Some Good News!

crates | January 30, 2010

   My father returned home from the hospital today!  He had open heart surgery last Monday (Jan 25) which went very well.  I guess they said that he could have gone home yesterday (Friday), but he said he wasn’t ready to leave yet!  Four days seems like a very short stay after such major surgery, [...]

Some Bad News

crates | January 24, 2010

     Last Thursday (Jan 21)  my father had some chest pain after returning from the store.  It wouldn’t go away,  and soon my father realized that this wasn’t the normal discomfort that he sometimes felt from the acid reflux which he sometimes has.  Then he did something out of character–he asked his next door neighbor to [...]

Another Christmas

crates | December 25, 2009

     It is Christmas Eve, 11:55 pm, and I am alone at work, getting ready to go out into the frosty night.  Once again I think back on past times with my family as I have many times before.  I haven’t posted much lately because I have been working so many long hours, but soon [...]

No, I’m not cheap…maybe eccentric?

crates | November 9, 2009

      I was wondering why people were staring at me at the Mississippi visitor’s center last summer after I had pulled off Interstate 10.  I checked my zipper, nope…wiped my nose, nope nothing there, then I realized that I was wearing two pairs of glasses, one low down on my nose and the other right above [...]

Killer Whales and the End of the Universe

crates | October 24, 2009

When I reached the beach on my walk two Sundays ago, I saw a large black body out in the water, then a great fin protruding above the surface.  At first I was confused as to what I was seeing,  then everything clicked into place, and I realized that I was watching a pod of [...]

Now the Danged Comics Are Making Me Paranoid!

crates | October 23, 2009

I was reading the paper today, and when I got to the funny papers (comics), I found an odd thing.  I kept seeing the same references to volunteerism and community service in many of the strips.  Below is a summary of what I found:

Garfield: “Today I volunteered to help clean up the city park.”
The Born [...]

Tim Powers–Read His Books!

crates | July 12, 2009

     I am reading The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers for the second time and have been struck again by just how much I like and admire his novels.   I have read and re-read his books since discovering them years ago, and they never fail to entertain and enthrall me.
      Every time that I [...]

Birds Seen in Panama

crates | July 1, 2009

 
Here’s some birds I saw in Panama.  The page and plate numbers refer to the Birds of Panama.

Common Name

Scientific Name

Panama Area (P=Panama City; T=Bocas;B=Boquete

Pl.no.

Page no.

Egret, Great
Casmerodius albus

P, T

2

69

Egret, Cattle
Bubulcus i. ibis

P, T

2

71

Heron, Great Blue
Ardea h. herodias

P, T

2

68

Ibis, White
Eudocimus albus

P

2

74

Frigatebird, Magnificient
Fregata magnificens

P, B

4

65

Pelican, Brown
Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis

P,T

4

63

Booby, Brown
Sula leugaster estesiaca

T

4

62

Sandpiper, Spotted
Actitus macularia

T

5

135

Hawk, Common Black
Buteogallus a. anthracinus

T

8

95

Pigeon, Pale-vented
Columba [...]

Western Trillium Color Changes

crates | May 1, 2009

I was talking to a person about the flower, Trillium ovatum, mentioning how it was blooming in the woodlands now, and they mentioned how it occurred in both white and purple colors.  I said that it was my impression that the flowers were white when it first bloomed, but that some turned purple after it [...]

Looking for Meaning in the Great Cosmic Dance

crates | April 23, 2009

We are sentient beings. As conscious entities we often look for meaning in what at first appears to be an uncaring universe.  This seems to be the way we are, constantly seeking for meaning that relates to our own lives.
Religion and philosophy are attempts to render meaning to our lives.  People of long ago, living [...]

"Miscellaneous Information"

FOR A TABLE OF CONTENTS ARRANGED BY SUBJECT CATEGORY, CLICK ON THE SITE MAP LINK. Much of this blog is a way for me to learn more about things that interest me and then share them with others. It is also presented from my own perspective and slant which is, of course, quite idiosyncratic. Feel free to leave comments. :)


About the author

crates

Just an ordinary guy who loves: everything biological, photography, science fiction (SF), books, new ideas, interesting people, life in all its aspects. Ok, you can wake up now...