Yesterday I saw a flock of 1/2 dozen or so green parrots fly over my patio. I've seen a flock of green parrots fly by last year. Now, I do recall a flock of buzzards a few years ago nesting in a particular tree; on Oleander, I think. Well, this is Bakersfield, so, buzzards seem appropriate enough. (What the heck is a swallow, anyway?) But parrots? Am I the only one? Has anybody else sighted a flock of parrots flying around on the east side of town? 

Oh, and another question that's been bothering me: Are the parrots an omen from God; or do the parrots simply mean we're better than people in Fresno?  

Speaking by videoconference with U.S. military and civilian personnel in Afghanistan about the challenges posed by war, corruption, and the poppy trade, the president unleashed this comment: 

I know a lot of you are faster than I am and have probably all ready read this Presidential wisdom. I just ran across it and I am....well, I don't know how to react. For a President, Vice President and Secretary of Defense who have never been in combat, that is a mouthful. I don't think they have any children who are "romantically" involved with Afghanistan or Iraq. Yeah, George, real exciting and romantic.                 

Came home yesterday from Fresno to render aid to my sister in Fresno. She has her leg in a brace and wrist in a cast from a skiing accident. She can't drive so I was mainly a taxi driver and beast of burden while she hobbled around like an old war veteran or something. I also got drafted into being cook, dishwasher, house maid, dog sitter...not about to let a good deal unused to the full extent, she also decided to rearrange the furniture. "What the hell," she told a friend on the phone, "he's my brother. I can abuse him."

We did find a dust covered cardboard box in her garage. It kept some of our late father's personal effects. I got to inherite a Timex watch at least 40 years old. No date, no chimes, just a watch dial with hands. The winding stem needs fixing, so I'll shop around for someone who still does watch repair.

My teen daughter looked at the watch. Why get it fixed when the problem is obvious? It needs a new battery. Told her I'd have never thought of that, I'll get the battery replaced tomorrow. She was so proud of herself for helping her senile dad, I didn't have the heart to pop her bubble.

My sister went to Idaho and re-enacted "the agony of defeat" on skis. Her leg isn't broken but in a brace; her wrist is in a cast. Don't ask me why an old lady is skiing a challenging slope; she's my sister and a cross I must bear. The other is my teen daughter. If this is my karma, then I must have had a real good time in a former life.

Anyway, I have been summoned to render aid--mostly driving--in Fresno while her husband is out of town at a construction site. I'll be taking a train (Amtrak, not a boxcar) to Fresno for a few days, possibly a week. 

The reason I'm making this known is to disspell rumors in advance that I am on a drinking spree or died of boredom or ran off with a stripper. Life quit being that interesting when I got married and I had to behave myself. 

Please do not solve the questions and problems of cold fusion, the oil crisis, the economy, life in another galaxy, or an easy winning system at the Vegas gaming tables until I get back. I don't want to miss anything important.