respublica

Collinsville Veterans head up the Memorial Day parade

Collinsville American Legion on Memorial Day

The Marching Kahoks in Collinsville's Memorial Day parade

A glimpse of Collinsville's Memorial Day Parade 2010

While waiting for the parade, Dale and Ferdie talk to Dorothy and Polly.

Here comes an old Farmall

The Freedom Riders who accompany the funeral processions of those killed in the middle east wars.

Oh look.  There's Ferdie and me under the American Legion helicopter video taping Dale while he takes our picture.

Dale took the camera while I used the Flip video.  I have no idea why both Ferdie and I are squinting.

Be safe

We are headed over to Collinsville this morning to watch the parade and do some yard work. 

To all, we wish a safe Memorial Day. 

Take some time to give thanks for those who have laid down their lives for their country.

Eternal Father Strong to Save

Hauntingly beautiful.

In honor of those who gave their lives.

Green gardening tools

A page of green, environmentally friendly garden tools from Amazon. 

Looking these tools over, I have to wonder if the tools are really energy efficient/environmentally friendly or just the color green. 

I'd also be curious as to how well some of these battery powered trimmers and mowers really work and for how long. 

The "green" hoses are non-kink and the material assures taste and odor free water.  Eh.

I'm heading outside to water with an ordinary hose from which I never smell anything and the dog seems to like the water's taste. 

Manley wins the Illinois state 800 meters

Do you know hard hard it is to win a title at the Illinois state track meet? 

Very hard. 

But Collinsville's Dominique Manley did it yesterday by taking the 800 meter title. 

In so doing he became the first Illinois track champion from Collinsville in 61 years.

Congratulations to Dominique.  Well done.

Owls redoux

Last night the owls started their screeching at 7:15, still very light out.  They sit in the branches of a tree just beyond our bedroom window. 

What was different, though, was the appearance of the couple who have tracked these same owls for several years.  Well, actually they've tracked the parents, the owls in our yard, although big, are the birds which were born in March. 

As daylight began disappearing and after I'd had a stare down with one of the "owlets", along came the trackers who found them in our yard.  They walked on tiptoe, very slowly, holding binoculars to their eyes.  I called out to tell them they really did not need to be so quiet because these owls will just keep sitting on their perch screeching no matter what happens.

I was glad to see these two people, I had a lot of questions.  Like.  How long is this going to go on? 

They said probably til August.  The big baby owlets will continue to be fed by the parents until then.  The screeching tells the parents they are hungry.  Wow.  They must feed them all night long because that is how long the noise goes on. 

And I asked, "Will they stay around here?"  Yes.  They remain in the general area til the owlets are fending for themselves.  August or beyond.

I asked if owls have any natural enemies.  They thought for a minute and said, "just man".  But, owls are an enemy to hawks, hawks give owls a wide berth which explains why after a couple of years of hawks circling around here, they are no where to be seen.

The pair of mallard ducks we had walking around our yard last week were probably a meal or two for the owlets.

The man told me that you have to be very careful not to get between the parents and the owlets at feeding time, the parents can get very angry and violent.  Sheesh.  This is our yard.  How do you know which direction the parents will come from.

People with small dogs should stay away as well. 

What a fun summer this will be. 

Relief from anguish

While this country focuses on the horrific oil gusher and tests various theories as to who is to blame, how we're going stop the gush, how we're going to clean it up, the rest of the world has reason to celebrate today.

The iPad finally went to market in Europe and the Far East as thousands lined up in front of stores today, just as American buyers did here a couple months ago.

I just hope those overseas buyers have learned what we learned about the iPad.  It's a gorgeous thing to behold, terrific resolution, all the apps you'll ever need, a great way to watch movies and read books and newspapers.  But.

For some reason there are no usb slots.  iPad's photo display program is touted but the only way you can get photos into it is to email them to yourself.  Or buy a new digital camera with bluetooth capabilities.  How weird is that?  You cannot travel with the perfectly sized travel machine and download your photos into it.  Apple now has a plug you can buy which fits in the power cord slot and has a usb on the other end.  3-4 weeks delivery time.

No built in video cam for Skyping. 

But the lack of external usb slots is a huge negative. 

But maybe everyone who stands in line doesn't care about that, but an iPad is useless to me without usb.

Maybe the second generation iPad will have these extra things...for 300 dollars more.