Hanging in there

Well, summer is gorgeous so far here in Kansas.  Things are still green, but the wheat has gone golden in the last week, so harvest is shortly going to get underway.  Lightning bugs, bats, skinks, all manner of birds, snakes, mosquitoes, and the other cast of billions have made their appearance.  That includes the usual arrival of the armada of buzzards that roost on one of the water towers in town, which does not bother me as much as it does some people.

I’m still searching for some clarity regarding what comes next for yours truly, but have a bunch of proverbial irons in the proverbial fire.  Sometimes it seems like reporting on what I’m doing would sound like the guy’s paper on what he did during his summer vacation in Cheech and Chong’s Sister Mary Elephant sketch.  Something will coalesce here pretty soon, I’m sure, even if it ends up just being for a few months.  Regardless, it will be nice to have a purpose once again.  One evening this week I took a several-hour basic first aid refresher class down in Wichita, which made me feel pretty decent about my knowledge on the subjects covered and then some.  Next week I have an appointment for a little work to be done on my car to make sure I have a steed ready to ride off into the sunset upon whenever the time comes.  With luck by the time I’m all said and done I’ll have put together a biography as varied and interesting as Louis L’Amour’s.  One step at a time…

Eight folks got a nice, big step this week with NASA’s new astronaut candidates being selected.  One is an “ice person”, so it is nice to know the door is open, though it looks like military backgrounds are a lot more desirable.  I certainly will apply whenever the next selection begins again.

‘Despair, or folly?’ said Gandalf. ‘It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt.  We do not.  It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope.’
~Gandalf (Council of Elrond), LOTR by J.R.R. Tolkien

Getting lush, still not flush

The wildlife diversity is gradually on the rise here as things continue to warm and turn green.  In the last couple weeks there have been first appearances of hummingbirds, toads, and for a first time in memory yellow-headed blackbirds.  This evening a lanky raccoon ambling into the yard at dusk was the first sighting of one of them in a long while.  I guess distemper laid many of them low in the last year or so.  The sound of frogs croaking down in the creek is a pleasant accompaniment to all the visual stimuli.

The grass is green and growing, but I guess the grass of prime importance in this region-wheat-is being largely assessed at lower qualities.  I imagine it is largely due to the dearth of moisture over most of the winter.  We have started to get more regular precipitation, but it might be too little too late.

What comes next has yet to reveal itself.  Unfortunately it is not my own (desired) timeline that drives most of that process of discovery.  I just keep at it and do what I can.  I have plenty of company, in that regard, despite the record highs on Wall Street.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
~Plato

Green wave breaks

Even though the cooler temperatures have managed to persist here, the green wave of spring has certainly arrived.  There have been a few days of really nice and warm weather, but for the most part it has remained cool thus far.  That is fine with me.  The blistering heat of summer will be here soon enough, and with a few nice rains under our belt, perhaps we will be on our way to recouping some of the precipitation deficit of the last few years.  Hopefully.

We got to have my brother’s kids here for a few days of long-weekend fun.  It is interesting to see them both mature and interact with each other.  I find it strange, but fun, to see the wee lad doing similar things around the house that I remember his father doing.  Pulling things out of the kitchen cabinets to play with really rang a bell!

The question of figuring out what comes next remains unsolved.  I am still assessing available options, and trying to figure out a timeline for my own actions while remaining flexible for whatever might arise sooner versus later.  My spirits are still doing fine.  I guess this is a skill honed with plenty of practice.

My best wishes and thoughts are for you, Boston.

“There are people who observe the rules of honor as we observe the stars: from a distance.”

~Victor Hugo

I Like (the) Ike (Center)

The job hunt rolls on, but hopefully something will materialize in relatively short order.  In the meantime, I’m just doing what I have to do.

A while back I did get to have a little day trip up to Abilene for a visit to the Eisenhower Center.  The have a good museum, with lots of interesting artifacts.  One that stood out to me (despite being only a couple feet from a piece of real Moon rock) was the actual teleprompter scroll DDE used during his speech that mentioned the “military industrial complex”.

On the grounds are a number of buildings, including a house DDE lived in growing up.  I was surprised to find out that it was still in the original location, not relocated from elsewhere in town.  It had a very nice front parlor room.

DDE and Mamie are buried in the chapel also on the ground of the center.

I read an excellent biography about Eisenhower (by Michael Korda) a few months back, which helped make this a very interesting little visit to a place I had not been to since high school.  Though DDE is not commonly mentioned in the pantheon of the greatest U.S. Presidents, I think he was an intelligent fellow that understood compromise and devotion to duty.  It would be nice if more of that could be injected into government today.

"Of men who have a sense of honor, more come through alive than are slain, but from those who flee comes neither glory nor any help."

~Homer, The Iliad

Winter Clings to KS

Well, we’re have gotten some precipitation at long last.  Of course, it is the wintry and white sort.  Around a foot fell a couple days ago, but yesterday was sunny and some melting got to happen.  It is sunny again today, so hopefully we can get some more melting done before the next storm rolls in Sunday-Monday.  As always, since I have spent significant amounts of time around the Antarctic version of snow, the stuff that falls here seems very wet and heavy in comparison.  Regardless of those characteristics, it all translates into moisture much needed.

There is not really anything regarding what’s next work-wise to report.  I suppose patience should be one of the answers to the usual interview question I could begin including in my description of positive attributes I have!  I think a big social cleavage (Yea, I retained something from those political science courses I took in grad school!) that probably lurks out there now is between those people who have remained gainfully employed throughout the economic downturn since 2008, versus those of us who have been faced with seeking professional employment in the challenging climate since then.  I know I certainly have been molded by my experiences in that regard, and I suppose in some ways (certainly not economically) I have been strengthened.  With luck, the government/Congress won’t set us all back with these budget cuts next week.  Even if that foolishness comes to pass, I will carry on, but it would be great if such titanic forces would not be added to what so many of us face already.

“Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically. The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins; we start to build up new little habitats, to have new little hopes. It is rather hard work: there is now no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles. We’ve got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen.”

~D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover

Working toward work

So, as you might have surmised by now, I have not had any big news about the astronaut candidate selection.  With January 2013 in the history books, it looks like that door has closed for this option for now.  I have thusly pivoted to investigating other fruitful, professional opportunities, and it has been interesting seeing what all is out there these days.  In general, things seem more hopeful than years past.

The weather remains dry here in Kansas with 104 of 105 counties being declared drought disaster areas.  Allegedly there is some rain in the forecast for tonight, but who knows whether any will really materialize.

With no dog here at home for several years, the critters have certainly made themselves more at home.  Last night we used a live trap cage and relocated the first of several opossums that have taken up residence in a burrow under the concrete slab of our driveway.  There are several more to deal with, but hopefully we’ll be able to remove them permanently without much trouble.

“Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages.”
~General George Washington

Prodigal poster returns

Sorry for the hiatus, if anybody still checks this, but things have been pretty domestic/less-than-swashbuckling of late.  I've been TCOB here at home and keeping myself available for whatever might present itself regarding that prospective interview in Houston.  This week will be the last week I might likely be contacted for that, if what I've read about a 2-week notice is actually true (I read it on the internet...).  In general, things are the same as years past.  The big question to be answered was and is: What's next? 

Best of luck to us all in 2013.

“THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.”
~Thomas Paine, The American Crisis