Friends

The subject of friends is one that I think about routinely. Having travelled and lived in a number of different places, it became difficult to have and nurture good friendships. Many of the folks I would consider friends do not live near me, although I try to stay in touch with them. I consider friendship to be one of the most important aspects of life.

A few years ago I had the opportunity the be a catalyst for a friendship between my wife, Kathy, and our son's 1st grade teacher, Ruth. Kathy's 50th birthday was approaching. I decided to send the two of them on a four day trip to NYC. I kept it a secret for a while but finally had to let them know so that they could get their heads around it and do some planning. I did most of the planning, having arranged the hotel, evening meals at the best restaurants including special birthday desserts, and a few plays. That was over 5 years ago, and they remain fast and close friends. They try to do a trip each year together. They did a cruise together in '07. My being a catalyst for their friendship is one of the best things I have ever done in my life. We should all hope to have and be as good a friends as they are, and to not "sail" through life alone.

Peace and blessings.

Day One and Why Tennessee Mudbug?

Getting started with a personal blog is, I imagine, the greatest hurdle. What will I write, what will I say? I want it to be perfect, but alas perfection is an elusive commodity...so, here I go, good and bad and in-between.
This blog is not exclusive to any one interest, but will serve to illuminate a life of varied interests. I am determined to keep opinions to a bare minimum, if any at all. Let's face it everyone has some, and although we each cherish our own, we may not find much meaning in each other's. I am determined to use this blog to inform, humor, and perhaps, if we are lucky to even enlighten the reader, if not even myself in the process. As I like photography I will try and have a new photo posted with each daily blog. I will also include a noteworthy quotation that may or may not pertain to the daily blog topic.
Why Tennessee Mudbug? I have, since my college days at Tennessee Tech University, held a fascination for and have studied the fascinating creatures we know as crayfish, crawdads, mudbugs. I was able to study them at TTU given my Fisheries Biology major. I furthered my interests while working at the Tennessee Aquarium with explorations of exhibit possibilities. I was even called upon to write a piece for our quarterly TN Aquarium magazine. I had pretty much free reign to investigate, collect, keep, photograph, and write about these crusty creatures that many know so little about. I have provided two links that will give even the most studious reader all and more information than one might ever need. Briefly...aside from the red Louisiana crawfish, widely known and eaten, are some 549 other species around the globe. Two "hotbeds" of species diversity are the southeastern U.S. with 330 species and Australia with 100 species. Tennessee is home to the greatest diversity of the 50 states, with some 78 species. The largest, The Giant Tasmanian Crayfish, is found in Tasmania. Specimens of this lobster sized critter have been recorded at over 500mm in length and in excess of 4kg. The smallest at slightly over an inch occurs in Queensland, Australia. The vast majority of all species live in either standing or flowing water, but some live ouside of submerged, aquatic environments in moist burrows. A few species spend entire lives in caves.

Well, that's all folks ! Day one...the whys and wheres...
Peace and blessings, Namaste, Shalom...Jeff (aka Tennessee Mudbug)


"Don't you wish there were a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence? There's one marked "Brightness," but it doesn't work." - Gallagher