BLOG 30/52

13 Tuesday Oct 2026

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Giving is Living

The alarm went off; I climbed out of bed.

 Was gunna take a shower,

But I made coffee instead.

 It always helps to clear my head.

Life is good, oh yeah, life is good.

Turned on the news to find out,

What were all the politicians shouting about?

The same old thing, all still fighting.

 I decided to see if the fish were biting.

Life is good, oh yeah, life is good.

Went to the lake to get my boat, 

I was grateful to see it was still afloat.

Picked up some bait and put it on my hook.

I caught some bass and a big one to cook

Life is good, oh yeah, life is good.

I laid down my rod and took a look.

I had more fish than I could cook.

It was okay that I had more than I need.

 I know others who have families to feed.

Life is good. Oh yeah, life is good.

Cleaned those fish and put them on ice.

Then filleted them out real nice.

Took them to some homeless ready for the pan,

Gave them to the lead man.

Life is good. Oh yeah, life is good.

He gave them to some folks,

That were doing without.

They were so happy 

You could hear them shout.

Tonight, we don’t have to do without.

Life is good. Oh yeah, life is good,

If we do what we know we should.

Giving is living, and that is true.

It makes Life better for both me and you.

A Friend Missed

 I was living on a 40-foot sailboat that I rented for a year and had the opportunity to make a friend I didn’t take. It is one of the few things in my life that I would change if I could.

The boat I lived on was kept in a slip in Newport Beach, California. I was renting it for only $50 a month because the owners had two full-size, standard poodles aboard that I was looking after, while they were on a year-long teaching assignment out of the country. I took the two dogs for a walk at 6 AM every morning before I went to work at Santa Ana College.

One morning, as the dogs and I were finishing our walk. A man came out of his house and picked up his newspaper from the lawn. He was in a bathrobe and slippers. I knew who he was, and I knew that he lived there; everyone knew he lived there.

He was only 15 feet from me, so I said, “Good morning, John.” He looked up at me, and I could tell he was trying to figure out who I was, so I continued the conversation with, “I thought about saying good morning, Duke, but I didn’t know you well enough to do that. I also considered good morning, Mr. Wayne, but I’ve seen all your movies, and that seemed too formal. The only thing left was John.”

He broke into a real belly laugh at that and said, “Come on in and have a cup of coffee.” Then I made the only big mistake I ever made in my whole life.

I said, “Thank you, but I have a class waiting for me at the college. I must be there by 8 o’clock.” We spoke a few more words back and forth and laughed a little bit. Then I took the dogs back to the boat and went to work.

 My mistake was entirely my father’s fault; he’s the one who taught me my work ethic.

BLOG 29/52

03 Saturday Oct 2026

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TAKE IT EASY

Your Way, A Cruise Ship or The Outback

Have you ever taken a trip

On a big cruise ship

Or watched a tree grow

Through a winter of snow.

Decide while on the ship to take a snooze

Or put on your new dancing shoes.

Take a walk on a trail that might go somewhere

Hiking boots might be more realistic there.

Better keep dancing, the music won’t last 

You have a choice: dance slowly or fast.

If the trail you choose goes nowhere

Take your Machete and cut a new one there.

The band will play the music you like

You can dance like a jumping frog or a bird in flight.

The trail you cut will create one of your adventures

Be very careful not to fall and break out your dentures.

When the day is done

And you are lying on your bed

You’ll be tired from both, but far from dead.

When you’re at the end of the trail or sail, you’ve made.

It is time for you to have a well-deserved rest

Knowing, of course, you did your best.

BLOG 28/52

12 Saturday Sep 2026

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WHEN WINTER ARRIVES 

It is time to pack the camper and head south when winter is here

Check the boat to make sure it will float and is easy to steer

Then put on the chains and hit the road

Going very slowly like a toad

The roads are all icy

Making driving

Not very

Nice.

_____________________

Two angels are talking in heaven.

The new arrivals seem unable to communicate. 

They just keep looking down at their empty hands.

_________________

Husband asks his wife a question.

Why do you keep buying plants when you just let them die?

It is just a reminder of what I am capable of.

BLOG 27/52

03 Thursday Sep 2026

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THE ANTARCTIC SHORE

The Antarctic is genuinely a place of wonder.

There is no rain there, no lightning, and no thunder.

It is so cold there that there is no water for you to drink

There’s no snow, it’s hard letting you walk anywhere and not sink

You need crampons with spikes to prevent slipping, as well as an ice axe.

It is a hazardous place, you need all the equipment to keep safety at the max.

Scientists love it, so much to learn. They don’t last long, it is too cold

It’s the last land frontier. To explore there, you need to be bold.

The seals, penguins, sea birds, and whales love it there.

Lots of food in the sea. They don’t have to share.

The tourists on all the cruise ships

Stand at the rails and stare.

Making photos to take

Home and share.

They care.

___________________________

One Way To Learn

          My father taught me my work ethic and my job in life: to be a good husband, father, and provider for my family. He taught me by example. My mother helped me with my schoolwork. Every morning, we went over what I had studied the night before. No one knew I had aphasia. I was also legally blind in my left eye when I was young. She thought I was just slow because I wasn’t too bright, and so did I.

          It wasn’t until I was 18 years old that I found out I wasn’t below normal IQ, but was actually above normal IQ. That was when I was diagnosed with aphasia. When you know what the problem is, you can mitigate it and adapt. It becomes just a challenge instead of a problem. I did that and got my confidence back.

           Because I was reading slowly, I had learned to listen to others and pay attention to what they said. Everyone I knew, or even just met, had experience in something I did not. I made learning from their experience a major part of my experience.

          Pick your friends carefully; They are the teachers in your world as you travel along on your path. My mother told me that when we moved to a new neighborhood, pick your new friends by who their friends are, not by who they say they are. It is good advice.

           We are three people. Who we think we are, who others think we are, and who we really are. It is ok, we all ride in the same car, but it helps if we are acquainted with all three of them.

BLOG 26/52

28 Friday Aug 2026

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AMAZON FROGS

We found some frogs that were large and jumped far

Others are smaller and live quite well in a jar.

The ones that are big, we hunt and eat

Never their heads, we eat their feet

We caught this on a leaf at night

It’s not out if the sun is bright.

We let it go to swim free

He whispered 

Goodbye 

To me.

My doctor said if I had my vasectomy, I wouldn’t have kids anymore 

I was really surprised when I got home, and they were still there.

When someone irritates me, I just lend them some money

And I don’t have to worry about seeing them again.

If you were a dog, would you bark or cuddle?

The ones that cuddle are tolerated and

Loved by everyone, most of all.

The barkers are shut in a  

Room down the hall.

Don’t be shut out

Love and 

Cuddle

All.

BLOG 25/52

17 Monday Aug 2026

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PIRANHAS FOR DINNER ON THE AMAZON

People fish for many different reasons.

Sometimes for food and sometimes just for fun

I asked, “May we fish for Piranha? Were they in season?

Of course, you can. We were asked, “What would be your reason”?

I have always been told they would eat me if they had a chance to

I want to be the first to do it and eat them before they do

We will catch enough to feed us tonight 

And perhaps even more if it’s

Permitted and alright.

Would you like

Some tonight?

_______________________

Everything Has Two Sides

I realized, looking in the mirror

That I was the same age as old people.

Like my idol Arney said, looking in the mirror

At his advancing age 

“What the hell happened?”

I hesitate to give it a name, but I see it’s catching.

A lot of people I have noticed have caught it.

At first, I was depressed, then I jumped 

For joy when I realized that

Those that didn’t

Were mostly

dead.

BLOG 24/52

27 Monday Jul 2026

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I have a baby that will look like me.

It doesn’t really matter if it is a he or a she.

Its DNA will be a mixture of papa and me.

It doesn’t matter when we go to sea

We all look like we are identical

Birds happy as can be.

But it is not true

My baby is not

Like me.

________________________

What about Sex?

     Sex is a complicated procedure, why not just clone who/what we are? A lot of plants do that. There are advantages to the process. If you have something that is perfectly adapted to its environment it is a fast way to spread and take control of that area. The disadvantage is when the environmental conditions change, the species cannot, and they all die. 

      With sex every individual is slightly different so when a change occurs there is likely a few of the species than can adapt to that change and their prodigy will adapt to the new conditions and survive. 

         This process is called evolution. It is why there are so many different life forms on our planet, and why we have over five billion that have become extinct. The life forms that are alive on earth today represent only one percent of the total that have lived here before us and could not adjust to the changes the earth goes through in its normal planetary life cycle.  

BLOG 23/52

29 Monday Jun 2026

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 CHILDREN OF THE UPPER AMAZON WHERE THE RIVER STARTS

Where the Amazon starts in the jungle of Ecuador

You never know what might await you or what might be in store.

Your life starts in the tummy of your mother, like all others. 

  Your world will be different, along with your sisters and brothers.

    There are no roads, only boats, but that’s okay; you learn how to paddle. 

       Looking around, you find no horses; you won’t need a saddle.

There are toys to play with, but you will soon learn to fish

All your journeys will be on a boat or on foot.

You will search the jungle for things to eat

You will, of course, have bare feet.

     Except for our clothes, we are all the same.

                 We live in our containers/bodies and are controlled by our brains.

BLOG 22/52

14 Sunday Jun 2026

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A JUNGLE STORE

If you live in the jungle and need to find a store,

This is the best one, even with its dirt floor.

You need to check that your boat is still afloat.

If that’s the case, you’re good to go.

One good thing, you don’t have to

Worry about whether it will snow.

Don’t worry, no chance of that.

You are in the tropics now,

Buy things that won’t

Make you too fat.

________________

IT’S TOO BAD THEY DON’T SELL BIRTHDAYS. 

The more you have

The longer

You live.

_________________

IF YOU GET HUNGRY, DON’T PUT

Both feet in your mouth at the same time,

Because then you won’t have a leg to stand on.

BLOG 21/52

31 Sunday May 2026

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HANGING OUT THE LAUNDRY

In the upper Amazon at its beginning, everyone has a chore.

I was told by a woman working to sweep a floor,

We don’t have welfare; we work more.

We have a rule for all to follow   

No work, no food to swallow.     

It works well for us all.  

We love to eat

We think it’s

Neat.

__________________________

What is Fair?

The news is currently filled with debates and new laws about transgender individuals in sports. Should a man who wants to live like a woman be in the same race with other women? I think it’s too bad that they’re going to settle this argument in court with a new law – a red line you shall not cross– that can sometimes feel unfair to someone.

  I have a way to let transgender women compete with women but not against them. Transgender people should still be able to compete. This is part of their freedom, which we are so proud of in the United States. How do we make it fair to all involved? In most areas there are not enough transgender individuals to compete against themselves in any one area. We need to make an adjustment.

  Using colleges as an example, we could see how one plan would work. In most competitions, the first, second, and third trophies are awarded to the individuals who crossed the finish line in that order. This works well and is fair within the group. The colleges would form a women’s group and a men’s group, but not have enough for the transgender category. Perhaps only one or two transgenders would run in that particular race. Some transgenders would run in the race with the women, others with the men, depending on what they prefer. The women would be competing alongside them, not against them. They would be competing with other transgenders across the division/country. Prizes would be awarded to the women in the race, as normal. The transgender time would be logged into a central location, where the stats for transgender individuals are kept as a separate group from the women. For example, there would be a first, second, and third in the transgender 100m race within the Division, not the individual school.

   It is fair and does not discriminate in any way. A group would need different rules, but the team may allow one transgender for each 8- or 10-members on the team, or a percentage like 5, 10 or 15% of the team. They would be regular team members, and no other accommodation would be needed. We would have to get over the idea that if someone is different from us, it doesn’t mean we are better than them. 

_________________________

I had some bird seeds in my garage 

And didn’t know what to do with it.

I decided to plant it in my garden.

A bird grew up where I planted

The seeds, but now I had nothing

To feed it.