She Snores Gently Beside Me

She snores gently beside me
As my sleep, it slips away
Sighing, I sit up, then stand to see
The slow and steady rising day

The water’s like a mirror’s glass,
The inlet echoes trees and sky.
Searching for breakfast, gliding birds do pass.
But I can watch the morning scene with but one eye.

The other looks for water, pills and coffee.
Sitting again, I grind out a few more words.
The scene once more plays out before me,
And I wonder how the birds

Are awakened in the morning,
To go gliding even soaring,
without coffee or pills to take with label’s warning,
And most of all without a mate that’s gently snoring.

You'll Know You're At A Fishing Seminar When....

Not long ago I decided I needed more interests in my life, that I needed a new avocation.  Learning something new is said to prolong brain health, and it's likely I could make a new friend or two in the process.  For some unknown reason, I decided to try learning to fish.  As it happens I live around all kinds of water.  There are lagoons, creeks, inlets, marshes, sounds, an ocean and an intracoastal waterway.  In fact, I can see people fishing out my kitchen window.  Usually, they appear to be enjoying themselves.  They are in the great outdoors, often they are conscious of environmental concerns.  They think about maintaining the health of the fisheries.  They help with research and practice "catch and release," etc.

Fishing is an activity that can be enjoyed with friends or in solitude.  It doesn't look expensive.  Although, it apparently can vary, depending upon how involved you want to get.  I'm finding it a bit awkward, learning to fish.  There doesn't appear to be a school you can attend, and I don't think any of my friends are or have been avid fishermen.  I went on a fishing charter last summer, but the captain and the mate did all the work and just handed us the rod and reel with the tackle and the bait already properly applied or whatever.  

The good news is I'm gaining some traction.  My son gave me a rod and reel for Christmas.  It's still in the closet but I'll be taking it out soon.  I purchased a copy of Fishing for Dummies, and have read five or six chapters.  Today, I attended a fishing seminar.  Which led to the following discoveries:
You know you're at a fishing seminar when...

• the door prizes aren't books, CD's and DVD's about the subject, but tackle boxes. hand made lures and rigs.
• the titles of the presenters are not M.D.'s and PhD's, but Capt.'s.
• participants buy towing insurance, not from AAA but Sea-Tow.
• the destination you enter into your GPS is not a street, city and state, but latitude and longitude of the best artificial reef in the area for catching Redfish.  
• maintaining self-control and balance is not anger management, but anchor management, and
• the pointer used in the slide presentations is a fishing rod. 

Back, Back, Back, it’s Gone!

When I was a child, or at least a lot younger than I am now, I listened to baseball games on the radio.  On the few occasions that I watched a televised game, I was disappointed by the sparse conversation/narrative provided by the broadcasters.  One element was the stories the broadcasters told on the radio.  They were aimed at filling the “dead space,” radio abhorred space without sound, so the broadcasters would talk about whatever came to mind, whether it was a story about some historic event in someone’s career, or what they had for dinner the night before, we heard about it.

Of course, there were stories we didn’t really want to hear, but their descriptive commentary was absent as well.   They were probably counseled to say less, and let the picture speak for itself.  Whatever it was, I preferred, as some still do today, to turn down the volume on the TV, and listen to the radio broadcast.  This led to a few comical moments as radio announcers misrepresented (or missed altogether) things that were shown on TV.  With all that said, the description of the proverbial long fly that wound up going the distance was way more exciting than simply watching it on TV.  

It usually involved in some way, the expression “back, back, way back, it’s gone—a home run!”  All of that arises because I am trying to help someone I know well deal with some serious, chronic back pain.  Fearful of the notion that someday spinal surgery might be recommended, required, or otherwise become something to be reckoned with, we have explored more conservative options.   There have been chiropractic visits, long harangues about the need to exercise, lose weight, etc.  Facing all of this, I keep hearing it again an again: “back, back, way back, it’s gone—a home run!”  To me, one who has experienced the occasional spell of back pain, it’s simple—you find a set of exercises that provide some relief, and you do them.  Sure, in the long run, you might had better lose weight, but these exercises are about relieving pain.  The person dealing with the problem is hearing “exercise” and hearing another exhortation about lifestyle change and weight loss. 

But, to me, it’s about dealing with the back on its own—“back, back, back—before it’s gone…”  Anybody know how to convince this person to do the three or four simple exercises twice a day—before "it's gone", meaning gotten worse?  I always learned how to deal with things by reading a book, so, wouldn’t you know—I found a book to use as an assist to get things going.  That's gonna work, don't you think?  Or, should I keep quiet and try to find in on video somewhere, it’s a generational difference, right?  "No more words, just show it to me on YouTube." 

Jimi Hendrix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Death by Drug Overdose

There is a Citibank Visa card commercial in circulation right now that features an olympic skier in the Nordic Combined talking about his tastes in music.   He says he prefers listening to hip-hop while working out, classical music while skiing cross-country, and "something special" when on the ski jump.  He uses his Citibank visa card to download his music and the scene cuts to him headed down the ski ramp, with Jimi Hendrix singing "...excuse me while I kiss the sky" as the skier reaches for the apex of his jump.  Pretty nice work, a striking example of music matching the activity.

As I recalled it, Jimi Hendrix died at age twenty-seven, and drugs were involved.  I thought I recalled it was a heroin overdose, and quickly linked Hendrix to the recently deceased Philip Seymour Hoffman.  Another celebrity I lumped in with Hendrix was Janis Joplin.  She. too died at age 27, and in her case it was also a heroin overdose, I thought.  When I checked, I learned that Hendrix had taken nine doses at once of a barbiturate commonly used as a sleeping medication.  This meant that his death was drug-related, but not heroin-related.  Janis Joplin did indeed die of a heroin overdose.

Newspaper articles have popped up about the "heroin epidemic," or more concisely, "the opioid epidemic."  Prescription opioids like Percocet, Oxycontin and Vicodin are more common among the affluent, with heroin costing a fraction of what it costs to obtain illicit prescription drugs.  There is no question that opioid use is increasing at a faster pace than other forms of drug use.  So are deaths from overdose.  Simply put, the reason for this is heroin users often have little indication of the strength of what they have purchased, or the even more dangerous drugs it may be laced with.  A strange thing happens when enforcement is tightened up on policing prescription drugs.  The reduction in deaths related to abuse of prescription drugs is more than made up for by more deaths due to heroin use.

But what is it about drug use that attracts so many of the highly-talented actors, musicians and even comedians (see John Belushi and Lenny Bruce--both of whom died overdosing on heroin or heroin-related substances--speedballs and morphine) to serious drug abuse?   Do you suppose if we knew we might save them?  Is it about substituting something for the rush of the spotlight?  It's sort of a pat answer and doesn't allow for the many thousands who don't resort to heroin, etc.  Are they people with an inner flaw of some sort that is exposed by the excessive attention, affection and adulation, nay adoration and  that comes their way all at once?

What about the ups and downs that accompany their initial drug use?  Isn't the aftermath just more of the same brutal return to earth they experienced when the show was over?  Wouldn't that tell them their drug use was another dead end?  And, having seen so many others perish by way of a drug overdose, don't they get it?  These are exceptional people in so many ways, a higher dose of that invulnerability of youth probably comes with it.  It can so quickly turn to addiction, maybe they never have a chance against it.  Philip Seymour Hoffman certainly knew it--he had made it back from the precipice once before, hadn't he?  He beat the odds and "got clean" at 22 years of age, but still succumbed.

In my view, we are none of us perfect or invulnerable, and even the most talented among us fall victim.  We hear more about these talented people, but they are a tiny fraction of those who lose their lives this way.  I have to admit I have listened to the proponents of legalization, noting that we have had little success with the "war on drugs."  As I think about these deaths, there's not much of an argument here for legalizing it all, is there?  

First Ever Super Bowl On Groundhog Day

So, the question is which coach or quarterback will be seeing this one over and over with the same dismal outcome.  Will it be the young quarterback?  Russell Wilson has the same part that Colin Kaepernick played last year.  He ended the game with 3 consecutive incomplete passes.  Or will it be head coach Pete Carroll or John Fox.  This time the "rookie" coach (in his first Super Bowl) is Pete Carroll.  Fox's team lost by a field goal in the final minute when he coached the Carolina Panthers to their first (and only) Super Bowl appearance.  I am certain that Fox relives that game in his dreams even if it didn't occur on Groundhog Day.

Last year's Super Bowl was rare indeed, with the outcome decided on the very last play.  The game used to be decided in the first half.  That trend has tapered off.  Five of the last six have been decided by less than seven points.  When the game is that close, it is understandable that the quarterback or the head coach will feel as if just one play or one decision could have been the reason for their loss.  Hence, the Groundhog Day analogy, Bill Murray relived the day over and over with the same outcome.

The other quarterback, Peyton Manning, had a Hall of Fame season.  Throwing for more touchdowns than any other quarterback in history, I think.  The Broncos were the best offensive team in the league this season.  He has been NFL MVP five times!  Yet, people have the opinion that he somehow underperforms in the big games.  If he gets time in the pocket, he is likely to pick apart the Seahawks.  But...

The the Seattle Seahawks were the best defensive team in the league.  I'll go with them, because the best defense beats the best offense most of the time.   The game is only eight hours and forty minutes away.  Get cooking!

The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Accurate

About 11 AM, two days ago, local television stations began breaking into their "regularly scheduled programming" to bring us bulletins about an approaching emergency.  These winter storm warnings for what they later began terming "Winter Storm 2014," told of weather conditions expected nearly two days from that point, in the evening of the following day.  The storm was to take us into isolation for hours as snow and freezing rain enveloped us.  Specific amounts of ice and snow accumulation were provided as well.

My level of faith in the accuracy of their precipitation has reached new lows of late, since the best of the best usually hits about 75% of the time (Source: ForecastAdvisor.com), but those measures are simply the high for the day, and whether it rained on a day when they forecast precipitation.  When it comes to stating when or if the temp will reach 32 degrees, their accuracy is quite limited.  Doing it forty hours out?  Their likelihood of being correct is probably quite small.

Charging out and raising the alarm is risky.  Schools, more so than businesses, often make decisions about closing for the day based on weather forecasts, but they wait until the night before.  Nevertheless, we have been receiving warnings and dire forecasts ever since.  When the storm was to begin, we had steady rain, but temperatures did not drop enough to produce snow, or to freeze the rain that fell.  This morning, we have a slight drizzle and on the windshield of the car, there are small fragments of ice, as if if had sleeted briefly, and the streets are wet.  No snow, and no ice accumulation.  Why am I not surprised?

The only people who are happy about this are school children, teachers and weather people on TV.   The weather people are delighted, they have enjoyed hours of face time on their regular news broadcasts, as well as all those emergency break-ins.  You should know that almost no one in the business of TV weather actually looks back at their forecasts to see how accurate they are, not even for bragging rights or to look good on their resume.  What they fondly remember is leading off the news and having all that time on camera.  It calls to my mind a line from one of my favorite singers, Jimmy Buffett--"The weather is here, wish you were beautiful."  In this case, I'd put it more like this.  "The weather is here, wish you were accurate."
    

The Birth of Canned Beer and the Japanese Soldier on Guam

Two seemingly unrelated events took place on January 24th in the previous century.  On January 24th of 1935, the first canned beer was made and shipped.  Sales boomed, topping 200 million cans sold in the first year.  During World War II, "brewers shipped millions of cans of beer to U.S. servicemen overseas (in all likelihood, including the island of Guam).  Today, canned beer sales amount to roughly half of the $20B industry beer has become.  Cans have the advantage over bottles in that they are both easier to ship and to store.  It had taken several years to perfect the can.  It had to be both pressurized and lined with some kind of seal to protect the metal from corrosion by the carbonation in the beer.  After the Prohibition ended, it still took two years to find a brewer who was willing to take the chance.  The rest, as they say, is history.

On January 24th, 1972. farmers located a single Japanese soldier living in the jungles of Guam.  He had been alone there for 28 years after the Japanese fled the island during WW II.  It was said that the Japanese Army Sergeant was unaware the war had ended.The more I thought about it, the more I suspected there was a connection between the two events that no one had pointed out.  I couldn't quite explain it, but I was convinced kit was there.  

After reading this stories and noting the possible unspoken connection, I want to sleep, only to awaken suddenly at 4:30 AM.  All at once I knew, and it came to me in the form of a poem.  I believe you'll get the connection at once when you give it a read.

So Many Cans of Beer

Thousands of cans of it all shipped here
Leaving so many soldiers without any fear.

Left behind by GI’s retreating from Guam
It just sits in the sunshine getting so warm.

This beer left behind by GI’s on the run,
Japanese gather up, leaving one man on guard
When the GI’s return, he’s left, just the one.
His duty, it rests on his shoulders so hard.

Tough to imagine sitting there in the sun,
Resisting the urge to try that first one.
Twenty-eight years come and go, the supply he’s used up.
Now guarding just empties, he gives himself up.

You can probably see why I was sleepless.