Category Archives: Mysteries

2024, Family, Mysteries, Poems

Pilgrimage

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“Alexa please tell me the meaning of ‘pellegrinaggio’.”

I was reading a book of poetry by Barbara Kingsolver (How to Fly in Ten Thousand Easy Lessons) and came across “pellegrinaggio” as the title to the first poem in a section on a trip she made with family members to Italy.

Pellegrinaggio

At the end of the long-bowling alley lane
of a transatlantic flight, we crash and topple
like pins in the back of a Roman taxi.
split or spare, hard to say what we are but
family, piled across one another: husband
and wife, our two daughters, his mother
Giovanna who has waited eight years
to see what she’s made of.

Her parents, flung out from here like messages
in bottles, washed up on a new shore and grew
together. Grew celery for the Americans. Grew this
daughter who walked to school, sewed a new
cut of skirt, and became the small interpreter
for a family. They took her at her word but stamped
a map called home on a life she believed would end
before she could ever come here to find it.

What other gift could we give her? But now our taxi
crawls like a green bottlefly through the ear canals
of a city, it is half-past something I can’t stand
one more minute of, and I wonder what we were
thinking. We all might die before we find a place
to lie in this bed we’ve made for her. Beside me
she sits upright, mast of our log-pile ship in this bottle.
Made of everything that has brought us this far.

Alexa coughed up a very thorough definition (pilgrimage) and then surprisingly asked me if the information she had given me was useful.  I said “Yes, thank you.”  YA came into my doorway and asked me why I do that.  I wasn’t sure what she was referring to so she said “why do you always say please and thank you when you’re asking Alexa something?  You know it’s not actually a person?”

I DO know that Alexa isn’t a person. However she does represent the work of a lot of people and is certainly programmed to sound like a person.  I’m not sure when I started saying please, thank you and no thank you when interacting with Alexa.   In this world that seems increasingly abrasive and mean, it just feels nice to me to be polite, even if I’m the only one if affects.

And to my credit I actually rarely say thank you – only if she is waiting for an answer, such as her wishing to know how her definition of pellegrinaggio played out.

Do you have any little quirks/habits that others give you grief for?

2024, Fantasy, Movies, Mysteries, Theatre, Uncategorized

The Game is Afoot

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I have a fair few number of favorite fictional characters but I know it won’t surprise anybody here that Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot are tops in my book.   I have the movies Hound of the Baskervilles (Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce) as well as Murder on the Orient Express (Albert Finney) saved on my TV so it’s accurate to say I’ve seen them repeatedly.

Several years ago my BFF and I decided that for our birthdays we would do experiences together rather than do more “stuff”.  She does Cantus tickets for us and I do a play for us each fall.  I pick three options, write them up a bit and she chooses one.

This year, a production called Holmes/Poirot was finally scheduled at Park Square Theatre.  There had been discussion of it during the summer of 2023, but it never materialized.  When I presented BFF with the three choices this year, I had my fingers crossed that she would choose Holmes/Poirot.  Luckily she’s a sleuth fan as well.  We’ve done a couple of other Sherlock “knock-offs”s as well as doing the Science Museum exhibition a couple of years ago. 

The expectation was that the play would be a mash-up with the detectives pitted against each other, even though you’d have to mess with the time continuum to do this.  Considering I’ve read a book with Sherlock as a dog and another with a time traveling Miss Marple facsimile, I can handle a little time continuum disturbance.  When we sat down with our programs, it was clear that it was going to be two different stories…. Holmes in Act One and Poirot in Act Two.  The two main actors change roles for the second act.  Sherlock Holmes becomes Colonel Hastings and John Watson becomes Hercule Poirot.  The other seven actors switch up characters as well. 

During intermission BFF and I wondered aloud how long it would take us to re-orient ourselves to the actors changing parts.  We didn’t need to worry.  Within just a couple of minutes, we were all in.   It was an inspired juxtaposition; both actors were excellent and completely believable in their roles.  The second act was played for more comedy, which was perfect because…. well… Poirot.  It’s hard not to play him with a splash of silliness.

Absolutely no spoiler alerts here but suffice it to say that the writing was great and had BFF and I guessing to the end of each segment.  It was an immediate standing ovation.  I’m highly recommending this if you can stlll get tickets. 

Do you have a preferred detective?  Fictional or otherwise?

2024, Family, home, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Found!

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The other night Husband was preparing to use his Neti pot after cleaning his CPAP hose. There were any number of things and implements and Q-tips involved in the processes, and when he was all done, he couldn’t find his hearing aids, which he had purposely taken out. I guess you can’t wear hearing aids when doing what he was doing.

We looked all over, in every room and drawer. I had him retrace his steps as best he could as he had got all the things he had needed for his tasks. He mentioned that he had gone into the bathroom I typically use when he got the Q-tips. I didn’t see them anywhere on the counter, but something caught my eye when I glanced in the bathroom waste basket. Sure enough, there they were!

Husband has lots of numbness in his fingers from carpal tunnel. He must have gathered the hearing aids up with the rest of the cleaning supplies and inadvertently tossed them, too. I felt like I imagine a detective feels after a successful solution to a mystery. I should add that despite his health issues, Husband is a busy and active guy.

When have you felt like a detective? Lost anything recently? Read or watched any good mysteries lately?

2024, animals, Mysteries, Nature, Technology, Uncategorized

Amazing Cell

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Yesterday I trekked over to Gertens; I had a great coupon.  Normally just a coupon wouldn’t get me to drive over there but they do carry that hot bird seed that I like, so figured a chunk of change off one of those cylinders would be nice. 

It took me a bit to find the seed cylinders – they’re ramping up their Christmas stuff and have moved a lot of the endcaps around in the feed department.  When I did come around the corner, what confronted me was a TON of products from the company who makes the hot stuff.  The photo above is the endcap with all of it.

Right next of my Flaming Hot Feast there was another big cylinder called Burning Love.  I looked at them both, different ingredients although both seemed to have the hot pepper that deters the squirrels.  But at the price point, I didn’t want to make a mistake.  As I stood there considering my options, it occurred to me that I could check online to see the difference.  And then I had the ephiphany that I could just call the company directly.  A helpful woman answered the phone right away and let me know that the difference was that Burning Love is just safflower seeds with hot pepper.  Flaming Hot Feast has a bigger variety of seeds with hot pepper. 

The Burning Love was almost a pound heavier at the same price point, so I decided to give it a try.  As I walked away, I thought about the amazing thing I had just done – used a small hand held device to call a company in Texas for no cost to get an immediate answer.  (Yes, I am aware I could have found someone who worked at Gertens and asked them, but I think this was faster.)  While I sometimes think technology is too big for its britches, yesterday I loved my cell phone.

Any technology that has amazed you recently?

2024, books, Fantasy, Movies, Music, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Wicked. Really?

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I’ve said before that I’d love to have been in the room when someone first proposed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  My guess is that everybody in the room dismissed the idea; the one who didn’t laughed all the way to the bank.

It’s fascinating to me how certain decisions get made and the decisions that Hollywood makes are the most mysterious.  You all know that I often get worked up by the changes that Hollywood makes to good books.  Shining Through by Susan Isaacs, Dune by Frank Herbert, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.  And I’m sure I’ve ranted before about The Hunchback of Notre Dame made into a Disney musical for kids.  Truly that meeting would have been legend.  “Let’s take a long, bleak historical novel in which every single major character is dead by the last page, add some peppy songs and make a happy ending for everybody.” 

So why am I ranting again?  A couple of weeks ago I saw a commercial for Wicked, a movie coming out this winter.  I had never actually read Wicked by Gregory Maguire but I knew it was quite long so assumed there were some differences between the book and the musical (which I HAVE actually seen). You all know me well enough to know what came next; I went and got the book from the library.

What a shock.  Without really giving anything away, here are the only similarities between the novel and the musical.  There is a green gal.  She goes to school, meets someone who becomes a friend and is taught by a speaking animal.  Some flying monkeys.  That’s about it… while some of the characters in the book show up in the musical, it’s in name only – they aren’t really the same as in the book.   The book is incredibly detailed and political although certainly not satire.  It is not even remotely light hearted and the ending is not happy at all; it’s a bit like Hunchback – a lot of bodies have piled up by the end.

Of course, the initial Wizard of Oz movie differed from the book but the jump from Wicked to the musical is such a leap that I’m still a little stunned, even a week after finishing the book.  Once again, I try to imagine the conversation that got the book transformed to a musical that is so different.  Somebody in that room must have laughed all the way to the bank.  And it wouldn’t have been me.

What’s the most incomprehensible movie you’ve ever seen?

2024, Art, holidays, Mysteries

Sticky Situation

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You’d think I would know better.

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?

2024, animals, Family, History, home, Music, Mysteries, pets, Uncategorized

Pampered Pets

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We always had dogs when I was growing up.  The main two that I remember were Princess the Wonder Dog and Irish Colleen but there were a few others when I was quite young and then my moms golden retrievers about the time I went off to college.

It was much more casual having a dog back then.  No special bowls, just some dry kibble a couple of times a day.  No dog beds in multiple rooms of the house.  No walking dogs; when it was time for their business, you opened the door and let them out (fence or not fence).  No brush of teeth.  No flea and tick treatment, no heartworm pills.  No crates even.

It’s a whole `nother world now.  At our house, Guinevere is technically YA’s dog, so we pretty much play by her rules.  So yes, we have a crate, fenced yard, multiple leashes, all the vet treatments, teeth brushing, regular baths and nail clippings.  And beds (at least 3 of them).  Guinevere gets dry dog food mixed with a large spoonful of wet food twice a day.  Several kinds of dog treats.  Water upstairs and down.  A massive number of toys. Clothes and hats (which she detests).

But the funniest (at least to me) is pet music when we leave the house.  YA has decided that just chilling in her crate when we are both out of the house is stressful for Guinevere if she doesn’t have music in the background.  Since the crate is in the breakfast room, before we leave the house, YA calls out “Alexa, play classical for pets”.  Apparently we are not alone in this because every three or four times, Alexa asks if we want to subscribe to the Music for Pets channel/playlist and pay good money for it.  When we decline, then Alexa goes ahead with assorted classical music for pets. Personally I wouldn’t say that Guinevere likes or dislikes the classical – doesn’t seem to make her more relaxed – I think she’s already calm in her kennel.  And since she is YA’s dog, I play along. 

Every now and then if I’m leaving after YA and know I’m getting home before she does, I ask Alexa to play salsa music, or Peter Mayer or Enya – whatever comes into my head as I’m leaving.  Guinevere does not appear to be traumatized by this.

I try to imagine going back in time to my childhood and then having somebody from the present tell me how spoiled my dog is these days, including having to have music on when we leave the house.  I’m sure I would have fallen down on the floor laughing.

What kinds of things do you like when you’re being pampered?

2024, Food, gardening, Mysteries

Tomato Time!

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For a couple of years, my tomatoes have struggled and I haven’t had the massive numbers coming off the plants as I’ve had in the past. The same issue (inconsistent watering) came up over and over again when I discussed it with experts and searched on the internet.  But I know my bales and I know myself and my habits and I just couldn’t accept this was the issue.  I did find just a couple of sites that talked about calcium deficiency due to the high nitrogen that is needed in getting the bales conditioned at the beginning of the season.

Ignoring the experts, I changed back to the ammonium sulfate conditioner that I used to use, added some organic calcium-rich Tomato-tone supplement and I really ramped up the egg shells added around the base of each plant.  I’m happy to say that my intuition was correct… with these changes I am now rolling in tomatoes, especially my little cherries. 

That means it’s time to start coming up with tomato recipes. 

I made my favorite pasta/onion/cherry tomato skillet dish.  So so easy and yummy.   Salsa is up next; I have a few hot peppers left to add.   I bought a baguette yesterday for a panzanella salad; I certainly have enough basil for this too. (Made several jars of pesto last week.)  I’m thinking about a nice tomato and corn salad as well.

There will most likely be plenty of tomatoes left after that so I will probably freeze some and maybe make a couple of jars of tomato sauce.  Too many tomatoes is a nice problem to have after the last couple of years!

Can you think of a time that intuition has served you well?

2024, Fantasy, Food, home, Mysteries

Monster Candy

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Most mornings I try to squeeze in an online crossword puzzle.  My default is the Washington Post puzzles, partly because I already have a WAPO account and partly because there are options, depending on how much time I want to spend.  I’m not too much of a purist… if the puzzle is hard and it’s starting to take too long, the “show me my errors” button gets clicked.  If I make it all the way through without having to “cheat”, I like it, but not enough to struggle and struggle. 

Yesterday morning, early into the puzzle, I read the clue “Godzilla’s rival” for a five-letter word across.  Easy peasy – Rodin.  Then as I was circling back to do the down words, nothing was fitting with Rodin.  And when I got to “Tallinn’s Country” and “Estonia” didn’t fit, I knew something was wrong with my Rodin answer.  I sat for a few minutes thinking of the other monsters that Godzilla doesn’t like.  Gigan?  No.  Manda?  No.  Zilla?  No.  Mothra?  Too long.  Megalon?  Too long.  King Ghidorah?  Way too long.

The only hard/fast rule that I have for crosswords is not to click onto another tab on the internet and look up a word.  So I sat for a bit more, not coming up with any other five-letter Godzilla nemeses.  Then my eyes focused on the clue list and realized that I had mis-read it.  It wasn’t “Godzilla rival”, it was “Godiva rival”.   That was good a for an out-loud laugh – I startled the dog.

Sad but true, I didn’t get the correct answer until I had a couple more letters (Lindt).  What does it say about me that I know so many more of Godzilla’s enemies off the top of my head than I know worldwide famous chocolate companies? 

What is Godzilla’s favorite candy?  What’s YOUR favorite candy?

2024, books, Fitness, Games, Mysteries, TV

Sweating it Out

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When I went to the gym last week, I turned on the tv attached to the stationary bike.  This doesn’t sound like front page news, I know, but it’s extraordinary to me for two reasons.

First, I have never turned on the little tv EVER.  I joined my gym about 30 years ago.  A franchise of a California company was opening and they sent representatives to BIW to scrounge up some memberships.  I’ve spent most of my life trying to get myself to exercise; if there were a vitamin I could pop that could replace exercise in my world, I’d be all over that.  When the reps offered up an extraordinary rate for BIW folks, I signed up.  (And not only was it extraordinary but the price never went up in all the years I was a paying member.)  And I went to the gym like clockwork because for most of those years I got money back from my health insurance company and from BIW – for about 15 years the amount of payback was actually a couple more than I paid the gym.  It was like getting paid to exercise. These days I do mostly stationary bike and occasionally laps in the pool.

The second reason it was extraordinary was that when I turned on the tv, I searched for the Olympics.  You all know I am not a sports fan of any kind.  I only follow gymnastics a smidge because YA follows and I hear things from her. Other than that, I know nothing. When I play Trivial Pursuit, I always make sure there is a sports person on my team because I am useless in that category.

But that day, there was an intersection of my issues.  I didn’t have a book; I’d had a bunch of errands, including meeting YA for lunch and I completely forgot to grab a book even though the gym was on my to-do list.  And no stray books skulking around in the car either, which is also unusual.  I thought about stopping at Southdale library (between BIW and the gym) but I just didn’t want to.  I figured I’d just fart around on my phone for 30 minutes while I cycled.

When I jumped onto the bike, it occurred to me that I could turn on the little TV and watch THE OLYMPICS!  I’m not sure why I am not a jot interested in sports/athletics but I can watch Olympic coverage for hours and days on end.  I was in Madison for several days and my friend and I had the games on pretty much full time if we were at home.  That’s how it always is; I don’t expect to watch any Olympics and then I watch, follow specific athletes, text a couple of friends who I know are watching.  When the games are over, my interest will disappear, pretty much overnight.

So there I was – the person who hates to exercise — watching sports on the gym television.  When Leon Marchand was trailing in second place for most of his 200M Butterfly and then poured it on the last 5 seconds to take the gold, I raised up my arms and cheered (quietly)! I feel like a different person lives in my skin during the Olympics.

Do you have/have you had a go-to exercise?