Manly men

SG was going into a bank the other day and stopped to hold the door for a mom and her three children (that's the kind of guy he is. He opens my door for me too.) The mom walked through with the kids following behind (there's something about being a mom that often makes me think of ducks) and as her little boy - about 3 years old or so - walked through, he stopped right in front of my husband and looked up at him.

"You look like ... "

Now let me stop there. As I was hearing this story, my thoughts jumped ahead to a lot of things that could finish this sentence. SG, as I've mentioned, is TD&H with dark hair, and a goatee that is starting to show some silver (so sweet of him to keep up with the grey taking charge on my head). He also wears dark wrap-around sunglasses that work very well for cycling but completely block his eyes and the immediate area around them. He's just over the six foot mark (he says it's the shoes) and with the sunglasses hiding the laugh lines and the goatee camouflaging the smile, he can look a trifle stern. Now that I think about it, put him in black leather chaps and a vest and he could convincingly be a biker. Although his road bike might lack the conviction of a Harley.

So, anyways, I was filling in the blank of what this little boy might have said while staring up at my husband. I didn't even come close though.

"You look like a real jonkleman."

(Not sure? He meant "gentleman.")

________________

On an unrelated note (and day, and event) - we were watching a Tae Kwon Do class that was taking place in a local park a couple weeks ago. The class was a group of teens and adults and they were doing some sparring without the benefit of boundaries for the matches. One young man had a very impressive display of spinning kicks that he kept trying to use on his opponent. The problem was he wasn't anywhere near his opponent.

The coach kept trying to urge him in closer but still he spun around and away from his sparring partner.

Finally, his dad on the sidelines couldn't take it any more.

"Hit somebody, you ballerina!"


Yep, manly men.

The little widow woman...

I found another black widow in my garden the other day. Actually, it's the second one this week. They seem to be reaching magnificent proportions in my yard this year. And I generally don't worry to much about bugs and spiders and that sort of thing, and leave them to eat each other with zestful enthusiasm.

All God's creatures, right?

But this was one of those dilemmas - she was guarding, not one, but two egg sacs. And as fascinating as it would be to see them hatch, it ultimately became a choice of my kids over hers. I don't need more black widows in my yard.

So in memorium -

Toto-ally cool!

Have you seen this? This choir makes a storm! Now I'm just trying to figure out if it can be done on wooden risers...

Turn up the sound and enjoy!

(It seems to be doing a weird formatting things but try it anyways...)

The eagle has landed

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moonlanding. How amazing is that still to realize!



This is also a great clip from 1999 of Neil Armstrong remembering that day. I love watching the footage and seeing the sweat and the smiles of the guys in the control room as the flight progressed. My favorite quote is when he says "The important achievement of Apollo was a demonstration that humanity is not forever chained to this planet ... our visions go rather further than that ..."

But on a remarkably human note, did you hear that someone taped over the original footage of the moonlanding?

Yep. Someone at NASA thought "Ack, I'm on the night shift and am going to miss Survivor! I'd better tape it." And away went American history. (Okay, that's not quite how it happened but work with me here.) Fortunately, there's Hollywood - they're piecing together a hi-res replica from bits and pieces around the world. One small step...

Tough guys

We were at a local event today and I saw this group of guys sitting there being all macho - hats on backwards, dark shades, shaved heads and all the attitude you could muster for a sunny morning outdoors that didn't involve a beach. (Unfortunately, it's difficult to be too subtle about taking a photo of a group of men who've already caught you laughing at them so this was the best I could do.)


Who were these bad boys?


They were a group of dads at the local children's festival. Every single one of them with an unhappy child. And I will say, they coped manfully.

Doesn't it just make you want to go all gooey and say "awww!"? Okay, maybe not. They caught me laughing instead.

Drop-in visitors

Sitting in my studio and yakking on the phone, I suddenly saw a flash of color out the window.

When I looked closer, a very boldly colored bird was diving in and out of my rose bushes. The friend on the phone is wise in the ways of birds and told me I had orioles dropping in. Apparently they've been know to attack hummingbird feeders because they love the nectar but are too big to get at it. (Greedy things!) The biggest clue I had when they were around is that the rose bushes would be shaking like crazy and then a bright yellow head would pop out before diving back into the rose bush. (I hoped they were hunting for spiders.)


I've since learned that they are Bullock's Orioles and that they don't hang around for long. Sort of a bird equivalent of ADHD, I guess. But the wise friend says they LOVE orange halves so I may bait the yard for a bit and see if they come back. They only stayed for about 20 minutes this time. It was a fly-by sort of visit.


At least they didn't complain about the spider webs in the corners...

Like - you know?

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

People I like

I realized yesterday there are a lot of people that I like but that I will probably never meet. So here is my note of appreciation to them:

I like the guy that empties the yard bin every other week.

I like the people that put away carts left sitting around in parking lots (especially when it's people that don't even work there).

I like the people that post their photos online as public domain.

I like the lady I saw walking down the street with big pink daisies on her hat.

I like the people that design journal covers.

I like people that volunteer at the SPCA.

I like the truck driver that honks his horn when little kids give him the pump arm motion.

I like people brave enough to stop at lemonade stands.

I like the chef at Antonio's that makes such yummy gnocchi.

I like the All State guy with the great voice.

I like all the people involved in making mini-frozen cream puffs.

I like teenage boys that are willing to play with younger kids. Or old ladies.

I like the person that invented rumble strips for road shoulders.

I like painters. The kind that wear spattered overalls.

I like bit actors. The ones that wander through the background and manage to look like they really are part of the background.

I like teachers that use funny stamps when grading papers.

I like lampshade designers. (Or feel sorry for them, not entirely sure there.)

I like the people that clean libraries.

And chances are really good, I like you.

(Unless, of course, something you've done compels me to write a "People I'm not crazy about" list.)

Happy Fourth of July!

And a special thanks to those in the armed services who have served or are serving to protect the freedoms we celebrate.

Thank you!!

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day!

(eh!)