Thanksgiving 2005

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Why this is the best holiday:

Corn bread - it's so good as dressing, stuffing, muffins, even for breakfast as a corn meal pancake.

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles (1987 film) - Steve Martin & John Candy can't get home. Ever been there? Ever said "If I ever get home I'm going to nail my feet to the ground"?

Hanging out in a warm kitchen (where the action is) while the slack-jawed stare at the boob-tube.

No pressure to get meaningful gifts. Bring what you enjoy and share.

Eat, relax, have dessert, walk - but not too far, get warm, TV, eat, relax, repeat.

Long distance phone calls are a convenient escape hatch. Most people are available for the call and are mellowed-out too!

Holidays are just starting so Santa & his minions have yet to be overdone.
This year I woke up to "Little Drummer Boy" on my clock radio alarm - before Halloween. I said before Halloween!
I changed the alarm before I did anything else that morning.
Now I wake safely to a CD.
Pah-rum-pum-pum-pum on that October morning was worse than the morning the station was playing "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" when the alarm went off. Both times I had to tell myself "this shouldn't ruin your day".

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And,
Two sets of prose supporting the theory
"why this is the best holiday":

To Autumn
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
. . . (see comments)
- John Keats. 1795–1821
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Got my ticket, grabbed my load.
Conductor done yelling all aboard.
Find a seat and rare way back.
Watch this train going down the track.
Bring it on home.
(paraphrased)
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College football rivalry season

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It begins this weekend, the 3 weekend span of the most intense pigskin match-ups.
I like what the Wall Street Journal said today:
"The winners are usually seen carrying off some explicable trophy like a skillet, an axe, or a wagon wheel".

USC Trojans vs. UCLA Bruins (whatsa Bruin?). This years game could be a classic, they're both good again.

Texas Longhorns vs. Texas A&M Aggies (one sided to U of Texas, but emotional still).

The "Big Game" between Stanford and Cal - although many dislike their claim to the nickname "Big Game", they have a right to it: a few years ago the daughter of a sitting President of the USA chose to attend Stanford. I doubt she even considered my alma mater. Throw in UC Berkeley and that's big, son. Add "The Play" to the claim and who can argue except the jealous? Or those that actually follow football - no upsets, low ticket demand, but games are close and it means something to 'em. As if they don't have enough else to brag about...

Florida Gators vs. Florida State Seminoles. Imagine a Seminole warrior on horseback spiking a flaming spear at midfield then screaming at the sky. Do you know of any more impressive way to get up for a game? I got goosebumps thinking about it.

Georgia Bulldogs vs. Rambling Wrecks from Georgia Tech.
[side note: Go ACC basketball! The best round ball in the world!]

Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Auburn War Eagles: a sacred experience, most costly ticket. Lives revolve around the schedule - funerals are postponed (put Grandma on ice, we've got a game to win!)

BYU vs. Utah - the Holy War, a big game to someone, bless their hearts.

Army - Navy. Most sober student section, best organized, least colorful, older fans like it but is it college?

Virginia vs. Virginia Tech - the stadium with the highest GPA on the field, I'll bet.

and so on; all in all a good way to spend a Saturday.
especially when it's:
University of South Carolina Fighting Gamecocks
vs. Clemson University
Everybody likes to beat Clemson, their athletics are consistently tops across the board. Womens Volleyball, B-ball, you name the sport, they've probably had at least one national championship.
But teach your kids the ABCs, Anywhere But Clemson.

Go Go Gamecocks! (Wins mean more when they're rare.)
Go Cocks! Beat Clemson!

Sunday fun with a crab

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The temperature was the 70s, we went to the beach.
After a swim we sat.
It didn't take long to find entertainment using a fierce-looking shell in a tidal pool.

1st: Place a 250 million year old living fossil in plain site near a tourist walking area.
2nd: Sit back and watch the reactions as group after group see it near their bare feet.

Fun for hours!
Each group of beachcombers will think they've discovered the monster.

Four football throwing boys stopped and dared each other to see if it would move - they moved on without getting too close.

One kid was double-dog-dared to touch it, so he got a long stick and was going to mess with it until another kid pushed him from behind.
He jumped and yelped like a schoolgirl. They played like they were mad at each other, using that distraction as an honorable escape from the horror.

Several sets of footprints walked comma shaped detours around the threat.

Elderly women warned their men to steer clear!
Either the men agreed & complied or they ignored the warning while suddenly getting interested in something way over there, in the safe viewing zone.

These horseshoe crabs aren't concerned about having fun on a Sunday afternoon.
They can go a year without eating! Along with cockroaches (& the meek), they shall inherit the earth.

facts:
The Horseshoe Crab has light blue copper-based blood.
They eat at night and burrow for worms and mollusks, feeding with their dozen legs (most with claws).

The eyes have a range of about 3 feet and are used only for locating mates.
Each spring during the high tides of the new and full moons the females arrive by the thousands.
Males, 1/3 the size of females, cluster along the water's edge as the females arrive.
The male hangs on to the female's shell and is pulled up the beach to the high tide line.
She pauses every few feet to dig a hole and deposit as many as 20,000 pearly green, birdshot-sized eggs.
He tags along in tow. Smiling, even grinning & giggling, no doubt. You know.

Masks were used from their skeletons back in the days when people wanted a threatening mask.

Next Sunday:
Chapter 2 of Pass Times 101.
"Gluing a Dollar Coin to the Floor; Observations and Techniques. "
Bonton Press, all rights reserved

Got Wood!

Good wood - for a fire.
Since there's no perspective on this photo I'll spell it out:
this woodpile is about 12 feet high, the base of the tree was over 4 feet in diameter. These logs are too big for a person to handle, we had hydraulics doing the heavy lifting.
Too bad we had to cut it down but look at the internal rot in the trunk - would have come down during our next Hurricane, which may happen at any moment the way it's going these days.
Hurricane Sigma - the summation of all storms (a calculus joke). I don't hear anyone laughing but one nerd snorted milk out his nose. Sigma. Summation. Hardee-har nerd-o.

We need this wood for the upcoming holidays, hey it's November already.
Prepare now for your oyster roast, pig picking, and New Years Eve bonfire! Ain't a party 'till something gets burned!
Need any wood? Over here, come & get it but you must invite me to the burning!