Farewell To Borders

The Border's store where I get my free wi-fi is going out of business as the company liquidates its assets. I'll miss Border's, not just for the wi-fi, but for the Orange Creme Soda, hot chocolate (with whipped cream studded with chocolate bits), the musicians who came to perform in the cafe' on weekends, and of course, the books.

Since Border's was the only wi-fi spot within walking distance, and I have little money for gas, for the time being I will have to limit my posts and Entrecarding to every other week. This will also give me more time to work on bigger projects that I plan to post here.

This little song is set to the tune "Farewell to the Mountains", which was allegedly written by Davy Crockett, (and sung by Fess Parker in the Disney movie Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier.

Farewell, to old Border's, whose location to me,
Was harbor and refuge for my sanity.
No food was forbidden at the old cafe',
Their Orange Creme Soda always made my day.

The comics I read, the Wi-Fi I surfed,
The drinks that I drank, the treats that I scarfed,
The music performers, farewell to ye all
Seeking a new free hotspot, I rise or I fall.

More Spider Stuff

Here are some more spider pics with my EyeClops camera. The subject is what I believe to be a phiddipus audax. In addition to close-ups of the spider's face and eyes, I also got a couple of shots of the spider's chelicerae, the appendages that hold its fangs. The chelicerae of a phiddipus have bright green or blue scales that seem to reflect light, which I think makes them look especially pretty.

What I particularly like about jumping spiders like the phiddipus is that they seem to have more of a "personality" than other spiders. Most others spiders are virtually blind; their eight eyes are tiny don't really see much. Yet jumpers have larger eyes (in relation to their bodies) and with the two big ones in front, when you look at one, it can actually look back at you. Also, the legally blind, web-spinning spiders generally just sit around all day waiting for prey to come to them. Yet jumpers will actually seek out and stalk their prey, like a lion stalking an antelope. And they catch their prey with the jumping ability they are named for. One day I hope to get some film with my camera of a jumper in action on here. Anyway, below this last pic I wrote a little verse in tribute to my creepy-crawly friends.

(To the tune of "Survivor")

It's the eye of the spider, it's the creepiest sight,

Crawling up to pounce upon it's supper,

And the lone little fly is now locked square in its sights,

And he knows he is watched by the eyyyyyyyye

Of the spider!

That Juicy Pang Flavor

That's no moon...

"I remember black skies, the lightning all around me..."

These are clips of a huge lightning storm that occurred outside my parents' house late one evening. Amazingly, it was a long while before we actually heard any thunder; the lightning was evidently quite far away. I used my Fujifilm digital camera for these recordings. Not exactly the highest quality, I know, but I hope you at least get an idea of how awesome this storm was.