Well, the market closed up today. That’s six out of seven sessions. And it’s nearly 1000 points above the bottom, right? Housing starts were up, as were construction permit applications. Wholesale prices were up, but just a little. Food prices down, fuel prices up. Consumer spending and retail sales, both steady.

It’s like we’re in one of those Tarzan movies. You’re running through the jungle and fall into a booby trap—a pit covered with some branches. At first, you panic, because you’re shocked at the ground giving way. And then you feel yourself fall, but you don’t know how far. Or what’s at the bottom. Then, you hit with a thud (a little bounce, which is better than a splat). You lie there for a while. Roll over, look up at the light shining into the hole. Check to make sure nothing’s broken. Pull yourself up. And then begins the climb.

I guess we’ll be climbing for a while. And we have scrapes, scratches, bruises, sprains, strains, stoves, and maybe even fractures. But, for the first time in quite some time, we appear to be still alive. So, there’s that!

Of course, as of today, we know him as Mr. President. But about a year and a half ago, when he came to McAllister Square Mall, here in Greenville, Barack Obama was just an interesting idea. Today, he drew a couple million. That day it was a couple thousand. Of course, he could make a speech even back then.

We had the afternoon off last Friday. Time was, we would have packed up our SUV and headed to a top-secret escape location in Chattanooga, Saluda, Blowing Rock, Atlanta, or elsewhere. But times are different. So we reverted to the habits of simpler times. Jumped in the Prius and headed for Skytop Orchard to pick apples in Flat Rock.

Skytop is the coolest place. It’s on the top of a mountain, off the side of a side road. One of those old-fashioned, nothin’ fancy places you used to find in the mountains of Western North Carolina—before we were overrun with Yankees and McMansions. At the top of the mountain is a wooden shed, where you can get caramel apples, mulled cider, apple donuts, and other cool apple-related stuff. Then, cascading down the hillside, are the orchards.

This really nice young woman, with a sweet smile and very little makeup, tells you the deal. You can either get this size basket (a bushel) for this amount, or you can get this size basket (a peck) for this amount. Then, you get to take a walk down the side of a gently sloping hillside…autumn leaves crunching under foot, down walkways between rows of apple trees. The whole place smells like cider.

We wanted Granny Smith. So we had to go down past the Fujis, between the Mutsu, across the gravel road, and there they were. We picked our peck. Then we walked, hand-in-hand, back up the hill. We took the long way, past the sheep and the ducks.

There is plenty not to like about these strange times. But one thing we’ve been missing for a long time, that I’m kinda glad we have back is …

apple picking.

This is not the place to talk politics. And I am going to try not to. But is anyone else really tired of the meaningless slap fight that is trying to pass for a presidential campaign?

We’re going to have round three this evening, and it will be another hour or two of…well he’s not much of an American…oh, yeah, well he’s not really for change, except for the loose change in your pockets…oh, yeah, well he hangs out with bad people…oh, yeah, well he hangs out with the bad president…oh, yeah, well he has the bad former president campaigning for him…oh yeah…

Just knock it off already.

John McCain is a dedicated, honest American, who has made gigantic sacrifices to serve this country in the way he thought was best. You may agree or disagree with his positions on issues or some of his decisions, but please. Stop with the personal slap fight.

For the forty-eleventh time, Barack Obama is NOT a Muslim. He is NOT a terrorist. He is a courteous, well-spoken, well-educated man, who loves his country and wants what is best for it. You might disagree with his opinion of what is best for America. But it is just no-class to be defaming the guy’s character.

Somebody is going to win this election. My Bible says that God will use that somebody to achieve His purposes. Some people seem to like the fact that this is a very divided country. They want to do whatever they can to drive the wedge deep. But this is a serious time. This is not the time for slap fights. So please…

Just stop it!

We have a young friend, the 13-year-old daughter of our neighbors up the street, who is a very promising runner. She is already the fastest girl on her high school track team in the mile and 2-mile races. AT 13! So, just to improve and train, she has to find people to run with. She used to run with the boys. But now, she’s faster than the boys. Sometimes she runs with one of her coaches. A while back, she got to run as a guest (I think in the marathon world they call them “pirates” or something like that—people who run the course, during the race, even though they are not registered) with another team, on which two of the state’s top runners are members. I understand she fonud that to be a cool challenge.

We have another friend, a 21-year-old woman, who is a very accomplished runner. Runs track and cross country for a college in North Carolina. Wins a lot of medals and stuff. We’re hoping to introduce our two friends. We think Dana (the older one) would be a great influence on Caroline (the younger one)…in a lot of ways. And being able to help a younger girl might also be very satisfying to Dana.

I hope the whole thing works out, because they are both very special people. I know this, because I have observed them (partially through the eyes of both sets of parents). But what’s really cool is that neither Dana nor Caroline seems to see anything particularly interesting or unusual about herself. To both of them…it’s just running. I know one thing; I could train for a year and get a quarter-mile head start, and they would both still leave me in the dust. Probably you too.

Took about as long as it took James Joyce to write Ulysses, but our new site is up. Go check it out. Let me know what you think.

Love the word. Love the ax. Anne got me a little koa ukulele (ooo-koo-lay-lay) back in March, when we were in Honolulu. It’s awesome. Now, there are the $10 ukes you can get at tourist traps or on EBAY. Can’t even keep them in tune. Then there are the real ukuleles starting with mahogany and spruce axes made in china—nice enough, but they don’t appreciate. Then there are the koa axes, wood harvested in Hawaii, shipped to china, parts cut in china, shipped back to Hawaii, assembled and finished in Hawaii. That’s what I got—affordable, sounds great, and appreciates over time. Then there are the ones completely made in Hawaii—sound and priced like national treasures. Gotta get one of those some day.

In six weeks, I’ve learned “Something in the Way She Moves,” “You Are My Sunshine,” about a half dozen hymns, and IZ’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Sweet.

We had the opportunity to return to Hawaii last week. We gave a report to some very cool clients (I guess they’re products of their environment). We made a presentation in the morning to the marketing team. Then, we went up the elevator in the afternoon to present to the executive team. I think the findings were well received. So, we look forward to building the brand.

Spent Saturday with our friend Ken, who showed us around some parts of Hawaii most haoles don’t get to see. First, we went to the Honolulu Academy of Arts, where they have a once-in-a century show of antiquities from Bhutan. There were some fabulous textile pieces that were hundreds of years old, but looked better than some of my ties. And a few small statues were from as far back as the sixth century. Wow!

Over lunch, we got some more teaching about Hawaii culture. We learned that a lot of names are transliterated into the Hawaiian language, but because the language has a limited number of sounds the names have to be changed slightly. For example, Kenneth is “Keneke.” I was delighted to learn that in Hawaii, I am “Kimo.” Cool, huh!

Then, we headed to Pearl Harbor. Turns out, Ken is a retired Navy Captain, so he was able to take us backstage. We got pictures of the Missouri and the Arizona Memorial, but our favorite part of the visit was the Utah Memorial (we were the only ones there). We stood on the shore and Ken explained the brilliant Japanese strategy for Pearl Harbor—and how their failure to complete the mission allowed us to get back on our feet and eventually win the war in the Pacific. Good case study in strategy and execution, which I will surely use at some point.

Last stop of the day—a Shinto shrine right in the heart of Honolulu. Ken explained the role of Shinto and Buddhism in the traditions of Hawaii, especially among Asian Hawaii people. We appreciated his willingness to share these things with us.

Keneke is an incredible person, yet completely unassuming. It was an awesome day. Mahalo!

I always thought it would be easy to do the old Jackson Pollock paint drizzle thing. I always thought it was a clear case of an interesting, promotable guy creating a “style” that he could reproduce fast, in his sleep, and make a lot of money. Well, maybe that’s all true. But the paint drizzling thing is not as easy as one might think. And if you don’t believe me, try it.

My problem is knowing when to stop. Also, it’s hard do decide, on the fly, how much to use of a given color, or what color works well drizzled over what other color. Of course, unlike Pollock, we can just hit the refresh key and start over. Once he drizzled on a canvas, the die was cast.

Try it. Let me know what you think.

We’ve been looking at hybrids for quite a while. We knew our ancient cars would eventually wear out, and we knew we wanted to replace them with something more fuel efficient and something that would be a better environmental stewardship testimony. I think a lot of people have those two motives (in some combination) for going hybrid: save money, be responsible.

Our pal, Zufall, was more about saving money (I think). He talked a lot about wanting a hybrid car that got really good mileage, but “looked” like a normal car. He was not interested in making a statement. He ended up with a Honda Civic, and at last report, he was delighted.

Our friends Owen and Beth got their first Prius a while back—they are more the “statement” types—and they are delighted with the fuel efficiency, comfort, performance (such as it is), and styling—styling that screams, “intelligent, hip, environmentally responsible.”

Anne and I are not normally big on statements. In fact, I have drove a 1992 Saturn from 1994 until yesterday, when I inherited Anne’s 2001 Isuzu Rodeo. I’ve studied this a little bit. The best thing you can do for the environment (car-wise) is to have a walking or cycling lifestyle. Barring that, the best thing you can do is avoid forcing somebody to build a new car. About half the carbon footprint of any car is in the manufacturing. So, if you already have a functional car, keep driving it.

Anyhow, as we started looking for a new vehicle for our road trips and for Anne’s commute, we decided to look for a Prius. Not that we wanted to make a statement, but Toyota had the guts to step up to the plate with this technology, while it appeared Detroit was trying to deep-six it. And, they have the best hybrid on the mass market (not all hybrid is created equal) for fuel efficiency and emissions. We thought they should be rewarded for their innovation and guts—and we thought we should be rewarded in the form of lower fuel bills.

We were not actively searching, but the Lord works in His own ways, you know. Our pal Seth does some consultation with Landrover of Greenville. So, he had the inside track, when somebody traded in a 2006 Prius. We got the heads-up, and there we go. The only problem is that you can get fixated on the little display screen and forget to watch the road. Other than that, it’s awesome.

Now, we’re looking for somebody who needs a 1992 Saturn SL2. Somebody who thinks its cool to drive a 16-year-old car. Somebody who will drive the wheels off of it, then recycle the parts. Any thoughts?