Month: July 2023

war of the skies

Ian HunterLeave a comment

The wind roared fiercer than a lion’s breath

Trees gave up branches as sacrificial offerings

Buildings stood firm in bold defiance 

Battered by the artillery fire of flying debris 

The angry raging sea of the skies ran amok

Flipping over vehicles like jettisoned toys

Once manicured lands became a bloody battlefield

Nature had declared war on a defenseless foe

Wherever you are today, take a few moments to ponder why still air molecules can taste so sweet yet, when nature commands, they will obediently run around looking for trouble like a gang of marauding hooligans. Technology has transformed our daily lives but we have no control over the weather.  

The fundamentals of life, fish, water and bicycles

Ian HunterLeave a comment

They say water is made from hydrogen and oxygen

But those are both gases while water is a liquid

Well most of the time between freezing and boiling

Its not easy to extract the oxygen out of water

So how is it that fish can breathe water but we drown in it

Does that make fish smarter than humans

Maybe not because you never see a fish riding a bicycle

Well hardly ever apart from the fish in the Guinness museum in Dublin

I find it hard to understand how life could have evolved before mankind

Because back then science had not been invented

So who was writing all the primeval soup chemical equations

Before there was chalk or blackboards and science teachers

How could all the right chemicals have been mixed without test tubes and glass jars

To create the exact conditions for living organisms to thrive

There must have been somebody making all the rules back then

Deciding who could breathe oxygen from air but not water

And who can live under water but not ride a bicycle

Global warming

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Heat advisory

Code red

Records broken

Stay hydrated

Avoid outside

Seek shade

Blistering heat

Steamy humid

Relentless roasting

Hot days

Hot nights

Infernal inferno

Energy sapping

Patience waning

Foliage withering

Lawns browning

Roadway melting

A/C groaning

Grid moaning

Oppressive temperatures

Global warming

Scientists warning

Politicians silent

Idiot denies

Earth fries

The mountain train

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The eagle soars over the mountain on a gloomy winter day

searching for prey below the cloudy skies

oblivious of the huge scar in the natural landscape 

railroad tracks carved across the mountain

drab industrial buildings huddled near the tracks

the mountain is quiet and peaceful

but in years gone by it was a scene of frantic activity

teams of hard working men cutting down trees

dynamite explosions blasting away rocks

men and mules clearing debris for the future railroad

nature’s beauty now lives in forced harmony with the iron roadway

a monument to the sweat and toil of forgotten men

mother earth has long forgiven the pain of construction

she reluctantly lets mankind pillage her resources to make iron horses

and cringes when her carbon reserves are stolen to fuel the smokey beasts

a whistle breaks the silence of the dark mountain air

distant rumbling draws steadily closer and closer

the magnificent metal monster meanders up the mountainside

hissing steam billowing smoke and grinding wheels

a grease stained engineer is the only sign of human activity

the ground shakes as the train approaches

animals flee its noisy path

the air is filled with smoke, soot and steam

the iron horse roars with abandon

clattering cabooses carrying hobos cling to the monster’s tail

the noise and vibration both seem eternal

but slowly fade as the mountain train pushes on into the distance

silence returns as the eagle soars overhead

the earth breathes a sigh of relief

nature gracefully recaptures the mountain

Something unusual in the porta potty

Ian HunterLeave a comment

I like to take long bike rides

Usually 30-40 miles on the Eastern Shore of MD

I ride with a local group 3 times a week

We usually pick a route into the wind outbound 

Giving us a tailwind on the way home

We ride along deserted minor roads

Through farmlands and woodlands 

Watching the cornfields grow daily

From knee high at the fourth of July

To towering fields of dreams

We see a lot of wildlife

White tailed deer leaping through fields

Ospreys feeding in the shallow bays

Eagles soaring above our heads

We usually have a rest stop half way

At a park or a public boat ramp

15 minutes of relaxation and banter

A time to rehydrate and eat a snack

To get fuel back into those leg muscles

A time to use the restroom

Most parks have a welcoming porta potty

While partaking of one yesterday

Something strange caught my eye

Although in a very remote rural setting

These port potties are usually clean and well stocked

Hand sanitizer dispensers and toilet paper available

A welcome relief for customers in need

So what was the unusual thing I saw

Nothing grotesque or disturbing

No graphic graffiti or vandalism

It was a small padlock on the toilet roll dispenser

To stop people from removing an entire intact roll

I laughed at the irony of it all

In a rural area with very low crime rates

People leave their homes and cars unlocked

Kids toys and bikes are left outside in front yards

Expensive boats sit in open marinas

Its a very civilized existence

Yet somebody decided to lock up the toilet roll dispenser

A truly desperate thief could simply empty the roll

Thankfully no such thief had passed by before my visit

Creator life stories

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life can be hard for humans

finding food water and shelter

is a daily struggle for many

while others lead a privileged life

some make a real difference 

bringing joy hope and wonder

leaving a legacy to be remembered

other lives are soon forgotten 

creating life is a difficult task

reproduction needs ideal conditions

the chemistry must be just right

to perform the biological miracle

scientists say early life started

in a primeval soup of raw chemicals

sparked by lightening

to create the first living entity

many believe in divine intervention

a higher power directing

the creation of mankind

by a god to be worshipped 

animal species evolved over time

adapting to changing conditions

ensuring that life continues

for generations to come

unless driven to extinction 

humans will evolve further

perhaps merging with technology

living brains in jars wired to computers

death comes easily

you just have to wait for it

or do something reckless

to bring it on sooner

remember your ticket

If you want to enter heaven

hand it to St Peter

ADMIT ONE

how to unlock distant memories

Ian HunterLeave a comment

It is time to do a serious declutter

Get rid of things we no longer use

Discard things we no longer need

Let go of things we no longer want

I am in my home office going through old papers

Its a no brainer to throw away really old documents

But I still have to look at every page

Decide if it can be simply thrown away

Or put it aside for secure shredding

Some things I must surely keep though

It becomes a monotonous routine of look and sort

Then all of a sudden something special happens

I read a document that I have kept for over 25 years

Memories start flooding back uncontrollably

I am transported to a different place and time

I can see the faces and hear the voices from back then

Reliving those events through a vivid movie in my mind

That document goes into the keep pile

I stumble upon a bunch of external drives

Cryptic labels tell me they contain photos

Without any specifics of what they might be

I hurriedly plug one of them into the laptop

Its an electronic time capsule waiting to be opened

A few clicks and the drive reveals its contents

Discovering images from decades ago

Some of them are scanned versions of very old family photographs 

I am plunged back well into the last century

Each click reveals more forgotten images

Its a welcome break from sifting through old papers

I reflect upon all the things I have done in my lifetime

Places I have been and people I have interacted with

I realize that many of my memories have been put into cold storage

It only takes a few pieces of paper and some photos to extract them

I decide to be prudent in what I throw away from now on

Not that these things are of any real sentimental value

They are however the keys to unlock special memories

Keys that cannot be reproduced if lost

I am going to safeguard those keys for the rest of my life

Step out of your comfort zone

Ian HunterLeave a comment

I have always liked music

Growing up in Liverpool during Beatlemania

I was exposed to pop music at an early age

The British Invasion and Punk are burned into my memories

Followed by New Wave,  New Romantic and the Second British Invasion

Its not surprising that my go to decade is 70’s Music 

As time went by I discovered things out of my comfort zone

Jazz is now my goto music for mornings and relaxation

Some genres however never captured my imagination 

RAP and Hip Hop did not do it for me at all

So I spent no time exploring them

Last night I was invited to the I Love The 90’s live music concert

Friends had gifted us great front stage tickets at the Delaware State Fair

Being totally consumed with other projects 

I had not paid any attention to the line up before the show

The open air venue was packed with enthusiastic music lovers

It was an exclusive RAP and Hip Hop series of acts

Young MC, Tone Loc, Color me Baad, Robe Base and Vanilla Ice

The crowd sang along to every song with pure joy and electric enthusiasm

I only knew a few songs but enjoyed the whole experience

The journey back into the 90’s took us back to pre-internet times

When people were brought together with a shared passion for music

The artists were black and white just like the crowd

Proudly shunning todays’s divided nation political movements

Vanilla Ice is an incredible live performer

Pulling people on stage to dance away their troubles

He joked about running for president in 2024

Last night I danced with 5,000 people that would vote for him

Some times its good to step out of your comfort zone

ICE ICE BABY!