Hawaiian Moth

(Originally posted on the website Continuum…)

Look at this really cool moth I found today. Hannah said it looks like he’s wearing a Hawaiian shirt. I never saw one like this before.

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SUNSETS

(Originally posted on the website Continuum…)

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JULY 30, 2004 – THEME: SUNSET

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These are a few of my favorites. It’s too hard to decide on just one.

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“THE LUCK OF THE IRISH”

(Originally posted on the website Continuum…)

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JULY 29, 2004 – THEME: FOUND

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IT IS A little known fact that I have an eye for finding four-leaf clovers. In fact, just this month, I have found ten of them!
While the photo above is not the best, the theme is kind of cool. I found this particular clover on July 26. I parked my car, walked around to the passenger side to get my things out. I looked down at a patch of clovers and there it was. It’s interesting that this one appears to have survived a recent lawn mowing. You can see the four leaves more distinctly in this photo:

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After dinner on July 26, I went outside to search for more four-leaf clovers with my daughters. After a short time, I found this one:

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My daughter, Maddy, said, “Daddy, I don’t like it when you find four-leaf clovers! It makes me mad because I never find them and you do!”

“Well, Madeline, you just need to be patient and keep looking. You’ll find one.”

Ten minutes later I looked down and saw another four-leaf. As I bent towards it I spotted another one right next to it. I said, “Maddy, look at that! Two of them together!” She bent down to look while I got my camera ready. Then she yelled, “Daddy! Daddy! Another one!” There were three of them together. And Madeline found one of them, her first one.

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We found a total of five four-leaf clovers that day. The most I ever found in one day before was three. All in all, I have twenty four-leaf clovers that I’ve saved. There have been others that have gotten lost or destroyed over the years. My daughter, Hannah, who found her first four-leaf a few years ago, asked me if she could have them all when I die. She said she is going to open a four-leaf clover museum and put them all on display. “Good luck with that, Hannah!”

375,000 Miles

(Originally posted on the website Continuum…)

Going to work… again…..

But I got to thinking…

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For the past 25 years, I have worked in the same general area, an average of 30 miles from the area in which I have lived.

So, figuring that I have worked an average of 250 days per year for 25 years, and driven an average of 60 miles round trip per day, the grand total of miles I have driven in the last 25 years (just for work) comes out to 375,000 miles!

Figuring on a reasonable average of 30 miles per gallon for gas mileage on my vehicles over the years, I have consumed 12,500 gallons of gas in driving to and from work. That translates into a lot of money!

If I had kept driving straight for those 375,000 miles, I could have driven completely around the world just over 15 times! Just think of all the sights I could have seen and the people I could have met!

If I had decided to drive to the moon, I could have made it there and just about 3/4 of the way back! With enough velocity, I could have coasted the last 55,000 or so miles.

Or… I could have driven to the moon and encircled the entire place 15 times and then just sat down and enjoyed the view.

If I had decided to drive to Mars, at the rate of 375,000 miles every 25 years, it would have taken me 9,333 and 1/4 years. Provided my car could have lasted over the journey and I had another 25 years to live and drive, I could have then traveled completely around Mars 28 and 1/4 times.

However… necessity demands that I continue driving the same worn out path to and from work… over and over… year after year.

Necessity is the executioner of so much exploration and discovery.