brrrrrrr

I mowed.  I froze.  I thawed.

     That's right, laugh from the comfort of your warm wombs.
     I mowed today!
     50 mile an hour wind, below freezing temperatures, snow blowing in my face....but I got it done.
     OK, it wasn't a 50 mph wind, it was 37 degrees and there was no snow, but it sure was cold.
     I still have some trimming to do, then I have to collect the yard stuff....hoses, bird baths, more hoses, furniture.
     I really don't mind mowing when it is warm.  I really enjoy the erratic bouncing around on the mower  as my intestines and kidneys get rearranged, and the constant positioning of my arms so I can go in a straight line. But I don't like doing it when it is cold.
     So, here are some other things I don't like to do in the cold:

   Pick up dog doo.
   Wait.
   Pick up garbage after the bag rips open and leaves tissues all over the ground.
   Walk out to the compost bin.
   Cover the strawberries, although I have a feeling it will be cold by the time I do that.
   Work in the garage. 
   Carry groceries.
   Get the mail.

     I can't think of anything else right now, mainly because I am still chilled from mowing and that was 4 hours ago.
     I may never be warm again.

it's hard

I am having trouble adjusting to the time change

     I should be in bed right now, I am so tired.
     I lost some sleep and have not been able to make it up, despite gaining an hour.
     It has clouded my thoughts.  I am thinking it is 10 when it is really 11, so I get up at 8 which is really 7 and my system is just out of sync.
     For instance, Rotary members are reading to classrooms.  I signed up to read in a class at Tilton School at 11 this morning.  When I went into a teacher's room at May School, she was surprised to see me. 
     I had the right time, but went to the wrong school.
     I even told Jackie before I left the house I was going to Tilton.  How the hell did I go to May?
     When I got back from reading I was supposed to dust the floors.  I realized about 6 that I had not done that either, although I did fall asleep at the breakfast table while doing the crossword.
     Hopefully I will get a good night of sleep tonight.
     I'm just not counting sheep on it though.

really tired of it

I managed to stay blissfully unaware today

     Then Jackie brought me back to Earth with the news of the shooting in Texas.
      I watched the coverage for a few minutes, then decided I can't do this anymore.
     I can't keep watching the same stories unfold month after month after month.  Las Vegas, Sandy Hook, Orlando...the list seems endless.
     Truthfully, I am tired of it.
      I am tired of outdated laws and outdated hinking that allows weapons of mass destruction on our streets.
     I am tired of gutless lawmakers wringing their hands and passing out condolences and prayers but doing nothing to end the slaughter.
     I am tired of the same old responses.  You hear them all the time.  If people in the congregation had guns.   If guns are outlawed only outlaws would have guns.  It's a terrorist.  It's a radical left winger.  It's a radical right winger.
     My understanding is this person was dishonorably discharged from the military.  I also understand a person with a dishonorable discharge is prohibited from having guns.
    Yet, he had them.  And he used them.
     Not just a six shooter, or a one shot musket that was the weapon of death in 1789.  But a killing machine, a weapon of mass destruction.  No training is needed, just pull the trigger and spray the room.
     I believe anyone who intentionally kills a person is insane, because a sane person would not want to snuff out he life of an innocent person, or put an entire family into inconsolable grief.
     Am I glad a citizen returned fire and possibly saved lives?
     Yes, very glad.
     But no one should ever be in that situation where you have to carry a gun to protect innocent people, unless you are in the active military or a police officer.
     Our leadership is taking all sorts of steps to protect us against terrorists.
     But it is not the terrorist I fear most.  It's the rest of us that worry me.
     I think the people who wrote the Constitution are turning over in their graves with every mass shooting.  They could not have anticipated this nightmare.
     Someone said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
     Our gun laws fit that description.
      And I am just tired of it.

counting down

Sometime in the next two weeks, I celebrate

     What, pray tell, am I celebrating?
     It is not the Cubs, although it was a pretty exciting season.  Nah...baseball is over, so no celebrating Sox or Cubs achievements.  Unless it is the signing of a big free agent pitcher named Jake.
     It's not the Bulls.  I confess I have not really watched them since the Jordan era, and they do seem young and exciting.  But it is not the Bulls, nor basketball.
     The Bears?   To be honest, I have not watched much football.  It is not because of the whole anthem kneeling thing.  In fact, I think when players do that they are demonstrating what makes this country great:  the ability to express yourself.  And if your boss does not like that, then I guess he has the option to fire you, but that is an insane idea.  I don't watch as much  because the Bears are a mediocre team.  I don't watch as much  because baseball was more fun to me.  And finally, I don't watch as much because I feel a little guilty.  I watched the movie Concussion.  I have seem Jim McMahon.  I have heard players talk about the toll this sport has on them.  Last year the Tribune did a profile of the '85 Super Bowl Bears now and a number of them were in nursing homes or suffering from debilitating injuries.  Yes, they are adults and are quite capable of making their own life direction decisions.  But something inside me says I am contributing to the suicides of Double D, and Junior, and others.   And I don't like that feeling.
     So I watch bits of games.  Not many, and not as much as I used to.
     When Zach Miller of the Bears darn near lost his leg due to a football play, it again gave me pause.
      Wow.  That was a digression!
     I will be celebrating the 100,000th visit to this blog. 
     I better have a good entry that day.
     Lord knows, it can't be as depressing as this!
     Time for bed.

I am fulfilled

I got the treat of my childhood today

     I don't know how I missed it!
     Shopping in Wally World, I ran into Kevin and Jen and darling Samantha.     Kevin mentioned a special vehicle parked on the east end of the store.  They were alerted to it by Emily.
     I did not see it.
     So when I left the store, I turned to the east and Voila!!  My childhood dream!!
     I walked up to it, got in it, and had my picture taken with it.   I even got a whistle!!
     Wooooooo hooo!!

You gotta love it!!

On board and ready to go!!

     Come on, sing it!  You know you want to!!

Oh I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener, that is  what I really want to be
Cause if  I were an Oscar Meyer wiener, everyone would be in love with me

     I am ten again.  For a minute or two.
     Thanks Emily and Kevin for letting us all know about the Wienermobile!!
     And thanks, Sheri, for the night of good friendship, great pizza and wonderful wine!
     This has been a good week!

a freakin' horror show

My life is filled with odd creatures

     Corki being one of them.  She follows me everywhere.  If I go out, she wants out.  When I come in, she wants in. 
     Jackie went to bed 10 minutes ago and Corki came into the den to lay on the floor near the door.
     I love her....but she is driving me nuts!
     I still have tomatoes, which is weird.  It has been cold, but there are still a few good ones on the vines.  If anyone wants one or two or three, come get them before the next frost.
     About a month ago I noticed the leaves were disappearing.
     I discovered why.

     Yes, these are pretty cool looking caterpillars, but they are hell on a plant.     Tomato hornworms, I guess because of the red horn on their head.  Or tail, not sure.
     Those were not the only creatures I found.
     Check out my carrots!

     That is a quarter on the towel.

     The carrot on the left was gigantic, the one in the middle was a pumpkin and the one on the right was a nice size.

     Most of my carrots got shaded out by the beans and peas.  In a moment of madness, I thought planting carrots between the bean and pea rows was an efficient use of space.

     I didn't take into account that the peas and beans would shade out the carrots.  

    We did get enough to fill two one gallon bags of frozen carrots, but I wish we had more.

     Oh, I almost forgot.  This is my radish carrot.  It was about two inches long.

     Strange.

     And lastly, I took the patio chair cushions out of the storage box so I could put them in the garage.

     Realize, I don't know if I used the cushions at all this year, even when people did come over and we sat on the patio talking about life until all hours of the night.  We could have been sitting in comfort.

     Anyway, hornets and wasps are always a problem.  Still, I was a little surprised when I took the cushions out of the plastic bags in which I store them.

    These are nests made by mud daubers, a little black hornet that was buzzing around the house a lot.
     I found three nests on the cushions inside the plastic bag.
     Understand, sometimes I sat on the bench they were nesting.
     I am just glad I was not stung in the butt.
     The top picture reminds me of cliff dwellers out in Arizona.
     Industrious little critters, those mud daubers.

bang, bang, thump

I had a first time experience tonight

     I went to see Stomp in Aurora.
     For those of you who don't know, Stomp is a percussion group.  Sort of.
     They use their feet, hands, plastic buckets, grocery carts, brooms, sticks and just about anything else you can imagine to create music.  Well, not music you can sing along to or hum, but music in the rhythms they create.
     Not a word is spoken.  Everything is done in pantomime or by suggestion.
     I had no idea what to expect....and I loved it.
     The energy level was amazing and so was the timing. 
     I would have loved to ask  one of the 8 cast members how much they rehearse and how they come up with the routines and instruments.  Plastic bags,  Straws.  Newspaper.  Very creative and entertaining.
     Now, I don't love  Stomp on the level Emily does.....she has seen it five times.       I remember when she was at Drake she went to see them in Des Moines.     Emily and John had an extra ticket for tonight and kindly asked me if I wanted to go.
     Actually, I had two first time experiences.
     I had never been to the Paramount Theater either.
     It was a neat place, big but not too big and great sight lines.  Of course, we were in the first row, so nothing could have blocked our view.  I would go back there again.
     Stomp at the Paramount. 
     Good times, good times.
     Thanks Emily and John for taking me!

Set for Stomp....everything gets used!