Day 984

Life is full of little surprises. I went up to inspect the roof this afternoon and discovered that a huge branch had broken off one of the large Oak trees in our back yard and landed squarely on the roof. The branch extended from one end of the roof to the other and was ten inches in diameter where it broke off from the tree. I'm kind of glad we were gone when the branch fell. The sound must have been horrendous and I'm sure it would have had me fretting about structural damage to the house. Fortunately, I don't think anything is wrong. The tree missed the natural gas line angling across the roof and didn't appear to tear up any electrical cables either. I'd like to blame this mishap on the multitude of squirrels that live in our trees, but judging from the size of the trunk, I think the tree is just getting old.

Now, I've just got to decide what to do with the thing. The branch looks way too big for me to cut up using my trusty reciprocal saw. I think this is a job for professionals who are still foolish enough to walk around with big chain saws. I won't use a chain saw myself. I had a friend who slipped while using a his chain saw and seriously injured himself when the blade hit him in the face. Ten years later, he still has a huge scar. I don't even think plastic surgery can fix the damage that saw did.

I just heard on the news that Neil Armstrong has died. I'll always remember where I was on that eventful day in 1969 when he said "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," All the Apollo astronauts are getting older now. It won't be long before there won't be anyone left on the entire planet who has set foot on the moon. I think that's extremely sad. We had such potential as cosmic adventurers. I wish our country was still spending money trying to expand the boundaries of what is possible instead of wasting money trying to make failure impossible. When are we going to learn that building safety nets is ultimately futile. We should be working a lot harder to give people the confidence and skills they need to work without a net.

Performers always work without a net. We're going to see one of Janet's friends sing tonight. She's quite good. Few people realize the hours and hours of practice that take place between each concert she gives. I admire people who have the patience and tenacity to keep practicing something until it's perfect. We need a lot more people like this. It has always been difficult to do great things, but isn't that the whole point? We need more great artists. More brilliant scientists. And definitely more folks like Neil Armstrong. RIP Neil.

Pinky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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