Who Says you Can't?

Brother, Oh Where Art Thou?

Life at times does seem a bit out of focus.

-Great dedication for Teri Bucz and her garden. Reminds one why we teach.

-Verizon gets the worst customer service award, again.

-Some days you're the bat, but mostly we've been the ball lately. Another chance Wednesday.

Maybe new glasses will help.

Wonder Where I'm Bound?

When does a person compromise too much of their beliefs to keep their job? That's where I'm bound.

Forget What Cosmo Says

Maybe SNL has returned to greatness.

This is courtesy of a husband of a blogger Maureen was introduced to with an interest in food. You know those blogs you find by spending too much time looking around. Thank you for the reminder that we all were great at some time. Even if it is in our minds only.

Happy Birthday, Tom

Is it the less dishonest to do what is wrong, because not expressly prohibited by written law? Let us hope our moral principles are not yet in that stage of degeneracy.

Thomas Jefferson

Life is Like. . .

Seems like life is a bit like visiting the Guggenheim. You're whisked to the top with little effort, then it's a slow walk down ever after.

Stirring the Gray Matter

This will be another post of random thoughts from my dashboard, or I guess the handlebars of my mind at this time.

-Last evening I was the "Voice of Ag" so to speak at our local high school Ag department booster dinner. Actually I read the raffle prizes and names after receiving a nice tri-tip dinner. That after having an absolutely wonderful time talking with former students that are now in their late 30's and 40's. As you should guess most work in agriculture in some way. We talked about present students and the general misunderstanding of where food comes from, as well as where we as a culture are going. These are men that were in many ways like the present generation in their youth, but life had continued teaching them when I stopped. This was also a reminder of my youth and where I once was, and the lesson of not judging others too harshly as the knife may cut too close if we are not careful.

-The evening was also a reminder of the strengths of living in a small town where you don't speak of someone as they might be related in some way. They certainly are related in that they occupy the same spot on the earth and breathe the same air.

-I ate with an extended family that has deep friendships with my family that goes back generations. It is always fun to sit at a table and hear the stories that make up the myths of another family. I wonder what stories will be told that will define my family.

-One of the performers was someone that I went to school with, but hadn't seen for a long time. He sang songs of Willie Nelson and Jimmy Buffet among others. I was reminded of the powerful stories those two writers tell of the human condition.

-The garden across the street is in fruit so to speak. I am so thankful of Joyce for the land and Maureen for the time she spends diggin' in the dirt there, and the food for our plates.

-I should mention the picture at the top of this post is the repotting process Maureen is going through for the plants she started from seed that have been growing in our cellar. Thank you.

-The baseball team stumbled last Friday much as young teams do. Actually it felt like a boulder in the road. The guys are trying and working and it's hard to find fault in that.

-At least my coaching isn't mentioned on ESPN as Brad Mills' was last night. As much as I feel like I'm living in a fishbowl in this small town, at lest it is confined to a few obscure counties and not broadcast across the country.

-I watched a video of Novella Carpenter and Michael Pollan that iterated what I've come to believe, farming is not a way to make money. It was a small part of a larger piece on urban farming, how we eat, their experiences and food in general. It was taped at a church in Berkley, and had the liberal, urban suave bearing that only the Bay Area seems to pull off. All that shouldn't steer you away from their message and the video, it still is something we can learn from.

-As always my thoughts are better said by Tom Paxton:

Got Cat, Got Dog, Got Remote. . .

Time to sleep on the couch.

You May Not Agree. . .

But this guy should make you think about your life. I found this while reading at the Rivendell Bicycles Works website, Courtesy of the Current Green website.

Why do we live the way we do?

The Power of Mediocrity

Three separate time this morning, 25 minutes, 38 minutes and 48 minutes, I spoke to a human at our DSL service tech support. The first two times I hung up on them and recalled immediately. This is after I reset the modem and turned off the modem multiple times. Turned off and on the computer multiple times. The third time I spoke to a human we spent 48 minutes and he finally said a tech would call and set up a meeting because there is a problem "between the central office and your computer." I asked if it was a billing issue, "No." I then said my modem shows it is connected and the lights are on for Internet and DSL and my computer says it is connected, how can it be a line issue? "It is a central office line issue, out techician will call within 24 to 48 hours to set up a meeting." Thank you.

I turned off the computer and went to the post office. Came back, turned on the computer and we have DSL and internet. Go Figure.

We have a saying in the Garver household and it applies to this.

No, but it's consistent.

Good vs. Evil, Etc.

My children would have you think that this is the way I normally watch a movie. Contrary to their beliefs or experiences, before they were born I did watch all of a movie most of the time.

The last two nights Wilson, Brad and I watched The Lord of the Rings movies. I read the books over Christmas break my freshman year of high school and was thoroughly engrossed the whole time. I watched the movies when they first came out and was engrossed again.

This time it struck me that this really is a story of Good vs. Evil. Good must always be on the alert for the intrusion of evil in our lives. Evil will use any means at its disposal to win. It happens in subtle ways. It happens in overt ways. It happens. In some battles Evil wins, and sometimes Good wins. But it is always a battle. We have to prepare for battle constantly.

But we must also not lose sight of the good, and enjoy the good also.

Self Esteem?

Two quotes from Dr. Theodore Dalrymple on self-esteem. The whole post is here.

"One has only to go into a prison, or at least a prison of the kind in which I used to work, to see the most revoltingly high self-esteem among a group of people (the young thugs) who had brought nothing but misery to those around them, largely because they conceived of themselves as so important that they could do no wrong. For them, their whim was law, which was precisely as it should be considering who they were in their own estimate."

"When people speak of their low self-esteem, they imply two things: first, that it is a physiological fact, rather like low hemoglobin, and second, that they have a right to more of it. What they seek, if you like, is a transfusion of self-esteem, given (curiously enough) by others; and once they have it, the quality of their lives will improve as the night succeeds the day. For the record, I never had a patient who complained of having too much self-esteem, and who therefore asked for a reduction. Self-esteem, it appears, is like money or health: you can't have too much of it."

Makes me think, hummmmmmmm.

In the Eye of Each Beholder

These two are now much bigger, as in full grown and they still play together.

Tomorrow is the celebration of the most significant event in the Christian world. I'm wondering how I will spend the day. I know we will meet and eat with some family. Our children are too old for Easter egg hunts, but some might do that. Sam will be in our thoughts sitting on the dock of the bay. I probably edit a few research papers for my students. Hopefully spend some time in the garden enjoying God's greenery.

As I was cleaning the Corolla yesterday before the trip, I first was astounded by the mess. Then as the car emerged from the flotsam I realized how much I enjoyed the car. During the trip Maureen commented as we drove through the mall parking lot that truly we had the most beat up and worse car in the lot. Call me weird, but I like that. Here are three versions of a beater car. Match which family member thinks which car is what the Corolla looks like.

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

More of This, Less of That

Do you ever look at a picture of your house, your dog, your fill-in-the-blank and someone will say, "That's nice." And it is nice and well and good. But you look at this object and see all the little things that need to be done. I look at this picture and see the big tree on the left that I need to prune and/or take out. The Japanese maple on the right has been pruned. Behind the fence on the left is a junk yard that needs to be cleaned out and trees planted. There is even a tree stump to be taken out lurking behind that fence.

The wonderful thing is I now have time to do some of these jobs and others. And be with my family for a bit. And forego some term papers in the meantime.