A Nice Day, Some Sad News

First, this was the kind of day which makes one wonder why anyone would drive a car back and forth to work. This morning was pretty pleasant, 25 degrees and no wind. The sky was getting color in the east, as I left and, though sunrise was an hour away it was obviously immenent.

I flew along on the bike, feeling as though I had a tailwind. Yet, when I passed flags on poles, they were hanging slack. Sometimes, the Earth just spins the right way for you.

This afternoon, it was 60 degrees when I left work, and the sun was shining. People were out, walking dogs, playing in the yard, riding bikes and just generally enjoying the day. Everyone I met returned my wave or "Hello", with the exception of one guy in a suit, riding no hands on a mountain bike with his seat about 4 inches too low. He actually turned his nose up as he went by! I always thought that was just a figure of speech...

Even now, it is 56 degrees on the front porch. The rest of the work week is supposed to be just as pleasant. So I am stoked about the commute, this week! Sixty-eight degrees is forecast for Saturday, with snow and a return to the 30s on Sunday.

Springtime in the Rockies.

In the sad news department, one of my intellectual heroes passed, today. William F. Buckley, Jr. was probably as far removed from my outlook, politically, as is possible. The "father of modern Conservatism" leaned very, very far to the right. In fact, he virtually defined "The Right".

I try to keep politics out of theis blog, but people who know me are aware that I lean a little to the left of center.

Still, whether you agreed with Buckley, or not, you had to admire the man's intellect, his commitment to his causes, and his uncanny ability to always have the (most-times witty, quite often large) last word. Both his writing and his appearances on TV sent me to the dictionary at frequent intervals.

When a detractor wrote a letter saying that he would rather "trust a snake" than to trust Buckley or anyone he supported, Bill wrote back, "What if I supported the snake?"

Intelligence knows no political bounds, and I admired Mr. Buckley, greatly.

RIP

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