Spring rain is in the air, good morning all:

Wisdom of the Week:

“The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to procure the greatest quantity of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing.” — Jean-Baptiste Colbert (Finance Minister to Louis XIV—known to be a teetotaler, icily cold, and humorless)

The runaway train wreck currently wreaking havoc throughout hallowed halls in Washington DC and this being the taxing season means that I am grateful I still have my morning coffee.

I have been writing our freshman Congressman urging him to change his position on the . My one question is never answered; why is there proposed spending of an additional $1,000,000,000,000 on a program which is supposed to save money? It just doesn’t make sense. Actually, why does it cost anything at all?

To help visualize what a Trillion is – Texas is roughly 270,000 square miles. One trillion square miles would equal 3.7 million Texas size states. Or then this: the population of California is about 34 million. One trillion people would equal 29,500 Californias. One trillion seconds is longer than recorded history, about 32,000 years.

Yesterday Marcia informed me that on our news it was reported that he’d reversed his position.

I knew that there was a reason why, all of a sudden, I was seeing a sea of yellow and purple crocuses on my walks.

Rather than segue onto another subject, let’s stick with all things crazy. evaluated the 57 largest cities in the nation for nuttiness. And guess what, the ‘Nati shimmied into the #1 spot! Really! Our town beat such perennial favorites as San Fran and Vegas. I believe that having one drunk shrink for every three over stressed and eccentric citizens is what swayed the judges—creating a public restroom guised as a ‘’ which then opens into a sleek 10-staller didn’t hurt either. And, we mustn’t forget our beloved Hut.

There is always a bit of a subtle competitive spirit between our town and Cleveland at the north end of the state. It’s a given that more German is spoken here and Polish up north, but it’s more than that. It is the warmish glow that while we won the craziness factor, they were declared as the . Consequently, now you can become miserable and depressed up north and then move south when you become crazy enough; you never have to leave the State. Yup, something for the tourism board to focus on.

Last Sunday Dinah’s party was most excellent. Age three is the perfect age in that, for the first time, kids realize that the whole event is FOR THEM! Dinah just glowed. The house had become a party suite. A table full of foods. A helpful brother. A little toddler cousin, Vaioleti, who was awestruck by just how mature Dinah had become and how well she represents that whole wide world of a three year old.

I know that many of you are eagerly awaiting any word on whether or not my Royal Canadian Air Force 5BX exercise program is still a functioning part of my daily regimen. Yes it is. For the past two weeks it’s been a constant in my life. Delicate changes are happening. Actually, if I keep it up putting in the dock at the cabin will become a one person job. Okay, one person plus one more on an ATV—me.

Mentioning the cabin, Marcia and I noticed that the ice fishing shanties have been pulled to shore. At least they can’t be seen on camera. This means that spring can’t be far off; maybe seven or so weeks until I take a quick trip north to open the place up, air it out, and get it ready for summer. In the meantime, I should stick to my 5BX.

Wednesday Marcia leaves for her festivities in Mississippi. She’s been packed and now is just “fine tuning” it all. Shortly it’ll be a trip to Costco to make certain I will not wither and fade away while she is gone. What Marcia doesn’t realize is that I could head for Costco on a daily basis to grab their $1 polish sausage—the perfect “won’t wither away” food.

Make it a great week everyone. Remember to change your socks clocks tonight. Also, don’t wake up grumpy having lost that hour of sleep.

Cheers,

Dirk