of the wind is amplified as is the songs of the birds, whirring of insects, and the nightly calls of the coyotes.  The night sky isn’t polluted by the wash of city lights and the brightness of the moon and stars is startling in it’s intensity. And in springtime, everything is more so.  The sunrise urges us to start the day sooner with more of a bounce in our step and the sounds of the day starting are nature’s own symphony.  I awoke earlier than usual this morning to a modest ground fog being chased by the...