Around the Neighborhood

The insufferable arrogance of human beings to think that Nature was made solely for their benefit, as if it was conceivable that the sun had been set afire merely to ripen men's apples and head their cabbages.
-- Cyrano de Bergerac, French novelist (1619-1655)

There is a new house in our neighborhood. We watched it being built, and they finished it ... oh, I guess about a month ago now. It's a little strange-looking. Mostly brick - a dark red - with beige siding and stonework on the front. The back's not so bad, mostly the brick with a nice little deck, but the front ... I just wouldn't have chosen that particular combination of facings for the front of a house is all. It looks better now that it's finished than it did when they first started adding these different elements, but still, it's kind of an unusual combination. You'd have to see it to understand what I mean, but I can't help but wonder what artiste dreamed up this design. Any architects out there? What makes you take a perfectly nice dark red brick and say, "I think I'll add some beige vinyl siding and some gray and beige stonework and splash it in odd places on the front of it?"

If someone could answer that question for me, I would appreciate it.

The cows were out again this morning - one particularly huge one grazed by the fence on the other side of the subdivision while I was walking this morning. I wonder sometimes if those cartoons about the cows standing up and talking aren't a bit accurate. There's something to ponder and laugh about today. Smoking cows. Short story fodder, that, don't you think? Oh, the places a mind can go ...

I made the local paper today. The interview from last week? Here I am thinking I'm not a very interesting person at all, and this article makes me actually sound ... well, like I'm doing something. Funny. I checked the paper's website and the article's not on it yet, but I'm sure at some point they'll put it up. When that happens I'll post the link. This is me, tooting my own horn here. Toot, toot.

Tonight is writers' group night, but I'm going to miss out on the biweekly meet JT for dinner thing because she's on her way to her parents' to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. That's just too cool for words, you know? Mine will reach that milestone in another five years, the WGH's parents in two. It's just an incredibly marvelous thing to celebrate.

It's time to get started on my day. Weather Report is jazzing away on my CD player (gotta love the original Birdland - there's just nothing like it).

Here's to you and here's to me. Read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB