Getting Culture

The other night my Sweetie and I rode out to a nearby college to enjoy this classical guitar concert. It was pretty good. This is not a big city, but there are things going on if you look for them. There were not that many folks there, mostly students, which I suppose, is to be expected. They have things like this from time to time, and they are free, which makes it nice for us poor folks. It's cool to be able to go out with my Sweetie sometimes and get some culture.

Bursting Buds

Spring is here and summer is near. The trees are leafing out. More and more each day. You can almost watch them growing. These are the buds of our fig tree opening now. They're not quite big enough yet for their traditional roll in the classic coverup, but will be in time. Eventually there should be some figs, but not for a while yet. I saw some apple blossoms today and had to cut the grass a bit. But that felt good after being cooped up in that truck all day. It's good to have the doors and windows open again.

Sports News

OK sports fans, it's track season again. And not only at the High School. This was the big Saturday Session for the younger set. This is specifically the 5th grader Half Mile Run.
Notice the intensity here. These kids are not fooling around, they mean business. Yes, Young Daughter was involved in this madness, while she ran well, unfortunately she did not win 1st place. I was attempting to aid in her training for a few days, and she ran the fool out of me. I think I'm lucky I didn't have to run with this crowd, they would have made me look bad, very bad.

The Poetry Corner

Here's another good one.


Much madness is divinest sense
To a discerning eye;
Much sense the starkest madness.
'T is the majority
In this, as all, prevails.
Assent, and you are sane;
Demure,- you're straightway dangerous,
And handled with a chain.

Emily Dickinson

Spring Is Here

Just couldn't help it. Happy first day of spring !

A Closer Look

It was at the end of the week at work, and we were cleaning up the trucks, and taking care of some loose ends and all. A couple of the trailers had some "solid waste" on them. "Solid waste" is junk that people dump out on the side of the street. Actually, we're not really supposed to pick this up, but of course if we didn't, no one else would. But I digress again. In consolidating this stuff we came upon one of those big, high dollar TVs, or rather, what was left of one. In the process of manhandling this thing, it was discovered that it contained three of these cool, big ass lenses. I guess I'm just one of those people who if they have a little time, and a pocket knife, are gonna take something apart. Besides all that, I have a thing for big ass lenses. Over the years I have found that the lenses out of old projectors make incredible magnifiers, and these things were huge. And so, an accomplice and I went to work. We each got our own cool, big ass lense, and even had an extra to give to the guy in the shop. Us old guys have a bit of trouble with the fine print these days.
But is this cool or what ? I already set fire to some leaves with it. I don't like to toast ants, it seems cruel somehow. Maybe it would be OK with fire ants though, they deserve it. Mostly, I just carry the thing around and look at stuff.

Pretty but Doomed

We have this volunteer peach tree down in the yard. These volunteers often make some of the best peaches. Now with the warmer weather, we also have these beautiful blossoms. But the tragic fact is, we are expecting below freezing tonight, and our potential peach crop is DOOMED ! It would have been the first year for this young tree, but nature can be so cruel.
Amazing Grace, the movie, finally came to town and we went to see it. Liked it pretty well.
Happy St Patrick's to you all. I'm gonna go have a Pint O' Stout in his honor.

Organic Cookin'

The weather was just too nice. I couldn't resist the impulse to sear these chunks of a dead bird over a small pile of hot coals. We used to raise some of our own, before we got lazy. These however, came from the Harris Teeter. But this is not just chicken, this is "Organic Chicken". We take our chicken serious here. Come to think about it, is there such a thing as "Inorganic chicken" ? Or would that be "Unorganic Chicken". Would that be plastic or something ? My daughter has a rubber chicken somewhere, but I don't think she's ever tried to cook it.
Well I kept the lid down and let all that smoke influence the chicken cooking in there. I suppose that cancels out all the healthy stuff from the "organic" part of things, but it was quite tasty anyway.

Dandelions and Other Stuff

So why do people hate them ? Why are so many bent on their destruction ? Here is this nice bit of color heralding the glorious springtime, and it bothers people. But why, what is the crime here ?
The blossoms are kinda pretty. When they go to seed, they're a lot of fun. Who hasn't plucked the fuzzy little things and gently poofed them out into the wide world ? And they're nutritious, you can add the greens to your daily salad for that natural effect. Shoot, you can even make wine out of them if you add a bit of sugar. The weather is warming up. The Violets are coming out now, the Red maples are blooming. We are looking forward to seeing the new leaves on the trees. I like Spring Time.

Foolish Desperation

I'm kinda a Slacker sometimes, and I let the sunflower seed get a bit low. With the whole wide world out there, I didn't really understand just how important this was to the Avian Economy. This desperate little fella, somehow managed to squeeze himself into the feeder in an effort to obtain the last few seeds. Birdbrain as he is, he never thought out his escape plan. But then, a lot of us often don't think very far ahead, do we. Rest assured, after I made him pose for this humiliating picture, He was allowed to return to his home and family. Perhaps he learned a valuable lesson in this, it would be nice to think so.

The Poetry Corner

Always kinda liked this one.


I'M nobody ! Who are you ?
Are you nobody, too ?
Then there's a pair of us - don't tell !
They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody !
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog !

Emily Dickinson

Final Final Destination

I'll admit it was hard to see. A sharp eyed surfer got it close. A deer was the call, and considering how hard it was to see, I guess that was close enough. Here is a closer look at this tragedy. So congratulations to Woodie, you'll have to buy your own lottery ticket, but if it's any consolation, I hope you win big. Maybe if you do you'll remember the Fuzz.
I guess that stuff about the glue factory isn't true any more. These big guys get special treatment. They have a nice deep hole just for them. Horsies, Moo-Cows, Dogs and Cats, ( the animal "shelter" is here at the landfill ) this is the final destination for so many.
But I'm getting depressed about all this, so I think it's time to say Bye Bye.

Rusting Away

More on the fascinating subject of railroads, or at least railroad trestles. Back to the old Southern RR. This is the part abandoned. Here it crossed the river on the other side of town. Actually, I suppose, it still does, but no trains. Not even any track. But this is an impressive trestle, is it not ? There is that long stretch with the timbers leading to the river itself. Trains must be really heavy, I guess the trick is to use lots of timbers. And then we come to the river itself. This is not the river of the River Walk, only a contributer to that mighty flood. But still a real impediment to railway travel.
I think at flood stage, all those timbers would catch all kinds of trees and other debris, so this problem was eliminated with this iron span. It seems so fragile in a way, with it's slender braces, compared to more modern bridges. But this one carried trains for years and years, and never let them down. Now it sits here, quietly rusting away.

Still no score on the "Final Destination" quiz. You'll have to look real close to uncover the sad truth.

Final Destination ?

Ha ! No picture.
Yes it's quiz time. Turn back the pages of time and "Kinda Fuzzy" itself. Travel with me back in history to Saturday, February 24, 2007, and the "Final Destination". How observant are you ? Who's "Final Destination" is this ? Unfortunately there are no prizes, no big bucks. If you want that, buy a lottery ticket. But you can have the smug satisfaction of knowing your keen powers of observation are a cut above the rabble.

Pumped Up

The weather was so nice today I couldn't resist taking out the 'Cycle. Topped off the tank and headed up toward the South Mts. That's always a pleasant ride on the winding through the hills. On the way I passed this place. It's a museum for the late Lawndale Railway & Industrial Co. Which is not the subject here. But I did want to share these cool gas pumps. I already had a full tank, so didn't try to fill up here. I'm not sure If I know how to work these things anyway, and besides, the place wasn't open.
Some other time we'll look at the LR&I RR.

Still Hanging In

This little fella goes back pretty far. Back to the days of the house in the country with the holes in the floor. I was trying to saw a plank out of an old log I'd found in the woods, which was more work than I'd expected of course. There was this little tip left over and I got inspired to make a little "Protecter of Socks" and such. Some might think I had too much time on my hands, but I wonder if that is actually possible. I must have been a bit of a pagan at the time. But be that as it may, I was not relying on any dark forces or anything, only the fact that he was a bit of sweet smelling cedar wood.
For some reason he's still hanging around, although I don't know that he ever had a chance to do any work in his field.