The third cup 6/22

Sunday, June 22, 2003

Hi neighbors. Things have settled down a bit since last weekend. But there is still plenty to do with our spare time. Including a little back fence chat and gossip, complete with coffee mugs firmly in hand. There was a special on the Discovery channel last week titled "Walking With Cavemen." Did any of you watch that? It always amazes me how they can reconstruct an entire body form working from half a leg or jaw bone. The show was informative, entertaining, and probably gave lots of actors and makeup artists jobs for several weeks. Some of the early man sequences reminded me of Planet of the Apes characters. Another night one of the well known television zoologists did a show where he interacted with dinosaurs. Now how confusing was that to children? I can hear them now, "Mom, Dad, I want to go see the dinosaurs for vacation." How will parents convince their children dinosaurs no longer exist? Particularly the ones from the show that were alive in the time period before T-Rex came along. There was good news this week. My favorite show, Monk, is back! I had thought it canceled but apparently it only runs in the summers while the winter season shows are on hiatus. For those few readers who have never watched Monk, he is dubbed "the defective detective" due to his many phobias which make working a murder scene particularly tricky. Another cool new series is Tremors, the Series. Are you familiar with the movies? There were three movies, each with a man-eating monster that evolved into something even more sinister with each successive movie. The series is the continuing saga of how the citizens of Perfection, Nevada strive to carry on their lives in an isolated village surrounded by monsters. The main character is Burt, the poster boy for every gun stockpiling, paranoid, conspiracy theory advocate, and survivalist in America. Like the old time cavalry, it is often Burt who comes up with the know-how and fire power to defend the world against one monstrous invasion after another. Or else the ladies do it with some macramé and good home cooking. Pretty off the wall, the show is funny and filled with action. A little philosophy is sometimes thrown in for good measure. Of course, even I don't spend all my spare time watching television. From my front porch I can hear the chimes of the clock on the square counting out the hours. But to hear the music I have to go to the square itself. There's lots going on with Market Square Days and the Farmer's Market on Saturdays. And it's always busy Monday through Friday. I also like Sundays, when there isn't much going on and I can drive or walk around window shopping. Have you noticed there aren't very many bicyclists around town these days? I wonder why? There are still kids on their skate boards so maybe they've taken the place of bikes. I think I'd like one of the new Sedgeways. I think that's how to spell it. You know what I'm talking about. The upright gyroscope that you can stand on and it always (supposedly) keeps you from falling off or tipping over. I wonder if those would be considered sidewalk transportation or if you'd have to ride them in the street? They would sure be nice for long walks in places like the zoo or any amusement park. Or getting to work if parking was limited. I think they had some mailmen try them but I haven't heard how that worked. I would think they'd be nice for meter officers, firemen or police officers having to monitor traffic or move quickly around crowds. I don't know if they would be permitted inside buildings but they sure would be handy in airports or malls. They would be ideal for people with disabilities, illnesses or injuries who can still stand but not walk very long distances. For instance, people with broken legs who now have to use crutches.I guess it's one of those wait and see things. They will either become more popular or disappear. Another modern essential that I've so far managed to live without is a cell phone. What if I were walking with cave people or on safari looking for dinosaurs and the phone rang while I was hiding from T-Rex? Until the next time friends remember; we all need to keep busy, but we don't have to do it exclusively through work. Enjoy the summer, even if it's only one coffee break at a time.

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