It’s so smoky here because of the fires in going on about 60-80 miles south of us. Over 53,000 acres have burned in the last week and a half. We’re still praying for rain. Maybe the storm coming through tomorrow will bring some moisture.

Looking through the Diversions section of the Savannah paper…. 

• From VOX POPULI (voice of the people):
    – “Mother Nature Spares Legends’ was your headline last week. with all of the people in the Northeast who were without power and have lost their homes and businesses to the storm, it’s good to know a bunch of rich people could still enjoy their golf tournament.”
    – “So Sanjaya was finally voted off ‘American Idol.’ Great, now I can plug my television in again.”
• “Fiddler on the Roof” is playing at Hilton Head Island the next month. Too bad the tickets cost $46. They’d have to do a bang-up job to make it worth that amount.
• Overheard: “It’s so weird that I went to rehab. I always said I would die before I went to rehab.” – Lindsey Lohan  (pop culture, isn’t it great!!)
• A Celtic Gathering next Saturday in Savannah. Pipe band competitions, Parade of Tartans (read: men in skirts, ew!), Scottish Heavy Athletics, Highland Dancing, Sheep Herding Demonstrations. Would be an interesting cultural experience to have if I wouldn’t be headed out-of-state for a wedding.
• Rhymes with Orange comic strip. Blond woman: “I can’t believe states are banning talking on the phone while driving.” Brunette women: (no, I’m not prejudiced; they really are drawn that way ) “It’s supposed to be safer.” Blonde woman: “That makes no sense! How is driving while text-messaging any safer?!”

Dreamed last night that a bear was chasing me and a man and 2 kids. Then it turned into a bull with very large horns (the famous Marylou-dream trick) that came after us. Was it because I noticed the Dow-Jones closed above 13,000 yesterday (the whole bear-bull market thing)?? No, probably not.  There’s just something about bulls and horns that really freaks me out. Fear of bulls is Taurophobia, in case you didn’t know. Well, really now, I didn’t know either until a few minutes ago. Google is your friend. Wowzers! They even have therapy for that.

Actually, on closer observation of that website, it looks like you could maybe plug in any “fear” in there. “For anyone earning a living, the financial toll of this phobia is incalculable. Living with fear means you can never concentrate fully and give your best. Lost opportunities. Poor performance or grades. Promotions that pass you by. fear of bulls will likely cost you tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of your lifetime, let alone the cost to your health and quality of life. Now Fear Of Bulls can be gone for less than the price of a round-trip airline ticket.” …….. “But so long as the negative association is powerful enough, the unconscious mind thinks: “Ahh, this whole thing is very dangerous. How do I keep myself from getting in this kind of situation again? I know, I’ll attach terrible feelings to bulls, that way I’ll steer clear in future and so be safe.” Just like that fear of bulls is born.” Interesting!

The other night I was walking on a country and I do mean country road across the field from our house. A truck passed me and I resisted the temptation to holler “You could’ve at least waved!” I glanced over and noticed the sun was huge orange ball (due to all the smoke) right over our house so I stopped for a moment to enjoy it. Well, the truck stopped, turned around and came back to where I was. By then I was walking again so I got off the side of the road for him to pass. Well, he pulled off the road really far and drove down into the ditch. He then proceeded to ask if I minded if he asked why I stopped and turned around right after he passed. I explained the whole orange sun/house scenerio and assured him it had nothing to with him. He thought maybe someone down the road had yelled at him or something. Umm… why would anybody be yelling at him? I was sure glad I had resisted the urge. He turned around and left, leaving a puzzled individual beside the road.