Marines and mules ...

... and donkeys, mainly. As an admirer of Marines, I enjoyed this story from today's LA Times, about young Marines working with pack animals at the training center near Bridgeport.

They do it for a terribly serious reason: to be able to lug the gear they need up the mountains in Afghanistan. But the writer manages to capture the enthusiasm and optimism of young men who have volunteered to do dangerous work.

I also recommend the slide show accompanying the story. There are a couple of photos of the Marines working to pull, and push, their animal up the hill.

God bless 'em.

Room with a view

Attitude is everything. It's something we say all the time but every so often there are real examples that bring the old saying home. As our son continues an amazing recovery, we're convinced that his positive attitude is having a significant impact.

I admire what he posted on his Facebook site the other day: "One thing I learned from my situation, feeling sorry for yourself only gets you down. Remember this, it could be a lot worse."

The view from his room at the naval hospital barracks emphasizes the benefit of taking the glass-half-full approach. Is this a view of an ugly, government-built parking structure or a view of lovely buildings at Balboa Park?

Attitude is everything.

Silhouetty Kitty

This is an artsy portrait of the daughter's kitty, taken in beautiful Oakland on the weekend. The kitty deserves to be portrayed as a shadowy figure, because she is known to escape from her home and take up residence with other felines in the neighborhood.

The photograph was taken after we returned from SF, having thoroughly enjoyed Spamalot, and before we set out successfully in search of a fulfilling dinner along Grand Ave. The kitty stayed in the window.

Moving forward

During the past two months, I have learned much about the human spirit. How people come to the aid of others who are injured. How people rally around each other in times of crisis. How strong the will to live is.

We are about to return to our normal lives. But those lives have changed forever. We will not forget the kindness of all the family members, friends, colleagues and complete strangers who helped us and our son, as he continues his recovery. The daughter has written beautifully about this.

There is nothing to add but: Thank you.

Warped speed

We all have our eccentricities ... but we all don't have a replica of the chair Captain Kirk used on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek.

Thanks to the New York Times, though, I learned that a number of men (yes, the Times reported, they all seem to be men) have created replicas of the chair. Some, such as this gentleman, have installed these chairs in their living rooms. One fellow said his wife had forced him to keep the chair out in his garage/home-office: "My wife is not big on it," he told the reporter. "I've actually been threatened with divorce if it comes into the living room."

For all the trouble and expense the men go to in order to create these chairs, it turns out that they're not terribly comfortable ... almost as though the original set designers never really expected anyone to sit in this pretend chair for very long.

Rams win!

Congratulations to the St. Mary's High School Golden Rams of Stockton for winning their fifth state championship in the past decade, in girls Division III basketball.

(Thanks to Sac Bee Web site for the photo.)

City Sightings

We had a wonderful time skewing the demographics at the Space Gallery in San Francisco last night for the Instant Gratification show of Polaroid art. We left the revelry unfashionably early, around 10:30 p.m., but that provided two benefits: First, our departure allowed at least a couple of the people waiting in line to enter. Second, we chanced into a sighting of the San Francisco Snuggie Pub Crawl.

We had learned from the daughter that Snuggies--the As Seen on TV blankets with sleeves--have become an unlikely hit with the twentysomething set. We saw evidence of that cultural trend when we walked out of Space Gallery and saw a group of 10 or 12 people, all clad in what appeared to be royal blue monks' robes. They were headed to Vertigo, the bar across Polk St. from the gallery, and there were already at least a couple of other people in sea green Snuggies awaiting them there. According to the SFSPC Facebook page, Vertigo was even offering drink specials for Snuggie wearers only. If only we had known.

So far, according to the Snuggie Pub Crawls Web site, there is not a Snuggie Pub Crawl scheduled in Sacramento, though somehow the trend has reached Scranton, Penn., and Rapid City, S.D.

The other interesting sight came this morning, as we were walking back from our brunch at the Olea restaurant on California St. A man with a banjo slung over his shoulder came walking out of a laundromat. Had he been entertaining other patrons of the laundromat? There didn't seem to be anyone else in the building. Had his banjo playing scared all the other people away from the laundromat? Was he starting his laundry and heading off to a banjo gig nearby? We will never know.