Continuing with a Halloween theme today. I notice that the people around town who are really into Halloween have their yards decorated, their inflatables inflated, and their pumpkins carved. Then there are the houses like ours that sport no pumpkins or decorations of any kind, We typically don’t do much for Halloween. In any event, I will be away in Dallas on the 31st, Husband will be home with the dog, and we have decided that he will close the blinds, leave the lights off, and not hand out any candy. It would be too hard with only one person at home to hand out candy and manage a hysterical terrier whenever someone came to the door. We will be Halloween Scrooges. This weekend I plan to bake frosted pumpkin cookies and brown-butter maple muffins for the children next door. They always come over to trick or treat, and we will give them the goodies on Sunday.
Last weekend we saw the most gruesome, yet remarkable Halloween decoration in the parking lot at the grocery store. A really rugged looking guy drove up in a red pickup with an enormous skeleton taking up the whole bed of the vehicle. The skeleton was seated, and yet its head and shoulders towered at least five feet over the roof of the truck. The feet stuck out over the back gate of the pickup bed, and there were dog skeletons lying across the main figure’s ankles, looking as though they were leaping. A smaller, human skeleton lay draped over the big skeleton’s arms. The whole tableau was held in place by thick orange straps. The guy was driving all around town with this. It could have been a float in a parade, if there was a Halloween parade in town. I would love to know what prompted him to do this.
What sorts of Halloween decorations are you seeing? Do you decorate for Halloween? What kind of tableau would you imagine constructing in the back of a pickup?
Working on a holiday project today involving pieces of tile, pieces of cardstock and a spray adhesive. I had everything set up on a big tray and headed to the back yard; I don’t like doing spray adhesive or sealant in the house.
It’s a new spray adhesive for me and as soon as I sprayed the first tile, I had it all over my hand (the hand holding the tile). In for a penny, in for a pound. Since I figured it was already too late, I kept going, doing all 24 of the tiles. If I’d used my brain I would have stopped after the first one, washed quickly and put on a plastic glove. We have plenty of them.
Instead I’ve now spent over an hour getting all the glue off. Hot water and soap, Quik Clean (a waterless cleaner), more hot water, pumice stone with soap, polish remover. And technically it’s not all off yet.
When was the last time you should have stopped, but didn’t?
I read the news yesterday that James Earl Jones passed away on Monday at the age of 93.
It turns out that I’ve seen a fair number of the films that he’s been in. Not a majority by any means – he did after all either appear or lend his voice to over 100 films/tv shows and had a rich background in theatre as well.
I saw his first two forays into film by luck of the draw. His first was in 1964 in Dr. Strangelove as Lt. Lothar Zogg, one of the pilots of the last bomber.
The second film was The Comedians in 1967, although it wasn’t very funny and I didn’t remember that he was the rebel doctor who got his throat slit 2/3 of the way through the movie. In fact, until The Great White Hope in 1970, I hadn’t even know his name and wouldn’t have been able to tell you he had been in the earlier movies. Now, like most everyone else, I hear his voice and know immediately who it is.
It’s interesting to me that JEJ stuttered as a child. I heard him say in an interview once “one of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can’t utter.” I don’t remember if this was having to do with his stutter (apparently he didn’t speak for about 8 years as a kid) or more having to do with feeling the need to keep quiet in a contentious world.
He got over his stutter with the help of a teacher who encouraged him to read poetry. And read poetry he did. One of his biggest stage hits was as Othello. Here is a bit that he did for a White House Poetry event:
He seemed to be able to play just about any kind of role – Moor King, evil Jedi, doctor, teacher, not too bright police office, lion, wise legendary author – you name it.
I’ve made a list of films that he appeared in. Guess I have another rabbit hole for the next couple of weeks!
I struggled with the question of “why” this week. Since I broke the brush mower last week, (did I mention I broke it? I talked about it rattling, and the bolts coming loose, and then… I don’t know what happened, but it started to shake itself apart. I couldn’t see anything obviously wrong, and I just parked it and walked away. I gotta deal with other stuff for a while and then I’ll come back to it.)
Consequently I was mowing weeds with the lawnmower and was asking myself why I felt the need to mow these weeds. There are some places I can justify, like in the oat fields the waterways are full of tall grass and weeds and they make it a problem for swathing, they’re a problem for combining, and they are a problem for baling, so it makes sense to mow them. But then I get off in the pastures or field roads and yeah, there’s some weeds that it’s good to take down like thistles, buttonweeds, (velvet leaf), ragweed, and wild parsnip, but if it’s just grass, why am I mowing it?
The larger question of “why“ can be applied to illness, sicknesses, the political party of your choice, or any host of things.
So that’s what’s been on my mind.
Daughter and I also talked about making decisions and why that’s so hard sometimes. It’s a learned skill, isn’t it?
Earlier this week, I was a bit anxious because I should have already been cutting oats. I was anxious about how the swather was going to run, I was anxious about the weather, I was anxious about how the Oats would do, and how to get it hauled to the place in Iowa.
And let’s face it, I was scared. Scared the swather would break down, scared I wouldn’t be able to fix it, scared of just the whole thing. But eventually I put on my big boy pants, and started cutting oats. And yep, it quits after an hour and a half. It’s like it got a vapor lock or something. An hour later I can start it again and cut some more. And I’m working on a trucker, so we still just wait to see on the weather and how the oats does and it will all be OK, won’t it?
A few of the ducks were out one morning and having a good time in the taller grass, so the next morning we opened the fence and let them all out. Generally, that’s kind of how it works; They get out themselves and then we decide it’s OK to let them go. And they are having a really good time in the deep grass and finding bugs and they look very very happy. I know I counted 26 ducks one day and then there only seemed to be 24, and the next day I counted 26 again. I don’t know how that works.
The dogs cornered a raccoon up in a tree for the third time in about two weeks. They appear to be fairly small raccoons so they must be young. I suppose along the same lines of me wondering where the ducks go when they get freedom, some raccoon mother somewhere is wondering what becomes of her children when they venture out on their own someplace.
The show in Chatfield that I’m lighting is “SpongeBob SquarePants The Musical”.
You’re probably not familiar with SpongeBob, we are all too old to have seen it as kids, you might be aware of it from Mall of America, or grandchildren, or neighbors, and it’s just silly fun. I haven’t looked too hard for a message in this musical. (turns out there are some!) I’m just making big bright colors. The woman who is designing some of the scenery, Vicky, did some really cool things with pool noodles and expandable spray foam. The guys who built the structure run a welding and machine shop and they can build just about anything. (They can fix my brush mower too!) It’s not done the way I would do it as a “theater professional” but it is certainly good enough for a show.
Driving to Chatfield gives me 20 miles of country roads to see how the crops are doing. There are a couple different ways I take to get there but generally, I take the straight shot back home on Hwy 52. Especially when it’s dark.
I started working in Chatfield’s Potter Auditorium in 1987 and I built the sets there for about three years, then took a break for a long time before coming back to light a few more shows. I feel a deep connection to this place. The people are great to work with. It is a true community theater in every sense of the word. There will be a big potluck lunch on Sunday before we have our first dress rehearsal.
WHAT MESSAGE OR STORY FROM A SONG HAS ALWAYS STAYED WITH YOU?
Went for my eye exam last week. No changes so I decided this was a good time to invest my annual glasses allowance for a pair of prescription sunglasses.
Since I had such a good experience with Warby Parker last year, I headed over to the store again to ask about new shades. Now last year I was in and out of the store so fast that I barely had time to even look around (except when I was actually looking at the various glasses styles and even that didn’t take me too long). This year the store was hopping; I ended up waiting about 20 minutes after I checked in so I had a chance to take the place in.
First off, there are books above each alcove of frames… real titles but the spines are all monochromatic (all white over one alcove, all blue over another, etc.) so I’m guessing they are probably not the actual books. I could be wrong but I doubt it. Then I noticed their 100 word “all about us” statement printed on the wall. Each word is numbered. The funniest things were books of haiku on shelves under each alcove titled “Baby Pigeons”. Apparently at WPHQ they write haiku. They have them on the walls, in emails and in various correspondence and collected in a book. Here is the haiku that inspired the title of the book:
How come you never
See baby pigeons? I asked
“What?” said the dentist.
I also liked this one:
finish lip balm tube rather than just losing it? honor this moment
I didn’t ask if the books were for sale but I liked that WP apparently doesn’t take themselves too seriously. It did inspire me to write a haiku of my own on the way home:
It’s been five years since we lost our Little Jail Bird, Edith. I think of her often and whenever I tell someone about her, I say what a hero she is to me, that she made a courageous decision to go ahead with the risky surgery rather than live the rest of her life with her illness (her words). In her memory, I’m running her most iconic posting on the Trail.
Until last fall, I had never been to Banning State Park. I had driven by it dozens of time, because when I head up to my sister’s house, I always turn off 35W and take Highway 23 into town. I didn’t know much about Banning, but when I was looking for a day trip, it seemed to fit my needs perfectly.
First, I wanted a park where I could drive there and back in one day without getting too tired. Second, I wanted a park that didn’t involve driving several back roads, because I knew that I would be driving in the dark due to the shorter fall days and my night vision and sense of direction is bad enough that I would get lost unless I kind of knew where I was going. And third, I wanted a state park because I had a state park sticker and wanted to use it as much as possible to get my money’s worth out of it. Banning fit all of those qualifications. Plus it has a waterfall, which is a big plus in my book.
So, off I went, one sunny morning in October. When I arrived, I stopped at the visitor center to get maps and ask where the best spots were. I was so excited. It seems that often when I go north, I am early for the fall colors and often find myself driving home just a few days before “peak” and this time I was not too early! I said something about that to the woman at the desk (while trying to not jump and down in excitement) and she shook her head woefully and told me in a discouraging tone, “You’re going to see LOTS of brown out there.” Gee thanks, way to burst my bubble.
Of course, since I drove all the way up there, I figured I better go on the hike anyway even if I would see mostly brown. I drove to the parking area and when I stepped out of the car and looked up, I knew it was going to be a good day (see header photo).
I hiked all the way to the falls and back and shot lots of photos. It was an incredibly beautiful day: that clear, deep blue sky that you only seem to see on autumn days and – surprise! – lots of colorful leaves on the trees. It can be a challenge shooting in bright sunlight, but I was so overcome by the beauty of it all that I just took that in my stride. There was that wonderful northwoods smell in the air – pine trees and dead leaves. Nothing like it! and nothing else invigorates me like that does.
It was getting pretty cool and the sun was going down quickly by the time I was heading back on the trail but the golden evening light only made things more beautiful and the colors more intense. I went home pleasantly tired and very happy and glad that the woman’s prediction of “lots of brown” wasn’t true.
Any comments / reflections on any or your heros welcome
One of my holiday projects is a handmade calendar in a 6 x 6 format; I make four of them every year. You may think that it’s a little early to start worrying about this but 3 layers of paper per month times 12 months times 4 versions comes out to 144 pieces of paper. One of my rules is that I can’t purchase anything but the paper to make these calendars. All the stamps, die cuts and assorted accessories have to come from my stash. But 144 pieces of paper is still a chunk of change so I do have to keep an eye on cardstock sales and since I almost always get the paper at Joanns (they have the best selection), I start watching the sales early on.
The best sales are the 50% off sales but this year Joann’s went all out for President’s Day and offered 10 sheets for $3 on all the open cardstock (normally .79 to .99). Even though it’s only February, I haven’t seen a price this good before so I didn’t want to let it go by. I kept the sales mailer on the dresser waiting for the first day of the sale. It was listed as a Doorbuster, which sometimes means the sale price is only good for the first morning, so my plan was to be there Thursday morning at 9 a.m., when they open.
Then on Monday the forecast said we would get a dusting on Wednesday. Then on Tuesday, the snow jumped up to a possible inch. By Wednesday afternoon they were talking 3-5 inches. Yikes! By bedtime on Wednesday it was snowing but now they were only predicting 1-3. Woke up to about 4 inches and a big pile at the bottom of the driveway. I waffled for about an hour about how much I really needed cheap paper and then headed out. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night can stay me from a good paper sale!
What will you brave the elements for to get your hands on?
I just finished the Dragon Forge puzzle. 1000 pieces. And I promise, this is not a blog about how I succumbed to temptation (repeatedly) to sit for hours at the table working on this thing.
I chose this puzzle from the fantasy section of the Puzzle Warehouse in St. Louis, a fascinating place I discovered on a visit to Nonny right before pandemic. It’s a huge warehouse with puzzles sorted all kinds of ways – mostly by the company that produced the puzzle but also in theme areas including my favorite. Fantasy.
My first big plunge into science fiction/fantasy was Star Wars, which I saw at the Grand Theater in Northfield. Four nights in a row. Then came the reading of The Hobbit when I was 20. This was followed immediately by all three volumes of Lord of the Rings. The barn door was open – the horse was not going back in!
I’m usually more drawn to fantasy than science fiction and it’s almost exclusively due to dragons. Sure, wizards, witches, fairies are great but dragons are the draw. I’ve been known to search the library website using “dragon” as the keyword. There are amazing numbers of books out there with “dragon” in the title. I prefer sympathetic dragons, dragons who can communicate, smart dragons, dragons with magic but I can handle the dark side as well.
Nobody that I know is into dragons like I am. This is where my problem is this week. I love the artwork on this puzzle and I’d love to know that the next home that it travels to will have someone who appreciates it as much as I do. I’ve thought about keeping it and maybe putting in in a frame but I don’t really have any wall space and I’m pretty sure that YA would object anyway if it went in any communal space.
I know that there are occasional puzzles swaps around the Twin Cities but I’ve never gone to one. A friend said that they are opening a permanent spot in a Hennepin County Library for jigsaw puzzles; I haven’t found any information on it yet. Hopefully I can find a good swap or location for Dragon Forge, so that it goes to a good home where dragons are appreciated!
Where do you like to get rid of your excess stuff?
When I did the blog last year about Henrietta (my stuffed javelina) going to Madison, it was kinda funny and I enjoyed it. So I thought it would be fun to do it again on my trip to Nashville. What I didn’t expect was that others would take on the cloak of silliness with me.
My friend Pat was absolutely obsessed with getting a photo of Henrietta wherever we went – zoo, Strawberry Café lunch, shopping, pizza place, the winery. You’ve already seen the photos at the Goo Goo Cluster store and the Moonshine distillery and the breakfast place. But she wasn’t the only one concerned that I get a good photo with Henrietta.
A complete stranger at the zoo volunteered to take a photo of me and Henrietta with some flamingos that we out doing “meet & greet”. Is demurred, not too sure how close I wanted to get to a huge (they are much bigger up close than you think) strange bird.
The woman working the bookstore at the Belmont Estate also noticed Henrietta in my bag and asked about her. We were waiting for our tour to start so Pat was happy to go on and on about all the places that we had taken Henrietta over the past couple of days. The woman got all excited and led us to a spot we would never have seen on our own… under a staircase on the second floor of the mansion. There was a small statue of a pig, complete with a red bow. This was a photo I couldn’t resist.
Although it’s been fun, I’m not sure I need to keep it up. I will probably take her to Tucson in March; it is after all her birthplace (my friend purchased her for me while I was there last year) but I’m not sure she will go to St. Louis with me this month.
YA came home from work yesterday asking if I had watched the Golden Globe ceremonies. When I looked at her blankly she asked if I had “heard” about them.
I actually don’t really know what the Golden Globes are. I mean, I know it’s yet another way for the over-paid and over-glamorized folks in Hollywood to pump up their egos, but other than that I don’t know what differentiates it from the Oscars.
One of my friends always makes a point of seeing all the movies that are up for the best picture Oscar. I’m pretty much 0 for 5 every year for the past 10 years. I did see Shape of Water on Christmas Day 2018 – I didn’t know anything about it at the time, just that it was showing at a good time for us. I didn’t actually like it very much so was surprised to find out a few weeks later than it was an Oscar contender.
Apparently the Oscar nominations are due out on January 25 although there are lots of websites trying to predict who will be on the leaderboard. Since the only movie I’ve been to in the last year is “Migration” (an animated film), I’m pretty sure I’m continuing my streak.
I’m fairly certain that none of my favorite movies have ever even been nominated for a big award, much less won one: To Catch a Thief, Moonstruck, Princess Bride, People Will Talk, Sneakers, Murder on the Orient Express (1974 version only), American Dreamer, Dial M for Murder….
Do you follow the Globes/Oscars/Sundances/Cannes, etc??? Do you have a favorite movie?
Trail Baboon 