The Big Picture

New Clothes

2012-01-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

When I am not with the Lovely Sharon, I try to be more creative in what I wear.

2012-01-22T16:57:00.002-07:00

Golf. I love it, I hate it. It can make my life better or, it can be a dagger to my heart. When I am playing well (for me) a four hour round seems like it took about an hour and a half. When I am playing poorly (which is most of the time), it seems as though a four round just took 6 hours. I have quit the game at least 50 times, maybe a 100 times. I have hit range balls until my hands bled. I have tried to smile when almost everyone who sees me swing belittles me, my swing, and my ancestors. While I am smiling on the outside, I am screaming on the inside.

I have read hundreds of instruction books, articles and tips. I have had lessons from at least 10 different teachers. Nothing seems to stick. Each book and article seems to contradict each other one.

I have asked damn near a thousand people how they start their take away or the down swing. Once I past a homeless woman in Sat Lake City who was pushing a shopping cart they held all of her worldly possessions. I almost stopped her to ask her if she thought I should cock my wrists on the back swing at some point or just let them collapse. I have a tendency to play too stiffed wrist. Then I overcompensate with an early wrist cock. I have blogged before about how to start the down swing. Not only I have I never quite figured out how to start the down swing, I also don’t know when or even if to cock my wrists on the back swing.

So you know you are pathetic when you don’t know how to take the club away, once have completed the take away, you don’t know how to start the downswing. I am getting to the point where I have uncertainty as to which pair of golf shoes to wear for any particular round of golf and once I have selected a pair, then which shoe goes on which foot.

Years ago, I didn’t think about anything when I swung the club. I had an ugly swing but I just did it and my handicap got down to a 10. I can live with a 10. But over the last 10 years, I have had some back problems the last few years and I have lost flexibility. Over Christmas I played 5 or 6 rounds of golf. For me I played pretty well and my handicap dropped from a 16 to a 14. I thought I had it figured out. However, I returned to Utah after Christmas and did not play golf for about 10 days. When I played again in Palm Desert over the second weekend in January, I was horrible. Whatever I had been doing over Christmas was no longer in my brain or my muscle memory. When I returned to Utah I looked for a bag lady with whom to discuss the mechanics of the golf swing. Unfortunately I did not see one with which to discuss this matter.

I need to follow the advice included in the book Golf in the Kingdom:

"Oh, golf is for smellin' heather & cut grass & walkin' fast across the countryside & feelin' the wind & watchin' the sun go down & seein' yer friends hit good shots & hittin' some yerself. It's love & it's feelin' the splendor o' this good world."

I am ready to play again.

Today

2012-01-21T18:36:00.000-07:00

I awoke today in Salt Lake to a pouring rain driven sideways by heavy winds. I put a load of laundry in the washer and then read the online news. I had no eggs or cereal in the house so I decided to make me a chicken salad sandwich for breakfast. An odd choice no doubt but I made do with what I had. I took a trash sack out to the trash can and was overcome by the cold, driving rain. The creek in my back yard is full of water, churning and flowing fast. It felt more like the first of March rather than the middle of January. In the late afternoon the rain turned to snow.

Last night I had dinner with dear friends Norm and Terri at Hidden Valley Country Club. We had a nice dinner, lively conversation about football, politics and a variety of topics. After they left, I stayed and talked to friends Jim and Terry who arrived at the club shortly as Norm, Terri and I finished dinner. After a long day at the law office and a quiet week at home, it was nice to spend time with friends.

With the Lovely Sharon in the desert for the winter it can be a little lonely here in Salt Lake. I try to occupy my time reading, watching TV news about politics and listening to music.

Today I visited granddaughter Kendall Marie. She is about 2 ½ now and is beautiful. She seems to have a constant smile and dancing blue eyes. What a treasure she is.

I ran errands in the rain- the cleaners, Costco, the grocery store, filled the car with gas and the library. I checked out a couple of non-fiction books, a novel, a book of short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald written in the 1920’s. I also checked out Noel Coward’s play “Private Lives”. I intend to read the play tomorrow. I am going through a phase where I am reading and thinking a fair amount about the 1920’s and particularly Paris in the 1920’s. I love reading about the writers, poets and artists who were in Paris during that decade.

Pick One

2012-01-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

I am watching football in Salt Lake and the Lovely Sharon is playing golf in Palm Desert. So here is my second blog post of the day. First, I need to confess that I had pizza for lunch. Don't tell the Lovely Sharon about the pizza. It is a banned food for me. She doesnot read this blog often so I think I can sneak today's pizza by her. So its our secret. I was sitting here with pizza sauce all over my face and I was thinking about either-or choices. Listed below are two choices of a of items. I have listed my choice, although some of the choices were very difficult to make inasmuch as I like both choices. If you want to add a few either-or's please leave a comemnht or if you want to make a selction on the one or more of the items listed below, please do so:

Mexican Food or Italian Food (this is so hard since I love them both) -- Italian Food
New York Giants or New York Jets -- New York Giants
NFL or Colleg Football -- College Football
Scotch or Bourbon -- scotch
Los Angeles or San Francisco -- San Francisco
Pac 12 Conference - SEC Conference -- Pac 12
Scottsdale, AZ or Santa Barbara, CA-- Santa Barbara
Merlot or Zinfandel - Zinfandel (red)
Alta Ski Resort or Snowbird Ski Resort -- Alta
1940's or 1950's -- 1940's
1920's or 1930's -- 1920's
Harry Truman or Dwight D. Einsehower --Truman
Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig - Lou Gehrig
Cary Grant or Gary Cooper -- Cary Grant
St Andrews Old Course or Turnberry -- Turnberry
New York Times or Washington Post -- New York Times
F. Scott Fitzgerald or Ernest Hemingway -- Hemingway
Scambled eggs or fried eggs -- scrambled
Fox TV or MSNBC TV -- MSNBC
Georgw W. Bush or Bill Clinton -- Clinton
Seattle or Portland -- Seattle
Joe Montana or Steve Young -- Steve Young
Jon Huntsman or Mitt Rommey -- Huntsman
Art Nouveua or Art Deco -- Art Deco
Arnold Plamer or Jack Nicklaus -- Palmer
Empire State Building or Chrysler Building -- Chrysler Building
5th Avenue (New York) or Madison Avenue - Madison Avenue
Happy Days or Laverne and Shirley -- Happy Days

I woild like to hear from you regarding your choices.

My Backyard Today

2012-01-08T09:56:00.001-07:00

I just finished watching the New Hampshire debate on MSNBC. I thought Jon Huntsman did a very good job. I could certainly support him for president. We finally received some snow in Salt Lake City. Here are a couple of pictures I just took of our backyard from our bottom level patio:

I have blogged before about the Neighbor's Dog who always comes over to the fence and looks at me when I come out of the house. He always wants a treat. Here is the Neighbor's Dog this morning:

Women

2012-01-07T19:38:00.000-07:00

I spent two straight weeks with the Lovely Sharon over the Christmas holidays. I can’t tell you how nice that was or how much I enjoyed it. As you may know, for some seven months of the year, we live in different cities and I visit her in Palm Desert where she lives during those seven months. When I am lucky enough to spend concentrated time with the Lovely Sharon, it reinforces just how much I don’t understand her. I am not alone in this male bewilderment of the human female species. I call them a species because that is exactly what they are. The human male is a completely different species. The male is undoubtedly the less intelligent of the species, but frankly the easier to understand. If a male says to another male, “Nice shirt, did you get dressed in the dark?” The male with the questionable shirt takes no offense and responds with something, like “Do you want to buy some naked pictures of your wife?” What these two, less than intelligent males, are actually saying is “Hey pal how are you doing?” Which is responded to with “Great buddy how are you?” Simple right?

Try those same words with a woman. I challenge you to go up to a woman and say “Nice blouse, did you get dressed in the dark?” I can guarantee you that this will not end up good for you. There will either be crying or violence. If there is violence, it will not have been initiated by you. Ask the same woman if she wants to buy some naked pictures of her husband and she will no doubt immediately contact her husband, chew him out and demand to know what the heck has he been doing? It will take the poor husband a couple of hours to grovel, plead and swear on his dead mother’s life that he has done nothing wrong and he does not know what she is talking about.

If I ask the Lovely Sharon if she likes or liked something (such as dinner, a movie, the shirt I am wearing) she usually responds with, “Its ok”. She never just says “yes” she says “Its OK”. I am supposed to be satisfied with that answer. I am supposed to understand that OK means yes. If she asks me if I like something, such her outfit (I have previously written how men wear clothes and women wear outfits) and I if respond with “Its OK” she immediately says “So you don’t like it?” I try to explain to her that if OK means yes to her, it should mean yes to me. It irritates her when I answer with “OK”. She wants a yes not an OK. However when I ask for a yes rather than an OK, she replies that I know that OK means yes. So then I tell her that when I answer with OK she knows that it means yes. She then answers that it did not sound like a yes it sounded like a “not so much”. This conversation has no end. The simple “OK” has two different meanings in our household depending on who is saying it. OK?

I continue to be irritated with people, usually women, who drive into the bank drive through window or lane who have not yet started the paper work for their transaction. Two weeks ago I went to the bank where there 4 drive through lanes. Every lane except one had 2 to 4 cars ahead of me. I went to the lane with one car, with a woman at the wheel. I figured great, I will get through in no time. I waited for 15 minutes. I realized at the 10 minute mark that she was just then putting her paper work in the pneumatic tube. Silly me, I thought she was just waiting for the teller in the bank to finish with her deposit, but no, she had not even sent her papers into the bank. The cars in every other lane finished and left and new cars took their place and these new cars went through the line. Not me and the lovely lady ahead of me, we waited and waited and waited until she was finished with her paper work. This is one of those things in life that completely drive me crazy.

My mother, who I dearly love, also drives me crazy. If I call her after a week of no calls she asks “Why didn’t I call her during the week?” If I call her Tuesday and then call her Thursday, she asks, “Why didn’t I call her Wednesday?” I am pretty certain that if I called her at 10:00 a.m. and at 5:00 p.m. on the same day, she would ask me why I did not call her at lunch.

The other day, Presidential candidate Michelle Bachman was badly beaten in the Iowa caucuses. The next day, she was indicating that she was pulling out of the presidential race. So here she is at the microphone before the world press making a statement that would be replayed for days throughout the world and what does she include in her remarks? She mentioned that on caucus day, when she was campaigning; her husband was buying sunglasses for their dogs. Gee, does she really think this is the kind of a thing that a man would want disclosed to the world press? “While I was working, my husband was buying doggy sunglasses.”

Women drive me crazy. I try to understand them but it is impossible. You know Stephen Hawking right? He is a scientist, a man who knows more about the universe and how it functions than most of the world’s population. He is brilliant. He has written books, articles and gives lectures despite the fact that he has had a motor neuron disease since he was a young man. He is confined to a wheel chair and talks through a computer simulated voice. He is almost 70 years old. He has learned to communicate to the world, write books, give lectures and talk by twitching his cheek. His book a "Brief History of Time" explained such concepts such as cosmology, the Big Bang, black holes and light cones in a manner that the average person could understand. He seems to know everything about the universe and how it all works. When asked what he thought about women, he responded, "Women. They are a complete mystery."

Don’t worry about it Stephen, despite your brilliance and your perseverance, you are in the same boat with the rest of us. Women, rule the planet, men just think they do and it is very difficult to understand our beloved women.

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T14:20:00.001-07:00

Can you believe it? Its 2012. It almost sounds like a year in a futuristic science fiction book rather than the year I am currently living in. I will turn 60 years old in ten months’ time. As I look back, there are particular years that for some reason or another, stand out for me.

1960. My little sister Tanya was born on January 7^th. I remember the day my parents brought here home from the hospital and laid here on their bed. I was captivated by her and 52 years later I still am.

1961. I was in second grade in 1960-1961. The thing that struck about 1961 was that when you turned 1961 upside down it still read 1961. Pretty cool huh? Fifty years later I still think it is cool. The other thing that comes to mind about 1961 was Alan Shepard becoming the first American to go into space. I can still remember that and I still remember a photo of the original seven Mercury Astronauts. Second grade was when I started to love books and reading.

1963. I saw Stan Musial’s play in Dodger Stadium. I don’t remember what month this was but It was Stan Musial’s last game in Dodger Stadium (not his last game which was on September 29, 1963 in St. Louis. The assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, is a date one can never forget. I remember. I had turned 11 years old 30 days before that fateful day.

1964. I remember Barry Goldwater’s nomination, as the Republican nominee for president. As a 12 year old I was a big fan of Mr. Goldwater. I gave my mother a Barry Goldwater biography for her birthday.

1966. My 16 year sister Sheila died of cancer in March 1966.

1968. I graduated from junior high school and entered high school.

1971. I graduated from Granite High School. August 5, 1971 was the draft lottery for males born in 1952. I was pleased to get lottery number 263.

1973. First Marriage August 20^th.

1974. Graduated from University of Utah.

1976. Finished Law School at the University of Utah in December 1976.
1977. Took the February Bar Exam and was sworn in as an attorney in April.

1983. Son Alex was born.

2001. Assault on the Twin Towers.

2004. Married the Lovely Sharon.
Although every year has memorable events those are the years that stand out for me. I have always been a person who had goals and dreams. I have always been a person who gets excited about things. I get excited over seeing a bird, or a deer or a mountain stream. I have always been a person who looked forward to self-improvement and new adventures.

I look forward to 2012. I have hopes for 2012. I hope the economy is better for all of us. I hope my family’s health is good. I hope we don’t get into another meaningless war. I hope our politicians try to do what is right for America rather than just attack and belittle each other. I hope that the feeling of depression that so many of our country men have will dissipate. I hope I can be a better person. I hope I can be less judgmental and more helpful to all persons. I hope I continue to love to learn. I hope I will be a better husband.

Happy New Year to all.

A Few Reviews

2011-12-29T22:46:00.000-07:00

I am putting on my amateur critic’s hat and giving you my review of some movies and books I have recently seen and read. Inasmuch as very few people agree with my opinions and views as to any subject, this blog entry will have limited appeal to anyone except the criminally insane. I doubt the criminally insane will agree with my views but since they are in fact insane that may find appeal in just reading them and discussing them with the voices inside their head. The “Bud Rating Scale” is a 0 through 10 point scale as opposed to the normal 4 star scale the professional critics sometime use. With that preamble here we go:

Movies

Midnight in Paris. This movie was written and directed by Woody Allen. Woody does not act in the film. I have wanted to see the movie for quite a while but for some reason I never took the time to see it at the theater. I watched it on cable on demand over the holidays. I loved the filmt but the Lovely Sharon thought it was just “ok”. I give Midnight in Paris 7 points. I liked the opening of the movie which was several minutes of shots of Paris accompanied by Sidney Bechet's jazzy “Si Tu Vois Ma Mere”. I like the movie’s sound track which includes songs by Frank Sinatra, Cole Porter, Louis Armstrong and Glen Miller among others. I like the midnight time travel to the 1920’s Paris. Paris in the 1920’s has always been one of my favorite time periods and locations. I have read a number of books and articles about the artists, writers and philosophers who congregated in Paris between World War I and World War II. Ernest Hemmingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald (and his wife Zelda), Salvador Dali, Josephine Baker and other personalities from Paris of the 1920’s are characters in the movie. I liked the cinematography and I liked the dialogue. I liked the movie so much I am going to buy the dvd and also download the sound track from Itunes.

My Week with Marilyn. This film is based upon two books written by Colin Clark about his interaction with Marilyn Monroe during the 1957 filming of the Prince and the Show Girl. This was another film I ranked a 7 Pointer, almost 8 points. I have been to England 5 or 6 times and it is one of my favorite destinations. So I am inclined to like things English. I loved the period automobiles in the film. I have been watching Downton Abbey on Masterpiece Theater. The actor who plays the head butler in Downton Abbey, Jim Carson, plays the pub owner in My Week with Marilyn. Now that is interesting. Michelle Williams portrayal of Marilyn is terrific.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I have not read the book but I did see the Swedish version of this film and have now seen the English language version. I thought Daniel Craig and the rest of cast did a fine job, but the plot and the cinematography were equally dark. I suppose the film is a favorite of the professional critics but for me I give it 5 points. The tattooed and body pierced investigator, was smart but seemed to have had a dark and miserable life. The whole thing was depressing for me.

Book

Lucking Out (My Life Getting Down and Semi Dirty in Seventies New York) – James Wolcott. Mr. Wolcott writes a column about film, books and other cultural events for Vanity Fair Magazine. He is a good writer and I enjoy his magazine columns but this book gets 3 points from me. I was glad when I arrived at the last page. There are no chapters in the book, instead there are several long sections so even the layout of the book was a source of irritation for me. The book was a description of Mr. Wolcott’s interaction with various writers, critics, musicians, theater people and dancers during the 1970’s when he wrote for the Village Voice. I suppose if you were one of the in-crowd of these cultural “giants” the book might have been more significant.. But for this Podunk lawyer from Utah, the 1970’s was the time I graduated from high school, graduated from college, graduated from law school and started law practice. I was very busy in that decade. Pauline Kael, the film critic for the New Yorker during the 1970’s, who is the subject of an entire section of the book, was not someone I knew of during this period and now that I have read about her, it strikes me that I did not miss much. The book has significant section describing the punk music scene and the porno scene in 1970’s New York. I have read a few reviews of this book that were highly favorable, I did not particularly like it, did not feel it enhanced my life and did not find it entertaining.

The Movies

2011-12-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

I like movies. I watch them at theaters and I watch them at home. I don’t like the blood and guts movies and while I am not prudish, I don’t like movies with and overabundance of profanity. I like action movies, I like mysteries, I like chick flicks (by this I mean movies like “You’ve Got Mail” and “Sleepless in Seattle”), I like film noir, I like movies from the 1930’s and 1940’s, I like comedies. It is hard to create a list of favorite movies since I can’t remember all of them, but here are some I have enjoyed over the years:

Bogie Movies: Casa Blanca; Maltese Falcon; The Big Sleep; and Key Largo

Tom Hanks Movies: You’ve Got Mail; Sleepless in Seattle; Cast Away; The Man with One Red Shoe; Saving Private Ryan, Angels and Demons; The Da Vinci Code; Philadelphia; and Forest Gump

The Thin Man Movies with William Powell and Myrna Loy

Most but not all of the James Bond Movies

The Indian Jones Movies

Clint Eastwood Movies: Grand Torino; all of the Dirty Harry Movies; Absolute Power; In the Line of Fire, Play Misty for Me

Movies with Book Themes: The Jane Austin Book Club; and 84 Charing Cross Road

Denzel Washington Movies: The Pelican Brief; Remember the Titans; The Bone Collector; and John Q

Robert Redford Movies: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; The Way We Were, Barefoot in the Park; All the President’s Men; Three Days of Condor, Havana; Out of Africa; A River Runs Through It (he did not act in this film)

Foreign Language Films: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown; Belle de Jour

Most but Not All Woody Allen Movies

Kevin Kline Movies: The Big Chill; Silverado; Dave; Life as a House; The Emperor’s Club; French Kiss; and In and Out

This is only my first batch of Favorite Movies. I will come up with some additional movies and categories and post again. If you have some favorite movies or favorite categories, post them on this blog or email them to me. Happy Holidays

Christmas

2011-12-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

Christmas time. It is already here and it gets here faster each year. I have been thinking about what I like about Christmas and what I don’t like about Chruistmas. I will start with the negatives.

I don’t like the fact the retailers start their Christmas push at Halloween. It always bothers me that when I go to Kmart wearing a skeleton outfit to pick up Jaclyn Smith household item, like an 8 inch fry pan, there are already artificial Christmas trees out.

I don’t like the entire gift buying process. If I had my druthers, I would do away with the entire gift buying tradition. I would limit gifts to something you personally make, to words (letters, poems and stories) you personally put together and to good deeds you personally do. So in the “Bud Christmas World”, the gifts you give would come from your own hands, from your own brain, or from your own heart. You can buy toys, electronic and gift cards anytime of the year. For Christmas it would be nice to give and receive gifts of your own creation.

I don’t like it when Christmas Trees are called Holiday Trees. They are Christmas Trees so call then Christmas Trees. I have many Jewish friends and I work at the “Jewish” law firm in Salt Lake City. I respect and admire my Jewish friends and the Jewish culture and history. But a Christmas Tree is a Christmas Tree it is not a Holiday Tree. This time of year is also Hanukkah (‘Chanukkah, or Chanuka”), also known as the Festival of Lights, an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. This is a special and important time for my Jewish friends. The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of the Menorah. I respect and appreciate this tradition. The Menorah is a Menorah, it is not a Holiday candle stand. A Christmas Tree is a Christmas Tree.

Ok, now for the things I like about Christmas.

I like Christmas music. I don’t want it to start in November, but in last week or two before Christmas I like to hear it. In the few days before Christmas I like to sing Christmas songs at Church, in the stores, with friends and family or just by myself. I like Christmas songs sung their traditional way. I don’t like Silent Night or White Christmas jazzed up. When I hear them I want them to sound just as they sounded when I was a boy.

I like to go to Church during the Christmas season. Not just once but a couple of times. I like to hear the speakers talk about being a better person, helping those who need help and about having joy in your heart. I like to sit in the Church and think about what I should do to be a better person, to help the unfortunate, to be nicer to the Lovely Sharon, to family friends and even strangers.

I like to hear someone read the biblical description of the birth of Jesus. It’s a simple story. The words are not fancy, but there is a warmth and peace in the words that I never tire of.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world and everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at ight. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen which were just as they had been told.

I like to hug my friends and family and say “Merry Christmas”. For me it is just another way of saying I love you and I am so fortunate to be your friend or relative.

I like to watch Christmas movies. I like the old ones and I like many of the newer ones. I like the Christmas movies that are on the Lifetime TV network. In all of these movies, there is conflict or disaster or some other tragic thing or event. The main characters are sad or angry. Things are bad. But events unfold in the movie and life becomes better. New love is found, families reunite, people begin to understand the true meaning of Christmas. As the viewer of Christmas movies, I always feel good at the end of the movie. Remember the sheer excitement and joy Jimmy Stewart portrayed at the end of “It’s a Wonderful Life”, that is what Christmas is about.

I like that people wear red and put on Santa hats and wear them to the grocery store. I like to see a Christmas wreath attached to the front of a car.

I like that in most years I have some time between Christmas and New Year to relax, to be with the Lovely Sharon for more than 3 or 4 days at a time.

To my friends and family and to those I come in contact with I say:

Silent night, holy night

All is calm all is bright

round yon virgin mother and child

Holy infant so tender and mild

sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night

Shepherds quake at the sight

Glories stream from heaven afar

Heavenly hosts sing Hallelujah

Christ the Saviour is born!

This Stuff Bounces All Over Like a Ping Pong Ball

2011-12-04T09:11:00.003-07:00

I have not written for a while and this entry is a potpourri of random thoughts.

1. Last night I had a wonderful dinner with my Hidden Valley Country Club men’s golf group. I have written before about these wonderful men and dear friends. Wives joined the men last night for a festive dinner. Unfortunately, the Lovely Sharon is in Palm Desert so I attended the dinner on my own. We had dinner at an American Legion hall that I had never been to. It is a blue collar facility that serves great steaks in a festive Christmas atmosphere. The place was packed. There were about 17 of us in our group and we talked, sang karaoke and just had a wonderful time. Our pal Steve got hold of the karaoke mike and it was impossible to get him off of the floor. At one point, he even had three young women (not part of our group) acting as his backup singers. Steve, and his wife Cathy are dear friends and wonderful people. Cathy just started a new blog, check it out

http://anomelettetwoglassesofwine.blogspot.com/

2. Although I am not a huge Mitt Romney fan, today’s New York Time Magazine had a pretty good article about Mitt. Look at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/magazine/mitt-romney-bot.html?ref=magazine

3. Only in Utah (from the Salt Lake Tribune):

Utah duck hunter shot in buttocks by his dog

By Bob Mims, The Salt Lake Tribune. Published: November 30, 2011 02:05PM

There’s probably not a whole lot more humiliating than being shot in the buttocks by your canine buddy. Box Elder County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Kevin Potter says that’s what happened at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge while two duck hunters were getting set up for a morning on the water.

"One of the hunters was inside the boat with the dog, and the other hunter was in the water,” Potter said. “The guy in the water had put his 12-gauge shotgun across the bow of their boat.”

It turned out to be a doggone recipe for a painful end to the day’s outing.

“The dog got excited, was jumping around inside the boat and then it jumped on the gun. It went off, shooting the [decoy setter] in the buttocks,” Potter said.

The wounded hunter was transported to Brigham City Community Hospital about 9 a.m. Sunday, where doctors removed the bird shot and released the 46-year-old Brigham City man to nurse his wounds — and pride. The dog and any ducks within range at the time of the accident were uninjured.

4. I am going to read Noel Coward's play "Private Lives", a 1930 comedy. I don't know what made me want to read the play but I am going to track down a copy and read it.

5. I like Guitarist Stevie Ray Vaugh who tragically died in a plan crash in 1990. I have some buddies in Chicago who attended his last concert. Check out the following vido clip of his terriffic Pride and Joy -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU0MF8pwktg

6. My book list at the top of this blog does not include all of the books I read. I probably read or listen to 8 or 10 books for each one I list above. I just finished reading "Garden of Secrets Past" by Anthony Elgrin. It was a fairly good read and is his fifth mystery, all of which are related to English Gardens. His web site is http://web.mac.com/speedboat1/Site_2/Welcome.html

7. I watched one of the great "Chick Flicks" yesterday, "An Affair to Remember" with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. I have watched this movie at least 10 times in the last 30 years. I still get teary eyed in the climatic final scene in which Cary Grant real izes that Deborag Kerr had been hit by a car on was unable to walk.

8. I have two wonderful nieces (both of whom, I might add, are University of Utah graduates). Samantha's husband Tim is an accomplished birder and has a fantastic website. Check out:

http://www.timaverybirding.com/

The listing of these totally unrelated topics probably made your head spin. That is how my goofy brain works.

Best Wishes

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

It is Thanksgiving again. I woke up around 4:30 and made me a cup of coffee and read the online news. The Lovely Sharon is still asleep and, except for my desk, the house is dark and quiet. I like this time of day. It gives me time to catch up on overnight national and world events, to plan my day and to think about life. Today I am thinking about Thanksgiving, what it really means to me.

Thanksgiving is a time to spend a week or so with the Lovely Sharon. Golfing, shopping, doing things together and not doing anything but not doing them together.

According to the Bud calendar, Thanksgiving is the end of autumn. I think of the summer fun I had. I think out how fast the last year has gone by. I think of how many leaves I have raked in the last few months and how many are still on the ground waiting to be covered with snow.

Throughout the year I try to be mindful of and reflect on my good fortune to have the family and friends that I have. Friends who are happy to see me after months apart. Friends who want to help me and who I want to help. Friends who you can discuss politics with and still be friends. Each year through the realities of life our friends and family members face illness and death. We never know who might be next. I have lost a few friends to deaths this last year. Tragedies and illness have taken them. I miss them. I think about them. I have friends that face uncertain futures due to illness. I worry for them.

I am Thankful to be an American.

I am Thankful for my son Alex. I am Thankful for my parents. I am Thankful for my sister Tanya and her wonderful husband Scott and their lovely daughters, my nieces. I am Thankful for my stepsons Shawn and Nick and for Nick’s beautiful and special wife Allie. I am Thankful that Nick and Allie consider me to be one of the Grandpa’s of their children.

I am Thankful that I am relatively healthy.

I am Thankful that I am still excited about life and the things around me. I am Thankful that seeing a bird or deer or the autumn leaves still excite me. I am Thankful that I still want to learn about life, history, current events and the things around me.

I am Thankful to be married to the Lovely Sharon. She drives me crazy some of the time and I know I drive her crazy all of the time, but when I am eating Thanksgiving dinner today with dear friends Ray and Kay, I know I will have a tear in my eye as I give Thanks to life with her.

To all my friends, I truly am Thankful for you.

Jon Huntsman

2011-11-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

If I was supreme allied commander of all things politics I would “arrange” for Jon Huntsman to be the 2012 Republican nominee for President. Why you ask?

First and foremost, he is not a right wing crazy. At Republican debate at the Reagan Museum he said:

"When you make comments that fly in the face of 98 out of 100 climate scientists, to call into question the science of evolution, all I am saying is that in order for the Republican Party to win, we can't run from science," Huntsman said. "By making comments that basically don't reflect the reality of the situation, we turn people off."

“To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming,” read a tweet from his personal account. “Call me crazy.”

According to the New York Times, the tweet puts him in direct conflict with both the conservative base and presidential candidate Rick Perry, who has said both that evolution is “just a theory that’s out there and that climate change is based on data that has been manipulated by scientists.

Second he looks at things in more of a reasonable rather than solely partisan manner.

He accepted this past summer’s debt ceiling compromise was appropriate.

He has express support for civil unions

He does not advocate “curing” gay people

His campaign is not one of personal attack

His political donations history reflect donations to republicans and democrats

Third, he is informed and Experienced.

Unlike Herman Caine, he knows that China has had nuclear weapons since the 1960’s. He served in a number of mid-level and later higher ranking jobs in Republican administration. He was Deputy US Trade Representative and US Ambassador to Singapore. He was elected Governor of Utah in 2004. He was re-elected with a huge margin in 2008. And then he left that job to accept the important post of US Ambassador to China offered to him by President Obama. The Senate approved his nomination unanimously.

Fourth, He as Personal Integrity.

He has changed his positions on some issues, who hasn’t? But when he does change his position he it appears that he has had a true change of personal views on the issue rather than swaying in the wind for political expediency. There is a difference between a change of personal opinions and being a flip flopper. There is no merit or virtue in refusing to modify positions to reflect a true change of heart or being educated as to the true facts.

Unlike some of the current Republican nominees, Mr. Huntsman has not been accused of sexual abuse. He has not dumped wives on their sick beds for current mistresses.

Fifth. He has a proper View (according to me) of Afghanistan

In last night’s debate he said:

“I take a different approach on Afghanistan," he said. "I think it's time to come home. I say this nation has achieved its key objectives in Afghanistan: We had free elections in 2004, we uprooted the Taliban, we have dismantled Al Qaeda, and we killed Osama bin Laden." "I say this nation's future is not Afghanistan," he said. "This nation's future is not Iraq. This nation's future is how prepared we are to meet the 21st century's competitive challenges. That's economics, that's education. I don't want to be nation-building in Afghanistan when this nation so needs to be built."

I completely agree with that sentiment. I think we should turn off the light in Afghanistan immediately and bring the troops home. No more American deaths, no more American injuries, no more American money spent in Afghanistan

Conclusion

With all of that said, I don’t think there is a chance in hell that Mr. Huntsman will be the Republican nominee. The ultra- right wing, so called “Christian Right”, will not permit it. Mr. Huntsman is not crazy enough, right wing enough or uniformed enough to be the Republican nominee. One of Rick Perry’s supporters (a religious right Pastor) has called the Mormon Church a cult and most of the Religious right agree. The same Pastor called Catholics a cult. I guess I am a double cult member since my heritage is Mormon and the church I now attend with my dear wife, is Catholic.

Some of the News

2011-11-05T07:22:00.000-06:00

Ok, its time to comment on the news.

1. Can we please stop talking about Kim Kardashian. She is so heartbroken that her 72 day long marriage is over. Apparently one of the primary causes of the end of the marriage was that he wanted to live in Minnesota. Alright so she has some justification for divorce. In Utah legal grounds for divorce are mental cruelty, physical cruelty, abandonment and the fact the other spouse wants to live in Minnesota. OH PLEASE. Does anyone really give a *#@% about this woman, her family or her life. I feel more stupid by just watching a TV “news” story or seeing the headlines of an internet news story in which her name is mentioned. I say we form our own Tea Party or our own Occupy Wall Street Party for the dedicated purpose of boycotting all things Kardashian. We will call our party the “I Am Sick to Death of the Kardashians Party”. We will not say her name. We will not buy products she endorses. We will not watch the TV network on which her TV reality show is broadcast. We will not buy magazines in which stories about her are written. Fellow citizens, Democrats and Republicans alike, I implore you to join me in this endeavor. We can disagree over which current Republican presidential candidate is most idiotic, but let us agree on this Kardashian boycott. Stand up right now and shout we with me “NO MORE KARDASIANS.”

2. The following story was this morning’s Huffing Post.com at

http ://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/04/anatoly-moskvin-clothed-female-corpses_n_1076009.html

“Police in Russia have taken a man into custody after discovering that he had at least 20 dressed-up female corpses hidden in his apartment. Authorities believe that historian Anatoly Moskvin, 45, would sneak into cemeteries during the dark of night to dig up the dead bodies, then dress them up in his apartment, according to The Telegraph. Photos taken by the tabloid publication lifenews.ru indicate that Moskvin clothed the remains -- all belonging to women who died between the ages of 15 to 25 -- in women's clothes to look almost doll-like. Some sources report that as many as 26 corpses were found in Moskvin's residence. Moskvin, who speaks 13 languages and is considered a genius, is well known locally for his fascination with graveyards, having visited more than 750 of them. He is said to have been writing a book about the cemeteries of the region, according to BNO news. Police were tipped off to the hoarding of human corpses by the Moskvin's parents, who live in the Nizhny Novgorod apartment with their son and discovered the bodies upon returning from vacationing at their summer home.”

The guy is 45 years old and still lives in an apartment with his parents. That tells you right there that he does not have both oars in the water. For most parents when they come home from a holiday, they may find the house a mess or that the kids had a party or something was broken. But these poor parents come home and find the bodies of 20 dead women dress liked dolls scattered throughout the apartment. What is the son going to say when he got caught by mom and dad? “They are not mine; I don’t know where they came from.”

3. Did you see Rick Perry’s recent New Hampshire speech? It’s been on all the news. It is truly weird. There are conflicting reports of whether he was drunk or not drunk. I for one hope that he was drunk, if not, then his behavior was really spooky.

4. The following story was on MSNBC.com at

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45171012/ns/local_news-orlando_fl/

“Authorities have identified and charged a 67-year-old man they say urinated in a bank tube after he couldn't get a money order. The suspect's name has not yet been released. Investigators said another customer unknowingly picked up the bank tube and was then covered in the liquid, which they believe was urine. A man pulled into the drive-up teller at the RBC Bank in Palm Coast on Thursday, deputies said, and urinated in a tube when a policy upset him. The customer behind him had no idea what he had done. "It's a disgusting act that nobody should have to go through. You go to the bank to make a deposit or withdraw. Nobody should have to go through this," said Maj. Dave O'Brien with the Flagler County Sheriff's Office. Investigators said they knew who the man was because he's an RBC customer and may have done the same thing once before at a branch in Port Orange.”

What, he might have done this before? He might have done this before and they didn’t arrest him, the first time?

Can you imagine his online dating personal description: I am a young 67, vigorous and active. I like walks on the beach and fine wines. I like poetry. I like peeing in bank tubes at the drive up window.”

5. The following story was on MSNBC.com at

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45142278/ns/us_news-weird_news/

“A Portland woman who bought a horse, killed it, gutted it and posed naked for photos inside the carcass broke no laws, Oregon authorities decided. And she says she can't understand people's interest in her. "No idea why people care," Jasha Lottin, 21, told Seattle Weekly, which published photos that she had posted on the Internet. Lottin and her boyfriend had taken over care of the 32-year-old horse, which they said was in declining health, KOIN-TV reported. They told Washington County sheriff's deputies that they shot it near Portland with a rifle and gutted it, then Lottin stripped and climbed inside. She also posed outside of it, covered in its blood, and with parts of the horse's organs. She posted the photos on the Internet, and a man in North Carolina who came across them reported them to deputies, the Weekly reported. Lottin reportedly told investigators that they wanted to humanely kill the horse and eat it — and she wanted to feel what it would be like to be inside the dead horse. Investigators decided the couple had violated no laws. But Lottin's mother said her daughter has received death threats, KOIN reported.”

I really don’t have any comment on that story. I don’t know what to say. I have many friends in Palm Desert who are from Oregon. Some of them seem a little off balance in life. I am going to look at them in a new light.

That’s all for now. I am gonna go read the news.

Today is the Day

2011-11-02T09:21:00.000-06:00

Today is the day. Later today, the Lovely Sharon will be leaving for Palm Desert not to return for some seven months. Good for her, not so good for me, although I should have a fun week here in Utah this week raking a new batch of fallen leaves (if you cannot tell, that was written with extreme sarcasm). Last night we had a final dinner together at Hidden Valley Country Club. Fish and chips for her and Asian Ribs for me, accompanied by a nice bottle of Biale’s, "Black Chicken Zinfandel". After dinner, we adjourned to couches near the fire place at the club and had a very romantic discussion. The discussion was centered on phantom income and its associated tax consequences in partnerships and limited liability companies. We followed up that conversation with the tax consequences of income generated by trusts depending upon whether the trust income is distributed to the trust beneficiaries or retained by the trust. For the Lovely Sharon, being married to a lawyer is a “dream come true”. We could have discussed flowers, poetry or Wuthering Heights, but no, we sipped our fine red wine and discussed the tax consequences of tax pass-through entities.

After our tete-a-tete we drove home in relative silence. After the discussion we just had, what more could be said? It would have been all downhill from there. Once home she went to work getting things organized for her departure and I descended to the Bud Cave where I started reading a new William F. Buckley biography.

As I sat in my leather chair, I could hear her moving from room to room getting last minute tasks completed. It was difficult to concentrate on the book as I contemplated her absence from Utah for the next seven months. Although I get to Palm Desert a good number of times during the seven months, there is also a fair amount of time when I am in Salt Lake. During that time I read a great number of books and articles, I watch TV, go to movies on my own and have numerous conversations with the Neighbor’s Dog. He is a good listener as I talk to him while feeding him treats. He loves the mini hotdogs or sausages in a blanket. If you did not get a chance to read my essay about the Neighbor’s Dog check out
http://www.bheadman.com/2009/10/neighbors-dog.html.

This year I am going to be more active after work and on the weekends when I am in Utah. I am going to organize more dinners with friends, I am going to work out more often, visited book stores and visited art museums and galleries. There is a currently a showing of LeConte Stewart paintings at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. I think I might go Saturday to see it. Here is a link to a LeConte Stewart website http://umfa.utah.edu/LeConteVirtual. A great Utah artist.

This was supposed to be a sensitive, reflective essay about a summer now gone and a last evening with the Lovely Sharon. It was not suppose to be hilarious or political. But frankly, I cannot help myself, I must write something hilarious and political, just a simple list:

Rick Perry
Herman Caine
Michele Bachman
Newt Gingrich

There you go, you cannot get much funnier than that. Now I feel better.

More Autumn Musings

2011-10-30T07:11:00.003-06:00

Yep, its that time of year. (In Utah we can say "Yep" and we do say Yep. If you lived in New York or Miami Beach, you no doubt don't hear a lot of Yeps). It is time to rake the leaves. The days are cool, very cool. In the morning it is cold. Yesterday at 8:00 I drove to get the Lovely Sharon a mug of coffee (a shot of half and half, then some Neighborhood decafe topped off with non-decafe hazelnut) at Einstein's Bagles. It was 27 degrees. It was cold

The Lovely Sharon has been cutting down flowers the last several days, to get the yard winterized. All of the patio furniture is under wraps for the winter. We moved Rudy, our rubber plant of several years, from the back deck into the house where he will remain until May. A couple of other large plants were moved into the house as well. This last week Sharon turned the outside water off. I devoted Friday afternoon and several hours yesterday to raking the leaves. There are still a lot more leaves to rake and plenty of leaves in the trees but rather than wait for all of them to fall, I try to make a little progress day by day. While I was raking Friday, I could see a deer in the brush about 40 yards from me. We looked at each other for a few minutes and then we each went about our business.

I marvel at the effect that Autumn has on my senses. The vivd colors of the leaves in their journey from green, to yellow, red or orange and finally to brown before disengaging from their trees and floating to the ground. A beautiful changing palette of color. The changes in the temperature on my skin when I am out of doors. The aromatic smell of fallen leaves. I have always loved the smell. Autumn is more quiet than summer. I continue to hear the squirrels but not many birds. They are off for warmer environs. No sounds of lawn mowers or edging machines.

If you look at the pictures above, you will see a lonely looking garden bench in the upper left hand corner. Friday afternoon, in the midst of raking leaves, I sat down on that bench. I looked around at the yard. I looked above the branches of the trees and I could see blue sky. I looked at our house on the hill above me. I thought about how fast the last five months have gone by. I thought about friends past and present and about family. I thought about Son Alex and pictured him as a boy rather than the 28 year old man that he is. I thought about how fortunate I am. I thought about the Lovely Sharon and wondered how she puts up with me. I turned 59 a week ago. I am stunned by that thought. Although my body feels 59, my mind feels 30. Although I look at the future and at current events and goings on, I find myself more reflective than in years past. I find myself wondering if I am doing enough for people, if I am giving enough of myself to helping those around me. I need to do better. After a several minutes of such contemplations I arose from the bench and bagged up each of those piles of leaves.

Autumn Photos

2011-10-16T12:13:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was a beautiful Utah Autumn day. The Lovely Sharon is out of town. I visited my mother and father, I visited the grandkids and had lunch with Son Alex. I took a few photos of the Autumn colors.

Vanity Fair

2011-10-15T06:11:00.000-06:00

I love magazines. I read a wide variety of magazines. My favorite, without a doubt, is Vanity Fair. I have read Vanity Fair for 20 years. It has great stories, photos and blurbs about clothing, cars, products, music and books. When a new issue arrives, I like to sit in the Bud Cave, with a cocktail or a cup of coffee and dig through it. I am reading the magazine this morning with the music of trumpet player Chris Botti playing in the back ground.

When I read Vanity Fair, I typically have at my side (i) a colored pen for underline interesting passages in the articles; (ii)e a pair of scissors to cut out blurbs referencing websites to check out or books to read; and (iii) a small Moleskine note book to scribble notes. (If you don’t know Moleskine note books check them out on Google. They are terrific small notebooks handy for pocket or purse. You can buy them at Barnes and Noble.)

The current issue of Vanity Fair is terrific:

- An article by regular contributor James Wolcott describing his literary obsession with Norman Mailer and Mailer’s assistance in helping Mr. Wolcott obtain employment at the Village Voice newspaper in the early 1970’s.

- An article about the current tea party with references to the founding fathers.

- There is a regular feature in most if not all issues entitle “Letter from London”. This month’s letter from London concerns the famous Savile Row tailoring company, Anderson & Sheppard, the tailor to kings, dukes, movie stars, and many others.

- An article about Kathleen Harriman, the daughter of Averell Harriman, who was once the fourth wealthiest man in America. I have read a couple of books about Averell Harimann over the years. This article is based upon a letters, journals and other materials kept by Kathleen. During World War II she went to England with her father who served as FDR’s conduit to Churchill. What an interesting life she led. She was in her 90’s when she died this past spring

- An article about Johnny Depp.

- Tbe last page of Vanity Fair is always a series of questions asked of well-known people and their responses thereto. The interviewed person this month is Bishop Desmond Tutu.

- The wonderful photographer Annie Leibovitz photos are often in Vanity Fair

- The notes I made to myself from this month’s issue of Vanity Fair include:

read Boomerang (about the debt cris) by Michael Lewis;
see if there is a biography of Bennet Cerf, the founder of Random House publishing company;
buy Chef Mario Batalie’s new book Simple Family Meals, From My Home to Yours.

If you like magazines check out Vanity Fair.

Bacon - Maple Doughnuts

2011-10-12T08:31:00.002-06:00

The Lovely Sharon encourages me to eat better. I need to watch my weight, deal with diabetes, high blood pressure and bad cholesterol. I think I have found the perfect food. The following recipie was in this morning's Salt Lake Tribune:

Doughnuts
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
1 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon maple extract

Glaze
11/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
8 slices crisply cooked bacon, crumbled

Heat oven to 375 degrees and position the oven rack in the center. Lightly coat the doughnut pans with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and baking soda with a whisk. Melt butter in a small pot over low heat. In a medium bowl, combine melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, maple syrup and maple extract. Whisk until foamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour egg mixture into the flour and stir, using a large wooden spoon, until completely combined.

Using a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip, divide the batter equally (using even pressure) between the pans, filling about halfway full.

Alternatively, you can use a gallon-sized resealable plastic storage bag.

Fill the bag and using scissors, remove 1/2-inch from one of the bottom corners and proceed filling the pans as described above.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until doughnuts spring back when lightly touched. Remove from oven, invert doughnuts onto a rack and cool completely.

To make the glaze, combine powdered sugar, maple syrup and maple extract in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth.

Dip the top of each doughnut into the glaze and lift, allow the excess to drip back into the bowl. While glaze is still wet, sprinkle with bacon crumbles. Place on a platter and serve. These doughnuts are best served fresh.

Servings » 16 large or 64 mini doughnuts

That is the beauty of Utah. The front page of the LifeStyle Section of the newspaper has a recipie for bacon-maple dougnuts. If you were reading the New York Times or the LA Times, you would be stuck with some dumb french food recipie or some Thai food recipie. Not in Utah, we provide recipies of the good stuff, bacon-maple doughnuts. No wonder Brigham Young said "This is the Place".

Happy Birthday Mother

2011-10-09T07:36:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was my dear mother’s birthday. She was born 83 years ago on October 8^th in rural Louisiana to Newton and Mary Ficklin. She was the little sister to five brothers and one sister. She moved to Utah in 1945 with her parents and some of her siblings. She has always referred to Louisiana as “back home”. She married my father in 1948. My mother is an interesting person and always has been. She has always been active in associations of many types. In the 1960’s, together with my father and my aunt and uncle, she formed a bowling league. I don’t mean she formed a team, she formed an entire league. They called it the Mardi Gras league and it was in existence for many years. Every year at the time of Mardi Gras, all of the league members wore costumes to bowling night and bowled in their costumes. Usually one of the local TV stations would come to their costume bowling night and film the action for broadcast on the news. She was a good bowler and was the league women’s champion for more years than one. She also bowled in ladies leagues.

My mother was the president of a local and the Utah State garden association. She was a relief society president. She was on numerous committees. She was asked to be on committees and in associations because she was a person who got things done. I pride myself on being self-motivated and a person who gets things done, but I attribute that trait to my mother and father who were both that way.

My mother is fun. Not everyone is fun but she is and has always been. People genuinely like being around her. She was always up for an event or activity. She played bridge and still plays bridge. When I was a boy, she would shoot baskets with me, play tetherball, play ping pong and do so many other things with me. I do not believe I have ever beat her in ping pong.

She volunteered countless times throughout her life for organizations, charities and just to help neighbors.

Yesterday on her birthday she met another lady at the theater to see an afternoon play. She has always loved plays and musicals and has attended hundreds over the years at the University of Utah, the Grand Theater, the Hale Theater, the Capital Theater and even in New York the couple of times she traveled to New York.

My mother has always loved to learn. She taught herself the basics of Spanish and for many years, to my amusement, she carried an English-Spanish Dictionary in her purse. I always wondered if she ever pulled her dictionary out of her purse to ask a Spanish speaker person some question. “Senor, por favor me puede decir wheer que es el cuarto de baño?” (Mister, please can you tell me where the bathroom is?)

My mother has always loved to travel. When I was a boy we never had any money but we always went places.

More important than my mother’s activities and her joy for doing things and being involved in activities, she is a good person; a very good person. She taught my sisters and me honesty and she taught us kindness. She taught us to be helpful to others, whether they were people we knew or people we did not know. She has a spiritual side but has never been one of those persons who believed her beliefs were the only right beliefs. She went to church but was never a sheep that followed anyone or any dogma blindly.

She was never afraid to express her opinion on any matter, political, religious or any current event. I learned that from her. My little sister Tanya is the same way.

At 83 she is still interested in the world around her. She will call me from time to time to ask me a question about things going on. She called me once and asked what the Tea Party deal was about. She will call and ask me what I think about something that is going on internationally or nationally. She asked me why some people are so upset and hateful toward gays. She has never been one to condemn or be judgmental toward a person because of that person’s beliefs or actions, unless that person was mean or hateful.

I have gone to Mormon Church and I have gone to Catholic Church and have l learned good things at both churches and I disagree with some doctrines of both churches. There is a place in my life for religion but there is a bigger place in my life for the spirituality of trying to be a good person. I try, but for those who know me, you know I am not always successful in this endeavor. As I look back at my life, I realize that I did not need church to teach me the golden rule or to teach me to be honest or to teach me to be kind. I was taught those things at home. The teachings at home were conveyed by words but more importantly, by the actions of my parents

My mother has always taken care of her family. In 1966, my 16 year old sister died of cancer after a battle of more than a year. For that entire time my mother was by my sister’s side. During the long stays in the hospital, including the last five months of my sister’s life, my Mother was at the hospital 15 to 18 hours a day. When she left the hospital after a long stressful day, my father would replace my mother at my sister’s bedside. My father has had health issues for 20 years and my mother has been his care giver. Sometimes she has been overwhelmed by the things and events she has had to deal in her life with but she has never given up.

My mother has always expressed love to me and my family. How important it is for each of us to hear the words “I love you” from our spouse, our children, our parents and our friends? I am not sure I can remember ending a conversation with my mother or leaving her house that she did not say I love you. Yesterday when the Lovely Sharon and I were leaving my mother and father’s house, my boyhood home, she told me she loved me and she told Sharon she loved her. These words are not some mantra or habit that carry no meaning, like saying amen at the end of a prayer, but these words have meaning and are important to my mother and they are important to me.

Any things about me that are good, if there are any, came from my mother and my father. Those many things about me that are not so good derive from my own shortcomings and failures. I have said something before many times to many people and I feel compelled to repeat it here, I was born of goodly parents.

Happy Birthday Mother, I love you.

Autumn

2011-09-30T05:12:00.004-06:00

Autumn, my favorite time of the year. After a most difficult past seven days, it is time to write of something that brings some joy to me. Utah autumns are beautiful. No wonder Brigham Young said "This is the Place". He no doubt moved here for the beauty of the autumn. It has been more than ten days since I first notice the trees on the Wasatch Mountains surrounding the east side of Salt Lake City have started to turn colors. Reds, yellows and oranges. Reminders that the days of summer are gone and winter is but a couple of months away. It has been unseasonably warm in Salt Lake this year. Normally, our temperature would be around 72 degrees but for the last several days it has been more than 85 degrees. The sky has been cloudless for most of the past 10 days. The blue skies of autumn somehow seem a little different to me than the blue skies of summer. I don’t know why, they just do.

The golf course at Hidden Valley Country Club is spectacular in the autumn. Sometimes it is difficult to concentrate on golf as you look at the colorful mountains, the turning trees. The deer seem more active, meandering through the course eating the fallen apples.

The Lovely Sharon and I have a park-like back yard and some of the leaves are starting to turn yellow. A few have already drifted down from their summer home on their respective tree to the still green grass below. I won’t be raking for another couple of weeks and for now will let the few leaves that have fallen be picked up by the lawn mower.

Autumn has always seemed like a new beginning to me, rather than a sign of the end of the year. It is probably because autumn marks a new school year. I was always happy to start a new school year from elementary school through law school. I always liked buying new supplies to start the new year. What would my classes be like? Would my teachers and professors be interesting and helpful in the learning process? Would I do well in my classes?

I like football. I played football at Granite High School so many years ago and autumn brings me back to memories of those long ago days. I remember gathering with my teammates to watch the first year of NFL Monday Night Football. It seemed thrilling to watch football on TV on a Monday night. I still like watching Monday Night Football.

The squirrels are active now, getting supplies stored up for winter. Sharon told me there was one on our deck yesterday. She looked at the squirrel and the squirrel look at her. I think they had some unspoken communication going on. He was no doubt looking for parts of cushions or something else to provide insulation for his winter home. The Lovely Sharon not doubt communicated “No way buster, get off the deck”. I am familiar with her non-spoken communication. I have frequently read her thoughts when she has communicated “no way buster” to me.

Well I better go shower and get ready for the day it is almost 5:00 a.m. I woke up around 3:30 and read for a while and then decided to write something for the blog. Nothing of substance, but something to help get me back to some form of normal life.

Doug and Beckie

2011-09-28T15:15:00.000-06:00

Last Friday, our hearts were broken. Many of us received such unbelievable news, unbearable news, from a phone call network of friends. We were stunned. We cried, we ached. We could not comprehend the news we heard. Our dear friends Doug and Beckie were gone. They had a long list of golfing friends and acquaintances from Hidden Valley Country Club and the devastating news was relayed from friend to friend. People were not being gossipy, they were dumbfounded, they sought understanding, they sought answers, they sought solace and they sought closure.

Over the last ten years, my wife Sharon and I have had many golf rounds and dinners with Doug and Beckie. We have been at their house in Salt Lake and their home in Palm Desert. They have been to our houses here and in Palm Desert. By and large, their friends were our friends and our friends were their friends.

Beckie had a long association with the ladies at Hidden Valley where she was involved with golf, with bridge and with an investment club. She had been the president of the Hidden Valley Ladies Association. For most of her life Beckie had been active in many things, socially and as an owner and operator of small businesses.

Beckie was tough. You could not push her around. But she had a soft and gentle side as well. Nearly 10 years ago, a time before I married Sharon, I needed a ride to St. George. Sharon was in St. George at a ladies golf tournament or some other ladies activity. I was still courting Sharon and she told me to come down to St. George on the weekend. I did not want to take my own car since Sharon had her car with her. I wanted to be able to ride back to Salt Lake with her at the end of the weekend. I wanted to ride home with her and convince her I was the guy for her. Beckie heard that I was looking for a ride to St. George and she called me. She asked me to ride down with her since she was heading down for the weekend. I cannot tell you what an enjoyable four hours we had. We talked non-stop about lives and loves and work and friends. We talked about golf. We talked about life changes and we walked about family and friends.

Beckie was the boss at her house. She told Doug what to do in all matters and he did them. If you asked Doug to do something or to go somewhere, whether you were asking just him or asking him for the both of them, he would always respond with, “I have to ask the apple of my eye and then I will get back to you.”

She made the house decisions, the business decisions and the family decisions. Not so different from many of us men, whose most frequent phrase is “Yes Dear”.

Doug Boudreaux. If you just said his name, people had a response, they had an image. They had a visceral reaction. For some people it was a good response, for some it was not so good. Those people did not know the inner Doug. For his friends, the words “Doug Boudreaux” made us smile. We seldom called him Doug whether we were talking to him or talking about him. To us, he was “Boudie”.

How many times on the driving range or in the clubhouse did I hear his pals say things like:

“Is Boudie playing today”?

“Where is Boudie?”

“Did you hear what Boudie said on Thursday?”

I met Boudie in 1988 or 1989. Boudie, Gordon Staker, Guy Toombes and I formed the “Staker Group”. For the first few years it was not much of a group. It was just the four of us who played golf together a couple of times a week. We were truly friends. Over the years the Staker Group expanded, it contracted and it expanded again. Currently there are some 20 men who are either full time or part time members of the Staker Group. The Staker Group is just about diverse as a group can be. Our members are contactors, lawyers, accountants, financial planners, business men, psychologists and real estate professionals. We are Caucasians, Asians, Greeks, and Hispanic. We are made up of Mormons, Catholics Protestants and the anti-religious. Our group includes Mormon Bishops and recovering alcoholics.

Boudie was a fixture in the group. If you were in the Staker Group you have been insulted by Boudie more times than you can count. You insulted him back as many times. As bizarre as it seems, the love for each other was expressed in many ways, man hugs and compliments but particularly in insults. We worried about each other, our wives and our children.

When one of our Staker Group members lost a baby just after birth, it was Doug who talked to him. It was Doug who talked about the afterlife with him.

As most of you know, Doug and Beckie lived on the 8th hole of the Valley Nine at Hidden Valley. If Doug was not playing with us on a particular day, we would hit our tee ball and then head over to his yard, walk through his gate and sit on his patio. We would call out for him to come out and join us on his patio. Over time it came to feel like our patio. Doug and Beckie would come out and sit with us and we would talk for awhile as other golfers passed us by, no doubt wondering why there were golf balls on or near the green. Most of the time the passing golfers just left our balls where they were and we would eventually finished the hole. Doug and Beckie would offer us a cocktail, a soda pop or a glass of ice water. Whatever we wanted they would give it to us. Sometimes if Doug was not at home, Beckie would come out and listened to our jokes and lies. She would roll her eyes and laugh at us. One day, we had sat there for four or five minutes but had not yet seen or heard Doug or Beckie inside the house. Finally, we heard Beckie’s voice through the open window. She said “Doug you better get out there, I don’t think they are going away.” The door opened and there was Doug with his smile, saying “Can I get you boys something?”

Doug, had a skill, a God given talent if you will, to say a word, a phrase or a comment that was either hilarious or disgusting or both. Over the years some of his comments became legendary. His comments became known as “Boudieisms”. There were stories about shop goggles. There were stories about Doug telling a single golfer who inquired about joining our players on the first tee that Doug did not need any more friends. He told the fellow he had enough friends and he didn’t like most of them. The fellow just turned and walked away. The general problem with the Staker Group is that we enjoy the disgusting stuff a lot. We repeated it. We told his stuff to others. Sometimes we claimed a Boudieism statement as our own. Each of us has our own special Boudieisms. Most of the Boudieisms are best left for the golf course or for sitting around the patio with our pals.

On last Saturday morning at 7:30 am, members of the Staker Group gathered on the first tee of Hidden Valley golf course with drivers in our hand and tears in our eyes. It was the appointed time for the regular Saturday game. We took off our hats and listened to the mournful prayer of one of our Bishop members. Golf was not too important that day.

On Sunday September 25th, the Staker Group gathered together at Gordon’s house to celebrate Doug, to celebrate our friend. We repeated Boudieisms that cannot be said here. We laughed and we cried. We gave man hugs throughout the evening. We listened to another prayer for Doug and for Beckie, for their children, for their grandchildren and for their friends. We sang Amazing Grace, off key to be sure, but this simple song was sung with conviction and emotion by some 13 saddened men. As the sun set, we quieted down and softly spoke of Doug and how we would miss him. I think our gathering together helped each of us a little. If Doug had been there he would have had us laughing. As for me, as I drove away in my car, my tears had dried but the ache in my heart remained.

The passing of Doug and Beckie has shaken each of us to our core. I think we each have asked ourselves if we could have said something or done something that might have changed events. We will never know. We will forever wonder “What if?”

Neither Doug nor Beckie were perfect people. They made errors and mistakes and in some instances bad life choices. Just as each of us are not perfect persons. Each of us has made countless errors, mistakes and bad life choices. But they were good people. They were good friends. They loved their children and their grandchildren. They were loved by their friends. I am proud to call them my friends. They are forever a part of my life. They are interwoven in the fabric of my life. My memories of times together will stay with me. I will remember them in life, I will miss them dearly.

Sounds and Smells

2011-09-11T08:47:00.000-06:00

What a blessing to have a sense of hearing and a sense of smell. Sometimes we don’t appreciate the joy, the happiness and the emotion these senses bring to us. The memories they conjure up for us cannot be overstated. I, like most of us, have favorite sounds and favorite smells.

I like the sound of the basketball swish. I like the sound of the golf ball dropping into the cup.

I like the mournful sound of the music of trumpet player Chris Botti early on a Sunday morning when the house is dark and the Lovely Sharon is asleep in her bed and I am reading in the Bud Cave.

I like the sound of cat purring beseeching me to rub it.

I like the sound of a toddler laughing. We don’t have to teach a child to laugh; there is just something in the human makeup that allows us to appreciate something funny.

I like the sound of a church bell calling the faithful to a Sunday morning service. The church bells at St. John the Baptist in Draper, Utah were made in Belgium. When you are walking into the church when the bells are ringing it makes you want to do good, to be better.

I like the sounds of the Lovely Sharon’s shoes on the oak stairs as she descends to the Bud Cave. She never slowly walks down the stairs. It is always a semi sprint with her heels clapping hard on the hardwood stairs. I know she wants me to do something or to tell me something. It is never a bother or a disruption.

I like the sound of squirrels chattering in our backyard. Of late, they have been loud and never seem to stop. I think it is driving the Lovely Sharon crazy but since I am already crazy, I like it.

I like the smell of hot, fresh bread.

I like the smell of chicken cooking on the grill.

I like the smell of a lawn freshly cut. It reminds me of highs school football.

I like the smell of two-by-four boards as they are cut with a circular saw. It reminds of me of my father who spent his life as a contractor carpenter.

My favorite smell, well that’s easy. My favorite smell is the natural aroma of the Lovely Sharon. The smell of her neck. Not her perfume, just her.

The New Golf Swing

2011-09-05T07:41:00.000-06:00

I am not a great golfer. I love golf and have in the past been a better player than I am now but I have never been a great golfer. My lowest handicap of my life has been a 10 and I was not a 10 for more than a few months. I was a 12-13 for several years, but 10 or 12 years ago, I developed arthritis in my upper back causing my back bones to fuse together and as a resuklt it has become difficult to make a turn. Because of the difficulty in turning back on the backswing and turning through on the down swing, I have lost distance. In order to attempt to regain distance, I have tried 327,000 different golf swings. I might be exaggerating it might only be 325,000 golf swings. I have tried so many variations and techniques that I have forgotten my authentic golf swing. You might recall my blog essay http://www.bheadman.com/2010/04/how-do-i-start-downswing.html. I think we each have an authentic golf swing, the one we were born with. It can be refined, it can be developed but I think it is hard not to have swing characteristics as an adult that you had as a child, but none-the less, many of us seek the elusive better swing, longer drives, and more accurate iron shots. It is as though we are each, in our own way, a Ponce de Leon, looking for the Fountain of Youth somewhere in Florida.

(For those of you who do not understand the Ponce de Leon reference, you should have not skipped so many history classes in high school. From Wikipedia - Juan Ponce de León y; (1474 – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown. He led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named. He is associated with the legend of the Fountain of Youth, reputed to be in Florida.)

Sometime in early August, I was hitting golf balls on the practice range at Hidden Valley Country Club. I was trying to see what new golf swing I could find. I tried something different (lifetime swing change number 325,001). I started hitting the ball pretty well. It seemed to be going further and straighter. I could do it over and over and the new swing seemed to worked for me. Was I was excited? No I was damn excited. When I arrived back at the house, I sprinted inside to share my discovery with the Lovely Sharon. Ok, I am a chunky 58 year old man with a bad back so maybe I did not actually a sprint. It was more like the waddle of a fast three toe sloth. I located the Lovely Sharon in the Bud Cav. She was writing cleaning advice to me in the dust on my desk. Sometimes I wonder how dumb she thinks I am. She can only write “Dust Me” so many times on my desk before I finally realized that a human wrote the words “Dust Me”. It was not my desk crying out in pain experiencing a stigmata causing words to appear. Since I finally realized the writing was done by human action, I was pretty certain it was the work of the Lovely Sharon. We are the only two who live in the house. I did not think a burglar would break in and write "Dust Me" on my desk in the Bud Cave.

Despite her pathetic attempts at secret writing, I continued to be excited to share my new golf swing with her. I took the Lovely Sharon in my arms; we were so close I could smell her wonderful natural bouquet. My mouth was smiling, my eyes were smiling I could hardly talk. She looked at me with questioning eyes and she finally broke the silence (I was still unable to talk in all of my excitement) and she asked “Did we win the lottery?” I should my head to indicate that no, that we did not win the lottery. I kept smiling.

She then asked if I had cured cancer. I again responded with a no but then added “It is something better”. She asked what could be better than winning the lottery or curing cancer. I told her that I had a new golf swing. Her eyes rolled. I mean they really rolled. They went back in her head so far that only the whites were visible. I thought she had suffered an attack of some sort before I realized that in the last 7 years of marriage, I have undoubtedly told her that I had a new golf swing more than a 1,000 times. She has actually called the cable company and had them remove the Golf Channel from our cable line up. When the pupils of her eyes were back to where they are supposed to be, I told her that this time it was different, this new swing actually worked. With a lack of conviction, she responded with a quiet “We’ll see”.

The next 8 or 9 rounds of golf, I played well, I shot my lowest scores of the year, I hit the ball straight, and for me long. I was in a state of bliss. The Lovely Sharon was happy for me. She was happy for her as she contemplated a married life without ever again hearing the words “I have a new swing”.

My golfing life has been great the last month. I had finally found the key to success. Bad golf was behind me.

Yesterday in Sunday Couples golf at Hidden Valley the Lovely Sharon and I were paired with Bill and Martha, two wonderful friends and great golfers. They have won many tournaments over the years. Bill played particularly well yesterday. I was excited to play with them and decided not to say anything about my swing, but rather, I would let my clubs do the talking. I shot 104. It was my worse round in five years. Let me repeat that: “I SHOT 104”. In truth it was more than 104 as the Lovely Sharon took pity on me and gave me a couple of 6x’s when I should have had a couple a more 7x’s. This was a painful round of golf. Sharon, Bill and Martha tried to be kind. They tried to be supportive and, they made the appropriate sounds of condolences each time I hit the ball. They treated me like you tip toe around a friend with an incurable disease. You know he is a gonner but you say something like. “You look nice in that hospital gown”.

I cannot tell you how glad I was to have the round come to an end. I doubled bogey the last hole and frankly, I played so poorly that the double bogey felt like a birdie.

It is Labor Day. I slept in until 6:00. Late for me. The Lovely Sharon is fast asleep upstairs in her bed, no doubt dreaming of her own wonderful golf skill. I am at my desk in the Bud Cave. Its dark outside and the only visible light is the small green shaded banker’s desk lamp on my desk. I have decided that after I shower, I am going to Hidden Valley Country Club and look for a new swing.

I Wonder What These Women Were Saying?

2011-08-27T09:12:00.000-06:00

"Then I told him, get your own damn coffee."

The Park City Parade of Homes

2011-08-25T09:01:00.004-06:00

I had a nice day last Saturday. I woke up around 4:30, washed a load of clothes, read several on-line newspapers, made breakfast for myself, read the Salt Lake Tribune; all before the Lovely Sharon got up. After she was up, I went to Einstein’s Bagels and bought her a cup of coffee and brought it back to the house to her. She prefers the Einstein’s coffee over home made coffee. The coffee has to be just so. I put it in her favorite travel mug. For just a fill up of a travel mug, Einstein charges $1.13 including tax. So I walked into Einstein’s, deposited $1.13 on their counter and waved at them. I then go to the coffee bar and put a little half and half in the mug. Then I fill the mug about half full with neighborhood roast decaf and then top the whole thing off with non- decaf Hazelnut flavored coffee. I then put the lid on the travel mug and head home where I hand the Lovely Sharon her coffee.

The Lovely Sharon is not a morning person, and she was still in her robe, bare feet and hair askew when I handed her the mug. Despite barely out of bed, she looked kind of cute. As I handed her the mug she mumbled something to me. It sounded like she said “When is Thanksgiving”. But after thinking it about it, I think she said “Thank You”. She then looked at me in that way that signaled that she wanted me to do something. I know the look; it is as obvious as a pointer dog standing on 3 legs pointing a pheasant in the brush. You cannot see the bird but you know its there. Same thing with that “look” of Sharon. You don’t know what she wants, but you know she wants something.

She finally said, “You know, (the words “You know” were spoken softly, maybe even sexily (sort of like Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday Mr. President”) the Park City Parade of Homes is on today. Do you want to go? Will you go with me?”

I responded with “I don’t want to go but I will go with you since you asked me to.”

She said “Well if you don’t want to go you don’t have to go.”

I chortled back, “Even if I don’t want to go, I will go because you asked me to go.”

For the next several minutes we discussed, in the ways of the great philosophers Nietzsche, Kant, Descartes and Confucius, why not only had I agreed to go to the Park City Parade of Homes with the Lovely Sharon, which I had done immediately as recited above, I should also “want to go” to the Park City Parade of Homes.

The Lovely Sharon indicated that philosopher Nietzche had reasoned there are two types of morality: a master morality that springs actively from the "noble man", and a slave morality that develops reactively within the weak man. These two moralities do not present simple inversions of one another. They form two different value systems: master morality fits actions into a scale of 'good' or 'bad' whereas slave morality fits actions into a scale of "good" or "evil". I should be the Noble Man and want to go to the Park City Parade of Homes.

It was hard for me to understand but after careful explanation by the Lovely Sharon, I realized that not only would I willingly go to the Park City Parade of Homes with her because she asked me to go, but now I also realized that I wanted to go to the Park City Parade of Homes. Her careful explanation of things made me, in the way of philosopher Rene Descarte’s reasoning, come to the realization that:

“something which I thought I was seeing with my eyes is in fact

grasped solely by the faculty of judgment which is in my mind”

The Lovely Sharon can be described as nothing less than a Master of sublime reasoning.

OK, enough of the metaphysical aspects of my new reality that I wanted to go to the Park City Parade of Homes. I headed to the Bud Cave to shower and she headed to her bathroom to do the same. We agreed to meet in the kitchen in 30 minutes all cleaned, dressed and ready to go to the Park City Parade of Homes, where we both wanted to go. I showered, shaved, washed my hair and dressed. I thought I looked nice as I was wearing black silk Tommy Bahama type shorts, white anklet type golf socks (I know men are not suppose to call any socks anklets but heck, that is what they are) and one of my favorite tee shirts. The shirt was a light purple tee shirt with the words “Collings Guitar” on the left breast and a picture of a Collings Guitar on the back. I have a wonderful Collings Guitar and so does Son Alex. These wonderful instruments are true works of art. I love the tee shirt.

When I arrived in the kitchen at the appointed time, the Lovely Sharon was there and I must say she looked beautiful in a Jamie Sadock ladies golf outfit. She looked ready for the links. She looked me over and her focus stopped on my wonderful purple Collings Guitar tee shirt. It had been hanging in my closet and had been freshly washed. I knew she thought I looked good.

She said “there is a spot on your shirt.”

In disbelief I told her that it was freshly washed and dried. She said “none the less, there is a spot on it, go and change.”

I did as instructed. I found another nice, deeper purple, tee shirt with no words on it. I checked it out and was pleased to see no spots on it. I tucked it into my black silk shorts and ascended to the kitchen from the Bud Cave. She looked at me like she just saw a dog get run over. She said “You are not wearing that tee shirt and in fact you are not wearing any tee shirt. We will be going into expensive and nice homes and you need to wear a golf shirt.”

We did the Nietzche thing again and I realized that not only did I want to go to the Park City Parade of Homes, I wanted to wear a golf shirt and so I went back down to the Bud Cave to select a golf shirt. I must say, I was nervous in my selection process. I had to find a golf shirt that would not only look good with my black silk shorts, it needed to be a shirt that would pass muster with the Lovely Sharon. I selected an orange golf shirt that had never been worn. It still had the tags on it. I put it on and then looked in the mirror. It looked good to me. I think my golf buddies would like it but I wonder what response I would get from the Lovely Sharon.

For the third time since my shower, I ascended the stairs from the Bud Cave to the kitchen. I walked to the Lovely Sharon and turned around; much like a prospective bride models a wedding dress for her mother. I almost leapt with joy when the Lovely Sharon said “You look ok.” But then she looked at my white golf socks (my anklets”). Apparently I had not pulled one of them all the way up and it was bunched low around my ankle. Sharon bent down and straightened it and said “OK now we can go.”

I let out a sigh of relief and headed to the garage door. On my way out I grabbed a “Black Chicken” Zinfandel Wine golf hat from the Biale Winery and put it on my head. She looked at me, shook her head and said “no way buster that makes your face look like a basketball.”

I took off the hat.

The houses at the Park City Parade of Homes were nice and there were a lot of visitors. By the third home I realized that I was the only man not wearing a tee shirt, and one of only 10 men not wearing a golf hat.

As we drove to Kamas for dinner after 8 hours of looking at homes and going to the Park City outlet stores, I looked over at the Lovely Sharon in the passenger seat of my Buick Enclave. She looked just as lovely as she had looked in the morning and I realized, just as Descartes had realized, I am lucky to be married to the Lovely Sharon.

My Rant

2011-08-20T07:40:00.002-06:00

I understand that we are difficult economic times both for our federal and state governments and for each of us as individual citizens. I am personally feeling the global financial meltdown. I am opposed to needless federal, state and local government regulation and I am opposed to needless government spending. But with that said I am alarmed at comments and actions of many right wing politicians.

Utah Republican Party Vice Chairman Lowell Nelson and Secretary Drew Chamberlain stated on a Utah radio program that they would do away with Social Security, Medicaid and public education. If you don’t think that is a little frightening, I would be surprised. These two men have the roles of getting Republican candidates elected to office in Utah. Do you really want leaders with those beliefs? Do we really want to do away with public education? Nelson said we have socialized public education and it could be done away with. If “socialization” means that citizens at large pay for the common good then of course it is socialized. Should we do away with public libraries? Should we do away with public law enforcement and fire departments? These too are socialized. What about the military, should we do away with a government funded military? Where do you stop? In a time where we are attempting to compete in world markets with China, Europe and other competitors do we really think it is a good idea to do away with public education? Are those beliefs the belief’s you want from political leaders?

Republican Presidential candidate Rick Perry is another frightening person. Two years ago or so, while he was governor of Texas, he talked about Texas seceding from the United States. Do you remember that, he actually discussed Texas not being a State in the United States? Do you really want a President who gave thought to his state leaving the Union?

Presidential candidate, Michelle Bachman has promised to do away with the Environmental Protection Agency. We have all complained or ridiculed various EPA regulations of one sort or another. But do we really want to get rid of restrictions on industry disposing of chemical and other waste in our rivers, our lakes, our oceans and our air. Is that a good thing? Do we believe that if left on their own that these industries will do the right thing?

It appears that there are many claiming to want to not just reduce excessive regulation and eliminate non helpful regulation but to essentially eliminate government and give industry and financial institutions the power to rule or at least to provide no restrictions on them. If you have a vicious dog, do you let him run loose in the neighbor without restriction? I have a hard time believing that Goldman Sachs or British Petroleum or others of that ilk are going to conduct their business for the good of the citizen. I have a hard time believing that Hospital Corporation of America or Blue Cross are going to make decisions for my individual good. They will make decisions for based upon profit. We all seem to hate Obama Care. The rally cry is to do away with it. Do we really think the Obama Care requirement that a person cannot be denied health care coverage because of a pre-existing condition should be done away with?

I get the feeling that many are essentially proposing a society of tribes rather than have a government that attempts to deal issues facing the collectively “we” in America. I keep thinking of the old adage, “be careful what you wish for.

Damn Raccoons

2011-08-17T12:38:00.005-06:00

The Lovely Sharon and I have a wonderful backyard. It is large, bordered by a creek, has a nice lawn and dozens of trees. In a portion of the backyard there is a wild area with no lawn. The are large trees, medium size trees and small trees. When I am in the backyard it feels like I am in a park or even a canyon habitat. We have squirrels that are chattering all day and evening, jumping from tree to tree. We are visted often by deer (see http://www.bheadman.com/2011/02/winter-deer.html). We share the yard with hawks, hummingbirds, a pair of Mallard ducks and other birds. We have a hammock tied to two trees that are perfect hammock hanging distance apart. In short, its a special place. But hold on, "Houston we have a problem". For the last few weeks those pesky, smart, devious, midnight marauders, also known as raccoons have been not only visiting the backyard, but have been on the upstairs patio deck and wreaking havoc.

I married the Lovely Sharon some seven years ago and moved in to her house after we were married. She has lived in the house now for more than 25 years. She has had raccoon issues before. One evening before we were married, I was visiting her and she walked me out to my car when I was leaving. We walked through the garage to my car which was parked in the driveway. She had two cars in the garage, her red Mustage convertible and her black Ford Explorer (she has since sold the Explorer). As we walked passed the Mustang we heard a noise under the car. We peered under the car and were surprised by a raccoon that was hiding out under the car. We pleaded, beg and entreated the animal to come out and leave the garage, but to no avail. He stayed put and just stared at us. The Lovely Sharon (this was before she was the Lovely Sharon, she was just Sharon at the time), grabbed a broom and tried to prod the raccoon out from under the car. He refused to budge. She started poking him with the broom. All that did was make him mad. He started grabbing the end of the broom. That is when things got really interesting. Sharon was holding one end of the broom, yelling at the raccoon, he was holding the other end of the broom making whatever sound an irritated raccoon makes and there was a standoff that lasted a couple of minutes. I backed off the action, not wanting to get killed with a stray swipe of the broom or by the teeth or claws of an incensed raccoon. Those of you who know the Lovely Sharon know that she is quiet and by and large a calm person. But I know how tough she can be and I figured she would best the raccoon at some point. I was right, she kept at it and ultimately the raccoon gave up, dropped his end of the broom and fled the garage.

Another time the Lovely Sharon was squirting off the deck and the hot tub building and stuck the garden hose in a space that was under the deck but above the hot tub roof. The space is not more than 18 inches high at the highest point and some three or four feet long. It is open on both ends. Sharon was standing on the patio stairs with her head about the height of the north end of the space. She stuck the hose in the space to squirt out the leaves and cobwebs without looking inside. What she didn't realize was that there was a raccoon relaxing in the shade in the small space. He was probably napping when she stuck the hose in and let the water go. To say the least, the raccoon was very surprised and starting screaming. When he started screaming in the dark space, it scared the Lovely Sharon and she started screaming. I was standing by watching this event (its normal for me to stand around watching the Lovely Sharon work, its my hobby and I am good at it). So there I was watching Sharon jumping around screaming and listening to the raccoon screaming and then the raccoon shot out of the south end of the space (the end away from Sharon). What the raccon failed to take into account was that the south end of the space was about 8 feet or so above the bottom level of the patio. He shot out of the darkened space and found himself in mid-air. Do you remember the Road Runner cartoons with Wiley Coyote? If so, you likely remember that when Wiley Coyote ran off a cliff, he did not immediately fall to Earth. He was suspended in air. That is until he looked down and realized that he was no longer on terra firma but was in open air. As soon as Wiley realized he was in the air with no ground support, that is when he would plummet to Earth. Well that seemed to happen in this case with the raccoon. He shot out of the space and was now 8 feet or so above the bottom patio. He seemed to stay their in mid-air until he looked down. Then he let out even a lowder, more terrifying scream and fell to the patio below. He landed on four feet and ran away.

There have been other raccoon stories with the Lovely Sharon but we have not seen any in the yard for a couple of years. However, recently we seem to have been visited after bed time by one or more raccoons. We bought a new hammock a few weeks ago. We hung it, tried it out and were generally pretty happy with it. It came with a black pillow that was about 4 feet long. One day we walked down to the hammock and the black pillow had scratches and tears on it. We looked the next day and the damage was worse. Then we notice that a red blanket covering an ottoman on our top deck had been damaged. Then we noticed other signs of critters on the deck. Finally Sharon bought a baby gate and installed it to block the intruder's path onto the deck. We have not notice any more signs of the raccoons on the deck. However, each day it seems like another rope on the hammock has been cut with a claw or chewed through. There are probably 6 ropes hanging off of the hammock, dangling straight down to the ground. It actually looks artistic. The two trees holding up a hammock with ropes dangling to the ground. At this point it is too artistic to lay in the hammock. Without the ropes supporting the hammock, one would not want to attempt to relax in it.

The only way for the raccoons to do what they are doing to the hammock, they have to actually be in the hammock. The image of a bunch of raccoons swinging in a hammock late at night going "weeeeeeeee", and chewing ropes and untying ropes is something I would, frankly, like to see. The Lovely Sharon is a little more irritated over recent raccoon actions than I am but she has had more one-on-one fights with the raccoons.

We decided not to get another new hammock this year. I suppose we will reconsider the hammock next spring

The Budorian Calendar

2011-08-03T14:42:00.001-06:00

August is here. In the Bud calendar, the only true calendar, the seasons are as follows:

Spring - March 1 to May 31

Summer – June 1 to August 31

Autumn – September 1 to November 30

Winter - December 1 to February 28

We are currently using the Gregorian calendar, at least most of us on the planet are. The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used calendar today. It is derived from the Julian calendar and was named after Pope Gregory XIII who decreed the new calendar on February 24, 1582. The years in the Gregorian calendar continue from the Julia calendar which began from the traditional birth year of Jesus, the ‘anno Domini’ (AD) era, sometimes referred to today as the ‘common era’ (CE). The change occurred to correct the Julian calendar which was slightly too long and consequently Easter was slowly drifting forward in the calendar. The solution was the addition of the leap year and the subtraction of ten days from the Julian calendar. The leap year rule states: Every year that is exactly divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are exactly divisible by 100; the centurial years that are exactly divisible by 400 are still leap years. For example, the year 1900 is not a leap year; the year 2000 is a leap year.

Without leap year, apparently Easter would ultimately fall on Halloween and Pope Gregory decided that kids already get enough candy on Halloween and if they got Easter candy around the same time it would not be good for their teeth and it would make them hyper-active due to an enormous sugar rush. So he adopted the Gregorian Calendar

Ok, enough of the Gregorian Calendar. As stated in the first line of this blog entry, the only true calendar, at least for the Northern Hemisphere, is the Bud Calendar. It can also be referred to as the Budorian Calendar. In order to prove that Budorian Calendar is correct let me ask you some questions:

1. When it is December 12th and the snow is 12 inches deep on your front lawn do you say, what a lovely autumn day? Of course not, you say it’s a cold winter day,

2. When it is June 2nd, the kids are out of school, its 85 degrees, the sun is shining and the grass is green do you say what a nice spring day? Of course not, you say what a lovely summer day.

I could go on for the other two seasons but I think you understand my point. So with all of us now agreeing the Budorian Calendar is the only true calendar, we now realize that we have only 27 more days of summer ahead of us. Say it at loud a couple of times: “There are only 27 more days of summer left.”

That is spooky. Where has the summer gone? I have not done most of the things I planned to do. I am still working on the wild part of the yard removing small trees, bushes and weeds. It looks like that before I am done, the leaves will be turning to their dazzling autumn colors and then they will start falling. Then I will have to rake them and bag them. Then the leaves will be gone and it will snow. Then I will have to shovel the snow. Then it will be spring and I will have to do spring clean up. Then it will be summer and…….

I am 58 years old. After considering the speed of the seasons, I think I will be 68 in about seven weeks.

So my advice is sit on the patio tonight with a glass of wine or a cold lemonade and look at the trees, look at the lawn and look at the flowers. Listen to the bugs, birds and squirrels chirping or singing or making whatever noise they are making. Watch the dusk come and feel the summer air cool down. Think about how wonderful summer is. Don’t think about the debt crisis, the democrats, the republicans, or the tea party. Think about planning at least one more barbeque with friends and family. Think about how good it feels to walk barefoot on your lawn on a summer evening. Think about how goofy your men friends look in shorts.

Most importantly, give thanks to me for developing the Budorian Calendar.

The Road Not Taken

2011-07-31T06:44:00.000-06:00

I like poetry. Not all poetry but there certain poets and certain poems that just grab me. My all-time favorite poem is the Road Not Taken by poet Robert Frost:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

This poem was written in 1920. It is easy to understand what is going on in this poem. A man is walking in the woods and comes to a fork in the road. He stands there contemplating which fork to take, the right fork or the left fork. He looks at and thinks about both forks and determines that each fork is equally worn and equally overlaid with un-trodden leaves so neither fork seems to have an attribute or appearance that would cause him to select it over the other fork. The man selects one of the forks, telling himself that he will someday come back take the other fork. Yet he knows it is unlikely that he will have the opportunity to do so. In the last paragraph he thinks about being in the future and looking back on his decision and concludes that he would have chosen the road less traveled.

The concept of this poem sums up each of the large and small decisions that we face each day and from time to time. As a teenager, the decision to get involved with one group of people over another group of people can make a significant difference as to who we become. For the better or for the worse. The decision on what college to attend, what major to choose, or whether to attend college at all, sets us down a life path that may possibly not be altered. The decision to date a particular person, to marry, or to divorce are our folks in the road.

Most of the time, we don’t know if we made the correct choice at the time we make the choice. We have to analyze our choice in the future, looking back in time. As I look back on my choices, I regret some and I applaud others. But regardless if they were the right choices or the wrong choices, they are now part of the fabric of my life and make me what I am and who I am.

I think when it is time for me to cross over from this life to the after-life, I would like this poem read to those that might be gathered, and when the reader finishes reading the poem, reading in a serious tone, like poetry readers seem to have: an earnest tone if you will, I would like the listeners to cheer. To cheer for my choices and to cheer for their own choices. I would like smiles around and warm embraces of each other.

As I continue on in life I look forward to making choices, choosing forks in the road.

Where Would You Go For Three Days

2011-07-30T07:19:00.001-06:00

I like fantasy or day dream questions. I always have. When Son Alex was a boy and then a teenager we would ask and answer fantasy questions at dinners. It was fun if his friends were with us each, in turn answering the questions. The Lovely Sharon and I ask and answer fantasy questions from time to time, but I don’t think she gets the same enjoyment as I do from the exercise. There are an unlimited number of fantasy questions and the beauty of it is thinking up a new one. Some of my favorite questions are:

- Who would you like to have dinner with- can be a living person or a historical person?
My Answer- Winston Churchill

- If you had to live somewhere else for six months, where would it be?
My Answer – London

-If you were going to operate a small business, not for money but for pure pleasure
My Answer – a book store.

-What is your favorite hotel?
My Answer – The Berkley in London

If you be fluent in a foreign language, what would it be?
My Answer - French

What is your favorite period of history?
My Answer- 1930 to 1950

What President would you like to be personal friends with – living or dead?
My Answer – Bill Clinton

Who would you like to hear pontificate on any subject – living or dead?
My answer – Conservative author, columnist and commentator William F. Buckley. Although I am not a conservative, I loved this guy’s brain and ability to put words together.

What actress do you have a crush on living or dead?
My Answer- Audrey Hepburn

What food do you wish you were an expert chef for?
My Answer - soup

I love these fantasy questions and I like to hear the responses of people to the questions.

Here is a fantasy question for you. If you could spend three days somewhere, all expenses paid, where would it be? Your three days are exclusive of travel to and fro. Your destination could be near or far. It could in a foreign land or in the good old USA. Your visit could be during any season, summer, autumn, winter or spring. Three days gives you enough time to get a feel of or experience a place but not long enough to do “10 countries in 10 days” type of stuff.

My answer is Paris. Paris in springtime. I have never been to Paris. I want to go to Paris. I want to stroll the banks of the Seine and observe young and old lovers holding hands, embracing and kissing. I want to kiss the Lovely Sharon on the Banks of the Seine. I want to drink strong coffee while sitting in an outdoor café. I want to sip wine and nibble on French bread in an outdoor café while watching people walk by. I want to browse in the Shakespeare and Company Book Store. I want to go to the Louve. I want to go to mass in Notre Dame on the Ile de St. Louis. I want to hum “every little breeze seems to whisper Louise” in a phony French accent imaging that I sound like Maurice Chevalier. I want to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I want to walk the streets of Paris and think of Hemmingway; imagining him during his time in Paris.

I bet you have a place you would where want to spend three days. I would be interested in your response and I would also be interested in your fantasy questions.

Our Pathethic Congress

2011-07-20T05:51:00.001-06:00

Our wonderful congressional leaders are so inspiring. Whether they are polictically left leaning, right leaning or in the middle, they are suppose to be adults, they are suppose to be looking at the good of the Country, the good of the average American, but by and large, they are uninspiring and are primarily interested in one thing only, their own reelection. Look at the following email sent by a Republican Congressman from Florida to a Democratic CongressWoman from Florida:

From: Z112 West, Allen (Republican Congressman from Florida)

Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 04:48 PM
To: Wasserman Schultz, Debbie (Democratic CongressWoman from Florida)
Cc: McCarthy, Kevin; Blyth, Jonathan; Pelosi, Nancy; Cantor, Eric

Subject: Unprofessional and Inappropriate Sophomoric Behavior from Wasserman-Schultz

Look, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional ,and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!

I am bringing your actions today to our Majority Leader and Majority Whip and from this time forward, understand that I shall defend myself forthright against your heinous characterless behavior……which dates back to the disgusting protest you ordered at my campaign hqs, October 2010 in Deerfield Beach.

You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!

Steadfast and Loyal

Congressman Allen B West (R-FL)

This does not sound like words from a statesman, it sounds like an angry neighbor in a fenceline dispute.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has publicly stated that his biggest goal is to cause President Obama to be defeated in the next election. He may not like the President, he may hate the President's policies, but to state that his biggest single goal is to defeat the President is a telling statement. McConnell's highest priority is not to help turn the economy around, it is not to save social security, it is not to aid in the creation of new jobs, it is not to help bring needed tax reform, it is not to help reduce the deficit, it is to defeat the President. Really, that is your biggest goal? His biggest goal is not to win the game but injure an opposing player. Would you want this man to be your next door neighbor. You wouldn't let your dog out of the house when McConnell was out in his yard.

As citizens do we really think that our "leaders" can set aside differences for the common good? Ansolutely not.

My suggestions:

1. Term Limits, Term Limits, Term Limits
2. All laws applicable to the rank and file American must be applicable to Congress and all members thereof.
3. No pension nor retirement benefitis should be paid from the US Government to the President, Senators or Congressmen. Election to office is not suppose to be a career.
4. Cut congressional staffs in half.

Emerald Green Shoes and Other Adventures

2011-07-15T09:29:00.004-06:00

The Lovely Sharon hates my shoes. Ok, she doesn’t hate all of my shoes, just some of my shoes. I have the normal shoes: black wing tip dress shoes, oxblood loafers with a single tassel, brown wing tips, oxblood tie dress shoes, and a gaggle of tennis shoes and boat shoes. I also have coven of golf shoes, although I probably have about 135 fewer pairs of golf shoes than does the Lovely Sharon.

The shoes that I have that the Lovely Sharon hates, is embarrassed by and avoids standing next to me when I wear them are:

I have a pair of Myjoy golf shoes that are putty and bright orange. If you are asking yourself what color putty is, well putty is sort of a grey with a hint of tan. The body of this pair of shoes is the putty color. The saddle color is the bright orange. I wear these shoes maybe 4 or 5 times per year. Whenever I do, people look at me as they might look at a serial killer. They don’t want to stare at me but they cannot keep themselves from doing so. Usually there is some confusion in their eyes as though they are not certain what they are seeing. When I purchased these shoes and they were shipped to me, the Lovely Sharon told me that she assumed that Foot Joy (the Myjoys company) must have made a mistake on my on-line order. I told her that there was no mistake, that I had carefully selected this color combination. After I said that, she just looked at me with a look that asked if I was kidding. I told her that I was not kidding. She just got quiet and left the kitchen. I later learned that she went to lie day on the bed with a damp cloth draped across her forehead.

I have a pair of neon yellow Adidas golf shoes. These shoes are solid bright, bright, bright yellow. I cannot tell you how bright the yellow is. It is bright. I did not actually select these shoes when I ordered them on-line. I thought I was ordering silver shoes with black highlights. When I opened the box after the shipment was sent to me, I was pretty surprised to see that I did not have the silver and black shoes but instead had my very own pair of bright yellow golf shoes. I don’t think I have ever seen a similar pair of shoes on any person or at any golf shop. When I look at the Adidas web site, it does not appear that they are even offered for sale any longer. Do you know what that means? That means I have a one-of kind, collector pair of golf shoes. They could be very valuable. I think I might leave them to Son Alex in my Will. “ To my beloved son Alex, I leave my bright yellow golf shoes”. I bet that would help ease his mind over my passing to the afterlife.

I have 2 pairs of multi-color boat shoes. I bought these shoes about 20 years ago. They are Cole Haan brand. One pair is off white, light green and light orange. The other pair is off white, light blue and light pink. These shoes are soft and comfortable. The Lovely Sharon keeps telling me to throw them out, but no way, I am keeping them forever. The pink and blue pair is in my golf locker. The green and orange pair is here at the house. I wear them to the grocery store sometimes. They fit in nicely in the vegetable department. These shoes may also be left to Son Alex upon my demise. He has to be loving the prospect of getting such a legacy.

The last pair I want to talk about has been ordered but has not been shipped to me yet. They are supposed to arrive next week. This is an emerald green pair of Ralph Lauren canvass tennis type of shoes. These shoes come in several colors but the emerarld greens caught my eye. The Lovely Sharon and I have had a couple of arguments about these shoes. I saw them in the Herrington catalogue and I thought “cool, very cool”. After seeing them in the catalogue I excitedly left the Bud Cave and sought out the Lovely Sharon who was upstairs working on her computer. I was pretty certain that she would love them as much as I did. Wrong. She hated them. When I told her that I was going to order them she told me that she was vetoing that idea. I defensively asked her how she could veto my purchase of emerald green shoes. Her response was “Because I can and I am”. She told me that emerald green shoes would not go with any outfit on the planet earth. I explained that men wore clothes not outfits and furthermore, that emerald green shoes would go with lots of clothes. She responded that they were not stylish. I told her that I bought clothes and shoes because I liked them not because they were in style or that they were acceptable to a fickle audience. We argued about the shoes and the claim of her veto rights for an hour or so. She thought she won. The next day I ordered the shoes. Here is a picture of them next to a red pair. If the emerald green pair is comfortable, I think I will buy the red ones.

My advice is to be bold, go where no man has gone before, wear the shoes you really want to wear. Don't let your spouse veto your choice.

Good Golf Last Week

2011-07-13T11:39:00.000-06:00

I am always impressed by people who play good golf either in absolute terms or just in comparison to their handicap. Last week there were three rounds of golf at Hidden Valley Country Club that were impressive to me.

Tire Guy Steve

The Staker Group was formed in 1989 by Gordon, Doug, Guy and me. The members of the group have changed over the years but we currently have some 20 members and on any given Thursday we have 8 to 16 players in the group. Every player has three bets against every other player. We play a point part game where a net par is zero points, a net birdie is plus 1 point and a net bogey is minus one point. Each of the front nine, the back none and the combined 18 holes, is a separate bet. For example, if you shoot one worse than your handicap on the front nine and two better than your handicap on the back nine, your point three par scores would be -1, +2 and +1 total. If I was minus two on the front nine and plus 1 on the back nine, my point par scores would be -2, +1 and -1 total. You would win the front nine bet, we would tie the back nine bet and you would win the combined 18 hole bet. Accordingly you would win two bets from me. Each player would compare their three point par scores with each other player and would either collect or pay (or tiewith ) each other player. Generally, if you shoot your handicap, you win money.

Last Thursday we had 11 players in the Staker Group game, two foursomes and a threesome. I was in the first foursome and one of my playing companions was Steve the Tire Guy. Steve is a 26 handicap and I have played with him dozens of times over the last few years. The Lovely Sharon and I have been to dinners at his house and Steve and his wife have been to dinners at our house. Steve and I are good friends. Like all of us, Steve’s game goes up and down. Well last Thursday Steve had a fantastic front nine. He was +7 in our point par game. Unbelievably he was 7 strokes better than his handicap on the front nine. In all my years of playing in the Staker Group, that was one of the best nine hole point par scores I have ever seen. It was a thrill to see this dear friend have such a great first nine holes. He played his handicap or one better than his handicap on the back nine so for the 18 holes, his point par was +7 or +8. Congratulations pal.

The Lovely Sharon

Late last Friday afternoon, the Lovely Sharon and I played 18 holes of golf at Hidden Valley Country Club. If you know the Lovely Sharon or have read this blog before, you know that the Lovely Sharon is a very fine golfer. Her handicap normally ranges from 3 to 7 and she plays many great rounds. Last Friday’s game was one of her best. Her total score was 73 on the par 72 Mountain/Valley Courses at Hidden Valley. On the front nine (the Mountain Nine) she shot 36 with two birdies and two bogies. Although we all have “should of”, “could of” and “would of’s” in golf, I can honestly the Lovely Sharon should have shot a 35 on the front nine. On the back nine she shot a 37 with a three putt bogey on the 17th hole and a lip out birdie putt on the 18th hole. It was a great round and I was very proud of the Lovely Sharon and it was a thrill to watch.

Head Pro Ryan

Ryan, the head golf professional at Hidden Valley Country Club, is a fine man, a wonderful head pro and a terrific golfer. Ryan plays often with the men and women members of the Club. I have played with him a couple of times. Last week, Ryan shot 60 at Hidden Valley. It is hard to believe that he was 12 under par as he set the new course record. I would have loved to have been there to see such a round of golf. A friend of mine and the Lovely Sharon, Shar did play with Ryan in his unbelievable round. Congratulations Ryan.

A Summer Evening

2011-07-07T08:50:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I worked from about 6:30 am until around 3:30. I arrived home from work around 4:00, changed into some yard work clothes, put on my Ipod and worked in the back yard for just over two hours. Right before I finished for the day, the Lovely Sharon walked into the back yard and looked around at what more had to be done on a future day. After 20 minutes or so, we walked into the house. I showered and put on some clean clothes and she made dinner. After dinner, I walked back out in the back yard with an icy glass of cranberry juice. It was sweet and cold and refreshing after a long day. The yard was more than just shady; it was dusk as the sun had gone down behind the hill west of our house. I listened to the creek that abuts our back yard and to the chattering squirrels leaping from limb to limb, tree to tree above me. I looked up hoping to spot at least one of the squirrels but they were too high in the trees and the twilight time of evening was upon me and so the squirrels remained hidden from my hopeful view.

I slowly walked by the creek for 30 yards or so, watching the fast water roll over the rocks and sand on the floor of the creek bed. I think for most of us the sounding of moving water is a soothing sound, an appealing sound that draws us to it. I watched the water and listened to the squirrels for 10 or 15 minutes. I looked down stream hoping to see the pair of mallards, a male and a female, that spend considerable time in my creek or on the bank next to the creek. They have been there off and on for at least a year. At first blush, the thought of a pair of ducks spending time at the creek rather than on a pond somewhere seemed strange to me. But I have grown accustomed to their presence and I always look for them when I am in the yard. I suppose the spot in the creek is a good choice for them. It is a quiet, shady and protected spot. We have deer in the yard from time to time by I have not seen coyotes or foxes. So maybe the lack of predators is also a drawing point for my ducks. Yes, I claim them as mine. I have developed an emotional bond with them and their presence at the creek is welcome by me. I doubt they have the same emotional bond with me but when I get near them they just look at me and do not fly away.

As I stood by my creek, it was getting closer to the darker end of twilight. I could see my neighbors on the other side of the creek. They were on their deck about 20 feet or so above the level of the creek. We exchanged waives but not words, which seemed appropriate so we did not disturb the sound of the creek, the squirrels and the birds. I finally walked up to the house, past the waterfall, onto the lower patio and sat in one of the chairs. I just sat there for awhile as it got progressively darker. It seemed that sounds of critters and insects got louder as nightfall arrived. I wasn’t thinking about anything; not the day’s work or the yard work, nothing. I just sat there and observed nature with my ears and eyes until it was too dark to see much other than the lights of the neighbor’s deck shining through the trees 60 or 70 yards away.

I finally stood up and took one last look at the yard, at the evening and went into the house. Summer evenings can bring a quiet joy and comfort that sometimes we don’t take the time to appreciate. I did appreciate last night.

America

2011-07-02T13:54:00.001-06:00

It is hard to believe that it is already the Independence Day weekend. The days are already getting shorter. The Lovey Sharon and I have spent considerable time the last month working in the yard, planting flowers and trimming everything. But after working in the yard for a couple of hours this morning, I am going to take it easy the rest of the afternoon and then we will join dear friends Norm and Terry for dinner at a new nearby restaurant. Sitting here in the Bud Cave, I have been thinking about our Country. How wonderful it is to be an American. Even the name the “United States of America” does something to me when I see it printed or hear it announced. I have never tired of seeing the stars and stripes flying against a blue sky. I don’t know whether our flag is actually the best looking flag of all the countries or if it just seems so to me.

When I think of the USA I think of many things. I think of the political discussions with my friends. How wonderful it is to debate and argue openly and in public over political and economic issues and to be able to criticize our elected leaders. As Americans it is not only our right but it is our responsibility to voice our opinion to stand up for our ideals and beliefs. How wonderful it is to be able to write on a blog that most of my friends (right leaning Republicans) are wrong about almost everything. How wonderful it is to have friends who tell me I am totally wrong on pretty much everything but yet they are still my friends.

We have so many gigantic issues facing us now, healthcare, Medicare, Social Security, runaway debt, unemployed, crashed real estate markets and spending billions of dollars weekly in Mideast wars that can, in my opinion not change the ingrained beliefs of people that have been solidified for two thousand years. I think about these issues constantly. I watch the news, I read the news and I listened to the news. Sometimes it is just too much. From now until Tuesday morning, July 5th I am not thinking about that stuff. I am going to think about the physical beautiful of our country, I am going to thank God for our freedom, I am going to give thanks to those men and women who have served in the military since 1777; those who gave their time and their lives because they believed it to be their duty. I am going to think about how lucky we are to be able to vote someone out of office rather than overthrow a ruler.

I am going to think of the following:

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

America, I love you and I am so thankful to be a citizen

Farewell to a Dear Friend

2011-06-25T14:06:00.005-06:00

It was around 5:00 or so last Saturday afternoon. I had just showered, put on some golf shorts and a tee shirt. I was tired after working all day in my yard with the Lovely Sharon and Son Alex. It was a tiring but a good day, working side by side with the two people who mean the most to me. Son Alex had left for his house and the Lovely Sharon was showering and washing her hair. I sat on a soft chair on my deck and decided to check my email. I saw two emails from Wayne, a good friend from Palm Desert. Wayne is the godfather of my Ironwood Country Club men’s golf group. Since most of the group is gone from Palm Desert for the summer season, I thought he must have sent some dumb joke or some inspiring email like we all get more often than we care to. As I opened the email on my cell phone I was only half paying attention to it. When I did read it, the words hit me like someone had struck me with a club. Wayne was informing our group of men friends that our dear friend Glenn has died in an automobile accident the previous evening and Glenn’s wife Diane had been injured.

The news was numbing. I ran to Sharon and told her what had happened. The phone number of one of Glenn’s sons was on Wayne’s email and I called him. He and Diane were at the funeral home arranging for the funeral and burial. This was all unbelievable. I ached and had tears in my eyes as I hung up from the call.

Glenn was just about as unique of a person as anyone I have ever met. I have been friends with him for ten years or so, meeting him and his first wife, also named Diane, at Ironwood Country Club. I played dozens of round of golf with him over the years. I had dinners and lunches with Glenn, I attended many parties that Glenn also attended. I knew this man and knew him well and the thought of him not being alive was more upsetting that I could have guessed.

Glenn had a love of life, a love of golf, a love of jokes and a love of his family. His first wife, Diane and he had been married for more than 40 years when she passed away from cancer. The Lovely Sharon and I played golf with Glenn and Diane not too long before she died. She was ill and we all knew that she would not be getting any better, but during our golf round, Glenn was still trying to help her with her swing. I can still remember that day when Glenn was trying to get Diane to try a new, in the vogue, golf swing and I can still hear her objection telling him in a rather bothered tone that “I don’t want to do ‘stack and tilt’”.

Most of the time when I saw Glenn he would come to me, shake my hand or put his arm around me. He would frequently say something about the Lovely Sharon’s golf shoe collection or he would tell me how good of a golfer she was and how bad I was. He was right on both accounts. He would always have some very dumb joke that took forever to tell and he would have forgotten that he had already told it to me. I would always let him tell me the joke again because I loved how much pleasure he got out of telling the joke. Sometimes his jokes or comments were a bit risqué and I think more than a few ladies at Ironwood, were not happy about his adolescent behavior. Adolescent is a good word for Glenn. He had a joy of life and friends and golf that was boyish in its enthusiasm. He was 69 years old but he was not an old man. I think Glenn’s emotional age stopped around 16 or 17 years old. Some of us just get to be grumpy old men as we age and we lose that adolescent ability to see wonder or humor or awe around us. That was not Glenn, he enjoyed his life and when I was with him, he made me enjoy my life more.

After Glenn’s first wife Diane died, Glenn was alone and he was not a man who was meant to be alone. Glenn needed a partner. He needed someone to impress, to laugh at his jokes to scold him when he needed to be scolded which was fairly often. He was lucky to find a new lady and coincidentally, she was also named Diane. They were married this spring near the 14th hole at Ironwood’s South Course, the same place where the Lovey Sharon and I were married in March 2004. The wedding was short and sweet and so very private. There were only seven of us there including the bride and groom and the retired judge who conducted the ceremony. I was pleased to be one of the witnesses signing the official state of California form of marriage. A week or so later, the newly married couple had a reception at the Clubhouse which was attended by so many friends. There were hugs and laughs and heartfelt pleasure that these two people had found each other. Glenn and Diane asked me to give the official toast at the wedding reception which I did and which I was so honored to do.

Glenn read this blog and frequently said something about it. He made fun of me or suggested new topics or told me he liked the blog. Last year at a party he came up to me and told me to write a blog entry about him. I did and if you care to, you can read it at http://www.bheadman.com/2010/02/dentist-glenn-from-minnesota.html.

So last Saturday night the Lovely Sharon and I sat on our deck and toasted Glenn again. I cried several times that night. For some reason this gentle adolescent man had made an impact on me. I will miss him. I will miss his laughter and I will try to be just a little more adolescent.

Good Bye my dear friend.

Fitted Sheets

2011-06-13T12:26:00.000-06:00

I absolutely hate putting a fitted sheet (the bottom sheet) on a bed. You think it would be easy to take your sheets off the bed, take off the pillow cases from the pillows, throw them all in the washer, wash them, put them in the dryer, dry them and then put the clean sheets back on the bed and the clean pillow cases back on the pillows but noooooooo! When I take the clean fitted sheet in my hand and stand over the bed getting emotionally ready to attempt to put the fitted sheet on the bed, I start to panic. I begin sweating, my heart starts pounding and I feel somewhat light headed. I hold the sheet, I look at the bed and I try to figure out what ends of the fitted sheet are the top and bottom. You know what a fitted sheet looks like in your hand; it is not easily apparent where the top is. I get it wrong almost every time. I almost always start by trying to put the top and bottom on the sides of the bed instead of on the top and bottom of the bed. They don’t fit that way. Trying to make them fit that way is an exercise in futility.

There is nothing on the fitted sheet that provides easy information as to what is the top and what are the sides. Consider the flat sheet, which is the sheet that goes on top of you not under you. The flat sheet has a 3 or 4 inch hem on the top. You look at the flat sheet and within seconds you can tell which of the four sides is the top of the sheet. There is no guess work. You do not have to spend 8 or 10 minutes revolving the sheet around the bed until you determine which side is the top. If I manufactured and sold sheets I would put the word “Top” on the top of the fitted sheet. If this were done poor saps like me would be able, without stress, to easily determine what goes where.

Even if you finally figure out which side is the top of the fitted sheet, it is like a wrestling match with a monkey trying to get the fitted sheet to stay adhered to the bed by being wrapped around the corners of top mattress. I take one corner of the fitted sheet and I loop it over a corner of the bed. Generally, I start with the top right hand corner of the sheet where I hook it over the top right hand corner of the bed. I then take the diagonal corner and walk carefully around the bed to the bottom left corner. I carefully, oh so carefully, slide the left hand lower corner of the fitted sheet over the left hand lower corner of the bed. It seems that I have done this perfectly so that the two diagnol corners seem to be secure. I then gently take a third corner of the fitted sheet in my hand and carefully move to the corresponding corner of the bed. Then it happens; one or both of the corners of the fitted sheet that I truly believed were securely attached to the two diagonal corners of the bed, spring free. It is like pulling back the elastic or rubber part of a sling shot where the tension occurs in the sheet and it goes sailing across the bed. Then it just lies there on the surface of the bed. I look at it, now wadded in a heap and it looks at me. It looks at me with a smirk and you can almost hear it whisper “Want to try again”? What are you going to do? You have to try it again because in order to make the bed you have to start with a foundation of the fitted sheet properly affixed to the bed before you put the top sheet, blankets and bed spread on the bed.

So I try again and get the same result but this time the sheet is flying around the bedroom and lands on the floor. Now not only do I stare at the sheet but I use some choice language (language you would not use in front of your mother) encouraging the sheet to be more cooperative. Usually after 4 or 5 attempts I get three of the four corners secured. At this time I stop for a glass of wine and sometimes refresh with a shower. Then I move to the fourth corner very slowly and quietly. I act as though I am doing something else like straightening books or measuring the dust on my night stand. That way the sheet does not know exactly what I am going to do next. It lets it guard down. It relaxes on the bed as I get closer and closer to the elusive fourth corner. I keep my head turned sideways so it appears that I am looking somewhere else when I am in fact looking at the sheet. Finally, I get right next to the sheet, quickly bend down, grab the final corner and slip it over the last corner of the bed. I stand up majestically, proudly with my hands in the air, like a rodeo cowboy who has just tied to the legs of steer after jumping from his horse and lassoing it. As I back away, inevitably, one of the other corners of the fitted sheet pops free of the bed. Now I get angry, not a little angry, but really angry. I start over. Ultimately I win; I get the fitted sheet properly secured to the bed. But it takes 15 minutes and causes me significant frustration. I am pretty certain the fitted sheet wants to be on the bed but it it believes there is a certain sport in the event, a competition between me and the fitted sheet and it loves that competition.

I think someone should make a mattress with maybe 30 or 40 fitted sheets built right in the mattress like tissues in a tissue box. You use one and the next one pops up. You use up one fitted sheet, you rip it off the bed and throw it away and the next new clean fitted sheet pops up. No stress, easy and fast. When you have gone through all of the fitted sheets you throw the mattress away.

Books to Check Out

2011-06-10T07:56:00.000-06:00

As many of you know I am an avid reader of fiction and non-fiction. The Lovely Sharon is a reader as well. You might want to check out some of the books I have read in the last several months.

Author John Sandford has several series of fictional works. Wikpedia has the following information about Sandford: John Sandford is the pseudonym of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling novelist John Roswell Camp. Camp was born on February 23, 1944, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He received a B.A. in American History and a Masters in Journalism from the University of Iowa. Camp worked for the Miami Herald from 1971 to 1978. In 1978 he moved to Minneapolis and started working for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press as a features reporter before becoming a daily columnist at the newspaper in 1980. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1980, for a series of stories on Native American culture. In 1986 he won the Pulitzer for Non-Deadline Feature Writing for a series of stories collectively titled "Life on the Land: An American Farm Family". The series, written during the midwest farm crisis, followed a typical southwest Minnesota farm family through the course of a full year. He stopped writing full-time for the Pioneer Press in 1989, although he didn't stop entirely until the next year. In 1989 Camp wrote two novels that would become the first books of his two best-selling series. Both novels, The Fool's Run of the Kidd series and Rules of Prey of the Prey series, were accepted and due to be published three months apart. The Fool's Run was published under the name "John Camp", but the publisher asked Camp to provide a pseudonym for Rules of Prey so it was published under the name "John Sandford". After the Prey series proved to be more popular, with its charismatic protagonist Lucas Davenport, The Fool's Run and all of its subsequent sequels have been published under the "Sandford" name. In 2007 Sandford started a third series featuring Virgil Flowers, who previously was a supporting character in Invisible Prey.

During the last few months I have read Sandford’s Naked Prey, Broken Prey and Wicked Prey books. They were terrific reads. I plan to read more of the Prey Serious. The Sandford Website is http://www.johnsandford.org/

A non-fiction book you may consider if you are interested in Cuban History or in Bacardi Rum is Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause byTom Gjelten, a correspondent for National Public Radio. I provided some legal services to a relative of Mr. Gjelten and was fortunate to speak with him on the phone a couple for times and engage in several email communications. Mr. Gjelten sent me an enscribed copy of this book and a nice note. Although Bacardi rum is made in Puerto Rico and other Carribbean countries, the Bacardi family and the rum were of Cuban descent. This book is well written and is an interesting history of the family, the business and Cuba and I highly recommend it.

When I first started dating the Lovely Sharon, she turned me onto Stuart Woods books. Mr. Woods has a series of books about lawyer Stone Barrington. These books are quick fast reads. In the last couple of years a few of the Barrington Books did not quite grab me. With that said, I found the latest entry in the Barrington Series, Bel- Air Dead, to be quite enjoyable. Like all of the Barrington books, this is a fast read with lots of action, beautiful women, murder, jets, and big money. Stuart Wood’s Web site is http://www.stuartwoods.com/.

A very informative, well written and easy to read book is the recently published history of the investment bank Goldman Sachs. Many of the current and former government financial decisions makers came out of or went back into Goldman Sachs. A recent book, Money and Power; How Goldman Sachs came to Rule the World by William Cohan, almost reads like a novel. Cohan asserts that all of Wall Street in general exerts a tremendous influence over the federal government, in terms of helping to write the regulations of financial systems, but he argues that Goldman Sachs in particular has used its power. According to Cohan, "Goldman Sachs especially has been very, very good at getting right up against that line of wrongdoing. They know exactly where that line is, and they're very careful most of the time to just stay on this side, and they help influence the way regulations are enforced."

I am currently reading a new biography of Robert Redford.

High School Reunion

2011-06-05T07:35:00.006-06:00

Last night the Lovely Sharon and I attended my 40th High School Reunion.   In June 2009, I wrote an essay in this blog about Granite High School - http://www.bheadman.com/2009/06/granite-high-school.html - and its closure after more than 100 years of service as an educational instituion.    When I first heard that the 40th reunion would be held in June 2011, I was not particularly excited about attending. I thought maybe I would attend but maybe I wouldn't. I knew I would be busy in early June with a family wedding and other events and responsibilites. Except for a few people, I really had not kept in contact with classmates from a class of almost 700. I had not seen most of my classmates since graduation day. As I thought about the reunion I wondered if I would recognized people, remember names or even care if I did. But then It happened, I started receiving emails from the reunion organizers encouraging me to attend. I finally thought, what the heck, I would go.

The reunion was held at the school, in the cafeteria. The Lovely Sharon and I arrived at 6:00, the designated starting time. As we drove into the parking lot, I was surprised at how many cars were already there. I checked in at the registration desk and was given a name tag with my picture from our senior yearbook. Sharon was given a blank name tag on which she wrote her name. It was then time to mingle. As I looked around at faces and bodies, I only recognized a few classmates. But the strangest thing happened. As I approached people or was approached by people, I looked at their faces, old faces by and large, and then looked at their name tag picture, I was taken back 40 years. I could picture them as they were back then. I could remember them and remember the friendship and warmth I felt for them. I remembered how they were so important in my life 40 years ago. This happened over and over all evening as I was reacquainted with dozens of old friends.   It was somewhat odd that as I talked to classmates and looked them in the eye, I did not see the almost sixty year old man or sixty year old woman. I saw the young person they once were.

These were the people that, along with me, transitioned in high school from adolescent to young adult. Forty years ago we shared a common experience at Granite High.  We shared laughter, parties, school events, and high school struggles. On a more global scale, we have shared the history of the last 58 years.  We shared Vietnam, presidential terms, terrorists, natural disasters, technological advancements and financial booms and busts. We have raised children and contributed to society in various ways during the last 40 years.

At one point in the evening, the reunion organizers paid respect to those who had died since high school. As their pictures were shown on  a screen in the darkened room, I felt a lump in my throat as I contemplated that these friends had died. I was aware of some of the deaths but not all of them. Surprisingly, I felt a personal loss over their deaths, lives cut short, leaving familes and friends behind.

I talked to football and basketball teamates. I talked to fellow chorus and Madrigal members, I talked to student government members and to so many others.   I talked to so many people that I was overwhelmed with the flood of memories. I was surprised at things people told me that I had said to them 40 or more years ago, or things I did with them or for them. One friend, a basketball teammate, told me that I had taught him to play the harmonica, something I did not recall. Several people told me that I had shown act of kindness to them or had encouraged them in some way all those years ago. As you may expect, this made me feel good about myself. Wouldn't it be sad to think that 40 years ago you were mean or unkind to someone would remembered such unkindness all of these years later.

At one point in the evening we all stood up and sang our school song, "The Song of the G". We sang with emotion, warmth and passsion. I got misty eyed as I sang, recalling every word these 40 years later. I looked around as we sang and it appeared that this communal activity of singing this song, a song that represented a common bond and a time of life when we were innocent and when all things seemed possible, was having the same effect on others that it was having on me. When we finished the song, I kind of wished that we could sing it again, right then, right there. It felt like looking at photos in an old photo albumn where you let your gaze linger on the photo a little longer.   Where you wanted to feel the edges of the photo with your fingers and where you wanted to go back in your mind and recall that time.

Life is a journey, a progession where we move forward and get knocked back. Important life events of college, jobs, mariages, divorces, grandchildren, illness and deaths have enriched and challenged each of us. Each of us have traveled our own life path, meeting new friends, raising families, working, playing, having new interests, and growing each in our own way. We each have things we are proud of and things we regret but for a few hours last night we were at a common place together, celebrating each other, celebrating our own lives and recalling times past, times that helped make us who we now are.

I thank the event organizers and workers, Lorrie, Diena, Nancy, Steve, Colby, Vickie, Ralph, Mike, Joe and others for putting together such a wonderful evening.

She's Back In Town

2011-05-31T08:43:00.002-06:00

The Lovely Sharon arrived back in Utah Saturday night after some seven months in Palm Desert. She came back to a cold and rainy Sunday and Monday Memorial Day weekend. I must say that it was nice to have her back. It was nice to have her walk around the house and see just how ineffective I am as a house cleaner. We had a considerable discussion about how confusing the plastic storage container and plastic lid draw in the kitchen has become during her seven months in Palm Desert. For me, finding a matching storage container and lid from the drawer, was a wonderful challenge. It took analysis, patience and visual recognition skills. Before she rearranged the drawer, the lids and bowls looked like a bunch of intertwined snakes. Now there are orderly stacks of bowls and lids. Not quite as beautiful as the mosaic of bowls and lids I had created over the winter but no doubt easier to deal with.

She has been home for approximately 48 hours and she has already cleaned the refrigerator, cleaned the kitchen floor (although I cleaned the kitchen floor right before she arrived home), and plucked the tiny weeds from the driveway cracks. She figured out what was wrong with one of the TV’s (the cable was unplugged). She threw away a bunch of the stuff in the freezer compartments of the upstairs and downstairs fridges. She threw away can soups that had expired. She asked me why I had approximate 9 unopened bottles of different kinds of barbeque sauce in the pantry (I had no reasonable answer). We unloaded her car and the six boxes of clothes she shipped home. There are now more clothes on her bedroom floor than are hanging in most women’s clothing stores. She will be arranging and hanging up the clothes during the next week or so.

Yesterday I did a lot of manly stuff with her. We looked at makeup at Macy’s. We bought makeup at Macy’s. We look at ladies clothes at Macy’s and Dillards. We looked at ladies shoes at Dillards. We went to five different stores to look for a wedding shower gift. We ordered a wedding gift online. I feel most proud of myself for keeping her distracted so we didn’t end up in the handbag departments of Macy’s and Dillards. Once you get in those departments, you are stuck for 45 minutes or so why she inspects every purse.

We went into some type of makeup/personal care store for women that I had never heard of. She didn’t want to buy anything she just wanted to see if they carried the shampoo she likes for future reference. They did.

We stopped at Walgreens to buy cards. Father’s Day Cards, wedding cards, wedding shower cards. When I go to buy cards, I see a card pick it up, read it and buy it. Usually I don’t look at more than two cards, usually just one. When the Lovely Sharon goes to buy cards, she looks at every card; and I mean every card. She picks each card up, looks at the cover, reads the inside, and checks the price on the back page. Each card inspection routine takes about 20 seconds. Multiply 20 seconds by 75 cards and you can see that this is not an event for the faint of heart. We then looked at decorative gift bags for the wedding shower gifts. This did not take too long as she looked at only 8 or 10 bags. Once the proper bag was selected, we spent a few more minutes selecting the proper size and color of tissue paper to put in the gift bags wrapped around the wedding shower gifts.

We passed a movie theater. I asked her if she want to go see Hangover 2. She responded with a “thanks but no thanks”. But she said that she would go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I said fine and she went into the Theater and bought tickets for the 3:10 show. We came back at 2:45 but found that every seat was already taken except for the first two rows. Those rows were so close that it makes you seasick to watch the movie. So we went back to the cashier to trade the tickets in for the 4:10 movie. That movie had assigned seats so we ended up getting two handicap seats. We went back home to kill time before the 4:10 movie. So we were at the theater three times in one day. Once to buy the tickets in advance, once to find out the seats were taken and finally to watch the movie. Frankly the movie was not that great.

After the movie I suggested dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The Lovely Sharon agreed and we headed off. Before we arrived, she informed me she preferred Indian food so we went to an Indian restaurant.

By the time we arrived home last night. I was exhausted. I headed to bed, to read and watch TV but fell asleep before doing much of either.

When the Lovely Sharon is back in Salt Lake, life is different for me. I cannot tell you how glad I am that she is back.

I'm Back

2011-05-27T08:10:00.000-06:00

It has been a while since I have posted to this blog. I was in an out of town, fought off a battle of pneumonia and just got lazy. There has been a lot of major and minor news since I last wrote.

-The tsunami and nuclear plant melt down in Japan;

-The termination of Bin Laden. The Pakistan government apparently had no clue he had been living within a mile of one of their military academies for five years;

-Floods in the US;

-Tornado’s in the US;

-Donald Trump bailed out of the presidential race after he learned President Obama was indeed born in the United States;

-Donald Trump exploded with numerous “F” bombs in a speech at a women’s conference in Las Vegas;

-On Meet the Press on May 15, 2011,Newt Gingrich referred to Paul Ryan’s Medicare voucher plan as right wing social engineering and was opposed to it. After taking heat from right wingers after this statement, on May 16, 2001, the very next day, Newt back pedaled and said he was in favor of it;

-There was a royal wedding in England;

-There is a new American Idol Champion;

-Oprah had her last show;

So, I have brought you up to date. I intend to get back to regular posting.

The Way We Were

2011-03-27T20:52:00.005-06:00

I watched the movie “The Way We were” this afternoon. It triggered a flood of memories and thoughts. The movie was filmed in 1972-1973 and was released in 1973. I saw the movie when it first hit the theaters and a few times since then. The reason that the movie takes me back in time is not because of the film itself but because in the summer and autumn of 1972 I was 20 years old and was working on the congressional campaign of Wayne Owens. That was Wayne’s first election. He had previously worked as an aide to Senator Frank Moss, to Robert F. Kennedy and to Teddy Kennedy.

I worked as an unpaid volunteer for Wayne during that campaign. It was my first foray into politics. I worked on the campaign for 5 months or so. I knocked on doors, I mailed letters, I delivered and installed lawn signs. I answered phones. Whatever needed to be done by a volunteer, I did it. I met Teddy Kennedy who came to Utah to campaign for Wayne. Current MSBC commentator Chris Matthews worked on the campaign as well. I met many people that I admired then and still do.

Now back to the movie. One Saturday in October 1972 candidate Wayne, Robert Redford, my first wife (who at the time was not my wife) me, and two or three others spent the day campaigning in various Salt Lake City locations. We went to several shopping malls and to the University of Utah Football Stadium before an afternoon game. All of us drove together from location to location in a small motor home. We talked politics and other topics. I asked Mr. Redford if he was working on any movies at the time. He told me he was working on a movie with Barbara Streisand. I asked him how that was and he said it was good. I was impressed by him because he did not act like a movie star. He acted like a citizen concerned about his State. He did not tell me the name of the movie and that was the end of our conversation about the movie. As we campaigned that day the other campaign workers and I walked ahead of Wayne and Mr. Redford and brought people back to meet the candidate and the movie star. We spent 7 or 8 hours together that day. It was fun and exciting, a day to remember.

The movie came out the next year. It’s a beautiful movie. The cinematography is beautiful. The soundtrack is beautiful and sentimental. It is good love story constructed around political events during two of my favorite decades; the 1940’s and the 1950’s. Almost 40 years later the film still holds up.

After that October day, Wayne Owens was elected to congress. I got married, graduated from college and law school. Later Wayne ran for the US Senate and lost and a few years later he was elected to Congress for another three or four terms When he was no longer in Congress he continued to be actively involved in the Mid East peace process and worked for King Hussein of Jordan. After his congressional career ended, he officed at my law offices for awhile. He was the founder of the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Development. In December 2002, Wayne was in Tel Aviv working on peace process matters. One day he was walking on the beach and collapsed and died.

Wayne was a hero to me. He was kind, gentle and smart. He worked hard for what he believed in. He stood up and fought for what was important to him. His death was a great loss for many, including me.

As I watched the movie today, I thought about that election, I thought about my college years, law school and my first marriage and I thought about Wayne Owens. I thought about the twists and turns of my life during the more than 38 years since that October Saturday. I thought about how all the experiences of my life, good and bad, have become a part of the fabric of my life. I am astonished to be 58 years old. These memories seem like they are of events of just a few years ago. I felt a certain wistfulness, sentimentality and loneliness as I watched the movie. The Salt Lake house has been quiet this past week. The Utah weather has not been good. It was probably a good day to watch the movie.

Why is the Lovely Sharon in Palm Desert?

2011-03-27T14:17:00.001-06:00

Utah people often ask me why the Lovely Sharon spends so much time in Palm Desert. They ask me "What does she do there all winter"? I have been asked that question dozens of time but I am still surprised when I get asked the question. Let me explain the reason through photos. There is no editorial comment, just photos. All of the photos of my Utah existence were taken this morning, Sunday March 27, 2011. The Palm Desert photos were taken over the last several weeks.

The Salt Lake Yard:

The Palm Desert Yard:

The Salt Lake Garage:

The Palm Desert Garage:

The Salt Lake House:

The Palm Desert House:

The Salt Lake Golf Course:

The Palm Desert Golf Course:

Any further questions?

Watching Women

2011-03-21T13:58:00.006-06:00

There are certain things that I like to watch a woman do. None of the things described below is meant to be racy, risqué or a double entendre. They are just regular things that for some reason or another I like to see a woman do. I know you must be thinking that this is one of the dumbest blog entries that I have every posted. But I don’t completely agree with that sentiment. I have posted plenty of dumb entries and I am pretty certain I will be posting a bunch more dumb entries in the future. This entry is merely one train car on the train of dumb blogs. If I have not already completely lost you, I am sure by the time you get to the end of this blog, you will either believe you have completely wasted you time or you might start thinking what things that you like to see a woman do.

I like to see a good woman golfer play golf. The Lovely Sharon is a very good golfer and I love to watch her play golf. Many of her friends in Palm Desert and in Salt Lake are very good golfers. I like to see them swing the club, I like to see their passion for the game, I like to see their disappointment over a bad shot and how they don’t over celebrate on a good shot. For them to hit a good shot is not such a rare ocurrence. Hell, if I hit a good shot, which happens about three times a year, I do a stupid moon walk dance that is probably illegal in some countries. I usually couple this dance with turning my hat backwards and getting a very stupid grin on my face. I lift my arms and shake my shoulders in a spastic display of what looks like the complete loss of muscle control. It is such an usual and uncommon experience for me to hit a good shot, that I imagine that I must feel like the first astronaut to walk on the moon, or the first man to come upon the Grand Canyon, or Sarah Palin when she first saw Russia from her front door. When the Lovely Sharon hits a good shot, she calmly puts her club back in her golf bag and moves on down for her next shot.

I like to see a woman on a ladder doing something. Fixing a vent, or replacing a light bulb or dusting something. Yesterday in Palm Desert, the Lovely Sharon had to check out some light bulbs on a ledge in our family room. I brought the ladder into the house. She climbed the ladder and was checking things out as I sat on the couch. She looked kind of cute up there. I then thought about the other times I have seen women on ladders and I realized they all look kind of cute up there. There is nothing risqué about my thoughts about this. I am not talking about looking at anything inappropriate. Just a woman in jeans or shorts or in Sharon’s case yesterday, golf clothes, on a ladder doing something that needs to be done. I think you will agree with me that there is nothing special about a man on a ladder. It is for that reason that I sat on the couch and drank a glass of ice water while the Lovely Sharon was on the ladder. I knew that my presence on the ladder would bring no particular joy or be of any interest to Sharon. So I decided to celebrate her ladder adventure from the couch.

I like to see a woman reading a book while wearing reading glasses. Seeing her sitting in a comfortable chair with a book in her hands and glasses on her nose is just a nice sight to see. Most times younger women, just like younger men, do not need reading glasses. So the woman that fits this category for me is a more mature woman; late thirties on. This woman knows stuff about life and the world. She has opinions about things that matter. She may be single or married, she may work outside of the home or she may not. She is reading for knowledge or entertainment but she is usually a substantive person in her own right. I love to read and I have many male friends who are readers. But somehow to see a man read just isn’t as interesting as watching a woman read. Maybe its because the men moving their lips is a distraction (ok I know bad joke). But is true; watch a woman wearing glasses read a book compared to a man wearing glasses read a book. Who is more interesting to watch?

I like to watch a woman buy shoes. If a man buys shoes, he walks into the shoe store or shoe department. Sees a black pair of shoes and within 3 minutes he has tried them on and completed the purchase. Go into Macy’s and find a nice soft seat in the ladies shoe department. Being married to the Lovely Sharon, I spend a lot of time in shoe stores and shoe departments and I have become an educated observer of women buying shoes. I, in fact, am a frequent buyer of shoes for Sharon. The discerning woman shoe shopper often starts at the "on sale" shoe rack. She pretty much picks up each pair of shoes in her size and the sizes near her size. She looks at the bottom of the shoe, the inside of the shoe and, if she at least sort of likes it, she tries it on. Frequently she will lift the foot with the shoe candidate off of the ground and turn her toes to the left and then to the right. Then she flexes her foot so the toes are pointed up as far as they can. She then decides to put them back on the rack if they have been rejected or she sets them aside for future consideration. In my experience, there are at least two separate analysis undertakings before the purchase decision is made. From here she continues through the “on sale” shoes. After that analysis is exhausted, she moves on to the shoes that are not “on sale” and the process continues. When the Lovely Sharon goes into a shoe store, she leaves no stone unturned. Every potential shoe purchase candidate is looked at and considered. It is almost like the purchaser of a thoroughbred horse looking at a horse. She checks the teeth, the hooves, the tail, and the eyes. She checks out the pedigree and then makes her decision. You don’t want to get home from the shoe store and realize you bought a nag.

There are a number of things I hate to watch women do and I have mentioned them in other blog entries. They include watching them (from behind) at a bank drive through or a fast food drive through. This is painful for me to do. It always makes me glad that I don’t have a anti-aircraft gun mounted on the hood of my car. If I did, I would no doubt use it.

So if you made it this far you are probably wondering why you bothered. Well I thought it was interesting.

Hong Dong and Not So Important Stuff

2011-03-17T11:26:00.004-06:00

This is another miscellaneous mop up type of blog. Unrelated items of information that are probably of no interest to any person on the planet but me.

1. Last night I reveived an email from the Lovely Sharon, who is in Palm Desert, explaining that she had a tiring, busy day and was unable to call me. She explained how she had to (i) play 18 holes of golf in the morning; (ii) go for a walk after golf; (iii) play gin with the ladies after her walk; (iv) have dinner and cocktails with the ladies after gin; and (v) after dinner, the ladies went to one of the ladies house for cocktails and to see the house. She left home around 9:00 am and got back home around 8:00 p.m. I really felt sorry for her. I left home at 6:00 am, went to work, left work at 5:00 pm. went home, washed clothes, made dinner, washed the dishes and responded to client email until 8:00. Then I went to bed

2. Today is St Patrick's Day. One of the best St. Patrick's Day I had was in Chicago. It was a party all day and it was great to see the Chicago River dyed Green. Its great that here at my law firm there are Jewish and Mormon guys wearing green clothing and acting real excited because its St. Patrick's Day. Go figure I have on an aqua colored shirt because I don't have a green shirt.

3. In China, a man just bought a red Tibetan Mastiff dog for $1,500,000. The dog may grow to be 285 pounds. The owner is going to breed the dog at $15,000 a shot (ok it may not be the best word but you know what I mean). The dog's name is "Hong Dong". I suppose a 285 pound breeding dog ought to be named Hong Dong. I think the dong reference means something else in Chinese. In fact in Chinese Hong Dong means Big Splash. I suppose that is also appropriate for a 285 pound breeding dog. Sometimes you see people selling puppies on a street corner for $5.00 each. Do you realize that you could buy 300,000 - $5.00 dogs for $1,500,000. I mean think about it, that would be like stealing candy from a baby. What a bargain.

4. Its hard for me to do a miscellaneous blog without saying what a Hong Dong that Glenn Beck is. He recently commented on how God or Gaia (mother earth) punished Japan and its people with its recent troubles. Comedian Rush Limbaugh said the same thing. Brilliant boys. If Gaia means mother earth I would like to know what other mother phrase I could call these two buffoons.

5. My yard had spring clean up this week. All the fallen limbs are now gone and it is starting to look like I want be out in it doing stuff.

6. Monday is my 7th Wedding Anniversary. Coincidentally, its the Lovely Sharon's 7th wedding anniversary as well.

Ok that is, back to work for me.

Jimmered

2011-03-16T16:20:00.001-06:00

I am an alumnus of the University of Utah for both undergraduate school and law school. I am Utah fan. “Who am I Sir a Utah Man am I sir”. By just writing those words I can hear the fight song in my mind. Unlike many Utah fans I do not hate BYU. In fact, I always pull for BYU unless they are playing the University of Utah. However, I am not a BYU fan. If they win ok, if they lose ok. I hope they do well but I don’t feel bad if they don’t. My law firm is by and large a Utah law firm and not a BYU law firm. In general, this firm bleeds Utah red and not BYU blue.

With that preliminary I will tell that this law firm, as well as me personally, have been “Jimmered”. We are fans of Jimmer Fredette, the amazing BYU guard and we want Jimmer and his team to win. (I call it his team rather than BYU because it is hard for a Utah man to use the letters “BYU” too often in one paragraph. We have been Jimmer fans for the last couple of years because his aunt Susan is our office manager. Susan is married to Jimmer’s uncle. Susan is a wonderful and effective and extremely pleasant office manager and person. She is one of a kind. Because of Susan we have all become little puppy dogs for Jimmer. I read Jimmer articles, I listend to radio and I watch TV reports about Jimmer, I watch his games on TV. I have been Jimmered.

America has been Jimmered. When asked about Jimmer, President Obama said "Unbelievable. Best scorer obviously in the country. Great talent."

Matt James of NBC Sports wrote at (http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/42090091/ns/sports-college_basketball/0

“The name is a good place to start. “That’s the first thing,” says T.J. Fredette. “His name. Jimmer.’ It’s an original. It’s unique. You can do so much with that name.” Indeed, no name in college basketball, perhaps in all of sports, has been so discussed, so ubiquitous, so verb-ed, as that of Jimmer Fredette, the 6-foot-2 senior guard at BYU. He is the nation’s leading scorer. By most every organization and account, its best player. He is, without question, its most celebrated name. The fuse was lit two months ago. “It really blew up after that 47-point game against Utah,” continues T.J., Jimmer’s older brother, an aspiring rapper who became the family’s amateur spokesperson when the attention suddenly required a coordinator. “That’s when he hit the half-court shot. That’s when he got rock-star status.” It wasn’t just the half-court shot in that Jan. 11 blowout against the Utes, it was the subsequent TV highlights. It was the relevance of his Top 10 team. It was Jimmer’s non-reaction. Who was this guy? Who makes half-court buzzer-beaters and acts as if he just made a free throw? “I’m sure people thought he was cocky because he didn’t really celebrate,” T.J. says, “But he’s hit so many of those it’s not really surprising anymore. He probably made eight or 10 of those his senior year of high school. The court was smaller, but he would pull up and shoot from out there.”

“Two weeks later, Fredette scored 43 against San Diego State and the NBA’s Kevin Durant tweeted that Jimmer was the world’s best scorer. “Jimmer madness had begun. He went on “Pardon the Interruption,” talked with Jim Rome, hopped between national shows as if he was promoting a movie. Soon after, BYU said no to all regional radio requests. A mid-major was turning down publicity.

CBS picked up the Cougars’ rematch against San Diego State on Feb. 26 — the first and only time this season BYU appeared on network TV — and it got better ratings than Syracuse versus Georgetown or Florida against Kentucky. Last week, while the Big East Tournament was taking place at Madison Square Garden, the Washington Post sent its national college writer on the Jimmer beat, to the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.

Though he is in his fourth year of being a fantastic player, much of America has learned of Jimmer only the last few months: he grew up in northern New York near the Vermont border, and how his parents have remained together while amicably split on religion (his mom is Catholic; Jimmer, like his dad, became Mormon), and how his mother Kay insisted on the nickname Jimmer since the moment he was born, and how as a teenager he and T.J. would go to a local prison and play pick-up games with inmates who had earned the privilege through good behavior. The legend says that’s where Jimmer learned his mental toughness. The truth is he made a half-dozen prison trips at most, but it is a cool story and he is usually too polite to correct the convenient theory.

At the Mountain West Tournament last week, the Jimmer poster count rivaled a professional wrestling event, most of them demonstrating the various grammatical uses of the name.

“Teach me how to Jimmer” ... “Jimmer Time!” ... “You Got Jimmered.”

In the semifinal against New Mexico, New Mexco's Coach, Steve Alford’s best idea for defending Jimmer was keeping him off the free-throw line. The Lobos did. Fredette shot just one the entire game. And still scored 52 points. He broke the school single-game scoring record and passed Danny Ainge as BYU’s career points leader.”
_________

So sports fans I will be watching Jimmer during this March Maddness, I will be cheering for Jimmer and I will be pulling for his team. Next season, I will be cheering for Utah.

Have a happy March Madness and get those brackets filled out.

Favorite Walks

2011-02-23T16:32:00.001-07:00

Do you have a favorite walk? I am talking about walks not hikes. Is there one place or street that you really like to walk? I do. In fact I have a few. I think you always feel better about life after a nice walk in a favorite spot. Here are a few of my favorite walks.

City Creek Canyon, Salt Lake City. I like to walk up City Creek Canyon. The paved road is 5.75 miles long up to Rotary Park. The Canyon goes further than the park and there are hiking trails available for the adventurous soul. You start this walk by parking your car at the gate. Cars may only go up the canyon every other day. Even on car day you basically need a pass or reservation to drive up the canyon. Days that are not car day are bike days. You can walk the canyon on bike days and car days. Frankly, I prefer walking on car days because there is so little traffic where as there a zillion bikes on bike day. The walk up and down City Creek Canyon is terrific. The road is adjacent to the creek all the way up. There is a water treatment reservoir and a couple of small lake type reservoirs. After about a mile, you feel as though you are in the wilds, miles away from civilization when in fact you are only a couple of miles from downtown Salt Lake City. There is a distance marker about every half mile or so you know have far you have walked. There are deer and other critters up the canyon. I have walked around snakes on the road and one year there was a mountain lion up the canyon. If you live in the Salt Lake area you should take the time to walk City Creek Canyon.

Columbus Avenue, San Francisco. I like to start at the Transamerica Pyramid and walk down Columbus Avenue to the Cannery at Fisherman’s Wharf. You walk through the edge of China Town and through North Beach. There are numerous small restaurants and shops. I always like to stop in the City Lights Bookstore which has been around for more than 50 years and was a hangout for Allen Ginsberg and others of the 1950’s beat generation. Through much of the walk you can see Coit Tower high on a hill on your right as you are walking toward the Wharf. You pass Washington Square and the St Peter Paul Cathedral. More than a few times I have bought a Sunday newspaper and a cup of coffee and sat on a park bench in Washington Square reading and watching people do tai chi exercises on the lawn. Adjacent to Washington Square is Moose’s restaurant which I have eaten at a few times. It now has new owners and I have not been there since the ownership change. On Columbus Avenue the smell of coffee is everywhere and you find yourself stopping for a cup at one of the shops. I always stop at Biordi Art Imports to see their wonderful Italian pottery. I have bought a few pieces at Biordi’s over the years. As you walk down Columbusyou pass "The Stinking Restaurant" which is famous for garlic dishes. As you continue toward the Wharf, you pass bocce ball courts where you can see old men in caps and light jackets playing bocce ball. It has the feel of another country and another time. Finally you get to the Cannery and the Aquatic Park where people are flying kites and sitting on benches and walls and waiting in line for the Hyde Street Cable Cars. It’s a great walk.

Ocean Avenue, Carmel, CA. I have walked Ocean Avenue 20 or 30 times over the years. I always start at the top of Avenue and walk down the right hand side almost to Carmel Beach. When I get a street or two from Carmel Beach, I cross the Avenue and head back up the other side. The Carmel Avenue stroll has to be taken with a lover. You need to window shop while holding hands. You need to walk into art galleries and together pick out paintings and sculptures you would buy if you only had the money. You need to put your heads together in bakery windows trying to decide which baked delicacy has the fewest calories although you both know the answer is “none”. The last time I walked Ocean Avenue was in June 2010 during the US Open Golf Tournament. The Lovely Sharon and I had just played golf at course a few miles away. We were not scheduled to attend the US Open until the next day so we headed over to Ocean Avenue. It was a sunny afternoon and the Lovely Sharon and I took our time on the Avenue looking at shops and looking at people. When we walked by the Portobello Café there was an open table in the sun next to the sidewalk. We sat down and had a glass of wine and lingered in the afternoon sun. We started a conversation with the fellow at the next table and we were pleased to learn that he was one of the owners of the Cafe. After we were fortified by the wine we left the pleasant surroundings and headed up Ocean Avenue. More window shopping and strolling into shops as we walked. I think we actually bought something but I cannot recall for certain. I must say it was a memorable day, perfect weather, accompanied by a beautiful woman and in no hurry to do anything.

El Paseo, Palm Desert, CA. El Paseo is not far from our place at Ironwood Country Club in Palm Desert. The street has shops, restaurants, galleries, shoe stores, coffee shops, jewelry stores, day spas, and palm trees. In the center island of the street are various sculptures that seem to be replaced with other sculptures from time to time. The main shopping street is about a mile long. I have written before about eating breakfast at Café Des Beaux Arts, my favorite place for breakfast. Last Friday night (or was it Saturday night) the Lovely Sharon and I had dinner at Mama Gina’s Italian Restaurant. My favorite gallery to visit is the Coda Gallery although I do like to go into most of the galleries. I bought a bronze sculpture some years ago of a young boy in a swimsuit. I bought because it reminded me of Son Alex who, at the time, was about the same age as the sculpture boy. To this day, when I look at the sculpture in my Ironwood place I think of Son Alex who is now in graduate school at the University of Utah.

I am out of time but other walks I like are Madison Avenue in New York, Bond Street in London and the walk from Piazza Navona to the Spanish Steps in Rome. If you have a favorite wall leave a message.

Winter Deer

2011-02-13T09:10:00.002-07:00

I did not go into the office Friday, rather I worked on some documents here at my Salt Lake house. At one point I stood and walked around to stretch my legs and clear my head and I looked at my backyard through my sliding door. It was a beautiful sunny day, blue sky and white snow. As I looked at the snow and the brown, leafless trees, some 10 deer walked into my back yard. They spent about an hour in the yard and the creek bed at the back of the yard. I hurriedly grabbed my camera and walked out to take a few photos. They heard me moving around and they saw me but it did not seem to bother them in the least and they continued to stand, to eat and to walk around. No matter how often we have deer in our yard, it still is a thrilling sight for me. Here are a few photos I took Friday.

I am going to hang out in the Bud Cave today, reading, browsing the internet and watching the AT&T golf tournament at Pebble Beach. Oh yeah I will keep my on my back yard to see if I have any more visitors.

King of the World

2011-02-11T11:53:00.002-07:00

If I were King of the world there are many things I would do and require others to do. Here are some of them:

- I would require several of my Salt Lake buddies to get annual psych evaluations. These buddies include Gordon, Steveo, Doug B, Dennis and Mark who was referred to as Mugsy when I first met him some 43 years ago.

- I would have the United States leave Afghanistan and Iraq today. Not next year, not next month or not tomorrow. Today. We are spending some $2 billion per week on these wars. If we want to reduce the deficit, we need to get out of these unchangeable situations.

- I would put Glen Beck, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachman in a Zoo. We could throw them bananas take their picture and laugh at their insane bellowing. We would applaud when they walked on their hind feet.

- I would get rid of the stroke and distance penalty for out of bound golf shots.

- I would require all American men to speak in a phony French accent for at least 15 minutes each week. In the alternative, a man could fulfill this requirement by singing “every little breeze seems to whisper Louise” or “thank heaven for little girls” like Maurice Chevalier.

- I would outlaw any waiter or waitress telling me his or her name. “Hi, my name is Ted and I will be your waiter tonight.” I mean how far can this go? “My name is Mohammed and I will be your cab driver tonight”. “Hello, my name is Chico and I will be your gardener today”. “Hello, my name is Bertha and I will be your third polygamist wife.” Hello, I am the Lovely Sharon and I will be telling you what to do in every aspect of your life.”

- I would get rid of the politically correct reference to African Americans. I would call them black guys just as I call white guys, white guys and not European Americans. Even black guys refer to black guys as black guys. Everyone in the real world makes references to white guys and black guys in normal conversation. Is a white guy who emigrated to the U.S.A. from South Africa an African American? No, he is a white guy. My forefathers came from Sweden, and England on my father’s side but I don’t refer to myself as a Swedish American.

- Lets not be stupid and say we shouldn’t profile people at the security stations at the airport. Profiling is exactly what we should be doing. If a dog does his business in your yard over and over, and you are trying to figure who the culprit is, you look at dogs, you don’t look at cats and you don’t look at fish. Your common sense tells you to profile and look at dogs.

- I would prohibit Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian. No reference to any of these people would be allowed in any media at any time unless they come up with a cure for cancer.

- I would get rid of the one sided, right wing, nutty, politically outrageous Utah State republican legislature who believes that if you don’t agree with them not only are you wrong, you are evil. Get these people back to their real jobs as exterminators and real estate agents.

- I would get rid of Viagra ads and related product ads on television.

- I would outlaw assault weapons except for law enforcement personnel.

Here is something that I would deal with. During the Superbowl and after I have seen a TV ad about taxes on soda pop and snack foods.The ad features a woman talking to the camera as she shops in a grocery store. It has been airing for several weeks in selected markets on cable channels such as CNN. The woman says

"Feeding a family is difficult enough in today's economy," the woman says. "Now, some politicians want the government telling me how I should do it. They want to put new taxes on a lot of groceries I buy, like soft drinks, juice drinks, sports drinks, even flavored waters, trying to control what we eat and drink with taxes. Give me a break. I can decide what to buy without government help. The government is just getting too involved in our personal lives."

At that point, a narrator says, "Government needs to trim its budget fat and leave our grocery budgets alone."

The ad is sponsored by "American Against Food Taxes." Guess who makes up that group? The group is spearheaded by the American Beverage Association, which represents the makers of sodas and other drinks. According to Advertising Age, the American Beverage Association decided to form the coalition in June 2009, when the idea of taxing sodas and other sweet beverages was being considered as a way to fund the Democratic health care bill. The coalition includes dozens of members, including 7-Eleven, Inc., Burger King Corp., Domino’s Pizza, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, McDonalds, the National Association of Convenience Stores, Snack Food Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Wendy’s/Arby’s Group, Inc..

I have no problem with a trade group running ads which are in their commercial best interests, but they should disclose who they are. The ad should not appear to be the work of a couple of housewives from Des Moines. We know if they truthfully disclose who is behind the ad, the credibility of the ad would likely suffer. Thats the point; tell the truth and let the ad stand on the truth. The same things goes for political ads.. Say whatever you want just tell the truth about who you are. I don't want taxes on soda pop I just don't like this deceptive commercial advertising.

If I were king I would do a lot of stuff. I imaging each of you would have your own list if you were KIng. Feel free to leave you directives on this blog.

I must now go and adjust my tiara.

Breakfast at Keedy's

2011-02-11T07:54:00.001-07:00

I was in Palm Desert last weekend. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to see the Lovely Sharon who I had not seen for almost two weeks. On Friday, after I got ready for the day, I grabbed the newspaper and headed out to breakfast. My favorite place for breakfast in Palm Desert is Café Des Beaux Arts but that day I decided to go to Keedy’s Fountain Grill, the famous long time greasy spoon in Palm Desert. I left the Lovely Sharon to get herself ready for her 9:30 tee time with the ladies. I had a 12:30 tee time with the guys and so I went to breakfast on my own. Keedy’s opened for business in 1957 and has been a fixture of Palm Desert ever since. I first went to Keedy’s in 1996. I have been there many times with buddies, with the Lovely Sharon and on my own. I imagine the place looks like it did in 1957. As you walk into Keedy's your eyes focus on old worn out Formica counter tops and tables and old fashion soda fountains for malts shakes and sodas. You can imagine Keedy’s being used as a movie set for American Graffiti or Happy Days.

I walked in the door on the Highway 111 side of the building rather than the other door which is on the parking lot side of the building. I chose the first small table for two against the west wall. I had just opened my newspaper when my waitress asked me if I wanted coffee. Instead of coffee I requested orange juice and a glass of ice water. My waitress who had what might be kindly called a Rubenesque figure, was a friendly Hispanic lady of maybe 50 years of age. When she brought my orange juice, I ordered two eggs scrambled, hash browns, link sausage and whole wheat toast. A diet, heart healthy breakfast that is served up just right at Keedy’s.

As I waited for my breakfast, which took very little time, I surveyed the scene. The fountain bar was full, every stool taken. Seated at the bar were mostly elderly folks but one little boy of maybe six was seated next to a woman who might have been his grandmother. He asked her many questions and she seemed to give patient answers. The waitresses, waiters and bus boys, all wearing Keedy’s tee shirts, were in constant motion cleaning, taking orders and bringing coffee and breakfasts to the many customers sitting around me. My waitress seemed to know, and was known, by many of the customers. Sitting at the table next to me was an elderly couple. The woman’s back was to me while her husband faced me. As my waitress walked to their table, she bent over and kissed the top of the head of the woman, who looked up and gave the waitress a warm hug. At the next table, where another couple was having breakfast, the old gentlemen remarked to the waitress that her new haircut looked very nice.

In addition to the several elderly couples sitting around me, there were several groups of golfers having breakfast prior to their golf rounds, a couple of men sitting by themselves reading papers and a few younger couples. I tried to eavesdrop on several of the conversations around me and enjoyed listening to comments about local news, the warming weather and heroic golf shots. At one table they were solving the crisis in Egypt.

I finished my breakfast, paid my fare at the cash register and handed my waitress her tip. She thanked me with a friendly smile and told me to come back soon. I told her I would and you know what, I will. I don’t go to breakfast often in Utah but in Palm Desert, I often go out to breakfast. Since I arise a couple of hours before the Lovely Sharon, most of the time I head out for breakfast on my own why she gets ready for the day. It is nice to have a quiet breakfast, read the news and observe the folks around me. If you are in Palm Desert or get to Palm Desert try Keedy’s for the first time or for the tenth time. Take your newspaper but look around at the other customers and the workers and listen to their conversations. It starts the day out on an interesting note.

A Ride On the Pony Express Trail

2011-01-30T11:03:00.005-07:00

I love to take a drive on a road that might be best described as “off the beaten path”. Such a road might be paved, it might be dirt or it might be gravel but its intrigue to me is that it traverses through interesting terrain and does not go through populated areas. In December 2004, the Lovely Sharon had some type of ladies event on a Saturday afternoon. We were in Utah and although it was December, there was no snow on the ground. As the Lovely Sharon was planning to attend her ladies event, I tried to figure something interesting to do on my own. I recalled that my friend and law partner Vern had told me about a road, a dirt and gravel road the meandered from south of Tooele, Utah to the Nevada border. Vern had taken this road several times before and has taken the road several more times since that time. He told me that you needed to take at least two vehicles because there was a great chance for flat tires many miles from a gas station. On the Friday night before Sharon’s Saturday ladies event, I decided to take Vern’s gravel road and I decided to go on my own.

I woke up early that day, the first Saturday in December, and started my journey around 8:30. I drove south on I-15 and got off of I-15 in Lehi, Utah at the Lehi Roller Mills exit. I drove west on Highway 73 past Cedar Fort and Camp Floyd. Highway 73 turns to the northwest at Fivemile pass but at that point I left Highway 73 for Faust Road for the 10 mile paved road drive to the hamlet of Faust. A mile or so past Faust, the pavement ended and my gravel road journey started.

The road I was to take over the next several hours followed the Pony Express Trail and parts of it were on the Old Lincoln Highway. If you ever have a chance read about the Lincoln Highway. The Lincoln Highway spanned coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, originally through 13 states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California. In 1915, the "Colorado Loop" was removed, and in 1928, a realignment relocated the Lincoln Highway through the northern tip of West Virginia. Thus, there are a total of 14 states, 128 counties, and over 700 cities, towns and villages through which the highway passed at some time in its history. The first officially recorded length of the entire Lincoln Highway in 1913 was 3,389 miles.

A few miles down the gravel road I came to the Faust Pony Express site. There is no longer a building here, only a marker. The station was a two-story stone structure. A change of riders took place and the mail stage stopped for rest breaks at this station. My first stop was at Lookout Pass. The pass is in the hills on the west side of Rush Valley. There was also a pony express station here but like the Faust Station it is long gone. I got out of my car here and took a photo looking west to the desolate Skull Valley.

Sixteen miles from Lookout Pass was the Simpson Springs pony express station. This station was named after explorer Captain J.H. Simpson who stopped here in 1858 while searching for an overland mail route between Salt Lake City and California. It is one of the most dependable watering points in this desert region. George Chorpenning established a mail station at this site in 1858, which was later used by the Pony Express and Overland Express. A number of structures have been built and destroyed in the vicinity of Simpson Springs over the years. The restored structure is located on a building site which dates to the period (1860) and closely resembles the original. I got out of my car here and walked into the old stone station. I took a photo and I watered a sage brush. As I looked around at endless miles of still unpopulated territory I wondered what kind of man would choose to live out here by himself or with a family to service pony express riders and stage coaches.

Over the next twenty miles or so, I passed two or three more markers memorializing several more pony express stations that had long ago disappeared as though they had never been here. As I drove to the southwest, the road curved around the Black Rock Hills. It was here that the Old Lincoln Highway joined the pony express trail.

A couple of miles past the Black Rock Hills, I came upon the Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge. I must say I was surprised to say the least. Having no map and never having gone this way before, I had never heard of Fish Springs. Here in the absolute middle of the desert was a gigantic system of springs. Fish Springs is some 60 miles from Faust where I started my journey. The following description is from the Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge website:

“The area that now comprises the refuge was once enveloped by an enormous inland lake know today as Lake Bonneville. This great body of water rose and fell several times during its 16,000 year existence. The prominent shorelines where water levels stabilized for extended periods are visible on the mountains in the area. When Lake Bonneville was at its peak level, the water in the area that is now marsh would have been nearly 850 feet deep. The lake declined to a level below the present marsh level around 14,000 years go. Fish Springs national Wildlife Refuge was established in 1959. It is named after the native fish the Utah chub. The refuge covers 17,992 acres with a 10,000 acre marsh system. Water is supplied by 5 major springs and several lesser springs and seeps. Fish Springs provides vital habitat for migrating wetland birds. Many of those species remain to nest and raise their young. Generally, mid-April and late September coincide with the peak of the annual spring and fall migrations. The refuge has a very rich cultural history. The area's first inhabitants were Paleo Archaic natives about 11,500 years ago. Modern inhabitation dates back to 1861. The historic Pony Express Trail runs along the edge of the refuge, and a Pony Express station was established here. The marshes of Fish Springs NWR are truly an oasis in the desert. Several springs, fed by underground water that fell as precipitation thousands of years ago, provide important breeding, migrating, and wintering habitat for a diverse array of birds and other wildlife.”

Leaving the Fish Springs area I headed west to the hamlet of Callao, Utah. Callao is west of Fish Springs and north of Trout Creek, on the old Overland and Pony Express route south of the Gold Hill Mining area. In 1860, the Pony Express established a station known as Willow Springs at a time when gold was discovered in nearby Gold Hill. In 1870, E. W. Tripp, his wife, and small son established a ranch there. In 1895 the name was changed to Callao because there were several places named Willow Springs that were previously established in the territory. An old prospector who had been to Peru imagined a resemblance to Callao, Peru and suggested the name. For a while the old Lincoln Highway passed through Callao. Today about twenty seven residents live in Callao and it is the last town in Utah to use a one-room schoolhouse. I took a picture of a gas pump in Callao. I imagine there has not been much change to the the hamlet in the last 100 years. It was an interesting feeling being in Callao. I saw a few dogs, some chickens, cows and a couple of horses but I never saw a person. There was no store here and I saw no commercial buildings.

After Callao the road turned north to Gold Hill Utah. I found the following description about Gold Hill on the internet:

“ Located deep in Utah’s west desert near the Nevada border is the famous mining camp of Gold Hill. The town established in 1892 was named after a gold bearing mountain just east of the town. Gold Hill became famous for its location of many minerals including silver, gold, copper, lead, tungsten, and arsenic. The town boomed and died several times in its existence. The first boom lasted for a decade until its richest mines were worked out and the town was nearly abandoned. During World War I arsenic was badly needed and Gold Hill was just the location to find the mineral. The mines were reopened and new mills built, and in 1917 the Deep Creek Railroad was built into Gold Hill. When WWI ended arsenic was no longer needed and the town once again died. WWII reawakened the town due to the high demand of tungsten used in steel and electric filaments. Tons of the mineral was shipped out until the need slowed and Gold Hill dwindled once again. In 1940 the last train rails were tore up and sold for scrap. During the 1940’s several mines were reopened and were mined for arsenic. This was only temporary and in 1946 the schoolhouse was locked for the last time and the post office was finally closed in 1949, adding Gold Hill to the list of Utah’s ghost towns. In its history the town boasted a population of up to 3000 people. The town had salons, stores, pool halls, a post office and even a newspaper (The Gold Hill News). Today many structures still stand allowing you the opportunity to view into the towns past. If you visit this area please respect private property and come prepared. This town is in a very desolate location far from any services and help. Take plenty of water, food, gas, spare tire, cell phone etc.”

After Gold Hill and another ten miles or so of a gravel road, I finally was back on a paved road, the Ibapath Road. I felt a little more secure after reaching the pavement. I had just spent 4 or 5 hours on gravel in a desert wilderness where I had never been. Every turn of the road brought a new sight. I was still in Utah but after a few miles the Ibapath Road crossed the border into Nevada. I headed north and reached Wendover. Here I got Interstate 80 and drove east to Salt Lake City.

The gravel road journey that I had just taken was truly memorable. It was a geographical area of solitude and appropriately, I took the drive by myself. I never saw another human. I saw birds and antelope but no people until I reach Gold Hill. It made me think about the pioneers and pony express riders of 140 years ago. How difficult life must have been. Our life would be unbelievable to these hardy folks. Planes, telephones, cars, television and internet. I am happy to live in the time that I do, but it was nice to take a drive through the past..

Get Off the Beaten Path sometime and contemplate times past.

I am Banned from Talking Politics by the Lovely Sharon

2011-01-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

The Lovely Sharon has banned me from talking politics in a social setting. She has informed me that I am becoming a pariah to our friends and am ruining social evenings. Most of my friends are right center or just completely right wing. I have a few left wing friends. I am definitely left center but would not consider myself left wing. I am a proponent of capital punishment in proper and egregious circumstances. I am a proponent of profiling at airport security points and I am opposed to high estate taxes believing that the decedent has by and large already paid taxes on the estate assets. I am opposed to availability of assault weapons for the general population and I think those disadvantaged among us should, in a reasonable manner, be provided with opportunities to overcome their disadvantages. I think we should be out of Afghanistan and Iraq immediately and believe that for the US to continue to spend billions if not trillions on these unwinnable wars while we suffer financial and job crisis at home is just plain crazy. So with that said, I will do my best to not discuss political and socially relevant matters in social settings. I will however discuss such matters on this blog from time to time.

Here are some thoughts and observations on a few issues.

Newly elected US Senator from Utah, Republican Michael Lee, who described himself as a constitutional scholar, has in the last week opined that the US Constitution does not permit the enactment of child labor laws or the use of federal funds in disaster relief situations, such as Hurricane Katrina, massive fires, devastating floods, oil spills, etc. His view is that it is unconstituional for the US Congress to adopt laws prohibiting children from working 60 hour weeks at a $1.00 per hour. Maybe the states in which natural disasters occur could reject federal funds and use children to work around the clock to clean up the mess. Yesterday, Senator Lee defended Utah’s request for federal emergency aid for flooding in St. George, Utah. He indicated that he sees no hypocrisy in his support for Utah federal disaster relief funds and his position that it is unconstitutional or the federal government to provide such funds. I will let you decide for yourself whether this guy is a nut, a liar or an opportunist.

Another Utah Congressman said he wants to carry a gun on the floor of the House of Representatives. I assume he would want to carry a glock with a 30 bullet magazine. Maybe if all of the Congressmen and Congresswomen carried weapons they would be nicer to each other. If John Boehner had a glock and Nancy Pelosi had a glock, maybe there would in fact be reasons to compromise.
A Democratic Congressman from Tennessee came out strong on being more civil in political debate. An admirable goal that I support. Within a few days, he referred to a large group of Republicans as Nazi’s. Doesn’t sound very civil does it.

Have you notice that people who are anti- abortion by and large are pro capital punishment and people who are pro- abortion are by and large to be anti- capital punishment. I know there are exceptions but I think the observation is generally correct.
I am constantly intrigued by upper middle class and wealthy people who are opposed to government healthcare reforms while contently accepting their social security checks and Medicare reimbursement.

I think Glenn Beck is deranged. I think Keith Obermann’s left wing hostility did more harm than good to help constructive dialogue. I acknowledge that both of them have first amendment rights to say the things they say, but I believe both of them are destructive to meaningful dialogue

Many people who want no restrictions of any kind on gun issues, citing their second amendment rights, are ok with restrictions on first amendment rights (some things should not be allowed such as burning the American flag as a political statement or pornography) or fourth amendment rights (it was ok for the Bush administration not to get search warrants for wiretaps and opening mail of potential or suspected terrorists and others). So restrictions on the second amendment are bad but restrictions on the first and fourth amendment are good? Why the difference? I think reasonable restrictions that evolve as society evolves do not violate these amendments. There should be reasonable restrictions on pornography and other items of speech or symbolic speech. There should be reasonable restrictions on fourth amendment protections and there should be reasonable restrictions on guns.

Ok that is enough for now. I had my daily fix of saying something about politics. In the future in social sessions I will try not to talk about politics. I will talk about how nice your shirt is or about golf or restaurants. Hopefully, this will be ok with the Lovely Sharon.

Women Golfers

2011-01-09T08:41:00.000-07:00

The Lovely Sharon, as those who know her are aware, is a good golfer; no she is a very good golfer. I am someone who plays golf but she is a golfer. I play golfer often with her. I enjoy playing golf with my men friends but I must admit that the Lovely Sharon is my favorite golfing partner. She takes it seriously, talks very little during a round of golf and is a study in concentration on the course. I am a talker and I relax by talking, just the opposite of Sharon. She is self taught and hits the ball a long way. She has a powerful and repeating golf swing. I am always asking her what she is thinking when takes the club away or when she starts the down swing. I often have men ask me if it makes me feel bad that my wife beats me every time we play golf. I lose to her every time we play. She beats me even when we play the same tees. I am very proud of her golfing skill. I would rather that I play bad than her play bad. I am her biggest fan.

I have been fortunate enough to play Cypress Point Golf Club seven times. This great course is always rated the second or third best course in the United States. The Lovely Sharon has played with me 3 or 4 times at Cypress Point. The first time she played with me at Cypress Point it was a three day golf trip with me, two of my buddies and the Lovely Sharon. We played five rounds of golf on five different courses in three days in the Carmel-Monterey area. We played Cypress Point, Spyglass, Pasa Tiempo and two other courses. It was golf, more golf and still more golf. She was one of the boys. At Cypress Point when her caddie realized he was going to be carry the bag of a “woman” he was obviously not very excited. She was sorting her balls before the round and it looked like she had about 75 balls. Her caddie sarcastically said “Lady I don’t think you need that many balls” and so she sorted most of them out. She birdied the first hole, had one or two more birdies, and played the same ball the entire round. After the first hole, her caddy was definitely a fan and was fist pumping when she hit good shots. She had the lowest score of all us. On the same trip she had an eagle two on a par four at Laguna Seca Golf Course. She and I played a two ball game against my two buddies in all five rounds and we beat them. My buddies were both low handicap golfers and they had a very difficult time in accepting that a mere woman was kicking their manly asses.

One of the things that the Lovely Sharon has brought to me is the opportunity to play with a number of very fine golfers who happen to be women. These women golfers are in Salt Lake City and in Palm Desert. In Utah they include Annette, Jean, Mary, Nanette, Martha, Robyn and many others. In Palm Desert the number seems to be even greater and number Linda, Lynn, Kathy, Gail, Janet, Carol, Bunny, Eloise, Arlene and others. For those of you I have left off the list I apologize for my forgetfulness. I cannot tell you how good these women are. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy watching them play golf. They are so much better than me. I am in awe when I play with them. I study their swings, I look for clues. I look for tips. Some men golfers don’t think much of women golfers and don’t like playing with them. These friends of Sharon are better than most of the men I play with. They are certainly better than I am.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that women don’t drive me crazy, they certainly do. But I do appreciate and admire those who are top notch golfers just as I do top notch men golfers.

In the News

2010-12-28T07:11:00.000-07:00

I love the news. I watch news shows and I read many online news sources to see what is actually going on in the country and the world or to see what someone wants us to believe is going on. The problem with the news is that it is no always apparent what stories have at least some semblance of truth or accuracy and what stories are essentially totally bull pucky. I suppose I have come to the point as a news reader that it doesn’t really matter to me if a news story is accurate or a total fabrication and I have taken to reading the news purely for its entertainment value. I treat many news stories as fictional short stories and try to get some kind of “gee whiz” pleasure out of them. Here are a few recent items in the news that may be true, may not but who cares they are nice reads.

Yesterday it was announced that 84 year old Hugh Hefner is now engaged to a 24 year old woman. I am sure there are plenty of skeptics about the motivation of both Mr. Hefner and his lovely fiancée, Crystal Harris, for deciding to enter into an engagement and presumably marry in the near future. I for one have concluded they are a perfect match and have much in common. Crystal was born 24 years ago. Hef started collecting social security 24 years ago. Hef likes like women that look good in skimpy clothing. Crystal looks good in skimpy clothing. When Hef was born in 1926, Calvin Coolidge was president. When Crystal was born in 1986, Ronald Reagan was president. Both presidents were republicans. If Hef was an 84 year old man working part time at 7-11 rather than the fabulous wealthy founder of the Playboy empire he would still want to marry Crystal, a 24 year old sex goddess. If Hef was an 84 year old man working part time at 7-11 rather than the fabulous wealthy founder of the Playboy empire, Crystal would still want to marry – ok forget that comparison, it may not be the best example. Anyway if Hef wants to marry Crystal and Crystal wants to marry Hef, who cares. Congratulations to the both of them.

There have been a lot of news articles lately debating the issue of whether Oprah and her friend Gail are lesbians. Why is this news? Does anyone truly care whether Oprah is a lesbian? I don’t. I think Oprah is a self-made, successful person who has become an iconic cultural force. Her recommendations cause books to become best sellers. She interviews entertainers, politicians and ordinary folks who have had extra ordinary things (good or bad) happen in their life. She has produced movies and starred in movies. She has developed several television shows that have become successful. I think she seems like a decent person. Who cares if she is or isn’t a lesbian.

Here is a story I read on December 9, 2010 written by Buck Wolf:

“I had no idea Harry Potter was so... erotic. On the other hand, the name "Harry Potter" does have a certain porn-star quality to it. In any case, police in South Carolina say this man was caught in a theater touching his own magic wand during a showing of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," which I'm going to have to see now. Police say they received a 911 call from the theater. When officers arrived, employees took them to the "projection booth" (doesn't that sound dirty, too?) where police say they were able to watch the man cast spells all over himself, according to Savannah Now. No idea how long they watched, but the man was ultimately charged with felony exposure."

I really don’t have anything to add to this story.

Christmas Spirit

2010-12-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

Last night something happened. For the first time this season I got in the Christmas spirit. What triggered it ? Well I will tell you but you need to wait until you get to the end of this essay.

Monday morning I woke up around 4:00 am in Palm Desert to catch a 6:30 am flight from Palm Springs to Salt Lake City. Although I usually wake up early, it seems as though when I get up early to fly back to Salt Lake it seems too early. After a goodbye kiss from a sleepy Lovely Sharon, I drove through the dark desert morning to the airport. It was so early that when I arrived at the airport even the car rental companies were not yet open. I left my key in the Budget Car Rental key box and made my way to security. I made it through security relatively quickly and headed to gate 18. As I waited in the terminal, I looked at my fellow travelers. Everyone looked sleepy or otherwise subdued; no smiles, no laughter and really no conversation. People were reading papers, drinking coffee and listening to overhead boarding announcements. I finally got on the plane and sat in Seat 2C, an aisle seat on the Canadair Regional Jet. I tried to read but ultimately fell asleep for almost 45 minutes. We arrived in Salt Lake and I was at my desk by 10:00. My Monday work week had started.

During the week I had a number of client meetings phone conferences, contracts to draft and a court hearing in federal court. Monday and Tuesday were unusually warm in Salt Lake and snow from the previous storms had melted. The green grass again was visible. It didn’t feel like Christmas, it felt like March. My Salt Lake house does not look like Christmas either, no tree, no presents, no decorations and for that matter no people, just me. Coming home from work each late afternoon to cold and quiet house certainly did not feel Christmassy. Tuesday night I had dinner with 8 or 10 fellows from my Thursday golf group, each of them dear friends. It was a wonderful evening of friendship, laughter and man hugs. These fellows mean a lot to me but the evening did not trigger a Christmas feeling in me. I was happy but I did not yet have the feeling of Christmas joy in my heart. You know the feeling; it’s a different feeling than just happy. It’s a feeling of peace on earth good will to all. The feeling that Ebenezer Scrooge felt when he awoke on Christmas morning after a night of seeing Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas future,

Wednesday morning I awoke to find that it had snowed heavily over night. The yard, driveway and walks were covered in snow. It was cold, it looked like winter but still I was not yet in that elusive Christmas spirit. It just felt like life as normal.

On Friday, I delivered blankets, clothes, diapers and other items to a giving program I have been involved with for the last 21 years. The recipients are the Rescue Mission, Women and Children in Jeopardy and a program that feeds the homeless under one of Salt Lake City’s viaducts. Some years making this delivery puts me in the Christmas spirit, but for some reason not this year. On my way to the place of delivery, the Utah State Bar Association building, I was on the cell phone talking to a client about a number of issues concerning his business. Almost absent mindedly, I dropped off the donations that were in my car. From there I drove to a craftsman who was blocking and cleaning six of my fedoras. I was sort of irritated because the hats were supposed to be ready the previous week but they weren’t and now only four were done. I need to go back again for a third time next week to picked the remaining two hats.

After the hat store, I stopped at an office supply store, a drug store and then home. Home was too quiet for a December, Friday afternoon. I walked from one room to another, but none seemed inviting, they just felt like rooms, even the Bud Cave. I decided to go to a movie. The theater was full of couples and groups of folks quietly talking waiting for the movie to start. I selected a seat on the far side, away from every one and watched the movie. It was very cold when I left the theatre to find my car. The house was still quiet when I arrived home. I microwaved some frozen food for dinner.

After eating dinner, I finally turned on the television and was surfing through the channels and came upon show called “Christmas in Washington”. This was a musical program from Washington D.C. that was attended my many, including the President, his wife and daughters. There were a number of performers and a large chorus. As I sat on my sofa, the sounds of Silent Night, O Holy Night, and Away in a Manager filled the Bud Cave.

It struck me how much I love Christmas music, particularly the old traditional songs, the ones that seem to stir your sole or give you chills when the volume is cranked up. I was humming with the songs coming from the TV. As the President sat in the audience, his arm was draped around the shoulder of his oldest daughter. The youngest daughter was leaning against the First Lady, holding hands, mother and daughter. Somehow listening to these beloved Christmas songs and watching the first family looking like any other American family at Christmas turned the light of Christmas spirit on inside of me. When the program finally ended, I felt at peace. I felt Christmas joy. I realized again that Christmas does mean something to me apart from gifts, from commercialization and from hoards of shoppers. For me it is a time to contemplate my actions of the last year. Was I helpful to others, did I show kindness and love enough to those around me? Did I help the unfortunate as much as I could have? Were my actions worthy of the spiritual gifts of Christmas that we have all received? Probably not. I need to do better.

Today is a new day, Christmas is still week away and just like Ebenezer Scrooge awakening on Christmas morning with joy in his heart and relief that there was still time left to do right, there is time for me and time for you to do something for others. Something that means something.

Merry Christmas to each of you.

Important Stuff I have Been Thinking About

2010-12-08T05:29:00.002-07:00

I have been home alone quite a bit for the last 45 days or so and have had plenty of time to think about important things in life. Ideas that need to be explored. Questions that need to be answered. Maybe it will expand your horizons and bring a certain amount of enlightenment to you if I share some of these intellectual and, yes, somewhat mystical ideas, questions and comments with you. Maybe you should not read this essay unless you are relaxed and are enjoying a nice warm cup of herbal tea, or a glass of that special wine. For those of you in a contemplative mood consider the following:

Just how big is a “rounded teaspoon”? I cook fairly often and I find myself frequently making a recipe that calls for a rounded teaspoon of something. I struggle with the concept of exactly just how high above the top edge of the spoon do you go for a properly rounded teaspoon. If you think about it, the volume of spice, or flour or sugar that can be put in a teaspoon can vary tremendously depending on how high you pile it. Does the word “rounded” mean literally what it says “rounded”? I doubt it because if you attempted to make the volume of content exactly round it would fall out of the spoon. Does rounded mean a slight arc above the sides of the spoon? I really don’t know. What is the difference between a rounded teaspoon and a heaping teaspoon? I suppose these culinary mysteries will continue to challenge me.

I just read an article about a Russian Billionaire who bought an island just to house his art collection. I know how the fellow feels. If you have the art and you have the money what’s wrong with spending some of your personal wealth for the beautiful and important things you love. I am thinking about doing the same thing. In this economy my “wealth” has plummeted but I still have enough to buy some things. I have decided to buy a new toaster. My current one does not seem to be doing the trick for me. I don’t want to go crazy so I think I will buy a two slice toaster as opposed to the more expensive and luxurious four slice toaster.

I just read another article that reported that Walmart is going get involved in the war on terror. What does that mean? I imagine while in Walmart you will be hearing announcements like: “There is a blue light special in the diaper department, just go through the body scan and pat down on aisle 13 and grab a couple of bags of diapers made in Malaysia by workers making a dollar a day. If you see anyone that looks suspicious, please let a store employee know. If you see an unattended shopping cart, please notify security immediately”. I think we may be over reacting on everything.

I send a fair number of notes and cards to folks. I think a nice note received in the mail is a little more special than an email even if the email expresses the same sentiments as the written note. Don’t get me wrong, a thank you email or other nice sentiment sent to me by email is well appreciated but I do love to send and receive a note or card delivered by one of God’s own, a member of the US Postal Service. Because I send cards by mail, I buy a fair amount of stamps. The post office has a big variety of wonderful stamps. Stamps that are colorful or historical or whimsical. Stamps celebrating a particular season or holiday. Wonderful stamps are indeed available. A month or so ago I bought some special stamps in addition to the just regular first class stamps. I bought stamps that say “Love”. I bought a sheet of stamps with the black and white photo of old time singer Kate Smith. Finally I bought a sheet of stamps of famous sailors who are each depicted in a black and white photo. In retrospect these were not very good stamp choices.

The persons who in the group of appropriate addressees for the Love stamps is fairly small. I mean I may like someone or even really like someone but do I really want to express the sentiment of Love to such addressee by affixing a stamp that explicitly expresses the concept of Love on the envelope? Not really. So who do I send the Love stamps to? Certainly the Lovely Sharon in a proper candidate. But do I put a Love stamp on the thank you note I send to the yard guy for his good work for the last season? No, I don’t.

The other day I made my car payment and without thinking, I put a Love stamp on my payment to GMAC. I like GMAC, I appreciate their loan that allowed me to buy my Buick Enclave, but I cannot honestly say I love GMAC. Once I put the stamp on the envelope, I was locked in. I could not throw a properly addressed and stamped envelope away could I? So I mailed it. When GMAC gets my payment mailed in an envelope with the word Love on it what social obligations do they have to me? Are they obliged to send me a thank you note? Do they reduce my next payment? Do they invite me to the company picnic next summer? I mean the tax payers bailed out GM and its GMAC subsidiary with millions if not billions in loans and guarantees. As a tax payer I was one of those people helping with the bailouts, right? After I help with the GMAC bailout, I send them an envelope with Love written on the stamp. They must be wondering what I am after.

I have also had a conceptional problem with the Kate Smith stamps and the Naval hero’s stamps. What do I really do with them? They are too unusual to use on regular bills and who would you be sending a note to that upon receipt would think ”What a nice stamp with Kate Smith on it” or “ Wonderful,, Bud sent me a card with a stamp that has William S. Sims on it”. One of the Naval heroes stamp is a black guy whose first name is Doris. Really, a naval hero named Doris? Makes you wonder what is up with the “don’t ask don’t tell” controversy when we have already celebrated in our stamps a fellow named Doris.

The other thing I have been thinking about is the Tea Party leader who suggested that only property owners should be allowed to vote. According to this fellow, if you don’t own property, you should not be allowed to vote. You don’t have enough vested in things to be able to vote as an American citizen. Regardless of your political leanings, do you really want a political movement that wants to take away the right to vote? Remember in the beginning of our country’s history, women could not vote, blacks could not vote and for the most part only white property owners could vote. Is that what the Tea Party wants? Why does this kind of thinking not outrage all of us.? I think I am going to send this guy a letter telling him he is crazy and un-American. I think I will put a Kate Smith stamp on the envelope. Wait, maybe I should put a Love stamp on the envelope. The mixed message between the content of my letter and the Love stamp might drive him crazy.

Kate Smith and I send you holiday wishes.

The Loneliest Highway in America

2010-12-05T11:58:00.002-07:00

After a wonderful Thanksgiving week in Palm Desert, I left early the Saturday morning after Thanksgiving to drive back to Salt Lake. My journey from Palm Desert to Las Vegas was my normal route through Twenty Nine Palms, Amboy, Kelso, Cima and then Primm, Nevada. I have described this ride through the Mojave Desert before in this blog (http://www.bheadman.com/2009/10/off-beaten-track.html). It’s a beautiful ride through a desolate but beautiful landscape. After leaving Las Vegas, I made a last minute decision to take a different route home. Rather than take I-15 all the way from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City, I decided to take Highway 93 (the Great Basin Highway) north through the middle of Nevada. I was on this road when I was about 13 years old when my family drove home this way from a boating trip to Lake Meade. That was 45 or 46 years ago. I don’t remember actually taking the drive I just remember we that took it and it seemed to take forever. I have wanted to try this route again but I always seem to be in a hurry to get to Palm Desert from Salt Lake or get to Salt Lake from Palm Desert so I have always saved this ride for another day. Last week I finally took that ride.

About 15 miles on the east side of Las Vegas Highway 93 turns off of I-15 and heads north approximately 200 miles until it intersects with Highway 50. For the most part this 200 mile stretch of road essentially runs through a series of valleys with mountains or both the left side of the road (the Sheep Range Mountains) and the right side of the road (the Meadow Valley Mountains followed by the Delamar Mountains). This 200 mile stretch of road is frequently referred to as the loneliest road in America. There are no cities along the road and only a few small towns and hamlets.

Approximately 70 miles or so up Highway 93 is the hamlet of Alamo. About the only thing I saw there was a truck stop with a small store. The truck stop was packed with cars, pickups and a semi’s. It was the only place to stop for 50 miles or so in either direction. Alamo is near the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, approximately 90 miles north of Las Vegas in Lincoln County, Nevada, is located in the Pacific Flyway, and encompasses 5,380 acres. The name, Pahranagat, comes from the Pauite Indian word meaning valley of shining waters. Established to provide habitat for migratory birds, especially waterfowl, the refuge is a unit of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex. More than 230 different species of birds use refuge habitats.

The next town I came to was the town of Caliente. This town was founded as a railroad town. There is a beautiful train station in Caliente. The train station was built in 1923.

Some 25 miles or so from Caliente is the mining town of Pinoche. This town may be called ghost town by some but there are an estimate 800 people living there. Here is some information from the town's website:

In 1864, William Hamblin, a Latter Day Saint missionary, was led to silver deposits in the vicinity of Pioche by a Native American Paiute. In 1868, San Francisco financier Francois L.A. Pioche purchased claims and constructed a smelter in the area, forming the Meadow Valley Mining Company. The mining camp was called "Pioche's City" and later became known as Pioche. The town rapidly became the largest mining town in southeastern Nevada in the early 1870's. Population estimates showed 10,000 people by 1871. One of the worst fires in the West took place in Pioche in 1871. It began in a restaurant during a celebration commemorating Mexican independence and quickly spread. When it reached the Felsenthal Store, a stone fireproof structure where 300 barrels of blasting powder were stored, the subsequent explosion shot nearly 400 feet into the air, blowing a 1,000-pound door clear out of town and showering the town with flaming debris. The explosion of debris killed thirteen and injured forty-seven, and the accompanying fire left virtually the entire population homeless. he fortunes of Pioche diminished in the 1880's due to the shutdown of the principle mines in 1876. During World War II, an economic boom occured when Pioche was the second largest lead and zinc producer in the nation. Present day Pioche has little mining activity, and in being the county seat, the main focus is now government.

After my escursion through Pinoche. I got back on Highway 93 and continued on some 90 miles through the desolate Lake Valley where I finally reached Highway 50. If you turn left onto Highway 50, it is 30 miles to Ely. Nevada. If you turn right, which I did, you head toward Great Basin National Park, the Nevada-Utah border and Delta, Utah. This was truly a beautiful, lonely highway. It was about 30 miles to the Utah-Nevada border. There is nothing at the border but what appears to be dozens of miles of unoccupied land in all directions. This land must look like it looked 150 years ago when the pioneers were heading to California.

When I reached Delta it was dark and cold. I stopped for gas and a burger. From there I drove on in the dark to Nephi, Utah which I reached during the town's Christmas parade. It took about 15 munutes to get around the parade and get on Interstate 15 which took me home.

The trip was at least 2 and 1/2 hours longer than my regular trip but it was truly a memorable drive through a part of the west that is still unsettled. Beautiful mountains and valleys, antelope grazing and hawks flying overhead. I probably won't get back to the road again, but maybe I can talk the Lovely Sharon into sharing this adventure with me sometime.

Expand your horizons and get off the beaten path sometime.

Thanksgiving in Palm Desert

2010-11-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

The Lovely Sharon and I had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday together in Palm Desert. I had not seen her for some three weeks, so it was nice to spend time together again. I arrived in Palm Desert on Friday night and Sharon went to Nebraska on Friday to spend the 80th birthday with her father. She got back to Palm Desert on Monday night. We spent the rest of the week playing golf, going to movies and going shopping. I had not been in Palm Desert for more than five months so it was nice to see old friends again. Several times during the week as I was sweeping the patio and walks or doing something else outside, several friends drove by in cars or golf carts or walked by in the morning sun and stopped to greet me and welcome me back to the desert. It was so nice to see Palm Desert friends after months apart. The Lovely Sharon and I are indeed lucky to have two groups of friends, our Utah friends and our Palm Desert friends. There were smiles, hugs and laughs with old friends throughout the week.

On Saturday morning I ate breakfast at my favorite breakfast place, Café des Beaux Arts on El Paseo. I always have the same waitress, a French lady who always greets me with “Bon Jour”. I feel continental just by sitting at the open window, eating Eggs Benedict and reading the paper in the morning sun.

On Wednesday, the Lovely Sharon was a very luck lady, as she played golf with me, David and Ryan. All three men are lawyers. This had to be a dream come true for Sharon to spend four hours with three lawyers. Not everyone gets that opportunity. At least that is what we told her. However, I am not certain she bought into that concept.

On Thanksgiving we played golf with friends and then enjoyed a wonderful dinner at our friend Linda’s house. It was a wonderful evening. Our dinner companions were a diverse group of folks, three same sex couples, a couple of widows, a divorced lady and me and the Lovely Sharon. The diversity of this group made me think about how similar we all are despite our differences in where we come from, in our marital status, in our ages, in our religion, in our politics and in our sexual preferences. Despite these obvious differences, our similarities were more important than our differences. We were all Americans, free to pursue life, liberty and happiness. We love our families, our friends and our companions. We were gathered together to give thanks and to celebrate the blessings we each have. We all loved the turkey, the stuffing and the sweet potatoes, just as millions of folks across America do.

Being part of this interesting and diverse group of folks made me wonder why there is so much anger and hatred in this great country between groups with varying interests and leanings. Too often people have the attitude that if you don’t believe like us, not only are you wrong, you are evil. Sadly this is true for many in connection with political beliefs, religious beliefs and social and cultural beliefs. It makes me wonder why is that we have such a difficult time in allowing people to believe differently than us without hating them or without thinking they are evil. Each of us wants to love our family and our friends. Most of us want a partner with whom we can share our joy, share our sorrows and share our life. Many of us want to worship a deity in a manner that we believe is best for us but too often we criticize those who worship differently or who don’t worship at all. I am going to rededicate myself to being a better person, being more patient and more accepting of the differences of those around me.

Have a wonderful holiday season.

Book Stuff

2010-11-28T06:51:00.000-07:00

During the last month with the Lovely Sharon in Palm Desert and Nebraska and me in Utah I have had a considerable amount of free time. During this time I have read a number of books, some very good, some just ok. Here are my recent reads in case you want to check them out:

Jack Higgins - (real name Harry Patterson) has written more than 60 suspense- thrillers. I am sure you have either read some of his books or at least seen them in bookstores. During the last month I read (i) Rough Justice; (ii) The Killing Ground; (iii) The Whitehouse Connection; (iv) Bad Company; and (v) Edge of Danger. These books have continuing characters and general similarities of plots but I enjoyed them none, the less.

Biography of Sonia Sotomayer by Antonia Felix. Sotomayer is the most recently appointed US Supreme Court Justice. This book was ok but was more like an appetizer that a main course.

Biography of Robert Boothy - A Portrait of Churchill's Ally by Robert Rhodes James. Boothy was born in Scotland in 1900 and was a Member of Parliment for many years. He was instrumental in Churchill's appointment as Prime Minister in 1940. This is a very interesting book if you like World War II history and British 20th Century History. I bought this book used so it may be hard to get. If you are interested, check it at on Amazon.

Art of Deception by Laurie King. This was a terrific mystery based around a Sherlock Holmes group in modern day San Francsico. It has a book within a book. Ms. King's website is http://www.laurierking.com/

Dante's Numbers by David Hewson. I loved this murder mystery set in Rome and San Francisco. The Italian cops in this book are continuing characters from previous Hewson books. I plan to read other books written by Mr. Hewson. Mr. Hewson's website is http://davidhewson.com/.

I recently bought the following non-fiction books that I hope to get to soon: (i) Warren Buffet and the Interpretation of Financial Statements by Mary Buffet and David Clark; (ii) Don't Count On It by John C. Bogle (investment matters); and (iii) 1453 by Roger Crowley (the Holy War for Constantinople).

If you have any suggestions for books we should read, let me and the other readers of this blog know by leaving a comment. It seems that my friends Norm and Ryan always have some interesting suggestions for books to read. Hopefully they will leave a suggestion or two for us.

Happy Reading.

I Wonder

2010-11-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

Well the Lovely Sharon has gone to Palm Desert for the season. I am on my own for a good part of the next seven months. During that time I will probably come up with brilliant ideas and thoughts to blog about. Important stuff like a discussion about juggling midgets or how many calories in a dachshund. Do ever wonder if flying fish build their nests in trees? That is the kind of stuff people want to contemplate.

What kind of stuff do you wonder about? As for me, there are a zillion things that I wonder about. For instance this week I ordered a meal from a restaurant that included “natural chicken”. Sounds normal until you really think about it and when you really think about it you wonder what the heck does that mean. What is “natural chicken”. The menu did not refer to free range chicken, I know what that is. Free range chickens are chickens running around on the “home on the range”. Although I don’t think I have ever seen gigantic herds of chickens migrating across the prairies of America like buffalos of years past. What is a natural chicken? If there is such a thing as a natural chicken, then there must be an “unnatural chicken”. What is an unnatural chicken? Is it a chicken with wing implants? Is it a chicken that had dark feathers but dyed its feathers blonde? Is it a chicken that has had its beak whitened? Who would ever order an “unnatural chicken”? Can you imagine going to a restaurant and order mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet peas and an unnatural chicken breast. Or when ordering dinner would you tell the waiter to make certain that chicken breast is natural chicken? I don’t think so. I think the term natural chicken is a scam. I am not just certain how.

Another thing I wonder about is when you go to the cleaners and drop off your shirts and slacks and suits to be cleaned. Most dry cleaners have a little sign on the premises that represents this is a “Professional Dry Cleaner”. Duh, of course they are professional; they make you pay for the cleaning services, therefore , by definition they are professional. Would you take your clothes to an amateur dry cleaner? I think not. In some endeavors there may be room for professionals and amateurs. You see that in athletics, there are professional golfers and there are amateur golfers. But you don’t see that in the dry cleaning business or the medical business. I mean do you ever see an amateur gynecologist? OK we all know a few

I wonder who was the guy who came up with the idea to eat cow tongue. After watching a cow lick its own nose with its huge tongue did the guy think "Wow, that looks tasty, I ought to rip that tongue out that cow’s head, fry it, add some onions and serve it to my family; they would love it”?

I wonder how do I get the fur off of my tongue after I give my cat a bath?

I wonder why we spend money and firemen's valuable time in getting cats out of trees. Have you ever seen a cat skeleton in a tree?

I wonder about people who send email that states at the bottom, “if you did not receive this email, please contact us”. I am mean really, if I did not receive the email, how would I know that I did not receive the email?

I wonder about the bottles of water you buy in the store. Check out the bottles, they have an expiration date. Does water really expire? Water has been around for tens of thousands of years in underground springs. Do you really think the water in this particular 16 ounce bottle expires on March 31, 2012? I don’t think so and I think I will risk it and drink the damn stuff on April 5th.

I just saw on the news that the guy that hacked in Sarah Palin’s email was sentenced to more than one year in prison. How does that work when our banks, Google, Amazon and dozens, if not thousands, of businesses sell our personal and private information to other companies. Our private information is sold everywhere. Do you think anyone in those information selling companies is going to jail for selling our personal information? Hell no, they get pay raises, they get bonuses, they get promoted. I am pretty sure that the most of Palin’s email’s ended with “Forward this to 20 other persons and you will have good luck”. So whats the big deal?

I wonder why some people want to cut social security payments to our elderly, cut payments to those who have paid into the system for 40 years, cut payments to those who have built America, but these people don’t want to reduce American expenditures by getting out of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. The total real cost of the Iraq war and the Afghanistan war is trillions. Why are we not outraged that we paying these costs? Does anyone really believe that when we leave these countries, if we ever leave, that the attitudes of the Muslim populations will be different than before these wars? Will they love Americans? Will Shia Muslims love Suni Muslims? Will the radicals in Saudi Arabia (where we are not at war) stop their terrorist activities? I don’t think so. In these days where government expenditures for the poor and even the middle class are questioned, why don’t we turn out the lights on these two wars and bring our military personnel home immediately. Things will never, ever, ever, change in those countries. Do you remember when Bush took us to Iraq? He said the war would be paid for by Iraq oil. Right, that really happened. Afghanistan is Obama’s righteous war. Right. Lets go home, lets bring our men and women soldiers home. Ten years is enough.

I wonder why so many people are frightened by the thought of gays in the military or at least knowing they are in the military. I would think if you are pro gay, or at least not anti gay, you would be ok with gays in the military. I would think if you were anti-gay, you would want a gay to be in the military to take the place of some nice straight boy. Put the gay guy in harm’s way. Let the straight guy come home and work for Ace Hardware. So it seems to me if you really think about it, it makes sense for everyone, regardless of sexual preference or gender, who wants to serve in the military to be able to openly serve in the miltary. We let Muslims serve in the Miltary, we let illegal aliens serve in the miltary, we let criminals serve in the milatary, what is the big deal if a guy with a boyfriend or a girl with a girlfriend wants to serve America. Lets figure this out. This is not a big deal. For those of you who don't like Congressman Barney Frank, wouldn't you rather the Barnmeister be in a foxhole in Iraq rather than making fiscal policy in the Congress?

If you have things that make you wonder. Leave a comment.

Halloween

2010-10-30T03:48:00.000-06:00

Today Halloween is celebrated in Utah. I don’t know about you heathens in other states, but in Utah, there is no way that we will let our kids dress up as ghouls, monsters and Lady Gaga on a Sunday. There is no Utah law requiring trick or treating to be on Saturday when October 31^st falls on a Sunday, but I can tell you that most of us here in Utah have received a vision or other inspiration causing each of us to just know that trick or treating is not a Sunday activity. There is an unstated Scripture. “Thou shall not beg for candy in monster costumes on Sunday”. We have a similar prohibition when July 4^th falls on a Sunday. When that happens we celebrate Independence Day either two weeks before or two weeks after July 4^th. Hey this is Utah, I love it but there is a lot of goofy stuff and goofy people in Utah, including me. In Utah we can have 4 or 5 wives but you can’t watch fireworks on Sunday. Go figure.

Tonight all the kids will be knocking on doors and ringing doorbells and the musical cries of “Treat or Trick” will fill the darkened skies. When the little kids come to the door it is cute and sweet, but you also get a lot of 17 year old hoodlums. I think they want cash or tires and not candy. A guy comes to the door dressed as a gang member with chains in his hand and teardrop tattoos on his face. The blood on his shirt is real blood not fake blood. Do you really think that guy wants a Snicker’s bar? He wants your wife’s necklace. He wants 10% of your weekly income.

I have never been a big Halloween fan. Never once in 33 years of practicing law have I ever dressed up on Halloween for work. Usually I go to work dressed as a casually attired lawyer. Do you remember when your children were young and they dressed as princesses or lions or something really cute? Do you also remember when they got older and started dressing like hookers? That was when you realized life had changed. When there were young, you held their little hand and walked them to a few houses on your street. When they hit Junior High School, they left early for a candy run and told you they would be home by 11:00 pm.

Have you ever notice how many workers at banks and grocery stores go all out for Halloween? It’s crazy. You go into the bank to cash a check and the teller has an axe in her head. I mean if she is a little slow in getting your money to you, are you really gonna complain to a woman with an axe in her head with blood dripping down her face? (A side note - Do you ever wonder if it is “AXE or AX”? Well I googled it – “There is no difference; they are simply variant spellings for a heavy tool or instrument used for chopping and cleaving. Ax is the preferred form in modern American English. The word(s) derive from Latin ascia and Greek axine. The plural is axes. I like Axe better so don’t email me and tell me I made a mistake. The word is also used in urban areas in connection with a question, such as “let me axe you this”.)

Ok back to Halloween. You go to the grocery store and the butcher has blood all over his apron. Makes you wonder if he just chopped up a cow or if he is in costume. Either way it kind a makes you want to eat veggie.

The worst part of tonight’s Halloween is that the University of Utah football game is on at 5:30. They play the Air Force Academy. Air Force is always a tough game for the U of U. So I am going to be affixed to my chair tonight watching the game. No door answering for me. I don’t know if the Lovely Sharon realizes it but tonight I will pass her the candy handout baton. It will be her job tonight to handle the cute little kids and the hoodlums. If she has a problem, she can call 911. I need to full concentrate on the football game.

Tomorrow is Sunday October 31^st, the real Halloween. I might go to church tomorrow. I have not been for a while. Maybe I will go down to St John the Baptist dressed up for Halloween. I am not certain what I will wear. Maybe I will go dressed as a man whose wife is mad at him for not handing out candy on Halloween. The axe in my head may be real.

Two Hats

2010-10-25T19:38:00.001-06:00

Most of my time at home is spent in the Bud Cave. The Bud Cave is a suite of a bedroom, a bathroom, an office/den and a coffee room where I make coffee every morning. The coffee room also serves as a storage room. There are a number of shelves in the coffee room that hold mesne supplies, books, financial records and other things. Lately, when I have ventured into the coffee room, my eyes have focused on two hats stored on these shelves. Each of these hats means something to me; a special meaning. To see these hats sitting on a shelf, triggers memories, makes me think back to earlier years, and makes me contemplate life. To look at these two hats they don’t appear to be anything unusual or special but they are, they are worth more than money. Do you wonder how two hats could have special meaning to me? Well here is their story.

The Straw Hat. One of the hats is is a light colored straw hat with a tan hat band. Its brand is a Dorfman Pacific. I don’t know for certain how old this hat is. I know it is at least 8 or 10 years old, maybe older. I doubt it was very expensive. It is a functional straw hat that you might see on the golf course. I know that because that is where I first saw this hat, on the golf course. This hat belonged to my friend Don Wingeleth. I am not certain that I ever saw him on the golf course without this hat on his head. I would suppose that if you saw Don on the course without this simple straw hat you might not have recognized him. Don passed away a few years back. He was married to our sweet, dear friend Sallie. They were sweethearts from the time they first met to the time he was gone. Don and Sallie. Those three words almost seemed like a single word. One word to describe two people, two people that almost seemed like just one person. I met Don and Sallie more than dozen years ago standing in line waiting for a Diana Krall concert at the Salt Lake Hilton Hotel. We were standing in line hoping to get good general admission seats and as we passed the time we started a conversation. We were pleasantly surprised that each of us was a member of Hidden Valley Country Club. We talked for close to an hour before the concert started. That was the beginning of my friendship with Don and Sallie. From this chance meeting, we became part of each others’ lives. I met their children, all of whom were grown and married. We played golf together in Palm Desert and Salt Lake. We dined together and we attended parties together. When the Lovely Sharon and I married on the 14^th hole at Ironwood Country Club on March 21, 2004, Don and Sallie played in the pre -wedding ceremony golf round, watched us get married in our golf clothes and golf shoes and joined us for a celebratory dinner. Don and Sallie were special friends to Sharon and me. Three or four years ago, Don got sick, very sick. Don and Sallie and their family fought his illness for a year in Utah and Texas. Finally the fight was over and Don was gone. Sallie asked me to be an honorary pall bearer at Don’s funeral. What an honor for me to share one last event with Don. After it was all over, Don’s sweetheart Sallie told me she had something to give me. I wondered what it could be. You probably guessed, it was the straw hat. When I took the hat into my hands I had tears in my eyes. What a gift for me from Sal. To give me a part of Don’s life, of their life together. From time to time while my coffee is brewing, I look at the straw hat. Occasionally, I reach for it and hold it and think about friends, life and death. To some it’s just a hat to me, it’s more, much more.

The Stetson

The Other hat is a tan felt Stetson. My grandfather, Everett Headman wore this hat and others like it for as long as I can remember. He was born in 1902 and passed away in 1978. He had an active life and served as a Justice of the Peace in Salt Lake County for many years. He was a lifelong Democrat and I blame my Democratic tendencies on him. As a boy and young man he hunted and fished. He was a well known baseball player. As he got older he played golf. He loved flowers and was frequently working on the mums with my Grandmother. Everett had an outgoing personality and everyone seemed to like him. He was fun to be around. More often than not he had a smile on his face. When I was a boy he told me stories about political events he organized well before I was born. He showed me dozens of colorful campaign badges. He told me tales of conventions, meetings and parties. He told me of one party where everyone got drunk and tried to ride a donkey. Apparently most of them were bucked off. He told me that in the 1920’s he hit a home run at a ball park in the Butler Hill area and the ball rolled down Butler Hill into a barn. According to his story, the barn was torn down some thirty years later and the ball was found. He told me he had new car in his garage when my father was a boy and my father somehow set the garage on fire and the new car burned up. According to granddad, the neighbors came over to watch the car and garage burn down. Apparently it was an interesting neighborhood event. I used to spend a lot of time with my grandparents as they lived next door when I grew up. After my grandfather died I was given his hat. I don’t remember who gave me the hat; it was either my grandmother or my father. But I have had the hat for 32 years. It is stored in the same hatbox it came in when he bought it. Maybe once a year I take the hatbox off the top shelf of the coffee room and look at the hat. I hold it in my hands feeling the still soft felt. It makes me think of playing in my grandfather’s yard, jumping in piles of leaves cutting his law for 50 cents. It makes me think of sitting on his front porch with my big sister swinging in his front porch swing.

It makes me think of driving in his truck with him. It makes me think of the day he had some big trees in his back yard cut down. One of the tree cutters got drunk at lunch and after lunch he went back to work on granddad’s tree. The worker had a rope tied around his ankle as a protective device. The next thing I saw was the tree cutter hanging upside down from the tree with the rope around his ankle. He had fallen out of the tree and the rope saved him from hitting the ground. I remember laughing but I don’t remember how they got the fellow down from the tree. I know they got him down because the tree is gone. That had to be in 1958 or so when I was about six years old. Like Don Wingeleth’s hat, my grandfather’s hat is more than a hat. It is something than conjures up memories from a period of time when I was 4 or 5 years hold to my grandfather’s death in 1978.

So that is the story of my two hats. It’s a good story for me, a story of warmth, of friends and of family. It’s a story that is a little bitter sweet as it makes me realize there is more of my life behind me than there is ahead of me. You may have a hat story but your story may be about a quilt, a set of dishes, a photo album or a piece of furniture. It is about some object that is not inherently valuable but an object that causes a flood of memories for you, taking you back to a happy time.

Take the time celebrate your hat stories.

Thirty Years Later

2010-10-22T17:57:00.003-06:00

I turned 58 years old today. I cannot believe it, I am 58 years old. My back feels 58 years old, but my mind, my personality, my excitement for life, and my curiosity are about 22 years old. It is hard to believe that I was 28 years old 30 years ago, in 1980. Lately I have been thinking about things that are different for me, for life and for the world since 1980 and the things that are the same.

Things that are different. These things are not meant to be funny, nor negative nor positive. They are just things are different (or that I perceive to be different) since my 28th birthday.

I had no son 30 years ago. Now I have a fine 27 year old son, “Son Alex” and two fine stepsons. I also have a beautiful daughter-in-law and grand daughter.

I did not play golf in 1980, I now play golf.

In 1980 I did not google anything, I did not email, I did not text anyone. I did not use the internet. Today I actively do all of these things.

In 1980 I did not have a cell phone. I have since had 10 or 12 different cell phones.

In 1980 University of Utah football team was not very good. They lost five games, they won five games and they tied one game. They lost to Boise state 28-7, they lost to Nebraska 55-9, they lost to Wyoming 24-21, they lost to BYU 56-6 and they lost to San Diego State 21-20. This year Utah is currently undefeated.

In 1980 my father was 54 and my mother was 52. My father is now 84 and my mother is 82.

In 1980 I did not care that much for the Palm Springs area. I now love the Palm Springs area.

Not only was I not leery of Muslims in 1980, I did not think much about them one way or another. Wrongly or rightly, I am now leery about Muslims. I now know much more about the Mid East, Islam and Muslims.

In 1980,I never thought about a black person being President of the United States. Now, the fact that a person is black, Hispanic, or Asian would have no bearing on my view of their qualifications to be President.

In 1980 Utah’s Governor was a Democrat (Scott Mattheson). Utah had Democratic Governors from 1924 to 1944 and from 1964 to 1984. All Utah governors since January 1985 have been Republicans.

In 1980, I thought the Republican Party was dumb. Not individual Republicans, just the leaders, elected and otherwise. Now I think the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are dumb.

I never thought about gay marriage in 1980. Now I think about it and frankly have no objection to it.

As of 1980, I had never been to Europe. I have now been to Europe 7 or 8 times.

I did not expect live TV coverage of all news events 1980. I now expect live coverage of any news events: wars, earthquakes, crime, trials, people growing giant pumpkins etc.

I love my friends. I don’t think I knew very many of my current friends 30 years ago.

In 1980, reality TV was the news or sports on TV. Now reality TV is all kinds of everyday life action. 1n 1980 did you ever think you could watch the following on TV (or for that matter that you would want to?)

            New Jersey Housewives fighting, swearing, and crying
            Overweight people getting weighed in front of cameras
            Football players or other athletes dancing
           Watching people clean and throw junk away that had been stored in their house and garage (the “Hoarder Shows”)
            Watching someone paint their rumpus room green (or any color) on a home makeover show
            Watching big trucks drive the ice road to Alaska

Things That are the Same

I still love reading, books, libraries, and books stores.

I still love going to the movies.

I still love most types of music.

I still love to take photos.

I still like to look at a beautiful woman.

I still believe life tomorrow can be better than life today.

I still like sports.

I still believe in being kind, nice, and honest.

I still think it is important to help people.

I still am not that interested in going to church regularly. I go more often than I did in 1980, but now it’s the Catholic Church not the Mormon Church.

Orrin Hatch is still a US Senator from Utah. When he ran in 1976, his biggest campaign issue was that Utah Senator Frank Moss had been a Senator for 18 years and that was just too long. Hatch has been a senator now for 34 years and will undoubtedly run for reelection in 2012.

I still appreciate my parents.

I still have doubts about self worth.

I still get excited about beautiful things, the National Anthem, the autumn leaves.

Autumn is still my favorite time of year.

I still think neither figure skating or synchronized swimming is a sport. I still don’t like watching either activity.

Arnold Palmer is still an icon.

I still like living in Salt Lake City

As life moves on, some things remain the same, some things change.

Home of the Brave

2010-10-20T22:40:00.000-06:00

My friend Sherm sent me this hyperlink. It is the National Anthem sung by the miltary academies. It will give you the chills. Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ETrr-XHBjE

Vampires

2010-10-20T03:57:00.000-06:00

What is up with our continued fascination with vampires? Have you notice how many books, movies and TV shows are about vampires? When I was a kid there were a few Bela Lugosi movies that scared me to death, but now the movies, TV shows and books about the living dead are everywhere. In the old days, Bela, as Count Dracula, would fly around as a bat and upon landing would turn into a human like creature. He could hold his black velvet cape out, jump off a balcony and soar like a vulture. He slept all day in his coffin as the daylight caused him great discomfort. You killed him with a wooden stake driven through his heart with a wooden mallet. It was all pretty simple for the non vampire citizens and the movie goers. You were safe during the day, you went to work but you left work early to get your laundry done, cut the lawn and look for the vampire’s hidden coffin that had been shipped to the United States by some royal person in Europe. You had to be back home by dusk because that is when Count Dracula awoke to begin his nightly search for a blood dinner. The Count always had one or two non-vampire stooges who worked for him. They ran errands for the Count during daylight hours; you know, go to the grocery store, get video’s, get Brylcreem for the Count’s hair (you gotta be old to remember Brylcreem) and do the other day to-day stuff that a vampire needs done. Every old-time vampire needed a non-vampire stooge. These stooges either were deaf mutes or spoke with an English accent. You never really saw a non-vampire stooge speak with a southern accent. The old time vampires always seem to have lots of money or at least lived like they did with big mansions, expensive chandeliers, big screen TV’s and stuff like that. They always had stretch limos with curtains covering the windows. Kind of like Brittany Spears today.

Sometimes the Count would break into a blood bank for a snack. This was always scary because he always seemed to let a little bit of blood drip of his fangs.

The Count ultimately selected a wife. Once she was turned into a vampire she too slept through the day in a velvet lined coffin wearing a cream colored satin dress with her hair fixed up in a nice beehive style. In the old days you never really saw a woman vampire with a pixie haircut, wearing a tee shirt and jeans. They were always dressed like there were going to the opera.

Today its different. Some of today’s vampires have daily jobs and they seem to be able to co-exist nicely with the non-vampires in the daylight hours. They work at the car wash, in restaurants or in the United States Congress- oh wait that is a different kind of blood sucker, my bad. Today’s vampires don’t want to bite the neck of everyone; mostly they just bite women with big boobs. It makes you wonder why they just bite the neck of these victims.

Some of today’s vampires are in love with non-vampires and the non-vampires are in love with them. These are mixed marriages. I don’t mean marriages between white people and black people or between Mormons and Catholics, I mean the traditional mixed marriage of the undead wife who exists by drinking the blood of the living and her spouse who is one of the living but who eats TV dinners and regular non-human blood cuisine. The vampire wife does not want to turn the non-vampire husband into a vampire so she does not suck his blood. This is the basic difference between a marriage between a vampire wife who does not suck the blood of her non-vampire husband and the non-vampire wife who sucks the non-vampire husband’s blood dry, particularly in a divorce. (I am pretty certain that that last statement won’t seem to be as funny to my women friends as it will to my men friends.)

There are so many movies, TV shows and books about vampires today, you could think it is a real part of life on earth and who am I to say its not. Frequently you read a news story about the discovery of a new species. Just think about it, a new species never before seen. A new jelly fish from the ocean’s depths in Indonesia, or a blue frog in the Amazon jungle or a Democrat in Utah.

Maybe there are real vampires walking around us. Heck, in today’s political correct world I suppose it would be inappropriate to drive a stake through the heart of a vampire. This would be discriminatory. Instead we would probably have an affirmative action program where vampires could get into schools (probably night schools would be best for them) or there would be parking spots at the mall reserved for the undead while those of us who are human drive aimlessly through the parking lot looking for a spot to park. If a vampire today were in a security line at the airport wearing his cape with blood dripping off his fangs, it would probably be illegal for the security folks to profile him with an extra pat down. He would no doubt be rushed through security with minimum delay while the old geezer with no teeth would be questioned for a half hour.

I will start looking around to see if any of my law partners or golfing buddies are part of the undead. My law partner Vern looks awfully pale and I never see him in the morning. Furthermore he is a bankruptcy litigator and I know for certain that some debtors have accused him of sucking the last drops of blood out of them.

Last Weekend

2010-10-20T02:39:00.000-06:00

I haven’t posted any essays lately and surprisingly I have had a number of friends ask me when I am going to post again. So here I am back at it. Last week the Lovely Sharon made a run to the Palm Desert to take down a carload of shoes for the winter. She did have other things in her car but the most important part of the cargo was the shoes. She was gone about six days and she spent time cleaning things up and getting our desert place ready for winter. She returned to Salt Lake on Saturday afternoon. She will head back to Palm Desert for the season in less than two weeks. It astonishes me that it is already that time of year. It seems like she just arrived home in Salt Lake for the summer season a few weeks ago. Even though she was only gone for a week, it was a little lonely without her. However, the weekend was great autumn weather, great fun and some good football games.

Autumn is my favorite time of year. Autumn in Salt Lake is particularly beautiful time of year. Most of the days are sunny with blue skies that seem to be a different color of blue than the summer blue sky. Maybe it’s the angle of the sun, or the shorter days, I am not certain but the sky does seem a little different. The mornings are cool and the days are perfect, around 68 degrees. The trees on the mountain side have all turned to oranges, reds and yellows. Some of the trees in my yard have started to change colors but for the most part they are still mostly green. During the last several days, a number of leaves have fallen. Not many but a few. Our back yard is surrounded by trees and the time for raking will soon be upon me.

My dear friends Steve and Cathy invited me to dinner last Friday night. We had a nice dinner, good wine and lively conversation. They have a couple of dogs who seem to like me. Dogs and kids generally seem to like me. Its adult humans who don’t.

Saturday night Sharon and I attended a wine pairings dinner at Hidden Valley Country Club. What a terrific evening with our Salt Lake friends. After a dinner, a whole crowd of us migrated to the soft couches and chairs of the HVCC public room. We sat around talking and laughing about the dinner, public events, golf, friends and other matters. As I sat there amongst these dear friends I considered how important friends are, how much they enrich my life and what a void there would be without them. Some friends I see often, others less often but they all add to the fabric of life. I think it was nearly 11:00 p.m. when we all started to wander out of the club to the darkened parking lot to find our cars and head to our homes. Our friend Terry attended the party without her husband Jim who was out of town. So Sharon and I followed her home to make certain she got in safely.

Sunday the Lovely Sharon and I played golf at the Salt Lake Country Club at the invitation of friends Don and Annette. I am embarrassed to tell you that as I was looking for Annette’s ball which appeared to have trickled into the creek on the 11th hole, I slipped down a muddy slope and hurt my ankle. Two days later it is still painful to walk. To make matters worse, the ball I thought was hers was just an old broken golf ball that had no doubt been sitting there for months. That was not a good hole for me. I hit my ball in the creek, I damaged my club on a rock and I hurt my ankle looking for Annette’s ball. After golf we had dinner together. Despite the happenings on the 11th hole it was a lovely day.

As I sat at work today, the Lovely Sharon called me to inform me that I left the garage door up when I left for work this morning. Luckily no one stole our golf clubs or bikes. I wonder if I close the garage door tomorrow morning if Sharon will call me to tell me I closed the door. Somehow, I don’t think this will happen.

So a week that was more than a little quiet turned into a wonderful weekend of parties, golf, the Lovely Sharon and friends. What more could a fellow ask for.

More Things I Like

2010-09-25T05:16:00.000-06:00

There are a number of things I like. I mean I just like em; sometimes for good reason sometimes for no good reason. In previous postings on this blog I have mentioned some things I like, here are some more. If there are things you like, I would love to hear about them, you can leave a comment on this blog and share them with the other readers or just send me an email.

Kids Laughing. Last Saturday, while we were golfing at Wasatch State Park, there were several groups of kids playing near the pond on the corner of the property. They were playing, screaming and laughing around the lake in the midday sun. Their laughter was like music. When I heard it, I stopped playing golf and looked over to where they were playing. The sounds made me smile, made me feel good and certainly made me glad I heard them. Pure, sincere, uninhibited laughter of a group of children is something special.

Buttered Popcorn at the Movies. Diet or no diet, its darn hard to go to a movie and not order a big container of heavily butter and salted popcorn. I am pretty sure this is good for your health.

Aerial Photos of Lake Powell. From satellites or low flying airplanes, photos of Lake Powell from above are very cool.

The Inauguration of an American President. I don’t care if the new president is a Democrat or a Republican or whether I voted for or against him. I am always thrilled to watch a new President get sworn into office. The pageantry, the music, the flag fluttering in the wind on a January day. The simple act of placing a hand on the Bible and repeating an oath to serve and defend. This represents the fundamental greatness of America. We change our President by a vote of the people. We don’t assassinate or drive into exile the previous President. We have a civil and deferential turnover of power to a new President. This ceremony always chokes me up and makes me proud to be an American. I feel this way even if I don’t care for the new President.

The American Flag. This is somewhat the same concept as the previous item. Picture an American flag fluttering against a blue sky. How does it make you feel. What does it make you think about. It makes me feel respectful. It makes me feel blessed. It makes me feel that I have the right to disagree with you or with the government about issues of the day. I am patriotic toward America but I think that is a different thing that being supportive of a government position or being a puppet for a particular party or a particular leader. One of my favorite sayings is “Dissent does not equal disloyalty”. You can criticize Obama, or Bush or Reagan or Clinton during each of their presidencies, you can dislike them, but that does not make you disloyal to America. When US first went to war in Iraq after 9/11, I opposed it and I still opposed the war. The Iraqi’s were not the architects or actors in 9/11, by and large it was the Saudi’s. We didn’t invade Saudi Arabia. During the first few years of this the longest war in American history, more than a few of my friends questioned my loyalty because I spoke out against the invasion. These days after thousands of deaths of American military personnel, tens of thousands maimed for life and billions of dollars of costs, fewer people criticize me than previously but there still are some. I criticize the government under Obama for still having us in Iraq just as I criticized George W for getting us there in the first place. The Flag is a symbol of my right to criticize the government just as it is a symbol of your right to criticize me. I believe each of us has the responsibility to speak up when we disagree. It is sometimes difficult to speak your opinion, especially in a group situation, but I think it is important in all things to stand up and be counted for what you think is right. When I see the Flag, it reminds me of this right and this obligation.

Dawn. I love dawn and the early morning. The time before of the sun comes up when it is just barely light. I love the feel of that time of day. It is generally quiet and cool. It is a time when I have hope of a good day ahead, a mini new beginning of life. Do better today, be nicer today, help someone today.

Pictures of the Lovely Sharon. I can’t get enough of them. They make me feel good.

Ocean Avenue in Carmel, CA. I have been to Carmel, California forty or fifty times. I was there in June of this year for the U.S. Open. I love to walk down Ocean Avenue on the right side of the avenue as you face toward the Ocean and then walk back up on the other side. We look in all the shop windows and walk in and browse in many of them. You can smell coffee and baked goods, the air is usually comfortably cool. If its late afternoon, maybe we stopped for a glass of wine.

Art Galleries. I have no training in art. I have limited knowledge about art and artists. But I love and appreciate art. I love paintings and photographs. I love pottery and glassware. I love sculptures. I love to walk into art galleries in Palm Desert, San Francisco, New York and Carmel.

Things my Parents Taught Me. Just like a statement from the Bible, I was born of goodly parents. I think often about the lessons they taught me. Be kind to all, work hard, don’t be envious, be genuinely happy at the successes of your friends and neighbors. Be honest. Help the less fortunate. Help your neighbors, family and even strangers without having to be asked. Get the job done and do it right. Respect everyone regardless of position, wealth, education, job status, religious preference or sexual preference. I have always tried to live by these principles. I have not always been successful, but I have tried. Can you imagine if the Democrats and Republicans threw away their political platforms, and just tried to do those things my parents taught me as a boy? Our society would be better for it.

Meat Dresses, Ice Cream Cones and Witches

2010-09-22T06:23:00.002-06:00

Here are some things I have been thinking and reading about. There is no order, no connection, its just random stuff that you probably won’t think is all that interesting, but if you have a goof brain like I do, you might.

Meat Dress. Lady Gaga wore a dress constructed of raw meat at the 2010 VMAs. The dress was actually made from thin slices of raw meat stitched together. The designer of the dress obtained the meat from his family’s butcher. Various cuts of beef were chosen to be part of the dress and her handbag. She even had a slice of beef draped across her head. There are many photos and a lot of discussion about it on the internet.

When asked about why she wore that outfit, she cited concerns about the controversial military law called “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” which was signed into law via an executive order by Bill Clinton in 1993. So let me get this right. Lady Gaga (who I never heard of before about three months ago) wore a dress made out of meat because of the military policy on gays? If she was opposed to the Arizona laws on illegal aliens what would she wear, chiles rellenos? If she opposed the nuclear policy of North Korea, would she wear a dog?

You have got be very careful where you take out a woman who is wearing a dress made out of slabs of meat. You cannot take her to a vegetarian restaurant; the other patrons would be on you like white on rice. Try taking her to a dog show or even to a park and you would have to run for your life from packs of dogs looking for dinner. You can’t spend time with her in the hot sun or the dress will start cooking. You wouldn’t want to put your arm around her at the movies; it would be like sleeping on a spam mattress without a sheet.

I think she is a nut and her dress designer is a nut. This was a very bad and sickening idea. I would prefer to see a sexy woman covered in biscuits or maybe pancakes. The Lovely Sharon dressed in croissants? Now that would be cool.

Christine O’Donnell. This woman just won the Republican primary in Delaware for US Senate. She is a Tea Party devotee. She has acknowledged she previously dabbled in witchcraft. She once said

“I dabbled into witchcraft. I hung around people who were doing these things. I'm not making this stuff up. I know what they told me they do. One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar and I didn't know it. I mean, there was a little blood there and stuff like that. We went to a movie and then had a little picnic on a satanic altar.”

After this information came out, the head of some witch organization criticized O’Donnell by claiming witches do not have satanic altars. The witch lady said O’Donnell blew it and this could have been a good teaching opportunity about witches. Yeah I think we need more teaching opportunities about witches. Maybe it should be a required class in elementary school.

If O’Donnell is elected senator, maybe she could use “Bewitched” type powers to straighten up the economy.

Real Quotes from Politicians.

''His mom lived in Long Island for ten years or so. God rest her soul. And- although, she's- wait- your mom's still- your mom's still alive. Your dad passed. God bless her soul.''
—Joe Biden, on the mother of Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who is very much alive, Washington, D.C., March 17, 2010

''We had no domestic attacks under Bush; we've had one under Obama.''
—Rudy Giuliani, Mr. 9/11, forgetting 9/11, Jan. 8, 2010

'I'm blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where we lived. I saw it all growing up.''
—Ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, in an interview with 'Esquire' magazine

''I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it is a tragedy in the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown -- in this case a $20 billion shakedown ... I'm only speaking for myself. I'm not speaking for anyone else, but I apologize. I do not want to live in a county where anytime a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong, [it is] subject to some sort of political pressure that, again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown.''
--Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) member of the Tea Party Caucus, during a congressional hearing with BP CEO Tony Hayward, referring to a $20 billion fund for damages that President Obama pressured BP to set up to pay for the Gulf oil spill. Barton, the biggest recipient of oil and gas industry campaign contributions in the House of Representatives, was forced by Republican leaders to apologize for his BP apology.

Kim Kardashian. For the life of me and I cannot understand the fascination with Kim Kardashian and for that matter, her family. She is not an actress, singer, author, inventor, business leader, athlete or humanitarian. She has large boobs and a large butt. OK so that’s nice. Maybe that is all that is needed to be in the news. In the last three or four days on The Huffingpost.com online news, there was an article that announced Kim Kardashian had eaten ice cream cones in Paris and Capris. There was even a picture of her lapping the cone in Capris. This is news? This is of such import to the rest of us pathetic slobs whose lives are some boring, so unimportant, that we want to read about some woman with no talent, no skills or to my knowledge, no contribution to mankind, eating an ice cream cone in Capris? Please I would rather watch the Lovely Sharon eat an ice cream cone or for that matter, a bowl of cold cereal. What happens if Kardashian eats a steak in Oslo, do we give her the Nobel Prize? Two days after the ice cream cone article, there was an article that informed us that Kardashian had purchased a $30,000 purse in Milan. A single purse for $30,000, are you kidding me? You can buy two $15,000 purses for $30,000.

I gotta quit reading the news, it drives me crazy.

Autumn In Midway, UT

2010-09-19T16:39:00.002-06:00

It started with a short phone call on Sunday evening, September 12, 2010. The Lovely Sharon and I had just arrived home from a trip to McCall, Idaho. When I picked up the phone, I was pleased to hear the voice of friend Barry. He told me that he and Nanette had organized a 27 hole golf outing for the next Saturday at Wasatch State Park in Midway, UT. He got about 30 seconds of a description of the planned event out and I broke in (it is not unusual for me to break in- bad habit) and told him to count us in. Barry responded by asking me if I needed to consult with the Lovely Sharon (Barry, like many of our friends, have come to refer to Sharon as the Lovely Sharon). I told him that no, we would play. A brave decision on my part but I was certain Sharon woud be up for an autumn golf outing in Midway. The plan was to meet for breakfast at the golf course, with all six couples who were scheduled to play in the event. Then there would be a 27 hole golf event, followed by dinner in Park City. Who in their right mind would say no to such a plan?

So yesterday morning I awoke around 4:00 am to start my day. Had some coffee, read the online news and packed my camera and a few other things in a large canvas tote bag. My plan was to leave the house around 7:00 am for the hour drive to Midway. For those of you who may not be familiar with Utah, Midway is in the beautiful Heber Valley about 12 miles from Park City. At 6:10 I woke Sharon up in a very romantic and sensitive way. I pulled the covers off of her, squeezed her derriere and told her she needed to drag her butt out of bed. Hey, it seemed romantic at the time. She moaned, opened her eyes for about 2 seconds and said it was still dark outside and no right thinking person would be getting up that early for golf. I encouraged, prodded, threatened and cajoled and she finally promised to get up. After filling up the car with fuel, and getting her coffee at the bagel shop, we headed out.

The morning was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. As we entered the Heber Valley it was about 8:00. The surrounding hills were aglow with the warm colors of autumn. Reds, oranges and yellows were abundant on the hills and mountains but the dominant color was reddish –orange that was absolutely spectacular. As we drove into the Heber valley, we saw a solitary fisherman wading the Provo River, with thigh high fishing boots, a brimmed hat and a fly rod in hand. It looked like painting of some Americana scene of the West. We turned off Highway 40 to head to the golf course. We passed by cows and horses grazing in fields of yellow in the early morning. As we drove toward the golf course, I was overwhelmed at the beauty of the morning. We were driving west; the entire mountain side was awash in color, beyond the color was the majesty of the rocky cliffs of the backside of Mt Timpanogos. The radio was playing John Denver’s “Annie’s Song” and I was feeling just like John’s words, “you fill up my senses” as the sounds and the sights were lifting my soul. About a mile from the golf course I pulled over got out of the car where I stood taking in the scene and breathing the autumn weather. I took a picture of the mountains in the background and in the foreground steam was rising off a pond in the morning light. After a few minutes I got back into the car and we drove to the golf course. When we arrived at the golf course, I told the Lovely Sharon how I was feeling. She told me that indeed it was beautiful, but that she never really liked “Annie’s Song”. Oh well, back to reality.

It was a pleasure to eat breakfast with friends, looking out the window at the surrounding mountains and the green golf course. We talked of golf, and weather and things friends talk about. There was Barry and Nanette, Don and Sandy, Mike and Jane, Bruce and Rhonda and Sharon and me. Robyn and Paul met us after breakfast. Finally, it was time to play golf. The 27 hole event was divided into three separate nine hole games, (i) point par with both balls of each couple counting for the score, (ii) better ball with one ball per couple counting for the score and (iii) a scramble of the couple’s best shot on each hole. We played with a different couple for each of the nine hole matches. It was a glorious day where the sky was as blue as could be and the temperature was perfect. The colors were so beautiful it was almost distracting. We saw deer, wild turkeys, geese, and scampering squirrels. The Lovely Sharon and I hit some good shots and plenty of bad shots. At the end of the competition we were not surprised to learn that we took last place in each event. Friends Robyn and Paul played terrific and took first place in each event.

After golf we hurried to Park City for dinner. We were joined at dinner by Mary and Rich and so we had two tables for the 14 of us. We laughed and ate and watched football on the big screen. Barry announced the winners and in as nice as manner as possible informed me that me and the Lovely Sharon were DFL in each event. Around 8:30 we all hugged, kissed cheeks and expressed affection for each other and proclaimed that it had been the most special of days, a day that would be long remembered. . Then we each walked into the night to our separate cars to drive home.

After we arrived home we unpacked the car. When I was finally in my bed for the evening, lying in the dark, I thought of the day, the sights, the companionship and the Lovely Sharon. I must tell you, I was still overwhelmed by it all. I still had a glow inside me and just between you and me, in my mind I was humming and thinking of the lyrics of Annie’s Song.