Author: Rev. Joe Dirt

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Word of the Day -Temerity

  • Noun: Temerity

    1. unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger or opposition : rashness, recklessness
    2. a rash or reckless act
  • Synonyms:
    1. audaciousness
    2. audacity
    3. brashness
    4. brazenness
    5. cheek
    6. chutzpah (also chutzpa or hutzpah or hutzpa)
    7. effrontery
    8. gall
    9. nerve
    10. presumptuousness
    11. sauciness
  • Usage:
    1. “You certainly have a high degree of temerity snoring like that. I was surprised a bear did not think it was a mating call.”
  • Encountered:
    1. While backpacking in the Ozark National Forest with my brother, Dictionary Dude,  I remarked on our rising that he was putting us both in danger with his snoring… tee hee hee.  Then being brothers we begin to argue over the definition of the word.  His snoring probably worked the other way, scaring off all wildlife for a mile radius and a mile and half downwind.

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Definition of Panic

You are backpacking in the Ozark National Forest in north central Arkansas.  Since it is 0230 you are in your tent.  Because the ambient temperature is plus or minus 2 degrees of the freezing point of water, Fahrenheit, you have your down mummy sleeping bag zipped all the way up.  In fact you have the cord on the hood portion cinched up so that all that is visible is your very manly proboscis.  Because you are 68 going on 79 you have just woken up with an extraordinary Continue reading “Definition of Panic”

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Funny? or to the point?

This last weekend my brother Mike and I hiked the extended Sylamore Creek Trail in Arkansas.  The original trail was around 14 miles and I have hiked that section multiple times.  They have extended the trail by 9 miles to connect with the Ozark Highland Trail.  We hiked from the top of the new extension that starts at Cripple Turkey Trailhead in a southeasterly direction to Allison Trailhead.  I picked this direction as it is “generally” downhill.  However, if you have ever hiked in the Ozarks you know you spend your time going up then down, up then down…

At Allison Trailhead the first or last thing you need to do is ford North Sylamore Creek  about a mile or so before it enters the White River.  I have never made the ford without having to take off my hiking boots and sometimes more.  This is the same ford that Robin lost her panties while crossing, but that is a story for another time. This weekend it was only a little above my knees.

As we were getting out of the creek crossing we encountered a elderly man, a younger man and a child of 4 of 5 years of age.  The elderly man made some comment basically wanting to know what we had been doing.

I replied, “We are just finishing up a 23 mile hike.”

To which he replied in his slow Arkansas drawl, “Must have been a tough one!”

Keep well.

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Word of the Day – Exegesis

  • Noun: Exegesis
    1.  exposition, explanation– especially : an explanation or critical interpretation of a text
  • Synonyms:
    1. clarification
    2. construction
    3. elucidation
    4. explanation
    5. explication
    6. exposition
    7. illumination
    8. illustration
    9. interpretation
  • Usage:
    1. “Kripal’s book Secret Body: Erotic and Esoteric Currents in the History of Religions weaves together these various strands of his work. Part memoir, part exegesis, it’s a wide-ranging and subversive reinterpretation of religion. And, I might add, it’s like no other book I’ve read.”
  • Encountered:
    1. Reading a review of Kripal’s book Secret Body: Erotic and Esoteric Currents in the History of Religions in Los Angles Review of Books.

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Chat with Ken Lee, Author of Voices from the Bible: An Anthology of Single-Character Plays

I have a friend, Jeanne Felfe,  who writes novels and short stories.  She also works with other authors to edit their work and aids them in bringing their books to the self-publishing marketplace.

She recently completed her work with one such individual, Ken Lee, and his book Voices from the Bible: An Anthology of Single-Character Plays

Long time readers of my blog will know that this is the type of book that would make me do an 180 and run off like a horsefly bitten colt. BUT I do know a lot of folks that this type of literature is right up their alley.  So in the spirit of open mindedness I am sharing a link to Jeanne’s blog and a chat she had with the author.

Jeanne’s Chat with Ken Lee

To access Ken’s book on Amazon.com  here is the link: Voices from the Bible: An Anthology of Single-Character Plays

Keep well.

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #9,929

yeah I know you did not ask!

The Señora and I were “discussing” the setting on the thermostat.  I was cold and she was hot.

She said to me, “Put on a sweater!”

I said to her, “Take off the 3 sweaters you have on!!!”

That is when she  diagnosed me as suffering from hyperobnoxicity as if that was the debate clincher.

Is there a cure for hyperobnoxicity, or is it for a lifetime like herpes?

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From NYT: It’s the Fauci Awards!

Back in the 80s I worked a dual function position in a rural county in Arkansas.  On one side I was Administrator of the Local County Health Department.  A function that was more or less office manager for the Health Unit and I interfaced with public officials in and outside the county.  When I put on my other hat I was the County Sanitarian.  As a Registered Sanitarian I had a wide range of duties Continue reading “From NYT: It’s the Fauci Awards!”

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Something, something, something…

I met Robin’s father, Theodore – Ted, but I did not know him.  When I started dating Robin in 2008 he had already been in a nursing home for many years due to Alzheimer’s.  It had been years since he had recognized anyone, even his wife.  I am not sure how long we had been dating before Robin took me by to visit her father, but a while.  Robin did not visit her father, Ted, much in this period as her mother was still alive and primary caregiver.   As alluded to elsewhere Robin’s relationship with her mother was “complicated”, and this put visiting her father in the same realm.

Ted’s grandfather had been the village blacksmith back in Mother Russia.  Continue reading “Something, something, something…”