Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
I heard a well-known song the other day, “Buddy Holly” by Weezer and it reminded me of a few songs with famous people’s names as the title. So today’s post is a list! Wahoo. I love lists. There are quite a few songs that include names but I’ll just do names that are mostly relevant in 2022. If you have some to add, comment at the end of the post. We’ll kick it off with Weezer…
Everyone has an opinion about the decades old case being overturned. My opinion matters as little as theirs does on a global scale, so I won’t bore you with the details of what I think.
The question not many people are answering is what interested me the most today. You’re lounging on a beach either by a lake or the ocean. It’s time to cool off. Do you…
A. Row
B. Wade
I’m a big fan of kayaking so I may row first, then take a dip. Others may be perfectly content wading through shallow waters to beat the summer heat. I guess if I were pressed it would be hard to pick one because both are nice. Especially when it’s blazing hot outside. Can we all agree that either one is a good choice here, people?
Maybe there’s a middle ground. Rowers and waders come together in a show of solidarity. They may even call a truce with the SUPers. It doesn’t have to be such a controversial topic, you know? Now if the question was about expanding the supreme pizza, I’d say yes. More pizza is always better, right? Some may call it packing the court and again I’d say yes. Especially around noon, it’s good for the economy to pack the food court, buying lunch from all the venders and restaurants there.
No matter what you decide about row vs. wade, though, I think we’re all in unison that today is a good day to go to the beach.
I watched the Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup the other day. Congratulations to them, and what a fun series to watch as they and the Lightning sparred for 6 games. A game 7 would have been pretty amazing to watch, I’m sure. But now that all the interesting sports are over (and yes, I’m aware baseball is still going on), I guess we have to be strong and stuff while we live through the dry and lifeless months before football starts again. But back to baseball… they DO offer us something worth noting.
Baseball caps.
After Colorado was crowned champions, they all sported hats with their victory stitched across the front. The hats were baseball caps. Professional football does this, too. When a team wins the Super Bowl, they put on baseball hats with “champions” or something similar, on the front.
So then it occurred to me that every sport uses baseball caps. But can you imagine if a baseball team used something from a different sport when they won the World Series? The entire team puts on hockey masks after the last pitch. Or straps soccer shin guards with the 9th inning ends. Or what if the US Men’s soccer team scores the winning goal and proceeds to buckle a disc golf disc carrier around their waists in celebration.
So why do we all use baseball caps for everything? Especially since baseball is the most boring sport in the entire universe. But their hats are cool, I’ll admit that.
I’ve stuck to a vegan diet for many years now and I’ve adopted a silly approach to some food. Usually it’s a dessert, to be honest. Because the tasty treats usually have dairy/eggs, I won’t eat them and I’m totally fine with that. Those aren’t the foods I miss the most (pizza is #1). So this thing I do sometimes is a little weird… I will sniff to get the aroma of the dessert. The scent alone is enough. Why would I need to eat it, too? Well, you may say that tasting it is the best pleasure. I don’t know if I agree with that because the scent is often great, reminding me of the taste without all the drawbacks of calories, fat, etc.
Think about all of our senses. Catching a whiff of a chocolate chip cookie is the sense of smell. Eating it is the sense of taste. Isn’t pleasing two senses a bit much?
When I see a nice photo, I don’t feel the need to eat it, too. When I hear a song, I don’t crave it’s flavor. If I get a massage, I don’t feel the need to taste the massage oil. I’m just suggesting that one sense ought to be enough, right?
*Looks around for anyone to affirm my ludicrous thoughts*
When it comes to food, and if you are struggling with a bad diet, try smelling the food you want to eat and see if that satisfies your desires enough that you don’t need to eat the food, too. It’s actually backed by a study. Check out this article to find out more about the science behind smelling vs. eating.
I wrapped up an almost-month-long tour around Florida by camping at Rainbow Springs State Park. For whatever reason, I didn’t take a lot of pictures and I didn’t want to force myself to, because then it wouldn’t be fun and natural. Speaking of fun and natural… Rainbow Springs! The campsite was great, even having a sewer hookup which, if you camp a lot, you know it feels like luxury to be able to poop in your own camper without wondering when the tank is going to fill up.
*envisions the unfortunate scene from RV starring Robin Williams*
So yeah, I didn’t take many photos but the Rainbow River is stunning. Such clear water that you almost didn’t even need a snorkel mask. But if you DID snorkel, you’d see stuff like this…
There was also this beautiful hawk perched on a branch over to one side of the river. A few really big fish. Big white birds. Quite a few turtles. No good photos of most of that, so I guess these few moments were meant just for me to enjoy with my own eyes, in the moment, for that particular experience.
This was a great park with paved roads (sandy/gravel sites), shade, easy access to the Rainbow River (although the actual spring is a few miles away), quiet neighbors, and just folks generally happy to be there. I loved it and I think I need to book it again so I can bring my camera on the river with me next time. Oh, speaking of which, the houses along the river in that area were gorgeous. Although I didn’t have my good camera, I used my phone to capture some of the landscapes and houses along the river.
I had been camping for about 3 weeks before checking in at Rainbow Springs State Park. It actually felt like 3 months because of all the sites I visited. For a recap, check the links below. If I had to pick a favorite, first of all that’s a really tough thing to do! Probably Myakka River because of the diverse wildlife. The keys were great, as one would assume. I don’t even think I’d discourage anyone from visiting any of these parks, so if you’re on the fence, feel free to ask me about any questions.
Out of the Wilderness 