Sunday, June 01, 2003

Bonnie and I were sitting under the arbor Friday in the late afternoon, admiring the backyard. The privets were getting taller and fuller and the new juniper was shooting up. The backyard was finally becoming secluded due to strategically placed vegetation. The lawn was green, the air was fresh with the smell of distant rain, the sun was shining through the clouds, and the birds were singing. On Saturday, Bonnie and Becky went to a yard sale. They came home as I was lying on the swing under the grape arbor, soaking up my backyard ambiance. Becky’s radar homing device acquired a lock on me and I heard the panic-inducing sound that strikes fear into the heart of every fighter pilot: beep, beep, beep. "Daddy, can I have a swing set—it’s free". Beep, beep, beep. Bonnie happened to mention "it’s twelve feet wide". "Becky, I don’t want a big piece of junk in the backyard." "Daadeeee". A long, pouty face, complete with crocodile tears pursued me for the better part of an hour. Beep, beep, beep. I climbed, I dove. No escape. Her radar was relentless, mercilessly maintaining the lock on me. I went downstairs. She followed. I went outside. She followed. I locked myself in the bathroom. The beeping stopped. Silence. I was safe. We now have a free 13-½ foot wide swing set at the back of the yard, under the apple tree. It is large, unavoidable, and made of blue and white painted steel. Becky loves it.   2:31:49 PM

Sunday, May 11, 2003

Our electricity went out yesterday at 4:45 PM due to a wet snow storm. Last night, I got out my parents old kerosine lantern which probably had not been used in 20 years and filled it with lamp oil from a neighbor's leftover Y2K supplies. Now that I think about it, I think we used to use that lantern for blackouts when I was a kid. No TV, no computer, no email.  This morning I cooked Mother's Day breakfast on the grill out back. Since I couldn't walk on the treadmill in my bedroom, I developed a new 4 step Treadmill Replacement System: 1) put on shoes 2) go outside 3) instead of looking at TV while walking, look at trees and note the bright shining disk and blue sky overhead. The electricity finally came back on today at 3 PM--almost 24 hours without electronic gadgetry. I was just starting to like it. 7:41:06 PM

Thursday, March 27, 2003

OK. I lost. Next time I want to be the South at Gettysburg, would someone please tell me to go outside and play instead. I had most of my artillery on top of Cemtery Hill until the afternoon of day two. The Northern artillery was incessant. I got surrounded and decided to go drink beer and watch the Iraqi news coverage. Artillery makes all the difference. It whithers you down. Probably the same way our air power is going to wither down all the Iraqi troops outside of Baghdad. This is not Vietnam. There are no trees. But do we need to actually enter the city? Why not just establish a permieter around Baghdad, rebuild the rest of the country, and wait for Baghdad to decide they've had enough? We could deliver food, water and medicine to the edge of the city under truce flags for years. Why inflict the pain of an attack on a city of 5 million? I vote for a siege while supplying them with basic necessities. 11:24:44 PM

Wednesday, March 26, 2003

I've been listening to an audio tape about the Battle of Gettysburg this week. So I thought I would try my Civil War Generals computer game again. This time, I'm going to be more aggressive and try to take Cemetery Hill on the first day, correcting Gen Early's mistaken reluctance, which may have cost the battle, and the war, for the South. I've only won once as the South and I am convinced that was due to a computer glitch that delayed the arrival of Northern reinforcements. I'm halfway through day one but I need to stop now because Becky wants the computer so that she can play Microsoft Flgiht Simulator or Barbie Fashion Show or something. 9:35:43 PM