Cuba - The Forbidden Fruit

I caught a piece in the New York Times this morning that I felt would be worth sharing and hearing some opinions on. It was about the island nation of Cuba - so close, yet so far away.

As a grade schooler, post WWII kid, I was intrigued and fascinated by the beauty of the place as I saw it in Life magazine and National Geographic. It had beautiful mountain waterfalls, and miles and miles of Caribbean beaches and coral reefs. I was too young to appreciate it at the time, but there also is quite the rich culture and historical significance as well.

Then came the revolution in Cuba, and the cold war, and Cuba falling to the "Red Menace", and the Cuban Missle Crisis. Then came the distinct possibility of the Soviet Union raining the same hell on us down south that we rained on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, just a decade and a half previous.

It's amazing, when watching bomb shelters being hastily built, and having school assemblies for the purpose of advising the kids on what to expect in the event of a nuclear attack and how to survive, how quickly a kid can forget about coral reefs, mountains, waterfalls and such.

Well, I am no longer a kid. Nor am I the least bit impressed by our government's continued resolve to attempt to rub the Cuban's nose in it for falling to the Communists. In case they haven't noticed, their laws have no teeth. You can go to Cancun or Montreal, and get in and out - no questions asked. Our embargo is having no effect on them, with the rest of the world free to and taking full advantage of the chance to travel there and to do trade with them.

For Pete's sake, Nixon made up with Communist China, and after all these years of kissing their butts and bestowing our technology on them, we are staring at quite a trade deficit. How much harm could it do to forgive and forget and get back to business with our Caribbean neighbors?

Just think, the price of Loon's cigars would surely go down. There would be a world of travel opportunities for us all, not to mention all that music, Rum, and all those reefs to dive on the south side of the island! I can't stand locked doors, and sooner or later, if they don't open it, I will take my wife and kids and my dear friends Wayne and Beckie and go in through the back door so we can get a taste of that forbidden fruit and blow some bubbles on those reefs! For a look at the NY Times story, go here Or just go to Google and have a look.

Honey, I Think We Need A Bigger Place

I don't speak barn swallow, but I am pretty sure that's what the ones who have a nest over my front door are chirping about of late......okay only door - I live in an apartment complex that for all the world probably is the closest thing our here in rice country that resembles a barn. You see, these cute little swallows (they're cute when they aren't dive bombing me anyway), apparently a monogamous little pair, and quite fruitful, a couple of months ago, right on time, constructed this little mud and straw nest that looks like a balcony. So the gal pal and my kids and I have been waiting for the inevitable couple of chicks to appear, poking their little beaks over the edge of the nest on the lookout for mom or dad returning with grubs or some other such tasty morsels.


Well about a week ago, they finally did. The girlfriend has said she's seen as many as six chicks, but I never see more than four as a rule, I am assuming they are taking turns standing on the each other's backs, as the nest just doesn't seem large enough for the flock these two proud parents hatched. I have watched the mama and papa swallows come and go, but they usually just stop on the wooden ledge and feed the kids, or simply do flybys to take inventory every few seconds.
I now notice about three feet away from the original nest, a new one being constructed, well after the nest building period and mating time for these little guys. One can only conclude that they, as humans do, can tell when they have outgrown their abode, and apparently are adding a master bedroom. That's fine by me, and very resourceful of the little feathered guys, but I wish the had budgeted in enough to their project for a new bathroom as well well away from my stairs.........I guess the upside to the mess, is that I at least know now that the dewberries are ripe and that if I beat the birds to them before they are all gone, I can pick enough for a couple of dewberry cobblers. Oh, and the Hindi script below is a testimonial to my stumbling through setting up this blog..........I left the translator on, and that is how "Honey, I Think We Need A Bigger Place" looks in Hindi. I just left it because it looks cool. My Indian friends should get a laugh out of that.......

हनी,इ थिंक बिंगो!