Farewell, 2011, We Knew Ye All Too Well

     Greetings, All -- Well, if you had told me that a year could have a bad personality, I am not certain that I would have believed you before now.  The war years, 1941-1945 were very bad, but they had an excuse:  a crew of really bad actors had jumped the fence and were raising Cain all over the world, doing unspeakable things.  We have some bad ones around today, but compared to those boys from the old days who, I trust, are now burning in some undesirable venue, they are rank amateurs.

     So, 2011, you ushered in a new decade in our new century, but what got into you!  We had the worst weather events ever according to the experts in the form of rain and floods, tornados, blizzards and who can count the ways?  The U.S. Congress is in a world-class shouting match.  Too many folks, even those with youngsters, are living in their cars as they try to make ends meet against odds.  We are winding down two wars with a half war in between and some are beating the war drums again.  From the sublime to the ridiculous, there are thirty-five, count 'em, **35**, bowl games as we roll into 2012!

     Whether or not a year is responsible for human performance within its confines, let us  hope we bottomed out in 2011.  Now, I have never been much for celebration just because a particular calendar page has been turned.  I will confess a fondness for egg nog, with or without, and would not dare pass through that first day absent a dish of hog jowl and black eyed peas.  It seems to me that no sane person would take that chance with his luck in 2012.  Heavens, it just occurred to me, we have a reader in Arabia where hog jowl is as welcome as the bubonic plague.  I am deeply concerned for him because he is a South Floridian too boot!

     Despite my attack on bowl games, I will be attentive to the grudge match between my Gators and those big meanies, the Ohio State Buckeyes, in the Gator Bowl.  Neither team has moved mountains this year, but I suspect that both are pretty well spun up for their game.  Of course, I will have an occasional celebratory libation in my grip in case the going gets too tough.  And with that, I will do my best to count on family, friends and readers to stand shoulder to shoulder with me and meet the challenges that surely lie before us and our noble nation during 2012.

     Best wishes to you for a Happy and Prosperous New Year, Billy

Hawk Bait 1

Greetings, All – What strangely benign weather we have had hereabouts considering that it is December and we are slap up against 2012.  The blizzards of last year are not forgotten.  In fact, right at this moment, they may be laying plans for a comeback for all I know.  Since I was a farmer for a while when I was a youth, it is not in my nature to count chickens, not only before they hatch, but before they are in my pot, not some fox’s.

On a personal note, my dear, departed brother and I, when we were little kids, used to lie in bed considering various earth-shaking propositions.  One that we liked a lot was to compute our respective ages in the year 2000.  Back in the Thirties, as they later said in China, that was “a great leap forward.”  Well, here I am, more than three score and ten years on.  I am happy to report that both of us passed the millennial milestone upright as did our sister.  We missed our little brother who did not make it.

One of our readers, after checking out the exploits of Wayne Keith, the wood-to-speed inventor and mechanic I told you about, shifted a bit out of gear, but staying on the topic of “energy,” asked how we kept warm on chilly to downright cold days in South Florida.  Before you start laughing, I will remind you that one frosty night in 1940, fortunate people left their lawn irrigation systems on to find a magnificent forest of icicles, some as long as three or four feet, hanging from palm fronds the next morning.  Everyone was out in street oohing and ahing since we had only seen ice after hail storms or when blocks were delivered to our iceboxes, carried by strong men holding large tongs.

Clearly, we needed a source of heat in our “CBS” (concrete block and stucco) houses.  That was usually supplied by a fire place.  My brother and I collected wood from deadfalls during fine weather and split and stacked it in the garage.  My Dad built a fire on cold mornings, then awakened us.  Still in our pajamas, we ran into the living room and dressed before the roaring fire that consumed quantities of fat Dade County pine.  Unheated school houses were closed at temperatures below fifty degrees Farenheit.

One more related energy matter, then I’ll let you go.  On our roof, there was a wooden frame about the size of a couple of doors set end to end.  Supported by a metal frame, one long side was just above the roof and the other raised to create about a thirty-degree angle with the roof line.  Coils of copper pipe were mounted on black tar paper laid out on the upper surface.  It was covered by glass panes containing reinforcing “chicken wire.”

Water from the public supply passed through the pipes of the “Solar System” then into a tank in a closet near the kitchen.  The tank was equipped with a small kerosene heater that Dad lighted a few times a year to counter a siege of inclement weather.  The system was fairly reliable. Not bad technology for pushing a century ago!

Best wishes, Billy

Wood to Speed!

Greetings, All -- I just read a neat piece in Jim Lane's wonderful free News Letter on Biofuels and Renewable Chemicals [jlane@biofuelsdigest.com.]  It's about a fellow, Wayne Keith, who went to his wood pile to get around the price of gasoline.  I figured he could not be all bad since he is from the little burg of Springville, Alabama, where my Dad first saw the light of day in 1905.  The URL that will take you to the story appears below.  If you are interested in cars, biofuels, ecology or just like to know what is going on in the world, take a look.  If you are deep into these things including major chemical plants and bioconversion, Jim Lane, the editor of Biofuels Digest, always welcomes new subscribers at the best price you can imagine -- it's free!
http://biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2011/12/28/wayne-keith-sets-a-new-world-wood-gas-speed-record/

Best wishes, Billy

First Day, First Post

     Greetings, All -- My name is Billy Hawkfinder.  That isn't my real name, but I feel like Billy since I am a Florida Cracker by birth and I lived not far from the Glades until I went away to college, then to World War II.  So, please don't think that I am trying to fool anybody by using an "alias."  Furthermore, my picture is not on the wall of the U.S. Post Office and I have not done time.  As I write from my home in Maryland, I intend this site to be safe for mature adult ladies and gentlemen.

     What makes a person think that opening a Blog is a good idea, I wonder.  In a small way, I suppose, one has to believe in the value of conversation -- a two-way exchange of ideas and perceptions.  We seem to get less and less of that in our Shouting Society where there is no capacity for hearing the other person out.  I am a tad deaf these days and there are times when I am glad of it.  How about you?

     The snapshots at the bottom of page are meant to let you know that our family has great appreciation for the beauty and sanctity of Nature.  Our children are long grown and our first great grandchild is on the way.  His/her mom and dad are both Soldiers, our grandson is just returned from a deployment in Iraq without any damage, we are all happy to say.  Like all families, we have our differences, but for the most part, our philosophies of life are in synch and wholesome.  Being with many of them over this Christmas season has been joyful to my spouse of 64 years, also in uniform during the war, and me.

     Well, there you have a quick look into my quiet life.  I have not told you that I enjoy putting my thoughts and imaginings on paper.  As this project advances, as we go on, I will inflict some of my amateurish efforts on you with no apologies.  I am looking forward to gaining the benefit of your thoughts and comments.  If we get to exchanging ideas about our beloved America, the financial prognosis of the world and other topics that you are free to select, perhaps something exciting will come of it.  I certainly hope so.

With warm wishes, Billy