Monthly Archives: October 2015

10.21.15
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Picture Day

It is high time I got off my butt and posted something. I have been meaning to post some pics, I’m always looking up because their is often cool stuff to see up there, I like nature too and get pics of critters when I can. Or if I just see something that interests me I try to get a pic of it. Let’s go.

First some interesting religion themed pics. The first one had some message they were trying to convey, but if you caught it at just the right time you got (“Hate Within”, cameras really do not like these digital signs):

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This next one I just love. It is a church steeple, in a scrap yard!

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Next up, one day after a strong storm moved through, this was the view of the clouds:

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Spot the Buzzards!

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This next one is a con trail that has decayed in a spiral fashion, I thought it was cool and got a pic.

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Moon over a bean field.

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This next one, the boys and I were fishing when this flock of birds flew in the bay. They were making quite an audible fuss, splashing about and carrying on, kinda hard to see them, a lot of these pics were taken on an iphone.

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The next two are similar cloud formations, the second one was atop a pretty nasty storm.

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Spot the squirrel!

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This next one is strange, look for the dark streak moving vertically from close to the taller tower. I’m still not sure what this was, but I think it has something to do with a decayed con trail that left a dark streak in the sky.

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Spot the dead deer with an atypical rack! This was shot through the windshield of the car (obviously).

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I was about to go into a Lowes when I looked up and saw this.

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Spot the rattlesnake! This little guy may have been 18″ long or so, small but deadly.

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This one was just an interesting cloud shot.

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Finally a rainbow from the front porch. Oddly enough we didn’t even get any rain…

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That’s it till next time. I hope this post finds you all well. 🙂

10.03.15
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Cancer Is A Bitch

I have a neighbor, and friend, a friend who has helped me find the bottom of a few bottles of bourbon. Just last week he was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Not a little either. The tumor is 6cm x 10cm x 10cm. The MRI showed it has spread to a local blood vessel, and liver. My attempts to find out how bad is bad, have been well not good. I haven’t heard a complete diagnosis, but it looks to be stage 4. Stage 4 isn’t bad, it is the worst possible.

He went in yesterday for surgery to remove the tumor, I suppose graft in a new blood vessel, and probably shave off the growth on the liver. I don’t know yet. Havent heard the results or the prognosis.

I fear the worst. Cancer is a bitch.

 

UPDATE: I just got the call from my strangely upbeat neighbor. They could not operate, it would have killed him. It is stage 4. It is also in both lungs. No cure. They can give him medicine to slow its progress, but it’s just a matter of time.

The doctors could not believe that with the level of cancer he has, that he is still bright eyed, bushy tailed, and full of vigor. Most people with this level of cancer are in wheelchairs and a lot of pain. I suppose if there is a silver lining that is it.

He intends to live what life he has left to the fullest. He has the unique circumstance none of us really want, that is he knows it is coming, and knows how it will go. He said he might come over later for a snort, when he gets some bush hogging done. I know I could use one.

10.01.15
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I Want To Be E.O. Wilson When I Grow Up

I caught a PBS presentation last night by the name of “Of Ants and Men” It is a documentary on E.O. Wilson and covers his life as a scientist and his personal history. All I can say is I am blown away by the accomplishments of this man, and the show was spectacular. I highly urge anyone who hasn’t seen it to do so at your earliest opportunity.

It is so good, I was watching a baseball game last night with playoff possibilities, and thought I’d go back and forth between commercials and keep up with the game. I still have no idea who won the game and don’t even care. It is that good.

Mr. Wilson is the father of sociobiology and popularized the term biodiversity. He took a lot of heat for sociobiology as it ran counter to popular thinking of the day, but I believe over time his sociobiology has been vindicated. It appears to me to have been almost as profound and as important as the work of Darwin himself.

Sociobiology is the assumption that our social aspects evolved as we did, which to me isn’t that far off base. The heat he took was from other scientists who believe that our social aspects are genetic in nature. I fail to see the problem here, as I feel that in the bigger picture, both are correct. Social behavior had to evolve with us, or we would not be what we are today. Genetics are of course a grounded standard for the way we may be wired. Finally culture or environment, and our life experiences, polish up the who and what we may have become. I see it all as one large system incorporating all of these conditions. Hell I am no scientist, I am not university trained in any particualr field, I am just a guy who has been paying attention through life, watching, learning, and trying in my own way to make sense of my surroundings. It all made good sense to me.

They also covered group selection, kin selection, tribal groups, among other things, and every single point to me was spot on.

Now Mr. Wilson, it could be said from a few things I have read, may be a little soft on religion, but I think I can forgive him that considering his massive achievements. Anyone who has a ken to understand evolution, social evolution, see a lot of fantastic science, and finally, sort of,  get to know a guy anyone would desire as a friend, has got to see this show.

“Of Ants and Men.” Look for it.