Author Archives: Rick

Winter Weather

Posted on by

Living here in balmy South Carolina, I can’t imagine what winter will look like for Jen & Co. It’s 41F right now, and we had our first freeze yesterday morning. Most days through the winter, highs will be in the 40s & 50s, and evening/morning lows will be in the 20s & 30s – and that’s about as bad as it gets. We will get at least one stretch of temps in the teens, and we might get a few days of snow (weekdays, preferably, so that we don’t waste a good snow day on a weekend please). The difference here is that an inch of snow will kill the city for days. In the frozen tundra that is Jen’s backyard, an inch of snow is nothing, and a foot of snow probably won’t disrupt school schedules.

I’d love to see it, live it out once sometime – but I’ll take the southeast, thanks much. I’ve got reason enough to coffee and hot chocolate and cozying up by the fire – without the blizzard that is January for our friends to the north.

Supposed to get up to 65F this afternoon. Brrrrr.

Travellin’

Posted on by

It looks like Jen & Jon are vacationing – although I hope the were able to cross off more tasks than were updated in the post below. I’d hate to think of them going cross-country without packing, and I’d hate to think what the house would look like if the proper instructions weren’t left for the cat-sitters.

This is the time of year when I really start thinking about travel, too. When I was young, back in the day, we would pile into the car every Thanksgiving to drive over to my Memaw’s house, where we (my little brother and I) would sit at the kids table with the five other cousins to eat way too much turkey and dressing before going out to play on the lonely swingset in the backyard. Sometimes we’d play ball, or wait for Uncle Bill to show up and play a song for us. At Christmas time, we’d spend more time with the other side of the family. There wasn’t much driving either holiday until we moved to moved to South Carolina, but we did usually spend the day away from home visiting and being told “my how you’ve grown”.

Now, we usually have day trips to Asheville for my wife‘s side of the family, maybe a vacation weekend to the beach before the good restaurants close for winter, and then most of the other holiday festivities revolve around town, eating turkey leftovers and watching football – alot of turkey leftovers, alot of football.

All that to say: I hope they have a fabulous and relaxing time. Don’t forget my Christmas present.

HBD

Posted on by

Look who’s having a birthday – happy b-day, Jen! May you enjoy many more. And may the fickle finger of fate be kind as you guys continue to travel the countryside!

Giving Props

Posted on by

It’s been relatively quiet around here – Jen’s on vacation and everything goes to pot. But I thought it would be neat to show her some love as she’s continuing her trek around CA. Take some time in the comments to jot down a few notes of admiration and respect, and answer these questions:

1) How long have you been reading Meditatio?
2) Are there any aspects/traits of Jen or her blogging that stand out to you in a positive way?
3) Do you have a favorite cat story from Jen’s blogging exploits?
4) What word of encouragement would you leave our illustrious host on these pages?

Thanks – I hope she likes it, and forgets my crack on the cats from earlier in the week.

Guest Blogging & Politics

Posted on by

While Jen is on vacation, a handful of folks have been selected as competent and trustworthy enough to keep Meditatio running as interim bloggers. It’s a humbling thing to be asked to write for someone else’s blog. Jen and I don’t see eye to eye on many things political, but we seem to have a connection when it comes to animals. She loves cats, and I hate them – but really, I think it’s that extreme emotion that builds alot into a relationship.

Just kidding. Maybe.

We do chat about politics a good bit, and it’s mostly about how everyone out there is a lying thieving crook. My big statement is that there’s no one worthy of my vote: the fact that a person runs for political office at all probably reveals a deep character flaw that should remove them from consideration. The turmoil this week over the DOJ’s handling of the prison abuses, followed by the deplorable murder and video of Nick Berg – and the subsequent political “discussion” that’s going back and forth – is enough to make me take all my talk radio presets off of my XMradio. Honestly, yesterday morning I got so irate at one commentator from AirAmerica, saying that the upcoming court-martials were “show trials” and that no one was really doing anything. It was a comment made out of hand, as the left-wing marshalls are complaining that nothing is being done and that the things being done are now the wrong things, or are now just for “show”. There are no right answers here – someone made mistakes, which led to others making mistakes, and people will have to account. But the idea that the other side – from whichever side of the political fence you’re on – is not only wrong but also evil and ignorant: that idea has no place in a society built on what we think we’re founded upon.

I don’t mind disagreement. Most of the time, a good debate or confrontation can get to the truth. But the partisanship that abounds arbitrarily around here is only bringing more division, more stress to the people who are paying attention. The people who actually are ignorant and apathetic? They’re probably a pretty brainlessly happy bunch.

peace – rick
guest blogger