If you are in New York or Washington next week, be prepared for traffic disruptions caused by the visit to America of Joseph Wayne Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Benedict XVI, will be delivering a message, Why Society Needs Religious Values: It's Time to Let the Priests Out of Jail and Toss the Godless Atheists In. Now that was just uncalled for.

Also, today is my birthday. Okay, it's not my actual birthday, but it is being commemorated today, following the passage of a little-noticed Congressional resolution. Banks and other financial institutions are closed today, as are all nonessential government offices. Busses will run on a Sunday schedule.

We had to delay the celebration because Daughter Sneed thoughtlessly scheduled her honeymoon over my birthday. She has a thirty-something year record of this sort of thoughtlessness. So, we are having a family breakfast this morning to celebrate and exchange gifts. Actually, I will be the only one getting the gift gifts, but isn't having me as a dad gift enough? I think so.


This is a rose on a rose tree on the patio. The bloom is initially orange and turns pink as it ages. I took this shot as Noah and I were cutting off spent blooms. Here's a tip for you. Never hold a rose so that a four-year-old can cut it. Noah nearly severed the tip of my thumb. It bled like crazy and scared the beejezus out of the kid.








Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky