GOOD QUOTE FROM A GREAT COACH

Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. - Vince Lombardi

Individual commitment to a group effort truly is what it's all about if we want to make things work.

MUDDY ROAD

Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.

Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.

"Come on, girl" said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.

Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females," he told Tanzan, "especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?"

"I left the girl there," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?"

SO HOW Y'ALL DOIN'?

This is my favorite time of year.

The leaves are coming out around here, and it is a sure sign winter is finally gone. The hills around town are beginning to green up, and I see flowers here and there around town. Some of the birds we have missed during the cold months have returned, and I delight in hearing their familiar songs again.

"Oh yeah, that's an Evening Grosbeak I hear! And that other one... that's Turdus Migratorius!!" 8-)

Our upstairs bathroom is finally getting a remodel. This is the first interior home improvement we have made in the 13 years we've been in the house, if you don't count painting a few rooms! It is the only bathroom with shower, and the shower is busted... taking baths in the downstairs tub is getting old. But in a few weeks, for us it will be like "April flowers bring May showers" for us. We can't wait!

There are only about seven weeks left in the school year, and while the work keeps piling up, I know there is now a light at the end of the tunnel. That light for me is known as "summer"! With tickets for the Sasquatch Festival at The Gorge on Memorial Weekend, tickets to see Rush with Jim and a friend in August in Auburn, WA, a trip to California for my niece's wedding in July, a July reunion of college bandmates with a public performance in Portland, getting to see the Mariners play the Yankees in Seattle, and a couple of jobs here and there for Standard Deviation... not to mention a possible hike or two... summer is shaping up to be good! So even with work being a grind, I have lots of things to look forward to.

All this fun begins in about five weeks! Until then, the nicer weather, longer days and other positive things going on make for good feelings.

I hope things are going well for you too, that spring is filling your insides with good feelings, and that your horizons look bright.

Happy spring!

WORDS

I like to look at words in various ways, and one of my favorites is this.

Wal-Mart SuperCenter backwards is:

"Tram-Law RetnecRepus".

They do put the Retnec in shopping. And I think the word "repus" sounds pretty interesting too!

Well, I thought "repus" had a kind of Southern flavor to it, in that it sort of sounds like "Remus" and "Jeebus". It could be like "Uncle Repus" or "All praise Repus".

I wonder if there are any guys out there with a first name of Repus.

"Yeah, I was talkin' t' ol' Retnec Repus th' other day..."