Paradise in bloom...

Paradise in bloom...  Some photos of things in bloom around our home in Paradise right now:

Let the flooring commence!

Let the flooring commence!  Late last week the painters finished everything they wanted to do before the new flooring went in.  This week the wood was delivered so that it could acclimate to our home's humidity.  There are great piles of it all over the place in the house!  Tomorrow the tile gets delivered.  Today the floorers are starting the installation, first of hickory flooring in the basement, in the area that will become my office.  Some photos:

Some hickory and the guide line

Piles of wood everywhere!

A pile of hickory

A pile of oak in the dining room

Oak in every room upstairs

Closeup of the oak

Even more oak!

I hope our cats never learn how to do this!

I hope our cats never learn how to do this!

The cost of light...

The cost of light...  We live in amazing times...

Economics and war...

Economics and war...  An interesting summary of WWII.  Asymmetric warfare (e.g., terrorism) completely upends this conventional analysis...

Dolly Sods...

Dolly Sods...  Here are some other photos I took in the area, on the several short hikes I took on Monday.  The area has changed enormously from the last time I was there (in the '60s).  My overwhelming impression was of increased wealth: the area was desperately poor back then; now it looks middle-class and better, with some areas even looking like an upscale resort.  Even the wild areas, including the sods (meadows) themselves have changed dramatically.  A local expert told me that's because of two things: aggressive fire control (fires used to be allowed to burn themselves out) and the cessation of cattle grazing.  Those two events have allowed the forests to start encroaching on the sods, to the point where 45 years later they bear scant resemblance to my memories of them.  On the other hand, the azaleas and other native plants seem to be thriving.

The photos below are from a short hike in Canaan Valley State Park, another short hike near the southern end of Dolly Sods, and a longer hike along Bear Rocks trail at the northern end of Dolly Sods.  That last hike had lots of azaleas, a beautiful stream, and even some big ants' nests (three photos of them below)...

Saying goodbye to my dad...

Saying goodbye to my dad...  Family and friends of my father gathered at Dolly Sods in West Virginia on Tuesday for a little ceremony and remembrance, to say our good-byes to him (if you're new to this blog, my dad died last November – you can read more about him here).  We scattered dad's ashes amongst the azaleas not far from Bear Rocks Trail on the north side of Dolly Sods.  It was about as perfect as such an event and a day could be – the azaleas and bluets (two of his favorite flowers) were in bloom, temperatures were mild, and there was no rain.  The beautiful wooden box just visible in the photo at left below contained my dad's ashes; my brother-in-law made it.

There was no speechifying or formal ceremony (which my dad would have hated).  We each helped scatter some of the ashes, and then spent some time privately cherishing having known my dad and reflecting on what he meant to us.  I did something that he loved to do: I laid under an azalea and looked at its backlit blossoms against the blue sky...

My dad would have detested any conventional sort of ceremony, but I think he might have appreciated what we all did on Tuesday.  He certainly would have appreciated the flowers!  I'm glad we could organize and pull this off; it's now a memory I will cherish...

Well, blogging was a little slower than expected :)

Well, blogging was a little slower than expected :)  That's because the cabin we stayed in had no Internet access at all – and not even cell phone access!  But I'm back now; arrived late last night.  This morning is another beautiful morning in Paradise: wall-to-wall sunshine, temperature in the low 50s, humidity around 30%.  My lawn grew about 2 inches in 4 days; time to break out the mower already!

Slow blogging alert...

Slow blogging alert...  I'm traveling for the next four days (to Dolly Sods in West Virginia); I'll be back in Paradise on Wednesday night.  I'm not sure whether I'll have Internet access while on the road, or how much time I'll have...

A new source of coherent light beams...

A new source of coherent light beams ... 250 times more efficiently than lasers.  The current incarnation only puts out tiny amounts of power, but then so did the first semiconductor lasers.  The first one also emits in the ultraviolet range, something very difficult for LEDs or semiconductor lasers to accomplish.  If this proves to be scalable and manufacturable, it will be a very big thing indeed...

Mayonnaise jar and two beers...

Mayonnaise jar and two beers...  Via my CCPOAA (card-carrying, pissed off, ancient-American) mom:

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 beers .

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.

The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.

Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

Now, said the professor as the laughter subsided, I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else---the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first, he continued, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Spend time with your children.

Spend time with your parents.

Visit with grandparents.

Take your special someone out to dinner.

Play another 18.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter.

Set your priorities.

The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.

The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.'

The beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers with a friend.

Search for a new chief...

Search for a new chief...  Via reader Jim M.:

There once was a powerful Japanese emperor who needed a new chief samurai. So he sent out a declaration throughout the entire known world that he was searching for a chief. A year passed, and only three people applied for the very demanding position: a Japanese samurai, a Chinese samurai, and a Jewish samurai.

The emperor asked the Japanese samurai to come in and demonstrate why he should be the chief samurai. The Japanese samurai opened a matchbox, and out popped a bumblebee. Whoosh! went his sword. The bumblebee dropped dead, chopped in half. The emperor exclaimed, "That is very impressive!"

The emperor then issued the same challenge to the Chinese samurai, to come in and demonstrate why he should be chosen. The Chinese samurai also opened a matchbox and out buzzed a fly. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The fly dropped dead, chopped into four small pieces. The emperor exclaimed, "That is very impressive!"

Now the emperor turned to the Jewish samurai, and asked him to demonstrate why he should be the chief samurai. The Jewish Samurai opened a matchbox, and out flew a gnat. His flashing sword went Whoosh! But the gnat was still alive and flying around. The emperor, obviously disappointed, said, "Very ambitious, but why is that gnat not dead?"  The Jewish Samurai just smiled and said, "Circumcision is not meant to kill."

Oliver...

Oliver...  Via my lovely bride...

The strip tease...

The strip tease...  Via my card-carrying, pissed off, ancient-American mom (whom I will see in a couple days!):

Cletus is passing by Billy Bob's hay barn one day in Iowa when, through a gap in the door, he sees Billy Bob doing a slow and sensual striptease in front of an old green John Deere.

Buttocks clenched, he performs a slow pirouette, and gently slides off first the right strap of his overalls, followed by the left.  He then hunches his shoulders forward and in a classic striptease move, lets his overalls fall down to his hips, revealing a torn and frayed plaid shirt. Then, grabbing both sides of his shirt, he rips it apart to reveal his stained T-shirt underneath. With a final flourish, he tears the T-shirt from his body, and hurls his baseball cap onto a pile of hay.

Having seen enough, Cletus rushes in and says, "What the world're ya doing, Billy Bob?"

"Good grief, Cletus, ya scared the bejeebers out of me," says an obviously embarrassed Billy Bob.

"But me 'n the wife been havin trouble lately in the bedroom d'partment, and the therapist suggested I do something sexy to a tractor."

My dad would have liked this one :)

$8 ice cubes...

$8 ice cubes...  Really!

I could watch these ads all day...

I could watch these ads all day...  It's brilliant marketing, but it's also a wonderful feel-good story that will brighten your day.  It works, too – if I have a choice to fly on WestJet, I will...

70 years ago today...

70 years ago today ... the Allies invaded France at Normandy: D-Day.  The more I learn about that day, the more I admire the bravery and appreciate the ingenuity of those soldiers of the Greatest Generation.  There aren't many still alive, but a few are making the journey to Normandy for this year's commemorations...

Here are some things you probably didn't know about D-Day (I only knew a couple of them!).