Friday, September 27, 2013

Johnny Cash Quotes

Because you're mine, I walk the line.

I'm not bitter. Why should I be bitter? I'm thrilled to death with life.

It's good to know who hates you and it is good to be hated by the right people.

There's a lot of things blamed on me that never happened. But then, there's a lot of things that I did that I never got caught at.

My arms are too short to box with God.

I wear black because I'm comfortable in it. But then in the summertime when it's hot I'm comfortable in light blue.

Success is having to worry about every damn thing in the world, except money.

Sometimes I am two people. Johnny is the nice one. Cash causes all the trouble. They fight.

You've got a song you're singing from your gut, you want that audience to feel it in their gut. And you've got to make them think that you're one of them sitting out there with them too. They've got to be able to relate to what you're doing.

Monday, September 23, 2013

The Problem Bear

Don't know if this is a true story, or a just a 'camping story.'  Either way it's fun, and heard it while hiking with the Sierra Club in Virginia years ago. 

Yellowstone had a bear problem.  The bears were coming into contact with people far too frequently.  For the safety of the park visitors, they were forced to tranquilize and relocate some of these bears.  Unfortunately, people were often part of the problem.  They were an easy source of food.  Some campers would leave food out, others driving through happy to see a bear, would feed them right from the car.  This was not only dangerous, but it encouraged bears to seek out people who may or may not have food.  Particular 'problem' bears that park rangers had relocated would actually return to the scene of the crime seeking out more food.

The trouble with these repeat offenders was that they were smart, they learned how to not get caught.  The rangers actually believed that many of these bears recognized the park rangers vehicles and uniforms and would flee at first sight.  This meant the rangers needed to be covert, so they wore civilian clothes and drove an unmarked vehicle, and worked in teams for these particularly difficult cases.

One day, two rangers found their problem bear and were able to shoot him with a dart from their unmarked vehicle.  They waited several minutes for the tranquilizers to kick in, as another group of rangers were radioed in to pick up the bear.  As they waited, a park visitor pulled up to get a closer look at the bear they just spotted.  The rangers watched as this fellow rolled down his window down and handed the grateful bear an apple.  The bear took a bite, stumbled backward, and collapsed on the side of the road.  The team of rangers sped in in their official relocation vehicle, jumped out, put the bear in a cage, and then loaded the cage into the truck. 

The visitor to the park looked on in bewilderment, "What happened?"

A ranger from the second team replied as they pulled away, "That's why the sign says, 'Don't feed the bears!"

After the first pair watched events unfold, one fellow said, "Shouldn't we give him a ticket for feeding the bear?"

"No.  He'll never feed another bear again."



Thursday, September 19, 2013

Monday, September 16, 2013

Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers

Don't know how unusual this is, but both a Hairy and a Downy Woodpecker stopped at my bird feeder the other day at the same time.  The larger Hairy Woodpecker is on the right, and the smaller Downy is on the left.  They shared the feeder for a decent length of time, enough time for me to snap the pic below.


Sunday, September 15, 2013

Chicken Rehab

My father spent his summers with his grandparents in a rural farming community when he was young. He and a friend would ride their bikes from farm to farm eventually returning to his grandparents' home. As they rode down the hill towards home, a flock of chickens would scatter, running away from the approaching bikes.

One day, as they completed their ride back down the hill they noticed one chicken lagged behind the others. Upon further examination the chicken appeared sick. He informed his grandmother that there was a chicken under-the-weather.  She came out to see, and agreed the poor chicken wasn't well. So they scooped up the bird and brought it inside to take care of it. They all took turns carrying the chicken around the house.  Periodically the gave the chicken a few drops of brandy from an eyedropper so that it would feel better while recuperating. If they needed to put her down, they would lean the inebriated bird up against the wall where she'd stay until they were able to come back and pick him up again. The chicken started recovering and getting stronger, and was back in good health in a about a week.

The chicken was returned to her spot amongst the other fowl, and my father and his friend resumed their bike rides though the local farms, and back down the hill to his grandparent's home.  However, there was one noticeable change in this routine, from then on whenever my father rode his bike down the hill, all but one bird would run from the oncoming bicycles, while one specific chicken would run straight for his new found friend.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Quotes from Mother Teresa

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.

Peace begins with a smile.

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.

If you want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.

Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.

The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.

There must be a reason why some people can afford to live well. They must have worked for it. I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things that we could use.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

El Reno Oklahoma Tornado 2013

Great video showing the development of a tornado. It starts in fast motion, and then shows tornado forming and coming towards the film makers car. It continues on to show the storm as it moves away.