Puzzling

UNLIKELY CHALLENGE

    Lana, a decades long veteran of jigsaw puzzle work says this ditty from Liberty Puzzles is the toughest she has confronted.

    Alone and with friends she has worked much larger puzzles and with hundreds more pieces. This wood puzzle with interesting shaped cuts may be small, but mighty.

POLI PUZZLING

    Al Hunt is one of the last of the old boy political analysts, descending from a craft where watching and observing were the tools. Unlike most talking heads now, eager to predict or pontificate, Hunt watches and takes measure, often finding foundational facts. Hunt believes what Eric Sevareid said many years ago, you cannot predict politics.

     The other evening as a pollster and other political technicians were doing a horse race assessment and talking about likely outcomes, Hunt reminded them it was impossible to predict what could or might happen or how it could affect a race.

      Too much time and too many words are spent  handicapping outcomes. Coverage is numbers crazy, doing the simulated sports coverage of the campaign, how to win or lose the game. A lot of wordage seems motivated by career posturing or boosting a media profile. Missing in the heat is illumination or thoughtful analysis. Attention spans and historical perspective seem to suffer a deficit disorder.

      Spend a couple minutes here, time traveling to 1977 when television news analysis was indeed thoughtful and provided depth and significance. Sevareid provided this role for CBS News. You'll better know  the quality and intellect of that time and work by seeing this, Sevareid's last comment at the time of his retirement. Walter Cronkite's follow also shows us a perspective that we miss.

GRAZING
cow and lens

    San Simeon Creek Road, northern San Luis Obispo County, California

  

     See you down the trail.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND BOYS IN POLITICS & ALMOST HEAVEN

CRAZY SEASON

     Nothing is certain in politics.  I heard Eric Sevareid say that when I was a young reporter and it has stuck with me.

       Now Rick Santorum enjoys the GOP limelight in what

has been the craziest campaign season since I covered my first presidential election in 1968.

       I think a lot about the late Sevareid as I watch this 

season play out. The reporter/analyst was brilliant.

       "The difference between men and boys in politics is, and always has been, that boys want to be something, while the men

want to do something."  

                                          Eric Sevareid

        Those of you old enough may remember Sevareid as the  commentator at the end of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite through the '60s and 70's.

       He was one of "Murrow's Boys," the war correspondents who invented modern broadcast journalism as they covered

WW II.  Hired by Ed Murrow this band brought seriousness, analysis and intellect to daily reporting.

       Sevareid was famous for his "think pieces," as we used to call them.  Essays really.  He had been a roving correspondent after the war.  Once while covering the Burma China war his plane developed trouble and before parachuting to safety he grabbed a bottle of gin.

       "Next to power without honor, the most dangerous thing

in the world is power without humor."

                                                         Eric Sevareid

        It would be a joy to see and hear Sevareid weigh in

on this campaign season. He never spared anyone from his critical gaze.

         "The bigger the information media, the less courage and freedom they allow.  Bigness means weakness."

          Here is a sample of the kind of thoughtfulness in

broadcast journalism, that many of us miss.  This is his

final commentary.

      "I'm sort of a pessimist about tomorrow and an optimist

about the day after tomorrow."

                                      Eric Sevareid

DAY BOOK
THE HIGH SIERRA

      With the first blooms of spring I begin thinking about our

next exploration of California. Like the magnetic north I am drawn to the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada.

Decades of globe trotting afforded me exposure to many wonderful places on this blue planet and I put the eastern side of the Sierra high on the list of exquisite.

      Folks have their favorite spots. One of mine is near Tom's place off the 395. From there you drive up to Rock Creek lake  at about 10,500 foot elevation.
      From the trail head you go up to a wide fan of lakes along either the Morgan or Mono Pass. These shots are taken
from a hike, mostly south of the Morgan Pass. 

      Our friend Ruth, who spent years hiking and exploring this region reminds us the scenes are similar to what 
we've seen in the Swiss Alps.  Gorgeous meadows, valleys, rugged rock walls, popular with technical climbers, pristine
alpine lakes, wild life, fresh air, quiet and true serenity.

 Box lake

Rock Creek Lake

Morgan Pass

Long Lake.
If your journeys ever afford you a chance to visit
the Eastern Slope of the Sierra, I suspect you too will
be in awe.
See you down the trail