On the Road Again

     Remember the old story about Little Red Riding Hood?  Little Red walked through the forest to visit her grandmother.  Gayle and I emerge from the forest to visit our grandkids.  Seems a little backward, but all of our kids work and even a couple of grandkids work, and our mountain retreat is 6 or 7 hours away.  Consequently, it’s too far for a weekend visit for our kids.

            So Gayle and I pack the car and brace our nervous system for our entrance into the frenetic Bay Area.  Classical music and the drive through the Feather River canyon is the lull before the storm.  There’s a lot to do and many folks to visit within a few days.  Prep time.

            We hit the checkered flag and the dog-friendly hotel in Los Gatos in the afternoon, after the NASCAR  race track on Highway 17, where you evidently save fuel by staying in the draft of the BMW ahead of you.

            Gayle went off to her daughter Carrie’s for dinner and I went for Chinese food with my old friend Al Borges.  Al is one of the most gifted musicians I’ve known.  He and I played in clubs up and down northern California, back in the day. 

            Normally, a visit to Los Gatos wouldn’t be complete without visiting my life-long pal Dick Whitaker, but his recent death leaves a sad space in my schedule.

            The next day was taken up by the graduation of our grandson Luke Brunner from Los Gatos High School - the same school Gayle and I graduated from back when land first appeared after Noah’s flood.  He’s the third grandkid to graduate from L.G. High.

            It was a record-breaking turnout on a record-breaking heat wave and the last thing I wanted to do was sit in the sun and listen to speeches. I planned my escape.

            Gayle went to the ceremony and I took Dakota and visited my friend and former coach, Pietro (Pete) Denevi.  Pete is the author of the book, “Pietro,” in addition to being the best athlete to ever attend Los Gatos High. He’s now 86 years old and looks 60.

            At 8:30 we had dinner for Luke and our family of eleven at Palacio Restaurant in Los Gatos.  New comers to Los Gatos don’t know that the restaurant where they enjoy their steak was originally a mortuary. 

            The next morning we visited Frank and Ruth Nelson, old friends and classmates, but left at noon to meet with my two daughters and their families for a barbeque.  We had the “maturity” to sit while our grandkids never stopped moving.  My daughters are great cooks and it was good to let their husbands do all the work.  It’s part of the senior discount program.

            We headed to San Mateo after dinner to meet with Gayle’s son, who was celebrating his 50^th birthday.  We couldn’t find a parking place at the restaurant, so Gayle could only run into the restaurant to greet Greg and the group while I drove around and hid in “no parking” zones until she came out.  Very sad for Gayle and her son, but we had too much packed into one day and got there late.  Greg and Teri came out to the car, I congratulated him, and we drove off.

            We escaped the congestion in San Mateo and headed for Discovery Bay, where several friends awaited our miraculous appearance.  Obviously drained, we spent the evening with our good friends Jay and Carla Cross (no relation to Gayle).  Jay anticipated our arrival and had a gin and tonic ready for me.  He knew I’d need it.

            The next day we had lunch with Dwight and Lynnette Klassen, life-long friends and I met Dwight later that day for a beer. Then came the finale. 

            Four old friends had a fantastic dinner hosted by Jay and Carla, with Gene and Dannette Kreps and two tired mountain people.  This was a stimulating experience with great conversations among the six of us.  Jay is a retired steel company executive, Carla is convention speaker and member of Mensa, Gene is a brain surgeon and is on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party.  His wife, Dannette, is a brainy woman and a nurse and when you toss in my intelligent wife, the conversations were fun and enlightening. 

            Fortunately we were all on the same team in terms of religion and politics, although Gene is a solid Republican and I’m more of a “Conservative/Libertarian” combination.  But there wasn’t a single issue that he and I didn’t agree on, which was interesting.

            The next morning was involved in moving furniture, hanging pictures, and other “decorative” stuff, engineered by Gayle and Carla.  Finally we packed the car and drove the many hours back to Greenhorn Ranch. 

            All of the above is just typical of every trip we make to see our kids and friends. I guess I wonder if we’re nuts.  Is this type of behavior normal for grandparents in today’s world?  Are there too many cars and too many people back in “civilization” or have I lived in the mountains too long?  Today is my first morning back.  I just took my dog Dakota for a hike in the mountains and it felt reeeeeal good.  

Quotes to Ponder

            As a change of pace, I thought I’d post some quotes and ask you to think about how they apply to our lives.  Please consider the wisdom and truth in these thoughts. Some are metaphorical and require contemplation to understand the message. Of course, I had to add a couple by the master of self-deprecation, Rodney Dangerfield, and the king of political humor, Will Rogers.  Be sure to read the last quote by a wise and loving mother.

*   *   *

“When a finger points to the moon, the idiot looks at the finger.” 

- Ancient Chinese saying

“Those who trade liberty for security have neither.”

 –John Adams

“There are two theories to arguing with a woman.  Neither works.  

– Will Rogers

“The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living. “ 

- Unknown

“There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.”

 -Will Rogers

"Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.” – John Adams

"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the American Government take care of him, better take a closer look at the American Indian." – Henry Ford

“I was such an ugly kid.  When I played in the sandbox, the cat kept covering me up.” – Rodney Dangerfield

“After the game, the King and the pawn go into the same box.” 

- Italian proverb

"The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency.” – Part of an article in a Prague newspaper by Prager Zeitungon:

“I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity.  The world will only have a generation of idiots.” – Albert Einstein

“What you do speaks so loud, that I cannot hear what you say.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

 "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson

“Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!” -  Pericles (430 B.C.)

 "Eloquence may exist without a proportionate degree of wisdom." 

- Edmund Burke

“I was such an ugly baby.  My mother never breastfed me.  She told me that she only liked me as a friend.” – Rodney Dangerfield

“Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts.”  - Richard Feynman (Physicist)

 “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions."- Daniel Webster (1782-1852)

"Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the danger of oppression." - James Madison

“A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.”
 - George Bernard Shaw

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” – John Adams

“I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.” – Will Rogers

“Tolerance is the last virtue of a dying society” – Aristotle

“When small men cast large shadows, it means the sun is about to set”. – Chinese proverb

“All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmond Burke

 "One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived." -Niccolo Machiavelli

 “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” – Irish proverb

“The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.” 

– Will Rogers

“If there is no God, everything is permitted.” – Fyoder Dostoevsky

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." - Thomas Jefferson.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." 

- George Santayana

“I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” 

- Winston Churchill

 “If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you're old”

- Will Rogers

*  *  *

A profound quote that has impacted me came from my mother who told me, “Treat everyone as though it is the last time you will see them.”  She lived that philosophy and exuded love, as my friends who knew her will attest.  Think about it.  At some point you will see everyone for the last time.  The older I get, the more I understand my mother’s wisdom.  

A Memorable Memorial Day

AvaSophia and Grandpa at the ranch

            Who wants to look at pictures of someone’s kids and grandkids?  Especially when everyone knows that their own kids and grandkids are the cutest, smartest, most athletic, and exceptional in the history of mankind.  Despite that truth, indulge me and let me torture you with a few photos of my newest granddaughter, AvaSophia Ciel Severino. 

Never let Grandpa babysit.  (It's only water.)

            Ava is a miracle baby, but that’s a story for another time.  She is a bundle of energy and never stops running, dancing, and getting into things from the time she gets up in the morning until she finally goes to sleep at night.  

          But there is a nap, if we’re lucky.  That little girl sucks the energy out of Grandma and me like a garage vacuum sucks up sawdust.  But nothing gets to me like that little angel running to me with outstretched arms yelling, "Grandpa, Grandpa."     "Gammie" has the same reaction when it's her turn.   

            My daughter Shannon and husband Steve drove nine hours from the Los Gatos area to visit us Memorial Day weekend.  Unbelievable. It took two or three hours sitting in bumper to bumper traffic before they escaped the bay area.  That’s a real ordeal with an energetic baby and an equally energetic dog stuck in the car.  Seeing four cars in the 8 mile trip from Greenhorn Ranch to Quincy is a traffic jam for Gayle and me.  

She steers by pulling an ear.

           

        I hope barbeques on our deck, walks around the ranch to see the horses, a visit to our old fashioned cowboy bar, walks in the woods, and a general exposure to mountain living will create memories in Ava Sophia, but what does anyone remember from the time they were 1 ½ years old? 

            But thirty years from now, there will be old photos in a dusty album – oops, those are obsolete now.  Well, maybe it will be a picture on a disc or somewhere in the air accessible by a new form of technology. In any case, the question will arise, “Who’s that old bearded guy I’m riding on?” 

Israeli Fighter Pilots

     It’s funny how a random thought will take you on a journey from thought to thought until you’re so far afield, you don’t know where you started.

            I saw a guy with an eye patch on TV last night and it reminded me of Rooster Cogburn, which reminded me of a wealthy guy at a church I attended who had a large construction company.  He was a giant of a man physically and wore a patch over one eye. 

            He said that one day he was driving his pickup with a Mexican worker in the seat next to him.  He was wearing his glass eye that day and not the patch.  He claims that the wind from the open window caught his glass eye in such a way that it popped out of his head and landed on the floorboard on the passenger’s side of the pickup.

            The Mexican worker was so terrified when he saw the eyeball rolling around by his feet that he leaped from the truck at 45 mph and was almost killed.  The poor guy regained consciousness briefly, but when he saw his boss leaning over him with an eye missing, he passed out again. 

            Reflecting on that situation led me to Moshe Dayan, another guy with an eye patch.  This then led me to thinking about Israel. How’s that for a strange segue?

            Israel is a tiny country surrounded by enemies.  Yet it seems that the entire world has turned against this little sliver of land huddled up against the Mediterranean Sea.  Its many and massive adversaries have vowed to push this tiny country the rest of the way into the sea.  But along with their hatred of Israel, its enemies seem to fear this little dot on the world map.

            Remember that great military leader, Moshe Dayan and the six-day war in 1967?  Dayan was an Israeli observer with the U.S. Marine Corp during the six-day war and wasn’t involved in planning the attack.  I seem to recall Dayan saying that Israel uses very young pilots, because they take risks that older pilots wouldn’t take. The world was amazed at the skill and bravery of the Israeli fighter pilots, who cleaned things up in less that a week.  There’s a good reason for using young pilots.

              Numerous studies by neurologists and other scientists have concluded that the human brain doesn’t mature until the age of 25. Makes you wonder why we pay any attention to the opinions of college kids. 

            The prefrontal cortex, i.e. the frontal lobes located behind the forehead, is considered the “C.E.O.” of the brain.  This area controls cognitive analysis, abstract thought, and monitors behavior, among other things.  This is the last region of the brain to mature in a human being - assuming it does mature.   

            Prior to the age of 25 the human brain is not fully developed.  This lack of development makes youngsters more likely to take risks.  Judgment is impaired.  That’s one reason drug use in kids is so common.  The brain is also very malleable in young people. You can call this lack of development cognitive deficiency, but even beyond that magic age of 25, we see cases of arrested development. Watch “man on the street” interviews for confirmation.

          Ironically, the slow development of the prefrontal cortex has advantages militarily.  Every Israeli kid gets drafted into the military at age 18.  Israeli pilots get 2 years of flight training, making the average fighter pilot 20 years old.  In the famous 6 day war, the brave pilots who took the risks to win that war were roughly 20 years old.  These young guys were willing to take risks that older pilots would avoid and it worked out very well. They did an amazing job as pilots.  I don’t think Israel lost a single pilot in those sorties. 

          Since 1967, additional training is required with an academic component tossed in, but Israeli pilots are still combat ready at 21 or 22 years of age.  That still keeps them below the 25 year threshold for the development of caution and rationality.  Most Israeli pilots are through flying by the age of 30.

        Wow.  It’s amazing how a simple recollection of an eyeball rolling on the floor can lead to heroic Israeli pilots.  Is it free association or a short circuit in my cerebral cortex?

 

Global Warming VS Environmental Pollution

     My last post dealt with the idea of “consensus” and the fact that many times consensus is mistaken for absolute truth.  That does not mean that a general consensus is always wrong – it just means that a consensus is not always right. 

            There is a general consensus that gravity keeps us from floating off into space.  That’s true.  Prior to Galileo the consensus that the earth was the center of the universe was not true.  My point is that science itself is in a constant state of flux and it behooves us to use discretion in trusting consensus, whether in science, politics, or social issues.

            I received an email from a college buddy who brought up some good points on my previous post regarding global warming. Based on his email, I need to clarify my position, because there may be some confusion.

            In my mind, these are really two topics.  Climate change on a global level is one.  Pollution and the destruction of our environment is another subject.  Personally, I don’t believe in man-made global warming.  I believe that more powerful forces than man have caused changes alternating between cooling and warming since the beginning of time on our planet.  The sun, for example, is a major factor, with its solar flares, sunspots, and powerful magnetic fields. Greater forces impact our globe than my outdoor barbeque.

            On the other hand, I do believe we are desecrating our land and polluting our air and water, which I find inexcusable.  This is an issue that angers me greatly.  I’m 100% environmentalist on this subject.  But this is not the same as nature’s impact on our planet.

            I remember distinctly the 1951 documentary about the Norwegian explorer who built a raft called the “Kon-Tiki” in 1947 and sailed for over 100 days across the Pacific Ocean.  He said that not a single day went by that he didn’t encounter trash floating in the water.  I was a kid in ‘51, but it left an impression on me that still bothers me today.

            More recently scientists have discovered a floating island of trash in the Pacific Ocean somewhere in size between Texas and the entire continental United States. That’s huge. This is evidently where several ocean currents converge, trapping plastic and other junk that doesn’t biodegrade.  The smaller particles obviously affect sea life and work their way through the food chain.  That’s mind-boggling to me and it spotlights human ignorance.

            In an old comic strip by Walt Kelly, “Pogo” said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

            I remember waiting on a pier in Costa Rica for a fishing guide, who was late in picking us up for a fishing trip.  I was traveling with my good friend Glen Dennee to look at some Costa Rican property, but we took time out for fishing.  I lack patience and tend to be impulsive.  I dove in the water for a swim while we waited.  I swam under a pier and happened to look up and see a series of round holes in the pier above me.  These turned out to be primitive toilets.  After a short swim, I dried off, caught the boat, but sadly caught no fish.

            Later Glen and I met with some Americans living in Costa Rica and we were told that we should avoid the water in a that particular bay, because it was one of the most polluted in the world, with sewage, medical waste, and anything else you can imagine.  The warning included the statement that contact with the water normally results in death within six months.  Glen and I looked at each other without saying a word.  I obviously survived, but there’s no excuse for that kind of environmental stupidity.  The U. S. has some of the toughest environmental regulations in the world, but look at third world countries and industries in places like China, Korea, et al. 

            Personally, I believe that the things we are doing to the environment are killing us with cancer and other diseases.  But when we talk about “global climate change,” I see that as a different issue.  We can do things to clean up our environment, but we can’t compete with volcanoes, solar activity, and other natural forces to control the climate on our planet.

            Between Gayle, Dakota, and me, we have formed a consensus on this material.  Our cat has withheld her opinion, but we had a quorum.