Affinity for certain animals

There is a crisis of flies in the kitchen. Several days ago I noticed that there were many fruit flies on two overipe pears. Out went the pears and out went the fruit flies. I managed to shoo most of them out the door where they can gorge on the tomatoes.
I didn't suck them in to the vacuum as I have devloped a reverence for almost all living things. Life itself is such a miraculous thing that I have almost become a Jain. I watch for ants and beetles as I walk and I shoo bees out of the house with the broom. I sometimes feel guilty about picking things from the garden as they are also living things but that would lead to a rather strict weight loss.
I do eat the meat that I buy in the grocery store. It is already dead and I didn't kill it. So I realize that I have an affinity with certain animals. My brothers are the vulture and the hyena and the jackal. We are all scavengers, dining on dead things and offal. It is nice to know that I have companions.
As to the flies. I wasn't able to scoot them all out of the door so I decided to leave the remaining two or three alone. Live and let live. That all came to a roaring halt this morning. Fruit flies must have a gestation period of about fifteen minutes. There were tons of them on the Kitchen-Aid mixer. There are many things that I can tolerate but messing with the sacred mixer is not one of them. Out came the broom, open went the door, and the shooing began. The remainders were subjected to the vacuum. The spider that lives in the corner is going to have to live on the occasional house-fly that sneaks in the door. There are a few fruit flies still left in the kitchen and I am sure that they will be providing the spider with a smorgasbord soon. He just better stay away from the mixer or he too will join the fruit flies in the vacuum.
Does the respect for living things intensify as we approach the end of our turn? I think that I will mull that over for a while. I don't have much respect for my fellow human beings but I revel in the glory of the maple tree as it is donning its fall oufit. I think that I will go out on the porch and have a conversation with my friend basil. (That's baysil, not Baasil.).

Milestone

Yesterday I received word that there is a new Doctor in the house. It is a milestone for this family. Someone has finally risen above the primordial soup that this family has wallowed in for generations. She accomplished this all on her own with no help from anyone. She persevered through trials and betrayals and slowly worked her way to her goal. She is a marvel of intelligence and common sense and tenderness and thought.
I wish you all the best sweetheart. That wish may be superfluous as you have already become the best that I have ever met. I am not just talking of academics. I am speaking of being a human being. Now it is on to Stockholm. I look forward to the fishy things.
I am so proud of all three of my daughters. They have become wonderful human beings. It seems true that everything good comes in threes. It is a good thing that we did not produce a fourth. I am sure it would have been a boy and proceeded on to become the world's most famous deli-lout.

The Tempest

I have been watching the growing controversy going on in the Teapot Party. The nominee in Delaware appears to have associated herself with a group espousing witchcraft as a teen ager. The silly things that we all did as teen agers should not be held up to public scrutiny or held against us. It is a time for experimentation and making decisions that will influence the rest of our lives. Some things will be rejected and some things will be retained. How do we know something is not right for us if we have never tried it? Remember the adage about the first man to try eating an oyster.
The lady seems to ascribe to a rather strict conservative life style now. She is against masturbation and homosexuality and pre-marital sex and casual sex. She desires to have a job in Congress where the phrase "turning over a new page" takes on a whole new meaning. Let us know how that works out for you.

Scythence

In a surprise announcement that has rocked the astronomical community, the tiny principality of Elbownia announced today that it will launch its own probe to the Sun and beat the proposed NASA probe by at least five years. Not only that but the probe will only cost three dollars to build. The NASA probe is expected to cost over 100 million dollars due to the huge cost for the ceramic heat shield.
The National Elbownian Rocket Development Society explained the discrepancy between the cost of the two programs. "The stupid Americans are spending all of their money on heat shields. We are going to go at night!".

The Gathering

I awoke this morning to the sound of the geese. They must have spent the night on the high school field across the street, munching on the newly mown grass. They started honking away when first light came and now I imagine that they are on their way to their winter quarters.
Somehow there is sadness in the honking of the migrating geese. There is a loneliness to the sound of their gathering. I don't think that they are lonely. They are traveling in a gaggle of their friends and relatives.
It might be my attitude towards travelling. Each time that I have travelled, it has been a lonely time. To be away from home and family is not good for the soul. I have had many homes and only one family. The changing of homes became a routine that was not uncomfortable so it doesn't take a Holmesian intellect to deduce the root of the loneliness. My family is spread out all over the country. It would be nice to have a Gathering. To once more sit and read A Christmas Carol aloud and bask in the warmth of those that I love.

Endings

It is Labor Day weekend and all across Massachusetts the white belts and white shoes are headed for the closet. When I was a boy, most of the businessmen downtown would wear straw boaters with a black band during the Summer. I have not seen one of those in a long while.
The maple tree in the front yard is turning colors and the tomatoes are tired. The tomatoes are still trying their best but soon it will be picalilly time. Soon the Fall will be upon us.
Fall in New England, probably the best season that we have. The time of sweaters and wood smoke and hot cocoa and cinnamon doughnuts and boiled dinner and yard sales. Then will come Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. The turkey is always the right size and the right color and you don't have to save the price tags.
Then the Winter will begin to set in. I enjoy the Winter. Sleeping under a thick, warm, blanket while visions of sugar plums and stews and soups and roasts dance in your head. Dressing for the cold by layering and enjoying the cold by adjusting to it. It is the season to realize just how lucky we are to live where we do. It is the time of warm hearths and warm hearts. It is a time to rest and reflect. It is a time to be adjusted to, unlike Summer which is a time to be endured.
I guess that I am just an old Swamp Yankee but I enjoy being one. The crackling of a fireplace is preferable to the constant drone of an air conditioner. The stale smell of air conditioned air can in no way compete with the fragrance of an apple pie in the oven or freshly baked bread on the counter. Did I mention the cinnamon doughnuts?
I am sitting here with a blanket across my lap as there is a cool breeze blowing in the window, a promise of things to come, and there is Masterpiece Theater scheduled for tonight. It is not Poirot but it will suffice. It is the best of times. Last night was opera from St. Petersburg. It was very impressive. There was also a show about the origins of Homo Sapiens and how we learned to walk upright. The show stressed that at one time there were probably hundreds of different Hominids on the planet but that now we are alone. It was a sad commentary on our nature.