Pull Tight

Don't consider myself much of a fashion buff, but the exhibit of Iris van Herpen's work at the Dallas Museum of Art is quite interesting.  Her term for the designs is new couture.  Seeing how she uses unusual materials, 3 D printing and other technology are very interesting.  But even more fascinating are the inspiration explanations of each design. Recommend seeing, you will likely enjoy.

Being of a certain age, I wake frequently in the night.  Until the past few months, I would fall asleep again quickly.  Now when I wake, unanswered questions and disturbing thoughts keep me awake, sometimes for hours. In no particular order, some of the following contribute to my insomnia. Why are the most intolerant people I know also the ones who profess to be the most religious? If you want to find homophobes, racists, xenophobes, etc. look to your friends, acquaintances, and relatives who are most devout.  These same people wonder why the fastest growing religious belief is none at all.  They should look in the mirror or listen to themselves. And why do the same religious groups attract the very ones being castigated? If you have black or brown skin and end up in the afterlife next door to a white supremacist, what now? Why do so many think the remedy for gun violence is more guns in the hands of more people? If only the kindergarten students at Sand...

" An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man's knowledge is a greater miracle than all the sticks turned to snakes or the parting of the waters."  Henry Drummond character in play Went to see a production of Inherit the Wind this afternoon in Dallas.  This production has parts played by different genders and races than the original production of the 1950s giving it a very modern feel.  With a minimalist set and characters dressed in current attire, it doesn't seem dated. Another very good play by the Dallas Theater Center.  If you enjoy a good drama that makes you think, it shouldn't be missed. Play is based on the Scopes Trial from 1925 in a small Tennessee town.  The trial concerned a high school teacher accused of violating Tennessee law by teaching the theory of evolution in a high school science class.  If you happen to not be familiar with the trial, look it up.  It was quite the story of the time.

Very cold morning today with a little snow on the ground. Took me back to days in the 60s on the family ranch and feeding cattle on winter days. This was in the time before the big round hay bales of today.  Would load up 10-15 bales of the old square bales on a pickup truck.  Out to the pasture, call the cows with the truck horn http://pulltight.blogspot.com/2013/03/calling-cows-and-purple-haze.html Then throw the hay off the truck and walk around looking through and counting the cows and taking the wire off each bale of hay. Sometimes recall a story I heard many years ago about a colder and snowier day than today.  Occurred somewhere in rural W Texas, near Amarillo as I remember. Was a really cold Sunday after a blizzard. One old rancher shows up early to the small country church, starts a fire in the wood stove and waits for the rest of the congregation and the preacher.  The preacher living next door arrives and stands by the stove with the old rancher. ...

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 "One God — Many Forms / One River — Many Streams / One People — Many Faces / One Mother — Many Children -Ma"----Sign in the former church of the    "Thanksgiving dinner that can't be beat"  in the song. This sign offers good advice for civilization in today's world. My favorite holiday song and maybe the only one only heard on Thanksgiving. Been listening to this song most Thanksgiving Days for almost 50 years. You can easily find the song on the internet. Discovered my coworkers had never heard.  Might be time to start singing it again. Alice's Restaurant Massacree - Arlo Guthrie

Doing a little yard work today in prepartion for a party.  Broke the ax handle. Finished up with a chainsaw. Finished putting tools away, cleaning up and thought about my redneck cousins.  If some of them had seen me working, I might have been rejected as a family member. You might not be a redneck if the only chainsaw you own is electric.