What is up with the opossums lately? In the last three days I've seen at least three of them, and I could have run over two of them if I had tried even a little bit. I'm pretty sure the ones I saw tonight weren't little kids dressed up.....
And here's your greeting for the season.
Last week a lady at work brought up a good question that I was reminded of this evening when I went to use a ziploc bag. Why do those types of bags always come out of the box sealed? Do they test the seal of the bag before they ship it? Does it make it easier to put in the box? Does it keep contaminants out of the bags? Does anybody know the real answer to this? Has anybody ever toured a Ziploc factory? I already asked Jeeves, and he didn't know.
For part of the past week and weekend, I was in Nashville for a National Society of Women Engineers convention. It was a lot of work and very exhausting, but lots of fun too. Below are a few pictures of some of the things we did.
The first night, there was a genuine George Jones sighting. I guess his aging process has been a little bit out of the ordinary since his skin turned color and everything. I also saw Elvis and Tony the Tiger while in Nashville, but I didn't get any pictures of them unfortunately. And, I was told that the "real" Garth Brooks was in the building while we were there, but we were busy working and couldn't go to see him.
This week my car needed a minor repair on its exhaust system, and I was reminded again that my car is getting sort of old. I have been contemplating getting a new one, but Reggie still runs too well to get rid of him yet, and the other problem is that I don't know what I want. But to be prepared, I should probably try to figure this out ahead of time so that when Reggie finally gives up the ghost I'm only in a mild state of emergency.
Here's my criteria for a new vehicle:
Today I did things a bit differently. I didn't go so far as to do my evening activities first and then go to work. I went to work like usual. But, after work, I went outside and ran around and got all sweaty, then I went to the YMCA and changed out of my exercise clothes and into my "Tuesday -go-to-meetin' " clothes, then left. I was there for probably less than 10 minutes. I betcha the people manning the front desk don't see that real often. Possibly because the people who do goofy thing like that slip out the back door so it's not so obvious how goofy they are.
Al Gore? A Nobel Peace Prize? I feel like a grandparent who always bemoans what this world is coming to. But I read in a magazine just yesterday about how to improve our lives we should count every day three things we are grateful for and not dwell on the negative so much. So, I'm grateful.....
I was at a restaurant yesterday, and near the cash register was this small urn thing with a cork stopper, and on it someone had painted "Ashes of Rude Cell Phone Users". Apparently they hadn't had any rude customers lately because it was empty. Or else they have so many they have to empty it really often.
I turned my furnace on last night (October 10th). My aunt and uncle stopped by for the night, and it got kinda cold yesterday and looked like it was going to stay that way for a couple days. It's ironic that two of the three times this year that I've had overnight company corresponded to the day that I turned my AC or furnace on.
So let's see now....October 1st to October 10th would be.....9 days. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner who guessed correctly! I have no clue who it is, but if whoever it is wants a free blog post on this site, that's the usual prize. Apparently no one wants to be associated with this site too badly as I haven't had any takers on this offer from my previous polls.
That's about all that's happening here, folks. The daylight hours are rapidly getting shorter, and it's cold, drizzling, and dreary here. This all leads to an increased "depression index" that must be combated with trips to the YMCA and going somewhere on the weekend. The sunny side is tomorrow is Friday with a whole weekend ahead! Later gators.
The person I went on the hike/walk with was a very nice, kind, enjoyable LADY who has two teenage daughters and a husband. :-) Sorry to dash your hopes! And Eva, I'm not quite sure I understood your comment from the previous post. You didn't like my nature pictures? Or maybe they weren't as good as my prose from the post before it? Or was that sarcasm that didn't come through very well?
I'm not sure if I would include convention stew, but I should definitely add convention strogonaff to the list of fall foods. Mmmm....Mmmmm....Mmmmm.
I don't have much to say today, but I thought I would post a couple pictures from a walk we took going through some DNR land yesterday. I went to visit some friends a little over an hour away, and we had a good time with a bonfire, racquetball, and this nature hike. I also went with them to a thing called "If These Stones Could Talk", which was a theater thing in the local cemetery where you went to seven different graves of people from the history of the town, and an actor would pretend to be that historical person and tell you about him/herself. That actually was better than I had expected. They use some of the proceeds from the event to restore old graves in the cemetery. Enough with all the chatter, here's the pictures.
The danger of wild grapevines (picture above).
There's something about the start of a new season that I always like. It doesn't really matter what the new season is, it's just fun to know that there's new things coming.
Right now, the changes of fall are coming. You can hear and smell the rustle of dry leaves (in the trees and on the ground) and see the beautiful fall colors of the trees. It's still nice and warm during the day, but then in the evening there's a crispness in the air that's perfect for bonfires and hot apple cider. I haven't thought of this in awhile, but it also reminds me of being a kid and running around in the freshly tilled dirt after the potato harvester went through the garden. Speaking of harvesting, soy beans and field corn gets harvested around this time too. There's nothing like sitting in the combine and listening to some AM radio or some "real country" on an FM station. And let us not forget the foods: crisp apples, squash, and....other stuff I can't remember right now.
On the first day of winter (weather-wise, not the technical day), I love how the ugliness of late fall gets covered by that first fresh covering of pure snow. And, the snow makes the world so silent. Not only that, you can pull out your snowboard or skis and dream about the fresh powder coming in the next few months. It's also the perfect time to slow down a little, play a little music, organize your digital pictures, and cuddle up by the fire while reading a good book. You also might look forward to the next couple months when it gets really cold and you can go and ice skate on the pond in your backyard or else see a college or amateur hockey game. Favorite foods of the season: hot chocolate, tea, soups, grapefruit, and lefse.
Then comes spring, where you can finally take off your winter clothes and go outside without a coat. The air has that "fresh" smell that soap and deodorant makers try to imitate, the world once again turns green, and the tulips bloom. You can quit going to the YMCA so much and start doing exercise stuff outside again. I think I expounded on the virtues of spring in a previous post, so I won't belabor this season. Foods to look forward to when spring comes: strawberries, asparagus, and strawberries. OK, I kinda drew a blank there. Maybe you can help me out.
Finally, summer arrives. It feels good to go outside after freezing in the air conditioner at work and feel nice and HOT. There's always the beach, waterskiing or wakeboarding, bicycle riding, tennis, canoing, etc., etc., etc. Some other bonuses of summer are outdoor concerts, eating outside, lots of daylight hours, and easy driving. A few of the many best foods: fresh blueberries, peaches, raspberries, cucumbers, anything made on the grill, corn on the cob, and peas and potatoes picked that day from the garden.
OK, that wasn't comparable to Henry David Thoreau or anything, but I'm hoping you don't usually look here for that kind of stuff anyway. I suppose I could get used to Florida or Hawaii where the seasons never change, but I'm afraid I might get bored. That's it for now folks, now go take on the day and the new season!
