Tuesday Tidbits

Just some random thoughts:

My Uncle Ed told me once that he always buys a red pick-up so that his cows would recognize him.  Too bad he didn't know that cows can't see red.  It isn't the red cape that pisses of the bull in bullfighting, it's the movement.

Tanner's Orchard in Speer is the crown jewel of our regional Illinois area.  Annual trip with family requests in hand is always fun.  Go on a weekday day to avoid the riffraff.  As usual the Girls and I made the trek.  Sorry Rose couldn't make it.  Next year.

It scares me that my tenuous hold on Northlandia depends on my 23 year old Ford Ranger pick-up.  She still runs great but cost me a new battery this trip. (Insert crossed fingers emoji here.)

Thanks again to Mark and Holly for hosting me.  They are gracious, generous hosts.  But there is no stopping that dead fish from stinking after three days.  

++++++++++

++++++++++

Before my trip I took these pics of some frogs climbing out of the downspout at the Sinkhole Estates' swimming pool.  I took the kids and it began raining.  Jumping out of the pool so we wouldn't get wet (wait, what?) I noticed the water coming out of the downspout and then, voila!, the frog family washed onto the deck.  Cute little buggers.   

++++++++++

Parked in front of Mercer Market one day a couple weeks ago.  The perfect storm of junk food.  Vans from left to right:  Doritos, Sterzings, Aunt Millies, and Kitchen Cooked.  The semi had goodies, too, I'll bet.

++++++++++

Too bad we just can't pick out the channels we want and pay for them rather than the bloated hundreds of channels offered.  Me?  I'm down to about 4 channels and my Roku.  

++++++++++

Hometown Seaton did one of those brick memorial things to get a little money and let townsfolk buy a little immortality.  As proud East Enders, the Blythe's will be represented along with a lot of other people I knew and grew up with.  Too bad misspellings were more closely edited:  That brick underneath ours belongs to the Greer's, just across the street from us.  That would be GARY and Dixie.

++++++++++

Speaking of the Greer's, this apple tree is one of theirs.  It has a nice set of cheeks.  

++++++++++

One of my regrets is not attending more Stearman Events when I was living in G-Burg.  It's a nice thing to have.  A ride in one would have been pretty awesome.

++++++++++

Latest on Whizzbang, aka Dumbstruck the Wonder Pup

Her reaction upon my arrival was pretty neat.  I walked home from the airport and the current Mrs. Blythe and she were outside.  When she saw me (the dog) she growled then discovered it was her old buddy.  She was elated, to say the least (the dog).  I think she has been on a high ever since.  Won't let me out of her sight.   

I...can't...make....a...move!  It's...making...me..fucking...crazy! 

++++++++++

++++++++++

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the weather in Northlandia.  It was stormy, thundery, lighteningy,  rainy and generally weathery.  It was marvelous.  Mostly I just stayed in bed at these times and listened.  Through my eyelids I could see the flashes and my ears took in all the sounds of rain hitting the windows.  I should have got up and gone outside to watch but the peace it instilled was just too much like heaven.

On this particular day a storm front moved across Mercer County.  To the left was the ominous clouds, dark and threatening, and on the right an almost perfect day with blue skies and puffy white clouds.

Weather in the North is unbeatable.

++++++++++

“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, each of us will have two ideas.” — George Bernard Shaw  

++++++++++

This pod-like thing was/is growing on Mr. and Mrs. Wombie's tree out back.  Don't think I've ever seen anything like it outside some freaky science-fiction movies.  Should I warn them or just let it grow and see what becomes of it?  I left my stethoscope back in Kitschland so I couldn't tell if it was pulsating.

++++++++++

That's probably enough for now.  But one last word.  Don't forget to vote.  It's coming up.  It is our responsibility as Americans (whatever that means these days) to understand the issues and vote for the people who most similarly reflect your values and sense of direction.  If you don't understand them then for God's sake either know the issues or stay out of the voting booth - we don't need an army of ignorance deciding the fate of this democracy.