Random Thoughts - The Pre-March Madness Edition

I have years and years of our family pools, printed out, winners circled, Cinderella teams and final four choices written in handwriting that grew as the kids did.  It's all electronic these days, but TBG and I still print them out and shuffle through them; some things just need to be fondled.

I didn't create a pool for The Burrow this year; life got ahead of me, it seems. Personally, between Little Cuter's Hoosiers and Big Cuter's Hoyas and The Bride's Jayhawks and our local Wildcats I've got animals and unknowables aplenty to cheer on to victory.  It's going to be a wonderful few weeks.
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My friends have been doing interesting things lately.  Liz went to Indian Wells just for the heck of it.  Karina did faux-sky diving in an indoor air-will-hold-you-up place.  Ellen climbed to the top of Wasson Peak on her newly repaired hip.  Somehow, repairing the irrigation system on my raised bed feels awfully tame right now.
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Book Bub has made me a free Kindle book addict.  I rarely put down a real book; I'll muddle through to the end once I've started.  These freebies are of varying quality and genre; literary fiction seems to be a pseudonym for poorly written romance masquerading as mystery.

Luckily, I figured out how to remove the ones I don't want to see from the carousel and how to put the ones I've finished into the cloud.  It was random poking that delivered the solution. Big Cuter is right; if you're not afraid to play with it, electronic devices can be a lot of fun.
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NPR told me to come back after the break to hear "Conservatives talk about their autopsy of the Republican Party."  I have to agree.  My Facebook page is covered with quotes from General/President Eisenhower... you know, the one who warned us half a century ago to beware the military/industrial complex.  Bombarded by analysis of the war in Iraq as the tenth anniversary is commemorated, his words ring true.

WMD's?  Baathists?  Saddam found in a hole in the ground?  How quickly we forget, how easily those battles slip into the past as we focus on Afghanistan and bringing the rest of our troops home.  A friend is being deployed to South Korea before returning to Tucson forever.  It seemed like a safe posting.... until last week.

I find myself shaking my head and worrying a lot more these days.
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Randy came over to say goodbye last night.  His timing was impeccable; dinner was ready as he walked in the door and there was plenty to share.  Our conversation was mundane and sublime and I didn't have to change out of my post-massage comfy shorts and tee to entertain him.  That's a good friend... and a good visit... and another reason I don't want him to leave.
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The lizards are doing push-ups on the sun-warmed stones in the courtyard.  The snakes are slithering across hiking paths.  I just saw my first ground squirrel scamper across the stones and hide beneath the prickly pear cactus. Spring has definitely sprung.

It's probably time to turn on the irrigation for the whole yard, again.  Sigh... I was enjoying those tiny water bills.
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TBG and I have been re-watching The Newsroom on On Demand.  The third episode ends with the Tucson shootings and the premature announcement of Gabby's death.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: Aaron Sorkin is exactly the person I would have chosen to tell my story, if anyone had asked.  He captures the sudden, shocking, horribleness of it all without sensationalizing or demonizing.

I cried.  We cried.  It was beautiful.
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Graduations.... thirtieth birthdays..... weddings.... house tours.... this spring is shaping up to be a busy one.  I'm on the periphery of everything and it feels great.  It's fun to be included but not have to shoulder any of the responsibility.  All I have to do is show up and say "Awwwwwww....."

Truly, life is good.