The Winter that Wasn't

I like to post stuff like this just for future reference when I want to look back and see how the weather was in the past. Yesterday morning I was watering the plants on my balcony and I forgot to shut the door. I came back home later in the afternoon and noticed the balcony door was open and the house was as cozy as the sun beat into the living room and my office. We don’t have much to complain about as far as the weather goes here in Valencia. My two brothers will be visiting next week so it looks like we’ll have excellent cycling weather.

In an unrelated matter I saw a reference to Catch 22 on The Daily Show a couple of weeks ago and felt compelled to reread that classic for the umpteenth time.

Catch 22

‘You mean there’s a catch?’

         ‘Sure there’s a catch,’ Doc Daneeka replied. ‘Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy.’ 

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

‘That’s some catch, that Catch-22,’ he observed.

‘It’s the best there is,’ Doc Daneeka agreed.