What amazes me...

...is how bird heads are like little gyroscopes.

If you hold a bird in your finger or hand and shake it gently from side to side, or up and down, backwards and forward, the bird's head will remain stationary in space.

Dream

Generally I don’t appreciate it when people tell me all about their dreams.

Sure, it was exciting for them, but come on, it was just a dream, and unless you show me an actual brain-video of it, I’m probably not that interested.

There is an exception, of course.  If it’s someone I truly care about, I want to hear all about their dream.  But most people… it’s a negatory.

So this is why I hesitate to share my dreams because…  the very same reason.  Unless you dreamed it yourself, it’s pretty boring.

REALITY:  Walking into a shopping center from the back side I saw some bees near the ground.  So I backed up to take a closer look… it was one of those rectangular green plastic utility covers, the kind that would cover irrigation controls.  The cover was half off, so half the utility box was open.  Bees had taken up residence and were coming and going, and I could clearly see honeycombs inside.

DREAM:  That night (or more accurately, very early the next morning, since you don’t remember dreams unless you are awakened during them) I dreamed that a light grey cat had wandered into a kitchen cupboard.  There were bees in it!  I was horrified that the cat would soon be stung.  Suddenly I looked and the cat had been duplicated… there were now six identical grey cats sitting calmly on various shelves among the bees.  Then there was just one cat again, and the bees came together and formed a big giant thumblike platform and lifted the cat up off a shelf and gently set him down on the floor.

See what I mean about other people’s dreams being boring!

I hate smokers!

Yes, I definitely hate smokers.

For years, I didn't hate them.  Rather I felt sorry for them.

To me they were "skinned and thrown about" by the tobacco companies.

That is still true, but my patience has ended.

They are all selfish morons!

Two things happened on Monday that precipitated this attitude change.

(1) Sitting at the far northern end of the width of a Starbucks outdoor patio, some confused ass was beyond the other far southern end, even further, standing in the middle of the next store front, smoking his stupid cigarette.  Idiot smokers are under the delusion that their smoke rises to heaven where it is magically dissipated and simply "disappears".  Well, I can testify that is wrong.  Cigarette smoke travels sideways... at about the level of seated person's nose and eyes.  Moron.

(2) Picking up a friend, I spent a few minutes with the car door open while I straightened up the interior.  Some (pick your own bitter pejorative and insert here) was several yards away, his foul donkey smoke filling my nostrils, lungs, and the interior of my car.  When I picked up my friend:  "Why does it smell like smoke in here?"

To all the "nice" people I know who smoke, and up until now, I felt compassion for, here's a personal message just for you:

Stop smoking, you idiot!   You know you were duped, you know you're addicted, but above all, you know that people who don't smoke are smart and you are a moron for not quitting.

Tried but failed to quit?  Try again!  It can take up to 7 times to successfully quit.  Perhaps more!

Just quit.

Until then... I hate you.

Shut Up!

For a cat lover, this may sound strange:

I hate cats!

Well, not true, really.

But I am SICK of cleaning the stupid scratch box every day.  I've never minded scooping poop.  But this is getting old.  Every day?  Come on guys!  Really?  Every day?

It's even worse when I try to get the scoop "under" but it cuts right through like a knife.  Ewwww...

Plus yesterday DJ was ticking me off with his LOUD demanding meows from the kitchen.  Yes, I guess you want more food, huh?  You GOT PLENTY of food!

Then his loud demanding yowl by the glass sliding door.  Yes, we KNOW you want out, but you're not going out.  That's a privilege reserved for when your master is home on the weekends.

We're the ultimate selfish couple... no kids.. and no cats.  We use those of others to satisfy our brat & cat needs.

Paddling ~ Upstream or Down?

In Hazard Perry Forest National Park one of the trails leads up to a fire lookout.

One summer I hiked up to it, not expecting anything other than to rest a while and turn around to head back down again.

“Did you want to fill up your canteen?” came a shout from the deck high above me.  The ranger was looking down and waving.

I accepted his invitation, and followed his directions to ascend the stairs up to the entryway.

What a view from up there!  Forest green carpeted the land for miles around.  Granite rocky hills stuck up here and there.  Off to the east I could see the mist from the falls, and the wide blue river leading to them snaked in and out of sight behind the trees and hills.

The ranger explained that while his main purpose was to keep an eye on fires (he even pointed out three that were burning, though nothing to be alarmed about) he also kept an eye on “idiots” as he called them.

He positioned the high-powered binoculars mounted in a post in the center, then motioned me to look.

I could see a man in a blue flannel shirt and green hunting cap paddling a canoe upstream.  He was working pretty hard at it, and it occurred to me that the dangerous falls were just a few miles behind him.

“This guy is okay by me,” said the Ranger.  “He’s doing the right thing.  However, sometimes I see him just relaxing with his oars up in the boat, enjoying the river as he drifts downstream.  That’s not recommended, but we don’t say anything.”

At this point I agreed, since I knew those falls very well from hearing about the many accidents and deaths that had occurred there.

“The worst, though,” continued the ranger, “is when he turns and actually paddles downstream, toward the falls”.

“Wow!  What then?” I asked.

I write him a letter and warn him that he needs to turn around and paddle upstream again.

“A letter?”

“Yes, a well-written, serious yet tactful letter”.

“Does that work?”

“Well, he’s not gone over yet!”

Higher

We're all trying to do the right thing.

Sometimes we hold out our hand and help our friend step up higher.

Other times when we slide back a few steps we pull our friend with us.

The intent is always to move heavenward.

brb

brb!