Eve of October

There was something in my old apartment building that I didn't notice until I was winding down the big move.  The sun was shining in the gangway a certain way and I glanced up and caught a flash of gold.  Well, what do you know?  Uncle Ken isn't the only fan of the mighty sunflower.  Eleven years of living in that building and this was the first time I noticed sunflowers growing on the back landing of a third floor apartment.

My houseplants are doing well and I'm enjoying them much more than I anticipated.  Some are showing noticable growth and others are just maintaining a healthy demeanor, if plants can have such a quality.  It's been a simple pleasure for me to notice how the sun tracks a slighly different path every day as I move the plants so they get as much sun as possible; sunlight is reaching deeper in the apartment as the sun's path is lower every day.  But I'm still sorting out all my crap and floor space is still at a premium; this place is going to be a work in progress for the foreseeable future.

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I finished reading The Draft piece by Uncle Ken but I'm having trouble with determining the timeline.  The three of us dealt with military service in distinctly different ways and I'm trying to tie them all together.  From what I've read it seems that Mr. Beagles enlisted in 1964 after his sojourn in Alaska and completed his service in 1967.  I enlisted in 1968 and got out in 1971 but all I can tell about Uncle Ken's experience is that he was in Berkeley in 1967.  I'm curious about the time he spent dodging the government's paperwork before his C.O. duties at the hospital.  If Uncle Ken was indeed in the Bay Area at that time how come there's not a word about the Summer of Love, the Fillmore, Haight Ashbury, and all that groovy stuff?

In reviewing past posts Mr. Beagles mentioned he was given the chance to opt out of his enlistment commitments.  What does that mean?

And for Mr. Beagles' amusement, here's a pic of the shank, the paring knife I made recently.  Works pretty well, and as I use it I'll be trimming it down for a better fit to my hand.