Chazd's (Charles Dowdell's) News Burps

My friend Pete passed away. I met him in 1982. We were friends the whole time despite all the competing circumstances. We picked up where we left off every time. I will miss him. I am glad I got to spend quality time with him over Memorial Day weekend a couple weeks back. I always had tremendous respect for him in all ways. The weirdest part is that he respected me. Very humbling, and actually disturbing. He confided with me and I with him. Ask me to tell you a story about him. Pic is from 2014. Blog post Blog post Blog post Obituary

Interesting song I heard about today. The lyrics are important. Southern California Wants to Be Western New York Dar Williams There's a part of the country could drop off tomorrow in an earthquake, Yeah, it's out there on the cutting edge, the people move, the sidewalks shake. And there's another part of the country with a land that gently creaks and thuds, Where the heavy snows make faucets leak in bathrooms with free-standing tubs. They're in houses that are haunted, the with kids who lie awake and think about All the generations past who used to use that dripping sink. And sometimes one place wants to slip into the other just to see What it's like to trade its demons for the restless ghost of Mrs. Ogilvey, She used to pick the mint from her front yard to dress the Sunday pork, Sometimes southern California wants to be western New York. It wants to have a family business in sheet metal or power tools, It wants to have a diner where the coffee tastes like

Angie and I went up to Sequoia National Park and King Canyon over the weekend. It is nice to get away to some really spectacular places fairly easily. I heard they were starting a Toastmasters club at work. I decided I need to participate. It is nice to be recognized as a Distinguished toastmaster. It is such a positive organization and it is nice to see young people working to better themselves.

Angie and I went to a farmers market in Orange yesterday. As you can probably imagine the produce can be spectacular.

I am back in SoCal after a complex trip back east. A stop in Georgia for 16 hours, and several stops across NY State. Gracie the cat likes California. She is big on relaxing and enjoys the sunshine. A while back I drove by these people picking up water bottles that fell out of their truck at an intersection. After I took the picture, I decided I should help them pick up the bottles. I spent time working on the farm. We have grasses planted this year. Elsewhere in the Catskill mountains, I ran into this sculptor's show room. I think he has a good eye.