This is my first attempt at a blog so I thought I would keep it short and simple. The title ‘Panning For Gold’ it actually comes from an off hand comment my ex-father in law said. We were sitting around the table and his cat, which he had acquired a few weeks earlier, made a horrible stench in the litter box. My father in law went over and cleaned it out so we wouldn’t have to converse through the tears. I said that cleaning the litter box was the worst part of owning a cat. Without missing a beat he said that he liked it, ‘it was like panning for gold’ . I did what I usually do, shrugged my shoulders and quietly rolled my eyes.
My ex father in law was a very wise and very educated man. I should have realized then that he never, ever said anything off-hand. Each word was always carefully crafted. It was many trials and tribulations later that I realized what he was talking about. Sometimes you have to go through a lot of crap to get to where you want to be.
I can only hope that in part my blogs are a way, at least for me, to get there with some semblance of understanding.
PanningForGold 
Woo-hoo! It’s about time.
Hey B – tried to leave a message earlier and I guess it didn’t take.
Nice to see you on here — I look forward to reading more – is there a way to follow?
I started my blog this summer, check it our at
http;//alfredliveshere.blogspot.com
Brham
Funny thing. When I looked after Calinban and had to clean out her litter box I recognized the physical motion of what I was doing (as I had panned for gold somewhere along our travels) but couldn’t identify it. It was only after I read your blog that I realized what it was. Good luck!
Mom
Good Brian,
Now we can get inside that head of yours more easily.
Thanks everyone. More to come.
Amazing how people who have lived together for over 50 years can think so much alike yet come from different direction. I associated the Panning For Gold with the couple of times we tried it on our travels. (I left out the Kaliban part). Which one of us spelled Kaliban correctly. Anyhow, it’s nice to see you using you talent for writing for something other than ring reports in the Linking Ring. (I did enjoy those by the way). Keep it up, I’ll be reading.
Dad
You spelled kaliban correctly, I also thought about the times we panned for gold in our travels, which if memory serves correctly somewhere you guys have a little vile that still contains the gold dust.
As always thanks for your support.
Oh how I look forward to your thoughts and musings…makes me feel like I never left!