September Mushrooms - Photo art by David Crellen
As a month that will metamorphose from an unbearable summer into, hopefully, a calming Autumn, September has begun as scheduled. The inhuman summer temperatures here in Coachella Valley has suddenly lowered by as much as ten degrees. Most importantly, the mornings are now below 80 making morning exercise and run bearable.
Let's hope the real world – plus politics – begin to lose its restlessness and succumb to a relaxing autumn atmosphere.
Mr. Carter as defied rules – and death – many times over his life as a farmer, a US Navy officer, a President, as a lover and savior of people, as a human being! He has a very high Emotinal Intelligence.
Instead of a memorial service he could not attend, Mr. Carter has experienced a living eulogy
Read the full Blog
I feel like I provide a breath of fresh air to some people's thinking. But, alas, I find they won't leave their cigar-smoke-filled tavern. This tavern represents the comfortable, familiar confines of their own echo chambers. There, the intoxicating haze of similar opinions and ideas surrounds them
Read the full Blog
"Welcome to Flight 120. In case of an emergency landing overwater, you will find a flotation device under your seat. Grab it and follow instructions to exit. In case of emergency landing over land, the back of your seat is a parachute. Just tighten your seatbelt. Then grab the upper seat belt straps that will appear. Pull them tightly around your chest. Make sure they are tight. the pilot will automatically release your parachute and you will be ejected prior to the crash, er, emergency landing."
Read the full Blog
Exciting environments are my lifestyle. Sports like playing ball, swimming, running, hurdle jumping. I love social events, especially when I can smell and kiss the ladies.
And, of course, I love dining … Won’t turn down a treat now and then. … And love to lie down aggressively chewing on a RAW BONE
Read the full Blog
Why do we humans look at life so materialistically?
What is material? Material is nothing but the other side of Einstein's equation for relativity:
"Energy equals Mass (material) times the square of the speed of light"
Our mind provides the energy that puts the mess, er, mass together.
C2 means
Read the full Blog
Sitting with my coffee and the daily news on one quiet spring morning, I unconsciously kept hearing a strange sound …
Suddenly I realized this was a real sound; I jumped up and began to track down the squeak's source. I stole around the corner, and there, in the
Read the full Blog
August Flight Pattern photo by David Crellen
We're not going anywhere this August. The entire world is way too hot – temperture AND politicature!
Goodbye Lady Lexie
It was so much fun to run hither and dither out on the road despite the load- or because of it. Her load was a young man on a skateboard. He wanted to go fast. But it wasn’t so hard to pull from the tethered leash.
At the end of each run, there was a different story. The young man’s girlfriend, whose apartment they would visit, had a nasty little dog who constantly nipped at Lexie’s legs and barked crazily. There also was a tiny child. Being a child-loving Brittany, Lexie would want to play and lick.
That was a colossal problem …
“Lexie has to go!” the woman would shout. The disheartened young man, who dearly loved Lexie, found American Brittany Rescue. They were able to connect him to a local Brittany-loving family. Despondently, he brought Lexie to this family. He told David and Karen his girlfriend had said he had to choose either her or “the dog.”
“I’d get rid of the girlfriend!” David immediately responded,
After introductions, the young man departed with tears in his eyes. Lexie stood at the gate and joylessly watched the young man drive away.
But then it was a new world of wonder and excitement … and a new friend! His name was Tango. He accepted Lexie and showed her the ropes around their vast backyard.
Lexie always had that innate call of the wild. At every opportunity, she would bolt out the front door. Run hither and dither, eventually reaching the canyon at the end of the cut de sac. There, ignoring Karen’s and David’s cries of desperation, she would disappear behind the canyon’s bushes and trees. So much fun evading the cops, she thought.
Sometimes, she would begin to dig a hole under the backyard fence to escape. But Tango would never allow that. He would bark and howl until David came to the rescue.
Lexie’s most fun happened when the family made frequent visits to Fiesta Island. It was a vast, leash-free zone in San Diego’s Mission Bay. In springtime, the grounds would be covered with head-high Marguerite daisies. Romping through the bushes with Tango, the yellow pollen covering her fur, was so much fun. And then bolting down to the beach and into the Bay’s warm water was so exhilarating.
Lexie would always lead, pulling David and Tango during their daily run in the woods. And, upon returning home, she’d jump into the swimming pool to cool off.
Life became very sad when Tango, being older, passed over the Bridge. But Karen and David were so loving she recovered. Months later, Finley arrived. He was a younger male, and Leslie quickly told him she was in charge.
At almost seventeen years old, Lexie succumbed to renal kidney failure. She passed peacefully into the beautiful Brittany Eternal Garden at the the rainbow’s end. There to join Touché, Mona, Daisy, and Tangp to play forever.
####
The Rouble has declined 100% since Putin's vicious invasion of Ukraine. I wonder how much longer the Oligarchs can tolerate their fiscal disenfranchisement, meaning their ability to travel the world as an emperor – these days it's more like emperors without clothes. Ha ha.
Plus, their toys have
Read the full Blog
On August 2, The New York Times published a piece about Ron DeSantis rant in support of Donald Trumps ongoing legal problems. He is attempting to exonerate Trump by blaming our own national pride of constitution as gone awry.
Here is a paragraph from the article: “The weaponization of federal law
Read the full Blog
Will Tweet posts now be called eXcretes? So guess what the act of “tweeting” must now be called? And, on this same theme, I can imagine a collection of posts being called “a pile of …” What’s this world coming to?
Valle Guadalupe, Baja California Vineyards photo: David Crellen
Dateline, Palm Desert, CA – July will be the hottest July on record in the Northern Hemisphere – (don't worry, southerners. Yours will come in six months).
It's almost too hot to write, or to be writing creatively, in this crippling heat. Here in the Coachella Valley it's been well above 45 degrees (113°f) all month long. (Sorry, Phenix, we outlast you with the heat.)
This is a huge wakeup call for me.
The PBS Newshour on July 21, 2023 broadcast an article about how Ukranian military are deconstructing Russian missiles after they have destroyed buildings and killed people in Ukraine. Here is the video: Parts made by U.S. companies used to build Russian cruise
Read the full Blog
The 121-degree, windless sun was baking Ralph's parking lot and the self-created breeze hurt my face as I walked to the store.
I can think of a more fun way fo going mad. But I had to shop for our dinner. Many restaurants close during the summer months in the Coachella Valley as the snow-birds
Read the full Blog
The Economist, July 13 issue, Obituary, "Victoria Amelina explored a land of atrocities and secrets," is a lovely, thoutful tribute to a young Ukranian writer who risked (and lost) her life interviewing and writing about the women victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
What caught my attention
Read the full Blog
June Eclipse, San Diego, CA - photo by David Crellen
Dateline, Palm Desert, CA – June begins to get hot as summer rolls in. Average temps here excede 100 degrees.
Several important events occur here in America in June in addition to the beginning of summer. These include Flag Day commemorating the 1777 adoption of the stars and stripes as our national emblem and the relatively new Juneteenth Day which, on June 19, 1865, finally recognizes the 1863 passage of the emmancipation of all slavery in America.
Juneteenth is more than a commemeration of a distant event. It is a scary reminder of the cultural pressures that still persist here in this country The acceptance of freedom from slavery is not the only freedom in question.
It seems like the 1863-1865 era when many white Americans refused to accept the emancipation of black Americans. Today, a particular sector of society refuses to get not only the emancipation of all our rights to freedom of thought and deed but wants to eliminate the true knowledge of our history.
Are they ever coming home?
Dateline, Palm Desert, CA – May's weather here in the desert begins as a refreshing 20• to 25• in the day (around 13• over night). It's the time for the golfers to enjoy their game and for Finley, Lexie and I to enjoy our daily runs.
But by the end ov the month we'll be experiencing an unlivable 40• to 45•! That's when all sane people should emigrate from the valley if they can. In another month many of the nicer restaurants will close for the summer months. … Not nice!
This is a trailer of my wife, Karen Giorgio's 2013 cabaret show called Trains & Boats & Planes, Oh My! It opened at West Hollywood's Gardenia Room and has played at Les Michaels' Summer Cabaret Series in Palm Desert plus Martinis Above Fourth Table + Stage, San Diego and the Chateau La Jolla, La
Read the full Blog
The Pentagon says $3 billion more for Ukraine was
discovered due to an accounting mistake.. What kind of accountant works for the gov? I wish my accountant could find even a thousand-dollar error in my favor! I never took any accounting classes, but I've often wondered if there is a class called
Read the full Blog
I've been watching an uber-interesting course on Wondrium.com about Nanotechnology. Its application is especially suitable to the medical field, where the technology can produce miniature devices (thousands of them could fit across a single human hair!). These can be made to carry payloads of
Read the full Blog
It's dark. Hear the fire cracklin' and sparkin'? Look closely and see two sizzling Hot dogs on the end of sticks. Look up the shafts and you see … paws holding them! Yes, the paws of a coyote and a wolf, each smiling introspectively and staring
Read the full Blog
Farewell To Tango
Tango said goodbye with a silent sigh and a smile. He was by my side at 8:15 in the morning. He is now enjoying doggy heaven with fellow Brittanies Daisy, Mona, Touché, and all the other K9 Angels. He was just 16 years on this planet, and that was pushing it. He had a wild ride – ran a fantastic race, and lived to the fullest after being rescued. He met and was loved by so many. – May his spirit live on forever.
Born and died in the California desert, Tango often looked death in the eye. Even after a severe Mohave Desert winter, the dry heat must have been unbearable. He didn't know how to survive on his own in these wild scrublands. Even without this skill, he successfully avoided the desert perils – snakes emerging from their winter's sleep – coyotes his size or smaller – nothing he could eat.
Wasting away 20 pounds to a skeletal 24 pounds, he was saved by a high desert rescue center in March of 2005. Not wearing an identification, he was booked as an "unknown canine, probably of Brittany descent". His stay behind bars in a bare cell, scared and cautious of people, curled into a corner – it was so much worse than freely wandering the desert. And he turned down all interested visitors. … Until Linda arrived.
Linda, who raised several Brittanies, is a volunteer for The American Brittany Rescue organization. ABR learned that a Brittany would be euthanized as no one wanted the dog – the center was a "high kill" shelter! Linda quickly responded to the save. The distressingly sad dog immediately jumped into her arms … He found a loving soul … He was saved from imminent death!
No one knew his name as he joyously met Linda's two Brittany companions. Because of his coloring, Linda named him Copper. But the story had a way to go …
Caring for three medium-sized dogs in a small house was overwhelming for a single mom. Her job was to pull him from the jaws of death, not care for an additional dog.
Yes, he was a lap dog!
Cleaned and fed, Copper moved on to a foster home still in the high desert … That's where we met him! I wanted a 'lap dog'… and this dog jumped on my lap the moment I sat down! He won my heart. We rechristened him "Tango" on our adoption papers.
During our long drive to his forever home in San Diego, he got to know his step-sister, Daisy, who came along for the ride.
Once home, Tango didn't respond to any coaxing or any commands. With the help of the Internet, we tried standard dog commands in many languages … never once did he show a response.
And he apparently never played with toys … Daisy taught him how to play..
One day I watched Tango look inquisitively at the water. Living three years in an arid desert, he had no knowledge of bodies of water. He attempted to step onto the water! Suddenly I realized not only did he know what deep water was, he didn't know how to swim. Straight to the bottom he went. Jumping in, clothes and all, I grabbed him and began to teach Tango how to swim! He soon learned to like the pool and to love the ocean even more.
Tango's 
long legs made him at home in the forest. He'd lose himself as he majestically leaped over the bushes and up the hills like he had springs on his feet. This was his world … Brittanies are hunting dogs – he did his breed justice.
Nowthat he could swim, the new water world created many adventures. He felt at home here. Tango loved the Pacific Ocean and the warm waters of Mission Bay.
He always showed affection to his loving "forever" family at the end of the day.
Daisy, his new step-sister, always looked after him. The two became kindred soul mates and enjoyed romping in the daisy fields and lazing on the beds. Daisy, a late-in-life adoption, was the mothering kind.
Sadly, Daisy succumbed to cancer at the age of ten. Tango was once again a saddened lost puppy. He showed his mourning with relentless barking and howling. We all missed having a second Brittany.
A few months passed, then, on New Year's Day, a four-year young Lexie came on the scene. Not able to keep Lexie, the previous owner brought her to us to foster. As he drove away, Lexie wistfully watched at the gate. Then, seeming to sense the change, Lexie immediately adopted us – Tango was happy again..
A great friendship began and lasted almost thirteen years. It was frolicking, fun, and adventure.
A dog's safe wonderland! San Diego has many leash-free areas, including three beaches plus an entire four-mile-around island in Mission Bay.
After moving to Palm Desert, we often visited San Diego with the dogs and headed to Fiesta Island to romp as free as the birds!
Meanwhile, a great life continued in the desert. Daily jaunts on the golf course kept all in good shape. In the end, though, age caught up with Tango, and the runs became walks – even up to his last days.
I think Tango was a happy puppy!
Farewell Tango
You are in the great pasture in the sky
by David Crellen, Palm Desert, CA
I believe one of the reasons my dogs live a long life is the diet and environment in which I raise them.
I do not use toxic chemicals such as insecticide and herbicides in a blanket fashion. I.e., no yard pest control or blanket weed eradication. In case of an insect issue, I would first remove the dogs from the area then attend to spot control of the infestation. The same for weed control if I can’t remove the weeds by hand. I research all the plants I use in the yard to assure they are not toxic to animals. There are a surprising number of plants that have toxic leaves or seeds.
I make my own food based on the BARF diet – Bones And Raw Food. Here are excerpts from an article I wrote about the BARF diet:
A dog living on a kibble diet has a high pH digestive system similar to humans. That’s what kibble does. The high pH subjects the dog to similar ailments as a human gets. Whereas, the acidic (low pH) of the BARF diet protects your pet.
This diet gives them the acidic stomach fluids which sterilizes their food. (We humans are also encouraged to maintain a low, acidic, stomach pH for the same reason.)
The raw bones help keep their jaws and teeth healthy and clean.
####
