Cayman Islands Bluebill Decoy

We've been on vacation on Grand Cayman since Saturday, and it's been glorious.  The weather is perfect - highs in the mid 80's, sunny, humid, but with a big north wind to keep you comfortable.  It could not get any better.  

I've been running every morning, and what a joy to be running outside again.  It's tough going - the humidity really saps you, likewise half of my daily run takes me into a really stiff wind.  Despite the crappy results, I won't complain.  I'd craw if I could do it in this weather.

I was out for my daily yesterday morning, and enjoying my route which boarders the sea for most of it.  It's an incredible view.  Anyway, as I was slaving away, something caught my eye.  I stopped to verify, as I couldn't believe it.

There, bobbing in the rough seas, still attached to its string and weight, was a bluebill decoy:

What is that doing down here?  There's only teal hunting in the Caymans, Bluebills don't migrate here in any kind of numbers, and this wasn't something that was placed there - the waves were too big, and it will be on shore by the end of the day.

It had to come from some gulf coast duck hunter.  But what a trip!  Consider the map:

What a journey that thing has been on!  Over 1,000 miles, especially since it had to navigate its way around Cuba.  

When I was a kid, I was enthralled with a move called Paddle to the Sea, about a carving a guy made of a native American chief in a canoe.  He dropped it in a winter stream, and we followed its journey to the sea.  This bluebill decoy is a lot like that, and I can't imagine the adventures it has had.

Bad Lip Reading - NFL 2020

It's like heaven in a pickle
Heaven in a pickle...

16 Curling Rocks in Play

Two weekends ago I spent the entire time at the Curling Club, trying to come back via the losers' bracket after dropping our first match.  A good effort was made, and we actually took second, but it was a long slog - both mentally and physically.  It was a lot of damned curling over three days!

Note to self - don't lose the first game next time...

On Saturday, in the lane next to ours, a group pulled together an incredibly rare feat - all 16 curling stones were in play.  We have a number of old-timers at the club that have been playing for decades, and nobody had ever seen anything like it.

I wouldn't have believed it myself, but we actually stopped our game when they had 13 in play to watch the end.  They didn't disappoint:

It ended up scoring two red, but nobody will ever remember that.  What will be remembered is the time when all the rocks in the end had the potential to score.  

Good curling, indeed.

Saturday Song Share: Neko Case - Hold On, Hold On

I just love her voice - it reminds me of 50's country.  She's just incredible.  Enjoy

Happy Valentine's Day from Fr. Don

This week, Father Don had a really incredible post about love, and given that's what this day is all about, it seems only appropriate to share here:

The 60-year-old attorney, well-known for his pro bono work and passion for justice, died of cancer diagnosed about 6 months earlier. During the months of hope and treatment, he was lovingly cared for by Jane, his wife of 30 years. At one point, while not yet immobilized, Jim eulogized her on his CaringBridge site. “She drops me at the office in the morning and picks me up at the end of the day. Fixes my breakfast, packs my lunch, serves me dinner, and cleans the kitchen. She keeps track of my medical appointments and hauls my sorry ass around to every single one of them. The bulk of the house cleaning devolves on her. Oh, did I mention that she also works full-time outside the home? That she spends every Saturday with her 92-year-old mother, doing her shopping, bathing her, tidying up and just being with her?” When people marvel at this, Jane says: "He would've done the same for me." Witnessing the loving relationship they had rules out wishful thinking on her part.


The same week as Jim's death, a letter came from 28-year-old Tom telling of a frequent experience in a person's quest for a partner: "It was a trying year for me personally. A year ago I went through a very bad breakup with my girlfriend of two years the week I started my new job, and it has been hard to stay focused. Without getting into the details, the circumstances surrounding the ending of our relationship really shook my confidence in people, relationships, God, and myself."  He found it shattering enough to seek counseling in regard to his faith, heretofore pretty sturdy. When we love others we make ourselves vulnerable to such almost inevitable and disheartening moments. Without underestimating the pain and sadness of breaking up, the relationship of 30 years described above makes such experiences worth the risk.

Here's wishing all of you the kind of love the attorney and his wife enjoyed.  Happy Valentine's Day.

Husbands of Target

Because we've all been there...

Joe Biden = Yosemite Sam

A "lying dog-faced pony soldier?"

Where have we heard that before?

Looney Tunes, indeed.

Who Won the Super Bowl?

The Chiefs, of course!  

But who won the commercial battle?  There were lots of great entries this year - many really strong showings that got a lot of people talking.  In fact, many of the "best of" lists had different entries, which means we got a lot of really good submissions.

It started out early with the redux of Jake from State Farm.  I was wondering what State Farm would do given Patrick Mahomes was a spokesperson, and they dusted off the perfect answer.

Sam Elliott's moustache danging to Old Town Road was a hit, as was Jeep's Groundhog day.  But for my money, Google won the day, and it wasn't even close:

  
I'm not sure how advertising gets better than that - human universality, clear benefit with obvious utility, and emotion-evoking in its storytelling.  

That's excellent advertising, any way you slice it.  Hats off, Google.