On September 18, 1957, Elmer Dugall claims he was abducted by Aliens from his home in Owens County, Iowa.  He was taken aboard a UFO, and transported to the Planet Pawzania, in the Galaxy of Tunafileaish.

He was experimented on for hours, and then placed in a prison where he had to clean the Queen’s Ears every hour.  Her name was Tabbiana.  She resembled a very, very large cat.

These days, Elmer still resides on his corn farm in Owen County.  Elmer has three dogs, Jed, Buster, and Skipper.    He does not have any cats.

In fact, he is deathly afraid of them.

While Elmer cannot prove the validity of his story, friends and family say that he smells oddly of ear wax.

“Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player” – Albert Einstein

Some days just feel strange to you.

And….  other times, you make the day feel strange.

Today.  I suppose.

Was a little bit of both.

“Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: That we are here for the sake of others…for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day, I realize how much my outer and inner life is built upon the labors of people, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.” – Albert Einstein

My name is Franklin Lincoln Washington.   But you can call me Link.

I am a good pig… I’ll tell you that much right now.

Today was such a day… filled with all things Pork Fest.  At least…. for me.  It was a squealing good time.  We went Hog Wild!  So tonight, I am sitting down and writing this with my Pig Pen.

Any way.  We had a bunch of fun.  And then….  it seems that for Preble County… on this evening….  the Sky Gods decided to paint things pink…. just like us pigs.

I would be remiss this evening, if I did not tell you….

The Pigs Are Coming.  The Pigs Are Coming.

(…. yes.  The Pork Fest starts tomorrow.  Head to the Preble County Fairgrounds, and support one of Ohio’s Longest Running Festivals….  The 42nd Annual … Very Famous Preble County Pork Festival.)

See you at the Smorgasbord.  Chop. Chop.

Something happened here.

What it was…… I will never know for sure.  But there is no doubt in my mind, that the incident involved a guy wearing a hat.

I mean.  It just LOOKS like something bad happened here.  And 90 percent of the time… I’ll bet  you…. some guy wearing a hat had something to do with it.

Take that fellow….. The Cat in the Hat.  Trouble.  Yep, trouble, everywhere that guy goes.

The laundry list is long.

Jesse James.  Cowboy Hat.
Atilla the Hun.  Big furry hat.
Hernan Cortes.  Dapper Hat.
Wicked Witch of the West.  Black Pointy Hat.

That Waldo Guy… the one everyone is looking for….

You guessed it.  Hat.

They are looking for him for a reason, you know.
He may have even been the cause of the destruction in this photo.   Who knows.  It could have  been the cat.

I could go on and on about this theory.  Take the Kentucky Derby for instance. Debauchery.  Gambling.  Drinking…. and OH my goodness gracious….look at the hats.

My advice to you.

Save the World.  Let your cranium breathe.  Keep your noodle…  undeniably… hat-free.

“Any man can lose his hat in a fairy-wind” – Old Irish Proverb

Who really knows what goes on when we aren’t looking?

I sure don’t.

I tend to believe in the magical and the mysterious.  I do.  For me, it makes life a little more interesting.  A little more fun.

I like to entertain the possibility that everything is perhaps… a possibility.

There may be life in other places… far away places.  Or perhaps there is life in the after-life.  There could be angels.  Maybe dogs think more critically than we know.  Maybe lobsters do too.  It could be they truly are screaming their little eyes out… when someone drops them into boiling water.  Maybe I should stick to happy thoughts.

All I am saying is… we don’t know what we don’t know.

Your salt and pepper shakers may race each other once you turn off the kitchen lights for the night.

Or maybe time travel could really happen.    I know that when I consider the expansiveness of the universe, and even beyond… I sure feel like a little speck i the infinity of it all.  In the midst of the uncertainty.  The mystery.

It swirls all around us.

And tomorrow is another day.

“For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.” – Vincent van Gogh

“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.” – John Allen Paulos

“Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don’t let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity.” – R. I. Fitzhenry

This is my first pig painting.  I call him Ziff.  Yep.  His real name is Ziff Perkel the Pig.

I like old Ziff.

I like Ham too.  But…. I have to keep these two things very separate.

And speaking of keeping things separate…..

A pig named Ziff goes into the Western Union. It goes up to the counter, picks
up a slip, runs over to the table, grabs a pen in its mouth and starts
writing.

After a couple of minutes, Ziff picks up the slip and takes it back to
the clerk at the counter.

The clerk, Mr. Jenkins, picks it up, reads it, “Oink, oink, oink, oink, oink, oink,
oink, stop.”

Old Jenkins looks at the pig, and says, “You know, you get 10 words for $3.50.
You could add three more words to this.”
Ziff shakes his head condescendingly.  He looks at the clerk and says, “Well, I could, but it wouldn’t
make much SENSE THEN, would it!”

And… here is another important message…..  The Preble County Pork Festival is just around the corner.  This DOES MAKE SENSE.  It will just be a good time, with great food, lots of arts and crafts, entertainment, and more.  And for $3.50… you can get a LOT more than just 10 words.

I hope to see you there.  September 15 and 16… at the Preble County Fairgrounds.

“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” – Shel Silverstein

As I look back to my little child-dom… I wonder what I was truly like… as a little child.

My adult ways seem to indicate that there is a very… a VERY slight chance… that I was a wee-bit on the high-strung side.

My Mother used to give me a daily dose of Benedryl… to turn me down a notch at night.  This went on for a long, long time.  Which may explain a LOT.

And yet.  I think I was asking for it.

As I flip through the old family albums, I find evidence that I might have been a handful.

Or perhaps worse.  I might have been a swirling dervish.

And some things never change.

As in the photo above… it appears that in most situations…  I had to be restrained.  Albeit, awkwardly.

And below.  Well.  This is just one of those BAD family photos. Plain and simple.  In every way.   But, again…. I had to be contained.  And at some point, it appears that I had shed my outer layer of clothing.    I must have been in the midst of getting into one of my Super Hero outfits…..    Yep.  Caught here without my mask, my cape, or my tights.

How is a little hero to fly?

It doesn’t matter which side of the car the steering wheel is on.

Just so long as it keeps the ENTIRE car… safely and squarely… on the right road.

“Anyone can steer the ship when the sea is calm” – Publilius Syrus

I went through a heck of a lot of blathering, before I came to that thought.  None of it really follows. But.  Read if you’d like…..

There are some really amazing and interesting things going on in our world.

Important matters.  There are concerns about politics, and religion, and such.

But none of that tonight.  No.  This evening is all about steering wheels.

You see, tonight I volunteered for a bit at the Preble County Historical Society. (The PCHS was hosting a concert, at the newly completed and awesome Amphitheater.  It is truly quite an excellent place. AND….a great, great venue for concerts.  The Dallas Moore Band played there tonight.)

But enough of the shameless plugs.  I am the most sidetracked person I know.

Here is the thing. Tonight I wish to write about steering wheels.

I was working at the Exhibit Hall… and boy oh boy… does that place makes you think to the high heavens and back again.  Well… it makes me think until my noggin spins.  I saw a few people there tonight who weren’t moved in quite the same manner.

Any way.  I will have to write in more detail about all the nooks and crannies of that place.  I’ll tell you that much right now.  The dentist chair scared me to inner core.  And I don’t mind going to the dentist.

But I am off track.  AGAIN.

Steering DANG wheels.  What I wanted to say… WAS… in the United States, the steering wheel has not ALWAYS been on the left side.

Humphhhh.  In a 1909 Ford sales brochure…. it was noted that Old Henry “The Man” Ford moved the Model T steering to the left rather than the standard right hand position. Apparently, cars of that time period were steered from the right.  I saw historical evidence of this just tonight.

Yep.  The Brainiacs at Ford reasoned that it was safer for passengers exiting on the right (curb side) rather than into the traffic lane

They also figured that the left hand driving seat allowed the driver better visibility and better judgment when passing oncoming vehicles.

And there you have it.  Finally.  At long last.    They just moved the thing over… That’s it..  End of Story… Done Deal.  .. ….

Okay.  Personally, I think there is WAY more to it.  I speculate that some one on the assembly line stood on the wrong side one day… and they had to come up with some sort of explanation.  You know.  So they wouldn’t have to eat their losses.  So they came up with this cock and bull deal about safe driving….

And you know how fibs go.  Once you tell one… they just get bigger and bigger… until finally… you have nearly 300 million cars in the U.S. driving on the same side of the road.

It is pretty neat that we are finally getting some rain here.  I’ve been a little down and out lately.  That rain cheered me right up.

This past week, or so, we’ve actually had a few good stints… where the clouds open up… and VOILA’!  Water comes out!

I had almost forgotten what that looked and felt like.  The drought has been pretty serious business in these parts, you see.

But finally, we are getting precipitation.  I will not complain about the rain.  No way.  No how.  But I have heard some gruff and huff about it.  “Grumble. Grumble. Grumble…. rain all weekend… grumble…”

How soon we forget how it felt in the Ohio Desert Plains.

Tonight, after a great downpour, I went outside to smell the smells, and feel that “just after rain” feeling in the air.  I was breathing it all in.  When down by my foot came this handsome fella.

If it had been a snake… it would have bitten me!

Oh wait.

As it turns out, he did bite me.  Right on the tip of my finger.  But, that is what I get when I try to pick up a snake, who is grumpy about trying to put his 173 children through snake-college.

So. First he smelled me.  Then he bit me.

I am not sure what that means in the scheme of the universe.  But I do know this…..

The next time I go to pick up a snake….  I will put a little clothespin on his tongue… so he can’t smell me coming.

No.  That’s not right.

The next time I go to interupt a snake from his daily tasks…. I will first ask him if he has a few moments to spend with me.  Perhaps ask if he’d like to take a walk around the yard in my hand… or such.  Or even just sit and pitch a hissy fit.

Yes.  Maybe we could both use a good hissy fit.  But not about the rain.

“That I exist is a perpetual surprise which is life.” – Rabindranath Tagor