Pull Tight

Have see the Christmas Carol many times over the years, but the version currently playing by the Dallas Theater Center is the best I have ever seen.  Great acting and special effects make it a stand out production.  If you live in the Dallas area and have never been to the Kalita Humphreys Theater, you should go see something at this theater.  It is one of three theaters designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and it makes the theater experience even more special. “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” – Benjamin Franklin After the theater, we dined at the Meddlesome Moth.  The menu had two pages for food and four pages for beer, my kind of place.  Interesting place to dine with the rock star stained glass from the former Hard Rock on McKinney and a floor of tile samples from the buildings' former life as a tile store.  Good food, good beer, good company and definitely a good time.

Attended a Saturday morning conference on the brain and aging at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.  Interesting conference, reduced to a quick summary - The only things known to postpone loss in mental capacity are excercise and diet.  Mental games, drugs (so far), etc have no effect.  If anything else was mentioned, I can't remember. So why the taco picture?  After attending the lecture we decided on a low budget lunch.  If you haven't had the tacos from Fuel City, you are in for a treat.  Tacos at a truck stop.  You can eat in your car (our choice) or at a picnic table overlooking the line of cars for the discount car wash.  This place has been written up in Texas Monthly and featured on  Food Network's  Diners, Drive-ins and Dives .  They were quite tasty. After arriving home I loaded the 4 Westies in the back of the car for a trip to park for a walk.  They were in the car about 10 minutes before we hit the road.  ...

The middle of the road is for yellow lines and dead armadillos. Jim Hightower   syndicated columnist,  activist  and author This guy crossing the road somehow reminded me of one of Hightower's campaign slogans when running for office a few years ago.  On my bike ride yesterday afternoon, I saw 6 armadillos.  I had to stop to avoid hitting this one. 

Hell is empty. And all of the devils are here.  Shakespeare - The Tempest   Shakespeare might have made the same observation had he attended one of the recent Republican Presidental debates.  That point aside, the production of The Tempest by the Dallas Theatre is excellent.  

Attached is the list of proposed Post Office closings in Texas.  Paluxy is included on the list.  I have very fond memories of the Post Office as a child when Aunt Bess was the Post Mistress and Telephone Operator (only employee of both).  Aunt Bess must have been an expert about our community and residents.  I can only imagine the things she must have seen and heard.  Read more here if you like  http://pulltight.blogspot.com/2006/02/play-ball.html The close may be inevitable.  By my recollection the Post Office served as few as 11 families at one time.  But, it will still bring a sense of melancholy to a few of us when it finally closes its doors for the last time.  Perhaps we need to consider Pulling Tight once more to keep our Post Office.

Madagascar palm sprouted from seed. Will be posting again in 20 years as a palm tree.

The smell of freshly ground ginger root while making BBQ sauce and the smell of rain on a hot dry summer day are my favorites.  A brief rain while BBQing yesterday brought these two into close proximity. Also for the record, you can't open a beer with an electric can opener, even when when sober.  If you haven't had drunken chicken, it is worth a try.  The addition of crab boil to the beer makes it even better.

Going to catch up on some reading this summer at beach or by the pool.  The following are on my short list of books to read this summer.  Has anyone read these?  What are you reading? MOONWALKING WITH EINSTEIN  By Joshua Foer THE BIG SHORT  by Michael Lewis INCOGNITO   by  David Eagleman

Feel lucky to still have my Dad.  Couldn't ask for a better father.  Attached is something I wrote on Dad's birthday a few years ago.  Worth mentioning that Dad turns 85 today.  Happy birthday and happy father's day.

"Doctor, can you write a note for my wife telling her you did not see my head in there" Got the results of my colonoscopy today, all negative.  A reminder to all that colon cancer is pretty common and fairly easy to treat if caught early.  If you are over 50 and haven't had one, go.  The prep is the worst part, but it is not as bad as some would have you believe.  For the actual procedure you are given a drug that puts you to sleep and gives you a short term amnesia.  You won't remember anything and if you happen to be one of my drug causality friends from the 60s or 70s you will enjoy the trip. If you are one of the few that absolutely are not going to get a colonoscopy, there is blood test that will be of some benefit.  Methylated Septin 9 (ColoVantage)  is  70% sensitive for colorectal cancer detection at a specificity of 89%.  Your physician may not know of this test as it is new, so be sure to tell him or her the name. ...

At age 21, a couple of weeks before beginning Medical Technology school, a recriprocating blade, similar to this, went through my left thumb almost to the first joint. It was split through. Was helping install a new blade with another farm hand. Didn't know how many pieces of thmb I would see when I removed my now ruined gloves. Learned to perform phlebotomy without the use of this thumb. Healed pretty well, only a slight numbness on one side. I don't recommend this way of cutting your fingers.

"I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world" - George Washington Old farm tractors are fascinating to me, but this guy is obsessed.  Somewhere near Paris Texas is this collection of farm tractors mostly from the 40s and 50s.  I could have spent as much time walking around this collection in Paris, TX as an art lover might spend at the Louvre in Paris, France. Tractors from a time of mostly small family farms.  Just imagine the stories they could tell.  Look at just one of the tractors and think about it coming off a factory assembly line in Minnesota or Wisconsin.  Then shipped to a small town farm equipment dealer by truck or train. Purchased by a farmer on a small farm and maybe driven home from town down a dusty gravel road.   Think what one day might have been.  The farmer trying to get his land plowed and prepared for spring planting while the soil moisture is just right.  The farm wife bring...

Most mornings Nancy and I start our day with steel cut oatmeal.  If you haven't tried it, it is much tastier than the regular rolled oats usually eaten.  Takes about 30 minutes to cook, so its got to be started as you brew your morning coffee.  Last week I was at my favorite heath food store buying in bulk.  As I approached the bin, another man about my age was filling a large bag with the oats and mumbling to himself.  Only caught this part "...probably get hit by truck anyway..."   Definitely a  bacon and eggs guy.

"You use that thing for everything except wiping you butt"  my wife's remark to me about my use of a Palm PDA a few years ago. The combination of my recent medical treatment and getting older has resulted in quite a few more trips to the can.  With my travel this means using a great number of public restrooms.  The number of guys using cellphones in restrooms is amazing. Talking all the time, texting standing at urinals and who knows what behind the doors of the stalls.  Most of us at least wash our hands before leaving, but what about all of those smart phones.  Next time your battery is dead and someone offers you their phone, think about where that phone has been.

The most unique movie you will see all year.  After lapsing into coma for days and waking up with brain damage, Mark Hogancamp creates an amazing fantasy world.  See this documentary if you can.  Think it will be on PBS soon if you can't see at the theater.  And, check out the link by clicking above. http://www.marwencol.com/about/

Radiation treatment seems to have worked for my bout with Prostate Cancer. PSA continues to fall.  Level is down to 1.4 almost a year past the original diagnosis.  The only lingering symptoms are pretty much the symptoms the typical man of my age experiences.  Want to remind all my middle aged and older male friends to get screened.  And a reminder for my female friends to remind (nag if necessary) the men in their lives to get screened.  If caught early, this is very treatable.

On most weekend days and occassionally through the week, Nancy and I take our dogs for a walk in the Park. 4 Westies from the age of just under 2 to 15 years. The walks are over 2 miles long and because the older dog can't walk so far, we bring a stroller for him. It is one of the 3 wheelers you see joggers pushing. The old dog looks like he thinks he is the king of all dogdom sitting up while being pushed.  So many people stop to take pictures or comment on the dogs, especially the old guy in the stroller, you may have have seen us on You Tube or somebody's FB page. A good time to solve the problems or mysteries of the world is while you are walking you dogs. My thoughts this morning... Did Pavlov have other pets? And what did they do when he rang that bell?

A week after sleeping with the windows open. Over 100 hours straight of below freezing temperatures.

I have always found unique town names interesting.  While driving last week, Fair Play popped up on my GPS.  Maybe I had driven many miles and was a little bored, but started to imagine what the origin might have been.  My best guesses were either a sports facility or a not very good theatrical production.  Or, maybe a daycare center.  Went on to look up the actual origin and it was somewhat disappointing compared to my fantasy.  An early visitor comment on being treated fairly by the original Anglo settler who went on to name the community Fair Play.  Too bad they never had a Theater.

Shrimp and Grits, very yummy.

"People talking without speaking,/ People listening without hearing" song lyrics by Paul Simon Went for a hearing exam yesterday. Some hearing loss as I assumed, probably from being around noisy farm equipment years ago and maybe from severe ear infections as a child.  Good news and bad news from exam... Bad news, I can't hear female voices.  Good news, I can't hear female voices

Watched Gasland tonight.  This movie should be required viewing, in my opinion, for everyone touched in any way by the natural gas industry.   Even if you are just a consumer it is important to see.  But, particularly if you live in an area of wells, processing, pipelines, etc, you should see.  The possible effects on our water, wildlife, air and landscape are cause for concern.  And, the lack of safeguards for those close to this industry whether living proximity or industry workers is alarming.  Watch the movie and/or visit the web site.