Fireflies - The Time is NOW

I was at a gathering at my Son’s school recently when the kids started chasing fireflies. This annual late summer ritual is something that my son & I have enjoyed together since he was old enough to catch these glowing creatures; (and I remember from my own childhood). Yet I heard several parents comment that they had not seen fireflies in years. How sad.

The way I see it, watching and catching fireflies is a right of childhood…a simple pleasure as the evenings start to cool and we can finally escape our air-conditioned prisons to enjoy those precious moments between day and night with our family. To imagine this time empty of the firefly is simply heartbreaking. Fortunately, my neighborhood is filled with them.

But as I pondered the observations of those other adults, I wonder if this is one of those times where technology and “modern” society has interfered with the time we take to notice these fanciful creatures. Maybe they are flying away from light pollution, but, as noted, in my (Urban) neighborhood, the fireflies are plentiful. Perhaps the real problem is people are running away from the fireflies. We stay inside at dusk and watch TV, or work on the computer rather than going outside. Maybe because I live in an older, well established neighborhood, with lawns & large trees, the firefly population is well established and happy. Regardless of the reasons, I'm glad we've stopped long enough to notice these luminous "faries" of the evening.

How long has it been since you’ve chased fireflies? How long has it been since you’ve even taken the time to notice them? Well, don’t delay, the time is NOW.

A Permanent Reminder of a Temporary Feeling?

UPDATE to There Is No Dumbass Vaccine:

In a press conference today, Josh Howard finally spoke up about comments he made over the summer disrespecting the US National Anthem.

To wit: "I'd like to say that I'm truly and really am sorry for everything that's happened in the last five months. This is not the way I carry myself, not how I want to be portrayed. I'm sorry to everybody I've offended. I'm upset with myself and the way I've acted. It was me joking around," he said.

"Guys were out there making fun and I decided to get along in it. I wasn't using my head. I guess the valuable lesson I did learn is that words really do hurt. You're held accountable for what you say."

"That's not me. ... I went to military school. I have friends that served in the military. I know how it is to wake up and salute the flag. The national anthem every game, I have my hand over my heart."

While it'd be nice to believe Mr. Howard, I'm skeptical. Saying "this is not the way I carry myself" seems a tad disingenuous to me given his history, but time will tell. He had to say something eventually; we know that Mark Cuban defended him after his remarks were made public, and Maverick's Coach, Rick Carlisle, flew all the way to Howard's home in North Carolina to have a "come to Jesus" chat with him, so apparently that was enough of a shot in the, er...well, you know...to motivate him to have his agent write up an apology for him. :P

For the most part, Mr. Howard's statements sound remarkably similar to apology lines I've heard trotted out by other celebrities for various infractions over the years. Seems people get real sorry when they're caught.

And while it doesn't affect my personal life what Mr. Howard believes, his thoughtless comments were hurtful, inflamatory and representative of a damaging mind set in this country. Now that he has made a public show of contrition, I can only hope that he walks the talk....that would be a "valuable lesson" indeed.

I know I'm not the only one that will be watching, a lot of impressionable young minds will be, too.

Chess King

My son likes to play chess.

Yesterday he spent the day competing in a chess tournament and experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. During down time between games he relaxed playing ping pong, foosball and bumper pool. What a great day.

After getting beat in the final round by the highest ranked player in the tournament, he was hugely disappointed. It didn’t matter to him that the other player was older and had more years of experience – he really wanted to win that match. He knew that if he won the round, it would mean a trophy. He assumed that if he lost, he was out of the hardware. What he didn’t figure into his calculations was the outcome of the other matches and the computer rankings based on difficulty of competition.

He ended up in a 5 way tie for the final trophy…and won. Defeat turned into victory in an instant. In addition to lessons in chess and statistics, success and failure; I think he now has a driving the desire to try harder for a bigger trophy in the future. Regardless, his pride was blinding.

There Is No Dumbass Vaccine

Color me stupid, but since when does being Black mean you shouldn’t respect the National Anthem?

I, for one, am tired of the arrogance of some individuals in this great nation that throw their race around as an excuse; seemingly wallowing in a victim mentality in perpetuity. Josh Howard exemplified this mentality (in spite of the fame & fortune he has achieved) in comments he proudly announced into a camera during Allen Iverson’s charity flag football game last July. Specifically, " 'The Star-Spangled Banner' is going on. I don't celebrate this sh*t. I'm black. G*d damn Obama and all that sh*t.”

In the words of Don Henley & Glen Frey:
You drag it around like a ball and chain
You wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain
You wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown
Got your mind in the gutter, bringin' everybody down
Complain about the present and blame it on the past
I'd like to find your inner child and kick its little ass
All this bitchin' and moanin' and pitchin' a fit
It's gotta stop sometime, so why don't you quit
Get over it.

Mark Cuban says that "Josh really is a good guy with a great heart. He just doesn't do a good job of showing that side of himself publicly. We will work on that."

Ohhh, I see. It’s not WHAT he said, it’s HOW he said it? Riiight.

I don’t want this to be about why Mark Cuban feels the need to make comments on Josh Howard’s behalf, but if it’s a communication problem rather than a character problem, I’d like to hear Josh’s explanation…no excuses.

Mr. Howard, I will be pleased to make my judgement on [sic] the content of your character, and not the color of your skin.

UPDATE 9/29/08, Josh Howard speaks.

See: A Permanent Reminder to a Temporary Situation?

Ahoy! It's Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Today is the 13th annual International Talk Like A Pirate Day. As any Parrothead worth her salt knows, pirating is in the blood. So in the spirit of the day, lets pillage and plunder and hoist some fine ale. Arrrgh.

If you'd like to impress your friends and co-workers with your knowledge of pirate stuff, you can find a bucket o' links here that'll keep yo knickers on for hours! You'll find everything from translators, to Pirate Performers, Sea Shanties, and "Real" Pirate History (& more) linked.

Here are some fun facts about this peculiar yet wonderful holiday:

It was invented in 1995 by John Baur ("Ol' Chumbucket") and Mark Summers ("Cap'n Slappy"), who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate.--It was first an inside joke between the founders but it gained exposure when Baur and Summers sent a letter about their invented holiday to syndicated columnist Dave Barry in 2002.--September 19 was chosen because it was the birthday of Summers' ex-wife and consequently would be easy for him to remember. There is a list of the top ten pirate pick-up lines on the Official National Talk Like A Pirate Day website. You can read them here.

Oh, and no "Talk Like A Pirate Day" would be complete without an offering by the Head Pirate (Jimmy Buffett, of course) himself...

Here's "A Pirate Looks At Forty", recorded live at the Bankie Banx’s Dune Preserve, Rendezvous Bay in Anguilla, British West Indies in March 2007.

An Attitude of Gratitude after Hurricane Ike

A week ago, Hurricane Ike was bearing down on the Texas Coast. Satellite images showed a tempest larger than the State of Texas...in fact, Ike was as large as the entire Gulf of Mexico (approx. 615,000 square miles). It was the size (about 70% larger than "average") of Ike rather than it's strength that created a situation ripe for dangerous waves and flooding in low lying areas.

Friends living in the area were evacuating and protecting their property to weather the storm. And I'm grateful to report that all of them survived with repairable damage, although most are still without electricity. Sadly, a relative of one friend lost her home due to a large tree falling into it, but she survived because she was riding out the storm with a neighbor.

I'm grateful for the "cool" front that blew into Texas alleviating the humidity and heat for those surviving without electricity.

I'm grateful for all of the first responders who have worked tirelessly to rescue and assist others, cleaning debris, repairing power lines and infrastructure while their own homes and families struggled to overcome without them.

I'm grateful that lives were saved because so many people evacuated.

I'm grateful for the Houston area media that kept live feeds going 24 hours a day so folks in the area and around the world could see what was happening, as it happened. And they continue to chronicle the aftermath, reporting on what is being done and where help is still needed.

I'm also grateful for all the memories I have of visits to Galveston Island over the years. The first time my son dipped his toes into the Sea was in the waters off Galveston Beach.

And just last October we went shelling underneath the pilings of Murdoch's Bath House and the Balinese Room....so much history now washed away by the maelstrom.

Deep in the South of Texas

not so long ago,
there on a crowded island
in the Gulf of Mexico.
It didn't take too much money,
man, but it sure was nice.
You could dance all night if you felt all right,

drinking whiskey and throwing dice.
And everybody knows
it was hard to leave.
And everybody knows
it was down at the Balinese.

~ZZ Top, "Balinese" from Fandango

And lest we not forget, the Memorial to those lost in the Great Storm of 1900 withstood the crashing waves of Hurricane Ike; again representing strength in survival.

Big Storm Coming Soon...

One hundred & eight years ago this week (Saturday, September 8, 1900), A Great Storm destroyed much of Galveston, Texas killing between 6,000 and 12,000 people and is the largest natural disaster ever to hit the United States. (By comparison, Hurrican Katrina claimed approximately 1,800 souls.)


So it is that this week another Big Storm is headed for the Texas Gulf Coast, following a remarkably similar path to that of the Great 1900 Storm.

Unlike the residents of Galveston in 1900; Gulf Coast residents today have the benefit of modern weather forecasting, satellite images and fast, reliable transportation out of the Hurricane zone.

Much like the Thursday before the Great Saturday storm 108 years ago, I'm hearing from several of my friends in the area that it is a beautiful day on the Gulf Coast. The calm before the storm as the saying goes.

But as we pray in rememberance of the approximately 3,000 victims of the terrorist attacks on the United States 7 years ago today, let us also pray for those lost long ago to a terror from the Sea they didn't see coming, and those in the path of Hurricane Ike that aims for the Texas coast this Saturday.

Yes, It's Been Quite A Summer....

From Baseball, swimming, concerts, 4th of July in Kansas, playing in the hose, and broken bones it was a great summer.

I'll keep it brief, but MJM started the summer playing machine-pitch baseball on a team that ultimately won their Little League Championship. After a heartbreaking loss in the Championship game last season, the guys worked hard all season and prevailed against talented competition in a double header playoff elimination on a very hot Texas day.

In a daring attempt to defy gravity, MJM "did not know he could not fly...and so he did!" He jumped off the platform of a friends' backyard Fort - breaking his foot upon landing. He was most pleased with this "accomplishment", and enjoyed showing off his walking cast.

He’s one of those who knows that life Is just a leap of faith

Spread your arms and hold you breath

And always trust your cape

~Guy Clark

Other summer adventures involved the simple pleasures of playing in the yard. Keeping the plants alive became an adventure in water...er mud management as MJM enjoyed devising his own methods of keeping cool with limited resources.

Water prevailed as a theme, even when attending the Richardson Wildflower Arts & Music Festival where we listened to Jerry Jeff and Django Walker, Ray Wiley Hubbard and Roger Creager, though MJM would probably have preferred to play in the fountain all afternoon.

And last but not least, let's flash back to where it all began...
The summer began with a marathon party at the Frisco Feeding Frenzy 2, with friends from around the country coming together to celebrate and raise money (~$16,500) for charity due to the inspiration of a man who has made seeing the positive side of life a way of life. Fins up for Jimmy Buffett and all our Parrothead friends...every year.

Texas Heat

It's that time of year again...hot and dry in Texas, so I thought I'd post these words of wisdom. Both for those of you who endure Texas summers year after year, and the rest of you who have never had the pleasure of walking into a blast furnace.

Aside: Today was the 21st day this summer of over 100° temps, and August starts tomorow! Yee Haw!




May 30th - Now this is a state that knows how to live!! Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. Mountains and deserts blended together. What a place! Watched the sunset from a park lying on a blanket. It was beautiful. I've finally found my home I love it here.

June 14th - Really heating up. Got to 100° today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I'm turning into a real sun worshiper.

June 30th - Had the backyard landscaped with western plants today. Lots of cactus and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here.

July 10th - The temperature hasn't been below 100° all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least it's a dry heat. Getting used to it is taking longer than I expected.

July 15th - Fell asleep by the pool. (Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body.) Missed two days of work, what a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though: got to respect the old' sun in a climate like this.

July 20th - I missed Tabby (our cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got out to the hot car for lunch, Tabby had swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and exploded all over $2,000 worth of leather upholstery. I told the kids she ran away. The car now smells like Kibbles and shit. No more pets in this heat!

July 25th - Dry heat, my ass. Hot is hot!! The home air-conditioner is on the fritz and AC repairman charged $200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts.

July 30th - Been sleeping outside by the pool for three nights now. $1,100 in damn house payments and we can't even go inside. Why did I ever come here?

Aug 4th - 115 degrees! Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today. It cost $500 and gets the temperature down to about 90°. Stupid repairman pissed in my pool. I hate this state.

Aug 8th - If another wise ass asks, "Hot enough for you today?” I'm going to tear his throat out. Damn heat. By the time I get to work the radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like roasted Garfield!!

Aug 10th - The weather report might as well be a damn recording: Hot and Sunny. It's been too hot for two damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Doesn't it ever rain in this barren damn desert?? Water rationing has been in effect all summer, so $1,700 worth of cactus just dried up and blew into the pool. Even a cactus can't live in this heat.

Aug 14th - Welcome to Hell!!! Temperature got to 123° today. Forgot to crack the window and blew the windshield out of the car. The installer came to fix it and said, "Hot enough for you today?", wife had to spend the $1,100 house payment to bail me out of jail.

Aug 30th - Worst day of the damn summer. I'm not leaving the house. The monsoon rains finally came and all they did is to make it muggier than hell. The car is now floating somewhere in Mexico with its new $500 windshield. That does it, we're moving to a cooler climate for some peace and quiet.

UPDATE: North Texas hit its 22nd day of triple-digit temperatures on August 1. Now, it’s going to get hot.

Tips Dealing With 100 Degree Temperatures

Heights Rocketship Blasts Off

Richardson’s Heights Park playground flies into history (article)

It's been two weeks since the Rocketship came down. I've been meaning to post about it, but it's been too painful.

Intellectually, I understand the dangers the equipment presented; but for both my Son and me the Rocketship, the Planet, the Submarine, the Giraffe, the Radar and even the old Jungle Gym capture the memories of childhood. Now the Rocketship Park is part of a childhood that is no longer Earthbound, but can only be touched in our minds.

I suppose the analogy is appropriate, and probably why the Rocketship Park was so special to me. Rocketships, and the hope they inspire for all of mankind have been an important symbol to me since Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon 39 years ago this month.

There's a fine line between staying grounded in the here and now and looking into the stars for a better tomorrow. But keeping the hopes and dreams of young people alive is one way that I believe that we will reach the stars one day, and by climbing on Rocketships when we are children is just one way to nurture an imagination that doesn't know the boundaries of time and space....yet.