Turn Up The AC....Turn Off The TV

I have a temper…..but it lurks deep, deep under the surface.

Former radio students can tell you about the volcanic Dreith that erupted frequently a quarter century ago.  –But I was a younger….and unrefined person.

All my kids are gone from the house. They all live two states away. While I love them…..they certainly knew where the button was…and how to push it.  Repeatedly…

There have been fewer and fewer moments in my recent life when the dark side of the force has taken over. That is until recently…..

All of a sudden…..I have noticed a re-emergence of Darth Dreith. I’ve been dealing with it. And I have a couple of theories about the renewed agitation. It boils down to two things…….the heat and government.

I like taking pleasant strolls in the evening. Tonight it was 101-degrees. That isn’t a stroll…..it’s more like Bataan. (See World War II, Pacific Theatre) As best as I can determine…..we have suffered through 40-plus 100-degree days since the first of the year. Wildfires abound……and we have only seen about 2-inches of rain during the same stretch. Everything in the yard is dead. Everything in the field is brown. It puts you and everyone around you in a bad mood.

On the second front-----the view from West Texas is pretty grim as I look towards Austin and Washington.  The college is finalizing budget numbers. It is brutal because the legislature balanced its budget at the expense of education and many other important sectors of government. As we hitch up our belts in higher ed……the old temper just seems to simmer beneath the surface.

As far as Washington……I can’t stand watching the talking heads discuss the current political standoff. It makes me angry. I have sworn off the Sunday morning news programs….and settled nicely into a CBS state of mind…..watching Charles Osgood host the feature-laden Sunday morning show. Pieces about dogs and cats living together and caring for each other’s grooming. Ahh….

Much better for my over-heated demeanor than representatives for the two major parties screaming at each other while the country literally burns under the hot sun.

Really…..I am a pretty nice guy. I feed the birds. I pet my twin basset hounds and talk baby talk to them.

I quietly sit on the bench out front of the women’s clothing store while my wife tries on multiple dresses….for hours.  

I often visualize lying down in the cool grass and looking up at the stars. Good luck finding real grass in West Texas…..and it is sometimes hard to see the stars through the smoke of a close by grassfire.

Here it is….

It is too damned hot….and my search for the great statesmen of the past leaves me wanting.

Here’s my advice to you if you have the same simmering temper.

Turn up the AC…..Turn off the TV.