56%

Yes, 56% of the visitors to this site use Firefox. (Good for you!!)

If you're not using it, I'd recommend you go that direction.

Not quite as amazing

Monroe's Peach Ranch sells their own Fire-roasted Habanero Sauce.

I bought some at their fruit stand, thinking I was getting an original recipe. In fine print at the bottom of the label, it reads, "Made Especially for..."

It's OK but not a world-beater. Next time we drive past Monroe's Peach Ranch, I won't make a special stop for their sauce. (But their peaches... that's another story... amazing.)

I dunno

I have been going through some old Rolling Stone magazines. It's part of the being-away-from-the-States-for-2-years experience. At 11:20pm.

One quote that I found interesting: "The best way to do anything is to just let the water slide spit you out somewhere."

I'm not sure I agree with that, but it did make me think a bit.

Feist, May 3-17, 2007 issue.

Speaking of delights for the tongue...

If you like hot stuff - and BBQ - this is the sauce for you.

My cousin Merrill (yes, his first name is the same as my last name*) gave me a bottle. A client of his brews (blends? creates? mixes?) the stuff. It's pretty amazing.

*No worries - he does have a different last name than his first!

Some days we need to be told this

I think Dove Chocolates intended this message to mean, "Treat yourself to at least two or three of these chocolates."

I also wondered if it was a punishment, like a parent saying, "Go to your special place" - and meaning - "Time out".

Probably not.

Chocolate is part of my special place.

That art gene

My mom also does not have that collector gene. My dad did. So when my dad died, my mom spent about 7 or 8 years selling, giving away, and throwing away his various collections. Now she lives in a 1-bedroom apartment. That size is something she likes.

Anyhow, when she had more energy and mobility than she has now, she made this colored-water art - hanging these bottles from the top of her small porch.

I did get her art gene.

That collector gene

My Aunt Mary lives in Texas. She's my favorite aunt.

She loves to collect things. This particular collection is the small stuffed toys collection.

It drove Heather crazy to see that collector gene uninhibited. Why? I have that same gene. She doesn't.

Heather rightly claims that if I fully gave into my collector gene, we'd have to get a bigger house. (Can't afford it. Don't want one, either.)

So since that visit, I have made a pledge to go through some of my collections and kill them off. SOME of the collections.

Texas flood

My sister and my mom live in Grapevine, Texas. They had lotsa flooding while we visited, maybe 4 weeks ago.

I took this shot at the entrance to a state park near where she lives. The "lake" across the entrance road is about 120' long.

Every time I look at this picture, Stevie Ray Vaughn sings to me - He starts with a great blues guitar solo and then belts out, "Well there's floodin' down in Texas..."

Sadly Stevie Ray died a while back - a helicopter crash. A friend Steve and I were going to see him live in Austin (both Steves' home town) - but the show was sold out. We saw Lucinda Williams instead - in a tiny club on the campus of UT. That was a good show! But you can still see Lucinda live (though you'll have to see her in a larger venue).

Insomnia again

So... I'm surfing around at a time when all good humans are sleeping. (Blessed insomnia - and not even any jet lag to blame!)

I visited one of Josh's sites and saw this shot (and I know he'd be OK with me sharing this shot).

What a contrast to life in North America!! It's so easy to forget about life on the other side.

We're all God's creatures, and He knows where all of us are.

What are they?

I thought they were diagrams of some kind for yes, a laptop computer and a judge's hammer.

Well, once again I'm taking you into air-travel-ness... they are Philidelphia International (right) and Chicago Midway (left) Airports. I took the snapshot from an in-flight magazine. (Digital cameras make great scanners, on the fly.)