The Fairy Tree On our property out by the barbecue patio and hot tub there is a wonderful tree. It is a baobab or more commonly known as a Madagascar Bottle Tree. It is sometimes called an upside-down tree because of its unique shape. They are common to South Africa, Madagascar and Australia and they look pretty much like an Orangina bottle through the trunk, which in the case of our specimen planting is perhaps…
The Distant Peaks In my new office I have surrounded myself with things to make me feel good. That’s what we do in life, right? To my right is a NixPlay digital photo frame that shows a continuous array of pictures that my family can send in for my viewing pleasure. I can also download a bunch of travel snapshots and therefore I have my own little memory lane. This helps a lot with my…
Steel Balls This will shock you, but I think President Trump made a mistake comparing himself to Captain Bligh in the epic historical saga of Mutiny on the Bounty. This was predicated by the major east coast and west coast state governors banding together to do what they believe is best for their citizens despite what President Trump says or does.My guess is that he is only aware of the movie by that name and…
The Ruralization of the World For my entire lifespan of sixty-six years, the world was moving in only one way on its inexorable trend towards urbanization. What began as a trend driven by the industrial revolution starting in the mid-1800’s, was driven into the entire world by both industrialization and the automation of farming. It was such a common theme that the song How You Gonna Keep Them Down on the Farm (Once They’ve Seen…
Waiting for Popovers It’s Sunday morning, Easter Sunday to be exact. It’s a grey day so far here in San Diego, but as I have learned, that can change quickly, hopefully for the better. Dark Sky, MyRadar and The Weather Channel (a subsidiary of IBM) are of little help as they show no particular weather front over or near us. I am tempted to say that this weather seems to be flying below the radar.…
Consulting the Oracle A few years ago on a motorcycle trip through Greece, one of our last stops before heading into the barn in Athens was the Oracle at Delphi. The Delphic Oracle used to be called Pythia and it is a place where gaseous fumes from the subterranean realm sent high priestesses into rants and visions which came to be interpreted by ancient Greeks as prophecies. Some Greek historians say they were gibberish that…
Adventure in Paradise Today I reestablished a connection to the real world. I am declaring that lockdown is simply not real. When I think of lockdown, I will forever think of a rainy downpour and zero visibility. That pretty much describes what it’s been like here this week. My handyman Brad has been hunkered down at home since the work I have for him is outdoors and it has been miserable. Brad has managed the…
My Easter Bonnet I must start today with this EXTRA story. I have been reasonably disciplined in only posting one story per day for the last several months, but at the moment feel compelled to write this extra story. This morning is again a blustery weather day here in San Diego. I have an app on my devices that is called Dark Sky (a very ominous name made more ominous in these days of overthinking…
Time in a Bottle The name of my blog, the Old Lone Ranger is taken from Jim Croce’s song, You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, which was his third studio album, but his first real successful album. It spent 93 weeks on the charts and spanned the time before and after his tragic death in a small airplane crash. In fact, the album was ranked #1 on the charts for five weeks in early 1974…
The Snail’s Eye View It’s been unusually rainy here the last few weeks. I say that even though I have never been here for an extended period and certainly not at this time of year, but I think I’m on safe ground saying that. We have had a few days like yesterday when it rained cats and dogs as they say. It was a rain that would have made people in the tropics wonder what…