Saturday, September 21, 2013

More Dogs Welcoming Home Soldiers

Dogs and their soldiers, so sweet...

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.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Susan B. Anthony Quotes

I think the girl who is able to earn her own living and pay her own way should be as happy as anybody on earth. The sense of independence and security is very sweet.

Independence is happiness.

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.

If all the rich and all of the church people should send their children to the public schools they would feel bound to concentrate their money on improving these schools until they met the highest ideals.

Oh, if I could but live another century and see the fruition of all the work for women! There is so much yet to be done.

Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputations... can never effect a reform.

The older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the world; I am like a snowball - the further I am rolled the more I gain.

Suffrage is the pivotal right.

I shall earnestly and persistently continue to urge all women to the practical recognition of the old Revolutionary maxim. Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.

This is rather different from the receptions I used to get fifty years ago. They threw things at me then but they were not roses.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

John Adams Quotes

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

Power always thinks... that it is doing God's service when it is violating all his laws.

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.

All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise, not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from the downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation.

Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society.

There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.

Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.

Fear is the foundation of most governments.

Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order.

A government of laws, and not of men.

The essence of a free government consists in an effectual control of rivalries.

While all other sciences have advanced, that of government is at a standstill - little better understood, little better practiced now than three or four thousand years ago.

Property is surely a right of mankind as real as liberty.

As much as I converse with sages and heroes, they have very little of my love and admiration. I long for rural and domestic scene, for the warbling of birds and the prattling of my children.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Quotes from Henry David Thoreau

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.

Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.

What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.

The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.

Things do not change; we change.

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.

There is one consolation in being sick; and that is the possibility that you may recover to a better state than you were ever in before.

This world is but a canvas to our imagination.

There is no remedy for love but to love more.

A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.

Friday, June 7, 2013

Puff the Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul & Mary

Had a bit of a flashback to elementary school last night when this song came on the local PBS station. What a great children's song...

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Charles Schulz Quotes

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

I think I've discovered the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it.

My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?

Life is like an ice-cream cone, you have to lick it one day at a time.

If I were given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation, it would be the ability for each individual to learn to laugh at himself.

I love mankind; it's people I can't stand.

It doesn't matter what you believe just so long as you're sincere.

No problem is too big to run away from.

There's a difference between a philosophy and a bumper sticker.

Sometimes I lie awake at night and ask why me? Then a voice answers nothing personal, your name just happened to come up.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Smiley Face Farm

The Harvey Farm in Epping, NH has a smiley face mowed into the grass. Harvey Farm sells fresh produce, as well as ice cream and a variety of other items at their farm (directly across the street from the smiley face.)

Friday, May 31, 2013

The Help of Good Samaritans Caught on Dashboard Cameras

Very sweet; people who took a minute of their time to help others out in Russia. Moments captured by people's dashboards cams...

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Funny/Great Bob Newhart Quotes

All I can say about life is, 'Oh God, enjoy it!'

I think you should be a child for as long as you can. I have been successful for 74 years being able to do that. Don't rush into adulthood, it isn't all that much fun.

I'm most proud of the longevity of my marriage, my kids, and my grandchildren. If you don't have that, you really don't have very much.

Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.

It's getting harder and harder to differentiate between schizophrenics and people talking on a cell phone. It still brings me up short to walk by somebody who appears to be talking to themselves.

I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'.

I think there's a part, just a part of comedians, that is still childlike.

It was a decision to work clean. I just prefer to work that way. I have no problem with comedians who don't work that way. There was a temptation in the early '70s to reconsider. I decided against it.

This stammer got me a home in Beverly Hills, and I'm not about to screw with it now.

When I started out in 1960, I thought it might possibly last a couple of years. I never expected it to last 42. I take great satisfaction in that longevity.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Johnny Carson with Charles Grodin - Do You Really Care?

Johnny Carson's and Charles Grodin's sarcastically tense exchanges provided many funny moments on the Tonight Show. In this clip Grodin asks Carson if he really cares...

Monday, May 20, 2013

Quotes from Mahatma Gandhi

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

Where there is love there is life.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.

A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.

A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.

Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.

An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Squirrel in the Bird Feeder

Found this red squirrel in my bird feeder yesterday. While at first he appeared trapped, he wasn't, just came by for lunch...

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Nelson Mandela Quotes

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.

It always seems impossible until its done.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.

Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.

Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will.

To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.

I am confident that nobody... will accuse me of selfishness if I ask to spend time, while I am still in good health, with my family, my friends and also with myself.

Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.

Any man or institution that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Tesla Motors Outselling BMW and Mercedes - Big Step Forward for Electric and Hybrid Cars


A couple months ago Rambling Web noted that Porsche was breaking the mold for hybrid cars by developing a true hybrid super car - Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Blows Up Stereotypes. Yet the major question was whether the 918 Spyder would sell.

Well Tesla Motors, taking a different tact, is showing the an upscale electric car can sell quite well. According to 'Wall Streets Cheat Sheet,' Tesla's Model S is actually outselling BMW and Mercedes the competing cars in its class.

This is great news for the future of electric and hybrid cars.  It shows that as the quality of these cars increases that demand will likely increase too.  As 'Wall Streets Cheat Sheet' notes the success of the Model S opens the door for a more affordable model in the future.

Tesla’s Model S Is Shaming BMW and Mercedes
While Tesla faced huge criticisms about the Model S being too expensive, which would result in a stagnancy of demand, it appears the concerns were unfounded, and that the demand is leading the segment. Given the company’s limitations as a start-up with a product that has yet to become mainstream, these figures are especially impressive.

Moreover, the Model S was never meant to be an affordable, mass market car; the company was never aiming to build the next GM Chevy (NYSE:GM) Volt or Nissan Leaf. The Model S was designed from the ground up as a luxury car, meant to compete with the likes of the 7 Series and A8.

The company’s business model suggests that as electric cars become more accepted, and concerns over range anxiety and other problems subside, the high cost of electric car technology will slope downward. And when that happens, Tesla will be ready and waiting with an entry-level, ballpark $30,000 model to market to the masses.
Tesla Motors

Monday, May 13, 2013

Quotes from Oscar Wilde

I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.

Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.

Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.

There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.

Ordinary riches can be stolen; real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.

No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.

A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

No man is rich enough to buy back his past.

Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.

Who, being loved, is poor?

What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Quotes from Vincent Van Gogh

I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.

The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love others.

The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.

There may be a great fire in our hearts, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke.

Conscience is a man's compass.

In spite of everything I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing.

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?

I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.

It is better to be high-spirited even though one makes more mistakes, than to be narrow-minded and all too prudent.

The way to know life is to love many things.

Even the knowledge of my own fallibility cannot keep me from making mistakes. Only when I fall do I get up again.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Wildlife at Pawtuckaway Lake in Nottingham, NH

Kayaked at Pawtuckaway Lake this past weekend.  Don't believe I've ever seen so much wildlife in one day.  Highly recommend kayaking prior to the real start of boating season.  Barely saw another boat until later in the day. 

First animal spotted was the Common Loon.  Far more impressive than pictures below indicate, it's a beautiful bird, but a bit shy.  Did get a good view, however, when a large fish swam under my kayak.  Moments later the Loon had a good sized fish in its mouth not far away.

The bird that seemed somewhat unconcerned with the kayak was the Blue Heron.  The Blue Heron fished along the edge of the lake, snapping up some small creature, rinsing it off and eating it.  The were numerous turtles sunning themselves.  Most were not interested in hanging around to have their picture taken, but one stayed in his spot, as seen below. 

Finally, I was paddling out of a small cove, took out my camera for a simple shot of the scenery, and a beaver hopped in the water right next to me.  That is the second picture down.  He slapped his tail and dove under water shortly after the picture was taken.