Thoughts On A Sunday

The long Christmas holiday winds to a close here at The Manse. The Christmas music has been stilled, and decorations and ornaments packed away carefully until Christmas once again fills our hearts and minds.

Our tree came down today, something that is always bittersweet for me. Deb and I removed the ornaments, the garlands, the lights, putting them away. The angel that adorns the top of the tree was carefully removed, wrapped, and placed in a box, not to see the light of day until after Thanksgiving next year.

All too soon we return to our daily lives, the magic of the season fading from our consciousness as our attention returns to living from day to day.

I have always found this saddening.

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This does not surprise me in least:

Americans give more to charity, per capita and as a percentage of gross domestic product, than the citizens of other nations.

A number of reasons are cited, one of them being Americans usually have more money left in their pockets after paying taxes as compared to their contemporaries.

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Finally, the cause of anthropogenic global warming has been found: NASA computers used to plot global temperatures.

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It appears science illiteracy is the latest rage among celebrities, politicians, and other glitterati.

This is a disturbing trend.

How can we expect our so-called “betters” to make the right decisions about science and technology if their heads are filled with pseudoscientific mumbo-jumbo and outright junk science?

Being of a scientific bent of mind (I'm an engineer), I don't know how many times I've come across people with little, if any understanding about how things in their every day lives actually work. Some of these people have been politicians tasked with deciding the path of research or spending on science and technology.

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While we did have a White Christmas this year here in New England, you wouldn't think so considering temps here have run from the lower 50's to the upper 60's today. The warm temps have allowed for melting of some of the ice and snow from the previous couple of weeks, leaving roads and roofs bare. Even the Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout's winter storage cover is clean.

It was warm enough to eschew use of the Official Weekend Pundit Woodstove today. Deb even opened a couple of windows upstairs to air things out.

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The New England Patriots played and beat the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo, 13-0. In order for the Pats to make the playoffs, either the Jets must beat the Dolphins, or the Baltimore Ravens must lose to Jacksonville Jaquars. If that doesn't happen, the Patriots are finished for the season.

Frankly, I'd rather have the Patriots stay out of the playoffs this year. This will allow their hurt players more time to heal and/or go through rehab, allowing a fresh start come next season. The Patriots are hurting, with many of their first and second string players either out hurt or playing hurt.

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I've never doubted this, particularly when I've heard it from a liberal:

Conservatives love America more than liberals.

There are far too many examples for liberals to say otherwise.

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One of our feline residents has taken it upon herself to start her own blog. (No, not Bagheera. He posts here, feeling it is beneath his dignity to maintain his own blog. He has better things to do...or so he says.)

Hilda, our resident Maine Coon Cat, was pushed into it after curmudgeonly Bagheera made some disparaging remarks during one of his last posts.

You can find her not-so-daily posts at Hilda's Home. (Hey, she's a cat. She posts whenever the mood strikes her.)

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where we've received a brief reprieve from winter weather, Christmas decorations have already started coming down, and where winter will return soon enough.