Shopping Trips and Bad Memory

I managed to spend over eighty dollars at the grocery store today and still forgot several items that I really needed: nine-volt battery, ice tea mix, frozen dinners and at least one other thing that I can’t think of right now. It will come to me after I forget it again. I guess I had better start making shopping lists or utilizing my favorite memory device: one gun, two tooth, three tree, four door, five hive, six ship, seven heaven, eight plate, nine vine, ten den!

A Three-Heron Day

In my attempts to get a little exercise and because the heat wave finally broke, I headed off to a couple of natural areas for some short hikes. The well marked mile-long nature trail at the Wyckoff (McFaul) Nature Preserve provided a brisk walk. Then I headed for the Celery Farm Natural Area in Allendale for a quick peek at the lake, where there is always some water bird activity. A glance around from the vantage point of the Warden's Watch observation platform yielded a black-crowned night heron, a great blue heron--and after a few minutes, a green-backed heron. The great egret was seen across the lake, as well as the ever-present double-crested cormorants, swans and assorted ducks. And of course, the canada geese were there in numbers. So a brief visit of perhaps a half hour, in the pleasant 72-degree, breezy weather, was most refreshing. I must start doing these walks much more regularly!

Baby Giant Panda

I have been checking into the Giant Pandacam on the Animal Planet website. The National Zoo has a camera trained on Mei Xiang, the female giant panda and her month-old baby. What a wonderful sight to see this rare view into motherhood in this endangered species. This is her first cub and she seems to be a great mother. The cub is too young yet to determine its sex, but over the weeks you can see it growing, ever so slowly. Check it out at: http://animal.discovery.com/cams/pandavidr.html

A Sad Revelation

I shouldn't be shocked and I guess I am not, but merely disappointed. I recently stumbled upon a message board with posts by some of the last students I had before I retired. Most have just completed four years of very expensive higher education. Some are working; others seem to have not found jobs yet. Unfortunately, the board posts seem to reveal that those four years of "higher" education have transformed some of my favorite people into foul-mouthed, sex-crazed drunks. With the state of our culture today I shouldn't be surprised. Our culture is basically gone. I heard an interview with Tom Wolfe, the author of "I am Charlotte Simmons," the research for which he visited several well known colleges and blended in with the campus and social life. Apparently, the college experiences of my students were similar to those recounted by Wolfe. Shocking, no--disgusting, yes!
So what to do? Pray for these guys and gals, certainly. Contact and confront them directly? Maybe. Perhaps I should even post a message on that board (anonymously?) letting them know that someone who cares is watching--and that Someone is always watching. Refer them to Psalm 139. Perhaps one or more of them will be open to such a message. Much prayer is needed before I take action. More to follow.

A First Blog Post

Having just watched a program on C-Span featuring a panel of bloggers, I figured now is the time--finally--to enter the blogosphere, in a most amateurish way. What I will have to say or share, only time will tell, but since the blog is the "now" medium for news, commentary and just messing around, I figured if not now, when?!
For now, don't expect hourly or even daily posts but merely now and again jottings--whenever something even mildly interesting or useful might seep from my old brain. If I catch the bug you might read more of my thoughts, as well as the thoughts of others. Enough for now--let's see how this thing works.