I don't much care for snow, or winter, for that matter. I have work to do and this kind of weather makes me want to stay inside. It will be precipitating for the next 24 hours - not good, I have somewhere to be on Sunday, and from what I have seen in previous winters, the snow plow is broken.
However, I did get a nice surprise this afternoon - two boxes showed up on my front porch - inside were two big blocks of koa wood from Kurtistown on the Big Island of Hawaii. Talk about a wonderful slice of the tropics right here in the snowy Southeast.
The wood is highly figured and the ends are treated to prevent cracks from forming, which is good as it might be a while until I can rough turn it. In the past I have used wood from local trees almost exclusively, including such local exotics as dogwood, crape myrtle, deodar cedar, golden rain tree, apple, Bradford pear, persimmon, southern sugar maple, Atlantic white cypress, plum, red mulberry and so on, but this will be the first koa I have ever worked with. So look for a koa bowl or two on this page sometime in the future - they will be stunning.
This evening's musical selection seemed appropriate both for the season and the weather: for all you snowflakes out there...
17 comments:
For those of you who have berated me for my distrust and criticism of police behavior and policy in regards to armed interaction with citizens. Watch this and see what we all have to fear and tell me how YOU would avoid being killed here.
https://hotair.com/archives/2017/12/08/video-shooting-daniel-shaver/
I apologize if I ever berated you for that. That guy is as crazy as a bedbug.
Many dogs love snow. I had a dog that would not drink water when there was snow. She much preferred licking snow for fluids.
The dog in that picture used to frolic in the snow when she was younger - she is 9 now and content to walk around the yard following the scents of all the critters who have wandered by. But she was a treat to watch when she was younger - snapping at snowflakes, pushing snow with her nose - truly having a great time.
Snow is great way to give your dog a bath while making it a big game. And it really gets them clean too, and nice smelling.
I'd call them to me then push them over, grab their paws and drag them through the snow, spinning them around and let go. Grab snow and rub it across their bodies like petting them with snow. They'd pull away and shake it out. We had a blast. All of them. Dry cleaning for dog fur.
Bagoh - geez that's awful.
@bagoh20: I recall "berating" you for defending Christopher Dorner. Did I do something more recently?
At least that's my imperfect recollection. I'm sure it's part of the record here or at Althouse.
Watching the video, the mistake that the deceased man made was to make that reaching back motion that he did with his right hand a split second before he was shot. It's easy to see how that was misinterpreted as reaching for a weapon. That's probably why the accused got off: There was "reasonable doubt." Without that reaching backwards, it would have been as obvious an execution as Nazi death squads killing Jews in Poland.
You can still argue that the cop had a hair trigger and acted irrationally: But was that what he was accused of? I think the trial mistake here may have been "overcharging" on the part of the prosecutor. If we must blame Trump, we seem to be seeing more and more of that. It's almost like prosecutors are taking to heart Trump's "art of the deal," i.e., asking for more than they expect to get, knowing that they'll get less. Business may work that way but the law doesn't. Nor should it.
There's a video of an innocent black woman in the Twin Cities being chewed up by a police dog. That wasn't easy to watch either. With videos like these, it's getting harder to be supportive of the police.
Here's the video. The dog handler couldn't get the dog to let go. Listen to the woman. Sadz.
LINK TEXT
That'll teach me to post a picture of my dog, just sayin'!
Hurricanes and snow storms; life in Houston, TX. Stay Strong and Warm.
Thanks, Leland, we are managing to stay warm, and today it is just above freezing so our precipitation is rain. Next week the temps will warm up and I will be able to return to my labors. Maybe I should consider this a winter vacation - yeah, that's the ticket...
There were multiple cops at the scene. All they had to do was walk over and cuff a man on his stomach with his hands behind his head, and his legs crossed Wouldn't any of us be willing to do that? I would. Instead they created that extremely dangerous situation. The sergeant barking orders retired after this and left the country on the public dime. The cop with the gun, was fired. The victim is dead. Why did any of that have to happen? Police policy, police training, police culture. I love cops, and the work they do for us, but the modern force is dangerous to the public, becuase the safety of the cops is paramount and the citizen expendable. That's a reversal of the role. They get paid to take risks to protect us, not the other way around.
Our chocolate lab loved to leap up and snap at shovels full of snow thrown high into the air. Which made shoveling fun even though it involved more toss.
One of the books I picked out a stack of freebies and opened today, had this to say about music:
Music moves us because it launches us like a boat onto a moving river. And we do not feel responsible for the destination, so much as we feel meant to enjoy the trip--especially that floating feeling that makes us seem light and sways us like the coursing of blood in our veins. Music is both an excuse not to be rational and a backdrop for the unfolding of reason itself.
Wondering what prompted the purchase of koa wood? Found a site showing furniture made from it, and realized its beauty.
It is backwards. we want to respect those that sever and protect. What happened in that video in not "serve and protect" - it's flat out murder.
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