A Ferocious Bear

As you can see, this is a ferocious bear. You can can tell by the long, terrible toenails on his feet. Ignore for a moment his slight smile, his jolly roundness, and his alarmingly bulging eyes. Be afraid!

Out for a Drive

I have never owned a convertible. I have never even had a car with a sunroof. I view my car as my spaceship. Every weekday morning I seal myself in, strap on my seat belt, and take off for work. 

I like to be encased in steel, with some sound-proofing to cut road noise because I spend my commute listening to books or music. 

I think driving a convertible would be noisy. I could get a sunburn on my head. I could get soaked from rain. I could get smacked with bugs or crazy birds. 

But this guy seems to be enjoying himself.

How to Name a Dog

In the summer of 1970 or so, our family moved into a house on a corner in Chillicothe, Ohio*. One day we visited the house of a friend who had a spare doghouse, with no dog in residence. I don't remember anything about the house we were visiting, but I clearly remember the doghouse. It was a well-built, small house, clad with white quality aluminum siding. Above the front doorway was the name Pepper. It was a premium home for a medium sized dog. 

We didn't have a dog, but we took the house home with us anyway. It didn't stay empty for long (that would have been silly). Soon we acquired a female beagle-mix puppy. 

Coincidentally, her name was Pepper! (Not really, we just didn't want to change the name on the house.)

Pepper was full of energy. She quickly scored points with dad by chewing up his work shoes. She loved taking walks, nearly choking herself into unconsciousness, straining at her leash to chase anything that moved. When alone, Pepper would entertain herself by digging holes in the yard, and tossing her empty dish straight into the sky to see how high it would fly. She was also really good at howling. For naps, she liked to sleep on her roof, just like Snoopy.

Pepper was a great dog, but sadly, the house lasted longer than she did.

Note:  Pepper didn't look anything like the dog pictured above.

*In a previous edition I said Kokomo, Indiana, but that was incorrect. It was a long time ago.

Ukulele for the Serious Musician

A ukulele is a nice instrument to play. Some people like to strum it, some like to use a flat pick. Some like to pose with one and sing silly songs. (Anybody remember Tiny Tim?)

I often sit in the evening and finger-pick old-time tunes on mine, or maybe some blues. It is easy on the fingers, not too loud, and whatever I learn on my ukulele is easy to transfer to my guitar. 

There are some pretty famous people that have enjoyed playing ukuleles. George Harrison was a big fan. Eddie Vedder has a ukulele album. Other players include Zooey Deschanel, Katie Micucci, and the overachiever, Jake Shimabukuro.

Try it, you'll love it!

Mechanical Pictures

My grandboys love to play Minecraft and build things with Legos. When I was a boy we had Lincoln Logs and Tinkertoys. I really enjoyed Tinkertoys. My brothers and I could build different contraptions, and if my brothers messed with me, I could make a sword and give them a poke in the ribs. 

Creativity for humans isn't about making something from nothing. Creativity is making something new from spare parts. I made this picture of a robot with a Sharpy marker on paper that somebody else made. I scanned it into my computer with a scanner and computer that somebody else made. I colored it with Affinity Designer, and added some text with a font that somebody else made.

Thanks to all of the people that made the stuff that helps me make stuff!

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

It's nice to be tidy, but tidiness is temporary. Eventually a rug can only cover so much. After a while, it's time to roll up the rug, take it outside and thoroughly clean it.

My brain is the same, dust accumulates. I'm not sure of the best way to knock the dust out of my head. There is plenty in there. 

Sometimes the dust in my head takes on a life of its own, like dust bunnies under the sofa. I'll keep on accumulating, sweep it under the rug, hide and keep if for later, then hope for the best!

Sight Seeing From Space

In my art school days, our teachers encouraged us to squint our eyes when we looked at our work, blurring our vision to check for overall compositional balance, contrast, that sort of thing. My good friend and room mate Bill wore glasses. He would wear them on the end of his nose, so he could quickly switch from blurry to sharp when he looked at his work. Later, my friend and teacher, Morrie Green would encourage people to do the same, he even had a cool name for it: the bi-lateral squint.

It seems sometimes the best way to look at things is to back up and view things from far away. That may be the best way to look at political events lately.

Maybe mom and dad were on to something when they sent me to my room to think about what I had done.

My Career in Football

 

When I was in the seventh grade I joined the football team. I was not a large person, but the coach thought it would be a good idea for me to play in an offensive tackle position. I was run over on nearly every play, and that was just in practice sessions. 

I learned then what my formulating teenage mind had already suspected, coaches can be clueless and mean, sometimes nothing more than older versions of the bullies they probably were when they were in seventh grade. 

I didn't play organized football after that, I traded in football cleats for running shoes. Cross country better suited my scrawny self. Out on the race course, or training run, I didn't need to worry about the opinions and advice of seventh-grade football coaches.

I have never been a big football fan, but I will be watching the Super Bowl today. I hope there will be some great commercials!

Mechanically Minded

When I was very young, I sometimes daydreamed about the magic of the internal combustion engine. As I got older and learned how it worked, I was even more impressed. Imagine, harnessing the power of controlled explosions!

I am usually happy with a theoretical understanding of things. I have zero interest in actually working on car engines. I don't actually like to get my hands dirty with real work. (I'm happy to get my hands, clothes, floor, and work area dirty from painting, but that's different.)

We are expecting a big snow fall starting tomorrow, so I went outside to see if my snow-blower would start. Happily it did, but it is running pretty rough. I suppose I will have to leave my theories behind and get practical with this engine. Maybe I can draw or paint it later.

Something's On My Mind...

I think a lot of things, one thing after another. Sometimes I make myself laugh. Nonsense is one of my favorite topics. Fortunately, as you can see, I have a mind for it.

Mechanical Fish and Cardboard

I was thinking about fish, and machines. 

I cut up some cardboard, tore one of the edges, and scanned it. I made a drawing of a fish with a Sharpie on paper. I scanned my drawing. I put them all together, added some color, and text. Now I have a picture of a mechanical fish.

Feel free to think about fish, machines, and cardboard. Something good may come from it.

YoYo Philosophy

In a debate, there are typically two sides to an argument. In daily life, there is waking and sleeping. On our planet, we have day and night. In yoyoing, there is up and down. As it is better stated in the book of Ecclesiastes, ...a time to break down, and a time to build up.

Maybe if I practiced with a yoyo, I would grow in philosophical insight. Maybe not, but time spent with a yoyo would keep me away from more troublesome adventures.

I just need to get a yoyo.

Big-Eyed Bluebird

A specimen of a bluebird with a big eye.

Does this bluebird seem alarmed to you? In fact, there is nothing at all to be alarmed about, he was drawn that way.

Unless maybe he has been watching the news lately...

Looking Ahead Ahoy!

 

Keep looking ahead! 

There is usually something hopeful on the horizon, even if it is just the dawn of a new day. Maybe there is a red sky tonight, the sun behind the clouds, but that means the storm is moving on!

Strawberry Season Somewhere

In our region, strawberry season is long gone. But we have some strawberry preserves in the refrigerator. Not quite as healthy as fresh picked, but still great!

When I was young, our family would visit our grandparent's farm. Grandma oversaw a big strawberry patch. If we grandkids were careful, and sneaky, we could wander out there and pick a few berries for a stealthy snack. 

Excuse me while I grab a snack of strawberry jam on a few crackers.

Have Nothing to Say?

 

Here we have a nice guy that doesn't know what to say, but knows he needs to say something...

In our social media era, it seems that having nothing to say is no longer a reason to say nothing. Does anybody else remember when we were told, "if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything?"

One thing we have learned, words can hurt!

Apple Harvest Time

 

I wish my tree had more apples...

Our apple tree has been blossoming for many seasons. The first year it produced a huge number of apples. We made a lot of apple sauce! Since then, it has blossomed regularly, but hasn't produced much fruit.

As last winter was ending, I trimmed it hoping it would produce more fruit. In the spring there were a lot of blossoms, followed by a lot of green apples. But through the summer they all disappeared. Now there is only one large lumpy apple. Where did they all go?

Help with apple trees:  I'll see if these sites and videos can help.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/apples/no-fruit-on-apple-trees.htm

https://www.fast-growing-trees.com/pages/apple-trees-guide

https://www.growveg.com/guides/5-solutions-for-unproductive-fruit-trees/

Anybody have any other suggestions?

Pre-Social Media Summers

Summer 2020 has come to an end. With so many people staying home I saw a lot more people, young and old, walking and bicycling in our neighborhood.

Back in the early 1970s, our summer vacations started with jeans, t-shirts, sneakers, a bike, and neighborhood friends. We knew we had a good summer based on the condition of our shoes and jeans in the fall. Holes and patches on the jeans, and shoes that barely stayed together.

We didn't have social media, but we made memories!

Out Running

 

(This is not me.) 

You can still see me running, even after all these years. I'm slower now than I was in my youth. If I think back far enough, I can remember having a runner's high. Running isn't a thrill, but it keeping me healthy.

Misadventures At Sea

 

I met a man who worked his way to the United States on a big ship. That seemed pretty great to me. 

When I drive by Baltimore's harbor on my way to work, I see container ships, tug boats, cruise ships, and more. I imagine many come from far away.

Sometimes I think about crossing the ocean working on a ship. Or staying close to home working on a tug boat.

While visiting good friends in Massachusetts, we agreed to go whale watching in Provincetown. We set off on a medium size boat in search of whales. The seas were rolling, but all seemed well as we traveled straight out to sea. Eventually the captain announced that whales were in sight! 

The boat started turning this way and that to get close to the whales. The unpredictable stops and turns, and rolling of the waves reminded me I get motion sickness. My gastric system began to do very, very bad things. I looked and confirmed that yes, there were whales in the water. Then I spent the rest of the trip below deck wishing I was somewhere else. 

The sea-faring life is not for me, though it is a quick and efficient way to lose some weight.