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 [...]

Rain and the Imagination

crates | September 6, 2009

     It has been a dry summer here in the Pacific Northwest.  On my walks the voice of the small brook has gradually gotten quieter and quieter as the summer progressed.  I love to listen to it as I have written before, but it has recently become a dim ghost of itself.  First it became a trickle, [...]

Unkind and Hurtful Words

crates | July 10, 2009

     Unkind words once uttered can never be retrieved.  I’m sure that everybody has heard this before.  Everybody knows that words can leave lasting impressions.  I can remember unkind words stretching back to my childhood.  Likewise, I can remember words of kindness,  but it seems that harsh words somehow have more of an effect, although everybody has [...]

Diversity…Can There Be Too Much?

crates | May 13, 2009

I have just begun reading a book called The Last Theorem (2009) by Arthur C. Clark and Poul Anderson, the famous science fiction writers.  It begins in Sri Lanka, where Clarke spent so many years of his life, and spends some time talking about the tensions between the various ethnic groups.
It got me to [...]

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: BIASED? I Like It Anyway

crates | April 30, 2009

The first time that I remember listening to National Public Radio was in September, 1974 in Eugene, Oregon.  I was using my old 8 transistor FM radio that I had gotten for Christmas when I was in the eighth grade (I know, I didn’t think NPR was ever on AM, but it was!).  I remember [...]

Spring Things

crates | April 20, 2009

Spring is marching on here.  A couple of days ago my feet were slipping on the front steps, and for a brief flash I thought there was frost.  Further examination revealed that there was a thin, slippery layer of what appeared to be yellow flour.   As I walked to my car I could see a [...]

Comments On Easy Mechanical Tasks Or Why Am I Such A Klutz?

crates | April 2, 2009

In some ways this has been a very frustrating day.  I had to hang around the house today waiting for the delivery of some kitchen appliances (stove, overhead microwave, dishwasher).  I had told the company, Home Depot, that they may have some problems negotiating the very steep, twisting driveway.  I was right, the truck had [...]

INTELLIGENT DESIGN…or By Golly I BELIEVE This, and thus it should be taught as fact! By the way, HAPPY 200TH BIRTHDAY DARWIN!

crates | February 17, 2009

          I just saw a very instructive two hour program by NOVA.  It had to do with the recent events (2004) in a town in Dover, PA where a couple of individuals on the school board pushed through a requirement that Intelligent Design be taught in biology classrooms as a viable alternative to the modern theory of evolution.  They also required that [...]

Do We Really Want to Know?

crates | November 13, 2008

I was watching two small children with their father at the coffee shop this morning.  The tiny little girl reminded me of my daughter when she was small.  When the father left he had the little girl on his arm and led the little boy by the hand.
I began remembering when my daughter was that [...]

A True Love Story

crates | September 13, 2008

At times it is almost overwhelming watching my father hold my mother’s hand and tell her that he has loved her since she was fifteen years old. This December they will have been married sixty-six years. My father will be 84 and my mother 83. She still will kiss you when you bend over to [...]

"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...