I finished the 4th book in the Eli and Max Mysteries by Dave Snyder last night and admit I did something I had not done in a while. I actually started the book on the 27th and, except for a few hours sleep and dealing with my chores here on the farm, I read right through to the end which was about 10 p.m. last night. Now, sometime today, I will begin the 5th book in the series and then begin the process of eagerly waiting for book number 6 to become available.

I have always enjoyed a good mystery but had found more and more of them to be formula driven and not all that entertaining. The Eli and Max Mysteries however I found to be not be that way at all. I find Snyders writing to be fresh and enjoyable. His characters develop not only within a single volume but grow as individual characters with each volume you read.

I have to admit that the characters Eli and Max are so intriguing to me because they remind me so much of my Robert and me. While they are incredably rich we were very poor (middle class at best). While they are active we were not even though we live on a farm and are "active" in the maintenance thereof. While they seem to have a bit of a drinking problem (my estimation and opinion only) neither of us drank. But their relationship with one another, their banter and humor, the way they tease one another is so much like my Robert and me that it is possible to see us in them as I read.

We all have read something where we could fantasize about being in that place, having that experience, that sort of thing. But, for me, reading the Eli and Max Mysteries is a trigger for some ot the best memories I have. So, I thank Snyder for that.

So, I do suggest you give them a read if you like a good mystery. They are available on Amazon as both print copies and ebooks. Oh, and Snyder also writes a entertaining and informative Blog which you can find at http://www.ridingon.bike/ and which I think you will enjoy.

Now after two days of pretty heavy rain which we needed badly it is supposed to dry out and the temps should go from the cold and damp 40's and 50's to a, at least psychologically needed, 50's to 70's with lots of sun. That I am looking forward to, especially since I have been in the throws of an allergy attack that is trying to settle in my head and become a cold. I am about juiced out and in bad need of something really spicy to eat. We shall see what I can pull together.

 Remember back on the 15th how I woke up with a "scratch" to my right eye? Well this morning I woke up with the same thing in my left eye. Oh bother. I know it will heal but it sure puts a damper on my day.

Yesterday was an interesting day. I had several long conversations with people related to the spiritual nature of man, religion and religious components of life, the history of religion and the history of the church, and the tendency these days to want to soft-peddle anything related to religion in order to not offend anyone and to compete with what I call corporate christianity.

Well, among other things one person who has a pretty storng fundamentalist perspective told me I was a heratic. Another person, upon hearing that I was Gay told me I was an abomination. And, I had a serious debate with a Lesbian friend about me being a sexist because I continue to use words like female and women which have the words male and men in them so they are evidently offensive and are, in fact, triggers for anger within the more activist Lesbian community. Oh, and a even more interesting discussion with a minister that I know about how even identifying as a Christian, using the word Church and the symbols of religion constitute negative triggers in people so we should not use those terms. By the way, this minister no longer identifies as Christian but only as a follower of The Way out of fear of triggering a negative reaction in some people.

Theology, the study of the religious components of our lives, the spiritual nature of humanity, and the deconstruction of the etomology of language/words used in spiritual texts have always been a major interest to me. And, evidently that interest, what I have and am learning, how I view those areas both within my own life and the world at large make me a heratic and an abomination.

So, be careful reading my blog. There is a thing known as guilt by association afterall.

Me as a heratic...

Me, the abomination...

So, I guess my fate is set in stone and I am either condemned for all eternity or I am a part of an elite group that used to called a Devil's Advocate. Neither of which will change what I think, feel and believe or compromise in any way my faith in what I believe.

Maybe it is because we are comming up on Halloween. Have a wonderful day everyone of you.

 It is cold this morning and I have had to turn on the heat until the sun comes up. Sara is feeling under the weather, hopefully she will perk up when I give them their food. The cat that lives in our garage is becoming more and more affectionate and just chatters to me when I am out but still will not allow me to actually pick him up.

Today will be a day of laundry and getting ready for a Zoom meeting both tonight and tomorrow night. Tonight is a mid-week church check in that I enjoy, give me a chance to visit with people that I would otherwise only see on Sundays if I actually make the effort to drive to Abilene for services. Tomorrow I am trying something I have never done before. I am actually "hosting" a Zoom meeting with our AA group here in Coleman. It is a selfish act on my part since I can not drive in the dark (I can drive but my vision is deminished after the sun sets) so I thought I might see if there is any interest. It will be interesting to see if anyone actually connects. If they do not, or if no interest is shown, I will just cancel the entire thing and save the money Zoom costs.

I am about half way through the 3rd Eli and Max Mystery by Dave Snyder. I am really enjoying this series of books and with each one they get better and better. I do have only one issue with this one though. It has snakes and I do not like snakes, I do not like reading about them or seeing them or even thinking about them. So, I read this one with my feet off the floor just in case.

We have had some nice rain followed by sunny days so the grass will continue to grow which means I probably have at least one more mow for this season. If I ever win the lottery and decide to stay here the entire place is going to be paved and painted green.

Have a wonderful day everyone and stay warm and dry.

 O.K. it is a done deal, and yes, I did vote for the right candidates. It was raining and I was surprised to see so many people there the first day of early voting. I live in Coleman County, TX and there are about 9,000 total population. Of them less than 400 are registered Democrats. All the other registered voters are registered as Republicans though they often vote as Independants. 

Now just a bit about life in a small town, even though I actually live out in the country 13 miles North of town. The city animal ordinances basically say that you can have anything in the city limits except pigs. So, what an entertaining site to see someone pet goat got out and was just calmly walking down the street.

Now, just in closing, I seem to have a broke dog. 

 Well, here in West Texas we are having our 4th or 5th Summer of the year. Temps in the 90's. So, I am officially over it...

 PARANOIA has begun to sit in. Yet one more time a blog that I visit on occassion has been "blacklisted" by the blogger algorythms. I am sure they will eventually get it sorted out and be back online but it has triggered my paranoia that those same algorythms will someday find a word or a sentence in something I write and Moran-Newman-Farms will just vanish and everything I have written will be lost for eternity.

While nothing here has, so far, been deemed inappropriate it could happen especially if I ever let go and start a rant about some idiot in Washington, DC. So I have been trying to figure out how to backup my blog contents to my hard drive just to be on the safe side. This is, afterall, sort of my diary and I would like to keep it. Who knows, it may someday become the inspiration for that great American novel and its loss could change the course of history. (No over inflated ego here.)

I did finally find some instructions of how to download the blog contents and followed them. What I got was someting called an .xml file which is just tons of code that I am not able to read. One solution I found was to just drag and drop the file into Chrome which I did and it tried to open, did so partially, but then just so much crap that it was not readable and yet another area where one arm of Google does not know how to work with another arm of Google. So I tried to find something that could convert .xml to a more human friendly format and failed. I did find an .xml reader that says it automatically converts the .xml to PDF format but, even though it is a Google product, it fails and says there is an error in formatting of the .xml file (produced by Google). So their own programs can not talk to one another.

If I was still in the Microsoft universe I would know how to deal with this but a little over a year ago I moved into the Chrome universe, which I really do like, and do not have the knowledge or skills to make these conversions.

I have a 22 inch Chromebase (not a Chromebook, but the desktop)

And, yes, my work table is that messy and covered with cords and cables. Sorry. Of course Google and Chrome do not provide any solutions on how to deal with this issue within their own universe.

So, if any of you have the skillset, knowledge or optional solution to backing up a Blogger Blog I am open to suggestions and will be eternally greatful for your assistance in putting my paranoia to rest.

 Just a quick movie recommendation...Grace Quigley with Nick Nolte and Katharine Hepburn.

 My life becomes more and more a pattern. Books, movies, mowing the yard, cleaning the house...rince and repeat.

This weekend I have two books going to finish and a couple of scary movies to watch...probably in broad daylight and try to forget what I see before it gets dark.

And, Sunday is a full church day. Service followed by pot-luck then what they call a congregational where we will review and approve a budget for the coming year.

The weather has been nice if a bit cold in the a.m. hours. I actually had to use the heater yesterday a.m. for a few hours.

 Just a really brief post to start the day, I may post more later, who knows. Anyway, this morning I watch the movie The Elecctrical Life of Louis Wain staring Benedict Cumberbatch on Prime. I had added it to my watch list months ago but never got around to watching it. With it getting light later and this morning being on the cold side I decided to spend the time with a movie.

Well, I am not sure what I was expecting, nor did I really know anything about Louis Wain. But this film is amazing. Cumberbatch really shows his talent and acting ability in ways that are much more gentle than I can recall him ever being.

It is a beautiful and funny and sad story about an amazing man and I highly recommend it if you have not seen it yet.

Oh, and if you like cats, this movie will open your eyes to a lot of cat history.

 Well my eye is much better, I guess I should say healed but don't want to jinx anything. So, I can go back to normal. Of course, it is Sunday...the day of rest...so maybe I should use that excuse (like I need an excuse) and just take it easy.

I do have to take the trash out so that it will be there for them to pick up on Monday a.m. at about 5 a.m. and trigger the dogs to go ballistic. Other that that, there is nothing that can not continue to be put off.

I am right in the middle of a non-scientific experiment to validate what Quintin Crisp said when he wrote "why dust, it doesn't get any thicker after four years anyway". So there is that and I have a couple of years more to let this experiment run.

The next couple of days are supposed to be a lot cooler with potentially heavy rains. So it does not make a lot of sense to mow when it is just going to grow back faster. So I can put that off until probably mid-week next week.

I do have some serious obligations to finish... several books I have been reading that I need to finish so that I can begin my Fall/Winter goal of finally reading Proust. And there is Rings of Power on Prime that I need to re-watch from the beginning in a marathon binge to see if I can find all the breadcrumbs that were dropped during the regular season. And there is the amazing Interview With The Vampire on AMC that is proving to be a really well made show. And, they are also going to be doing The Mayfair Witches next year. I may just have to subscribe to AMC+ to guarante I don't miss any of those.

You might have noticed in the above that I am a satisfy your mind through your eyes (reading and watching) junky so it is even more obvious why a problem with my eyes yesterday was not only painful but frightening to me.

When I was young I held the belief that I was not going to live past 30 so I crammed in as much life in as I could. But, when I had my 30th birthday things changed and now here I am 74 years old and still going. Now my fears are that I will loose my eyes and hearing and not be able to read, watch things or hear music.

So, take good care of yourselves everyone. If you are younger than me don't follow my example unless you just want to live a long and happy life with a ton of memories to ride out your remaining days on.

 I sometimes sleep with my eyes open. Yes, it is disturbing if you are sleeping with me and are not aware of it before hand. You might wake in the middle of the night, look over at me and see me with eyes wide open and think I have died. I don't know why I do it, I just do. The problem is that my eyes dry out and when I wake up the first thing that happens is that I blink which scratches the eye ball and I spend the rest of the day with a good deal of pain, eyes that think they are Niagra Falls and a seriously runny nose.

This morning was one of those mornings. So everything I had planned to do today, clean house, mow the yard, do  some errands, will have to be put of until my eye decides that it can tolerate light, much less sunlight.

So, sunglasses are in order if I venture outside the house. No television or reading since I can't really focus and typing this with a bright white computer screen is probably not the wisest thing I have ever done.

Temps today are what they have been for the past few days but tonight that will all change and we will have a serious drop in temps with lots of rain...or so they say.

 So I have a new favorite animated television show. South Park. I know it has been around for a while but could never get past the level of animation. Well, today I happened on it in rerun mode and actually watched it. It is silly, irreverant, insulting, mysogonistic and a lot of other things. I was really taken by it.

Now the weather is in the high 80's but late tomorrow and through Tuesday we are supposed to get a significant drop in temps and rain. Looking forward to that. So much so that I may actually mow the yard tomorrow to allow room for more growth when it warms up again in a week.

 So my doctors appointment went as well as it could. I have to start tracking a lot of stuff like Glucose and Blood Pressure. Oxygen levels and stuff. And they are setting an apointment for another CT Scan of my Aneurysm in a week or two.

Then while I was driving home my Glucose just tanked with no warning. That is the first time it has happend to me while I was driving. It is scary enough when it happens at home and you are not sure you will make it to something to boost your sugar before you just colapse and pass out. But, driving and being out in the country was really a scare. I was still about 5 miles from a small town called Lawn, TX where I could get something to "rescue" myself with. I slowed down to about 40 MPH and tried to stay in the lane I was driving in. I know now how, years ago, so many people were arrested for drunk driving when they were actually in a potentially Diabetic chrisis. But I managed to get a sugary Starbucks and several energy bars into my system and got home without killing myself or anyone else.

The first thing I did was go online and order a bunch of Glucose Tablets which I will keep in the car followed by making an appointment to see my regular doctor on Monday (doctors here are closed on Fridays) to go over any adjustments I need to make to medications.

Now for just a couple of other things. I really am beginning to hate the postings that keep showing up on Facebook of dogs within 24 hours of being put to sleep in some shelter somewhere. They are always in another State and I spend hours thinking about them and how I would save them if I could. Wish I had the money to turn our farm into a rescue place.

The other thing is that I read an article about how scientist have been transplanting human brain cells into rats to study things. It dawned on me that in the future, maybe a thousand years or so, there would probably be human/rat hybids running the world. Then I realized that we already have that. Oh my!!!!

 Tomorrow I have to leave early to drive to Abilene and an appointment with my Cardiologist. Keeping track of not only my heart disease but also the Aortic Aneurysm that stubbornly remains just .5 cm too small for the insurance to cover any corrective actions. I am so glad that I have good health coverage as part of my State Employee Retirement Package. But I sure wish the the insurance companies would just back off and let the health care professionals do their jobs.

If my appointment finishes early enough I will probably go to an AA meeting there and then to the cemetary to visit with Robert a bit. Then back home where there will be three dogs needing to go out and who will act as though they thought I would never return.

 I was going to grow my beard back but it was just too uncomfortable. So, clean shaven it is for me, at least when I bother to shave. One nice thing about living in a small town, people that know you don't look at you like some sort of bum when you don't shave.

Another nice thing about small towns. I went to breakfast this morning before getting my hair cut. As I was leaving a man who I did not know or at least recall knowing came up to me, introduced himself as the man that owns the property next to ours and expressed his sorrow at the death of Robert. That was 19 months ago. And, he told me if I ever need anything just let him know. No funny looks, not questioning or raised eyebrows. Just a sincere expression of sorrow for my loss and an offer to help if I ever needed it.

With all the frustration that I often feel living out here in the country there are so many examples of the compassion and sincere level of care offered to me by absolute strangers. Not something I have ever experienced in larger town and cities we have lived in.

That man said that he knew how hard it must be to loose someone you loved.

There we were, an older Gay couple, living in the country with not a soul around us that we knew, and people constantly amaze me at their complete and unquestioning acceptance.

Just changed my profile picture to one of me and my buddy Duke.

 The one thing I do not like about living way out in the country is the frequency of power outages. Ours went out at 7:30 p.m. last night and has just come on again at 2:45 a.m. Of course, everything that was on when it went out came back on and so now I am awake earlier than I would have liked.

When we first bought the farm the first thing we discovered is that the old copper phone lines were so old and in such a poor state that land line service was imposible and a waste of money. So we made the transition to exclusively cell phones which I had been avoiding being the creature of habit that I am. Of course thet meant finding a cell provider that actually worked inside our house way out here. We had had Verizon for what seems like a lifetime but it did not work here even though their service map said it should. Finally, after many calls and arguments they sent a rep out to verify we got no signal, which proved us right, and allowed us to cancel our contract with them.

Finally we had to settle for ATT who I abhor and are very expensive. When Robert died our 200  dollar a month bill had to go. Since we had satified our contract requirements with them I began seraching for a new and more affordable provider. Finally I discovered Consumer Cellular who sells the same high quality equipment and acctually runs off the ATT towers, so extensive coverage and they give me an AARP discount.

Oh, and a few months ago I really splurged and got an iPhone 13 Pro Max which I am still learning to love having been an Android user for my entire cell phone existence. Yes, I actually got a cell phone that cost over a thousand dollars which I swore I would never do. But they are letting me make smallish monthly payments with no interest so there is that.

So, what did I do in the dark last night. I read. With my extreme love of books you might be surprised that even I have a Kindle Paperwhite and a Kindle Fire so I was able to spend several hours in absolute electric white noise free and total darkness reading. A while back, as my financial situation caught up in the inflationary spiral, I had to admit that buying books willie-nillie was probably not the thing I should do. That I could spend 99 cents on an ebook copy, read it and determine if I wanted to add it to my library on paper before I scraped together the 35  to 75 dollars that so many of my books costs.

Now I am trying to decide if I what to shell out 99 cents for a e-copy of Proust and committ myself to actually finally reading it as my Fall/Winter readathon.

 What the hell. Blue Bell Ice Cream has already released their first flavor geared toward the Christmas holidays and a couple of television stations are alread releasing their first holiday themed movies and advertisements.

It is not even Halloween yet.

Get a grip corporate America. Just because we are in a messed up economy does not excuse your trying to redefine the calendar just to assure profit.

Oh, and Blue Bell, you may make one of the better ice creams marketed in this part of the country but you had better be ready to discount the price because I will not be buying any until December.

 I have loved Rom Coms all my life and, yes, I always imagined myself in the Tony Randall role with Doris and Rock only in my background. Well, I have see Bros. and I am still beside myself. After all these years and all those Rom Coms there is finally a Rom Com about my universe. It is, in my opinion, a beautiful film about learning to love and letting yourself just "go with the flow". While it may not be doing all that was hoped at the box office just give it time. Once it begins to stream and all those who were perhaps intimadated at the thought of goind to a Gay movie in broad daylight can watch it online or on their streaming service I predict it will become a massive hit.

Now, on the suggestion of a friend, I purchased Mrs Harris Goes To Paris on Prime and watched it this morning early on my bonus bandwidth and it is a lovely, charming and wonderful movie. How is that for a review...lovely, charming and wonderful? So, take the time and opportunity to watch a really nice movie that just makes you feel good.

I have started growing my beard back. I had to cut it off for some of the medical procedures I had done recently where they have to put that mask on you and gas you into oblivion. Well, those are done now so I can let my old grey and white beard return to the plumage that it was before. Grand reveal here when it is what I want it to be. 

 OMG!!! I almost had an old man attack. I actually shopped for and almost bought stationary. First of all my tremor is so bad that even I can just barely read my own writing. Then the actual writing of something on stationary would require more than just a ball point pen. Now, who would I send anything to. Most people today would just look at the envelop in their mail and wonder what the hell it even was. Probably would not even open and read it but instead just toss it in the trash with other junk mail.

Lucky for me I came to my senses before I actually ordered anything.

 This will be one of my favorite type of days. The only thing I absolutely have to do is remember to give myself my Trulicity injection. I do mine in the abdomen, something I never thought I would be able to do to myself having been raised to not stick sharp objects in ones self. But the ongoing positive impact on my A1C makes it all worthwhile.

Then the day belongs to me. I can meditate and contemplate. I can read and rest and take a nap or two. And I can eat and be self indulgent...something I really enjoy.

And, I have nothing major until late next week when I have an apointment with my Cardiologist to check on the status of my anurysm. Then, the week after, it will be an apointment with my ENT specialist to ultrasound a Thyroid nodule that, so far, has just been sitting there driving the doctors crazy. And finally, on the 24th, early voting begins in our county. Something I have been waiting for for too long.

I do encourage everyone to vote. Not only are there Govenors to be elected but other offices, judges, etc. And, in some areas, amendments that will impact the way you live. So don't think it is a done deal, get out there and vote.

 I am glad that one of the first things I did this morning was to check my calendar. If I had not done so I would have rushed about and made a trip to Abilene for a doctors appointment that is actually tomorrow afternoon. I think that I am just eager to, as strange as it may sound to some, visit Robert's grave, place flowers and have a nice conversation with him. If I ever do manage to make the move to Abilene I will probably spend a lot of time at the cemetery.

Now, just to toss a bit of a puzzle into your lives today there is this. I was reading an article about some new discoveries related to how life evolved on this little planet of our and came across this quote..."Water isn't wet everywhere". Put that in your pipe and smoke it and see if it does not make you a bit dizzy. Actually though it is explained at a molecular level and make all the sense in the world. 

So, as a result of my confusion as to what day my doctors appointment was I now have a day free with no plans. I wll go in to town to get dog food and bird food but other than that I am going to gift myself an entire day to read.

 Well I have finally had time to begin reading the five volumes of the Eli and Max Mysteries by Dave Snyder. I am only about half way through the first book The Body On The Lawn  and while I would like to read on through to the end tonight I won't. At my age the eyes and their ability to focus often rule your evening hours. A couple of things though. First, and most important, is that I would like very much to be able to sit in Eli and Max's library, perhaps a nice leather chair in a corner with a little table on one side and a lamp on the other and read. I could just sit there, unnoticed and quiet. No one would even have to acknowledge my being there. I could be the old man in the chair in the library. A mystery in myself. The other thing is the character referred to as Cook. Does she have a name? Another mystery within the mystery.

I love to read. I love the English language. I love the feel and smell of books. Yes, I am a bibliophile. I admit it and am proud to be one. And, I have always enjoyed a good mystery. One with characters that actually are supposed to be there doing things that regualr people would do with sometimes unexplainable reasons. But they carry you forward in the book. So far I do recommend these books as a good read, even if I have only just begun reading them.

I have often thought about writing. But while I may be able to produce 10 pages of text it is all the other stuff that goes into writing, descriptions, feelings, twist and turns that I just can't seem to make sound at all natural. So I ride the coatails of those who can do these things.

Now I need to start thinking about bed. I have a doctors appt. tomorrow afternoon in Abilene and plan to leave early enough to pick up some flowers and visit Robert's grave. I have not been there in about a month and I am saddened about that. But tomorrow I will make up for it and maybe even have time to have lunch at one of the restaurants we used to like going to together.

Have a nice night all, good dreams and restful sleep.

 So, in a perfect world there would be fasionable disposable clothing and laundry would not be necessary. Houses would clean by some sort of mechanism that was silent and did not require breaking a sweat. But I do not live in a perfect world. My laundry is done, folded and put away. The dogs blankets are in the wash now and when they come out they will provoke massive amounts of curiosity until they are well scented again. I cleaned all three bathrooms, my least favorite room to clean and the one that actually takes the least amount of time. And I am done for the day.

As for my little corner of paradise...well here it is, actually a triangle at the intersection of a dirt county road and a US highway...so lots of dust which will be my next project...

And this is what I enjoyed sitting on the porch swing on our front porch this morning while I had my coffee...

So, even with all lifes trials and tribulations it is a good place to be. Just a lot of work, all fullfilling once it is done but way to easy to avoid.

Now, for the rest of the day, I will spend it reading and resting not because I need it but because I deserve it.

 Here it is 8 p.m. and I am exhausted.

Sherman made it out and mowed our fields so that is done for another 2-3 months. May be able to make it past Winter before he has to come out again.

And, I mowed as I indicated I would in my earlier post. Ended up with a flat tire on the riding mower some how. Now I just have to figure out what to do about it. Why can't Roberts ghost just do some sort of supernatural magic and it would be taken care of? So many things that he took care of now get put off until I can eiher find someone to help or a YouTube video that tell me how to do it.

Got my laundry done, it is still sitting in the dryer. I will deal with that tomorrow. Just toss in a damp washcloth and run it for 10 minutes or so and all should be fine. Not the first time I have done that.

I did start reading the first book of five by Dave Snyder...the Eli and Max Mysteries. Had to stop though because my eyes were just too tired and had been exposed to way too much grass pollen. But I have enjoyed what I have read so far and am looking forward to all five. Dave also writes a blog titled Riding On which I encourage you to read as well.

Now I am just treading water until a decent time to go to bed. I don't need to go to sleep early and end up waking up even earlier that I normally do.

If my future continues to have a yard/field that needs mowing and I someday find that I have $5,500 just gathering dust this is what I want. It would be a great companion to my 80v Greenworks push mower which can do my yard (one acre) on a single charge.

No gas, not smell, no maintenance. Just the bliss of almost silently going back and forth and getting the grass/weeds cut. Of course, if my Robert were still alive our joint tax refund would more than cover the cost but that is not the case saddly. And the machine would be his. I would be lucky to get the chance to even sit on it. Mowing was his Zen and, I will never understand this, yardwork his happiest activity.

In the meantime my simple little Craftsman gas powered riding mower does the job albeit with a lot of noise and odor.

Beyond that and even though my PCP has me on a drug that is supposed to help with my sleep I am still getting up at 2 or 3 a.m. each day. Since starting the medication I find that i do sleep better just not more.

So, this morning, I was sitting here dealing with email, making sure all my bills had been paid, planning what I can avoid doing today and suddenly 1974 popped into my mind. Why I do not know, but there it was, the summer of 1974 living in my beloved Venice Beach California, bare foot most of the time, having a wardrobe of kaftans and long hair. Drinking cheap red wine bought by the gallon at Ralphs.

Those were the days, my friend, and we truly wished they would never end. But they did and my Venice Beach today is not a place I would want to live or wish on anyone else.

The summer of 1974 was like any other at that, the last poor peoples beach. Affordable food, enough drug exhaust in the air that you often did not have to spend your own money to get high (haven't indulged in that for over 42 years now). And suddenly one day the people on the beach were naked. Venice beach had become clothing optional. At least a small section was and it was a straight shot down from my apartment two blocks up Westminster Ave.

At that point in my life I was mid-transition from supporting myself hustling a living, and a good one I have to admit, and becoming the responsible adult member of society that was in my future. I still had a 28 inch waist, longish hair and the requisite moustache. Was considered to be attractive and desirable. So life was good. And, of course, I shed my kaftan and joined in on the nude beach with my friends. I got tan in places that I was not aware could be tanned, my hair (light brown by nature) became almost platinum from the sun. Thinking back on it, even I would have been attracted to me.

But, it was short lived. By late summer a judge ruled "boobs yes, pubes no" and Venice Beach began the transition to what it has become today. A haven for wealthy 30-odd year olds that can pay over a million dollars for a simple one bedroom apartment. Luxury cars, expensive restaurants and no where even near what it had been at its best.

At this same time I was discovering the power of the lie. I had read somewhere that you could be an imposter, a successful liar "if you can fullfill the promise of the lie". And so began my life lived on lies fullfilled to the point that many years later I would retire from an executive position with plans that have since taken on their own life and expect me to live within its constraints. Not all that I had planned but not as bad as it sometimes seems.

So that is the start to my day. I have to mow the part of the yard that is outside the fence, the driveway turn around and along the county road. The electric push mower does all that just fine except for along the county road where I use the riding mower.

And, today Sherman is coming to mow my field, a quarterly necessity to reduce the chance of fires. One of our property lines is along the highway and people just have no reguard for anyone living out here. And, I have a bunch of laundry needing doing and a way too large house to try to clean some.

Of course, I may just put it off and read. Plus I am still indulging myself with bingeing the entire Eureka series which is being doled out a little at a time.

Have a great day all, if you are in the path of what remains of Ian take care and be safe, if Ian did damage to your way of life be of good cheer knowing that things will, hopefully, improve.