once, before i knew better, i would look forward to spring....warm days, flowers sprouting, beautiful sunshine, and a certain laziness in the air. i finally figured out most of that describes fall. spring is bright light squeezing through bitter clouds, shivering in your spring wardrobe under layers of sweaters pretending you are not cold. it is always chilling rain during sports meets.
autumn is the golden time with dust motes floating through lemonade air. well, it is supposed to be like that. this year in western South Dakota it is biting winds with the hint of winter snows. but the grass in the back yard likes it. but i think the green looks a little sharp, not the laying down and playing in the grass kind of grass. time for people to drag out mittens, scarves, and snow boots.
my daughter and my granddaughter accompanied me on my road trip from riverside, ca to boulder, co. our first morning breakfast on the road was at Starbucks complete with electronic devices. in fact, we stopped there confident that they would have internet available. daughter still had some postings to do to finish the academic year. so here we are. two iPads (mine black and granddaughter's in the orange protective case) and one super powerful laptop (under granddaughter's iPad),.
even though Leslie was almost five at the time of the picture, she already knows her way around the device. she will grow up quite literate when it comes to computers and their offspring. some people may think that she is too young but the more fluent you are in any skill, the better off you are. and her life is not all computers.
i was born just before the eniac was built under the direction of the war department. it was very huge and was quite limited in its activities. i think the average car today is smarter than the enaic. in my lifetime i have witnessed the size of the computer diminish and the power of the computer sharply increase. i was so excited when i had my first computer and was able to 'dial-up' the internet. now i think i am addicted and probably spend too much time with my fingers on the keyboard.
but oh the possibilities... i can draw, check information, play games, collect information and pictures, read books, make books, watch movies, do my banking, find my ancestors, write, and a thousand other things i haven't discovered yet. more addicting that coffee. well, coffee is a close second, especially Starbucks.
even in old age there is much to be learned about oneself. i recently found out that some people truly hate it when i state that what they believe or want to believe is true is not. one should not knock done another person's idea of truth (especially if it is a cherished belief and most emphatically if it is a long held religious belief). they hate you for it and you do not change their minds. and besides, they want their statement valued. i am beginning to think life is not about truth but something else altogether.
so now when someone says Chrysler is owned by Ford when it is really owned by Fiat, i just keep silent. or that all the major car companies made Jeep at one time or another i don't respond even though i am pretty sure that GM never made a jeep. other car companies like Willy's, Chrysler, Kaiser, AMC, did and one man was involved in all those companies.....Chrysler. Ford did make jeeps at first because the government didn't think Willy's could produce enough, but they were made to Willy's specifications.
Chrysler's story is really interesting. in the beginning Chrysler worked for GM but then was involved in many other car companies before forming Chrysler corporation. (Willy's, Kaiser, Maxwell-Chalmers, AMC) Chrysler company has been in and out of many other car companies. hard to keep track, but they have had or still have association with Mitsubishi, Lamborghini, Daimler-Benz, and Peugeot. and now they belong to Fiat.
So now jeep is made by an Italian company. i still like jeeps and if it wasn't so hard to get into the jeep wrangler i would still have one. i think it is my favorite car of all the cars i have owned. totally illogical.
