"It was 3rd and 19..."

February 3rd, that is, right at sunrise this past Saturday morning...and a bone-chilling 19 due to the dampness in the form of heavy frost. I was getting ready to load Mercy for her trip to the woods when I just had to go back in and grab my camera to shoot a commemorative picture from the front yard. A momentary shaft of sunlight was obliquely cutting through the frosty macro forest, with a Silver Maple leaf adding some nice touches in the grass...

(click to enlarge)

I have always mused that I'm an unusual male...I don't sit and watch sports on TV, and I actually like to shop. Go figure. So here it is Super Bowl Sunday and most of the weekend I've been totally unaware of it. Of course, having to get up at 1am makes an early bedtime a necessity, so a night game does not aid and abet the whole 'healthy, wealthy, and wise' adage...which at my age (read 'beyond my 20s!') has to come first...starting the work week a zombie is not in anyone's best interest, much less mine. I'll tape it to watch the commercials, of course...

AND, while I'm on this topic, the next time any person, be it citizen, politician, or media magnate, says that TV, media, video games, etc. do NOT have the power to adversely affect/impact the young people of America, please remind them that when a corporation willingly pays in excess of 2.6 million dollars for a mere 30 seconds of TV time during the Super Bowl....uh...it either has a gargantuan impact worth paying for, or they are all blinded idiots. Rocket scientists need not apply...

Well, I've got some bad news and some great news as I start wrapping things up for today...

Last Friday's pre-dawn killer tornadoes in Florida took more than human lives, of course. I take you back to my posts from 1-08 and 1-11 wherein I talked in more detail about 'Operation Migration' and their work to aid in the reconstitution of migrating Whooping Crane flocks....

This past year a colony of 18 Whoopers were flown from Wisconsin to Florida to serve as the nucleus for future eastern flyway stock...and they were right in the path of those storms in their research holding area in Citrus County, FL. At last report, only one of the original flock of 18 survived. A very sad day, indeed. If you missed it, you can read more about it by clicking here...

Never lose sight of Life being a Circle, not a line...all things will cycle, coming and going, living and dying, only to live again...the seasons, emotions, civilizations, nothing escapes the laws of Nature. And so I end this post on what is phenomenal news within my lineage. Honestly, my particular arm of the Child family was looking to be a dead-end street in terms of 'continuing' the family tradition...many reasons, none overwhelming, just the way 'things' have worked out. Alas, my brother and his wife have just made it known that they are 'expecting' later this summer...and twins no less! Mom is beyond elated that her forthcoming grandchildren will each have 2 legs instead of 4...

And so the Journey continues...! AHO!