The Great Experiment

I'm baaaack! We survived Houston traffic one more time. For eleven years of my life, on almost every day of the week and some weekends, I drove in Houston traffic. Each year I tempt fate by driving back into the fray for some noble reason. I forget during the interim what it was like and am always in shock for the first few miles of the vortex. The vortex actually starts about sixty miles out in any direction from the core. Drivers who are being courteous, and sensible start to show aggression. Everyone increases their margin of speed over the limit by at least ten miles per hour, with some going totally out of control. Then the weaving and lane adjustments get more complex and the margin for error decreases. I had the opportunity to be alone in the car on several side trips during the weekend. During these trips I resurrected some of the highway terminology I thought had been purged from my vocabulary. I did avoid any road rage incidents by remembering that almost all the drivers in Houston are armed, and I was not. When we got out of Houston yesterday, I stopped the car and let Bebe drive for a while. I took a nap. I am rested this morning and ready to make comment. The old bear in the picture is watching the Democrats at their convention and waiting for some government official to bring him his lunch.

Man is a clever animal who behaves like an imbecile. - Albert Schweitzer

Dream Forgotten

Greetings from the blue collar metropolis of Houston, Texas. I am posting from way up north this morning. The photograph of the water lilies is from the sample photos that come with most PCs. It is appropriate for Houston since the humidity here in the summer is high enough on most days to grow this variety. However, this morning, the temperature is very moderate, and the humidity is surprisingly low. I just sat outside and enjoyed two cups of coffee. I was awakened this morning by the whir of the coffee grinder on the Cuisinart coffee maker. I thought it was the mosquito truck coming by for the nightly spraying, or perhaps my sister-in-law vacuuming in the dark hours before dawn. My mind defogged enough to grasp the significance of the sound and I patiently waited for ten minutes for the smell of coffee to ascend the stairs. I dreamed of blogging last night. I did not post yesterday, and I think it was some symptom of blog withdrawal. I imagined I had done a simple but effective Sunday post and I was going to try and use the image and theme in a clever extension I came up with. I believe most of my dreaming hours last night were spent writing and re-writing the piece. I was disappointed this morning when I couldn't find the image, or remember the theme. All that work and nothing to show for it. Well, this is the best I could conjure up on short notice. Have a wonderful Sunday. I'll plan to be back in the Valley by tomorrow night. Pappy