Spider webs

A while back I was surfing the net and I came across this interesting link about spider webs.



http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/08/spider-webs-glamour-architecture.html

Sub-prime mortgages and government enticements

These were comments from an article in National Review written 15 years ago.

"Re: Credit Is Not a Civil Right [Mark Krikorian]
Reader Nicholas informs me that NRODT beat me to the punch — by 15 years:
QUIETLY, behind the scenes, the Clinton Administration is preparing for the biggest regulatory crackdown of recent years. Attorney General Janet Reno is linking up with banking regulators and with HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros to end the supposed epidemic of discrimination against minorities in making home loans. The implications for society at large are ominous.
09/24 05:54 PM"

Just a question I have. If a business is loaning money shouldn't they have a right to require certain criteria to be met? I have always heard that the democrats put the pressure on the banks to loan to lower income individuals. This might make some people mad but I think that the banks in this country have been enticing people to take on credit that they really could not afford. We need to get back to the beliefs that we should not buy things we cannot afford. If something is worth having, it is worth saving for.

Just a thought.

"The Times, They Are a Changin"

Please forgive that little tribute to Dylan. I still love his music and poetry, even tho' as my daughter says, I am a [close minded] republican. (http://theneverendingstoryofkate.blogspot.com/2008/08/headway-finally.html) Oh she knows so little. Nevermind that. I used that quote for other reasons.

My daughter called from college this morning. My wife talked to her about stuff, and then gave the phone to me. I told her to watch out for the sick people (take your vitamins, drink your orange juice, avoid sick people), just normal fatherly advice. We talked about school and other school activities. We had a nice discussion. I enjoyed it.

At the end of the conversation I was about to hand the phone to her brother. I asked my daughter whose dime this was. My son looks at me, "did you find a dime?" (and why are you asking her if it was hers.) And my daughter says "what?" It occurred to me that there are no more pay phones (and if there are they probably cost fifty cents.) I felt so old. So I explained to my children the concept of pay phones on just about every corner in town that used to cost only a dime to use. I don't know how they felt about it. I handed the phone to my son so he could rant about his dad rolling his eyes and waxing nostalgic about pay phones and phone booths.

Ah the joys of parenthood and getting older. The things we grew up with are fading away -- even our kids a fading away. At least we can still know them when they are adults. I hope they keep in touch on the cell phones that I am still paying for.

D.

Sad news to report today. My cousin's ten year old son lost his battle with cancer. He died this morning at 11:15 am. It was the strangest thing because I thought about him at that time this morning. I knew he was sick but I was at work, there was no reason for me to think about him at this time, but for a moment he crossed my mind. I do believe that there is some greater power at work in the universe. I think at that moment I felt the family love.

I met him this summer at our family reunion. Such a sweet kid. He was undergoing treatment this summer and only came to the reunion for the the final night. He looked weak and tired. On the final night of the reunion he danced on the dance floor for what must have been two hours. It looked like he was having the time of his life. I wish I had known him better.

Austin was a good kid. During his treatment he was asked to come up with a super hero and "Bacon Boy" was born. He has been on the TV news, in the newspaper and is the subject of a museum's permanent exhibit. He tapped creativity from the depths of his illness.

These links tell his story:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/121384411635070.xml&coll=7

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_072508_news_bacon_boy.d94439.html

http://www.sparrowclubs.org/SparrowSearch/Sparrow/default.aspx?id=1455

http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/about/news_events/news/doernbecherglass061708.cfm

Austin lived a short but eventful life. He is missed.

Last week his mom was diagnosed. She starts Chemo next Monday. Prayer is a wonderful thing. Your prayers mean a lot.

www.Chap.name (Children's Healing Art Project - has "Bacon Boy" t-shirts.)
http://www.marrow.org/index.html

D.

Youth and Maturity.

Yes, out walking again. When I was a kid I used to walk because I didn't own a car and did not know how to drive. Oh what fun that was. Walking everywhere and all of the things I saw. Now as I am older I drive a lot. I go to places that I could not go on foot. Oh, the places I have seen.

This past weekend my wife and I witnessed an occurrence that left me philosophical. We were walking home from the grocery store. Our store is up a short hill from our house. The driveway to the grocery store enters from a private road that runs down the hill. On the side of the hill is an apartment complex, the driveway to which branches off the private road at an angle and flattens out in the front of the apartments. The hill rises maybe twenty feet from our street over the length of maybe two hundred yards. It is a very gentle and gradual climb.

I mention this hill because my wife and I walk up the hill every time we walk to the store. It used to be a grueling climb. (OK, we were out of shape). We take the sidewalk along the main road which is across a green lawn about 20 yards wide from the private road. It is a much better walk these days.

The past few times we have gone there have been skateboarders out. Not out skateboarding, doing tricks, but just riding down the hill on the private road. It is a nice ride.

The other day we started our walk home with our two bags of groceries and I heard a shopping cart following us. I glanced around and saw an older gentlemen pushing the cart with his groceries. He was about 60ish and in decent shape. Still he looked like it was... a chore... for him to push the cart. The cart had a small amount of groceries in it but it had enough weight to make it a chore to hang onto to keep it from rolling down the private road. I watched this guy as we cut across the grass to the sidewalk and our route home. I knew where he was going (the apartments) and that he would be home soon.

It was then that it occurred to me about youth and maturity. It is a shame that we (well some of us) lose our ability to have fun. I am reminded of Mary Poppins, "For every job to be done/ there is an element of fun." I thought that this whole "chore" would have been a whole lot easier for the guy if he just hopped on the foot rest of the cart and let it roll down the hill. He could have had a great ride. He could have been home in seconds and with little energy expended had he just wanted to have fun. I remarked to my wife that that is the difference between youth and maturity. A kid would have hopped on the cart and ridden it home, but the older gentlemen had a certain maturity to maintain. He could not ride the cart home. Or maybe the thought never occurred to him to "have fun". Too bad.

Now, you can ask my wife. She will tell you that, even though I am 50 years old, I would have ridden that cart down the hill. I might have crashed it into a bush, or fallen off trying to stop it, but as I fell and skinned my knee, or went rolling across the grass, I would have been laughing my head off. And I would have made my wife laugh. She sometimes marvels at how stupid I can be. But what fun I would have had. Fun, maturity? I would rather have fun. I guess I am still a kid at heart. I love to laugh and have fun.

Go out and have some fun.

David.

Big Dog Bravado

During our evening walks my wife and I often pass a house with a large dog in the backyard. That dog always barks loudly as we go by. Thankfully, there is a large fence separating us from the dog. I feel that the dog knows us or should know us by now. Well, last week while we were walking we approached that very house. I noticed that the owner was in the front yard with the dog in the back of a pick up truck. We were still two houses away when the owner went inside the house leaving the dog in the back of the truck. I was worried that the dog would now start barking as he does when we walk by. We continued walking. I positioned my self between the dog and my wife and was ready to take evasive actions if the dog became 'territorial'.

As we approached the yard the dog just completely ignored us. It was simply amazing. We were the same people, taking the same walk and now he was not barking at us. I think he was awaiting his ride in the truck. We walked along the sidewalk and headed home. No incident.

It is amazing the bravado displayed behind a fence. In a cage the excitement happens outside. But in the back of a pickup the excitement is in the anticipation of a wild ride. Out in the real world the dog was just as myopic as the rest of us.

D.

Grandma's Porch

Living in southern California we have very warm summers. Days are hot and so are some of the nights. This summer, after a very warm day, we opened the house to get a nice evening breeze. I stepped out on the porch and was instantly reminded of a summer evening in 1972 where I spent a couple of nights sleeping on my grandmother's porch. We had an opportunity to visit my grandmother at her home in North Dakota. I believe we were there for a family reunion. Wow, now how did I know that? I guess that is on my mind these days.

It was great. Sleeping in the cool night air. Hearing the sounds of the summer evenings. The sounds of a small town. very nice.