Potential for Life in the Universe Elsewhere Than Earth.

Tell me something I don't already believe. They are calling it 531c, or something like that, but we need to think of something more fitting. How about "outer real estate," or "other world estate." Think about it.

Grafted from sycamores, this basket tree is the work of a visionary. Like a family of many members interwoven into one, they become closer together with the passage of time.

"I Grieve." (song by Peter Gabriel)

As the beautiful song of mourning plays inside my head, I remember my first cousin, Dave Mitchell, what a cool guy he was, disarmingly funny, smart, wiley and wise. Even when he was a kid he was just smarter than the rest of us. Seriously. Or just me. God, dear God. Give us strength to get through it, and grace to understand it. As the song goes, "Love carries on... and on... and on... and on. Love carries on... and on... and on." Singing this helps me to understand.

We grew up together, six cousins on the same street. Sharon, Gloria, Bob, Dave, me and Matt. Our parents played pinochle at night. All night! Sheesh did they play that pinochle. I remember we had this one game. This was probably around 1970. It was called Creeple People, and I think it was made by Mattel. You could never get this thing today. It wasn't really a game, it was a giant hot plate with square metal molds of bugs and skeletons and creepy things. It came with bottles of plastic gloop, which you would pour into the heated plates and let them bake until good and rubbery. That was cool. It was their toy, not mine and I recall the time they brought it to our house and they set it up in the garage. When it was ready to bake I remember Uncle Don before going back inside to play cards, squeezed Dave's elbow, looked him straight in the eye and said, "Be careful with this thing." I felt safe that nobody would get burned if Dave was admonished by his dad to be very careful. And no one ever got burned, ever.

The toys that came out of it were also very cool. They had the gloop that would glow in the dark, and we made a bunch of the little rubbery skeletons, and hung a couple of them in Dave's room. That was fun. Kid stuff.

Our families did a lot together. All those birthdays, all those picnics, all those parks. All that intentional singing of the lucky birthday boy or girl's birthday song far, far offkey. On purpose. That was so funny.

Dave was an exceptional man, a true family man, with a heart of solid gold, and will be profundly missed by everyone who has felt the joy of knowing him. May God bless and keep Dave's wife, Kaye, and all his children. Joshua, Daniel, Timothy, Isaiah, Gabriel, and Benjamin, safe and sound during this time of grief. May God bless the entire Mitchell-Sherman clan, every one of us.

Love carries on.

Amaryllis with Dew

The Four-Legged Giant.