No rain today...so far...

This bird better hope for no wind.

I hung my laundry outside today, hoping for no rain. None so far, but it does not look good for later today.

I am enjoying reading The Big Burn, a history of Teddy Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot. They palled around a lot. Pinchot was in love with a young lady who died from tuberculous very early. He talked with her after her death. When he went camping with others, he would never sleep in the camp. Instead he went off to sleep away from everyone else, so he could chat with his dead wife. (He married her after she died...).

If you traveled to Washington State, you see the name of Gifford Pinchot as the name given to the big forest up there.

More than half of this book takes place before 1910, the year of the biggest fire in the United States since it became the United States. At times it burned 3,000,000 acres in a single day.

This why I like to read read biographies to learn about the times the person lived.

The worst biography I ever read was one on Sandy Koufax, my favorite pitcher of my favorite baseball team. That author put in one or two paragraphs at the end of each chapter to tell what was going on in society during the time he pitched. I remember most of his pitching career, but that book was terrible.

I have seven more books waiting for me at the libary plus 3 more "in transit."

I will spend the next two evenings reading The Big Burn to finish it before going to the library.

Steve

Snowing here earlier

Hello:

I bet these birds wonder what they are looking at.

It snowed here around 7:30 this morning. What a surprise to have snow here on March 30.

Have you seen the movie Harvard Beats Yale 29-29? It is a documentary that interviews many of the players, including Tommy Lee Jones, a Harvard player in that game. Both teams were undefeated prior to this game, but Yale was so much better. Everyone was surprised when Harvard won each game. You must watch this movie to see how the scores piles up for Yale, and how Harvard catches up to them in the last 62 seconds, with Harvard 16 points down at that point.

I watched this movie a few months ago. I also recorded it again last night and watched it again then. The game took place in 1968, the year of my high school graduation.

Did you see snow this morning where you live?

Steven

Raining all day today...hard

Hi again:

This picture looks like an island of the dead.

It has rained here all day today, mostly hard rain.

Is anyone getting an Apple iPad? Not me as I don't need one. I have a new laptop and my Kindle.

I opened a can of prunes today. I did not use much sugar last summer when I canned my prunes. So they taste so very well.

I cooked dumplings tonight for myself. The only type we have here are what I call fried dumplings. I wish I could get the dumplings I ate in China.

As I told you earlier I don't watch football or basketball on TV. I do, however, watch baseball. Spring training is starting and a few pre-season games are on TV here. I can read my book or my Kindle when I watch baseball on TV.

I am watching The Reader here tonight. It is a good movie. It is almost over.

Not much else happening here. I have now seven books waiting for me at the library, including two on the terra cotta warriors in Xi'an China.

Steven

A week before Easter

Hello:

Another "oh no" picture from Bill in Eugene.

Easter is a week away. I do not believe in Easter, even though the Catholic Church thinks this is the biggest celebration of the year. We don't know how long Christ was on the cross. Probably three to four days, suffocating at last. We don't know what happened to his body. It certainly did not resurrect. No one was around to see what happened. The bible stories are all stories with nothing true in them. Like the Christmas myth this is also a myth. No one was around to see and no one knows what happened. The story as about as much truth as the easter bunny.

I finished Angelology last night. I predict this is the first book of a series of books. The ending was unexpected with many questions remaining unanswered. So I predict another book next year the second in a series.

I am now reading The Big Burn, about a fire in Montana and Idaho in 1910 that was so big it saved the Forest Service and created Smokey the Bear, one of the biggest mistakes the Forest Service made. "The" created a way of life in the forest to put out every fire that arose. Now the Forest Service will let a fire burn if if it does now affect people. Remember the Yellowstone Fire in the late 1980's where they let it burn until the fire threaten the lodge at Yellowstone.

We had a fire in southwest Oregon a few years ago. It was the rains of September and October that put the fire out. That is the way to treat forest fires.

So two rants today: one on the falsity of easter; the other on Smokey the Bear, called by me "the."

Steven

Warm Saturday here

Hello again:

Once again, a picture of the small and the big.

This last week was a sad one. My ex-sister-in-law died from cancer. Nancy was the wife of ex-wife's brother. She was one year younger than me.

I also found out one of my favorite bosses' from my years at the local cannery killed his wife then committed suicide. He was always so nice to me and very funny.

It is so warm out today I went on a bike ride in short shirt sleeves. It is very comfortable out. I will go out a little later to take some more pictures of Stayton.

I spent last night reading Angelology. It is turning into a page-turner as I near the end. I will finish this book once I log off today.

Have a good weekend.

Steven