Mr Black Bear was by my place the other night. He took my WastePro roll - able trash container, moved it about 15 feet into the middle of my driveway, tipped it over, flipped the lid and proceeded to scatter the contents of two trash bags all over the pavement. At least that’s how I imagine it went down under starry skies. I was left with the crime scene by dawns early light. I didn’t hear him, but am hoping to next time. He is welcome to all the trash he wants. Believe me when I say I wont stand in his way. It would just be cool to see my nighttime neighbor. Maybe I need a camera on my porch like this guy has:

Its May 1st …. otherwise known as May Day. Depending on your point of view and historical bent, it can be a day rooted in some ancient pagan calendar or a phrase used to signify that an airplane is about to crash. According to WikiAnswers, the radio call "mayday" is a broadcast distress call, used when a plane is in serious peril. It comes from the French phrase "help me", m'aider or aider moi (pronounced mada, or aday mwa) It is most often a more imminent statement than simply declaring an emergency. In other words say it only if you mean it. Sounds pretty serious. Lets see what the freaky pagans do for May Day instead :

It's been 2 full weeks now since the Boston Marathon Bombing. 2 weeks and a day. Those who lost their lives to terror can never be brought back save in memory and by way of good deeds. Those who were, and remain injured will carry the scars as a reminder for the rest of their lives. As for those responsible, one is dead and one is in custody. I hear a lot of visceral knee jerk reaction from those who say the surviving suspect should pay with his life. That’s a sweet way of saying we should kill him. Just a quick question to interject.... have you ever seen a person die? Witnessed a final breath, the color of their face slowly fade to grey? Have you ever felt the temperature slowly recede from a human beings hand ? My point is, its a final transition. If you believe we should mete out such a fate in the name of earthly justice, that is your right. You may even quote me the eye for an eye business. Yes, Ive read it too. The matter is, as far as I am concerned, for the courts to decide once the suspect has been found guilty. I hear some people say the 19 year old should be strung up in public and massacred. Keep in mind that is precisely what Al Quaeda tribal factions desire to do to us as Americans. Or worse. Are we no better than an enemy that kills in an apparent misconception of religious superiority and/or out of envy of freedom ? Don’t suffer the same mistake. Have sympathy for the parents of this young man who raised him once upon a time as an innocent child who played with toys. It is not their fault he grew up to play with bombs. Try not to hate them. Try not to hate people who look like them. Try not to hate. You have every right to be angry, but try not to hate.

I cannot adequately describe how absolutely beautiful it is in and around Asheville and the mountains of western North Carolina in the springtime. I've been watching the dogwoods, and tulip poplars unfold with fresh blossoms and baby green leaves. The azaleas are coming out in every color, and the rhododendron buds begin to swell. There are too many species to count with which I am entirely unfamiliar. It is both an education and an experience. Its like being in an arboretum, a floral circus. The green of the trees, the poplar, beech, oak and hickory begins to crawl up the hillsides of The Blue Ridge..  its just amazing. What a sight.

"Wade in the water, you'll never get wet if you keep on doin that rag" ... some of the best advice life has to offer: