Where have you been?

Rip Van Winkler here

Where have you been? that long hay? So, you can't hide under a rock but I tried and some Joe had to turn the rock over. What have you been up too people have asked, oh about 6'1" 199 lbs. is the answer.

So here we are in the land of fruit and nuts, California waiting on another transplant for a lovely daughter. The other question I was asked was.."Why did I quite blogging?" Three reasons... first, the brain ran out of fuel.... second, no one was reading this site and third I got locked out...

Lastly, my computer blew it's brains out. Poof, and it was fired and the only way that I can continue is for one or two of you let me know at you are following Rambling with Robin... ta ta 4 now

The real north.

We are driving half way to the north pole for Thanksgiving. Ely Minnesota. So you don’t have to get out your Atlas, Ely it at the end of the road in northern Minnesota, a stone throw from Canada, that is if you have a strong arm. It’s a family deal, make that families as several sets of grandparents will be in competition for a grandkid's lap time.

The thing about the Far North area is that it's like "Bikini" Atoll. The Atoll was was a beauitful place till they exploded a Hyrogen bomb, it was called testing. Now all the fish glow in the dark and the people are toothless. Northern Minnesota was a beauitful place till they started digging hole in it for iron ore so we all could drive around in Edsel cars. So two far off places have a thing in common.

I have been up that way once before but it was during a hazy time in my time. So this time I am taking notes and a camera. The last time (that's one too many TIMES)all that I remember is that it’s a long 5 hour drive. Yes, I know the ground will be cover white as will the bare trees and it’s going to be zero degree even here in Wisconsin tonight. Brrr. But, once again we’ll be as Willie Nelson states… “On the road, again.”. That can’t be all bad.

The trip is also being made to defend our state from the other Minnesota grandparents who are telling our granddaughters that our Wisconsin University’s mascot is a fighting Sunk. Correct, both badgers and sunks are black and white, but a little confusing for the little tots calling badgers sunks. Our come back will be that the University of Minnesota’s Gold Gopher is realy a yellow rodent.

The other Universe

We’re here and it’s over there.
What is? The other place, not this place.
First we started with the BIG BANG, the instant when all this started.

Ka’wamm’.

The atoms speared out and made us what we are; simple objects holding onto a rock flying around a ball of gas called the Sun, which is a very, very small speck in this universe. That is all that’s around us or so thought our theorical Physicists.

But several other people now look at it in another way when they were told the world was created on the 'first day'. Whose First day? and what is a day?
Let’s go back a 'minute' and look at a day… what was first day and who defined time? To answer let your objective imagination flow…

Time is ticking, I can hear it on your wrist watch which is ticks off the seconds of your life. It seems a constant. There is a rhythm to it all - 60 seconds to a minute 60 of them in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 12 months to a year - All this is in a neat and pretty package. Its been that way for centuries. All quite on the western front then enter Mr. Einstein and his what‘ifs.’

But what time is it? Does it matter?
E= MC2 was solid for a century, either thing were engery or matter.
It’s got to be one or the other. It all fit into Albert's little box and did so for forty years… Then some guy comes up the a thing call plasma and I don’t mean the type in new TVs - it’s a state between matter and energy. You just can’t fool Mother Nature but you can Mr. Newton who came up with “for every action there is a posited and equal reaction”, not quite! This is very similar to the Chinese view of things, the Ying and the Yang or Thomas Edison’s positive and negative electricity.

So here we sat in one dimension, all of us and our baggage. What about them? Who you ask? Your other self of course. Say you are the positive, what about the negative you and I don’t mean the shady side of your personality? A coin has two side, isn’t it possible so does our universe and the other you is out there. He or she is asking the same question as you…. Why I am I reading this?

Some people think that Indiana in it’s self is a different universe but putting that aside try going for a long walk at midnight and look above at the nightly heavens. Couldn’t the other you be doing the same thing at the same time… on the other side of the Twilight Zone where the clock runs backwards… is this stuff to heavy for you.

JRWC jr...junior for short

He just moved into Carter Lake Iowa without a lot of fan fare. There were other distractions than his arrival. Things were a little helter skelter. An election was around the corner and an older fellow in an adjoining town, Mr. Buffet, was trying to save the financial world. What’s the big deal a few people thought of his arrival?

But who knows what is to come? Sure there are death and taxes and a few other unavoidable but the birth and arrival of young JRWC may not have seemed like earth shaking news on the coasts but here in northern Wisconsin it was a sign of good tidings. “ It’s a new Coleman boy!”

Look out world… What’s he going to be?… the 60th president, commander of the fleet, a rocket scientist, better yet- how about a good person with love in his heart and extra ordinary thoughts in his head, could be but a water skier for sure.

So like all parents, grand parents we have our new job set for us - to see that all members of our expanding families set their feet on the ground and head in the right direction… any body got a road map?

Where did my chocolate go?
I could have answered with the truth!
“I don’t know!”

That’s a very simple answer. It’s quite easy to say but hard to remember. Like when some one in your home asks… ”When did you get home last night?”
the correct answer is …. “I don’t know.”
This truthful answer will floor the person asking you.
Or when asked “ Where did you lose your car keys?” the answer is…
“I don’t know.”Same deal!
This answer “I don’t know” is the most logical, most truthful and most seldom used. How about this one…
"Mr. Blogger, How come you are such a duefuss?”
I should answer, “I don’t know,I come by it naturally."

My gift to all of you is that this answer “I don’t know.”

When used with proper voice inflection and facial mannerism it can get almost of you out of a pickle. How about in the last campaign if either of the guys fussed up….
i.e. “ Tell us what makes you think you can be commander and chief?”
Answer, Senator O’boma - “ I don’t know.”
i.e. “ Tell us how can we get out of this financial problem?”
Answer, Senator McCain -“ I don’t know.”

And there is the old saw… ‘and the truth shall make you free.’ and broke, out of chocolate and out of office.

On the road...

I just had to share this picture we took this morning.
It's the sunrise over the St. Croix River just outside Hudson Wisconsin.
Don't beleive me?
Ok, then it's the surise over Lake Minnetonka.
No?
Then how about a back water pond ofthe Des Moines River?
Ok, I created fib and used a canned photo taken by Greg (son in law).
Got cha' again the pix was taken on a later afternoon floating down the Snake River just out of Jackson Hole...but you knew that anyway.
One or two of you know that yes I can take a digital pix but from there I am blind.

The thing is we did se the same sun this AM rising through a huge fog bank and it played us a picture in multi colors. Get the picture? See you all next Wednesday not this Wednesday... ta,ta 4 now

On the road...

Next Wednesday early AM we are on the road, no we are not going into hiding. I know it will be one day after election(s). But,Young JR needs to see his grandparents before he goes off to college.

It's a great time to travel right before the fall ice storms hit I-80. So on Tuesday we volunteer at the Thirft Shop then vote for one of the two bandits, pack and get an early 6am send off... it will be a wirlwind trip catching the HIGH points of Iowa (one)then over to Omaha.

Therefore, you will be blogless next week... no crying please. If anyone has a problem with this you can take up with my manager, Miss Rosebud, and she will set you straight. So on Tuesday cast your vote for the crook of your choice, then you too can sit back and bitch like hell about how had things are, it's the American Way!

Another American thing is Thanksgiving, we can all be thankfull that the political ads are over (for the time being).

P.S. The pix is of the two of on our last trip to Iowa and in back of us is one of your average Iowa corn stalks.