At times like this, I just only can say, “Mother, Mother Nature.”

Well, I’ll admit it. I like toothpicks by golly. For a lot of different reasons, most of which don’t really have to do with picking your teeth. They come in handy all over the place. Propping eyelids open, and such. The best way I’ve ever used a toothpick was back in 1984, when I needed to break into my dorm room. I lit the thing up, held it under the smoke alarm, and within minutes, the entire dormitory emptied. I got back into my room that way. Some folks might argue that it would have been easier to just knock on the door, and wake my roommate up in the conventional manner. But I say, nah, nadda, nope, no way. The toothpick saved the day.

Hours of fun for the entire family.

As a side note: Charles Forster invented in the toothpick. In the mid 1800s. While working for his uncle’s import/export business in Brazil, he noticed that the natives had beautiful teeth, which he attributed to their use of handcrafted toothpicks. He decided they needed to be mass produced in the U.S. And there you have it.

We still have a lot of room to grow.

On June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers disappeared in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weeks later. Eight members of the Ku Klux Klan went to prison on federal conspiracy charges; none served more than six years.

I was about 2 months old at that time. Some things have changed since then. Some things haven’t.

Today is Father’s Day. It is a day when we celebrate and appreciate those special fathers in our lives.

I have a really wonderful dad. I know a few other guys who are really good fathers. I know a few not-so-good ones too.

So, anyway, Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there. I picked you a flower… well not really. But I shot it for you.

In honor of my siblings in Montana, and their most recent adventure on the high trails…..

From my web-cam, to yours!

Or belief. I took one of the quizzes concerning “What You Believe In.” Of all things, they call it a Belief-O-Matic. Presto. Change-o. As it turns out, I am a Neo-Pagan.

The Quiz: http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx

“Neo-Pagans are a community of faiths bringing ancient Pagan and magickal traditions to the modern age–including mostly Wicca but also Druidism, Asatru, Shamanism, neo-Native American, and more. Neo-Pagan is an umbrella term for various and diverse beliefs with many elements in common. Some Neo-Pagans find no incongruence practicing Neo-Paganism along with adherence to another faith, such as Christianity or Judaism.” More on Neo-Pagans.

I gotta’ find out what these things are…. Asatru and Wicca and such…… by golly.

Cats sleep more than almost any other mammal….about 13 to 16 hours per day.
Brown bats sleep more. Nineteen hours each day. Giraffes, only 2 hours.

I have a cat named Win. She sleeps hard. Sprawls. Loses all self-awareness. Dreams of catching mice, which sleep about 14 hours a day.

Winner-Winamena-Winapeg-Winston-Winniekins

Wooo. Wooooooooooo. Chugga-chugga. Chugga-chugga.

Minding my own business, I was. Just skipping merrily through the woods, and singing. Singing a little. Then, from holy-smoking-out-of-nowhere, WHAP! Smacked on the back on the head by something. I glanced down, and saw an apple on the ground. I guess it could’ve been. I took a few quick clicks of the scene with my camera, and got the heck out of dodge, I’ll tell you. I had a critical case of the heebie-jeebies.

Now, I’m wondering.

This is out of the camera. Honest.

Today is the day that Americans celebrate Flag Day. It isn’t a federal holiday, although in August of 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress.

Did you know that the flag should be cleaned and mended when necessary. AND, when a flag is so worn it is no longer fit to serve as a symbol of our country, it should be destroyed by burning in a dignified manner. (This from the official flag site.)

Did you know that flag spelled backward is galf? Whacky.