Carl Crossman

Thanks to Erasmo Cortez

If you like to discover new things and if you like to learn then you are probably like me. When I watch my Satellite TV my favorite educational channel is the Discovery Channel. I am always amazed at how many great shows they have. Sometimes I wish I could go on adventures myself, but watching the Discovery Channel is almost just as good. There is this one show, “Man vs. Wild” that is beyond exciting. These crazy guys catch snakes and encounter the wild in ways I’ll never be able to do. I love watching them do these things that are crazy and adventurous. When this show comes on as repeats on Wednesday and Sunday mornings I make sure I’m there to experience adventures with them. I feel like in a way I am sharing in their exciting life and getting to learn at the same time.

The diversity of the Discovery Channel is really what blows my mind. They have all kinds of subjects to choose from. You can watch shows on adventure sports, animals, cars, dinosaurs, history, space, and all sorts of other really cool things. The people they get to do these shows are really cool too. There is this one show with Morgan Freeman, where they discuss the mystery of black holes. I haven’t gotten to watch it yet, but I’m really excited to. Seriously if you like learning then the Discovery Channel is the channel to watch.

With all the talk about how many animals are endangered, it’s good to hear a story about ones that are struggling to make a comeback. Such is the case with the Southeast Asian clouded leopards. A pair of cubs was born on May 14 at a Paris zoo. The cubs are both females and have been named Pati and Jaya.

This particular kind of cats is threatened by habitat destruction as well as poachers. They are highly valued for their beautiful pelts. The cats are very reclusive in the wild and finding out how many are left is difficult. At least we know that there are two more!

One of my next door neighbors did a really stupid thing last night that was almost tragic. He was trying to start a small black Webber grill on the grass by the pool, and he used a big plastic can of starter fluid to soak the coals.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with that if you do it right. You are supposed to soak the coals before lighting them. But the coals didn’t seem to be burning hot enough to suit him, so he squirted more starter fluid on the coals after they were already lit. I saw this from our balcony and was freaked out. The flames ran up the stream of starter fluid and got into the can he was holding, and it exploded.

Thank God no one was badly hurt. His face and arms are a little burned and it singed his chest hairs. But that’s the worst of it. He got lucky.

While at the neighborhood Walgreen’s, I noticed that they were featuring Ghiradelli chocolates on sale. Usually they are about $4 for a small bag. While on sale, they were 2 bags for $5. So that is not quite half price, but a very good excuse for buying two bags of my wife’s favorite chocolates! I bought one bag of dark chocolate with raspberry filling and one bag of milk chocolate with caramel filling. If she can restrain herself to just one chocolate treat each night, then we might be able to make these last about one month. That’s thirty days and nights of sweet treats.