Point Made

A couple of stories that have no ending keep lingering in my life. Maria and I were sitting in the family room at my son's home in Seattle watching the news when both of these stories originally came to light for me. First, it was the floods in Louisiana. A low-pressure system was sucking moisture out of the Gulf of Mexico and delivery it in copious amounts to the western and central region of Louisiana. A high-pressure ridge to the north and east held the low-pressure system in place like a good offensive tackle on a football team, for a couple of days. Some places received over 30 inches of rain in the 24 to 36-hour time frame. This amount of rain exceeds the amount of rain some areas of Louisiana get for an entire season. Rivers climbed out of their banks, covered the floodplain, as defined by the history of these rivers, and then kept on climbing.  T he term a one hundred year flood  has become part of our language. It is defined as an event that would statistically oc...

After a redeye flight from Portland to Chicago and a foggy ride from O'Hare to Appleton, yours truly can't remember going to bed last night. My Fitbit reported to me that I did get approximately two and a half hours of sleep on the plane. I don't remember that either. At 5:45 am this morning, I woke up in our king sized bed in our home. What I do remember is six days in the company of friend and family, who live in the upper reaches of the left coast. The "ninth daughter" Anne Nagler lives in a wonderful neighborhood of one-hundred-year-old homes with trees and flora to match. With Anne, we took one day to explore the shoreline of the Columbia River Valley. Washougal, WA on the north bank of the Columbia River yielded its' Dalila's to Maria and Anne. I, in the true spirit of my mentor Danny Chauvin, spent my time chatting up the locals at the sales tent finding out about the history of the town. Not unlike Wisconsin, the sett...

After a redeye flight from Portland to Chicago and a foggy ride from O'Hare to Appleton, yours truly can't remember going to bed last night but at 5:45 am I did wake up in our king sized bed at our home. My Fitbit reported to me that I did get approximately two and a half hours of sleep on the plane. I don't remember that either. What I do remember is six days in the company of friend and family, who live on the upper reaches of the left coast. The "ninth daughter" Anne Nagler lives in a wonderful neighborhood of one-hundred-year-old homes with trees and flora to match. We took one day to explore the shoreline of the Columbia River Valley. Washougal, WA on the north bank of the Columbia River yielded its' Dalila's to Maria and Anne. I, in the true spirit of my mentor Danny Chauvin, spent my time chatting up the locals at the sales tent finding out about the history of the town. Not unlike Wisconsin, the settlement originated...

Short ribs have sauce on them, and I'm taking a diuretic. Recently I had one of those problems only we males have. My wife and I were out to dinner with some of our friends. I ordered pork ribs which were dripping with sugary BBQ sauce. I was able to keep almost all of the sauce off my clothing, but my face and hands felt like I had been bathing in the stuff. While the restaurant provided a fairly high-quality paper napkin, it provided only one. Coinciding with this event was my need to be aware how long I could go without using the bathroom. My doctor concerned with my tendency to retain water has prescribed a diuretic which causes me to need to go to the bathroom often. Might I add, that need is also accelerated if I have my occasional non-alcohol beer. When I quit drinking alcohol in 1982, I ended my career as a fairly high functioning alcoholic. In the early stages of my abstinence, I stayed away from bars and maintained vigila...