Yesterday I’ve made a phone call to check on a financial transaction. I was surprised when the person on the other end of the line picked up on the first ring. I am one for small talk, and eventually asked where this person was calling from.

She said she was calling from Pennsylvania. I said that’s cool I grew up in Pennsylvania. I jokingly said I bet you’re calling from Reading Pennsylvania.

“Yes I am”

I said that is where I grew up. She responded by saying she is calling from Glenside a small little battered suburb of Reading.

“That’s funny my grandmother lived there her entire life and I went to Glenside elementary for a few years.”

Did you have Miss Caffarelli in the fifth grade.?

“No I did not as she was out on some leave for a mental issue.“ Yup that is how I remember that. It probably had something to with a crush my Uncle has on Mrs C. On a side note, I was not a big fan of Mrs c.

A question or two later, I found she was calling from a few houses down from my grandmother‘s house. I asked her if she knew a few of the neighbors and she did. I confirmed I had a crush on a girl named Katie who lived on the street and she seemed to have a crush on her brother.

I asked her about her favorite sandwich shop in Berks county and she said it was V&S. She was adamant that it was not the downtown location, rather than one in Temple.

She stated a mild dislike for Screpsi’s.

You cannot make this stuff up. It’s a small world. She did note the first lightning bugs of summer had made a brief appearance.in Berks county.

Admiro a las personas que hablan más de un idioma.

I am always in awe when I watch somebody who can speak more than one language. I get really frustrated, rather pissed off, when people have a difficult time with somebody working hard to use our language.

I have struggled to learn both German and Spanish however I rather enjoy when I get to use it and use it effectively. And it is usually a rare occasion. Ironically, I fear the same things that happened to non-native speakers. Yes, the fear of rejection for not speaking correctly

But with that exercise comes humility and appreciation for those who try. We learn Spanish from a friend who lives in Nicaragua. She is patient with us, especially me, and knows when to back off and when to push forward. It can be a trying experience and in the long run deeply rewarding. Here is a big congratulations to non-native speakers and those learning a new language. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it

Hasta pronto.

And of course I’m a biased person when it comes to ducks. I had a duck when I was a kid. It’s name was Georgie. Our memory from when we were three or four years old are all not that much reliable. I just remember having a duck and it followed me everywhere. Or maybe so I’m told.

I have no idea why I am intrigued of this man holding a duck. This is a quick drawing taken from a photograph published in Harpers magazine. It is a magazine that is sometimes way over many people’s heads. But there in the magazine there’s a man holding a duck.

But the one thing I remember clearly is my dad loved that duck. He cried when we had to take the duck back to the farm. And he never claimed to love too many things in his life. But he loved Georgie the duck. And this is what I like about that photograph. I’m pretty sure That man carrying the duck loved that duck.

He confidently posed for the picture and did not duck the camera. He wanted to be photographed with that duck.

Most people complain when it rains -I get it people have things to do and getting wet can you put a damper on things people have to do. I personally love the rain. I love the smell of rain and what it does for The garden, the forest our planet as a whole.

In the Pacific Northwest rain basically stops on the Fourth of July. In the quarter of the century that I’ve lived here this is one thing that has been consistent. And it seems like every single year the month of August and early September it is almost dangerous to live in this environment. Wildfires are everywhere, and send us into a murky dry funk hoping for rain into September.

And there are no actions where we can say, please make it rain because it won’t magically rain. It is one of the more frustrating things having well-to-do politicians ignoring the threat of global warming and ignoring the havoc we are doing to this planet that their children will inherit.

For this morning, I am enjoying a little bit of drizzle and hoping for a deluge.

Hoping for a deluge, Hoping that we never have to look at this across the Columbia river. The annual August wildfires.