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Iris in the Yard

Spring is my favorite time of year. Too bad it seems so short. Maybe that is why I haven’t updated this blog for 3 months…time just moves too fast. Plus, let’s be honest…who really reads this blog anyway? Well, I guess I would continue to write periodically even if there was only one reader.

Kitty in the Jungle.

One of my favorite parts of spring is watching the flowers bloom. The weeds in the yard are out of control. But the flowers help make up for it. Pictured here is an Iris from the yard. Iris are a new addition this year. The Tulips this year were unbelieveable, every color and shape imaginable.

Every year I like to try to capture the beauty of the flowers with my camera. Every year seems to be a disappointment. Yes, the photos are getting better but there is always room for improvement. What I see in my minds eye, usually doesn’t translate to the picture. Isn’t that how life goes…the beauty we see is often fleeting and hard to capture.

I turned a year older a couple of weeks ago. Aging is such a mysterious and yet inescapable process. Like the peddles of a tulip, the skin turns from perfectly smooth and flawless to withered and dried in the course of it’s lifetime. There is no going back. We should be grateful for our children. When we were their age we didn’t think about the smoothness of our skin, the spring in our step or how easy it was to fall asleep. We didn’t appreciate what we had. We can enjoy our children’s youthfulness, even if they do not.

I guess that is why Spring is my favorite season. each year I get a chance to relive the grandeur and mystery of life just beginning, weeds and all.

Photography, nantoka

For lunch today, I bought a chicken bowl and a chocolate shake from Hogi Yogi. Why? I don’t know…call it feel good food. It’s food that invokes happy feeling. music does that same thing as feel good food, except that we can invoke more than just happy feeling with music. Of course, food can invoke a lot of different feeling as well, but the range of good feeling is somewhat limited with food. With music we can enjoy a wider range of emotions, even feel negative emotions and still ‘enjoy’ the experience.

For example in You Can’t Always Get What You Want by the Rolling Stones we can experience the liberating realization that sometimes in life we can’t get what we want in life, but somehow things work out and ultimately we get what we need. At least in the midst of trials, it’s nice to hear someone else tell you such sage words of advice.

Who hasn’t felt their spirits rise as the result of hearing the refrain of Bobby McFerrin’s Don’t Worry, Be Happy. The song was worn out in it day, but only because it was so therapeutic to it’s listeners who longed to be uplifted and encouraged.

Weezer’s hit the big time in 1994 with Undone - The Sweater Song. 1994 was a hard year for me, kind of like last year, and that song really hit home. I felt like I was unraveling little by little. Thankfully I’m starting to feel better. But my point is that Weezer really seemed to be able to put into a song the way I was feeling. Here is a case where a song can make one feel good and bad all at the same time. “If you want to destroy my sweater, pull this thread as I walk away, watch me unravel I’ll soon be naked, Lying on the floor, I’ve come undone.” Now those are insightful lyrics. It’s funny to talk about a sweater unraveling, but the imagery is unique.

Finally, James Taylor on his album Sweet Baby James sings about the loss of a friend in his song Fire and Rain. Part of it is a story about a friend, Suzanne, who committed suicide while he was in London. His friends didn’t tell him about the suicide for six months for fear it would shake him up. You can feel the regret in his voice at this loss. “I’ve seen fire, and I’ve seen rain, I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, But I always thought that I would see you again.”

Where would we be without music…and where would we be without good food? I’m going to go finish my chocolate shake.

nantoka

Since moving into our house in 2005 I have been haunted by a monster. But this summer the monster was cut to the ground and hauled away in little pieces. (I wonder if I’ve been reading too much Steven King?)

The monster that had haunted my dreams for 3 years was a pyracantha (firethorn) bush that measured 75 feet wide, 18 feet deep (to the fence) and more than 20 feet high. Presumable planted when the house was built in 1960, the bush had more than 40 years to amass it’s hold on my backyard.

We attempted to get bids from experts trained to deal with green pests and garden giants. One yellowpage add said, “no job too big or too small.” He would not even give us a price quote, nor would anyone else. I note now that his ad did not say, “no job too scary.”

So in mid June, with chainsaw in hand and a 40 foot dumpster on the way, a select group of brave comrads and I (family and neighbors) slew the monster and chipped it’s remains into a million little pieces. The battle was won, the foe has been vanquished.

What worries me is what lies under the ground. The battle was won, but what of the war? Already I see signs of life. Ever see Tremors?

nantoka

I was sadly mistaken that I would have my ‘93 Pathfinder forever. Actually, I still have it, but just upgraded to this new ‘08 Toyota Yaris for my daily commute. The color is said to be “olive mist”. To me is just a nice shade of green. I like green. Some people would even say I look good in green. At 35 miles per gallon, I’m saving over $100 a month in green gas money and I’m living a little more green to help the environment. I didn’t go for anything fancy. It has just about manual everything…locks, windows, breaks…I like simple. Together I hope we have many happy miles going down life’s highways.

nantoka

If you having problems getting my feed…read this from the libsyn website. (libsyn is my podcast feed host.)

Thu, 6 October 2005

Bottom line, for those of you that can’t reach libsyn send us your ip addresses. We are passing those off to our datacenter guy who is manually rerouting how our site gets to you. Also important, according to our charts your shows are being served to MOST of your audience.

nantoka

A friend of mine sent this to me yesterday. It’s a quote from The Trial by Franz Kafka:

“There can be no doubt?”said K., quite softly, for he was elated by the breathless attention of the meeting; in that stillness a subdued hum was audible which was more exciting than the wildest applause?”there can be no doubt that behind all the actions of this court of justice, that is to say in my case, behind my arrest and today’s interrogation, there is a great organization at work. An organization which not only employs corrupt warders, oafish Inspectors, and Examining Magistrates of whom the best that can be said is that they recognize their own limitations, but also has at its disposal a judicial hierarchy of high, indeed of the highest rank, with an indispensable and numerous retinue of servants, clerks, police, and other assistants, perhaps even hangmen, I do not shrink from that word. And the significance of this great organization, gentlemen? It consists in this, that innocent persons are accused of guilt, and senseless proceedings are put in motion against them…”

The Trial
Franz Kafka

nantoka

I was contacted yesterday by the personnel of a collection agency, telling me that because I activated a company American Express Card eight years ago, I am responsible for the balance on that company account. I have no recollection of that card, let alone recollection of using that card. I have not worked for that company for 6 years.

Vicky Williams from United Recovery Systems, called to inform me of my responsibility, and said that it would be going to the legal office at the end of the month. When I asked for a fax of my contract she belligerently said that they are not in the business of customer service, that the phone call was to inform me of my responsibility and not to provide proof. She said that proof would be provided by the lawyers at my expense.

The very act of them calling me at work on my personal cell phone has cost me and my employer time and money. Who is robbing whom? These tactics by unscrupulous people amount to nothing more than harassment.

…

Interestingly, I found this about United Recovery Systems while I was writing. They have obviously not changed their practices.

nantoka

Hugh Nibley, LDS scholar, died last Thursday. He was 94.

nantoka

Last night I just happened to be looking for unique domain names that I could acquire when I found that berghout org was available. My brother, Laine, has been looking for this particular one for years. It has been owned by someone in the Netherlands. And It seemed hopeless. Well…I snagged it.

I sent Laine an email this morning, informing him of my conquest. A few minutes later I got a call from him. He was pretty excited about it. He wants it. I don’t blame him. After all, he has been trying to nab it for years. It’s like a hunter seeking an elusive animal, only to have it snatched away by another.

After the 60 day waiting period expires, I guess we will initiate a transfer. Then we will see about setting up some email addresses and perhaps a web site.

Funny thing is: turns out that every year around the middle of September I get the domain hunting bug…

jamesb Sept 14, 1998
hotwater4you Sept 16, 2002
jamesjr Sept 13, 2003
berghout Sept 15, 2004

I’ve been trying to find a good domain name for Samantha, but I can’t come to any really decision. Here are some options: smantha, s-mantha, samanthab…Any others?

nantoka