"In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present." ~ Francis Bacon

I'm not ready to do an official happy dance over the cooler temperatures in the morning but I've been tempted a time or two to at least get a practice in. Riding into work with the window down and the vents open, now that's what I call a good start to your day. It's like a down payment on some 40's lurking out there waiting to show up and I will be most happy when they make their appearance. Meanwhile, I will take the high 50's for now and bid you a hearty welcome here on this Tuesday, September 15, 2014. You think I write about this every year? Thanks so much for paying attention. I am a cool weather person. That is, I think I am. I have been in the past and I still look forward to finding out if I still am as the season changes. Some tell me that with age you may not be able to tolerate the colder temps like you once did. I can see that. I can tell that I may not be willing to be first in line to dive into a lake in the middle of the night at near freezing temperatures. I did that once but maybe would have to take a rain check today. That's okay. I can still enjoy anticipating the cooler weather even if I may have to grab a jacket a little earlier than I did in my younger years. Sure. I know we still have the hot stuff yet to come because that too defines the area where we live. Some call what we have had the last few days a taste of fall. I prefer to say it's more of a mere mention, but, I'll take it. How about you?

I'm proud of those in our neighborhood who constrained their inner urge to jump the gun by starting up their fireplaces. You are right. It is none of my business but smelling all of that wood burning so early in the season just doesn't float my boat. I'm still attempting to decide whether I will decide to allow NASCAR to fade off of my personal radar screen when Jeff Gordon, the driver I've followed for many years retires at the end of this season. After watching some of our local Houston Texans game this past Sunday I might need to hold on to NASCAR as an alternative. I know. It was just the first game of the season. Speaking of smelling. They were stinking up the joint. Back to the NASCAR dilemma. I do like some of the young drivers coming up. I know some of them will become the super stars of tomorrow. But, when I consider the investment of my time and support, well, it may be time to think about thinking about me retiring. Yesterday even as I was pondering this matter one of the fellows here in our shop brought me the Jeff Gordon Santa (in the photo) that he found in his garage. He wanted me to have it. How thoughtful of him. I think I have one nearly like it that was given to me by some of our grand kids several years ago. But, we all have these life altering decisions to make and I will finish this season and then I may have to take some time and go to the mountains to dwell on this consequential matter. Not really. We will just have to wait and see.

We live in the modern age and we are dependent upon the basic infrastructure for us to function. Last Saturday evening the wife and I, as is our habit, were all prepared to settle down to watch the musical programming on RFDTV. That's our routine. That's our entertainment. It's not for everyone and that's okay. Well, on that particular day it was not meant to be. The power went off. It was beautiful outside. Not a creature was stirring. Bang. Zoom. Completely shut down. How do you like that? No flickering. No sputtering. One second it was going the next it was like it wasn't even turned on. I walked outside. One of the neighbors had already reported the outage. After about 30 minutes I called up the power company myself. They informed me they were aware of the problem and expected it to be corrected by 9:45 p.m. Three hours. Oh my. They said 70 homes were impacted. Shared pain. No reason given. Just dark. No service. Quiet. The wife has one of those battery operated fans. We swapped it forth and back to move a little air. I walked outside. Forth and back. And then, back and forth. Our lives disrupted by a sinister plot. Or, maybe it was just a blip on the radar screen of life. Of course we couldn't see the blip because the power was off. Later the wife's sister over in Louisiana told her the music wasn't great that night anyway. I guess that was at least some solace. Okay, you had to see this one coming. You don't miss the power until it's no longer working. Not brilliant but I thought I would share it anyway. Take care and may God bless each one. Amen. .....More later.