I Love Beach Music

There is nothing like a rainy day to make you think about sunshine. You crave the sunshine. What better way to renew yourself on this cloudy day than with beach music.  The Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffett have made huge contributions to the music we enjoy when basking in the sun sipping a cold beer. But I am talking about Carolina beach music. Think about music that is your personal  favorite. Someone else can measure your love of the music by watching you enjoy it. My mind goes to MG,a college friend who truly loved this music. He hailed from North Carolina and took a group of us to Myrtle Beach for a classic road trip. He loved this music. He lived this music. And he wanted to share his love of beach music. He wanted you to experience it and grow to love it. And we did. Give Me Just A Little More Time was released as the debut single for The Chairmen Of The Board in 1970. General Johnson was the lead singer aka narrator for this song. After college, I lived in South Carolina and had friends who thought that any reference to the Chairman of The Board was about this group, not Frank Sinatra. They too LOVED this music. Let me correct that to present tense. They LOVE this music. The Chairmen Of The Board also sang You've Got Me Dangling On A String and Everything's Tuesday. These are two more must-listen-to beach music hits. The Catalinas recorded Summertime's Calling Me which was a favorite of the college friends. Its lyrics were perfect for acting out with a group of friends on the dance floor or the shore post-beverages. The Platters gave us With This Ring. The Embers gave us I Love Beach Music. The Showmen recorded Shaggin' The Night Away. Carolina folk can shag like nobody's business. They own it. They walk and then they shag. They run later. I can think of several couples who looked their happiest when dancing the shag. They were in synch. They fit perfectly. Even if you aren't well-versed in beach music,you must have heard Under The Boardwalk and Up On The Roof. Oh yes, the Drifters. Then your mind immediately goes to The Tams. Sometimes categorized as rhythm and blues and/or soul, their music includes two classic beach music tunes, Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy and I've Been Hurt. Now memories are racing through your mind whether you knew about beach music or not. Okay now name the tune brought to us by The Band Of Oz. If you answered Shama Lama Ding Dong then you are correct. You can feel the sand.  You can smell the suntan lotion. You can see those friends. You can hear them laughing. You can see them dancing. You were laughing and dancing and singing too. There are many more beach music tunes waiting for your ears. Crank up the stereo, or computer, or ipod or smart phone and you too will love beach music! The ocean will surround you in seconds and your day will be sunnier. Go create a beach music playlist today. Then regardless of your age, you can be young, foolish and happy.

Simply Not Enough Candles

Today I celebrate the birthday of a friend. Today I celebrate her life. Life-long connections are made with individuals with whom there is a belonging. There is an unspoken bond and you know that this person will always remain in your circle of life. If you are very fortunate then you discover a friend like this birthday girl early in life. Then you have the blessing of sharing the greatest occasions of life together. This friend and you share the brightest moments and the darkest hours. They are bearable in large part because of this friendship. The significance of your meeting is not realized until later in life when you can truly see that your paths were destined to cross. You reach for the phone when you have happy news. You reach for the phone when you have a funny story. You reach for the phone when you have an idea for a road trip.You reach for the phone when you need help with a decision. You reach for the phone when your heart is broken. You reach for her. You have seen her lose a loved one and you have ached for her loss. You have seen her fall in love and totally light up and radiate love when she walked down the aisle. You have seen her nurture and protect that marriage and that love with all of her heart. But her heart was large enough to give birth to two amazingly beautiful daughters. You have seen her be an amazing mom and yes, a soccer mom but unlike any other. She has been the ultimate professional in her career and shown great determination and talent while continually surpassing goals and increasing her vision. She has repeatedly made me very proud.  Her daughters have grown into stunning, intelligent, gifted, loving young women who remind me so very much of their mother. She is also a dedicated and loving daughter. She possesses traits of both parents whether she would admit or recognize that or not. She has a love of adventure and information and a wicked laugh. She loves cats,horses and dogs. She is the ONLY person I ever knew who drank Tab. She has been a confidante and comrade. We have shared champagne and many a beer. She can make me laugh and she can make me cry. She can make me laugh until I cry. We have shared political causes and dreams. We have made memories together. We know that we can always count on each other. We have had to say goodbye and it is never fun but it is always temporary. Because of her, I have never been without somewhere to turn. Miles never affected our relationship. She has contributed so many wonderful things to my life. Every candle on her cake today will represent an individual memory of the light she has brought and continues to bring into my life. One candle for that....Oh and definitely one candle for the time that.... You better blow out at least four candles for the time that.... She is a part of me. I have no gift for you today,friend. But know that you are my gift. Happy birthday. I love you. Oh and by the way, you still rock.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Mustard is my favorite condiment. George Harrison was my favorite Beatle. The Scarecrow was my favorite Wizard of Oz character. Coca-Cola is my favorite softdrink. ( You have to be careful here. Mention that coke is your favorite vice just once and people start making all sorts of intervention plans. Be specific with the Coca-Cola.) Peter Tork was my fave Monkee. Janet was my favorite Lennon Sister. (My grandmother always had The Lawrence Welk Show on so you might as well choose a fave Lennon Sister.) Annette Funicello was my favorite original Mouseketeer. Peter and Jan were my fave Brady Bunch members due in no small part to being the middle children. Groucho was my favorite Marx Brother. (You expect me to say something about Karl so I will not.) Little Joe was my favorite Cartwright. The Professor was my favorite passenger aboard the S.S.Minnow. Whoopi Goldberg,Kathy Najimy, Mary Wickes and Debbie Reynolds are my favorite singing nuns. Shoe,Peanuts,Doonesbury,The Far Side,Cathy,Mary Worth,Pogo,Family Circus and Garfield are some of my  favorite comic strips. Roses,daylilies,azaleas,and tulips are some of my favorite flowers. I do not have a favorite of the three stooges for obvious reasons. Johnny Carson remains my favorite late night talk show host of all time. Virginia Wade and Arthur Ashe are my favorite tennis players of all time. Wonder Woman, Mighty Mouse, Underdog, Catwoman, Batman and Robin are all personal favorites in the superhero category. Cyril Ritchard,Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Depp are my favorite pirates. Mr. Ed is my favorite talking horse. Skeeball is my favorite arcade game. Centipede is my favorite video game. Vanilla and mint chocolate chip are my favorite ice cream flavors. I have other favorites but today's list will end now before you nod off.  This little exercise was not created to open a small window into my psyche so that you could know a bit more about me. Nor was it designed to better prepare you to purchase the perfect birthday gift for me this year. It is up to you to make your own list of favorites. Think about what you enjoy or have enjoyed and reflect on the happiness that resulted from those activities or foods or trips or movies. We spend an enormous amount of time dwelling on what went wrong in our day and what we don't like about a restaurant or television program. Change the channel. Change your perspective. Change your outlook. Focus on what you do like. Focus on what you have enjoyed. Reflect on positive memories and make new ones. Make a point of doing this. Sit down in a chair in a quiet room and close your eyes and think about your personal favorites. Lower your blood pressure. (Yes,of course I like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. A whiskerless kitten is just not a kitten.)

Please Release Me

Several years ago, I went parasailing over the magnificent Gulf of Mexico. No,not the whole thing...just a small part. It was a beautiful day and the water was sparkling. Prior to my boarding the small vessel that would take me to the boat from which I would launch into the skies, I was asked to sign a piece of paper. This document was a release form. I was waiving any rights I might have considered having if anything went wrong in this aerial adventure. Moments after signing my life away, I was on board the primary boat. Some guy had me step into a harness while he mumbled some inaudible instructions. Then he said: "Have you got it?" and without hesitation I replied "Yes". He gave a thumbs up and I was sucked into the clouds before I could re-apply sunscreen. It was only then that I wondered what he meant by have you got it. Got what? The will to live? Insurance? A spiritual connection? I did remember him having mentioned the fun fact that I would be "dipped" in the ocean once before landing back on the boat. Now that I had a realistic view of where I was going to be dipped, visions of Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider filled my eyes. Then that paper popped into my head. What did I sign? Of course, I had not taken the time to read it. The adrenalin rush was on full force and the paper was standing in the way of my fun.

A waiver was thrust in front of me in a hospital post-accident and pre-surgery a few years back. How much pain medication I was on, I cannot tell you. What the papers said, I cannot tell you. Of course, I signed. I may have also signed the Constitution, purchased a car and enlisted in the military that day. Who knows?

In college an activity was popular among some of the local bars that involved riding a bull. Of course I rode. Let me be more specific. It was a mechanical bull. The movie Urban Cowboy may have prompted the birth of this sport. I cannot remember. There is something else I can't remember. I don't know what the waiver said. One of my friends was a law student and she begged me not to sign the paper. I assured her that there was no chance I was going to fall off the bull. She seemed to think I had some sort of false exaggerated sense of my bull-riding ability. I informed her that I was not going to fall off because there was no chance I was going to land on the most disgusting mattresses I had ever seen. I had my motivation to hang on. My destiny was set. I rode and I rode. Fall off, I did not. To be fair, I must inform you that an intoxicated kitten could have stayed on at the speed the operator had set for me. Sign the waiver? I did not. My friends created some sort of distraction while I climbed onto the bull and before you knew it, the rodeo had begun.

So, yes I have been bull-riding. I have never run with the bulls. Nor have I ever run with ex cons or former dictators. I have never run with rhinos or rabid raccoons. I have never run with the wrong crowd. Wrong individuals,yes. A wrong crowd, never. If you choose to run with the grizzlies,then read the waiver and if you so choose,sign it. Then put your attorney on speed-dial.

The parasailing was great fun. It was a wonderful experience. The surgery not so much. The bull-riding was fantastic.It is a marvelous memory. The liability for an accident or injury depends on specific circumstances. Risk-taking is a part of life. Don't waive your right to have fun.

The Color Purple

What is your favorite color? Blue would be my response. Then I would think about all the red  and black University of Georgia moments in my life and I would add those colors. Crimson as in the Crimson Tide would follow and if you knew my dad or have met my mom then this color needs no further explanation. Sea salt , sweatshirt grey, onyx black, cottonwood, ebony, spring bluebell, yacht blue,architectural cream, peacock blue , deepest woodland green, eggshell, clay beige and a million other colors are offered up by  interior paint retailers. Perhaps one of those specific colors is your favorite. If not, take some  white paint, spill a drop of your favorite soft drink, condiment or shampoo and voila...you  have yourself a new color. Sir Isaac Newton originally named five primary colors in the rainbow : red,yellow,green,blue and violet. He later included orange and indigo. I too shall add all the rainbow colors as favorites. Who doesn't like a rainbow? Oh right. Well breaking news for the red and blue states. This just in: it takes red and blue to make purple. The color  purple. We need each other. We need all of the colors. Red and blue. White and black. Gay and straight. Short and tall. Democrat and republican.It is time to get past our differences and recognize and appreciate our similarities. We can still celebrate our differences and  acknowledge that each of us brings a unique color to the palette.   White,pink,brown,grey,lime green,kelly green,turquoise,salmon,raspberry,tangerine,magenta,rose,mustard,coral,peach,silver, charcoal,gold,khaki,powder blue and candy apple red  are all someone's favorite color. What about lavender? She didn't mention lavender ! Okay, now you are questioning the validity of your color simply because it was excluded from my list. Maybe it was not excluded but just accidentally forgotten. Each artist and each individual has a personal palette. See the world through the colors you choose. Paint your world through the rainbow you envision. The more colors you see, the more possibilities unfold. The more colors you welcome and embrace, the more your heart grows. My favorite color? The color purple.

Best Location For Time Change

Spring forward. Fall back. If you have to do either of those things, try to do them at the beach. Chill out. Give in. Back out. Time out. Love in. Look forward. Look back. Go in. Rock on. Again, it is best to do all of these things at the beach. Jump up. Lay down. Move over. Slow dance. At ease. Jump in. Fins up. Breathe in. Breathe out. Sunrise. Sunset. Sunshine. Spray on. Sit down. Stretch out. Cast off. Sing loud. White sand. Cool breezes. Fresh seafood. Great sleep. Laugh hard. Cold beer. Crashing waves. Look up. Reach out. Pop over.  See gulls. Seagulls. Look out. Old friends. New adventures. Random shopping. Favorite music. Good books. More seafood. More laughs. Spring forward. Lose time. Who cares? You're at the beach. 

Kate and Allie and Debbie

I taped over my thirtieth birthday party with an episode of Kate and Allie. (That was a glorious 1980's television sit com.)There is footage of the party and then an awkward splice-like effect and Susan St. James and Jane Curtin have popped into my life. It was a good party featuring nieces and nephews reading birthday cards aloud to me followed by their entertaining amusement. It was also a good episode. I particularly regret losing any footage of my skinny years. But it happened and life goes on. We are fortunate that memories are not so easily erased. Loved ones slip away and we are comforted by the memories of those moments gone by. A song, a photograph, a food or place, a sports season or a holiday bring those priceless memories rushing back to us. We open our hearts and minds to embrace the images. We close our eyes and open our arms subconsciously expecting the person to appear. We are both consoled and bolstered by the recollections. They provide an emotional nourishment. We are able to retain and recall the intimate chapters via the assistance of the prompts and sometimes with the blink of an eye. Tsunamis of emotional memories can sometimes arrive without warning. But we wouldn't trade anything for the precious recall of experiences,individuals and relationships. Don't ever attempt to block those flashbacks. The pain sometimes associated with the loss is necessary to help you arrive at the remembrance of the love. The love, the laughter and the life will appear via those thoughts. Allow yourself the "wouldn't....have loved this?  ....Or "do you remember the time that...." Many times the memories and/or photographs and films remind us of a person still living who was simply a part of our past. This individual may have been an integral part of who you are today but is no longer a part of your daily associations. Nonetheless the memories can bring yesterday and last year and another decade back to you. I am often disturbed by the careless storage of treasured photographs and family movies in wet,humid,hot,dusty places. Is that any place for your memories? The moisture and humidity could be permanently erasing images as you read this. You could schedule a little time to appropriately store the family archives. You might even want to view them. Whatever you do, think twice before recording over anything before knowing its contents. For now I will enjoy remembering the time Kate and Allie came to my birthday party.

Salute !

I have been to the promised land. Yes, I have been to Napa Valley. Wine country. God's country. Same thing. I have read books,magazine and newspaper articles and internet pieces on wine. I have happily participated in wine tastings. I have toured wineries and vineyards. I have read about rieslings,syrahs and chardonnays. Merlot ? Pinot Noir? A blend? A reserve? A bottle from the estate of...? I have talked tannins and been brought to tears by full-bodied dramatic wines. Cabernet? Bordeaux? There are storm cellars and then there are wine cellars with the latter being more impressive 99% of the time. Tornadic activity wins the other 1% for the storm cellar. I have danced the three-step with wines. The visual examination followed by the aromatic inquiry completed with the long-awaited taste. SSS. I'm not hissing. The three S's are the stop,drop and roll of wine tasting. Swirl,sniff and sip. Then convincingly announce your findings as if you are Indiana Jones at The Temple of Grapes.  I extrapolate a subtle hint of a ginger-lemongrass-basil-white chocolate-olive-cherry with the slightest sprinkling of a 1970's musk oil. Oh no, the musk oil is coming from the person at the next table. Note: It is never a good idea to wear a heavy cologne when wine-tasting. It is also never a good idea to wear musk oil. Never. Ever.  When you are undergoing a swirl,sniff and sip regiment...remember that you only need a small amount of your chosen spirit in the glass. Amateurs should not attempt to SSS without measuring to insure that the amount of wine in the goblet will not take flight during swishing and baptize the occupant of the next chair like a winning coach on a sideline. Vintage wines and fruity wines and bold wines and zinfandels and champagnes each provide unique fermented flavors. But for me...the pinot grigio deserves the walk down the red carpet. It matters not that it sounds like I am ordering an Italian mouse from the Ed Sullivan Show. Nor am I affected by the typical politically incorrect pinot grigio-bashing. There are bullies everywhere. It is pleasing to my senses. No,not bullying...the wine. Can you keep up? Have you been drinking and reading again? I enjoy the intoxicating taste. Pinot Gris is the French offering in this category and it too is an excellent selection.They come from the same grape or a mutation of the same grape. Some call it a clone.  But the Pinot Grigio wins. Grazie Italia. You are still trying to remember something,aren't you? I will help you out: the mouse was named Topo Gigio. Prego. I will help you out again: Try the Pinot Grigio. If you enjoy white wine, I think you will like it.  This is my opinion. I like the taste. Tis all a matter of taste. Salute !

Any questions?

Stuck in the spin cycle of your life ? In a rut ? Locked into a routine ? Is the monotony beginning to bug you ? What are you waiting for ? Who do you expect to change this ? When did you realize that you were trapped? Do you need a change of scenery? Do you need a change in perspective? Do you need a fresh start? Do you need a do-over? When was the last time you went on a vacation? How long has it been since you have seen that friend? Do you enjoy movies but cannot remember the last time you went to the theatre ? Have you noticed an elderly person ? Have you given that individual any attention? Have you hugged a child? Have you thrown a ball to a dog? When was the last time you wrote a letter? Have you ever written a thank-you note ? Have you listened to a cat purring? Have you put on a bandage after getting too close to the cat to listen to the purring? Have you truly listened to anyone lately? Are you amped up on caffeine? Did you put a stamp on the letter? Have you recovered from a broken heart? How do you keep the music playing?  Do you know how to separate an egg? Do you recycle? Boxers or briefs? Paper or plastic? Did you feed the cat? Do you now understand what prompted the scratch? Do you play in the snow? Do you walk in the rain? Have you skipped lately? Do you cheat at solitaire? Do you cheat at anything? Do you hold the door open for strangers? Does the remote control confuse you? Did you answer that question honestly? Are you afraid of anything? Do you believe in divine intervention? Do you love the Divine Miss M ? Do you know who that is?  Are you allergic to anything? Have you ever had a hot flash? Do you believe in global warming? Do you believe in love? Have you ever been to Iowa? Have you ever helped a child color a page in a coloring book? Did you color more than your part? Was the child annoyed? Have you ever hidden eggs for a child? Have you ever played hide and seek? At what point did you realize your mistake? Do you think I am kidding? Have you ever cried at the same point in a movie even though you have seen the movie many times? Do you have a favorite song? When was the last time you heard that song? Do you realize that you can play that song whenever you need it? Do you know that I said need rather than want deliberately ? What is your favorite food? When are you going to enjoy it? What makes you happy? When are you going to do it? Do you know when to fall back with your clock? Do you know when to spring forward? Do you know how to do that in your life? Do you know the words to Hooked On A Feeling ? Do you know how to hook a rug? Are you going to hook up with a friend soon? When are you going to get on with your plan? Why are you still reading? Are you talking to me? What do you think ?

Where is the love?

I have been called upon to support many causes throughout the past. It was important to someone I cared about or someone I admired that a lobster live.......or that someone be spared from elimination on a reality tv show.......or that a local bar beat out another local bar in a poll....or some animals needed to remain on the endangered species list....or some politicians needed to be placed on  a similar list...or I needed to write a television executive to question the corporate thinking when cancelling a much-loved series. I have written,texted,emailed and donated. But where is the love when it comes to a cause that is essential to my happiness? Midnight Friday is the deadline for the national football league and its players' union to agree on a new labor deal. No agreement means a potential lockout. Perhaps you didn't hear me : NO AGREEMENT MEANS NO FOOTBALL.  Pretend you didn't know. Plead ignorance to the threat lurking over us this very minute. I look out the window. I see no lighting of candles. I watch the news. There is no coverage of a telethon to save the NFL. Cody Linley lived to dance another week because I texted ABC for you.I don't even know who Cody Linley is. I participated in letter-writing campaigns for Designing Women. You remember longhand don't you? It involves a pen and paper and then mailing the correspondence in an envelope with the appropriate postage. This method requires much more of an emotional investment than a tweet. Yes, I have become emotionally involved with strangers for you. I have clapped at the television set. No,not so that it would turn on and off. I clapped so that Tinkerbelle might live. You would think that the rest of you could muster up some concern about the football. Don't wait until it is too late and you are unable to look at me wearing my tear-stained black armband. Don't let it come to that.

The Borne Trilogy

March. April. May. The three months that zap us with the wind borne pollens that cause allergy symptoms. We have longed for spring. Our winter was long. It was hard. (Okay,okay. It wasn't hard in a Little House On the Prairie or Cold Mountain kind of way...more like a Southerner spoiled by typical calendar years with an average temp of 85 balmy degrees..) And yet for us, it was painfully difficult. Trying times. The Winter of 2010 will be recalled in stories for centuries to come. The recurring nightmares of the falling snow and the silence in the night. You listen and there is only complete stillness. No snow plows.Only snow and ice and more snow and more ice. A growing resentment toward the weatherperson intensifies with each forecast of more cold. But then...you turn the calendar page and February is over. You have done it. You have survived winter. The ice and snow have melted and you can barely control the anticipation. Green. You want to see green grass and flowering trees and colorful blooms. Then before the green can debut, there is a blanket of yellow pine pollen covering your world. Water cooler conversation revolves around the question everyone wants to know.....Zyrtec or Claritin? The onslaught of sniffling,sneezing,watery-eyed employees forces human resources departments to engage in system-wide drug testing. Sinus pressures are off the charts. Pollen counts are breaking records. Headaches. Facial pain. Fatigue. Fever. Congestion. Watery,itchy eyes. Sinusitis. Allergic rhinitis. Lack of sleep-itis. Stuffy nose-itis. The vernal equinox or spring does not officially arrive until March 22,2011. Allergy season however officially starts whenever it so desires. March. April. May. The three months that make or break allergy-sufferers. Stand tall people. We can do this.

Where were you when.....was shot?

You are a small child. You are seated in a movie theatre with an overflowing anticipation of the animated delight about to appear before you. You are armed with your popcorn,drink,candy and family to experience what will surely be a formative moment in your childhood. The feature begins and cheerful woodland creatures fill the screen. They are smiling and laughing. You are introduced to their loveable friends and families.Then you hear the crack of a rifle. Bambi's mother is dead . What happens post-screening explains the filled waiting rooms of analysts and therapists today. You have been set-up. No longer do you blindly trust your parents. What were they thinking? Ozzie and Harriet didn't shoot the milkman. You have no frame of reference for this sort of violence. Adults created this flick and marketed it for children. Adult hunters pulled the trigger.Perhaps you cannot trust any person over three feet tall. The munchkins pop into your head. You are very confused. You will always remember this dark,dark day. Engraved into your innocent little memory is the fallen doe or as your psyche likes to categorize it : the slain mother. Ours is the generation who knows where we were when Bambi's mother was ambushed. The moment proved to be our sad introduction into the existing world of violence. By today's standards we should be grateful that Thumper and Flower didn't lose anyone that day. Unfortunately we went on to become all too familiar with unanimated assassinations. Thankfully we have managed to maintain parts of our childlike innocence. We are not totally distrusting. Our generation has prevailed. We live so that the memory of Bambi's mother can live. Yet we remain permanently affected by the celluloid moment. The American Film Institute has placed Bambi in the top ten animated films of all time. There are many valuable lessons in Bambi. First: When given a choice of the forest thicket or the meadow. Take the thicket . Second: Don't promise not to be "twitterpated" like the other animals in love unless you can stick to it. Third: Mothers protect us with everything they have including their lives. Fourth: Skunks and rabbits make surprisingly good friends. Fifth: Violence of any kind continues to haunt people forever. Sixth: Males are lousy communicators. Bambi's father (aka The Great Prince of the Forest) announces the incredibly vague loss of his mother with the " Your mother can't be with you anymore" line. Thumper could have tapped out a better explanation. Disney movies are great. Our generation is resilient and has gone on to lead amazingly productive creative lives albeit scarred by the sound of that bullet. Now these children who are guarded by the pixie on the ledge or elf on the shelf might as well be in the room with the Poltergeist clown... Talk about years of therapy...

In a brief yet powerful performance:
Paula Winslowe was the voice of Bambi's mother.

Fishing

No not phishing. Fishing. If you immediately think of Andy Griffith and Ronny Howard walking down a dirt road with whistling in the background then read on. If you think of Opie or Richie Cunningham when you think of Ron Howard then continue reading. If you are asking yourself, "Does she mean the director, Ron Howard ?" then you join billions of other people who are younger than me.   Fishing is defined as the sport or business of catching fish. Fishing. Filmmakers have acknowledged it in classics like A River Runs Through It, Grumpy Old Men, The Old Man and The Sea, Moby Dick,Finding Nemo, The Perfect Storm and On  Golden Pond. Even with the struggles of capturing the legendary fish or the biggest fish or the largest cumulative catch ,there remains a relaxing central element to fishing. There seems to be a mesmerizing call to the water to engage in fishing. Whether you are playing a sort of water chess game with the fishy opponent or casually tossing a line into the deep,this activity has something for you.As a novice or a professional,you can enjoy casting a line into the unknown.. Opportunities to breathe deeply and relax await you. For some people fishing is a form of meditation. My father was one of those individuals. My father fished well and often. He was mainly on the prowl for bass,catfish,bream and crappie. I have accompanied him to a bait shop to purchase sacrificial worms and or crickets just prior to their achieving martyrdom. I have also seen him painstakingly cook macaroni to serve as faux worms. He would boil the macaroni to a certain standard that only he could determine was appropriate for credibile worm-like appearance. Convincing fish is not easy work. The consistency had to be perfect. The imitation worms were deceptive and resulted in many a successful fishing excursion. White bread also landed on a hook or two in our family fishing. He also used the more standard lures including worms resembling what are now edibile snacks for children. Go figure. He fished in the ocean.He fished from his boat,from piers and land. He fished from the shore,the jetty, lakes and ponds. He loved to fish at a neighborhood lake. Generations of his family followed him to that lake where he would encourage their participation in his beloved sport. He smiled and laughed as the breeze wafted through his silver locks of hair. He was patient with walkers' questions and ducks' intrusion into his fishing space.If his daughters were busy applying suntan lotion instead of watching their bobbers almost take flight from the water,he remained patient. If radios brought along by unnamed family members blasted the top forty loud enough to wake fish sleeping on the ocean floor,he maintained that patience.  He was patient with everyone and everything. He was calm. In all honesty, my dad was calm all the time. But fishing was his Zen. . For others who prefer the adrenaline rush of "Fish On" or the image of their loved one being pulled over the side of a boat by an aquatic animal larger than their boat...consider deep sea fishing.This type of fishing has provided thrills and record catches for amateurs for years.Commercial fishermen and women risk their lives and bank their income on their catches.  Fly-fishing  features a disciplined repetitive method of using a fly rod or reel . It is embraced by many an angler as the singular best way to fish.Salmon,trout,striped-bass and other adversaries swim past these dedicated rivals. You can picture Huck Finn with a pole or the battered crew from Deadliest Catch to see the enormity of fishing in its entirety. Ice-fishing is an intriguing test of man/woman versus fish and man/woman versus cold. There aren't enough words in existence to describe my feelings regarding mud hole fishing. I will simply be happy for those to whom it brings happiness. One fish, two fish,red fish,blue fish.Black fish,blue fish,old fish,new fish. Even Dr. Seuss had fish on the brain. Whether a small child is attempting to catch a minnow with bare hands or someone is going on a destination fishing trip for a once-in-a-lifetime trek,the exhilaration is the same. Momentarily toss the technology aside and "rough it" void of cellphones and i-bait. Relax. My father was a very wise man. You would be wise to follow his example. To fish: defined: to search for something blindly or uncertainly. Don't we do that every day ? Whether you are fishing for answers,validation or dinner....Let the whistling begin.

Splash!

Contemplating creating a blog was like pacing around a swimming pool deciding when to enter the water. You want your entrance to be worthy...to be memorable...to be an appropriate introduction for your readers/viewers. There is the casual slinking into the water via the steps. Anyone who knows me or has even met me knows that slinking is a word reserved for supemodels and is rarely if ever associated with me. Option two offers the entrance via the board. This seems like such a life-altering jump that the high-dive seems the best metaphor. Sadly, this writer/photographer has never...ever...been compared to an Olympic swimmer and could not be physically forced by encouragement or weaponry to go off the high-dive. So...faced with the onslaught of memories from the anniversary of my father's death, I just ran as fast as I could and jumped in...SPLASH!  Supportive friends have been urging me to present my writings and photographs for a very long time. They win. Hopefully no one loses. The water feels just fine thus far. No icy feedback or choking on chlorine. Water can be very calming. It can be fun. I hope that my jump into this particular pool provides moments of both.

Upset The Apple Cart

When there is one minute left on the game clock and my team is behind by twenty points, I still think we can win. Watching  national election results on television pour in with my candidate solidly behind in forty states and I go to bed expecting to awake victorious. It's all about the comeback. It is in that spirit that I will refuse to cast aside newspapers and printed books. I have embraced cyber communication.I truly love digital readers and handheld jukeboxes. But there is still an important place at the table(or in the library) for the real thing. Kindles and ipads and laptops! Oh My ! I'd turn back if I were you. If the kindle screen wiped newsprint onto my palms or the e-books or ipads or ipods showed a watermark or tear stains from my emotional response to reading then we would truly have something. I don' t require that a digital Gift From The Sea actually smell like the ocean. I have my imagination for that. I do however require that persons claiming to be writers and/or journalists check their facts and edit their work. This takes time. Accuracy is not instantaneous. We expect immediate results. We want instant gratification. It is all about speed. We read a headline and accept it as truth. We have lowered our intellectual and ethical standards in exchange for warp speed. We microwave our information along with our food. If thirty minutes is too long for a pizza delivery (safety be damned) then thirty seconds is too long for the six o'clock news. Turn on your GPS and see if it can locate your brain. Check the apple store. Hmm.. I remember a story about someone eating an apple....Calm down. I am kidding. I patronize the apple store. It would be untruthful to indicate otherwise. Again, I love my ipod,kindle,etc.  Handheld devices should include actual newspapers and books. Throw a vowel in front of them and we have a new trend-- Have an  I-newspaper or an O-newspaper(check with Oprah's attorneys) or an A-book.  Just read a book. Appreciate the weight of the pages and value the depth of the information. Read. Do not scan. I am not only as impatient as the next guy.. I am much more impatient. I am amped up on caffeine and I love the delivery of my music,movies,correspondence and news to arrive at the equivalent pace. I realize the pros of the velocity of information we access. I embrace the positive environmental impact. I just don't want you to miss out. Newspapers and books can make their comeback. The revolution begins here. The irony is not lost on me. The request to read a non-digital book and newspaper is being sent through the internet on a blog. We need both. Is this a good time to ask exactly where you expect Clark Kent to change now that phone booths are nonexistent.....

You Can't Afford A Garage?

I saw a street-sweeper headed for a Porsche today. Those of us with Porsche-envy are laughingly thinking it probably got clipped. That would be wrong. That would be amusing and yet wrong. Incredibly amusing and still...wrong. The assumption is made that the Porsche owner probably has a sense of entitlement, an enormous ego to go with that overflowing bank account and a consistently self-involved attitude toward the rest of humanity. We want and perhaps even need the car-owner to have a bad day to move us one small step closer to financial equality. (Assumptions are not made about ALL Porsche owners but the memory of one particular egomaniac has prompted this little fantasy).We could be happy for the mystery driver rather than envious but we find that we are ....not so thrilled...We could imagine that the car is possessed by Gandhi....okay,let's take a second to form that visual.....No...Definitely not seeing that...And if it is not owned and enjoyed by a selfless person simply wanting a cool ride then perhaps the street-sweeper will be closely followed by someone moving an enormous amount of metal strapped on a truck by one bungee cord with the barest of threads...Just then a squirrel darts into the street in the direct path of the truck which by now is dangerously close to the unprotected Porsche.  Oh no...it's happening again....Pinocchio flashbacks.....Jiminy Cricket singing " Always Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide".....Those of us raised on Disney films don't stand a chance. We not only have a conscience but we have a cricket to remind us that we have a conscience. We cannot...we must not wish the innocent automotive symbol any harm. So the Porsche goes on to race another day...totally unscathed by flying asphalt or street-sweeper drivers with poor vision. We truly want the car to be spared. The squirrel? Of course, the squirrel lived.The melodious cricket has inspired us. The $132,600 vehicle remains in pristine condition. Feel better? Me neither.