Reinvention of the SELF!

 I choose to reinvent my SELF as THE HOMILYIZER! Yes, the aging harmless goofball with scattershot opinions that harm no one. Nothing is to be taken seriously. I make that plain in the little blurb thing at the top of this blog. but I say it again. I'm so old I remember when people put spotlights on their cars. My dad did that, and when we would go to the drive-in picture show and waited for the movie, folks would play spotlight tag on the movie screen. I recall a drive-in that had a playground below the screen. I recall a time when drive-ins had a nice snack bar, for popcorn and sodas, and some kinds of fast food, like nachos, hot dogs, and even hamburgers, and it was not bad stuff at all. It makes me sad that such things are gone, it makes me sad that now, you go to a movieplex and instead of letting folks enjoy sitting in the dark and quiet, you are bombarded with advertising. That's why I have not been to a movie theater in many years. The experience sucks. In the old days, maybe a few brief ads just before the movie began. Then a cartoon feature. And then THE BLOB! I remember when every child starting out in the Catholic school I attended from the first to the eighth grade, was required to have a cigar box to store the little supplies required. I remember how cluttered my school desk became and the frantic efforts I made to dig out the required textbook or notebook. In fact, I still have nightmares about that. Those nuns were mean, at least some of them. They were not above humiliation and corporal punishment that verged on torture, like being forced to kneel on a hardwood floor with arms extended, and if the arms dropped, WHACK! Out came the hard wooden ruler the nuns always carried and wielded as a weapon. They made children cry. They pulled ears. SOP in those days. It was called discipline. Not much of that anymore. 

I'm going to WRITE more! I'm going to ramble more, and even when I rant, I will do so with gentleness and there will be no bad talk or loud talk, and you should all enjoy your beer and BBQ. 

A Very Stable Pattern

 Our weather pattern has been very stable and it does not look like it will change as we approach October. The humidity is too high for my taste, but that's relatively minor. Today I've accomplished all the major tasks, EARLY. The day is mine. 

As usual, I am where I want to be, and do what I want to do. 

Rain Saturday Saturday Night

 I got about an inch. The plays lakes are again well-charged and ready for migratory birds that ought to start appearing later this month. I love to see those big flocks, those vee formations of ducks and geese flying around. You can hear their wings stirring the air! I'm starting to get the idea that this winter will be rather wet. That'll be a drag. Corn and cotton growing a mile or two east of me all look very good. In addition to rain, our humidity has been rather high. You cannot say of the air, now, that it is dry. Mornings are nice and cool! October, my favorite month, approaches! I am reminded of Shock Theater. 

There is always something special about cemeteries-- I was introduced to them in childhood by a rather morbid grandparent. In October the appeal increases. 

This Saturday

 This Saturday began sunny and cool and I got a lot done, more than expected. But now it is very cloudy and I expect any minute to hear rumbles of thunder. Will it rain? And if so, how much will it rain? I need to check the weather radar. 

Maybe Not

 My wild speculation might have been too wild. I should really try to dampen down the cynicism. Sometimes it's all happenstance. Most of the time it's probably random events that seem to cohere, but actually there's nothing to see. At any rate, it is too warm again, and I'm ready for the next norther. I'm thinking lately about scrapping the internet entirely, subscribing to the local paper, getting some good magazines like The Economist, and go back to writing letters that can be delivered via snail mail, and doing nothing online. Back to the good old days, in other words. I'm trying to remember what that was like, and how I managed things with no internet. I guess I can do that without disposing of my computer. I'd just unplug from the modem. I don't think I really need to make online purchases anymore. This might be an excellent option. Of course, I'll NEVER have a "smart" phone. No way in HELL would I own such a device, and start living my life on the "smart" phone like so many poor souls do today. 

But from this day forward, I look to minimize my presence online, reduce it to this blog. No comments on youtube, which seems to be a stupid thing to do anyway, and no purchases on line. That's a step in the right direction. Of course, I have no facebook page, no linked in, no X, never did twitter and the presence is already quite minimal but it can be reduced even more. So be it.