tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38792944122646072692012-02-05T08:12:17.197-05:00The world as I see it. Never a dull moment.Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.comBlogger135125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-8425525609672103802012-01-30T21:01:00.001-05:002012-01-30T22:03:31.445-05:00

Ahhhhh...the blissful, balmy, batty state of Florida. Land of perpetual sunshine, lazy sailboats, swaying palm trees, bronzed starlets, sun-crispy tourists, screwballs and waddling snowbirds (of which I am one), skyrocketing short sales and foreclosures, plummeting home values, insane drivers, pushy elderly people, all day happy hours, early-bird specials, tumultuous traffic and...lines---long

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-69033178918884042212011-11-21T20:39:00.005-05:002011-11-22T07:15:51.580-05:00

It's Thanksgiving time and that means turkeys roasting in ovens across the country. But what about those turkeys in Washington D.C.? Americans are getting our gooses cooked by a bunch of impudent, self-preening, Washington politico buffoons, who wobble around the halls of Congress like bumbling, old gobblers stumbling through a barn yard full of political partisan turkey poop. They are so

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-82625567434444471192011-09-19T13:56:00.001-04:002011-09-19T18:15:35.648-04:00

I've always enjoyed taking the road less traveled. And a Sunday drive in the country is perfect for discovering rural surprises along uncrowded country byways. Yesterday was a beautiful, end-of-summer September Sunday with a touch of cool crispness in the air, azure blue skies and a friendly, warm sun that beckoned us to take a ride on the back roads. Hubz did the driving and we decided to head

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-39746898617238937242011-09-17T09:59:00.001-04:002011-09-17T10:16:26.473-04:00

We drove by the restaurant...if you could even call it that. The football-size parking lot was nearly deserted. Grass sprouted up through all the cracks in the asphalt. The exterior was a muddy gray and screamed for a new paint job. There was no sign. Well...there was a board on the front with letters, but it was so dirty we could not make out the wording. Even so, we knew this was the place.

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-26457609610919371982011-07-11T10:52:00.001-04:002011-07-12T07:58:07.964-04:00

 So here's how our Wild West Adventure stacks up so far:We've driven nearly 3000 miles in a rental car, west from Denver. We've traveled the length and breadth of Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah.  We've toured 7 National Parks, 4 state parks and crossed umpteen white-knuckle, twisting, winding, sky high mountain ranges in ten days. We've trudged through dozens of blistering 110 degree deserts

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-48913499393453454402011-07-06T16:16:00.000-04:002011-07-06T16:16:14.911-04:00

CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK, Moab, Utah The powerful Colorado River sculpts the Canyonlands. Far below, the muddy Colorado winds through the gorges. Ancient layers of sedimentary rock form the Canyonlands. Amidst the parched desert soil, a cactus flower blooms. Canyons...where "Thelma and Louise" flew skyward in their car. For millions of years the mighty Colorado River has been

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-91660176060772758752011-07-03T10:22:00.000-04:002011-07-03T10:22:09.249-04:00

Arches National Park, Moab, Utah If there is one thing to know about Arches National Park in the summertime, it's this: The place is a hellish inferno. 110 degrees in the shade! Except there is NO shade. Nada. Zip. Zero. Not a smidgen. Forget that old adage about dry heat not being as uncomfortable as humid heat. The minute I stepped out of our air-conditioned car and into the searing, hot desert

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-29844926406804926752011-06-29T22:46:00.000-04:002011-06-29T22:46:09.543-04:00

Bryce Canyon, Utah.  Hoodoo Alert! Hoodoo Alert! We've landed on Mars and we're surrounded by hoodoos. When we first came upon Bryce Canyon in southern Utah, it looked like something from outer space. For millions of years, the forces of nature have worn away ancient boulders and mountains and sculpted them into strange and stunning rock castles, spires, mazes and weird formations called "hoodoos

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-62598960261281131012011-06-27T22:59:00.000-04:002011-06-27T22:59:29.857-04:00

Day 6:  Zion National Park in Southwest Utah. Temperature: 109 degrees! I've never been in a blast furnace but that's what this desert heat felt like. Slammed us right in the face. We nearly drowned ourselves drinking water. Not an ounce of sweat on our skin. How hot was it? You could fry an egg on the hood of our car. You could bake a potato on the dashboard. You could dry two pair of large,

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-41278912372078926152011-06-25T20:30:00.003-04:002011-06-26T13:01:36.655-04:00

If you think the Grand Canyon in Arizona is...well...grand...you haven't seen eye-popping grandeur until you visit the State of Utah. I truly think there's no other place like this on earth. Unfortunately they nicknamed this spectacular state the "Beehive State". So probably a lot of folks think it's got nothing but yellow-jackets buzzing around. You would think they could have come up with a

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-28724886061075118392011-06-24T02:45:00.004-04:002011-06-24T12:05:55.438-04:00

Day 5: This post is a bit of a digression from my wild west travelogue. Today I thought I'd share a personal side story from our road trip adventure  It's about taking short cuts or taking time to smell the flowers. First off, let me say that my husband, J.B., and I have been married for 40 years so we've pretty much figured out how to get along with each other by now. However, during our day to

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-25581049532385430232011-06-23T03:03:00.005-04:002011-06-23T10:22:56.830-04:00

DAY 4: The King of Awesomeness! The Imperial Majesty of Magnificence! If ever there was a poster-child for spectacular mountains...The Grand Tetons is it! The first thing that strikes us upon entering Grand Teton National Park is: "If this isn't heaven, we don't know what is." There just doesn't seem to be adequate superlatives to describe the grandeur and beauty of this majestic range of

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-43208627946943021712011-06-22T02:13:00.004-04:002011-06-23T00:57:19.490-04:00

DAY #3:  Cool thing about NOT driving on the Interstate. You see a lot more amazing scenery and a whole lot fewer cars. In continuing our summer adventure out West, we opted to travel the back roads from Steamboat Springs, Colorado to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming instead of the Interstate. Took Route 40 west through Colorado and then followed U.S. 191 north all the way to the Tetons. The roads

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-11048881562309834452011-06-20T01:13:00.002-04:002011-06-20T09:48:29.000-04:00

It's June of the year 2011. Times are hard. In the United States where we live, a deep melancholy spirit prevails throughout our land due to disastrous economic upheavals. In nearly every city, every neighborhood, we've all seen and personally experienced the ravages of unemployment, foreclosures and economic suffering. Pundits cry out that the U.S. has lost its greatness...lost its way. Yet

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-81510109209231365492011-05-28T15:28:00.015-04:002011-05-28T20:58:01.133-04:00

Wonder if a major news magazine---let's just say, Newsweek---announced to the entire world that the very city in which you live, love, work and enjoy was "dying". Death throes. Stagnant. No pulse. Hopeless. Drained of life. Flatlined.  How would you react? Would you feel sad?  Worried?  Accepting? Upset?  Stick a for-sale sign in your yard and start packing? If you live in Detroit or Florida or

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-77935747435827782752011-05-13T17:05:00.001-04:002011-05-13T18:25:52.771-04:00

It's not LSD. But it's still mind-blowing. You don't even have to smoke it. Yet you can quickly inhale yourself into a state of ecstasy. It will render you blissfully high but it's not against the law. It's been around for centuries. Today, it's gaining worldwide popularity as the go-to alternative for natural mind, body and soul enrichment. It's like a triple threat combination of expensive

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-69999087550632931802011-03-22T19:00:00.004-04:002011-03-23T13:25:47.410-04:00

By now, you've probably heard that catchy, chart-topping tune with the expletive-laden title and lyrics. The cleaned-up version is called "Forget You." Radio stations tag it the "F.U." song. But most everybody knows the original title is a blantantly profane: "F*** YOU". The snappy, little hip-hop ditty is all over the place. It's won a gluttony of accolades and awards including the Grammy for

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-10229969476431790252011-02-16T21:03:00.001-05:002011-02-17T09:58:11.889-05:00

I'm down in Florida for a while...enjoying the sunshine and snapping wily photos of tourists at the beach. Here's a few for your edifying entertainment. Beach cabana buckeroos. Seagull chasers. Sea shell diggers. Metal detector guy hunts for buried treasure under the sea.    Little does he know... sharks are eagerly waiting for ya.

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-63999913481615041602011-01-20T20:03:00.002-05:002011-01-20T20:44:56.498-05:00

Bridge. A structure that allows us to cross over an obstacle to reach the other side. There are other definitions of a bridge...such as the bridge of your nose, an upper deck of a ship, a type of card game and so forth. You might even say that the custom of shaking hands is a universal symbol of bridge building. But mostly we think of a bridge as some sort of a convenient link between one side

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-67483088601527110522011-01-04T20:02:00.005-05:002011-01-05T11:41:00.909-05:00

The other day I was shopping for a sled. I haven't bought a sled in a long time. Well, actually a long, long, long time. As I looked over the various sled selections on the huge open shelves, I realized that there's been a significant change in the sled design world. I couldn't find a single wooden flexible flyer with steel runner blades anywhere. Like I said, it's been a while since I bought a

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-25877231886172116692011-01-01T18:29:00.000-05:002011-01-01T18:29:57.980-05:00

It's time to open a brand new book. Its pages are blank. I am the author. I can  write anything I want or leave the pages empty. The book is called opportunity. Its first chapter is New Year's Day.Thus begins another 12 months of the year two thousand and eleven. 365 more chances to get it right this time. Fresh beginnings, renewed positivity, a conscious code of kindness, bold decisions and

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-81182045831208630222010-12-19T16:54:00.000-05:002010-12-19T16:54:04.501-05:00

I see the tall, barren trees outside my window. They appear lanky and dark and somewhat bleak as they lean crookedly in the snow. It is a stark beauty...the little woods behind our house. An austere and unadorned graceful scene. Silent and pure. A palpable stillness that seems to hush the noisy and frantic chaos that overwhelms the season this time of year. I like this woods of ours. It reminds

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-54462136250778206442010-12-10T17:01:00.002-05:002010-12-10T19:00:30.908-05:00

Let's face it. Things have been rough over the last several years. The economy is still horrific. Unemployment is rampant. You yourself might be out of a job or worried sick about losing one. Home values have sunk lower than 2 rats in a sewer pipe. Millions have lost their homes to foreclosure while others can't sell at a decent price. We're still at war in the Middle East. We can't even fly on a

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-16785936496924896052010-12-02T14:11:00.003-05:002010-12-02T18:21:41.129-05:00

The holidays are upon us. But before you know it, they'll be over. And you'll ask yourself...What happened? Where did the time go? Did I really accomplish anything worthwhile? Where did all our money go? Why am I so depressed? For millions of people around the world, December is a whirlwind month that races by so fast and furious, it leaves many folks melancholy, angry, frustrated and deeply in

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879294412264607269.post-57981886526650100772010-11-09T20:34:00.000-05:002010-11-09T20:34:22.734-05:00

Florida is not my favorite place to visit. Too beastly hot. Too stinkin' humid. Too insanely crowded. And too many crazies all over the place. However, even Florida can occasionally have its placid moments of mellow beauty...mostly when it's cold and everyone is hibernating indoors. We visited Florida recently for a big family celebration and the weather there was about as chilly as it was in

Boomer Piehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07656835943709177287noreply@blogger.com6