Into the Sunset and then Hopeful Wishes

I am sad to note that Fred Foy has passed away. He was the announcer for the Lone Ranger on both radio and TV.  His was the eloquent and stirring voice who said-"A firey horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty 'Hi Yo Sliver!  The Lone Ranger"


As a boy, I wanted to learn who was that man?  Not the masked man, but the man who evoked such excitement simply by the words he spoke and the manner he used.  I knew Fred Foy's name when I was a kid, and when I would hear the voice, sometimes in other situations, I recognized it.  I never met Fred, but I was a life long fan.  Now like great cowboys and heroes he has ridden into the sunset.  Thanks Fred, for all those great moments when you stirred my heart and saddled my imagination.


TRICKY WEBS-CRAFTY EXTRACTIONS
The California rainy season sends spiders into an earnest labor.  Here you can see the outcome of that endeavor.

Looking at these webs and traps, I can't help but think of the current session of the House and Senate.  What webs of intrigue and deal making we have just seen.


Fortunately some old fashioned bi-partisan common sense, or horse trading emerged.


Dick Lugar, a Republican from Indiana and John Kerry, the Democrat from Mass. were able to save the START treaty.  As Kerry said "we can move the world out of the dark shadows of Nuclear nightmare."










SCORE ONE FOR THE FUNNY MAN
Probably the biggest hero in the final week was Jon Stewart of the Daily Show.
Stewart's brilliant dissection of the GOP reluctance to vote for the 9/11 First Responders Health Care turned the tide. Take a look at how a comedian made more sense than any commentator or "expert."


Stewart drives it home! 

http://tv.gawker.com/5713220/jon-stewart-to-republicans-you-cant-exploit-911-anymore

AND THERE IS ALSO A SUNRISE IN THIS MOMENT
So much of the world has been pounded by severe and harsh weather that several inches of rain seems hardly worth mentioning.  In some of California there have been mud slides and localized flooding.  Our hearts go out to those who must manage a Christmas while
repairing from mud, flood and disruption.  Here on the Central Coast we will have a Green Christmas.  The mountains and foothill highlands have begun their display of Ireland green. This morning the sun broke orange and powerful, a reminder that in this season of light there is hope.  The shadows remain, the doubts of an unclear future and unresolved matters, but around the world in the next few days, tens of millions will for a moment at least, feel what generations have felt as they wait for the jolly old elf to open his pack.

                                                               
Maybe it would just so much easier, if Fred Foy could invoke that fiery horse with the speed of light to ride us all into a better place.