F. Ed Knutson Blogopolis

Here is another Friday in the many passings of Fridays as the world imparts to us. Here in Las Vegas we are enjoying a respite from the audacious oven temperatures that have been the norm. We have cloud cover, sprinkles of "rain". Actually the raindrops are dehydrating into near nothingness on their way through the global warming, causing humidity that us westerners aren�t used to. The wonder of it all is that the creations of rain residue and desert dust on the windshields and windows of our automotive devices could be considered artful, if they weren�t so much an obstruction to our safe view.

My endeavor to go motorcycling has been set back for reasons beyond the above 100 degree temperatures that often endure into the dusk and dark, past my bedtime. I also have been put off from riding by the healing soreness of having my operation several weeks ago. That will pass soon, as I am feeling much better day by day. The incision was at least five inches and so was definitely not "laproscopic" in it�s purest form. The surgeon used stainless steel staples to close me up. I believe that the pain caused by them protruding into the body as the tissue moves around, is pain that sutures would not have caused. However after one week, butterfly stitches aka little strips of bandage tape, were then applied after removing of the industrial strength stainless steel staples!

Last weekend, my second weekend post operation was when I drove my little non-air conditioned Geo Metro Bentley to the Phoenix area to visit my recuperating mother. It was above 100 degrees, and slightly cloudy when I left and so all my windows were in the rolled down position. I drove about 120 miles to a truck & travel stop on the I-40 about 15 miles east of Kingman, Arizona. After taking a nice cool break inside the place, I decided that a nice cold iced tea to go would be pleasing as I continued my journey.

Meanwhile several tables away a customer made a remark meant for all to hear, "Look, it�s raining outside". Whoa cowboy, (cowperson for the politically correct) that�s not just "raining" going on out there, that�s a "cloud-burst"! You know, bucket loads, sky rivers, heavenly waterfalls, etc. Now I know that I told you that I had rolled down my windows because of the heat, and yes, they were still down. But you are not going to see my tubby, post operative-sore, happy go lucky self RUN through the store busting past al manner of truckers and tourists just to roll up the windows of my Geo Metro Bentley! Besides, I was wearing flip-flops, and people had already tracked enough water on to the tile floors to make me into a giant squeegee if I were to slip and fall on such a rambunctious rush!

Paying for my iced tea, I headed across the plaza being careful not to slip. As I reached the far side near where I was parked, I remarked to the half a dozen patrons waiting to pay the cashier "That�s alright folks, it�s a dry rain". Some young tourist lady then snidely queried her cohort "What is that supposed mean?" Then some one replied "You know, down here they say that it�s a dry heat?". Then of course the little audience chuckled. But was it because of the "joke", or were they laughing at her for not knowing what was meant?

Yes, the sky was crying. Torrential. Giant gully washers. There I was in summer shorts and Polynesian shirt letting the rain soak me in the sweltering heat. My car seat had four inches of rain accumulated where I place my derriere. For some reason, all wisdom vanished as I decided to roll up all of the other windows first, allowing more water accumulation in the driver�s seat. But, alas. I had an old full roll of paper towels that I used to sit on after using the palm of my hand to scoop the majority of the cloud burst from my seat! I was quite wet. My clothing was quite wet. The seat, the interior, the upholstery, and the floorboards were all wet, and the temperature remained at the 100 degree levels. Voila, instant steamed windshield!

Do I really want to run the defroster in this heat? Do I roll the windows back down allowing the steam to dissipate, while allowing more rain inside. Such was my dilemma. Unlike most others though, anger was not an option. Who was to blame other than myself, and the candor of the local weather? I was actually laughing out loud (lol) as I attempted to make a decision as to what to do next.

Thank the LORD that the cloud was done with it�s local antics and I was able to drive on with the windshield fan blasting while windows were again wide open! This event actually made the drive in the heat more palatable because the car was in effect, it�s own evaporative cooler the entire rest of the trip to Phoenix!

Visiting with my two sisters Lois and Betty Jane and my niece Katherine at my mom�s in Tempe on Friday evening, I found out that my mom was already asleep for the evening. I drove back to Phoenix and stayed the evening at my brother David�s house. David and I went to together to mom�s in Tempe to stay with my mom while our sisters got a chance to do a bit of shopping. Later that afternoon, David took my niece Katherine and I to do a little hiking on South Mountain just south of Phoenix. Since the drive the day before was a bit much for me, I took some pain meds. I enjoyed the hike needless to say.

I did get some time to spend with my mom chatting, and catching up some on things. I pray for her recovery and that she will be able to get off some of the meds that she is on. This is the 2^nd time in 30 years that all of us (mom & siblings) have been together in the same place at the same time!

Driving back north through Flagstaff was a wee bit cooler of a drive for me, yet it added just at 100 extra miles that route. It was a nice change to be in mountainous scenery, smell the pine, dodge the wildlife, and breathe the fresh mountain air! I got a bit drowsy on the way out of Flagstaff, so I pulled off on mountain road and napped for about 45 minutes. Wow, that was sure refreshing. The rest of the trip downhill and west to Kingman and then north to �Vegas just got hotter, but at least now I was refreshed! Hoover Dam traffic was not too packed up yet on that Sunday afternoon, but was quickly getting so.

This week I�ve been playing catch up on some things, as well as practicing on my guitars that I accumulated for my birthday last month. My fingers are sore, as they well should be, from trying to get these 50 year old fingers to do what most guitarists train at in their teens. Also I�ll be putting together my own home recording studio in the next couple of weeks. As things are now, I will be voicing the audio books for "Adventures In Learning Land" by Pola Marie Muzyka ( http://www.polamuzyka.com/childrensbooks.html ). I�m counting down as I am praying that I will miraculously get funding for film school by September 1st of this year, or I will have to withdraw from my acceptance at LA Film School ( www.lafilm.com ) which would start October 2^nd..

My sons, Steven and Anthony (Tony) are supposedly coming to Las Vegas this weekend! Their mom is getting married again, and they�ll be along for the special occasion. I�d like to be able to visit with my boysenberries (private nickname for them) at my cave for once! Tony will be 25 next month, and Steven will be 27 in January!

That about catches us up for now. Ta ta.

GBU

Ed