April 1st

Defense Attorney: Will you please state your age?
Old Lady: I am 94 years old.

Defense Attorney: Will you tell us, in your own words, what happened the night of April 1st?
Old Lady: There I was, sitting there in my swing on my front porch on a warm spring evening, when a young man comes creeping up on the porch and sat down beside me.

Defense Attorney: Did you know him?
Old Lady: No, but he sure was friendly.

Defense Attorney: What happened after he sat down?
Old Lady: He started to rub my thigh.

Defense Attorney: Did you stop him?
Old Lady: No, I didn't stop him.

Defense Attorney: Why not?
Little Old Lady: It felt good. Nobody had done that since my Beaufort died some 30 years ago.

Defense Attorney: What happened next?
Old Lady: He began to rub all over my body.

Defense Attorney: Did you stop him then?
Old Lady: No, I did not stop him.

Defense Attorney: Why not?
Old Lady: His rubbing made me feel all alive and excited. I haven't felt that good in years!

Defense Attorney: What happened next?
Old Lady: Well, by then, I was feeling so spicy' that I just laid down and told him, "'Take me, young man. Take me now!'

Defense Attorney: And did he take you?
Old Lady: Hell, no! He just yelled, 'April Fool!' And that's when I shot him, the little bastard.

More Mommy, Mommy!

Mommy, Mommy! What's a nymphomaniac?
Shut up and help me get Gramma off the doorknob!

Mommy, Mommy! Why is daddy so pale?
Shut up and keep digging.

Mommy, Mommy! I don't like grandpa.
Well, just push him aside and eat your beans.

Mommy, Mommy! Grandpa's going out!
Well throw some more gasoline on him then.

Mommy, Mommy! I don't want to go to Australia.
Shut up son and keep swimming.

Mommy, Mommy! Why are we pushing the car off the cliff?
Shut up son, you'll wake your father.

Mommy, Mommy! I keep running in circles.
Shut up or I'll nail your other foot to the floor.

Mommy, Mommy! The milkmans here; have you got the money or should I go out an play?

Mommy, Mommy! Why's everybody running?
Shut up and reload.

Mommy, Mommy! Why is Daddy zigzagging in the yard?
Shut up and shoot again!

Popcorn Anyone?

Being a foodie can be annoying.

Not to you, but to others.

There's always the latest fad.  Organically home grown locally sourced this or that can be tedious to find.

Believe it or not, I tend to be on the trailing edge of all of that stuff.  When I find something that I like, I sharpen my own skills until I get it "perfect" then I simply set the way I do it in stone and won't change unless there's a very strong reason not to.

The coffee is one of those things.  While Home Roasting your own beans may sound horribly exotic, and also horribly boring or perhaps strange to many people, that's how it was done for centuries.   Skillet on the stove heated just so.  In my case it's a popcorn popper.

Since I have a popcorn popper I may as well keep popcorn in the house.

But air popped popcorn in my "coffee roaster" popcorn popper doesn't taste like popcorn.  It tastes like styrofoam.  There's a reason why you can legally use popcorn in the US for packing peanuts.  If you pop it with air, it's pretty much harmless and simply takes up space.

I may try that next "shipping season" if I run low on bubble wrap.  It's much more ecologically friendly, and if you simply pack the popcorn in plastic bags, it gives the people you sent it to a nice snack when they're opening the box.

Hmmmm....

But it still tastes like air popped packing peanuts.  Or popcorn.

So how to improve that for when you are sitting in front of the one eyed babysitter having your brain drilled empty?

I tried Olive Oil which was nice, but heavy.  It also tasted like a pizza when I tossed on some "Italian Seasoning" mix of oregano, rosemary, and other "stuff".

Nah, I will leave the pizza for when I want a pizza.

We found a "Funyun" spice mix which ended up being 2 parts Onion Powder and 1 part Garlic Salt.   Not too exciting, it wasn't quite right.

I got into a long food conversation arc with my buddy in Atlanta who insisted that the thing was to go out and get some Coconut Oil.

"Was this the latest food fad?  Isn't Coconut Oil supposed to be horrible for you?"

And other similar questions.

Yes, it's the latest Foodie Fad.  It is supposed to be the latest wonderful thing that will save you from rack and ruin, and it even will make Julienne Fries!

Sure if you can figure out how to cut those potatoes without slashing your fingers.

So we bought the stuff and it sat in the cupboard for a while.

I wanted a snack.  Had had quite enough of the run of the mill chocolate and other junk food we get in bulk from the warehouse stores.   I was thinking about making popcorn, but since Kevin was home he would want some too. 

Having a well prepared kitchen helps, even if the kitchen is a bit small.  Galley Kitchen with one 6'4" man trying to cook up a snack can be claustrophobic.

I bent my own bulk down to the floor, never the best place for a tall man.  Looking for the large pot to make this stuff in, I realized I had something much better.  Not only one but two Woks.

Yes, I actually have two Woks.  You don't?  How on Earth do you stirfry?  Sheesh!

But seriously, I have two, and I'm glad I did.  It was gift way back in the mid 80s and I have kept it since then. 

Looking around in the cabinets, I was trying to find the right oil.  I hit upon the white plastic jar of that coconut oil.   It's a thick mess of stuff, looking waxy with a layer of thick glop solidified on the top.  But while it was heavier in calories, I could use much less.

You know the old school recipe of a tablespoon to the pot with a quarter cup of popcorn kernels in a heavy domed lid?  I could use less.

It turned out that Coconut Oil has an added benefit.  You don't need as much to fry.   In fact, since I was using a Wok, I used a teaspoon instead and that was too much.  Next time 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil to 1/3 cup of kernels.

It also has a lower smoke point so I had to turn down the heat.   Probably better to fry fish in.  I may have to try my hand at that.

There I was.  In my little crackerbox galley kitchen.  Using weird oils in a wok to make popcorn.  At least I would be able to make enough for three.  Two for me, one for you.

I did say I was tall, right?   We just need more.  It's part of the territory.

The thing is that this was some of the best popcorn I had had in a very long time.  Coconut Oil is what they use in movie theaters, and since I wasn't using "The Cheap Stuff" I was able to use only a little of it, and none of that weird "Flavoring" which I suspect really is nothing more than industrial solvents and something drained from the crankcase of a 12 year old Buick.

Since it was for the both of us, I made a small bowl for Kevin so he could salt or season it to his liking.  I had the rest for myself. 

A vat of popcorn, some old reruns of Sabrina the Teenaged Witch and Petticoat Junction, and pleasant company.  A real nice way to run out an evening.

Pass the Kettle Corn salt, I'm thinking salty and sweet tonight!

1800 Posts and All Is Well!

Yeah I looked at the blog info and noticed that I had a nice round number and thought, why not?

It's been four years, 1800 posts.  Some good, some I could have done better.

How does that sound, could have done better.  Code word for "What was I thinking?"!

At any rate, I had a four year run and only missed one day recently. I'm still a little embarrassed about that.  I looked at the site that morning very early, got up to do "other things" and got into a shiny object.   Since I try to have something on here by 10AM I simply forgot.

I'm also doing some of these in advance, some of these on the seat of my pants.  Depends on how full my head is at.

I've been told that I can write about just about anything if I have a mind to.  That came from my own training in High School.  I was hard pressed for a book report, remember those?  I went up into our attic.  Back in the 1950s would be my guess, someone had been on that Book Of The Month Club thing.  The books got collected and the box ended up in our attic.  I can't even say it was my own parents that were members of the club, the box may have been given to them.

Taking that box, I found the most obscure novel I could find.  I remember it was titled "Gestapo".  I opened the book up and saw the chapter titles.   Writing a paragraph on each chapter would be easy, I never actually read the book.

Got an A Minus on that report too.  I guess I can tell a story if I put my mind to it.

Those who return here seem to think so.  According to Google Analytics, 27 percent of the people who read this blog on a given day have been here before.   That was over the last year or so.

(Waves hands)  Hi and welcome back!

On a planet of almost 8 billion, that's not a bad percentage.

It's not a big blog, I don't have all THAT many readers, and if someone were to send me some money saying thanks... it would be the first.

Writing helps keep my mind clear, and it is something that given a topic, is easy for me.

I guess though to close this out, I'll give you that David Letterman Top Ten List for the last month only.

1. Puns and One Liner Weekend
2. Hotmail Annoyance - Turn Off Keyboard Shortcuts
3. Parking hours discussed at the Commission Meeting
4. Gold Medal Flour - Extraordinary Buttermilk Biscuits
5. The Roof is Evil, and Must Die!
6. Goodbye Lisa
7. A Parrot and a Magician on a Ship
8. Three Men Are Walking in a Desert - Humor
9. Gnome 3 in Debian Jessie Using VMWare Workstation
10. I-95 North, Deerfield Beach, Florida

Most of those are older even if it is over this month only, and surprisingly people are coming to this blog for those jokes.  I guess I shouldn't be embarrassed at posting them.  I find them in various places.   If you want to send me some, feel free.  My own rules are that I have to be able to tell them in a business meeting - no swears, no bigotry, and not too controversial.

The other thing that got me is that there are quite a few people coming to this blog directly.  They must have bookmarked the URL.  They are also using google, specifically, and searching for it.  That's a bit circuitous, but hey knock yourself out.

You will note that number 9 is very much the tech that I know that my local readers tend not to read.  It's kind of esoteric.  I use Linux every day without fail, on the desktop, along with Windows.  It's an environment that I'm as comfortable in as my Mac OSX or Windows.  As I find things, I will let  you know.

So enough of this patting myself on the back.  The dryer is beeping, and the dog is begging for more yogurt!

I'm not going away just yet... I'll be back tomorrow.  No, really, that one is already in the can.  I pushed it aside just to do this one when I noticed that it was a round number.

Rack's Bad Ear Day

There are just some days that you have to go with the flow.

Actually that would be every day.  You can't control everything, that is the job of a Border Collie.

I don't have a Border Collie, I have a Mc Nab Dog.

Mc Nabs were bred from the same "source" dogs as a Border Collie, but they were bred for a different temperament and different conditions.  Their native Mendocino County California is a warmer climate than the Border Lands of Scotland and England.  Divergent needs mean that my own Rack has webbed feet and no undercoat.  He can take the heat better than a Border Collie, and will plop himself in the full sun of a South Florida Summer afternoon to recharge.

Solar Cells tend to be black as well.

A Border Collie is a wonderful dog, but they never rest.  You must give them work or you become their job.  It is up to you whether you want to be awakened at a strange hour for a five mile run. 

A Mc Nab is more patient.  He'll lay there and watch until you're ready, then ask "What are we doing today, Boss?".

That would be my Rack.   He learned my routine, sometimes I think a little too well.  He also tries to convince me that his way is the best from time to time.  Quirky little beast, to say the least.

On this particular morning in question, I happened to get up at a normal hour.  I still beat the sunrise by a half hour or more, and that was enough in itself to set my entire day later than usual.

While my own Mc Nab tends to act like a Business Analyst, he takes a subordinate role to my own Project Manager mindset.   It fits well, but I do have my own tendency to "Over Plan" things.

Knowing that routine gets him confused sometimes.  He's got some habits that are making me do some things with food that I realize are not for the best.  A bit manipulative?  Sure, but show me a dog that isn't going to work their way into your lives and your heart - if you don't have a heart of stone.

I finally got him reestablished on a normal eating schedule the day before.  Too many Summer Wet Season Thunderstorms had him rattled to where he hid the entire day under a table, in the corner, in a fetal ball.  When the rains broke, I was able to get some errands done.

Who knows, it may even get dry enough to get that yard work done.  After all, things are growing faster than I can get the weed eater at them.

The next day he must have realized that he could do a little campaigning.  Unfortunately, I was also taking advantage of the dry morning.  I had run out of coffee, and unlike you, most likely, that means I need to roast more.  Roast today, Drink tomorrow is the rule.  Get the popcorn popper out, pour a half cup of green beans into the hopper, plug in and wait for Second Crack for a lighter roast.

Repeat four times.

Since I was preoccupied in the kitchen, my mutt decided he wanted to go outside.  You see him going outside makes yogurt magically appear.  He had left half of his food in the bowl.  That bowl normally gets partially eaten, then I spend the rest of the day placing it in front of his nose telling him to eat.  If I get frustrated, I pour a tablespoon of yogurt on top and mix it in.

That leaves a half bowl of yogurt encrusted dog food and one happy dog.

Manipulation, 1, Human, 0.

I had him outside and was doing my best to ignore him.  Kind of difficult, if you ask me.  He's looking at me through the window.  I'm entertaining him as I dump the roasted coffee into the "cooling jar" and stir them around to let them cool.  Grab my own first course of breakfast, and he's still staring at me through the window.  It is as if he's saying "Soon, my precious yogurt will appear".

Yes, but not for you my furry charge, not yet.

The entire half hour of breakfast, coffee roasting, and my own puttering was spent with this dog staring back at me.  Every time I looked, the one ear was down.  His down ear never completely stood upright, and the upright ear isn't quite as bolt upright as some other Mc Nabs are.  But since this is a breed that the standards are set more for What They Can Do rather than What They Look Like, it certainly doesn't matter.

Besides, that "down ear" works and looks comical as he bounces around the neighborhood on his daily march.

I'd finally had quite enough of being stared at.  The yogurt hadn't even hit the bowl yet.  I still had one course to go, and since I was at a logical breakpoint, I'd let him in. 

Squeezing past my legs through the partially opened door at the back of the house, he shot through to the kitchen. 

If a dog can show disappointment, this was when my own Rack decided to show it.  There was an enclave of food in the bowl.  Half of a bowl full of dog food sat packed to one side with an invisible border through the middle.  That is to say, dog food but no yogurt.

Yet.  Maybe Later.   Eat your food you silly dog!

He slunk off to his alternate den to tend to licking those webbed feet.   Dog food, no matter how premium it is or isn't, is just not as attractive without the remains of my own breakfast yogurt on top.

Too soon, pal, you didn't let me eat it this morning.  Maybe later.

The Tyrrany of the Logical Place

Living in a small house means you have to make allowances.

We have a little shed in the backyard.  Without having measured it, my best guess is that it's about 10 feet square, but it could be smaller.  Maybe 3 meters on a side.   I can stand in it comfortably.

That is when I empty it.
Or when I can actually go into it.

There's a ritual involved.

First, think clearly of what you need.  No, Not what you are looking for, but what you actually NEED.  That is to say, you have a lot of projects "pending" so clear your mind and go through that mental list thinking about what you need to complete them.

Dremel tool.

Wiper blades for the Jeep.  You have no idea how difficult it is to find 13 inch wiper blades even in an Auto Parts store these days.

Lights for the little Charlie Brown Holiday Tree.  Ok, so that's a little early, but it is best to start in August when you're looking for that sort of thing.

Second, remember why you went out there.  In this case, I'm trying to get together a Care Package for a good friend up North.  I do that sort of thing periodically, as he sends me random things periodically.  That means that I keep packing material on hand as a rule.

You know, Bubble Wrap.  For crying out loud stop popping that, I need it!

Third, find the bug spray.  This is Florida.  South Freaking Florida.   While that shed gets hot during the day with the tin roof partially exposed to the sun under the spreading Sea Grape Tree, it doesn't really get hot enough to keep it clear of wildlife. 

Not those entertaining little lizards, they use it as an incubation chamber and leave little gumdrop sized eggs in the corner.

I am worried about those other family pets.   My Flock of Mosquitoes and my herd of Spiders.

Die, just die.

I open the door gingerly.  Spray the spray of death into the small chamber.   The two moths that I flushed into the open flutter to the ground.  I did say I am not a practitioner of Jainism where every life is sacred.  If that moth was one of my reincarnated relatives, you shall find another place in your next life.  Let me suggest something a little more charismatic like a parrot or gecko.

I close the door with flourish.  The metal plate behind it thrums.  Drop the padlock into the latch and walk back to the house.   I need to let the poison gas do its thing. 

Try to convince Rack that he really does not need to hide behind the chair.   It's sunny, we only have a 50 percent chance of rain.  Come on boy, Backyard!

Nothing.  Ok, I'll do this alone.

Reopen the shed.  The sweet smell of bug death leeches out into the yard.   I step back to allow it to "fall out" while rolling the lawn mower out into the yard.

Stepping back into the shed I immediately get knocked in the head.  Mango Pole for Mango Season and the Pole Saw are hanging from the rafters.  They need to be secured.

I start to dig.   Everything was placed out there for a reason.  Sure.  I'll need that.   The old radio for my Jeep sits waiting in a bag.  Do people still listen to Cassettes?  How about AM Stereo?

Yeah that ship has sailed.

My motorcycle license plate from New Jersey, still with the sticker on it from 1991.   I miss that bike.  Honda Goldwing Interstate.  *Sigh* Can't ride one down here, these people think driving is a contact sport.

Ooh there's that wiper blade!  The holiday lights!  The Bubble Wrap!  That's why I came out in the first place.  Bubble wrap! 

Not all of it.  Somewhere we have a big roll of the stuff.  Better find that by mid September, I'll see if I can make do.

Any chance I can find that Dremel?  I have a couple beer bottles to cut down to make "Votive Candle Holders".

Yeah I know, kitchy.

But no luck on that Dremel.

Whacking my head on the Mango Pole I look at the bikes hanging forgotten in the back.  I never liked riding them anyway.

One more pass for the Dremel.  Nope.  Set the wiper blades in clear view and back out.   The Mosquitoes are heading back in the void.  I dared to breathe too long.  The Carbon Dioxide is collecting in the enclosed space.

Everything was put out there for a reason.  It's the Logical Place.   The problem with putting things in a Logical Place is that it makes too much sense.  Out of sight and out of mind, you forget about it completely.  Add to it that it is in a place you try not to go to because of the logistics and you end up wasting another hour on another day looking for something that you need, serendipitously hoping you will find it.

Not a chance, but you may find the other plate for the Motorcycle some day.   The Pennsylvania plates always looked more cool anyway.  Shaped like the state with that silly notch for where Erie County is.

You know they actually bought that from New York?  Erie Pennsylvania?  They wanted that?  Must have been for the harbor.  Made Pennsylvania the forgotten Great Lakes state and a great trivia question.

Two states border the Great Lakes and touch the salt water of the Atlantic Ocean - which are they?

New York and Pennsylvania.   The salt line goes up as far as Philadelphia on a dry month.

A Flock Of Ibis and A Jar of Lemon Curd

When it rains like we have been getting, the best thing to do is just "Duck and Cover".

I don't mind a thunderstorm but I am smart enough to stay inside during the worst of it.  Most folks are. 

There are always a few who you wonder about.  You know the type, I've called them chickens.  The type that if you set outside in a rainstorm, they'd drown because they would be looking "due up" at the sky with their mouth open.  It would then fill up and they don't have the common sense to at least swallow.

There was a gap between the storms.  You could still hear the thunder off in the very distance, like a low rumble from a distant train.  Humid out, with grey skies, it was clearly time to go out and get some errands run.

I had a conversation with Sherree a few days back.  We were paying a visit and made a casual comment that I was probably one of about one people here in town that made their own Lemon Curd.  If you haven't had it, it basically is what you get inside of a Lemon Meringue pie.  Subtract the crust and the meringue, and there you have it.   It's a sweet and tart jelly that is rich with eggs, lemon zest and juice, and is really quite good on a breakfast English Muffin with some cream cheese.  I've gotten the recipe down so that it's about as good as what I can get out at the market.  Oh, and as good as that recipe is, it is amazing with either grapefruit or limes, Key Limes are exceptional when you can find them.

But it also is an English thing.  Since Sherree is quite gloriously English, her eyes lit up when she heard that. 

It was time to do a good deed.

That morning I knew I would make up a batch and try to can the stuff.   Home canning is one of those At Your Own Risk activities like running with scissors.  Do it right and it can be exhilarating.  Do it wrong and you fall down and hurt yourself.

There are certain foods that it is "Not Recommended" that you home can.  They are things that spoil easily that contain Egg that could go horribly wrong if you didn't sterilize everything in boiling water and follow instructions exactly.

Seeing that I was kind of winging this, I was going to deliver one of the two full jars locally that same day.

If someone gives you some Home Canned goods, check the lid.  If the lid bulges, it should no longer be eaten.  Dispose of it, then tell a white lie.  Tell them it was good, but don't eat it.  Save the ring and the jar and return them, they're not exactly easy to find.  The rings are almost never sold separately, and come one to a jar.

On the other hand, this jar was canned, and then immediately refrigerated, and went into the refrigerator upon delivery.

After chatting about her dog, and that my own Rack was sitting in the car out front, we came outside.  Having a pleasant conversation about things that you usually have when you're three adults and a dog standing around in a front yard, we were interrupted.

A Flock of 11 Ibises make a rather large sound when they come in for a landing.  We spotted them just as they crested over the trees and landed in the street in front of us.  Think of the Hitchcock movie "The Birds" but in miniature.  One thing about wildlife in Florida, they are everywhere.  You only reside here, but this is their home.

This flock paid us no mind as we all stood there with our heads cocked to one side due to their arrival.  They walked East down the street as my Rack hid behind me.  I'm not too surprised about that but when I noticed that he was plastered to the back of my leg, I dropped the leash.

He was in the back of the car and curled into a fetal ball in an eyeblink.

So if you're standing in a yard and a flock of American Ibis decide to pay a visit, remember they were here first and they're really quite shy.  Don't worry, they'll head back to the water shortly.  They can't eat asphalt anyway.

An Italian Funeral

An Italian Funeral

An Italian man was leaving a convenience store with his espresso when he noticed a most unusual Italian funeral procession approaching the nearby cemetery.

A black hearse was followed by a second black hearse about 50 Feet behind the first one.
Behind the second hearse was a solitary Italian man walking a dog on a leash.

Behind him, a short distance back were about 200 men walking single file.
The man couldn't stand the curiosity.

He respectfully approached the Italian man walking the dog and said: "I am so sorry for your loss, and this may be a bad time to disturb you, but I've never seen an Italian funeral like this. Whose funeral is it?"

"My wife's."
''What happened to her?"
"She yelled at me and my dog attacked and killed her."

He inquired further, "But who is in the second hearse?"
The Italian man answered, "My mother-in-law. She was trying to help my wife when the dog turned on her."

A very poignant and touching moment of Italian brotherhood and silence passed between the two men.
"Can I borrow the dog?"

The man replied, "Get in line."

Mommy, Mommy! Returns!

Mommy, Mommy! What do you want with that ax....

Mommy, Mommy! I can't breathe!
Good, it's working.

Mommy, Mommy! Why do I have to hop everywhere?
Shut up or I'll chop off the other leg!

Mommy, Mommy! Grandma's got a bruise.
Shut up and eat around it!

Mommy, Mommy! Can I play with grandma?
Not today, we already dug her three times this week.

Mommy, Mommy! What happened to all your scabs?
Shut up and eat your cornflakes!

Mommy, Mommy! What's in those CARE packages they send to Africa?
Shut up and get back in the box!

Mommy, Mommy! The teacher says I look like a monkey!
Shut up and comb your face!

Mommy, Mommy! What's a werewolf?
Shut up and comb your face!

Mommy, Mommy! Whats an orgasm?
I don't know dear, ask your father.

Mommy, Mommy! I hate daddy's guts.
Well, just leave them on the side of the plate.

Dragon Fly on Screw Palm

We've got the sun in the mornin', and the rain in the afternoon.

Swing music aside, that's been the last couple weeks here in semi-sunny South Florida.

When it rains, it's been Biblical.

Entertaining to watch, it's wreaked havoc with our Rack's day.  Dogs just don't like "weather", especially Flashbangs that the local constabulary would love to have.

Lightning strike within the block will curl your hair, even if you're bald.

But, that silver lining?  It's mosquitoes.  They hatch.  So since it's 10 degrees cooler when the clouds come in, and another 5 or so when it's raining, you've got on jeans to protect yourself from the little disease carrying blighters.

The sun rises, and everything comes out the next day.  Keep hiding.  The bats have gone overhead to try to put a dent in the overpopulation of  the same tiger mosquitoes that are as far North as New Jersey.  Nasty aggressive mosquitoes.

However... there's a savior.  A rather beautiful creature.  They dance on the air.  Perch on the very tips of leaves.  Their hatching is timed to take advantage of the rains and the mosquitoes' birth.  Step out into the sun and there are dozens of them.  Hovering on the breezes, then darting forward for a morsel, they are the Dragon Flies. 

Literally 100 of them on my front yard the other day, all facing into the afternoon sun, they watched as I stepped out onto the porch.

Rack on his long purple leash, there was a ripple effect.   My bouncy dog, bounded onto the grass.  A wave of disturbed insects lifted gently out of the way with the same pattern I get when I make my bed.  A rise and flick like an amber colored translucent fabric shimmering in the sun, they launched to get out of the way of the kinetic motion of the black and white dog.   The cloud of dragon flies lifted, then landed further out onto the green grass and set back to the business of keeping the insect population down.

One of them had landed on the screw palm in front of the house.   It stayed there long enough for me to grab the camera and  ineptly take pictures on the internal memory by mistake, then to retrieve the chip and take a few more there.   It was happy to oblige, seemingly willing to be photographed "like one of your French Girls".  Posing, reflecting the sunlight, and shimmering in colors both subtle and changing, it had decided that I had had enough pictures and launched. 

Gliding on the air, it left us to ponder its existence for another day.