Showing My Age...

When I graduated from college in 1958, electric typewriters were not yet in use by anyone I knew.  So when I told an old college friend recently about Kickstarter and how we planned to use it to try to crowd fund some CYOA interactive cartoons via the internet, he had a hard time wrapping his head around it.  "Do the investors get part of the company?" "No, no, it's not like that.  They are backing a project," I explained.  "So do they get a share in the royalty stream?"  "No, not that either," I replied.  Peter, who made his money managing other people's money on Wall Street (very successfully) was seriously perplexed.  “They get the chance of seeing something that they believe in come to life and say ‘I was part of that’,” I added.  “And depending on their pledge, we might send them a signed copy of the script, an 80s time capsule and/or a copy of the final cartoon," I explained.  "Really?" he asked.  "Yes, really," I answered.  "That's crazy," he announced confidently.  "Actually, it's not so crazy,” I said.  “Kickstarter has been around for three years and in 2012, they gave three times as much money to the arts as the U.S. government." *

Peter, who gives many of the millions he's made to the arts and to early childhood education, sat quietly and thought.  After a while he spoke.  "I can't quite take it in.  I mean, I believe you.  But I just don't understand it."

I know what he means.  Sometimes as our incredible staff helped put our Kickstarter page together over the past couple of months, I had to pinch myself.  It's an incredible world we live in.  I've always embraced new technology, and have the Apple II nailed to the wall of my old writing office to prove it.  But Kickstarter, what it does and what it implies, is pushing me to the edge of my own comfort zone.  

I guess I am finally showing my age.

*http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/07/07/yes-kickstarter-raises-more-money-for-artists-than-the-nea-heres-why-thats-not-really-surprising

Astronaut Douglas Wheelock's Amazing Photos

 

NASA astronaut Douglas Wheelock, known to his Twitter followers as Astro_Wheels, shares pictures of the Earth.

Clear starry night over the eastern Mediterranean. The ancient land with a thousand years of history stretching from Athens to Cairo. Historical land of fabulous and alluring island … Athens – Crete – Rhodes – Izmir – Ankara – Cyprus – Damascus – Beirut – Haifa – Amman – Tel Aviv – Jerusalem – Cairo – all of them turned into tiny lights in this cool November night.

 Florida and southeastern U.S. in the evening. A clear autumn evening, the moonlight over the water and sky, dotted with millions of stars.

“Dome” on the side of nadir station gives a panoramic view of our beautiful planet. Fedor made the picture from the window of the Russian docking compartment. In this photo I’m sitting in the dome, preparing the camera for our evening flight over Hurricane Earl.

 At the southern end of South America lies the pearl of Patagonia.
The amazing beauty of rugged mountains, massive glaciers, fjords and seas combined in perfect harmony.

 All the beauty of Italy, a clear summer night. You can see many beautiful islands that adorn the coast – Capri, Sicily and Malta. Naples and Mount Vesuvius are allocated along the coast.

This is part of the Great Barrier Reef off the east coast of Australia, photographed through the lens of 1200 mm.

 Our unmanned ‘Progress 39P’ approaches the ISS for refuelling. It is full of food, fuel, spare parts and all necessities for our station. Inside was a real gift – fresh fruit and vegetables. What a miracle after three months of food from a tube!

Night view of the River Nile, stretching like a snake through Egypt to the Mediterranean, and Cairo, located in the Delta. Far away in this picture, one can see the Mediterranean Sea.

Over the Sahara desert, approaching the ancient lands and thousand-year history. River Nile flows through Egypt by the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo.
Further, the Red Sea, Sinai Peninsula, Dead Sea, Jordan River, as well as the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea and Greece on the horizon.

 Morning over the Andes in South America. I do not know for sure the title of this peak, but was simply amazed by her magic, stretching to the sun and wind tops.

 A little farther east, we saw a sacred monolith Uluru, better known as Ayers Rock. I have never had the opportunity to visit Australia, but someday I hope that I will stand by this miracle of nature.

 Beautiful atoll in the Pacific Ocean, photographed using 400mm lens. Approximately 1930 km south of Honolulu.

 Of all the places of our beautiful planet few can rival the beauty and richness of colors in the Bahamas. In this photo, our ship is seen against the backdrop of the Bahamas.

 Northern lights in the distance in one of the finest nights over Europe.
The photo clearly shows the Strait of Dover. Paris is dazzling with the city lights. A little fog over the western part of England, particularly over London.

 ‘MysteryIsland’ …located in the Indian Ocean close to Madagascar.
Interesting features on the island and the unusual shape should be enough to help you discover this beautiful place.

Greek islands on a clear night during our flight over Europe. Athens shine brightly along the Mediterranean Sea.

Ramsey Montgomery

IT’S TAKEN ME THREE YEARS to write this entry.  It is very hard even now.  The loss of a child is so overwhelming that it does not go away; you do not get through it; you re-arrange your mental and emotional furniture.  Life is short; friends and family count the most; life is a true gift and you must not turn your back on it.

Our oldest son, Ramsey Montgomery, died of a massive brain aneurism March 4, 2008 in Saigon, Vietnam. He was just 40.  He had been living and teaching in Vietnam for four years.  He died in his apartment in his own bed.  Buddhists say that this is the kindest way to pass from this life to the next.

Ramsey was an adventurer, traveler, ski racer, author (4 Choose Your Own Adventure books), reader and thinker, teacher, and friend to people all over the world.  Rams could walk down a street in San Francisco or Boston or Paris or Bang Kok and run into people he knew.  He was loved by many people and loved them in return.

Rams spent 60 days in a Buddhist  forest monastery in Northern Thailand.  He had two roommates in his 9x10’ hut: a snake and a rat. Then one night the snake ate the rat.

Rams went to Green Mountain Valley School, a boarding school using ski racing as a metaphor for life, took a 13^th year at a tutorial school in Oxford, England, went to UVM and UC Boulder.  He was a producer and project director for a number of start-up companies developing computer games and learning materials. He was good, really good.

Anson, his younger brother and also a CYOA author, Shannon my wife and his beloved step-mother, and I went to Vietnam where we met his friends both ex-pats and local Vietnamese. The warmth, acceptance, and help given by these people who loved Ramsey  helped us get through those days. His cremation was followed by a Buddhist ceremony in a temple with 50 of his friends.

Life is short.  At least the life we are currently in--remember energy is never lost, it is only transformed--so, Rams simply jumped the line at the bus stop ahead of us.

We love you, Rams, we will never forget you. Thanks.  Dad, Shan, Ans.

 

What An Adventure!

An example of something that inspires me:

Through the Bifocals

READING. READING. READING. Not writing much right now, but soon I will. I read a great amount and I like fiction, history, economics, and kids' books (Harry Potter is for both kids and adults. I’ve read them all.). So, here is my latest reading with some notes.


FALL OF GIANTS by Ken Follet. A huge book both in scope and pages. Our oldest son Ramsey used to say that he only liked books over 800 pages. He would have liked this one.
An epic historical fiction work, this book covers the tumultuous period in the opening years of the 20th century. World War One was peering over the wall of a vibrant, rich, and yet selfish Europe. Empire was in charge of the world; but times were about to change. The working class wanted a fair share in the wealth. (Sound familiar?)
The story follows the lives of an English, American, German, Russian, and Welsh family. Each suffer severe losses due to the war and to the changing times. Collapsing empire, woman’s suffrage, labor unions, the socio-political face of Europe.
The history is well-researched; the figures like Winston Churchill and US president Wilson are vigorously portrayed. I couldn’t put it down.

1421: THE YEAR CHINA DISCOVERED AMERICA, by Gavin Menzies. Did you know about China’s huge fleets and giant boats during the Ming Dynasty in the 15th century? I didn’t, and I have read a great deal about Chinese history. This book re-creates the voyages by Chinese fleets all over the world. This is both history and conjecture, but if it is correct, then China was way ahead of Europe.





THE WORLD AT NIGHT by Alan Furst. 1940 Europe in the grip of WWII. Paris. Germans. Espionage. Realistic. Riveting. Moral issues. Is this a cautionary tale?

Bears

 I WAS SITTING IN MY FAVORITE CHAIR READING by the fire the other day.  It was a warm day, and the late afternoon sun was filtered by high mackerel clouds. Suddenly something caught my  eye.  It was dark, moving fast and big.  A dog?  Probably.  Then another dark shape ran by.

They were two bear cubs, probably 70-80 lbs.  They ran right past the big, floor to ceiling windows right to a small apple grove about fifteen yards away.

Then she arrived, slowly, purposefully, with an ambling gait like a sailor too long at sea.  She was big, maybe 200 lbs.  She was wonderful.  A brown nose (snout would be disrespectful) and a powerful body.  She stopped and looked in the windows. I don’t know whether or not she saw me.  The afternoon sun might have reflected in such a way that I was out of her view.

 

The cubs were climbing the apple trees.  Fast!!!!  They went way up to shake the limbs and get the apples down on the ground to eat.  After all, winter is coming and they need to fatten up for the long winter sleep in some cave or under a ledge up on the ridge behind us.

The big bear lingered in front of our house certain that the cubs were safe.  Then she joined them to feast on the apples on the ground.

I grabbed my camera and had the foolish notion of going outside for a close-up.  I canceled that notion.  They are after all wild creatures.  I shot pictures from the safety of the inside of the house.  They stayed for maybe fifteen minutes and then ambled off.  Their range is about 10 square miles, and they probably had visited our apple trees before.

I wonder what they think of us?  I thought that they were incredible.

Cold Day

I’M SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING TODAY.  Supposed to be is the operative phrase.  I don’t want to.  No, I like writing; I really like it. The work I’m talking about is all the stuff you have to do to be an author and a publisher: Contracts, trademark infringements, license agreements, lawyers, more lawyers!  Yuck! I’m a writer and a traveler. That means reading, research, talking to people, thinking (daydreaming sometimes), and then putting fingers to computer keys.

Being a writer is somewhat like being back in college.  Papers need research, good ideas, writing, re-writing, and deadlines.  If you like that kind of stuff and you don’t mind being alone a lot, then maybe writing is for you.

The internet revolution is providing space for  people to be heard and to get their ideas, thoughts, and creativity out there.  I love and believe in the book and the bookstore, but we can’t ignore or overlook the computer and what it offers. Change, as we all know, is the one big constant.  Embrace it.  It’s not always easy, but it is real.

It’s a cold day in Vermont. There is snow on the upper part of the mountains.  The leaves are gone.  Good riddance. I have never liked the overblown colors of the fall, it’s like too much candy all at once.  Now the hills and mountains are more prominent. I like seeing bare tree limbs.  I like pecking away at these keys.

Hurry back spring.

The Ancient Ones

THE ANCIENT ONES  or the Anasazi, pueblo people in the Southwest dating back hundreds and hundreds of years lived a perhaps-idyllic life.

We went to Santa Fe, NM for a working vacation recently. While there, we re-visited one of our favorite spots: Bandelier National Park, home for more than 600 families 5-600 years ago.  These people lived in a narrow canyon with soaring sandstone cliffs.  A stream runs through it providing water and fish.  Back then there were deer and wild turkey, squirrels, other birds, rabbits and--bears, mountain lions, and snakes.  The rattlers were poisonous.

The canyon sheltered the people from the sometimes severe winters in this high desert land.  It was sunny, pretty warm, and fertile for growing corn and squash.

The people lived in what was apartment-style or condo-style lodges.  Some were tucked up by the cliffs and others were in a large circle on the valley floor.

These people were agricultural and peaceful.  They shared in the work and the benefits of hunting and fishing the stream.  They enjoyed a communal life. Today  the valley in this canyon is much the same as it was when it was inhabited by the ‘ancient ones.’  But they are gone.  Was it disease? Or warfare? Did they hunt an fish it out?  Did they lose faith in their community? Did they jut decide it was time to move on?

We will never know; they did not leave written records, only wonderful carvings in the soft sandstone cliffs and the remnants of their buildings.

Is there a cautionary tale in this?

Mother Earth Hasn't Given Up!

April 28, 2010



MOTHER EARTH HASN’T GIVEN UP! Not by a long shot. Witness the Ring of Fire, that chain of volcanoes that stretches in a gigantic arc in the Pacific Basin. Earthquakes and volcanic activity occur with great frequency in this region; but there are other zones or regions prone to this Mother Earth activity. The unpronounceable volcano in Iceland is just one of many.

This planet is alive, active, and amazing. We are lucky to be on this journey hurtling through space while spinning and twisting. What a ride!


Countries and airline companies, hotels, and businesses are complaining of the financial loss due to canceled airline travel. But how about the human benefit of people being thrown off their usual course and forced to make adjustments, meet new people, experience a different rhythm to their lives? Trains became important; buses; boats; cars. People shared spaces, ate in crowded restaurants, and met new people. Is that all bad? Of course not. People can thrive on adversity as long as it isn’t bloody warfare or devastating earthquakes that claim lives or hurricanes that destroy cities.


Mother Earth continues to surprise us even when we least suspect it. ( I haven’t mentioned plagues or killer viruses that lurk on our Earth. I just didn’t want to.)

Well, Well, Well

WELL, WELL, WELL, THREE HOLES IN THE GROUND.  Cold up here; scant snow. Mountain as hard as rock candy.  Very few animals about.  Saw some wild turkey tracks under the pine trees where they browse for pine-nuts.  Spring, where are you?  But, I asked for it, years ago, when I moved to Vermont. I knew what I was getting into.  Still, I want to be on a boat in the Caribbean or on an island in the Gulf of Siam or tucked up in a nice apartment in Paris or Bologna.


I’ve been thinking about energy and its flow lately: Electromagnetism, Gravity, The Strong Force, The Weak Force.  It’s all around us in the energy of people (the crowd at the Super Bowl, opera, pop concerts, excitement in a classroom when there is a good teacher and a good lecture, the feeling of unity over a cause (not always a good one: witness the great rallies held by Hitler in the 1930’s) the joy of people in love, kids, kids, kids. Yin and Yang.
Magnetic poles North and South. Batteries with positive and negative poles. Energy in the atom.  WOW!  I repeat: it’s all about energy.   Start with the Big Bang and move forward--except in space/time there is no forward.
MONEY. Yup, here it is again: Energy.   The flow of money keeps the world going; its stoppage or slowing causes problems.  Greed disturbs it.  People are motivated by it.  It spawns such nightmarish creatures as sub-prime mortgages and derivatives.  It drives people mad.



The energy I like best is the Sun, except of course for LOVE, the real energy in the universe.

If this offends you, mea culpa.

Ray  (it’s still cold out there. Yuck!!)

Looking At the Mountains

LOOKING AT THE MOUNTAINS this morning as I sit at my desk, it is spring-like.  There is almost no snow on the peaks.  Barely a trace.  Yesterday it was 56 degrees and raining.  Today it will be in the 40’s and sunny.  It’s strangely beautiful with leafless trees defining the mountains and nearby hills in a fine tracery of greys and browns.  The fields are golden.

This is not normal. In Northern Vermont at this time of year it is usually in the 20’s during the day; snow covers the mountains and the fields.  The ski areas often open for skiing, although sometimes the skiing is limited to terrain where they make snow.

I’ve seen this before many years ago--- no snow until Christmas day and then a 3’ dump!  But, you have to ask yourself  about global warming. 

When I was in college I loved to mountain climb, and the glaciers in Switzerland and France even then were retreating ( 1950’s).  The glaciers in the Himalaya up in the Annapurna Sanctuary showed huge retreat back in 1982 when Shannon and I spent time there.  We stood on a lateral moraine and looked down 30’ to the glacier floor which was almost all gravel.  The glacier was snugged up much closer to Annapurna. It used to be a full river of ice and snow.

So, what is going on?  Global warming is real, part natural and I believe part exacerbated by C02 and other pollutants that are man-made.  I’ve seen it and I am seeing it. We must be better custodians of our planet home

R. A. M.

Return to My Blog

I’m so sorry that I have not been blogging for many many months. Sometime soon---a  month or so more --- I will tell you why.  It’s been a rough time in my life adventure.  But, we go on and life changes and we change --- or try to.  Anyway, I’m back and it feels good to blog again. And I’m smiling.  Family and friends and work that you love, that’s what it’s all about. No, it’s not about my health; it’s about loss.

CHOOSE books have been the adventure of my life.  Reaching out to kids and letting them know that they count, that they can make choices, that they can fail and try again, that they can fashion their lives and respond to the challenges along the way.  I love what I do.

I’ve written several books in the last year.  It wasn’t easy, but I’m glad I did it. Two were written for WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, to help get kids to consider all the negatives about using drugs to enhance sports performance.  WADA, supported by the International Olympic Committee, is giving these books away to member countries to distribute free to kids. Wow! What a responsibility it was to write these two books: TRACK STAR   and ALWAYS PICKED LAST.

So, I’m back.  I’m so grateful that so many of you have loved reading CHOOSE books.  What I would like is to ask all of you is WHY DO YOU LOVE THE CHOOSE BOOKS?  Send me an e-mail and tell me why.  And, thanks!!!  I’m not looking for praise, I’m curious why the books have touched so many people.  Don’t forget, I’m not the only author.

Best,

Ray   (R. A. )

What Is It About Politics That...

gets people angry, polarizes them, makes us forget our basic humanity, gets us all together, clarifies issues, blurs issues, divides a country?  Why?  We are in the midst of that silly season of primaries and debates. Things get honed to a fine or a dull point.  Yet, do we miss the point of it all?  The will of the people.
I'm just back from a break in Jamaica where the reality of US politics was reduced for me to the value of the dollar vs the Euro; the price of a barrel of oil; and who won the Patriot's game.  Yuck!!  Now I'm back and in the fray what with the Clintons, the Bushes, Obama,  Mitt, Julie- somebody and a host of others that
seem to muddle up and grow together.   Wow, is this what survival of the fittest is all about.  If so, we are doomed.  Only kidding.  I'm sure we're doing our best.  I just hope it works; there are a lot of decisions out there waiting to be made.  Unfortunately we seem (we being the people of the world) to mistake TACTICS for STRATEGY and forget setting a GOAL.  People want to know how we can "wipe out terrorists," keep oil cheap,  put off the days of reckoning with global warming, and get a low interest rate mortgage  that will never change. To keep the roadsides clean, you make bottles have a returnable deposit, not just hire people to pick them up.  We are picking up bottles all over the world.
The heck with politiickss!!!!   Here is my advice if you live in the North country:
    1) Wear a hat during the winter.
    2) Wash your hands 8 times a day (at least) while repeating the alphabet.
    3) Clean the keyboard of your computer twice a week.
Ignore all the above except for the last 3 things.
Ciao. 
~Ray

Vermont Intercultural Semester in the Himalayas

Here is a message from our friend Thayer MacClay, 18, of Warren, Vermont.  Thayer is taking a year off before entering college (Colorado College) to put on 7 League Boots to explore the world and help people at the same time.  I thought you would enjoy this. He is spending the fall in  Ladakh in the Indian region of Jammu and Kashmir.  I wish I were there in those high Himalays on the Tibet border!

Ray 

Vermont Intercultural Semesters 

Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh 

Dear Friends and Family,

A lot has happened since my last update. Now, the VIS ( Vermont Intercultural Semester)  group and I are well settled into SECMOL (Student Educational and cultural Movement of Ladak h) and it's way of life. A typical day starts at 6:30 for the Ladakhis. They tend to study in the morning and some milk the cows along with some other chores. Then, at 8:00 there is breakfast. Curd and tea almost always are available, accompanied by teemok (unsweetened, cinnamonless, and greaseless cinnamon buns) or chapatti (thick barley flour tortilla), and lentils

or some other vegetable dish.  After washing our own dishes, we hang out in the morning sun until 9:00 when work hour begins.

My Good Friend Oliver Hoblitzelle

Well, I'm back! Sorry to have been away for so long. Someday I'll explain it all. But for now, what I want to say is that kids are so important to our world and our future. So, here are some stories about the passion for fishing by my good friend Oliver Hoblitzelle. I'm sure you will enjoy them as much as I have.
P.S. If you are a kid and want to send in a story or pictures or art or anything that you created, please do and we might put it on the blog. Ask your parents permission to do this.
Thanks,
R. A.

Striped Bass Daybook — By Oliver Hoblitzelle
Last weekend I went fishing for stripers with Max in Charlestown. On Saturday afternoon, my mom drove me to his house. When we arrived at 2 o’clock, I sat down with Max, and we made our plan for the weekend. We decided that we were going to wake up at 3:30 am on Sunday morning. Almost immediately, we got bored with sitting around and decided to go fishing right then in the pouring rain. We walked to the bridge and decided to fish off of a small platform right near the locks. We both cast our six-inch storm swim shad into the current.

We let our lures drift in the fast moving water over to a half-submerged wall that was acting as a current break for the bridge. Max and I started reeling in slowly. Max had a bite, but he missed the fish. I was watching his rod when it suddenly dipped. He set the hook as the fish started swimming away. It was moving so fast that line started to sing off the reel. I reeled in my line quickly so that it wouldn’t tangle with his fish. The fish paused his long run, Max took his chance and started reeling. The fish was a bout twenty feet away from us when he took another run toward a pole that was sticking out of the water. Max was pulling as hard as he could, but the fish still swam around the pole and knotted the line, making it impossible to land the fish, forcing Max to cut his line.
I took another cast and let my lure drift to the wall. I started reeling just like max had. I had my lure about ten feet from the wall when I felt some extra weight and my heart started beating really fast and I set the hook. The fish jumped high out of the water and then swam away. I battled the fish for a few minutes and then got it close enough to land. Max lowered our drop-net ten feet down to the water and then hoisted the striper onto the platform. I picked up the fish by the lip and then popped the hook out of its mouth. We measured it. It was 24” and weighed 7 pounds. I dropped the fish off the end of the platform and prepared to catch another.


That same afternoon, we caught fifteen fish. About seven of them were keepers, which means a striped bass over 28 inches. We released all our fish and arrived back at Max’s house at 9 o’clock at night. We fell asleep very late and woke up at 3:30am, to see if we could catch as many fish as we did on Saturday.

Once we got to the bridge, we went down to the platform again. We both started out using the same lures that we had used the day before. In a few minutes, Max caught a fish, a 25 incher. He took another cast and he caught another fish that was 8 pounds. Then we both cast in the same place, and let our flies drift in the fast-moving current, down to the wall. We both began reeling at the same time. Our rods both doubled over at the same time, and we started a long fight with these two frisky line-siders. A few minutes later, Bill, one of the few other people who fishes at the bridge, helped us land our bass. Bill is a gruff, foul-mouthed man in his mid-forties who tells many tall tales. We picked up the two fish and mine was only a tiny bit bigger than Max’s. They were both keeper’s of about 28 and 29 inches. Mine was just exceeding ten pounds and Max’s was a hair under ten pounds. We released them in hope that we could catch them when they got larger. Max caught one more fish that morning, and I caught three more. We released all of our fish


More Striper Fishing with Max
Last weekend I went fishing at the Charlestown Bridge. When I pulled up to Max’s house, he and his friend were standing at the window. I walked in and introduced myself to Max’s friend Joe. We decided to head down to the bridge and see what the stripers were feeding on. A few minutes later, we got to the bridge. I started casting towards the wall in hope that a striped bass would come out and nail my five-inch swim shad, but nothing happened.
Five hours later, we still had not caught anything. Suddenly, I glanced down at the locks and saw the water was starting to boil and move. When this happens, all the baitfish get injured, and the stripers start blitzing.

I tossed out my white swim shad into the commotion. I looked over at Max while I was reeling in my lure and saw Max’s rod bent like he had freight train on the end. Well that train wasn’t making any stops, and it was headed for Timbuktu. A moment later, his rod snapped up erect as if there had never been a fish on the end. The fish was so big that he had snapped Max’s 20 pound test line. I took another cast and started reeling. Almost immediately, a fish came out of nowhere and annihilated my lure. I was using a pretty heavy rod, so it did not bend as much. It was still an exhilarating battle of tug-of-war. We lowered our drop net off the platform and hauled the fish up.

The fish was nearly 28” long and was almost a keeper. I popped the hook out and dropped the fish back in the water. That evening, I caught four fish that were all almost the same size. Max caught one, and Joe didn’t catch any.
The next morning, we woke up at 5:30, and we walked down to the bridge. We had lost all of our swim shad the night before, so I decided to use a 3-inch unrigged shad on a jighead that weighed an ounce and a half. The water was moving, and on my first cast, a large bluefish bit my lure in half.


I reeled in my half-lure and put a slug-o on the end. I tossed my bait into the current and let it drift to the wall. Immediately, I felt a tap, then another, and then I felt dead weight. I set the hook, and the fish sped off to a pole and wrapped me around it. I was annoyed because when this happens you have to cut your line. But miraculously, it swam back around the pole. The fish was 28 inches. That morning, I caught 20 other striped bass. Max caught 1 striper and 2 bluefish, one was 24” and the other was 30”. We took the bluefish home and eat them for dinner.

Choices. It's All About Choices.

Choose Your Own Adventure is all about choices. In a way it is a simulation model, an approximation of reality without the risks of the real world.  You make choices leading to different endings.  If you don’t like the ending, you can start again with different choices leading to a different ending. 
We as individuals and as societies make choices all the time.  The history of our species is amazing: fire, numbers, alphabets or pictographic language, medicine, architecture, money and banking, art, music, laws etc. Choices got us there.  We are still making choices both as individuals and societies.  Not all of them are good---but, we can change the bad choices, we hope.
So, here is something that was sent to  me the other day.  Give it a listen. Send it on, if you wish.

The Green Cup Cafe Waitsfield, Vermont

This is my second restaurant review.  This is another winning restaurant.  Small, intimate, excellent service and wonderful food. Flavors are fresh, scallops taste as though they were still in the sea, salads are almost a main course and are unique without trying for uniqueness.  If you want meat, the steak frites is excellent, and the fish is done so that the flesh remains true to the fish but never undercooked. If you want a large portion of twice-cooked ziti to nurture yourself, it is one of Jason’s mother’s old recipes and his family’s favorite.
     The wine list is small, well chosen and well priced. Desert?  Yes, more than equal to the moment.
    Prices?  For this food and this ambiance and the entire experience I would pay 50% more and not think about it.
     This is another  ‘run don’t walk restaurant.’

THE TIME IS NOW!!!!

OBAMA.  What more needs to be said?  The world needs a leader, a person who can renew belief in humanness and decency.
Obama is just that.  Enough of venality, greed, dishonesty, and power- grabbing. Enough of war-making and preventative strikes  (neo-con).
Strong defense; strong leadership, fairness and leadership. Obama will give us this.
Here is our chance; and he needs our support as we need his leadership.
May the wind be at his and our back!
~Ray
PS: For your reading enjoyment, a Washington Post article

THE TIME IS NOW

IT RAINED last night and this morning the outside world was a luminescent green seen only at this time of year for a very brief time. Faust would say, Ah, moment, but stay a while!“ But that would be a bargain with the devil.  Never a good deal, although that lesson  doesn't seem to have great currency in this country of later.
So, with the rain comes another burst of growth: Obama!  It is time for change to spread and take root.  Would that Ms Clinton  would read the tea leaves and step aside gracefully. Let's hope so.
Alia y'acta est!

Spring