Wrestling With Temptation

"Did you see that? -- I can't believe it! The Road Warriors have turned on STING! -- their own partner!"

So went the announcer -- on and on, as the crowd "boo'ed" and cheered. In the center of the wrestling ring, two men called the Road Warriors, had just "pulverized" the three-man opposing team, and were now turning their tumbles, jabs, slaps, and what-have-you against Sting, the third member of their own team!

Unlike, the perplexed announcer, I think it is easy to figure out what was going on. The Road Warriors apparently saw better opportunities on the "dark side" of the ring; better matches, more notoriety, more money. Surely, even if you have seen only one wrestling match, you know they are full of symbolism; good verses bad, nice verses mean, decent verses deceitful . . . costumes and gimmicks give it away.

Fishing the Pond . . . and the Deep!

The last two summers I have tried to take up fishing again; I used to fish when I was younger. Wormy fingers and the smell of salmon eggs are nothing new, but I seem to have forgotten the important things. By important, I mean the things that go beyond the basics -- I know how to tie a line, bait a hook and all of that -- I just don't remember how to get the fish to cooperate.

When I was growing up, I don't remember many Saturdays going by that my grandfather hadn't planned a fishing expedition up to Millerton Lake. Unlike me, my grandfather knew how to get the fish to cooperate; not only on his line, but on my line too! He'd say. "Looks like a big one right over there by that log. I'd cast, and sure enough, the fight was on!

Trusting In A Two-By-Four

Most of us know, and can easily identify a piece of lumber known as a “two-by-four” when we see one. I’ve been around them in one way or another since as far back as I can remember. They are seen everywhere, and people use them to build almost everything. In fact, you are probably within a few feet of one right now, though it might be hidden from view behind sheet rock or plaster.

Every carpenter and contractor out there would identify the same board as a “two-by-four”. Two-by-fours are a mainstay and building block, so to speak, of the construction industry. If you want to go into carpentry and can’t identify a two-by-four when you see one, I think it would be good idea to consider choosing a different line of work.

Not only do professionals and Do-It-Yourself guides identify the piece of wood as a “two-by-four,” also, if asked, almost anyone will tell you it gets its very name because of the measurements attributed to it – two inches by four inches.

I find it interesting that so many of us know a two-by-four when we see one, and yet few of us know that it isn’t really a two-by-four at all.

“What do you mean?” I can hear you say. Well, let me explain . . .