Fall Groundhog

It looks like Groundhog has his winter coat on and is getting ready for winter. Notice that he is munching in the shade on these warm fall days. Maybe he will do same in about 4 months, so he can't see his shadow.

Columbus Day?

Who discovered America? There is considerable evidence that Columbus was actually a lost, "Johnny come lately". It has become documented with much archeological evidence that the Vikings visited North America in their early explorations. And the legend about the Mandan Indians and Prince Madoc of Wales is repeated in several sources and partially inspired President Jefferson to commission the Lewis and Clark Expedition. There is even the more recent Solutrean hypothesis that speculates an European migration across the frozen North Atlantic during the end of the last ice age.
But I guess Columbus is kind of like Santa Claus in that we have so much invested in the myth that we can't abandom it. After all there are numerous cities, a country and I even had a great uncle "Lum" named after him, so can one little national holiday be all that bad?

Hog Wallow

This photo on Flikr was captioned the same as my blog "hog wallow". The A-10 is nicknamed the "warthog" and no doubt a pair of these machines can own a piece of real estate better than any hogs wallowing around. It is probably the most functional armed aircraft ever built. It is built around a 30 mm gatling gun and can carry its own weight in payload.

Rolling on the River

When I'm near the river, I always check for riverboats pushing those barges up and down the Ohio. Sometimes I catch a boat like the "R. L. Carter" going down river with empty barges. You can see some that I have uploaded and thousands of others at "littleriverbooks.com".
In the video CCR helps a riverboat and its tow downriver.

The Last Rose of Summer

Tis the last rose of summer
Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone;
No flower of her kindred,
No rosebud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes,
To give sigh for sigh.
I'll not leave thee, thou lone one!
To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
Go, sleep thou with them.
Thus kindly I scatter,
Thy leaves o'er the bed,
Where thy mates of the garden
Lie scentless and dead.
So soon may I follow,
When friendships decay,
From Love's shining circle
The gems drop away.
When true hearts lie withered
And fond ones are flown,
Oh! who would inhabit,
This bleak world alone?


Thomas Moore, Irish poet, 1805