Wave Of Lazy

Sunday was looking pretty stark.



I don't know what came over me, but I didn't feel like doing a solitary thing all day. I happily and proudly lounged around. Did pretty much nothing of any importance at all. Didn't even answer the phone. Kelly kept busy all day, going in and out, doing errands and such, and left me to my sloth-ness. It was really pretty luxurious.

The birds outside couldn't afford that kind of luxury. It was a feeding frenzy out at the feeder on the dark, damp, cold day.



I just leaned back, and watched them fight over the thistle, and sighed. Just hanging around and doing not a single thing all day can be one of life's little pleasures now and again. A kind of reset button, before being hurled back out into the madness of the work week; the commitments and the hurrying and the doing and the this and the that and the be here and the get that...Stop. Take a break. That's what weekends were supposed to be for. Especially here in the good ol' U S of A. Especially on a cold crappy Sunday.

The good ol' USA. A friend forwarded me an e-mail recently, lamenting the complainers, here in the richest country in the history of mankind. You may or may not agree, but I thought it was worth putting forth:

Here it is, in part:

"The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true, given the source, right? The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed, and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence, 2/3's of the citizenry just isn't happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about? ''Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time, and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around th e world is just not good enough.Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all, and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy. Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S., yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have , and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here...

Think about it.

It gets a little too political from here for me to include in my 'apolitical' blog, so I edited the rest out. If anybody wants to read the whole thing email me and I'll send it...

I was thinking about this the other day when I saw two police cruisers come screaming around a corner and stop at a house nearby where I was. Smelling blog fodder, I stuck around. The police went running into the house.



Shortly after, a firetruck made an appearance. The firemen also went running in. In a few minutes both the firemen and the police exited the house, chatted for a few minutes, and got in their vehicles and left.



And immediately after that, an ambulance showed up. A couple paramedics went inside.



At this point I left, as anything happening there was probably of a private sort, and it wouldn't be appreciated if some stranger was standing out there with a camera. It didn't appear to be too much of an emergency happening in the house, as most of the 1st responders had left. I hope whatever happened there wasn't too tragic. But what I took away from that was the fact that a total of 4 emergency vehicles and about nine people responded to whatever call it was. As they would for anybody, anywhere, any time of day and night.

We are indeed lucky to have built and live in such a society. As we are lucky to be able to lounge around on a crappy Sunday, if we please.

Anyhow; Maple tree bud alert, seen on this bright sunny Monday:



It's going to be in the 60's Tuesday...

More Bloggin'

I've been adding a couple of good blogs to my list of reads lately. One is Rambling VanDog. He covers a lot of Holyoke stuff. He's opinionated, so be forewarned. But he loves his city, that much is obvious.

Over in Easthampton, there is a humorous blog called Ice Cream Diaries . This guy runs the Mt. Tom's Homemade Ice Cream and Candy store. He has good things to say about Eashampton, life, and ice cream.