Good morning all:

Quote Of The Week:

“If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.” — Anatole France

Our minds are so absolutely amazing. Every so often something occurs and we realize the absolutely stunning complexity of this organ. Last evening I did my two-mile loop and had Sarah Brightman on my iPod. Halfway through, Sarah’s crystal clear soprano voice kicked in with her rendition of Rusalka’s “La Luna”, and I just love that piece.

Maybe five notes into the Opera’s La Luna and I remembered, with total clarity, the last time I really listened to it. I was driving a rental car somewhere between Twin Falls, Idaho and Salt lake City, Utah. Not just did I remember, but I remembered the color of the surrounding hills with their dark bands that showed the edge of the long gone Lake Bonneville. Even down to the fact that a 3-trailer FedEx “road train” semi-truck cruised by on the west bound side. Isn’t it amazing that we instantly recall with such clarity, and that it occurs so frequently that we tend to take it for granted.

Now that I have poured my morning coffee I remember with equal clarity enjoying yesterday’s mug.

Mentioning Lake Bonneville, at one time about the size of Lake Michigan, only deeper, it started as a “pluvial” lake about 30,000 years ago then mostly disappeared about 15,000 years ago. The actual cause was that it rose and then broke through and flooded out. But the whole event was really due to; guess what, yup, that modern-day bugaboo – Climate Change (something that has never happened before, but only now, he says sarcastically).

Yesterday I read that whack jobs in Washington have the EPA ready to initiate the “Clean Air” act labeling “Carbon Dioxide” as a poisonous gas. One of five gasses that “are responsible for endangerment to the public health and welfare within the meaning of the Clean Air Act.”

Excuse me! Every living mammal converts and breathes out CO2, and plants absolutely require the stuff to survive. CO2 levels have always bounced about throughout the eons. Currently are well within levels historically noted, and the up-tick of the last couple of decades has slowed, and a long range prognosis by many is that we’re in for a downward trend.

If you view photographs from the 19th century look at the backgrounds. The air we see today is substantially clearer than it was 130 years ago when 1/5th of the prairies and massive sections of California’s chaparral would burn annually as a normal part of their natural cycle. In fact, today, it’s more clear than it’s ever been in our short recorded history. What we’re really seeing is an economic realignment push on a global scale. The frenetic climate change hype we witness daily is but smoke and mirrors. A couple of years ago the term was “Global Warming” and when the realization was made that we were no longer “warming” it quickly became “Climate Change”. And that is exactly what it is, cyclical change. We live in a changing world and have since before our forefathers lived in caves. Where I live has been the bottom of a massive lake and a millennium later had a 1000 feet of ice, both covering what is now my house. We need to take care of our world, but give me a break. I think Anatole France had it correct.

A couple of years ago we bought Jason a yard tool affectionately labeled as a “Honeysuckle Popper”. We’ve borrowed it and it does work remarkably well. However, take a 25 year old bush and then it’s not quite a “hot knife through butter” event. Yesterday I tackled just such a beast. Finally, throwing a line around the – now well loosened bush – and tying it to the ATV, I managed to, much to the delight of the neighborhood, drag it out. I just LOVE yard work. But, today is not the day to again initiate my discussion with Marcia. This is the one where I laud the benefits of a loft apartment.

Last Wednesday was April 15th, tax day. Over two weeks ago I took my pile of paperwork to my harried CPA. Wednesday morning he called me and said that he was filing an extension for me. Then added that I needed to stop by with some checks—preferably a large fresh pad of checks. People mentioned that when I had my choking event at a Lenten Fish Fry several weeks ago that I turned absolutely ashen. Wednesday, as I took note of the monies I had to pay, I felt myself again turn quite ashen.

In Microsoft Outlook you can set a “signature” which automatically inserts into every outgoing mail. I have set this as the signature on my mail.

Donn and Marlene are spending a little time at their cabin. While there, they took a look at our place. Happily all is well and things seemed to have survived quite nicely. There are still a couple of feet of ice on the lake, but considering that 3-weeks ago the ice was still 42 inches thick means that summer is definitely on the way.

Make it a great week everyone and apologies for the rant. However, don’t take my word. And definitely don’t take any politicians words. Take the time to do your own research.

Cheers,

Dirk