How to Write Good

• It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
• Contractions aren’t necessary.
• The passive voice is to be avoided.
• Prepositions are not the words to end sentences with.
• Be more or less specific.
• Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
• One-word sentences? Eliminate!
• Who needs rhetorical questions?
• Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

One of Midnight’s favorite toys is a ping pong ball.  He can bat it and it goes flying with him chasing at full speed.  What a neat sound it makes bouncing on the laminate floor, against the mop board or ricocheting off the furniture.

Sometimes, I set the ball on the floor and kick to Midnight.  He frequently bats it back with a paw.  He’ll use either the front or the back of the paw to do the job.  We’ve had some pretty good volleys going while playing that game.

My little buddy must have been weary the other evening.  I put the ball on the floor between his forelegs.  He just lay there guarding his treasure for a long time.  Eventually, he got up and just sauntered away leaving the sad ping pong ball laying there on the floor.  Maybe it was the heat?  Perhaps it had been a particularly tiring day?

He wasn’t sick.  I’m sure of that.  The next morning he was ready to play run and chase games.  And we did!

Everyone around here is talking about the weather forecast for this week.  Hot and humid.  At least the corn will love that.  People seem to have a different opinion.

I came into the office this morning with no clear idea for a blog post.  I didn’t want to trouble you with my aches and pains.  Who would want to hear about that?  Not even my doctor!  That’s who.

While I was searching for an idea, I decided to check on recent e-mails.  There was one from my son, Scott.  He is well aware of my recent computer woes and the problems I’ve had with off-shore tech support.  Scott’s message was a link to this video:

Strangely enough, I had no trouble relating to that.  Can you?

My new external hard drive arrived yesterday.  Next step is to unpack and install it on this computer.

It’s amazing that for less than $100 I bought a 2.5 TB drive and had it delivered to my door.  How can you beat that?  Yes, I know . . .  Next week you will find a better deal.  I’m not waiting.

Visitor on my window

Yesterday, after the storms, I saw this welcome visitor on my window.  Help yourself to all the mosquitoes that you care to eat.

The first storm came through before lunch and took out a few smaller branches from the trees.  A second storm came through after lunch.  In the evening the air was nice and clean.  Sylvia and I invented excuses to spend time outside picking up fallen sticks, walking around and enjoying the pleasant evening.

We picked some raspberries, which we had with some frozen yogurt for dessert.  They were very tasty!

The electricity went out several times.  While that was slightly inconvenient, it was not completely unwelcome.  It gave me a  push toward reading a bit more in the book I’m currently working on.  That was good.  Also, we have a generator in the barn that starts automatically when the commercial power goes out.  About 20 seconds later, it switches the power feed to the house from the commercial mains to the generator.  When power is restored it switches back and shuts down the generator.

Of course shortly after we installed that generator, the power company went into an aggressive policy of removing potential power-threatening conditions.  That’s why they removed some trees here a couple of years ago.  That’s okay.  I’m glad we have the backup generator.

Computer Problems

My 500 GB external hard drive has become unreliable.  I recently ordered a replacement.  For less than $100, I’m having a 2.5 TB drive shipped to my door.  How can you beat that?

I use that drive to back up my main hard drive.  I use Acronis True Image software to do that in the middle of the night.  The external drive and software have proven to be an excellent investment.  A few years back, I had a catastrophic failure of a replacement hard drive after two weeks of service.  The drive itself was under warranty and was quickly replaced.  Restoring all files turned out to be a very easy task.

It’s nearly lunch time, and then I have some computer work to do.  Hope you are enjoying the summer.

Our vegetable garden is now out of this frame to the left.  We are planning to move it into the area that is near (within 50 feet of) the house in the right side of this picture.  This will bring our veggies to a place with more sunshine and that is also easier to water.  (It will be very much closer to the water tap.)

We are thinking of adding rhubarb along one side and a large asparagus bed along the other side.  In other words, perennials along the two long sides with annuals in the strip down the center.  I’m also thinking of permanent fencing along the two long sides.  Temporary or movable fencing would close in the ends.  This will allow me to open the ends and till the center strip with the tractor.  Fencing is needed to keep out deer and rabbits.

Do you have any thoughts or suggestions for me before I begin?  I would appreciate your help.

Family Fun

We’ll be attending a graduation open house for a niece’s daughter (my sister’s granddaughter) this evening.  I’m looking forward to seeing all those folks and getting caught up on their latest news.

We missed another open house for a different niece’s daughter (same grandmother) last weekend.  I felt bad about missing that one, but I was feeling bad from a second summer cold.  I sure hope those are over–at least for this year.

Hope you have an enjoyable weekend.

This one came from Sylvia.  I think she received it from a friend.

ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.

BEAUTY PARLOR: A place where women curl up and dye.

CHICKENS: The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead.

COMMITTEE: A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.

DUST: Mud with the juice squeezed out.

EGOTIST: Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.

HANDKERCHIEF: Cold Storage.

INFLATION: Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.

MOSQUITO: An insect that makes you like flies better.

RAISIN: A grape with a sunburn.

SECRET: Something you tell to one person at a time.

SKELETON: A bunch of bones with the person scraped off.

TOOTHACHE:  The pain that drives you to extraction.

TOMORROW: One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.

YAWN: An honest opinion openly expressed.

And MY Personal Favorite!

WRINKLES: Something other people have, similar to my ‘character lines’.

Is it any wonder that I like to check my e-mail inbox first thing each morning?

I told you earlier that Tuesday was a busy day.  I had to drink my coffee quickly that morning so that we could get to church in time to catch the bus.

We boarded the bus you see above.  It took nearly an hour to arrive at our destination on the west side of Lansing, Michigan.

Sylvia sprinted out front to capture this image of our group coming off the bus.

Then she took this shot of me beside the Michigan Princess as it sits at its dock on the Grand River.

A few minutes later and we were going on board this three-deck paddle boat.

We gathered in the main deck dining room.  As soon as we were underway, lunch was served.

The Bayou River Band played for our entertainment.  Later, they visited each table asking for requests.  It was a lot of fun.  Our friend Bonnie requested When the Saints Come Marching In.  She also added, “And as we say, give it some stuff!”  They did.

After lunch, we went up to the top deck to see the sights and enjoy the glorious weather.  It was a very nice outing.  (We have more trips coming up this summer.  I’m particularly looking forward to visiting the Amish community.)

All too soon, the river cruise was over and we left the Michigan Princess, boarded our bus and returned home.  We were a bit tired and very happy.