Father Time Saith

In The Beginning

There were self-important bloggers who felt their posts contained life-changing content and would eventually lead their readers to "The Ultimate Truth."

And Then There Was Father Time's Place

Disclosure: I'm in a weird post-Thanksgiving mode right now and procrastinating on my responsibilities as lead Christmas-light-putter-upper. Therefore I am merely trying to look like I'm catching up on my e-mail. So far it's working!

Regarding my earlier thoughts under "In The Beginning", I hope like heck NOT to follow the "self-important" model. This post alone should be proof of my intentions.

Roger out.

Thanksgiving

Seems like I used this same picture last year........oh well.

Here's wishing all of Father Time's extended family a wonderful family-oriented Thanksgiving. (If you're reading this, you're extended family but not in the will!)

If you are spending the holiday alone, I know from experience what you must be feeling. Don't worry though. The Friday shopping bargains will make you feel better. On the other hand, I don't know squat about shopping the day after Thanksgiving. I shop on December 24th. The stress is exquisite!

Father Time's Condensed Sports Page

Chapter 1
My team, Michigan, has a reputation for driving its fans crazy. It finds exciting new ways to get blown out against lesser teams, then in close games, comes through when the chips are down.

This year, Mrs. Time's alma mater, Oregon, started out by running over Michigan, went on to achieve national recognition, and was in the running for the BCS Championship Game.

Chapter 2
On Thursday November 15, 2007, Oregon played Arizona at Tucson. If you watched it on TV you'll know why our household is in mourning today. It was ugly. So much for a BCS Championship. Tsk, tsk, tsk. (Spell checker hates that word!)

Chapter 3
Now, if Michigan beats Ohio State this weekend, the Wolverines will go to the Rose Bowl. If Oregon wins its next two games, it will go to the Rose Bowl. And where does that leave things? Right back at the beginning of the season again, except for one small fact. Father Time flew to Michigan to witness the collapse against Oregon. If they meet again, Mrs. Time will fly to Pasadena to watch the rematch.

And The Winner Is?
The airlines.

Son's Adventures In Space

Objective
My youngest son decided to explore space without using a "manned space vehicle." His transportation of choice - rubber bands. (He clearly takes after his Dad.)

Preparation
Finding a launch site in Oregon is easy - just look for a bridge over a deep canyon. This is actually the easiest part of the mission.
Launch
This part even included a count-down. It was 5-4-3-2-1... Ahhh "one" son. ONE SON!!! Somebody push him!

Flight
When the rocket engine finally fired, he was catapulted into.....well, "dropped" into space, and was out of sight in seconds. Totally amazing except for the blood curdling scream. Father Time handled it well, other than being unable to stop my head from shaking side-to-side when I'm awake. Hope Medicare handles it.
Perfect Form
Notice how calm and controlled my son is in the last picture. Especially note the perfect form of a man who is convinced he's going to die. What grace. What form. What composure!

Will Father Time Do This Soon?
Not on your life!

A Rare (for Father Time) Foray Into World Affairs

Editorial Comment
It's rare for this site to comment about anything political or to state personal opinions about world affairs. However, this headline caught my eye, especially since the situation in this part of the world is dealt with extensively on Richard Silverstein's blog.

What Prompted This Deviation From Tongue-In-Cheek?
My previous post about kayak's led me to a photograph on Richard's site. I wanted to use it for this blog, so I wrote to him requesting permission to use it here. He graciously agreed, so my post now includes a gorgeous picture of a cedar strip kayak in Seattle, Washington. While I was waiting for a response, I spent some time reading Richard's recent blog posts, and found him to be not only an educated man, but an eloquent one as well. Hence my foray - this one time - into a situation that the entire world has grappled with for centuries.

Thanks Richard, for staying the course for a negotiated, peaceful, non-militant settlement between Israel and Palestine.

Other Distractions

Photo by Richard Silverstein*

More Reasons For Sporadic Blogging
Continuing the list of activities that consume too much of my time, we have this goody - finding the best set of plans for a home-built wooden kayak.

The criteria are:
1.) It must be wood since I have zero plastic-working skills;
2.) It must be somewhat simple in design so that someone with intermediate woodworking skills can complete it without investing in major league power tools;
3.) It must be out of the workshop in time for Spring hiking and trout fishing.

Have I found one? Not yet, but the research is delicious!
This particular design intrigues me because a close friend is thinking of taking a kayak trip down the Willamette river from Corvallis to Oregon City, Oregon. That gives me plenty of time to build one, increase my daily workout to focus on stamina and take my self-imposed lessons on surviving a rollover incident.

That will put a crimp in my blogging but increase my inventory of nature photos. Not a bad trade off!

*See www.richardsilverstein.com. It's a great site!