Jeffrey L Cohen

Today we planned to go on a Cub Scout fishing expedition. Our Cub Scout den is working towards their World Conservation Award and fishing is one of the requirements. We planned to go to a private pond in a friend’s backyard up near Hillsborough. He built the pond 4 years ago and stocked it with bass and catfish. It is a popular spot among Scouts looking to do more than “Try their best” at fishing. They want fish and this is the place where you can fish with hot dogs.

We needed to go to Wal-Mart and get another fishing rod (for Grace or Peter, but that’s another story), so I suggested we go to the Wal-Mart in Hillsborough, eat lunch up there (it was at least a different set of fast food restaurants) and head to the pond for fishing.

It had been raining all morning and it was in the high 50s. I spoke with our other den leader as we headed into Wal-Mart and cancelled the den meeting. We figured since we were here, we might as well go fishing. It was barely drizzling at this point. What’s a little rain? Imagine, the parents want to stay in the rain and the kids would rather be inside.

We bought a fishing rod (for Peter, and Grace got his old one), some Canadian Nightcrawlers (big ass worms) and a fishing tool with pliers and several knives because I had forgotten my Swiss Army knife.

We drove to our friend’s house all ready for some fishing. It was raining pretty steadily by this point. We got all of our stuff and found a spot along the pond where the grass was low enough to get access to the water. Meg tied the hooks to the line. I baited the hooks and we were off.

I helped Grace cast. I told her if we were vegetarians and loved muddy, dead oak leaves, we would be very proud of her. She caught about five of those. Peter was able to fish by himself. He’s great at casting. But he didn’t catch anything either. Even Meg, our master fisherman, didn’t have any luck. The only time a fish nibbled, I was holding her rod and there was too much slack in the line for me to effectively snag the fish.

After a little while our children told us they were cold, wet and miserable. And ready to go home. I was having a good time because it was nice to be out in the rain without worrying about getting wet. We were already wet. It was cold, but it didn’t really bother me. Since I don’t have my own fishing rod, there was no pressure for me to catch any fish. I am also free to help Grace as much as she needs.

After removing our muddy shoes and wet jackets we got in the car and drove home in the cold, driving rain. The heat in the car was blasting. Peter took a long hot shower when we got home. Another Cub Scout elective completed.

from
Crisco.com:

Apple pie is the favorite flavor among one out of four Americans, followed by pumpkin, chocolate, lemon meringue, and cherry.

Before pie was America’s favorite dessert, fruit pies were commonly eaten as part of breakfast in the 19th century.

The term “upper crust” refers to early America when the economy was difficult and supplies were hard to come by. Only affluent households could afford ingredients for both the upper and lower crusts of a pie; thus, the term “upper crust” was born.

Shoo-fly pie is a wet-bottom molasses pie that was originally used to sit on windowsills to attract flies away from the kitchen.

The first bra was patented in New York in 1859 by Henry S. Lesher.

Did you know that 75% of women are wearing the wrong size bra?

There are many stores, from department stores like Nordstroms to lingerie boutiques, that offer the services of a “certified bra fitter.” I cannot find who offers this training or what it entails.

I woke up really early this morning (after falling sleeping on the couch) and went to the store. We needed milk, juice and coffee for breakfast. I also got some donuts: Chocolate Covered Custard filled for me, Lemon filled for Meg and Chocolate Covered with sprinkles for the kids.

Anyway, since I was there, I thought I would pick up some beer. I got some Pete’s Wicked Rallycap Ale. It used to be called Summer Ale, but it is the same stuff so I really don’t care what they call it. I got to the register and the cashier told me I couldn’t buy the beer. It was too early. I couldn’t buy beer until 7:00. It was 6:40 and she asked me if I wanted to wait 20 minutes. I said no, I had things to do.

I guess since there is a time that they stop selling beer at night, there must be a state mandated time that they start selling beer. Why is it 7:00am? Why not 6:00 or 5:30? Anyone who has been drinking all night is not likely to go into Harris Teeter and buy beer. This makes no sense.

A forum that I frequent had a haiku thread (related to a haiku contest) and someone posted the following in response to the 5-7-5 syllable rule:

actually, no they don’t. that was a device brought to the west by Blythe. Japanese haiku are written in one line of 17 onji and the breaks are implied in the language. Due to the difference between onji and syllables though a 17 onji poem is much much shorter than a 17 syllable poem. 17 syllable poems tend to be far to weighted, and in fact often need to be padded with extra words detracting form the brevity of the poem, and ones ability to use the best words to convey experience. haiku isn’t intended to be a math problem though, and the 17 onji wasn’t so much a rule as it was a natural rhythm in the language. even the great haiku masters pitched these patterns when it suited the poem. in the west few (if any) haiku societies adhere to patterened syllabic rules, and tend to focus on the skill demonstrated in the poems. in any of the popular ‘haiku’ books out there, few if any true haiku appear, which is determined by the use of seasonal cue words, and the juxtapositon of images within the poem. what appears in books like cat-ku, redneck-ku and haiku for jews, have a closer connection to senryu (a haiku-like poem that relates more to the human realm than natural connection) even that has specfic qualities that have these pieces fall outside their scope. one wouldn’t write any old thing and claim it to be a sestina.

My response was:

I just wrote this verse
Using the Western meaning
Of a haiku poem

No post today.

From tonight’s Chapel Hill Town Council Meeting

The Council passed a resolution to end the street fair. The resolution stated that the fair has grown to attract crowds of more than 30,000, challenging the abilities of Town staff and outside resources to effectively manage the event. There were shootings on Franklin Street, and roads remained congested for about five hours after the fair’s conclusion. The Council also requested a report on the social and financial impacts of Festifall and Halloween.