Ergo, said Vergil

Virgo by Sid Dickens

 Ergo, said Vergil 

Who grows the crops 
Or moves the stars 
Across the starry skies
Oh Maecenas, you need not worry 

He also thought 
To marry the pruned elm tree 
With the wild green vine, 
Thankfully, gave us wine 

He that cares what oxen need 
Insures new seed each year 
And gave us time enough 
To enjoy our simple lives 

Oh Maecenas, worry not
Just pray to God 
While you watch the cattle 
And nod your head in sleep

Under a sturdy oak tree
For, he above tends the bees
So, too He gave us honey
To sweeten our lives a bit

O bright September morning light, 
This thought
Comes to me 
When Virgo rises in the sky 

Ergo, said Vergil
In Autumn 
When His work is done
There's time to have some fun

 Loosely based on Vergil's Georgics, The Introduction. 

Quid faciat laetas segetes,
quo sidere terram vertere,
Maecenas,
ulmisque adiungere vitis conveniat,
quae cura boum,
qui cultus habendo sit pecori,
apibus quanta experientia parcis,
hinc canere incipiam.
Vos, o clarissima mundi lumina,
labentem caelo quae ducitis annum,

Floaters

The Urban Dictionary defines a floater as: 

"...a social mastermind who wavers between members of one ... [or more] clique[s] ..., pitting people against one another and leeching out information without seeming like a threat."

Urban Dictionary, Floater

The dictionary also identifies a floater fecal matter (aka "shit") that floats in the water. Beware the Floater. 
 
If you like to walk along the shores of the many creeks in Kansas, you will come across Floaters. The Floater is the most common large species of mussel in Kansas. Its shell can reach 6 to 10 inches, a tasty meal for a raccoon or an egret. The discarded shells of the Floater mussel can be found in Kansas along muddy creeks and in lakes. It gets its name from the fact that when it dies, the shell rises to the surface of the water and floats.

Floater mussel

This one was a recent victim of a predator, possibly an egret who left his white feather behind.

Egret feather Floater mussel

What fascinates me is the iridescence of the inner shell. It is called nacre, also known as mother of pearl, the same organic-inorganic material that goes into pearls. We are all rich if we only see it.




Pretty cool.

The last time but one I watch my son go to college

Penultimates never get the credit they deserve. 

a bee fly hovers over a thistle

My first son, second child is off to college. This is his junior year. His mother and I follow him out of the house this next to last week in August. At this time of year, the morning is unusually cool for Kansas, good for a seven hour trip across Kansas to Fort Collins, Colorado.  

A father always gives a child a little extra cash, a new crisp hundred dollar bill. The son says, "There really is no need hundred dollar bills, other than to fuel the drug trade."

This summer is over all too quickly.

Summer came and went
Like every year before
'Til there is no more.

James Brady Dies at 73

It is the spring of 1981, a rainy afternoon, March 30, 1981, at the Washington Hilton Hotel, near the upscale residences of Adams Morgan and Woodley Park, one mile from the Smithsonian National Zoo; and 69 days into the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

John W. Hinckley Jr., a mentally troubled college dropout hoping to impress the actress Jodie Foster, on whom he is fixated, raises his handgun as Reagan steps out of the hotel after giving a speech.

James Brady and Ronald Reagan

Reagan is hit, as were a Secret Service agent and District of Columbia police officer. But James Brady, with a gunshot to the head, is the most seriously injured. The bullet damaged the right section of his brain, paralyzing his left arm, weakening his left leg, damaging his short-term memory and impairing his speech. Speaking becomes a study in concentration, life becomes "hard as hell." but he perseveres.

Afterwards, he and his wife Sarah became ardent gun control advocates.

Sadly, the shootings continue.  http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/12/14/1337221/a-timeline-of-mass-shootings-in-the-us-since-columbine/

Forget about the doctor, send for a priest

"Forget about the doctor. Send for a priest." says Kirk Douglas acting in the role of Detective McLeod.

Detective Story movie poster

Turner Classic Movies shows the 1951 movie, Detective Story, based on the Sidney Kingsley play, with Kirk Douglas in the title role.

At the end of the movie, after his wife (Eleanor Parker) has left him, Detective McLeod (Kirk Douglas), saves his fellow policemen in the squad room from a petty thief, Charley Gennini, who shoots him with a gun grabbed from another cop. Detective McLeod suffers in agony from a gut shot, meanwhile offering a man accused of fraud a second chance, and praying that his wife Mary will forgive him for not helping her when she begged for his help. McLeod's obsessive pursuit of an abortionist lead him to discover his wife had an abortion.


Then McLeod/Douglas makes the Sign of the Cross with a bloody hand and begins to pray the Act of Contrition – but dies in the act of praying.


Does writing get any better than this? 

The old man was once a twelve-year-old kid who heard his best friend's mother say:

"I am going to hell in a hand-basket, and I am pushing the cart."

The kid often helped his mother at the grocery store and he loved to push the shopping cart. He always meant to ask her what she meant. If heaven and hell are your choices, why choose hell?

Baling Hay

The path of righteousness is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter until the full light of day. Proverbs 4:18

Curiouser and curiouser, the old man becomes.

He left Interstate 35 to travel the back roads for awhile. Driving south of Overland Park, near Hillside Lake, he spots a hay baler. It is a two man operation, one to cut, one to bale, and one dog to watch over them. The baler's tractor looks like a giant red grasshopper trailing the actual hay baler. These giant round bales weigh over a thousand pounds and look like green lifesavers. The black lab watches over the operation.

The old man learns later that not all hay is equal. Bales may be of alfalfa, brome, or prairie grass. The price for a round bale weighing 1000 pounds or more goes for 35 dollars more or less. The old fashioned rectangular bales weigh 75 pounds and go for 7 bucks a bale.

The internet has made the buying and selling of hay simple. One posts on the website of choice what he has for sale and the buyer then contacts him.

Before

After Photoshop

Add a little contrast to the foreground

The whole thing was a chance for the old man to stop and marvel at the simple things in life. The image resolution is not good for I am more than 200 feet from the subject and I only have my Ipad as a camera. Then the dust from the grass makes for a fine mist. Moreover, it's five o'clock, not the best time to shoot. That comes earlier or later about a half hour after sunrise or before sunset when the landscape lights up a golden yellow hue.

Still, the old man knows opportunities in life are few. And what we see depends on what we are looking for.

Once back at the computer, the old man has a chance to use Photoshop.  First he enhances the blue of the sky. The Youtube tutorial is by Yanik Chauvin, thumbs up if you want something quick and easy. Then the old man adds an artistic filter to the image details.

He is using the watercolor filter, if you are curious.

Survive on a desert island

How to survive on a desert island.

Robinson Crusoe, by Danial Defoe, First Edition, 1719

What would you do: swim with the sharks or look for the nearest cliff to jump off?

Armed with a copy of Robinson Crusoe, plus DVDs of Tom Hanks in Castaway and John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, and James MacArthur in The Swiss Family Robinson, you know what you are into, a rip-roaring time and the most amazing experience that you’ve ever faced. It is a chance to pit your wits against all comers.

Are you ready? 

Rule one: Don't Panic. It is the phrase on the cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, classic science fiction and another good book to bring along.

Rule two: Relax in the Stressless recliner that just happens to be on the beach. Its neck and lumbar support give out-of-the-world comfort. Stressless has been building recliners since 1971 and no one does it better.

Rule three: Whip up a drink. Make El Yunque, preferably with Don Q Rum. Mix the following ingredients in a container - 3 oz. Don Q Añejo, 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier liqueur, 1 oz. fresh lime juice, 1 oz. simple syrup, 10-12 fresh raspberries,1 orange peel twist. Mush the raspberries gently until puréed. Add rum, liqueur, lime juice, simple syrup and ice, then shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with an orange-peel twist.

This recipe yields two servings.You will be need the second drink.

Rule four:  Take a sip of El Yunque and gently recline. Feel the breeze on your skin as you relax. |

You don't need any more rules.