Where the great giraffe is stored?

Sometimes what people hear is way better than the original lyrics. "He has trampled on the village where the great giraffe is stored" is certainly more evocative than the cryptic original, "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored."

The Grapes of Wrath...where are they stored anyway? Are the people going to rise up against the bankers and politicos? The midterm elections are coming. We saw an old guy wearing a t-shirt with a peace symbol that said "01.10.2009:....it seemed very dated and ironic in context.

They played the Battle Hymn of the Republic when President Bush spoke to the Nation after 9/11 and promised us a "Crusade"....I thought I'd choke ...maybe I can get it as a ring tone...

Revelation 14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine press of the wrath of God.

Revelation 14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

You might also like, "He's the champion out of Venice where the great surf master scored." (1600 furlongs = 321.8688 kilometers)....or "He is trampling through the vintage where the caves of rattlers snored".

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

"Glory Glory Hardly Knew Ya!"

Mrs. Phred want to improve her mind with math, puzzles and music. We are also looking for a xylophone that will fit well into the RV and fold easily for transport.


I can see us doing the karaoke circuit in Paris. I'll sing "Summertime" while she accompanies me on the xylophone.

"Suppertime, and the liver was greasy..".

'Scuse me, while I kiss this guy....

Tiebreaker! Tiebreaker!

Burlington, Vermont

You may have been following my years of tennis losses to Mrs. Phred. I usually lose 6-1 or 6-0 with a very rare 6-3.

Today we went 6-6 but then I lost my first tiebreaker by 7-5. I felt like I was Andy Roddick playing against Fedderer on my best day.

We've been playing together frequently up here so I'm starting to mentally figure out where she's going to place her return and get there in time. She played a little like she might have had an overnight mini stroke. Also, my serves and returns were more consistent than usual.

Whatever the factors, I'm starting to think I've got a shot at winning at least one before I die if we play often enough.

Black Fly Season

Burlington, Vermont

Another problem with Canada in early summer is the season of the black flies, which starts around Mother's Day and ends around Father's Day. The male black fly drinks nectar but the female craves blood and has been known to kill cattle. The bites may cause severe allergic reactions and cause a disease known as "river blindness".



So maybe we'll ease into Canada about the third week in June after the black flies die off. We can hit the coast of Maine for a few weeks and eat lobsters while we wait.