For years the drive from our home in the country to the city was on a lonely, shoulderless, two lane road bounded on both sides by ranches that had been in the same families since Civil War days. The road descended a steep hill covered with live oaks and cedar. As it neared the bottom, the cedar gave way to elms and oaks which grew to enormous size. At the bottom was a dry creek. It had once been a clear running stream but now only flooded during heavy rains making it impossible to get to or from town. On cold winter nights one could hear coyotes harrying rabbits through the creek bottom. And on moonless nights the road was as dark as a cave. In the Spring both sides of the road were cloaked with yellow Engleman daisies. As one neared town there was a field filled with sunflowers that bloomed all summer.

At the end of this field the road was bisected by an equally narrow crossroad. Here, I often saw a scissor-tailed flycatcher* perched on a barbed wire fence. It seemed to watch with interest as I drove by. Occasionally, it would fly a short distance into the air to catch an insect. Each summer for years I would watch for it. And each summer it returned to its perch on the fence.

After several years, things began to change as the city grew. Stop signs were put up on the corners of the intersection because of increasing traffic. A supermarket and gas station were built on one corner. A gas station and convenience store were built on

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Q. Does the term “universe” refer to space, or to the matter in it, or to both?

A. Just a hundred years ago, scientists thought of the universe in terms of matter. Space was just the “emptiness” in which matter lived. During the twentieth century, scientists learned that space is not “nothingness.” First, Einstein showed that space has structure: It is flexible and can be stretched. (In fact, when astronomers talk about the “expansion of the universe,” they are referring to the stretching of space between clusters of galaxies – NOT to the motion of galaxies through space.) Later, scientists found other properties of space. For example, matter and anti-matter are routinely created in the laboratory from space itself (and an energy source); the kinds of particles that can exist reflect the structure of space. In fact, there is now evidence that space itself MAY possess some slight amount of energy of its own, of a form previously unknown. If so, emptiness may actually have weight.

Here’s a whole bunch more. They’re all interesting.

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How else can you learn what not to do other than by doing it! And learning first hand what is really stupid or unworkable thinking that you are really cool. Now that I’m older and wiser I realize that I paid the price for these lessons in life.

It really is kinda great knowing what “Not to Do!” I guess that is the part called Heaven!

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If anything was ever good once, It will be good again!

I said that!

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taken by Lynne Allan. We were playing at The Cove near SAC.

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Mexican drug smugglers catapult weed over border fence into US

A remote video surveillance system captured drug smugglers using a catapult to launch packages of pot over the Mexico/US border.

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Whippleworld rarely wakes up dressed in white like this. Quite unusual she must think.

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JOE’S FIRST SNOW “LET IT SNOW!” HE SAYS

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I took Jimmie’s pen and ink drawing and turned it into a sticker design. We were told the first step to fame and fortune in the Americana music biz is stickers for your guitar case.

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