December 25

Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian and author (described in his own day as a "natural philosopher") who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time, and a key figure in the scientific revolution. 

Happy Birthday!

Post Solstice Celebration

My wife and I were able to get out after lunch the day after the first day of winter and burn a late solstice fire. Later we had cider and enjoyed the full Cold Moon.

Winter Solstice

 Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice. It is a great time of the year when on the longest night we can reflect on events of the past year and look forward to a new year and the light returning. I use to celebrate outdoors, but with all the aches and pains of the years, I now quietly celebrate indoors. Above photo is obviously from about 8 years ago.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Spoke Too Soon

 I said we were one of the fortunate ones who still had electricity from the ice storm. Then the power went out.
Again, we were fortunate when I got the old generator out and it fired up. I couldn't find all the cords I use to have; but, we were able to connect 2 refrigerators, 2 TV sets and satellite receivers, a bunn coffee maker, a hot plate, and several lamps. Again we considered ourselves one of the fortunate ones. I guess being fortunate is all relative to the situation you are in.

First Winter Storm

Technically its not winter yet but we have already had our first storm (15 Nov). There are a lot of broken limbs and trees from all the ice. I'll have a lot of clean up to do , but we are one of the fortunate ones that still have electricity. 

Most of this will be gone before turkey day which is less than a week away. Then we can get ready for next one. We have a whole winter season to go.

Tattoos and Piercings

There are a lot of things that I don't understand about the current culture and society, but one of the top ten is why humans who are supposed to be educated and civilized want to mutilate their bodies? That is how I categorize tattoos and piercings - disfigurement and mutilation.  I thought these practices went out with the stone age for the more civilized societies.

I know that my attitude may be out of synch with the majority of today's society, but as Mark Twain said: “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect": And, although I'm not religious as most of Americans claim, there is a lot of wisdom in some of the various religious writings. To quote the old testament: "You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:28).”

I think you get enough marks and scars on your body on the journey of life without voluntary marks.

For example I keep track of many of my scars on my Vitruvian man shown below.

I attribute a lot of my biases and idiosyncrasies to my old age, but this one is just pure stupidity.

New Hog Wallow Establishment

There's not much in Hog Wallow but I guess this new establishment will benefit some. I drank a beer about 15 years ago.
We used to vote in this building  a while back when it had a restaurant in the front.

Update on My Little Buddy

I said I would try to post more frequently since I am now on fiber, so I though I would start with an update on my little buddy. The last post before fiber was two and half years ago when he was 2.
He is now 4 and manages to get around a lot. Here he is celebrating his 4th birthday.

Here he is in February in Alaska. He went on a dog sled ride.

In July he is on the beach in Florida. He rode in an airboat.

At Halloween he was at the Zoo all loved up with Cinderella.

He still visits us at least a day and night a week or more when he can. This all gives him a lot to meditate about.

Copper to Fiber

Technically this blog is no longer Hog Wallow Switch #2. On 1 November 2018 they replace our 40 year old copper line with fiber optic cable. The fiber cable comes off a switch station at Crutcher lane instead of Hog Wallow #2. While switching from copper to fiber may not seem all that significant to some, it has not only been a significant technological event for me, but also, kind of an emotional event.
Changing from Hog Wallow to Crutcher Lane not only impacts on this Blogs name, but also, stirs some personal nostalgia. My dad slopped hogs at Hog Wallow when I was born and the Crutcher boys grew up on a farm about 2 miles from us. My dad and mom are gone as well as the Crutcher boys parents and 2 of the boys.
On a technology level switching to fiber is another milestone that I have witnessed in communication technology. I remember when we got our first television. Of course it was black and white with a small, fuzzy, ghost ridden screen. I also remember getting our first phone. It was rotary dial and on a party line with 4 neighbors. I also remember Sputnik and Pioneer the first satellites.
Since then I have watched tv evolve from black and white to color, from over the air (OTA) broadcast with poor signals to cable, satellite and digital OTA and internet streaming. The tv receivers have also evolved from cathode ray tube sets that cost more than a car to LED and other evolving digital formats that are large, crystal clear and cost less than a refrigerator.
Phones have evolved from rotary party lines to private lines, pulse dial, cordless phones and now cell phones.
I don't know what the next great leap of technology may be and I may not even be around to see it. But, for now we will keep the Blog name so that we remember where we came from and try to make more frequent posts than two and half years.