Saturday, January 30, 2010
2010 Snow
Starting last Saturday or Sunday all of the local weather prognosticators in the Louisville area spoke with bated breath about the BIG snow storm that was going to hit us on Friday, Jan.29. They predicted as much as 4 feet, they warned all of us to prepare to meet our Snow destiny of the new decade! One and all plan to be snowed -in for the weekend! On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday;,Thursday more of the same. Winter Snow Warning! On Friday when not a flake had fallen they said it would be here by late afternoon or evening. Tune in tomorrow, (they invited) at 6 AM. "We will have full reports of the conditions of the streets and the snow fall in the surrounding areas." WHAS,WAVE,WLKY all assured us they would not abandon us to simply looking out the window to see if it did, in fact , snow. No, not to worry, we will be here for you!
At about 10 PM I looked out the window and saw nothing that looked like snow. At midnight, before going to sleep, I once again looked out and Gloriosky, there was a light covering of snow on the grass and on the streets where the brine trucks had left there tell-tale stripes of brine. It made for an interesting scene. Striped, snow strips on the streets. (How's that for alliteration?) I went on to bed and to sleep, knowing that the weather men were at their stations , watching out for me.
Immediately, upon waking this morning, I staggered out of my bed to the bathroom and then to my window to see what progress had been made in the night. Yessiree,Bob! There it was, snow!
I turned on my TV and saw every, well, not every but most of the personnel at the three local stations out with their mini-cams reporting on the roads, overpasses, gas stations in the counties, where truckers were staring at them in awesome wonder, and now an added feature of people like Kevin Harned and his ilk, in cars driving around the city filming the people trying to get to work or whatever. They had the city, county and some of Southern Indiana covered. John Belski was at home but on the phone with his updated predictions and comments on the situation at hand. True dedication! It's 6:35 AM for Pete's sake!
Word on the streets was that we had 4 inches in some places, 5 or 6 in the out lying counties and down to out South, nothing to our north. (Up the road in Ind.) and the radars are telling us that the big snow of the decade is about over. I started writing at 11 AM and back to not a flake of snow en route to our surrounding area. Oh, well.
The guys were only off by one word so no need to suggest that all the overtime the television stations personnel were paid was a waste. Its hardly likely that they all mis-read the screens and whatever else they look at. I'd prefer to blame it on the equipment that they were using or maybe , just maybe Mother Nature got into the act.
Just think how ridiculous it was for three or four TV stations to spend so much time and money on such a non-event! They've had a bad week, kids went off to school Monday on ice laden streets because Mom Nature threw an ice storm in without notice, is there a message here?
Who knew that what they interpreted as Feet turned to be Inches! Give 'em a break! Four inches not four feet! We all know that weather forecasting is not an exact art.
Anyway, I posted pictures of the last snow we had because I have not yet taken any of today's snow. I love snow and am glad for the little bit we got. I may go outside in awhile and shovel off the back porch. Ciao
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
R.I.P. Robert Parker
One of my favorite novelists died yesterday. He died at his home in Cambridge, Mass. His wife, Joan, found him dead at his desk. He will be sorely missed. It is said that he revived the genre of tough guy crime novels.
He was probably best know for his series, "Spencer". His character named Spencer wove his way through many of Parker's novels as a Boston private eye. His novel inspired the television show "Spenser: For Hire" starring Robert Urich. Spenser was a very funny, perceptive, skilled P.I. I always thought his character reflected Parker's values and wit. Spenser had a significant other that he was very faithful to. She was a psychiatrist and she helped Spenser work through some of his cases. They did not live together but did share their dog Pearl that they were both fond of. Spenser had a detective named Hawk that was an articulate African American. Some of the dialogue between Spenser and Hawk was classic. So funny!
He had other characters that he wrote about too. The Jesse Stone series was about an L. A. policeman that was fired for being drunk on the job and moved east and got a job as the chief of police in a New England small town. One of those books came to TV also. His values of right and wrong, and his compassion and love came through in that series also. His new Jesse Stone novel, "Split Image" is due out next month.
He wrote "Double Play" a novel inspired by Jackie Robinson and he wrote a couple of Westerns. I must admit, I did not care very much for those, but his "Sunny Randall"series and many, many other books are favorites on my book shelves.
He won two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America and a Grand Master Edgar for lifetime achievement. He was an expert at writing about tough characters and dealt with all kinds of people. He included men, women, Latinos, blacks, gays, street walkers, and all others and treated them with equanimity.
I have not read all fifty or so of his novels so I can look forward to acquiring some of them, but this tough guy that wrote about tough guys will be missed by me. Ciao
He was probably best know for his series, "Spencer". His character named Spencer wove his way through many of Parker's novels as a Boston private eye. His novel inspired the television show "Spenser: For Hire" starring Robert Urich. Spenser was a very funny, perceptive, skilled P.I. I always thought his character reflected Parker's values and wit. Spenser had a significant other that he was very faithful to. She was a psychiatrist and she helped Spenser work through some of his cases. They did not live together but did share their dog Pearl that they were both fond of. Spenser had a detective named Hawk that was an articulate African American. Some of the dialogue between Spenser and Hawk was classic. So funny!
He had other characters that he wrote about too. The Jesse Stone series was about an L. A. policeman that was fired for being drunk on the job and moved east and got a job as the chief of police in a New England small town. One of those books came to TV also. His values of right and wrong, and his compassion and love came through in that series also. His new Jesse Stone novel, "Split Image" is due out next month.
He wrote "Double Play" a novel inspired by Jackie Robinson and he wrote a couple of Westerns. I must admit, I did not care very much for those, but his "Sunny Randall"series and many, many other books are favorites on my book shelves.
He won two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America and a Grand Master Edgar for lifetime achievement. He was an expert at writing about tough characters and dealt with all kinds of people. He included men, women, Latinos, blacks, gays, street walkers, and all others and treated them with equanimity.
I have not read all fifty or so of his novels so I can look forward to acquiring some of them, but this tough guy that wrote about tough guys will be missed by me. Ciao
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sarasota in January
Where sand and water meet the sky. It was a very windy day on Siesta Key. I still enjoyed being there. The ocean has a way of calming one and perhaps soothing the savage soul. Not that my soul was savage but I am better for having been to the beach.My trip to Sarasota was short but indeed, a respite from the icy winds and sub freezing temperatures of Louisville. I didn't mind the snow, in fact, I loved it enough that I did take shovel in hand and cleared the walk from the driveway to the porch and cleared the back deck. The snow was powdery and light weight and actually fun to shovel. However; I was tired of being invigorated by the blistering cold.
The first day or so in Sarasota was plenty cold. Their home is being added to and so their heat and air conditioning has been disabled. The fireplace logs were non existent because all of the natives had bought them so we had to make-do with a couple of space heaters. The first night I went to bed with my winter night gown, long silk undies, a sleep shirt, gloves and wool sox on under a pile of blankets, one of which was wool! Toastie, if I do say so. The next day it warmed up and the sun came out and it was beautiful. Each day it got warmer and warmer. The thing is, every thing was still green, flowers were blooming the sky was that special cerulean blue that is always evident in Florida and my feeling of well being increased. Hard not to be euphoric.
Our trip to the beach was wonderful. It was not too cold but was very,very windy. The thing I love about the beach is the fact that it is ever changing. I've never been to a beach that I didn't love. It is just as facinating and enthralling on cold blustery days as it is on scorchingly hot days, rainy days, cool days, summer days, any days. Conor and Ang built an elaborate sand castle, Bridget whirlled and danced at the edge of the shore line dodging the waves lapping at her feet
with her large beach towel flowing out behind her, Keith shed his jacket and went for a long walk and I relaxed on a blanket watching the pelicans swooping down to nip at the ocean. Sheer bliss!
It was a short visit, as I said, but well worth the effort. Ciao
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Near Miss
Once again we had a terrorist trying to kill a slew of Americans. I am quite appalled by the age of the 'underwear bomber'. What has he been exposed to in his 23 years that would convince him that he had to destroy his own body to bring about carnage to hundreds of people. He happens to be a very handsome, attractive young man that has led a privileged life. His father tried to warn the world of his son's misguided thoughts and activities but was paid no heed. What possesses so many young people or any people to want to do harm to others?
What a warped mind it must take to teach and/or be a part of a group that would think they were doing a good thing by committing egregious acts against mankind. The whole thought of terrorism is so alien to me that I am totally befuddled by it.
Our country has not yet learned to effectively fight terroristic practice because it is so nebulous. How are they identified? Some people think that they are suspect if they have black beards, or if they are not European, or if they are sullen and unfriendly. What defines a terrorist? Is he the guy that stands out in the crowd? Timothy McVey was a white, Anglo-Saxon Catholic, the Uni-bomber was a white Math genius, Ted Bundy was a very handsome, normal looking guy, granted, he did not do harm to hundreds or thousands of people but he terrorized people just the same. Its too bad that we can't make 'terrorists ' wear different clothes, or be registered as possible terrorists like the sex offenders are. Our problem is that we are using tactics that so far don't work all of the time because we are at a loss as to what can work.
When you think of the millions and millions of people in the world and the millions of possibilities for mass killings it is so daunting that it seems impossible to have a strategy worked out that can guarantee safety.
When the 'shoe bomber' was caught in the act, new rules were made in the airports around the world and we now have to take our shoes off before we can be Okayed for flight. What now? Will we have to take our underwear off before we can fly? Life is scary! Staying aware is staying alive..... but not always!
I'll be flying before long and I guess I will not be able to wear my industrial strength undies, nor take my deodorant, lip gloss, knitting needles, boots, shampoo, hair spray and numerous other sundries, none of my props with me. Its a good thing that I've always gone along with the 'what you see is what you get' theory. I can only hope the skies are friendly. Ciao.
What a warped mind it must take to teach and/or be a part of a group that would think they were doing a good thing by committing egregious acts against mankind. The whole thought of terrorism is so alien to me that I am totally befuddled by it.
Our country has not yet learned to effectively fight terroristic practice because it is so nebulous. How are they identified? Some people think that they are suspect if they have black beards, or if they are not European, or if they are sullen and unfriendly. What defines a terrorist? Is he the guy that stands out in the crowd? Timothy McVey was a white, Anglo-Saxon Catholic, the Uni-bomber was a white Math genius, Ted Bundy was a very handsome, normal looking guy, granted, he did not do harm to hundreds or thousands of people but he terrorized people just the same. Its too bad that we can't make 'terrorists ' wear different clothes, or be registered as possible terrorists like the sex offenders are. Our problem is that we are using tactics that so far don't work all of the time because we are at a loss as to what can work.
When you think of the millions and millions of people in the world and the millions of possibilities for mass killings it is so daunting that it seems impossible to have a strategy worked out that can guarantee safety.
When the 'shoe bomber' was caught in the act, new rules were made in the airports around the world and we now have to take our shoes off before we can be Okayed for flight. What now? Will we have to take our underwear off before we can fly? Life is scary! Staying aware is staying alive..... but not always!
I'll be flying before long and I guess I will not be able to wear my industrial strength undies, nor take my deodorant, lip gloss, knitting needles, boots, shampoo, hair spray and numerous other sundries, none of my props with me. Its a good thing that I've always gone along with the 'what you see is what you get' theory. I can only hope the skies are friendly. Ciao.
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