Election 2008
November 7, 2008
Election 2008 will doubtless be plumbed and picked at by historians for many years to come. Most of what we are reading about the election today, and will be reading for many months to come, is emotional, off-the-cuff stuff based on the writer’s political presuppositions.
The Orlop (my alter ego and memoir) is expecting me to comment on the election (sigh!). Not sigh as in regret about the election outcome, but sigh as in reluctance to contribute more silly words to those already out there.
I honor what president-elect Obama has accomplished. Exactly how he did it will be studied for years to come, but it is an astounding political accomplishment to create a coalition in today’s divisive political and social environment resulting in 52% of the popular vote. Whether this constitutes a mandate or not is arguable, but it is an amazing feat, nonetheless. I congratulate him for it and wish him well.
Managing a wildly successful political campaign is one thing; governing a large and diverse nation is quite another. The outpourings of good will from all over the world are a big plus, but they will cool. Our economic crisis has been brewing for at least 40 years, and most of the quick fixes being discussed today will most likely be counter-productive. I pray that our new president will get wise economic advice. A crisis that took decades to create may take more than one election cycle to fix, and what constitutes a ‘fix’ is still up for grabs.
President-elect Obama is stepping into a crucible of testing, one that calls for an extraordinary governing team with long-range vision. Will he govern well and wisely, will he preside over a series of catastrophes that bring more hurt to all of us, or somewhere in between? The world is watching.
Dave, a tad worried about the future of his grand-kids.
Well, if you’re not catching fish…
October 10, 2008
…one might as well take pictures of the sunrise, and the best place from which to catch sunrises is from the water. On the morning of October 4, 2008, conditions for spectacular sunrise pics occurred, and this frustrated fisherman set his rod aside and picked up his camera. Click on an image to enlarge. Enjoy.
This one is looking East toward Monarch Cove condos from The Falls at the entrance to McCoy Branch Cove.
A little farther into the cove, I looked to the North, toward the Falls condos.
No fish there, so I headed for the North Shore and caught only pink clouds looking back toward Monarch Cove.
Wow! Look at those rays!
Still on North Shore, another image taken looking East (fancy that) toward the rising sun with Bagnell Dam in the distance.
Fall color
October 10, 2008
It appears that we are having a late fall this year. Most trees of my acquaintance are still clothed in their summer green, but a few are testing the color waters on a limb or two.
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Most of the obvious color so far is from the Mums.
This house at the corner of Park Plaza and Maine always puts on a show.
How long before the color spreads and the serious leaf drop begins? When that time arrives, I’ll look for a chance to take camera in hand to record this year’s Fall Walk.
Dave, walkin’ fool.
Laughing Waters
September 29, 2008
Or, if you are an Osage Indian, hahatonka or, if you are at the Lake of the Ozarks, Ha Ha Tonka State Park. Here is an excellent site that tells all about this unique State Park. It is the location of Missouri’s eleventh largest spring, one that pumps out an average of 48 million gallons a day at a frigid 55 degrees all year round, more than enough to make the water downstream ripple and laugh. Here is what the spring looked like during a recent visit with daughter and son-in-law Linda and Kim Schmidt.
The spring feeds the Niangua arm of the Lake of the Ozarks. Another attraction at the Park is a ‘castle,’ perched at the top of a steep bluff some 316 steps and 200 feet above the spring. I just have to mention that this septuagenarian negotiated those steps without puffing, first down and then back up. Here is the castle as viewed from about halfway down the steps.
The castle was built of limestone blocks. The link above gives some of the details. The several buildings were built in the 1930s and destroyed by fire in 1942. Today, many of the blocks are still scarred by the fire. The view of the Ozark forest from the castle looks like this.
There are many nature trails for the hikers and naturalists. There can’t be many better ways to spend a fall day.
Dave
Forehead of the sky
September 1, 2008
Here are some spectacular images for Labor Day, courtesy of Astronomy Picture of the Day. In 1989, Roddy MacKenzie, stood at the peak of Mount Everest and shot a beautiful panoramic image. Below are 4 segments from the image. The explanation below tells it all.
Explanation: What would it be like to stand atop the tallest mountain on Earth? To see a full panoramic vista from there, scroll right. Visible are snow peaked mountains near and far, tremendous cliffs, distant plateaus, the tops of clouds, and a dark blue sky. Mt. Everest stands 8.85 kilometers above sea level, roughly the maximum height reached by international airplane flights, but much less than the 300 kilometers achieved by a space shuttle. Hundreds of people have tried and failed to climb the behemoth by foot, a feat first accomplished successfully in 1953. About 1000 people have now made it to the summit. Roddy Mackenzie, who climbed the mountain in 1989, captured the above image. Mt. Everest lies in the Himalaya mountains in the country of Nepal. In the native language of Nepal, the mountain’s name is “Sagarmatha” which means “forehead of the sky.”
Credit & Copyright: Roddy Mackenzie
Astronomy Picture of the Day for Saturday, August 30, 2008
Dave, happily earthbound at 0.015 kilometers.
Blog comments
August 27, 2008
It’s hard to view comments on a blog article through the eyes of the commenter. A recent post on Riverside Rambles, written by Joan Ryan, a regular and very thoughtful commenter, offers some delightful insights into the psyche of a blog commenter.
The commenting person’s need for validation is an interesting point. I wonder if women, in general, feel a greater need to be validated than do men. I would like to think that I, being a man, don’t really care what other readers may or may not think about my comments. I give it my best shot and let the chips fall where they may. Am I kidding myself?
Is the smiley face necessary to avoid word bombs? Again, I would like to think that clear English prose should be sufficient. Since blogging seems to encourage sloppy writing, perhaps the smiley has a place, but I try to avoid using these cutesy things as much as I can. I certainly agree with Joan’s main point that most of us don’t want to unnecessarily offend our readers. I confess, though, that sometimes I want to offend in hopes of getting a response.
I believe we shy away from communicating religious viewpoints because they deal with the Big Issues that are important to us. I want people to know how I am grappling with life’s important questions. I may be on the right track, or I may be totally wrong, but it’s my track, and it seems important that you, the reader, at least understand where I am coming from. Whether you agree or not is your business. My goal is to write without rant. Who can object to that?
Dave, grinning, ducking, and running.
Are we paying attention now?
August 23, 2008
Although I am pretty certain about who I will vote for in November, I still listen to what both Obama and McCain are saying. I doubt if many people have paid too close attention to the race so far, but columnist Peggy Noonan writes that They’re Paying Attention Now.
It’s hard for our political class to remember that Mr. Obama has been famous in America only since the winter of ‘08. America met him barely six months ago! The political class first interviewed him, or read the interview, in 2003 or ‘04, when he was a rising star. They know him. Everyone else is still absorbing.
This is what they see:
An attractive, intelligent man, interesting, but—he’s hard to categorize. Is he Gen. Obama? No, no military background. Brilliant Businessman Obama? No, he never worked in business. Famous Name Obama? No, it’s a new name, an unusual one. Longtime Southern Governor Obama? No. He’s a community organizer (what’s that?), then a lawyer (boo), then a state legislator (so what, so’s my cousin), then U.S. senator (less than four years!).
There is no pre-existing category for him.
. . . And over there is Mr. McCain, and—well, we know him. He’s POW/senator/prickly, irritating John McCain.
Traditionally, the election campaigns begin after Labor Day. and the talking heads will see to it that we don’t forget that an election is coming up. I’s up to us to supplement the media spin with some independent reading, and Peggy Noonan is always worth reading.
Dave, who may be letting his GOP prejudice show a bit.
Guess who won?
August 10, 2008
On July 31, 2008, at 0635 hours, I ruined the day of this bass. So… let’s see now, four pounds of lipped bass in left hand, slippery camera in right hand pointed backwards, pinky on shutter button, and bang-o! It looks like neither of us are particularly enjoying the moment. For my part I barked my shin wrestling him into the boat. For his part, he should have known better than to ingest a plastic worm! Maybe both parties are a little tetched in the head.
I had already been on the water since sunrise without seeing any sign of bass, except, of course, for the monsters feeding far out from shore. This one was apparently cruising for a shad breakfast under the branches of a large Weeping Willow at water’s edge between two boat docks, not a common occurrence on a hot July morning.
Dave, getting tired of being accused of forgetting how to catch bass.
Temporarily immortal
August 4, 2008
Thanks to blogger Michael Kruse for pointing me to Into the sunset. It is about the new trend in end-of-life care and raises the question: “The idea that the terminally ill need pain relief and humane care care instead of “curing” is catching on. But what about the people who just grow old?”
In America, the hospice movement was founded in 1974 to deal with the pain relief and humane care of the terminally ill, but what about those who cannot be easily defined as “terminally ill?”
Yet for all its successes, the hospice movement faces challenges that will far outstrip the resources now dedicated to palliative care, even in the richest countries. Hospices are generally associated with cancer, where after a certain stage life expectancy is short and fairly predictable. But the current habit of treating people as “either temporarily immortal, or dying”—as Joanne Lynn, an American geriatrics expert, puts it—makes no sense when patients suffer chronic disease of the heart or lungs, or succumb slowly to dementia, or to general decay. An important category of people, already huge in the rich world and soon to grow in developing countries (see article), consists of elderly people who will never be well, but have no idea when they will die. There is no single answer: hospitals, nursing homes and family care will all play a role.
My mother- and father-in law were elderly folk who would never be well, but had no idea of when they would die. In God’s good time they finally met their end in nursing home beds, and they had good, compassionate care for the most part, but it’s still a hell of a way to die.
To all who are still young enough to shrug off this situation, that’s okay, but it’s becoming more of an attention-grabber for this gent in his 78th year. I was on the local hospital Board of Trustees when the first hospice was formed in my town, so I already have a healthy appreciation for the “live-and-let-die” convictions of hospice leaders. For those not familiar with hospices I commend this article.
Dave, not fearing death but a tad uneasy about the process.
A walk at the lake
July 30, 2008
The roads winding to and from and around the Lake of the Ozarks are just the thing for chronic walkers. One thing I have noticed this summer is how extra-lush the shrubbery and foliage is after a very wet spring and early summer. I took my camera on a recent afternoon walk, and here are a few images.
A walk’s gotta have a starting point, and here I am gazing down on my launch pad from the second level balcony outside our condo apartment. 
This day it was a typical mid-summer day with the temperature in the low nineties and high humidity. I try to temper the discomfort with thoughts of the winter walks to come. I much prefer the heat.
I barely got started up the hill from Monarch Cove when I paused to admire some blooms that don’t seem to mind the Ozark summer heat. 
The next diversion was the used golf ball stand at Greenleaf Trace next door. If I don’t quit gawking and start walking, I’ll never get this walk done! On down the road I tried to catch the dark-greenness of the Oak forest lining my route.
Here is a young family’s house along the route. I hope their little imps appreciate the neat and colorful backyard play area.
