Magazine Posts

One of the hardest things in
this life, for me to do,
was leave for duty with the US Navy,
and not look back at you.
My defensive move, I'll
swear on this day,
was to keep walking;
not looking your way.
It is strange how certain
things stick in your mind,
when you are leaving
and will be gone for sometime.

Beneath the Rhododendron
is where it grows.
A wonderful flower,
the beautiful Primrose.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

A drop of water seems to hold an entire galaxy in this creative macro-astrophotograph. In the imaginative work of cosmic nature photography a close-up lens was used to image a previously made picture of a galaxy, viewed through a water drop suspended from a stem. A favorite of many telescope-wielding astroimagers, the galaxy is the Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31. About 100,000 light-years across that majestic galaxy's spiral arms and dust lanes are curved and distorted in the image contained in the centimeter-sized droplet. Andromeda is some 2.5 million light-years distant, but this project was still carried out while spending time indoors.

Photo by Massimo Tamajo

Marinate skinless boneless chicken breasts in lime juice and cilantro marinade and then quickly grill to perfection. Click the image below to read Elise Bauers's recipe at Simply Recipes

To capture the magic
Of that first moment,
Or the rapture of
Our first embrace.

Do you remember
Our first hello,
Or how we met,
So long ago,
Of what I said to you
And you to me,
Of how things were
Supposed to be?
Do you remember?

The black earth, we have in part
of the garden, is rich with the
nutrients needed to grow the beautiful
flowers, that come from bulbs,
of Hyacinth, Tulips and Daffodils.
I plant Perennials, where I can.
Annuals are beautiful but a waste
of money for their short life.
My main task is to water and feed
and to keep all the critters at bay.
The Rabbits love to eat the tops of
Tulips and will bite into a new bud,
which ruins the flower. They don't
eat the Daffodils but the Squirrels
will dig up the bulbs and bury
them in unexpected places.
I now have single Daffodils
in places that I didn't plant.
Sometimes a Tulip will appear alone,
by itself.
A solitary Sentinel.
No matter what volunteer help I
receive, I relish the beauty
that I see.

I was quite young,
perhaps still a teen.
I went to a dance;
a high school one I mean.
I was Stag or Solo,
our friends would say,
I had no date
on this late Fall day.
The Boys were all
along the side wall
And Girls, sitting , on a chair.
The music started
or began to play,
when the Boys
started their foray
To the other side of the room
and ask a Girl, who was
sitting quite still.
"Would you care to dance?"
If yes, came from her mouth,
then to the dance floor you went.
If, no was the answer
you walked back in shame
as once again, "Shot down aflame."

There is no room for egos.
There is no reason why.
There is only the present
and a time for us to try.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

This surreal picture isn't from a special effects sci-fi movie. It is a digital composite of frames of the real Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31, rising over a real mountain. Exposures tracking the galaxy and background stars have been digitally combined with separate exposures of the foreground terrain. All background and foreground exposures were made back to back with the same camera and telephoto lens on the same night from the same location. In the "Deepscape" combination they produce a stunning image that reveals a range of brightness and color that your eye can't quite see on its own. Still, it does look like you could ride a cable car up this mountain and get off at the station right next to Andromeda. But at 2.5 million light-years from Earth the big beautiful spiral galaxy really is a little out of reach as a destination. Don't worry, though. Just wait 5 billion years and the Andromeda Galaxy will come to you. This Andromeda Station is better known as Weisshorn, the highest peak of the ski area in Arosa, Switzerland.

Photo by Ralf Rohner

There was a time, so many years ago, when a change of careers presented itself.
This change was triggered by a series of events.
I was working for a retail establishment and had accepted a position as Operations
Manager, in Los Angeles. We, my wife and two children were living in Redmond.
The children were in junior high. I would fly to Los Angeles on Monday and return on Friday.
Working in Seattle on the subsequent week and then alternate to Los Angeles, etc.
I began looking for houses and found some very nice places but the commute was an hour in the
morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon, if there were no problems. Well there were
always traffic problems.
I had moved many times, as a child and the one part I envied was not going through the
schools, from grade one, through high school, with the same set of friends.
Based upon the time I would be spending travelling to and from work but more importantly
on not wishing to deprive our children the opportunity to fulfill my desire when in school,
I opted to resign from my position. Now, after this long preamble here is where the Office
comes in.

I was hired by a High Tech company in Bellevue, in the Customer Service Department, believe I
was the 49th employee.
This Company was a pioneer, using Ultrasound Technology, developed by the U of W, to develop
equipment for Cardiology and Neo natal scanning. It was a fast moving Company that
had very little Standard Operating Procedures, in written format.
That was one of my assignments to produce a Return document so the Company could
track all the different equipment units in our Customer's facilities.
The other assignment was to develop a Service Contract that could be sold to
our Customers. I worked with an outside, Law Firm and we developed the "boilerplate"
we needed in the document. It was a success and Service Contract Income became
a great source of revenue for the Company.

After work, many of us would adjourn across the street to an establishment with the
name, "The Office". That was a nice thing as if we arrived home late, we could always
truthfully reply when asked, "Where were you?" Why I was at The Office.

It was dark
and was raining,
when she came
through the door.
The beautiful one,
was my Eleanor.

The wonderful smile,
a batting of eyes,
I had seen this before,
the beautiful one,
was my Eleanor.

The magical smile,
shiny black hair
has turned white,
not dark anymore,
the beautiful one
is my Eleanor

Her memory gone,
with much despair.
Eyes without sparkle,
not as before,
still the beautiful one,
is my Eleanor.