Goodbye, Ike: Don't Let the Screen Door Hit You

It's beautiful, isn't it? It's a welcomed sight; the moon coming up in the east through the last clouds of Hurricane Ike. I hope everyone that suffered through Ike's onslaught of Arkansas last night caught a glimpse of this wondrous sight. I'd like to think of this photo as one of closure to the wrath of Ike ...

Three years ago, when Hurricane Katrina was demolishing New Orleans, I sat glued to the TV. I watched hours of news footage of people standing on rooftops just feet from raging water. I saw unrecognizable remains of what used to be, and I felt a sense of great loss that the New Orleans I had heard about all my life I would now never see. It was gone. Most of all, I felt a great anger that news crews would go in and record, but the "help" stayed on the sidelines, safe and sound, apparently too afraid to dive in and get the job done. This was not something I wanted to witness, nor come to conclusions of cowardice and the horror of humanity's pitiful state.

When Hurricane Rita came through three weeks later, I stayed away from the TV. I never turned it on. When Rita came inland and hit Arkansas, I was caught unaware, and it hit hard. Horizontal wind and rain blew out windows and ripped tiles off my roof. I watched a wall bow in from the force of the gale. And it lasted for a long time.

Last night, the remnants of Hurricane Ike hit here. Tornado warnings were going off almost constantly, and it was impossible to tell the all-clears from the warning sirens. The wind would whip up and the rain would pound down for a few minutes, then die down, only to repeat a few minutes later. After a few hours, I fell asleep; in self-defense. I could no longer take the stress.

When I woke up in the morning, I ventured outside after noting that my alarm clock was flashing - the power had gone out during the night while I slept like the dead. There were dark, heavy clouds in the sky patterned in bands and moving east and at good clip. Watching the fast-moving clouds was dizzying. But, no visible damage. Everything was very clean and fresh, and the air was crisp and cool. Hurricane Ike would go out with no further flaps besides the occasional gusts of wind.

This evening, the clouds were almost all gone. Wisps here and there, a few chunks of dark storm clouds, but the banding was gone. The moonrise took my breath away. How perfect to see the full moon shine through the last clouds of that terrible storm! And the sunset proved Ike's demise even more.

It feels like a very marked, very emphasized ending and beginning. My thoughts are with everyone that experienced far more of Hurricane Ike's wrath than I did. I hope many hands reached out to you to help you through your terrifying experience.

Army of (Al)one

Everywhere you turn, whether on TV, the radio, or scanning the headlines, all you get is a constant litany of: McCain said this; Obama said that; Biden sucks; Sarah Palin is an oddball pick; McCain retorts; Obama slams McCain; McCain bites back. Bush said this; Kucinich pushes to impeach; FEMA responds this time; yet another hurricane; Georgia; Russia; oil, oil, oil; floundering economy; high prices; fewer jobs; Wall Street; housing crisis…

Lost in the incessant cacophony of oil, politics and economy is the fate of each and every person that has taken on the duty of serving our country. The toll is currently at 4,158 US military deaths in Iraq and 30,634 soldiers wounded. Last year, 115 US Army soldiers committed suicide, and 62 have committed suicide already this year. The high suicide rate barely falls behind the nation's total and the Army attributes it to "troubled personal relationships; legal, financial and work problems; and repeated deployments and longer tours in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Perhaps today, September 11, the focus will return to those that continue to serve our country, to bring our attention back to what our military selflessly gives us. Our soldiers deserve more from us than this neglect.

Keyboards, Shoes and Floppy Lips

I don't get it. I have to laugh about it, but I sure don't get it. Of all the crazy, half-insane, controversial stuff I've written since the beginning of the month, different sorts of search terms land people here on A Bumpy Path. I guess I'd better answer some of those burning questions that people come here for answers to, right? I will not disappoint my readers! So, here goes…

Omnitech Flexible Keyboard. I bought one awhile back. It was too cool of a product not to, and for only $10, who could resist? I love the concept of it! But, it's not a keyboard for a writer. The little table I'm using now for a desk (my BIG desk is in a different room) has two leafs, and even though they are in the up position right now, there are two seams in the tabletop. The flex keyboard had to lay across one seam or the other because of its length, and where that seam ran under the keyboard, the keys wouldn't exactly work reliably. My fault, not the keyboard's. The rest of the keys worked just fine -- as long as you consistently bang those puppies down hard. Like I said, it's not the optimal keyboard for someone who writes as much as I do. It's OK for a standby or portable, but not for everyday use.

Horse's floppy lower lip. It's pretty funny looking, isn't it? There are two things that get to flopping on a horse when its nice and comfy and relaxed, one more often than the other. Did you know that horses sleep standing up with their eyes open and their ears going every which way? The way to tell if they are awake or asleep is by that floppy lower lip. That will always relax and flop when the horse is asleep. On a male horse, you can guess which other part might be flopping, though it doesn't happen every time the horse sleeps, just sometimes. A-hem.

Psychology of a door greeter. Does there have to be a "psychology" behind the person standing at the door, charged with the task of greeting any and all people that come to Wal-Mart? The job itself is made very difficult because door greeters are not thought of in the same light as restaurant hostesses, though that is what they are. It is not the easiest thing in the world to stand there hour after hour on a hard concrete floor, trying to be cheerful and welcoming to people who won't even meet your eye, let alone return your greeting. I'd say it takes a pretty tough, secure type of person to subject yourself to that level of degradation on a daily basis, wouldn't you? There's more to this, and I talk about the untruth of it all here.

How to save an image. I was glad to see this, and that the seeker landed on the article I wrote about it. I must be a mind reader or something! Saving an image incorrectly severely effects download time and image quality, so for the best looking site or blog that won't make people cringe when they see it, read up on it. It's simple and worth the effort to do right.

EJ Shoes immigrants. This is part of the extensive history of Broome County, NY. Endicott-Johnson Shoe Manufacturing founded Endicott and Johnson City, two of the cities along with Binghamton that make up what is known as the Triple Cities. IBM started in Endicott as well, but ol' Watson only has a few streets named after him instead of whole cities. Some time after WWI, Endicott and Johnson would go to European countries and recruit people from Poland, Italy and Ireland to come to the United States to work in their shoe factory. As I talked about earlier, my grandfather and grandmother were two of those immigrants that spent their lives working off the debt to EJ Shoes for coming here.

A colt's first ride, a well trained horse and a horse backing into me. I wrote one synopsis of a clinic given by a professional reining trainer that illustrates a well trained horse. It was exciting and fun and just as fun to write up. It answered a lot of questions I had, and put things in a very clear and concise and easy-to-do-at-home-yourself kind of way. My next project is to start a blog about horses, horse care, horse training, and everything that goes with horse ownership. Until that happens, and to answer questions about horse bahavior, please read "Take a Moment, Listen to a Horse" and then keep on searching for more, ok? The more you learn, the safer you will be - and alive to come back here to visit!

See? You just never can tell what you can find here! Thanks for reading!

Fall Flowers Photos

I remembered to grab my camera as I ran out the door this evening to run errands. I managed to stop once and take these photos before the sun went all the way down and I lost this wonderful, warm light. As always, you can click on them to see 800x600 size and you are welcome to download if you like.

Update: Added three more photos on September 8.

(I had to throw one of Tux in there. He's so cute!)

I Just Had an Amazing...

...and long bout of sneezing, but that's besides the point.

...email, then phone call from a great friend. She worried that I had been blown away by Hurricane Gustav or something equally as tragic. I hadn't been emailing or posting here, so she thought the worst. Oh, I'm OK. Just a bit under the weather is all. No pun intended.

...epiphany after reading "The Conventions are Over, So Now What?" that it really doesn't matter who gets elected, it will still be S-S-D-D. (Stephen King readers will know what that means right away, but if he's not one of your favorite authors, that means "same-shit-different-day.") As detached from reality as politicians are, the only thing they're responsible for is making sure laws don't apply to businesses; and when have you ever heard of a business being socially or globally responsible?

...conversation with my son this morning. His generation as a whole may be dark, dreary and hopeless, but I don't think I've ever seen as much creativity and talent all at one time in one place. We, the now aging Baby Boomers, might've screwed things up big time, but his generation is the one capable of untangling it all. Whew! There is hope!

Great Buddies

I've met some truly wonderful people since I started blogging. Warm, welcoming, caring people that reach out and touch and share and give as soon as they sense a need.

Ethan, of The Natural State Hawg, is one such person, and one that I consider a friend. You wouldn't be surprised if you talked to him on the phone - just imagine a deep southern accent to go with the words he writes because he is as articulate a talker as he is writer. He has gone above and beyond for me, someone he's never met in person, and without reserve. And, he is the one that sent me the Great Buddy Award.  Ethan, I want to send it right back to you with all my sentiments to go with it!

There are only a few rules that go with this award:

* Save the image above to be forwarded;
* Choose several people who are buddies;
* Give the reason why you chose those persons.

I know there's a few people that view these kinds of awards as fluff, and that's fine. I look at them like really nice Hallmark cards given to someone to let them know they are thought of and appreciated.  In that light, I'd like to send the Great Buddy award on to:

Pam of pamibe and beannachd. She recently gave me a scare with Hurricane Fay, but thankfully, she was out of harm's way. Whew! Pam is a frequent commenter here, and I always find myself commenting on her posts too. Great thinkers think alike, right? (She wasn't the least put out when I privately asked her how to pronounce her blog's name, and I still can't get it!) As I worried about her, she is as worried about the people in the path of Hurricane Gustav.

The Commentator. I 'met' Mr. C. awhile back when I sort of confronted him on one of his posts, and he responded without qualm. That dialog turned into a major discussion that was quite enlightening as well as interesting. Since then, I've enjoyed his sharp mind and wit, neither of which ever wane at all. He's quite a character, and one you should get to know. He'll get you thinking!

Ethan, thank you again, and I sure do hope you get to feeling better soon. If you don't, with your wife's permission and help, I will rope you and drag you to the doctor!