The War Horse

What in the world would the picture above possibly have to do with decreasing energy costs? These signs may no longer be needed if folks in San Francisco get their newest project off the ground. They are working on a plan to use "pet stuff" to generate gas that could be used for power. It seems that there is a gizmo called a methane digester that breaks down the aforementioned material and converts it to methane gas. I love this idea even though it did come from California where most of the craziest people in America live. The prospects are endless! Lucy The WonderDog could be worth a fortune, given her prolific capabilities to produce "energy material". She alone could heat the city of Cleveland and have enough left over to keep city busses running in my town. Animal shelters would become the replacement for those nasty oil refineries that you see with the huge smokestacks spouting those awful black clouds into the sky. This would also be a project that even the worst of politicians could vote for given their own familiarity with bull----uh-well, you know what I mean. Dick Cheney could talk to the Saudis about camels in the future versus worrying about oil . Hey, honey, time to feed the WonderDog--- it's getting cold in here!

My wife and I did not meet on the dance floor, and a night on the town does not include any form of that graceful art. My crude attempts at it could be dangerous to her health. Can you imagine going from "dry land" to ice, and trying all of those acrobatics you see in the Winter Olympics ice dancing events? What if there was such a thing as ice dancing in the Senior Olympics? How would you put the walkers in the mix? The standby medical teams would have to do major orthopedic surgery after every round. Of course, I could be way off in my thinking here. Let's see how Dorothy Hamill does in about 30 more years. Let's put the blades on, dear, time for me to throw you up over my head a time or two!

Henry David Thoreau has a chapter in his book, Walden, entitled "Solitude". He presents a very interesting view of the value of being alone with one's own thoughts. This quote from his book describes his initial feelings, and how they changed---
" I have never felt lonesome,or in the least oppressed by a sense of solitude, but once, and that was a few weeks after I came to the woods,when, for an hour, I doubted if the near neighborhood of man was not essential to a serene and healthy life. To be alone was something unpleasant. But I was at the same time conscious of a slight insanity in my mood, and seemed to forsee my recovery. In the midst of a gentle rain while these thoughts prevailed, I was suddenly sensible of such sweet and beneficent society in Nature, in the very pattering of the drops, and in every sound and sight around my house, an infinite and unaccountable friendliness all at once like an atmosphere sustaining me , as made the fancied advantages of human neighborhood insignificant, and I have never thought of them since."

Maybe a little practice on this one would be of benefit. It reminds me of my youngest daughter's teenage experience with Outward Bound where a kid spends 24 hours in complete silence and isolation in a shelter they make with their own hands. She still talks about it to this day. I think that just chasing away life's clutter for a small period of time each day would be a good start.

See you later.

Tim