I hear those sleigh bells jingling....

I am almost ready for winter

     The wood is in and cut and stacked.  All the holes in the fences have been fixed so the animals won't wander off.  I tied a rope from the house to the barn so I can still get out there to do the milking during the blizzards that whip across the plains.
     Oh.....wait a minute!  That was Little House on the Prairie!!
     I have a gas fireplace.  No logs.  No wood.  Not as much fun as a wood burning stove.  The stove had multi purposes.  You could cook on it, boil water, use it for heat when the power was out, dry wet mittens and gloves on it, warm up your buns, and get plenty of exercise when splitting wood, chopping wood, stacking wood.  I miss it, a little.
     I like being able to flip a switch and have the glow of a fire.  And when we want to go out suddenly, all we have  to do is turn it off.  It is a convenience.  and it produces heat.
     The family room stays warm, but because it hits the thermostat, the rest of the house stays cool.  Julia hates it because she freezes when she gets home.
     Last year she took a picture of the thermometer....it was something like 58 degrees in her room.  Perhaps a little too chilly.
     I did haul in a bunch of lawn stuff...my chainsaw carved mushroom, some ceramic noisemakers, cushions, pads, chairs, the chaise.  Actually, all our patio stuff looks brand new....like it has never been used.
     Come to think of it, it hasn't been used.  Still no patio.  More frustrated daily.
     As a wise man once said.....never pay in advance.
     I have not heard a forecast today.  Maybe it's changed.  Maybe we won't get a couple of inches of snow next week.
     But we will someday.
     And when it happens, I won't be ready at all.

jambalya and a crawfish pie and a file gumbo......

I took a walk on the wild side tonight

     Don't ask me my....but we bought new curtains for the blue bedroom.
     We bought new curtains because someone didn't like the bedspread.  So someone bought a bedspread for the bed that is only used for three weeks a year.  Once we got the new bedspread, and bed skirt, someone decided the curtains don't match the new bedspread.
     That's why I had orzolaya for supper tonight.
     It's a Cajun type dish, similar to jambalaya except it uses orzo pasta.
     I was standing (I really want to say on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see....but I won't) in the Country Curtains shop in Naperville.  A nice lady was looking for a package that said, "Terry the husband is picking this up."  Literally, that is what was written on the package.
     Of course, she called me Jerry.  I did point out it was a T.  We all laughed.
    Right across the street is a restaurant called Heaven on Seven.  I don't know why that is the name, there must be a story behind it.
     I asked if they minded if I parked in their lot while I went across the street to check out the menu.
     One lady said to try the orzolaya, which she described as "wonderful."
     Most of you know I am directionally challenged.  So the fact I was even in the store was amazing to me.
     Coming back from the zoo, I got off at Naperville Road.  When I crossed 56 I realized I was going north, not south.  So I turned around and went the other direction.
     I ended up on Ogden Avenue and saw Washington Street, which I remembered ran into downtown Naperville.  I turned, and within a couple of minutes was in the Country Curtains store.
Incidentally, Country Curtains costs a little more than going to a large box type store.  But all the curtains are made in the USA, and they are good quality.  I highly recommend them.
     Anyway....I went into Heaven on Seven and placed my order, then sat at the bar and waited.
     There must have been 1,000 bottles of hot sauce on the wall.  A veritable treasure trove of all things hot and spicy.  And I am not talking about the server...or am I?
     My order came and I got back in the car.  As I headed north, I was almost overcome by the aroma seeping out of the container.
     I eventually got back on 88 and home.
     I nuked the gumbo and the orzolaya and...... it was as good as the lady said, maybe even better.
     Spicy, but not overly hot.  Great aroma, sausage with a bite, tender shrimp.
     I'm looking around and thinking.....we  need more curtains!
     I can't wait to go back and try another dish.
    Who's with me??

anticipation is making me wait a minute!!

I get disappointed easily

     I set myself up for it, I really do.
     I really think the Cubs will win every game I watch or go to....and then they don't.
     I really think the Bears have a chance to beat the Packers......although it is a chance right below slim and above none.
     Jackie has pointed out, multiple times, that I am never content.
     When the Dickow clan went to Tuscany and peed on walls and on grape vines, the powers that be were watching.  (Clan that peed on walls and in a vineyard would have been me.  Incidentally, no one knew that's what I was doing because I took pictures, holding the camera in my left hand while freeing my right hand for other duties.)
     I bought two bottles of brunello wine in Montalcino.  Brunello is an all star among wines, a prime rib among meats, the creme dela creme of wine.
     OK, maybe I over did it.
     Point is, I bought two bottles for about (Jackie, skip this paragraph) around 100 USD.  I got a really neat wooden box to put them in, that was free.
     Now, I am not about to drink an expensive (for me) bottle of wine by myself.
     And folks, I generally spend less than $20 on a bottle.  One time I did buy some Mogan David 20/20, aka Mad Dog, and it was less than $5.  Chicago John and I drank it when we lived on Southview Drive.  It is potent stuff.  By the time we were done, someone could not find the floor to put down their glass.  It was entertaining.
     The next morning, I swear I had a cat in my mouth.  My tongue was fuzzy....I think I had to shave it at some point.   And my tongue was huge.  My breath smelled like an unventilated outhouse and I don't think I could focus both eyes until well in the afternoon.
     So I had great anticipation for my first bottle of brunello from Montalcino.
     I invited Dan and Linda over to talk about our most favorite country on Earth to visit, (hint:  it's France) and our recent vacations.
     I put out some cheese, sausage, crackers and opened a bottle of brunello di Montalcino.
     I got a decanter and poured the wine into a decanter, approximately 40 minutes before serving so it could breath and adjust to room temperature.
     I got out the red wine glasses, the ones with the really big bottoms that everyone in the fancy parties in the movies swirl to get the wine to breath even more.
     I poured and inhaled the soils and sun of Tuscany, sensing the care and tenderness invested in producing this product.
     And OK, I did imagine Lucy stomping grapes while Rickie was off meeting with a film director, but who doesn't think that when they drink Italian wine.
    We toasted, saluted, chinged,  and sipped.
     Eh.
     Not wow, not great, not super, but ..... eh.
     It tasted a little off.
     Dan and Linda said it was good, but it took me three glasses to decide it was.....eh.
     Now for the dilemma.  Do I wait for another special occasion to open the second bottle and hope it meets my dreams and expectations?  It's not a wine I want to drink by myself, if it is what it's supposed to be anyway.
     Maybe Julia has an answer....I think she bought a bottle or two also.
    But that's another story.

doctor, doctor, gimme the news.....

I think I need to change my lifestyle

     Let me clarify that.  A certain person who  has a medical degree thinks I need to change my lifestyle.
     The good news about my tri-annual trip to the doctor was that I lost 8 pounds in the past year.
     Now I don't know how that happened.  I do know that half a pack of double stuffed Oreos seems to have vanished in the past three days and Jackie only had two.  And she did not have any of the mind filled ones.  Both were briefly left over from camp out.
     What concerns me is the blood pressure.  It was up a little.  I have to take a daily reading in the morning and change my dietary habits.
     I guess I should not put salt on everything I eat.  It is almost second nature.  Get a burger, salt it.  Piece of steak, salt it.  Potatoes, salt them.  French fries, heavily salt them.  And have you had a sea salt caramel mocha yet?  Or a salted caramel chocolate bar?  Evidently I have had too many of all of the above.
     And speaking of potatoes, french fries and pasta in general, I seem to have creeping cholesterol number that I have to do a better job of regulating.  This said when Egg Nog season is upon us.
     It's not unusual for me to go through several cartons of Egg Nog over the holidays....OK, during some weeks of the holidays.  And I capitalize Egg Nog because it deserves a place of respect in life due to its creamy texture, lush aroma and delightful taste.
     And no, diabetes does not run in my family and I can't explain why my sugar count is up.  Chocolate?  Cookies?  Flavored coffees?  All of the above??
     I did mention that somehow I missed a couple of weeks of my BP meds when I was in Europe.  I prepackage all the meds, then fill my pill container.  At the end of the three weeks, I had a two week supply of a BP medication left.  I guess I missed the container in my pile of legal drugs.
     So it's simple.
     If I want to make it to 80, or 70, or 67.....I better change the way I do things.
     I actually kept a straight face when I wrote that.
     If you are under the age of 60 and reading this, please don't do what I do.
     Instead, take care of yourself.  Exercise.  Eat better.  Eat less.  Cut down on the salt.  Cut down on the sugar.  Stop eating junk food, cut down on chips.  Eat smarter.
     Now, if you'll excuse me, I hear an Oreo calling.

it's a party, and I'll cry if I want to....

I got politically active at NIU

     As a high school kid, I wasn't that concerned about what happened around me.  I could not vote, it was a Democratic town, my parents were not active in politics....it just never interested me.
     Even the election of John Kennedy did not spur me to political involvement.  By the way, my dad was convinced Kennedy would be a puppet of the Pope!  He believed that if a Catholic was elected president, he would take orders from the Pope.....glad to know we have advanced since then.
     I owe my political interest to Jim Czerwinski.
     I was living off campus.  Jim decided to run for president of the first student government group at NIU.
     A bunch of us formed the Kishwaukee Beach Party, or the KBP as we used in posters.
     We printed posters with a hand and one finger upraised that said, it just takes one vote, or something like that.  Some people were offended that we used the middle finger.
     We had an aggressive campaign strategy.  Say nothing, do a lot.
     At an open meeting with all the candidates for president present, when the first question was asked, Jim said "I am not putting up with that crap," and stormed off the stage.
     We announced rallies, then didn't go.
     We scheduled interviews, and never showed.
     The results were predictable.....lost in a landslide.
     Which was the plan.
     If I remember, there was another election for representatives and Jim easily won.  I think people remembered his name, which seemed to be the whole purpose of the farce run in the first election.
Either that, or the whole event was a hallucination.  We consumed alcohol during our planning sessions...and me, not being of age and not used to drink, sometimes lost track of the conversation.
     That was the same house where Eli lived.  He was into blues and soul music and introduced me to a world of music I had never known.
     There was another guy, I think his name was Will.  He was a philosophy major.  His dream job was being a bridge operator because you didn't work a lot and had time to think.
     I lost track of them all.  A rumor was Jim got a job offer from Sears, but would have had to shave his moustache.  Another rumor had Will going to prison for draft evasion, willfully turning himself in to authorities.
     Election night always reminds me of the KBP..... and it does bring a smile to my face.

Brother, can you spare a dime?

I had jury duty today

     I arrived at the courthouse at 8:45.  I had to put my cell phone back in my car, because cell phones are not allowed in the courthouse.  I was cursing this little inconvenience, wondering why I wasn't told ahead of time about this....but then I read the entire summons, including the last line that said:  No cell phones or electronic devices are allowed in the courtroom.  Please leave these items in your car.
     Oops.
     This was a civil case, which was expected to last two days.  I was one of 24 prospective jurors, but for some reason I was dismissed.  Could be because I knew the judge, but I'm not positive.
     But that's not my main point.
     I stopped at Kings School to deliver one more Rotary dictionary.
     But that's not my main point.
     I drove to Rockford to visit my my brother.
     But that is not my main point.
    We went to lunch.  Had a nice time.  Told him I needed to get some turkey stock for a recipe Jackie is making.  He suggested Vali Foods.
     But that is not my main point.
     Got the stock, some grapes, some cheese and was walking to my car when  a young man approached me.
     "Excuse me sir, can you help me?" he asked.
     "I don't know," I said.
     "Well, I'm from Marengo and me and my girl friend had an OB-GYN appointment and I ran out of gas.  We're stranded."
     At this point a security officer from the shopping center came up and told the kid he can't solicit and to move on or he would have to call the police.
     The kid said, "OK, but this man was going to help me."
     The security guard looked at me and said, "It's up to you, but he has to leave."
     So I gave the kid $3.
     I got in my car and drove out of the lot, watching him.  He crossed State Street, crossed Mulford, went into the parking lot in front of Kohl's and was just walking between the cars, looking in them but not opening them.  He also stopped a couple of other people, presumably asking for money.
I never saw a girl friend, never saw a car.  Never saw what happened to him.
     I am a sucker.
     That's my point.
     In Chicago once a young woman stopped and asked me for $10 for cab fare to a shelter because her husband was beating her.  I gave her $7, or something like that, which was all I had to spare.
"I told you I needed $10," she said.  She took the money, then crossed into a McDonald's and got into a beat up car and drove away.
     I am a sucker.
     I believe people when they tell me things like that.  I give them money to help them, and they have lied to me. And I still do it!
     Looking at the car the woman drove away in in Chicago, my $7 wasn't going to mean squat in her life.  The car had a bumper barely hanging on, mismatched doors, a duck taped back end....
     And this kid today, so desperate for money that he was asking strangers all over the place, that $3 wasn't going to do much for him.
     Maybe they are druggies.  Or alcoholics.  Or homeless.
     Or maybe she did have an abusive husband.  And he did have a pregnant girlfriend sitting afraid and alone in a car without gas.
     So I bought it, because...... I am a sucker.

Baby, it's cold outside

I now understand Frozen

     It was cold Saturday night.
     What, you didn't notice because you were in a house with heating and a soft bed?
     And I, being the fearless I-still-think-I -am-30 guy was sleeping out in a tent.
     I tried to dress for it.  Had on long underwear.  After we got to the park, we took a hike and I worked up a sweat.  But back at the camp site, things cooled rather quickly.  So I put on a sweatshirt.      Then I put on my second sweatshirt.  As the evening progressed, I put on my coat.  And my hat.  And my gloves.
     I didn't want to put my winter coat on, because it is down filled and a pain to wash.  Getting it all filled with a smoke smell was a last resort.
     We cooked supper, burgers and Italian sausage and chips, and ate some Oreos....double stuffed, mint, and peanut butter...had some hot chocolate ( I added a stream of buttershots, a schnapps type liquor) and before I knew it, it was almost 11.
     The fire had burned down (or burned up?  Both seem to mean the same thing:  The house burned down.  The house burned up)  to red embers, and everyone snuggled into their sleeping bags.
I had my fluffy Binky which zips up, and got into that, then into the sleeping bag.
     But I could not get comfortable.  Can't lay on the right arm, laying on the left arm was uncomfortable.
     I don't remember sleeping, but I did.
    And yes, I did have to get up at about 3....or 4.....and step outside.  The moon was gone at that point, and the sky was full of stars.....absolutely full.  It's hard to remember what the sky looks like, we have so much light pollution.  It was incredible.  Emphasis on that.
    And I did not do my crazy giggle...although my teeth were chattering.
    Problem was, from that point on, I was cold.  Very cold.  My feet, my head, my legs.  And to top it off, I had to stay in the cold an extra hour due to the time change.
     Yes, we laughed when John brought out an old bedroom lamp.  But since we were at a site with electricity (tent sites are closed for winter) we plugged that baby in along with a CD player. (The thought of a plug in heater ran through out minds...maybe next year the tent will be warmer.)
    Yes, I was late getting to the Rafters, but we all arrived within 5 or 10 minutes.
    All in all, it was a good time.
    Here are some pictures.

Why a lamp?  Notice the power box in the background

Somebody needs to rake

The ravine looks like it has man made walls

Let there be light by which to to cook and pour

All you really need is a good fire, and good friends.