Month: September 2006

Today is the fifth anniversary of this blog, though looking back at the first entry it‘s hard to see many similarities.

I started on Blogger without comments or trackback. I knew nothing about HTML. Didn’t know how to include a single photo for a year or so.

Of course, I still don’t know very much about HTML, though I can manage to use BBEdit, even Dreamweaver, if need be, and have learned much about FTP’ing.

Still, if it wasn’t for the magic of technical geniuses like Shelley Powers and others, I’m sure I would have long ago lost interest in this site.

If I’d done so, I suspect my life would be much less interesting, and I would have lost the opportunity of making virtual friends with people from around the world and real friends here in Tacoma.

On a more depressing note, I notice that no one in the government has paid the least attention to my political ravings, and the world doesn’t appear any safer now then it did then. I’m afraid the Bush administration didn’t learn a thing from the dark times the country has gone through and certainly hasn’t managed to make Afghanistan or Iraq a better place than it was before.

Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.

Still, I think I would think less of myself if I didn’t do my best to create the kind of world that I would want to live in for my children and grandchildren.

I like to delude myself into believing that I’m making the world a better place than it would otherwise be, and, happily, many nice readers have helped me to cling to that illusion.

Since Jen and the kids love the Denver Zoo, I’ve visited it nearly every time I’ve visited. I took pictures of this striking East African crowned crane in a past visit,

but have no memory of most of the birds I saw this time.

For instance, I don’t remember seeing this startling Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, despite occupying a rather large area next to the lion exhibit. I was struck by how much its head resembled raven masks used by Northwest Indian tribes.

I suspect I’ve been so turned off by tacky flamingo statues stuck in suburban lawns I’ve never really appreciated the delicate beauty of a flamingo until I stopped to photograph this flock:

I even managed to finally see a Canvasback duck, a duck common in the Pacific Northwest but I’ve never spotted.

Much of what we finally see seems pre-determined by what we’re interested in seeing, doesn’t it? I suspect that the birds registered this time simply because I’ve become interested in birding in the last year.

Which isn’t to say that I didn’t also pay attention to my favorite animals. I can’t imagine any bird that could ever outweigh my love for elephants,
particularly for an elephant that can balance on its front legs while picking peanuts up out of the moat.

I’m back from visiting my son and his family in Colorado.

Although this visit was prompted by the birth of Sydney Jo,

and I did spend some time holding her, I really went to help out with the other two grandchildren so that Jen could focus more of her time on the baby.

Grandpa’s really best at playing with older children, say 6 months. I spent most of my time playing with Zoe

while big brother Logan was at preschool.

It was an added benefit to get to spend time with Jen and Tyson. I had a good time, but I remember why it’s young people who have children and old guys spend their morning in the park walking their dog.

I managed to read two books in the airport, on the plane, and during naps, but it’s going to take me a little time to gather my thoughts together and get something written on them.

I’m off to Colorado today and will return a week from Sunday. I’m taking my ancient iBook so I may post, but I’m planning on spending all of my time playing with grandchildren. So I have no idea how much posting I’ll actually manage to do.

It strikes me, though, that this flower is beautiful enough that it should be able to satisfy anyone’s need for beauty until I can post again.