Coyote Breakfast

Robert G. Ingersoll, "The Great Agnostic" and renowned orator of the 19th Century, wrote these words in 1872, regarding the so-called merciful design of creation by God:

Who can appreciate the mercy of so making the world that all animals devour animals; so that every mouth is a slaughter house, and every stomach a tomb?

On the way to the office this morning, I saw an example of the food chain of which Ingersoll wrote. A coyote was standing across the street from the prairie dog town where I shot the photo a couple of posts down the page. All of a sudden, he darted across the street, and was chasing a prairie dog back and forth, trying to have the little creature for breakfast. I very much wished that I had the speed and position to capture the episode in photo or video, but as it all happened within a few short seconds, there was no opportunity. I didn't even get to see if the prairie dog escaped to live another day, or if he was eaten by the hungry young coyote. Sad indeed it is that life must consume life to sustain itself. Yet that is the way of life on earth, and for every predator there is another lifeform for which it is prey.

It is good to be at the top of the food chain. I definitely want to stay there!

Castlewood Canyon

While it is not the Grand Canyon of Arizona, or even Palo Duro Canyon of the Texas Panhandle, just a few miles south of Franktown, Colorado lies Castlewood Canyon State Park. This canyon is adjacent to Colorado Highway 83, and has quite a bit of scenic beauty in its own right. Highway 83 is a main artery between Denver and Colorado Springs. It runs parallel to, and to the east of Interstate Highway 25 by several miles. From Parker to the north side of Colorado Springs it is a 2-lane highway.

Currently the entire area remains under a blanket of snow, so let's go back to last April. Here is a picture I took there of a scraggly-looking pine growing out of the rocky ground. I particularly like the clouds in the sky in this shot, with their wispy appearance.

Below are a couple of other trees in the park that have seen better days. Still, they provide nice photos. As usual, you may click on these pictures for a larger version.

WInter Wildlife

Winter is not easy on the animals this year. Ranchers in eastern Colorado have lost untold numbers of cattle to the blizzards, and even the wildlife is finding it difficult to find food. Every morning on the way to work, I have seen families of deer out searching for something to eat. As we are finally seeing some melting between our intermittent snows, some plants are able to reach above the white stuff that is still all over the ground here. This is providing the deer with a better chance at finding a meal.

I watched as the deer in the photograph above nibbled on some plants and then used its front paws to carve out a bed in the snow. It worked on it for a minute or so, then laid down.



The prairie dog tends to hibernate during the winter months, but there were a few out and about, scurrying around on the surface of the snow today. This one watched to insure that I posed no threat to the colony. It did start twitching its tail to notify the others of an intruder, but made no effort to run away, as I got no closer.

It is always interesting to see what is all around, if you just take the time to look and not be in to much of a hurry to enjoy the things that are there.

Going to the Boneyard

Alabama sang "If you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band". I would add that if you're gonna play a game in Texas, you had better own a box of dominoes, or "bones"! From old men sitting around in small town ice houses playing straight dominoes, to clubs dedicated to playing "42", dominoes are a part of life in Texas and Oklahoma.

Some of my earliest childhood memories include playing regular dominoes with my father and grandfathers, and watching the adults gather four to a table for a competitive round of 42. To this day, the sound of dominoes shuffling on the table bring back a lifetime of memories of days and people long gone.

While I still like regular dominoes, I absolutely love 42. Unfortunately, it is apparently not played much in Colorado. Story has it that the game was invented by a Baptist boy whose parent's would not let him play cards, believing them to be a tool of Satan. Forty-two does have much in common with some popular card games, including the use of trumps, capturing "tricks", and bidding. Terms like "I'll start it", "Low-boy", and "Follow me" have meaning to the 42 afficianado.

While scoring can be done by keeping track of numeric values of bids made and lost, everyone I know uses the ALL method. Each successful bid earns one "mark", which is one of the lines in the letters "ALL". If your opposing team gets ALL before you and your partner gain a single mark, you have been skunked!

The dominoes in the picture above are like the ones I remember from early childhood. They are made of wood painted black, with the dots or "pips" recessed and painted with white enamel. The reverse always had an emblem of some sort embossed into the wood. The set in the picture was made by Halsam, and contained an eagle with arrows in its talons. I also remember a set that had a lion emblem on the back.



Sometime during my late childhood, these wooden dominoes became less popular, as Puremco of Waco, Texas produced what they called "Marble-like Dominoes". These came in a variety of colors, and were made of a durable plastic that was, well, kind of like marble. These came in chipboard boxes coated with a textured surface. I used to have a set, but over the years, they have gotten away from me. I am seriously thinking about ordering myself a new set HERE, and maybe even getting them personalized.

While there are other games with dominoes that have come into vogue, such as Chickenfoot and Mexican Train Dominoes, nothing beats a good round of 42!

As for me, I think I'll bid 84!

Road Rage Verdict

America is in too big of a hurry. People will drive like maniacs, run red lights, speed, tailgate, push ahead, and generally shout to the world "Me first! I'm more important than anyone else!" As I have gotten older, I have gotten much more mellow about most things, and especially about driving. I find myself much more at peace and able to enjoy the world around me by not being in such a big hurry. Aggression behind the wheel is deadly.

Yet sometimes it even becomes more than just pushing the envelope while driving. It becomes reckless endangerment, and even homicide. A case in point was made today in Arapahoe County, Colorado court, where Parker resident, Jason Reynolds, was found guilty of first degree murder, vehicular homicide, and careless driving resulting in death. From all reports, Reynolds is a sociopath who has a history of tailgating, running up against people and cutting in front of them and immediately slamming on his brakes. Various witnesses testified to his history of aggression behind the wheel.

On November 8, 2005, he pulled the brakes stunt on 50-year-old Kelvin Norman of Highlands Ranch while the two were driving on the E-470 Tollway. To avoid hitting Reynolds, Norman took evasive action and lost control of his car. The vehicle became airborne and landed on top of another vehicle on the other side of the tollway, killing its driver, Greg Boss, 35, of Lone Tree.

The wreck was gruesome, and shut down the highway for quite some time. Two tow truck drivers who worked the scene of the accident testified that Reynolds said, "They got what they deserved". His callous disregard for what he caused and the human lives impacted is beyond understanding. The prosecutor noted that Reynolds' comments clearly show his depravity. She is right.

He now faces the potential of life in prison. It is my hope that this man is never let loose again. He has proven himself a danger to others. We may now say to Mr. Reynolds, "You got what you deserve".

The Denver Post article about the conviction can be read by CLICKING HERE.
The Rocky Mountain News article is HERE. CBS4's coverage is HERE.

Poetry for Another Snowy Weekend

This is the fifth weekend in a row where we have large amounts of snow falling here in Douglas County. It is rare that the Colorado snow doesn't dissipate quickly, but our prolonged low temperatures have let each storm pile more snow upon that left by its predecessor. It seems to me that this is the longest time with snow continuously left on the ground since I moved to Colorado back in 1994.

So, breaking with my usual pattern of only posting original material written or photographed by me, I feel like sharing some poems for snowy times written by one of my favorite poets, the late Robert Frost.


Fire And Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.


Dust of Snow

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.


Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house in in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

American Accents

One thing I find interesting is language. How it evolves and develops, how various accents occur in different regions. Sometimes the names of things vary from area to area. For example, when I lived in Cumberland, Maryland, many people used the term "gum bands" for what I call a "rubber band". They also called any type of carbonated soft drink a "tonic". In Texas and Oklahoma, I have heard the word "Coke" used generically for any of these drinks, called elsewhere "pop", "soda", or "soda pop".

Beyond the words used, the regional accents are also interesting. I recently took a quick survey someone had set up on a web site that supposedly analyzes what American accent you have based upon a series of questions. I really don't know how accurate it is, but what I did find interesting is the comment in the results that said:

You have a good voice for TV and radio.

Considering my first career was in radio, that makes sense. Now, I'll be the first to admit that in casual conversation, I don't pay quite as much attention to diction and pronunciation as I did on the air, but still think I speak fairly standard American English without any of the affectations of regional accents.

In any case, here were my results.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The South
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The Northeast
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Compromise & Healthcare

It is no news that in America we have a political climate where polarization seems to rule, rather than common ground being sought for the betterment of all. The extreme religious right has control of much of the Republican Party, while the Democrats have their own crazy fringe to deal with. Seemingly left out and forgotten are the great middle ground of moderates, people who have a variety of viewpoints, but are not tied to extreme positions and unwilling to compromise for the greater good.

Having spent the last six years ruling from the far right, the current administration in Washington is a lame duck. Although they have made it clear they have no desire to listen to the people, nor their representatives in Congress, their days are up come January 20, 2009. Two years and two days, and we can permanently say goodbye to Dubya, Cheney, and the entire bunch who have fueled their war with the lives of our military personnel, our nation’s honor, and yes, even with some constitutional liberties.

Despite what extremists may say, compromise is not a dirty word. It was compromise that allowed the founders of the nascent United States of America to create a representative Congress that protected the rights of both the small states, and the more populous ones. In order for progress to occur it require give and take, the ability to forge a win-win solution to difficult issues.

It is in the spirit of compromise that I see some hope from both parties. Newly-elected Democratic governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter, and Republican governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, have proposed looking at health care coverage for the citizens of their states. I have long maintained that the resistance to, and fear of, a national healthcare plan would make it extremely difficult to initially implement at the federal level. It will take some progressive minded governors and legislatures to show the rest of us that this can work.

The rugged individualism of the American psyche and our Cold War experience makes us resistant to the idea of any program that even hints of socialism. Never mind that there are some things that can be best addressed by the government. We have socialized highways, schools, postal service, money system, and more. The United States is one of the few “First World” powers that doesn’t provide some level of health coverage to all its citizens.

I am no economist, so this is purely conjecture on my part, but I suspect that for what we currently spend, we could have universal coverage for all of our people. The fact is that we don’t really have healthcare for many of our citizens, but rather sick care. People who cannot afford preventive and early treatment end up generating huge medical bills for diseases and conditions that could have been averted, if only they were caught and treated early. One reason insurance costs continue to escalate is the fact that we all pay for those who don’t have insurance today. If we could do it proactively on a national basis, I think we could be surprised at how little it actually costs in comparison with today.

It is also my belief that universal healthcare is very much within the spirit of the Constitution. That document’s preamble lists among the reasons for establishing the federal government is to “promote the general Welfare”. Not welfare as applied to entitlement programs, but welfare and in the general well-being of the citizenry.

Heath care insurance tied to peoples’ employment leaves out the underemployed, the part-time workers, the unemployed, and the indigent from the system. These are the people who have no resources for health coverage. Instead, we end up paying their medical bills when they go to a public hospital or the debt is written off by the provider. Often, the provider ends up being a hospital emergency room, since the poor have no regular physician. Even the gainfully employed and covered are close to falling into disaster. If you lose your job, sure you are offered continuation of coverage under COBRA. However without income, who can afford COBRA payments of $700 and up per month?

I hope that the legislators in both California and Colorado will work together with the governors of those states and effect compromise on this matter. They can lead the way by showing how to fix our current system. Action is long overdue. It is now time to explore a variety of options that will finally provide all Americans with access to healthcare. It’s the right thing to do.

Ted on Approach to Denver

Denver International Airport is approximately 30 miles north of where I took this photograph. Still, many planes approach the airport on a path toward the north/south runways from here.

This particular picture was taken with a telephoto lens, and before cropping, it was a small plane in a huge blue sky. Some cropping and sharpening in Photoshop reveal the plane to be one from the United subsidiary, Ted. You can very clearly read the carrier name, along with the gold United Airlines "U" on the vertical stabilizer. You can even make out the windows of the passengers and flight deck. You can almost read the registration number of the aircraft, but not quite. With a little longer lens or perhaps if this had been on a tripod, that could have been read, but for a quick hand-held shot, I am not disappointed in this one.

The World's Nastiest Candy?

Could this be the nastiest tasting candy in the world? I really don't know. Someone at my office brought a bunch of these to work, and everyone is saying they are horrible. The description is that they taste like sweat mixed with raw sewage with scrapings from the gutters of Manhattan added in. With all that talk, I am very afraid to open it up and try it.

The label describes this confection from Mexico as a lollipop with four layers of chili flavor wrapped around a mango flavored gum in the middle. However, given the description of those who have tried it, there is nothing that tastes like chili here. This may be like the Tootsie Roll Pop...no one will ever know how many licks it takes to get to the center; only this time it is because of the bad taste it has.

The label says that the Mexican candy company that makes this little gem is owned by Pepsico, Inc. Now, I do enjoy many Mexican foods, including some of the sugar pralines that are made there. Yet, despite my adventuresome nature regarding foods, I cannot bring myself to try the Rockaleta.

Other nasty candies I never will try include those gross Jelly Belly flavors of jelly beans, such as vomit, earwax, and boogers. Still, the people I work with claim that those are better by far than the Rockaleta. I guess I will never know.

Lollipop anyone?

An Alien Chip?

For about a year and a half, I have had a perplexing mystery that I just couldn't solve. Whenever I would enter or leave particular stores, their alarm systems would go off. In particular, the worst ones were Walgreens, Target, and Barnes & Noble.

This problem has been more of an annoyance than anything else. The store personnel, if they notice at all, usually say something like, "It's okay. It's probably your cell phone." Well, I guess if someone does steal something they can just blame the alarm on their cell phone.

One day at Walgreens, I left my cell phone, took of my shoes, left my security badge from work, and did everything I could think to do that might tell me what was setting off the alarms, all to no avail. My wife got to the point of being so embarrassed that she would not enter or leave at the same time as I did. She even jokingly said I must have had an alien abduct me and place a chip inside me. I had thought maybe it was my dental work, but my dentist said it couldn't be that either.

Thursday was the final frustration. I went into Barnes & Noble, and of course, the alarms started beeping. Then upon my purchase of two magazines, I left the store, and again..."BEEP BEEP BEEP". This time, a manager called out, "Sir, could you please come back!". So, I turned around, and he said, "Sir, I know you beeped coming in, but I need to see your receipt." So, I showed him the receipt, and he said, "Sorry for the inconvenience. I just had to check."

So, enough is enough! I related the story to my wife who vowed to get to the bottom of it. She did what I should have done a year and a half ago, and searched the Internet for answers. One blog she came across related a similar tale, and people were commenting on similar experiences. Some said that The Gap and Old Navy sew a sensor inside the seams of their clothing that would set off alarms if not deactivated. Fine, but I don't have any clothes from either of these establishments. Another person related how the problem had occurred after the purchase of a new wallet, and that they had found an anti-theft tag hidden inside it.

Alarms go off again, but this time in my head. Could it be that simple? I had bought the wallet I was using about a year and a half ago. SO, I empty my poor old overstuffed wallet down to the bare leather, and started probing inside. BINGO! Stuck with some kind of sticky adhesive was a bar code label deep inside one of the slots. I pull it off the leather, and on the back is a printed circuit used for anti-theft systems!

I have recently bought a new wallet, but had not made the transfer, and luckily so, or I may never have figured out what was going on. I got the new wallet, searched it for alarm tags and found none, and made the switch, as the tag left a sticky residue on the old one.

I have to say, I have not yet tested this by going into one of the stores that were a problem. However, I think this is the culprit. I will bring this little irritant to one of them and test it out, but I suspect my beeping days are over. Although I would never do it, the mischievous side of me had the thought of bringing it into Barnes & Noble and dropping it in some poor unsuspecting woman's purse when she was not looking!

Cheyenne, Wyoming

When I was a kid, Cheyenne was the title of a TV show starring Clint Walker. Well, today I made a trip to Cheyenne to tour a facility owned by the company I work for. Cheyenne is the capital city of the State of Wyoming, and is really, a fairly small town. It lies just north of the Colorado border, about 100 miles north of Denver, at the intersection of Interstate Highways 25 and 80.

I arrived in town a little early, so I stopped by the capitol building to take a few photos. Unfortunately, after I arrived home, I found I had my camera set on manual focus, and had failed to compensate, so many of my photos didn't come out too well. Dumb mistake. Still, I got a few that are accidentally in-focus.

Compared to the Wisconsin capitol I wrote about last month, the Wyoming capitol is small. When you compare the dome of Wisconsin, the largest by volume in the nation, with Wyoming's, the western statehouse's dome is extremely diminuitive in relation to its building. Still, it is a pleasing building, with the cornerstone laid in 1887. It also has several items of interest on the grounds.

One of these is a replica of the Liberty Bell, near the southwest corner of the lawn. On the west lawn, there is a statue of a cowboy on a bucking horse, another of the symbols of the state.

Of particular note is a statue of early womens' rights activist Esther Hobart Morris. located at the main, or south entrance to the capitol. The inscription on the base of the statue reads:

Esther Hobart Morris

Proponent of the legislative act which in 1869 gave distinction to the territory of Wyoming as the 1st government in the world to grant women equal rights

This is truly an amazing thing, a territory's legislature passing a law to grant women equal rights back in 1869, when here in 2007, we still don't have the Equal Rights Amendment enacted on a national level. Those pioneers were quite progressive!

Inside the capital, the first floor is basically one long hallway with offices on either side. These include the Governor's office and the office of the state treasurer.

The capitol doesn't really have a rotunda, but more like a medium-sized room. Looking up into the dome, there is a square design with some stained glass, and some state motifs painted on each of the four sides. There is also a statue of an American Indian in full headdress gracing the main chamber. In the west wing, there is a stuffed American Bison on display, another symbol of Wyoming and the American West.

Time ran out and I had to get to my appointment, but I was glad I made the stop at capitol of "The Equality State".