We've all heard of a waxing or a waining moon as well as the quarters of the moon. Why is there no moon in the sky when it is new, I want to see something bright and shiny, but do we really understand what is what in relation to each other. The process becomes so simple after viewing this chart. Our cub is studying the tides in relation to the moon and the different type of tides for different moon phases. How can something so common be so entangled in our existence. When I was a little boy, my friends and I would lay in the summer grass and look up into the sky and marvel at the moon, especially when it was full. We would look at the stars and discuss the existence of Martians and UFOs. We saw shooting stars streaking across the sky and we saw the vastness of the heavens without end. We lay there for hours staring into the summer night sky and filled our minds with memories. Great picture Tao..

Proxemics
The study of personal space:

Don’t Stand So Close To Me. In 1966 anthropologist Edward T. Hall coined the term proxemics to describe the study of how people perceive the proximity of others. Hall’s work was inspired by an animal study conducted by German zoologist Heini Hediger, who found that animals maintained various boundaries depending on whether they were preparing to escape, to attack, to communicate with members of another species, or relating to a member of their own species.
Based on these insights, and after conducting his own research, Edward Hall developed the idea of a set of expanding circles, called reaction bubbles, that described how humans manage the space around them. The innermost circle he identified as Intimate space, reserved for those we are closest to, and usually measuring 6 to 18 inches (15 to 45cm) in radius. The next level up he dubbed Personal space, the distance we are comfortable maintaining with close friends, about 1.5 to 4 feet (0.5 to 1.2m). He used the term Social space to indicate our preferred proximity to acquaintances, about 5–12 feet (1.5–3.6m), and Public space for the distance we need for public speaking, 12–25 feet or more (3.6–7.6m).
This sounds very specific, but Hall himself acknowledged that these distances vary from culture to culture. While those from less-populated countries, or countries where individualism and privacy are highly valued, are more comfortable with larger spaces between themselves and others, in other cultures maintaining what is considered excessive distance can be perceived as rude or unfriendly. I'm hooked on Wikipedia---;>)

The early 60's as I remember.

These use to be on every booth table in all the burger joints. 3 plays for a quarter. lots of Elvis, Everly Brothers, Ricky Nelson and Pat Boone. 45 records were $1.00 and Cokes were a Dime. Eisenhower was president and I won a 2 transistor radio to listen to. Leather jackets and ducktails were the style. We slicked our hair with

and our favorite drinks were Cherry Cokes and Cherry Fosifates.

We ate

candy bars and push-ups.

We washet it all down with a rootbeer.

Every kid had a Daisy.

and a box of BB's was a nickle.

Our kids will never know our simple pleasures nor will we understand theirs.

Nemesis (in Greek, Νέμεσις), also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia ("the goddess of Rhamnous"), at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon, in the Greek mythology was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris, vengeful fate personified as a remorseless goddess. The name Nemesis is related to the Greek word νείμειν, meaning "to give what is due". The Romans equated one aspect of Greek Nemesis, which might be interpreted as "indignation at unmerited advantage", as Invidia (Aronoff 2003).
Nemesis is now used as a term used to describe one's worst enemy, normally someone or something that is the exact opposite of oneself but is also somehow similar. For example, white could be considered the nemesis of black. Professor Moriarty is freqently described as the nemesis of Sherlock Holmes.

Gained 2 pounds on this one..

Finally the cave dwellers came out of their cave after 3 months to go on a road trip for a day. They visited such exotic places as "Petsmart" for doggie steps and a fresh coller for their pet quadraped fur ball. Next to "Barnes and Noble" for a cubs new book and then to a feast at the "Red Loobster". The feast consisted of mouth watering Shrimp, Crab Cakes, Cod, Clams, Calamari, more shrimp, cheese sticks and finally the greatest sea food treat of all, chicken strips for the cub. Yes, she is truly adventerous. Nothing mundane with her taste, she only eats anything that clucks or moos. Yep that's our little Indiana Jones. After an hour and a half, we finally waddled to our truck with doggie bags in tow and then settled in for a 2 hour trip home. That my friends can be miserable, a full tummy, sleep creeping in, daylight fading, warm and cozy from the cold outside, the ocassional squeel of breaks as cars dodge you as the go into ditches. Yes it is hard to drive home on a full tummy, but when you finally arive, you are safe and grinning. Maybe next weekend we will again venture into uncharted territory.

No Thunder Snow, what a let down. All we had was a rain. No thunder, no snow, no show. We didn't even have a Thunder storm, Thunder shower or a rumble of Thunder. RICK LIED TO ME. He is a weatherman, he doesn't lie. Wait, today he is saying that the THUNDER SNOW was more to the north and into Kansas. There was Thunder Snow somewhere, just not here, Rick is telling it like it is the first time he said it, I knew he wouldn't lie to me. What a weatherman..

THUNDER SNOW-what the heck is Thunder Snow? The weather men have been using this buzzword all weak and everytime they say it, their eyes flutter and they foam at the mouth. It must be something special, THUNDER SNOW. Wow I felt a tinge in my toes when I said it. Yes we are expecting THUNDER SNOW by morning and from 3 to 8 inches of the THUNDER SNOW should accumulate. I think it means that there will be THUNDER while it is SNOWING and it seems this is a rare occurrence. I like the weather prognosticator profession. Where else can you tell something one day and then tell something completely different the very next day and act like it is the first time you said anything about it and everyone believes you and thanks you. You are treated like a god because you brought a "much needed rain" or a "beautiful weekend" to spend out of doors. RICK the weatherman said it and it becomes LAW. RICK SAID IT and I know he wouldn't lie to me so in the morning I will see THUNDER SNOW and I will thank him for he is a weather man.

Go to Norman, Get Tattoo?

We were babysitting our 2 year old Indian Princess and just having a ball when she saw the tattoo on my leg. That tatoo has been the wonderment of many littleones for many years and to this day as the 2nd crop of great grandkids are sprouting, they too are in awe of the bunny character forever embedded on my leg. A brief moment in 1965 in a Long Beach tatoo parlor has brought smiles to many grandkid and puzzlement and giggles from older proper folks. Tatoos today are nolonger the trait of a sailor back from foreign ports of call. They are the body art of the rebelious youth, each seeking his or her individualism but yet they are massing into a cingular culture. OK, back to the story.
As the princess poked at the tatoo and giggled, I asked her if she wanted a tatoo and she replied ,"I want tatoo", Her mom just called and was in Norman and on her way home at the time so I said to the little one, 'you want to go to Norman for a tatoo?". her reply was, 'Go to Norman, get tatoo". This phrase was repeated many times to imbed it in her memory for when her mother arrived, the question was asked, "go to Norman, get tatoo?' I had some explaining to do so after begging grandpa insanity, I was exonerated. The next morning I got a call, it seems the Princess fussed all the way home and then wouldn't go to bed without going to Norman for a tatoo. That morning, she continued the quest for the tatoo but was assured that oneday they would go to Norman for a Tatoo. Yep on her 18th birthday she gets her bunny tatoo.

"It's a dogs life". Casper found a comfortable position on a chilly, rainy day.

WOW- we took the scenic ride through the mountains so that we could view the FALL FOLIAGE. The views from Talihina drive are some of the most spectacular scenery in Oklahoma this time of year. Attached are some pictures of this wonderful scenic drive. Note the wonderful vista and the lake off in the distance in this first picture. We had lunch at the Queen Wilhelimena lodge and the views continued to be overwhelming. The fall foliage was indescribable, just look for yourself. We then went to HotSprings Ark. for the night.

" Get outa Dodge", Remember the old westerns where the Sheriff told someone to leave town and he would back it up with a gunfight. Well, we're a gittin and nobody has to tell us twice or shoot at us or threatin us. Sometimes circumstances just dictate that that is the best option. Others' problems seem to find us but yet no advice is ever taken. Yep, we're gettin outa Dodge, the saga to the North seems never ending with its almost daily phonecalls, yep, we're gettin outa Dodge. The intown fiasco is ongoing and very troublesome and don't seem to be ending anytime soon, yep, we're gettin outa Dodge. The trouble to the Southeast manifested lastnight and its the same old thing with no advice taken, yep, we're gettin outa Dodge. We would go West but it is too cold and some snow fell, we're not snowbunnies anymore so were heading East into Arkansas. We're looking for GOOD KARMA CRYSTALS around Mt. Ida. We may surround our house with Crystals to protect our sanity. The trip should take 2 or 3 days. Yep, we're gettin outa Dodge with a S M I L E.

"I Had a Dream" I dreamed of a world where everyone lived in- oh shoot, Martin luther King already had that dream. I dreamed I was coming home from work and I got to this strange intersection. The view was blocked by bushes so I kept edging out into the intersection and a car would whiz by and I would quickly have to back up. I again would ease out and again and again I would have to quickly back up. Dang that was frustrating, so as I again eased out into traffic, I saw a clearing and I took the chance and went out. I saw this giant pickup truck bearing down on me, my van stopped and I couldn't go forward or backward because my foot was caught under the break peddal.I fought and fought the peddal and could not free my foot and all the while, I watched these giant headlights coming at me and then suddenly, crash, I was hit in the drivers door and I spun around and woke up- What a wreck. the dream was very vivid. I don't know if I was killed or not but my Van was totaled so we bought a new Ford Pick-up truck.

Here are some pictures of "THE GUNS OF OKLAHOMA" having their gunfight

Goodness- Almost 30 days since the last blog. This is not about dreams or signs or catching invisable fishes, it's just a little ditty about a very successful day at work. 2 weeks ago on a Wednesday, the culmination of 3 months work by my team came together and 400 employees ate BBQ, played games, laughed and won great prizes in 4 hours with most having less than 30 minutes each. Work doesn't quit. We were able to put together a "Western Day" out in the field behind the hospital. Everyone got a hat and a bandana when they registered. They played quick games and won "Game Bucks" where they could spend it at the General Store. Over $8,000.00 in prizes was available. I won a 20 in TV for Resa. Another great hit was the Kettle Popcorn and roasted Peanuts at every place you went. I hired Gunfighters "THE GUNS OF OKLAHOMA" to put on 3 shows during the day and they were a hit' After the event, I took a day off. Maybe this was a dream.

last word on PLUTO...

Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky.

Pluto is still a planet.

"Casey At The Bat"
Our little Casey had her first ever school fast pitch softball game last evening and let me tell ya, the nervousness was plentiful. The game went into the 2nd inning and our cubs turn was coming up. She was in the warm-up box and taking practice swings. I noticed something strange, she was swinging right handed and had her hands upside down ( left on top of the right). I said something to her about it because she should reverse the hands for batting right handed. She quickly informed me that the coach told her to hold them this way, I relented to the coaches strange wisdom. It was now our Cubs turn to bat, there was a runner on 3rd and 2 outs, she stepped up to the plate and was batting left handed, WAIT she is right handed, not left handed, why is she batting left handed. Strike 1, she is just standing there and swaying back and forth. Strike 2, she taps the plate and means business now, I turn and look at the other players and I heard a crack. She HIT THE BALL and the ball is hit to 2nd base. It was a race to the bag, the runner on 3rd comes in and scores a run. She reaches 1st and that turns out to be the winning run. What do I know about coaching baseball. Our Cub was the hero. She had the most fun she has had in quite a long time. We need to work on the other elements of the game like catching the ball without getting hit by the ball. Throwing straight and not knocking birds out of the air like guided missles. Casey needs a little fine tuning, but she can bat wrong handed anytime.

WHAT DOG!!
Casper does not know he is a dog. He has achieved peopledom. Ech, don't ya just hate it when people start talking about their dogs as if they were people and an important part of their family. I would just start gagging when I heard these stories. How can anyone devote so much attention and endless love for a DOG. Don't you wonder about the quality of their mental state, the sheer stupidity of caring so much for a DOG that they plan their lives around their DOG and gosh, they even talk to their DOG like he understands what they are saying. Some people even let their dog sleep in their bed. ECH!!
I don't know why we do it, I cannot explain the peacefulness and serenity a dog brings to me. I cannot explain why I treat Casper like a little person and watch over him and protect him. I cannot explain why I talk to him and nuture him. I cannot explain why I think he is cute and adorable and take lots of pictures of him. I cannot explain why: maybe you can when one day you too will get a dog. Casper has achieved peopledom.

The mouse wars of Okieland seem to be over for now. The battle raged for several weeks as each side probed the others defences looking for that single weakness that would bring defeat to the others side. If I lost, we would have to move and live in assisted living, if we won, the mouses would leave for better accomodations. They decided to flood the house with frontline troups and go into every room in the house and establish their dominance. They did not count on the importance of doing things the American Way, you know, throw money at it, the American way of dealing with things. Money to buy lots of traps to counter their move. Yep, I flooded the house with traps and after a week I declared victory. The spoils were 2 loves of bread for their side and 14 neutralized mice for my side. The traps remain in place as a deterrent and now are catching crickets and a few spiders. Ah yes, there is nothing sweater than the smell of Napalm in the morning (Apocalypse Now). I still havn't found that giant Tarantulla that Ractoon saw one night. I think he must have been dreaming..