lights, camera...

 Dear neglected blog... you are not alone.

Woo, it's been a hot minute since I visited this space. Well, the start of the spring semester at the college  ramped right up, including the fun meetings, scheduling new tutor students, blah blah. I'm supporting an additional class this semester for tutoring, so getting up to speed and doing plenty of meth math. Also, February is end of year/ start of year for PEO, and I've committed to a second year (but no more!) as chapter prez.

When not doing meetings, math, and other things, I haven't felt like sitting on the computer - hence the blog neglect. BUT things have somewhat settled down to a gentle routine, now, hopefully.

In the midst, I replaced my old cranky phone. It hadn't died yet, but was giving the signs, so I did a pre-emptive strike and upgraded. Nothing fancy, of course. The weather at the time of phone procurement was crap, so I took a couple of mundane photos around the house of other neglected things.

My bicycles, looking at me in harsh judgement, because I have not ridden them since winter decided to get wintry. 

I will say that the city does a nice job of clearing the bike paths in a timely manner. However, there is no clearing of a good portion of streets - just main roads - so getting TO the bike paths is a real challenge.

Then there was pooch Penny, giving this critical evaluation of my dog companion skills during the latest snow storm. I tried telling her that she would hate being out there on a walk, but she wasn't buying it.

The weather's warmer now, so we're in the cycle of melt, refreeze, melt, refreeze, creating much crusty crappy. I'm ready for spring.

A couple of evenings ago, I was home minding my own business, when I suddenly heard what sounded like someone driving by with their car stereo blasting. Except, it seemed to be an unmoving source. Also, the music wasn't the typical thug music coming from a bass blasting car stereo. It almost sounded like... an ice cream truck? With a tricked out sound system??

Laziness Curiosity got to me, and I hit the live feed on the ring camera. Recall our friendly across-the-street neighbors? Now with his 'n' hers Teslas? They were having a Tesla Light Show, which we've since learned is a thing.  Other Tesla friends in attendance. I only managed to capture the tail end.

I'll see if our little skillets can hold a candle.

Thank your husband and electric needles.

"Tell your husband 'Thanks!' for shoveling our sidewalk!", he cheered from his driveway.

"Oh, sure, no problem!", I hailed back

Neighbor Guy next door. I noticed during our recent snow storm(s) that no one seemed to be home for a while over there, so when I was out shoveling, I shoveled their sidewalk as well. Tell your husband - pffft. 

And I did tell Magnum, we chuckled a bit over it. I don't hold it against Neighbor Guy. I guess it's "normal" to assume the resident man handles the shoveling of snow. Neighbor Guy is a rather burly manly man himself who takes care of the outside of the house. I don't know him that well, but he always seems friendly.

And honestly, I rather enjoy shoveling snow. As long as it's not bunches of it, wet and heavy. Magnum does share in the task, but for the most part, especially before he began working from home, it was one of my chief duties. It's only fair since he brings home the Lion's share of our income. 

My coworker, Sarge, is in a similar boat. His wife is the main earner for his family, so he picks up the "house work". Yes, out there clearing the snow, etc. and also doing most of the cooking and shopping, driving the kids around... Equity and Inclusion, we're on it!

I went for a sloggish run this morning. Recall I've been off the running while dealing with a fritzed foot. It's been feeling better, but then I caught a cold, and then we were hit with an arctic blast - neither conducive to start running again.

This week, I had another appointment with the physical therapist, and he somewhat "assigned" me to go for a short run-walk this weekend and report back. Felt pretty good actually, though a bit cold and I had to deal with annoying ice in several places. Plus being out of shape *huff puff*. But the foot held together.

We did the dry needling thing at this last appointment. It felt... interesting. I didn't watch the process at all - first hit was in the outside of my calf while I laid on my back, second was in my lower back/hip while I laid on my stomach, so I didn't exactly have a view of either anyway. 

But he inserted (I think) two needles each time, then added electric stimulation to the needles, so there was this pulsing going on in there - like in [this youtube short] I found. He did that to the areas for about 2 minutes each. 

It felt neither amazing nor painful, but it was a very gentle feeling. Like the cat when he prods me to let him under the covers.

in the middle of the street

The hiring process for our new assistant boss marches on... at a snail's pace. It's good that the process is so thorough, I suppose. My fellow committee members and I have hurdles to jump through, and each jump is evaluated by HR until we are given the go ahead for the next hurdle. We're getting closer to the finish line, the application window closed yesterday.

Once we pare down the candidates, the remainders will go onto second interviews with Boss and Boss's boss. Fingers crossed we get someone in before Christmas.

Boss is able to take a look at materials submitted from the approved candidates so far. A few days ago he noted, "I didn't see anyone with test center experience".

And I thought to myself, "Well, yeah, because if they had actual test center experience, they would know not to apply for a full time job of it...", but maybe I'm just projecting *ahem*.

But I'll say it again, I like the job - the part-time version of it. It allows me time for tutoring and other interests, and I, thankfully, am not concerned about not having employee benefits. 

In other unfulfilled positions, the rental house next door to us remains vacant. Magnum reports seeing a few looky-loos as noticed while working from home. He knows when someone is checking out the backyard because our dogs announce it from our backyard. 

Affordable housing is a concern around here, like a lot of other places these days. Are the landlords asking too much?

... it's not our dogs, is it? 

Nah.

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Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:
5. Write a blog post inspired by the word: future

numbers

Sick of inktober updates? Grab the barf bag... 

I'm still alive with it, four more prompts to go. I think a couple of my pens are running on fumes, but they'll have to hold on a little longer.

Aside from that nonsense, October has seemed to have flown by. We've got real snow forecast for the weekend, so time for everyone to demonstrate how they forgot their winter driving skills.

Halloween isn't looking too rough, weather-wise. It's difficult to gauge how much trick-or-treat activity we'll have in our neighborhood. The college had a Halloween event this past Wednesday for students and staff with young kids. I'm guessing they chose Wednesday since that was the day closest to actual Halloween with the most in-person classes going on? Before the snow comes?

Anyway, the bits I saw were pretty cute. The school's mascot is the Wolves, so the event was titled "We're Wolves!" *snort*

I have no costume, the house is not decorated. There are a few houses in the neighborhood decked out for Halloween - houses where young kids live. Our neighbors have a young daughter, and their front yard features a glowing skeletal unicorn in the style of My Little Pony that is both cute and creepy.

Here we are being lazy empty nesters.

I have to leave in a bit to go scribe a test for "Ben", the calculus student with cerebal palsy. Someone asked what would happen if I wasn't there to scribe, and I'm pretty sure that someone from the math department would be called upon to do it. I rather enjoy doing it, though, and I'm thankful to have time in the schedule. Apparently, disability services is trying out some software that can do voice-to-text for math, and I'm curious as to how good it is.

For now, it's me. From the college's point of view, I imagine I'm a pretty cheap option.

the new and the old

• It appears that the neighbors to our right are moving. I don't know them well. They're a young couple who work from home and have two dogs that like to occasionally discuss politics and religion with our dogs through the fence. They've lived there for a couple of years, the house is a rental.

So I have mixed emotions: "Ooh, potentially new neighbors", and, "Yikes, potentially new neighbors".

We've had no issues with the couple next door - always friendly during our brief interactions and no trashiness. I'm thinking maybe they've saved up and are able to purchase a home now, so good for them. I snooped online and the house is still available for rent starting next month - "NO CATS". Fingers crossed.

• The new boss selection at work has happened, and Assistant Boss is now just plain Boss. I'm happy for him and for us. It should make for an easy transistion, especially since he's been doing Boss duty since previous boss was promoted a few months ago anyway. Now comes the hiring of a new assistant boss. 

We've had discussions as coworkers do about the prospects. Of the three most suitable from the current cast of characters - Party Girl, Sarge, and me - none want the position. So it will go to either one of the other current coworkers or, I'm hoping, someone fabulous from outside.

• My high school classmates had a reunion last weekend with about 20 in attendance plus a few assorted spouses. They represent about 15% of the class, so not too dismal. They looked to have had a good time, and I appreciated the organizing efforts and sharing of photos as I saw from afar on social media. The memorial table was poignant and nicely put together.

But I couldn't help but think, "Who are all these old people?"

strike up the...

I was a small town girl living in a lonely world...

Okay, I wasn't necessarily lonely, but I did spend my formative years growing up in a small coal-mining town - one where "everybody knew everybody" pretty much. 

When I was a sophomore in high school, our marching band was invited to a festival, featuring a large parade and field competition, in another state. This was a relatively big deal for our little town.

Anyone who's been involved in HS marching band knows the constant need for fundraising activities. This festival brought us band kids to new heights in such efforts. Finally, at a certain point, the townspeople responded with, essentially, 

"We don't need any more candles/ place settings/ chocolates/ mixed nuts/ child labor... Can't we just make a freaking donation??"

Why, yes. Yes you can. Now, this was long before the digital age. There was no web, so no website to go to and donate through Paypal or such. Everything was done face-to-face via check or cash.

One fateful day in late winter/ early spring was the designated HS Band Festival day or something like that. We band kids would infiltrate the neighborhoods and collect donations from anyone wanting to contribute. 

It was a Saturday morning, and we all showed up to the band room wearing our respective band hats  to get our - literal - marching orders. That year, I was part of the banner girl team. We toted around letters that spelled out our high school and mascot and did little dance things. 

I was the "A". Other side had a "S" for the spelling of our mascot. 

And yes, we wore blue hard hats.

Our instructions for donation collecting included that we stay in pairs when going door-to-door. Well, my similarly hard-hat clad teammate and I soon had the epiphany that our work would go MUCH faster if we split up. So we did exactly that, she hitting one side of the street, while I took the other. We'd meet at the end before returning to the band room.

This was all going smoothly as I neared the end of my route. I had two houses left. *insert dramatic music here*

I was on the tasteful porch of a tasteful house in the square behind my house.  A cheerful man answered the door, he was friendly, smiley. I could hear young children in a room off of the entryway watching Saturday morning cartoons. The man was still in his bathrobe.

"Oh yeah, yeah!" he greeted when I told him my reason for being on his porch (and wearing a hard hat), "My wife has the checkbook, hold on!".

A moment later, a similarly smiley, friendly woman arrived with checkbook and pen  in hand. She began making out a check, asking about the band's preparation for the festival, etc. The kids happily watched their cartoons, the man stood a few feet behind the woman, opened the bathrobe and...

• shucked the corn
• peeled the chili
• polished the banister
• adjusted the antenna...

Yeah, he was jerking off, looking me in the eye while his friendly wife wrote out a donation check and his cute kids watched cartoons. 

I said nothing but remember thinking, "oh for the luvah Pete..." something like, and fixing my eyes on the charitable woman's hand writing the check. The wholesome moment had taken a decidedly disappointing turn.

I said my thanks and exited the porch. 

But hey, the festival was fun.

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Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:

1. Tell us about a memorable neighbor from your childhood neighborhood.

behavior

Happy April, we are a fourth of the way into 2023. There are neighbors around the corner from us who still have Christmas lights up that come on each night. I wonder if they're really into Christmas or lights or have them on a forgotten timer?

This week, we had Chaco's pooch, Ella, boarding with us while Chaco travelled for work. She's a fun dog who blends in well with her "cousins", Penny and Merlin. And what's one more dog adding to the extensive pile of pet hair?

So, the dogs enjoy these sleepovers. The cat, Napolion, not so much. He expects to maintain his status as the Alpha pet at all times, but Ella has yet to get the memo. It's a bit of a furry juggling act for us resident humans.

Speaking of animals, we watched Nocturnal Animals, and The Shape of Water in movie news. Both were entertaining - I stayed awake throughout. 

Nocturnal Animals is a revenge story-within-a-story. I'm not a big fan of Jake Gyllenhaal, but he was well cast in this one. Amy Adams and Michael Shannon did well with their roles, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson is an it-don't-matter actor for me... As in, if he's in the movie, none of the other details matter, I'll gladly watch. 

I was aware that The Shape of Water won the Academy Award for Best Picture the year it was nominated, but had never seen it. I liked it well enough, but honestly, it was a bit too whimsical for me. Great plot, too much whimsey, and the soundtrack grated on me for a lot of it. It was like a kids' movie that included sex and violence. And again, the actors were great.

And speaking of violence, a month or so ago, a house not far from us was a total loss in a fire. Once the embers cooled, a deceased woman was found inside, and a man against whom she had a restraining order was located at the scene. 

I often run along the sidewalk that backs up to what is left of the house. The fence is gone, exposing the charred remains.

I don't know of any updates in the investigation, apparently I'm not in a need-to-know position. Sad, though. It's a quiet residential street - bicycles, basketball hoops, walk chalk, etc. And now this.

I will gladly opt for Christmas lights in April.

queen me already

Welp, I'm scheduled to work tomorrow at the hospital.  Remember I had a long stretch of days off?  Hoping to do something fun and/or productive with the extra time?  Reflection time...

It wasn't exactly nine days of "FREEEEEDOMMMM!" (cue William Wallace).  I had a couple dentist appointments and a coupla tutor sessions, so I did get a foothold on some dental work I was so looking forward to.  Got all inspected with the new dentist, and as we pondered a solution for my missing big honking tooth, he also discovered a tooth ready for a crown.  

Okay, fine, and now that's IT!  This will make my third crown - not counting the two front crowns - and according to my friend's crown theory, three is it for me.  Her theory is that women lose a tooth for every kid they have, based on all the calcium those babies take from us.  She had three kids and three crowns.  I have three kids, this'll make crown number three.  DONE!  

The front ones don't count because that was skateboarding trauma drama that happened before I was even of child bearing years.  

And speaking of teeth and time-off adventures, I finally got around to climbing that Horsetooth rock here in sunny Fort Collins.  

Horsetooth rock sits atop a foothill, aptly named Horsetooth mountain, overlooking Horsetooth reservoir and the city of Fort Collins.  Yes the namers really liked that Horsetooth title.  Gotta say, it does resemble a horse molar

I'd hiked the trail once before during a visit with Wolfgang and Meego a couple of years ago, but we stopped short of climbing the rock itself.  

So today, with a clear schedule, I headed to the tooth.  I knew I didn't want to go on a weekend because the trailhead gets packed, even if these COVID times.  ACK, I needed the nature fix, and the day was perfect!

I couldn't really remember how far it was from that one earlier trip since I was with the three guys and we were chatting the whole way.  Seemed like it took us a while, anyway, but I found myself at the base of the tooth more quickly than I'd remembered.

Once there, I realized it's not like mountain tops I've been on as those summits are relatively vast and can easily accommodate many hikers.  But I was reminded that this isn't really a "summit", but rather a rock formation.  

I got to the top with a bit of scrambling, thankful that I'd worn my mountain goat shoes.

Once there, I again realized there wasn't a whole lot of room to move around.  Add my persistent acrophobia, and well, I pretty much spent my whole "summit" time sitting on my butt.

This was a solo outing for me, but I knew the trail is popular and I wouldn't be all alone to be scarfed up by a mountain lion or something.  And yes, there were a handful of other friendly hikers but not so much as to feel at all crowded.

Spotted these lovebirds a bit above me on the toothtop.

Looking back, I suppose my mini impromptu vacation wasn't a total bust.  Got caught up on a few things in addition to the teeth adventures and didn't blow a bunch of money.  

Yet.

breaking bad?

I left my house for a run this morning, and as I turned the first corner to leave the neighborhood, I was met with a scene similar to this:

But not just one armored vehicle.  Two vehicles like this with SWAT guys mounted on each side, all gunned up.  Behind them were several more police vehicles taking up the incoming lane of traffic for about a block long stretch.  It looked kind of like the end of a 4th of July parade except nothing was moving and no one was throwing candy.

Yup, the po-po was back in the 'hood.

As I rounded that corner and came upon this scene, all the helmeted heads swiveled in my direction and locked eyes.

Needless to say, I stopped in my tracks, thinking, "Oh sh*t...". At least I don't THINK I said it out loud.

After a moment, one of the SWAT guys hanging onto the first vehicle motioned me and said to go on ahead, and I was thinking, "really?" as I looked at the long line of force I would run past.  Dutifully, however, I did as I was told and jogged on by with a bit of extra pep in my step.

Highly curious as to what was about to go down, I couldn't get a read from any of the coppers I went by.  They each seemed to be watching me, but all were silent save for one hairy one that gave a short *BARK*

When I returned after my run, all was clear, but I think it's safe to say they were back to visit the same house as last time.  The news story that ran after the first incident concluded with, "...more arrests are expected" as they continue to dismantle the drug trafficking organization.  Sheesh.  Such an innocent looking street with young families and puppies...

What are your neighbors up to?

a return to sunshine and walk chalk

Firstly, an update on the neighbors and the visit from the SWAT team:

I went to the police arrest info website and was able to discern that two arrests were made.  One was a 19-year-old male arrested on a warrant for DUI and DWAI.  The second was a 44-year-old male arrested for drug possession.

I'm assuming the two are father and son since they have the same first and last names, different middle names.  While unsettling to have this happen down the street, neither charge struck me as being particularly bring-in-multiple-vehicles-and-gear-along-with-a-SWAT-team worthy.  I figured either an overly aggressive response or there's more to the story.

And... HOLD THE PHONE!


I returned to the police info site this morning to get facts straight for the blog (yer welcome) and found a third arrest of a 43-year-old woman, with the same last name, about 20 minutes after dad and son.



Different address, but by stalking everyone on faceb@@k for about 5 mins, I'm pretty sure they're all related.  I'm guessing this is ex-wife of Mr. Drug Possession.

Omigosh the list of charges: multiple drug possessions... RACKETEERING... MONEY LAUNDERING!

Also, from my online stalking, I believe the woman I met while out walking Merlin is a daughter/ sister in the family.  She's younger than I'd initially thought, mainly because she seemed more mature than mid-20s to me.

So much for Thanksgiving plans?


Do you see news stories and then spy the people involved on social media?

incident at canola vanilla?

I saw her, last minute, out of the corner of my eye.  If she'd been a mean pit bull, Merlin and I would've probably been toast.  But she was a sweetie pit bull.

Merlin and I were out for a stroll on a recent evening.  We came around a car parked on the street, and that's when the pooch came out to greet us.  To be honest, she didn't take much notice of me as she was mostly interested in Merlin's junk. 

"Oh, I'm sorry!", said the woman working in her front yard, "I should've had her on a leash!"

I assured her it was no problem and remarked on what a nice and pretty dog she had. Truly, the dog had a beautiful coat and healthy glow about her.  Super friendly and sweet too.  She was obedient to the woman's commands, so I understood how they'd be hanging out in the front yard with no leash. 

"Oh, thank you.  Yours too!", she nodded toward Merlin.  And then, "Come on, Canilla"

I was thinking, "Canilla".  Maybe the woman is a foodie and likes canilla rice?  Or couldn't decide between canola and vanilla?  Maybe I heard wrong, and the dog's name is Camilla? 

Either way, it was a brief but pleasant exchange.  I'd never seen this neighbor before, although I've walked by that house.  She was early 30's I'd say, pretty, with longish hair and burgundy highlights.  I think she was working on a flower garden.  Not a soccer mom/ Karen type, but not trashy either.  She wore a sleeveless top and had a floral tattoo on an upper arm as I do.

So what? 

Well!  This morning, I was out for a run.  We live near a high school, and as I was returning to the
'hood, I saw several police vehicles entering the high school parking lot.  Cop cars and SUVs.  Big pickups pulling large trailers. An armored SWAT vehicle.  I figured they were arriving for some training or demonstration as I've seen the HS parking lot used for such things.  Not much else going on there right now.

I did my little homestretch loop around the neighborhood and came upon all those coppers lining the street not far from our house.  One vehicle had blocked off the entrance to Canilla's street and the SWAT vehicle was in front of her house.  I saw two people sitting on the ground, a man and Canilla's mom.

I tried to mind my own business and keep running while gawking.  I crossed paths with another  neighbor out walking his dog and we exchanged wordless looks that clearly said, "WTF?!"

I know nothing of what was going down.  I checked our Nextdoor feed and saw that someone had asked about it, but no one knows any details.  Well, not on Nextdoor anyways. 

From what I saw, there didn't seem to be any resistance.  The dude and Camilla's mom were just sitting on the ground looking dejected. The police seemed relaxed, despite the heavy presence.  Magnum thinks it might've been a domestic incident involving firearms? 

I dunno.  Canilla's mom (since I never got her name) seemed fine from my first impression.  You know how you can meet someone and know right away if you "click" or not? 

I'd totally go to her house for Thanksgiving.

just bought two houses

Now that we've sold a house, the task of finding a new home remains.  Not gonna lie, I'm not thrilled at the thought of moving again.  Although we're not in a hurry, we did pop into an open house over the weekend.  A new listing popped up, and we had nothing better to do, so we went on in.

The house was okay, priced about right, I'd say, and in a favorable location.  Floor plan was a little too closed in and the yard was a little too big for my liking, but it was good to see a little of what's out there.

The thing that steered me away, though?  Neighbor's backyard.  There was a fire pit surrounded by a few chairs and some pilfered road signs.  It just looked like a party backyard to me, and having just moved from next door neighbors that had occassional 3am bonfires, I'm scrutinizing neighbor yards.

Thing is, I liked those previous neighbors.  They were friendly and hard-working and took good enough care of their property and such.  They weren't awful, but what's with the (illegal) bonfires and party tunes in the wee hours of the morning?  Oh well, not my problem anymore.

And I know that neighbors can change.  Our old neighborhood went through a few iterations while we lived there, so no guarantees.  At least we didn't have any crackhouses or meth labs... to my knowledge.

In the meantime, the dogs at least have some new digs.  We got this new kennel for them when we moved.  It's 6' x 16' , and I just got back from picking up matching dog houses.  Nothing fancy, just the lovely plastic shelters.  The dogs are pretty civilized, though.


The cat still pines away for the great outdoors even though I've explained to him that it's illegal in these parts.  He clearly has no respect for the law.



The lease for the house we're renting is up at the end of May, so we've got some time to shop.  We sort of have an agent here - someone we met at an open house last fall when we were REALLY just snooping.  But she seems nice and competent.  She knows we just closed the sale on our house and sent me a gift card for a local espresso and pastry.  Yes, I'll accept bribes favors.

Do you like/ dislike/ feel neutral about your neighbors?  Any horror stories?

two %$^@#$ doors down

I don't know them.  I'm not sure how long they've lived there - one year?  A little longer?  Our neighbors two houses up the street.

They've made nice improvements on their yard, giving their home nice curb appeal.  Laid down some fresh sod, put in tastefully-sized rock gardens including pleasing plants, the driveway is clear of debris...

Since the weather's gotten nice, we're all outside more, including myself.  In fact, two weeks ago, I spent most of my "recreational" time working outside in order to turn that big pile of tangled downed tree limbs into a manageable pile of easy-to-haul tree limbs. 10 yard garbage bags later, some blisters and possible carpal tunnel syndrome, I had this masterpiece:

I'm counting it as my major summer accomplishment.  I hired some guys with a big truck to haul it away and don't miss that pile one bit.

So, yes, I was working outside quite a bit that week, enjoying the various sounds of summer:  birds chirping, dogs and kids playing, expletive laced shouting...

Yeah, that last thing.  It happens quite frequently from the nicely landscaped house two doors up the street.  The first time I heard it, I wondered if there was a "domestic situation" in progress.  But since then, I've heard it with such regularity.  Maybe this is their normal??

I'm really wondering, though.  I mean, it's not just an occasional "oh sh*t", or such.  Here's a few example quotes:

• "Get the F*CK outta the way!"
• "I'm trying to F*CKING help you!"
• "Move your F*CKING ass and quit being so F*CKING lazy!"

etc. on a pretty much daily basis.  This morning, while cleaning our dog restroom facilities:

• "If you're not going to F*CKING work, get the F*CK out!"

This coming from their back yard, which I imagine is immaculately landscaped. Always from the same guy, and I never hear any other side of the "conversations".  Is he speaking to his wife? Kids? Work partner(s)?

I've rarely seen them to exchange neighborly pleasantries, and those instances were just in passing while they were focused on working on the front yard landscaping.  However, the week I was hacking away at those tree limbs, the neighbor guy came to our house during an intermission from swearing loudly.

Our mail carrier had erroneously delivered one of our vehicle registration renewals to Expletive Man.  Expletive Man came down and rang the doorbell to give it to me.  I didn't hear the doorbell because I was out back hacking up tree limbs.  I later found the renewal mailing wedged in our door, and footage from the Ring®️ doorbell showed Expletive Man politely bringing the renewal, waiting, and then wedging it in the door.

I thought it was a friendly gesture on his part.  He could've left it for the mail carrier to fix, he could've put it in our mailbox, he could've thrown it away.  He appeared calm and friendly, about mid-30s in shorts, t-shirt and cap.  He didn't seem annoyed in any way.

So, what to think?  He obviously takes pride in his home and property and has an eye for aesthetics.  He nicely takes time to correct an erroneous mail delivery.  He loudly cusses out someone or several people on a regular basis, seemingly not caring who hears.  I'm two houses down, and there are homes all around.  I'm sure I'm not the only neighbor who's heard.

I really wish I would've known and answered the door that day he came with our mail, to try to get a feel for what makes this guy tick.

Is it a bomb?

Ever overheard something violent/questionable/abusive going on at a neighbor's?  Did you act?  Anything come of it? 

missed mountain and moving millennials

We'd planned a little weekend getaway for last weekend.  Go up to Winter Park, do some mountain biking and hiking and whatever.  As it happened, we ended up not going.  The stars just didn't align.  Nothing bad, but a casualty of getting various schedules and other obligations to match up.  And I think everybody made the most of their weekends either way.

Here is NOT a photo of any of US at Winter Park, but let's pretend...

SOURCE

For me, I went to P.E.O. on Saturday and met with a student on Sunday, so it sort of feels like the weekend didn't really happen.  What day is it?

As I type this, there's activity going on at the Millennial House next door.  I capitalize it because that's the name I've given the "estate".  We have no idea how many people actually live there, but there are lots of vehicles, and the residents' average age works out to about 20.  That value is kept quite low because of the fact that there's now a baby in the mix.  Apparently, it's not just the bunnies in the neighborhood that have been gettin' busy.

We're pretty sure that mom and dad of one or more of the habitants owns the house and rents to the pack.  I've met the owners and they are quite friendly, but it's rare for them to visit.  Despite their ages and demographic stereotype, the kids are okay as neighbors *knock on wood*. In fact, I rarely see them during the day, which makes notable the current activity.

My main dislikes are the late-night (more like early-morning) bonfire gatherings they like to occasionally have in their backyard.

Most of the guys drive full-size pickups, which fill up the street and driveway, but also attest to the fact that they all have jobs.  This morning, I see that three of the pickups have furniture and boxes loaded into them.  Someone's moving?

I hope it's not the baby.  He's cute, and he seems to have mellowed the household, from my external perspective anyway.

But maybe for the baby's sake, I hope it is the baby.

joys of spring?

OMG, these birds are driving us a bit bonkers.  Apparently, they have a nest  nearby to protect.  And we have a killer cat.

Every time the cat goes outside, the screechfest begins.  Two birds constantly harass by buzzing him and screeching and pecking on stuff.  I did some online research and quickly identified the nasty neighbors as Western Scrub Jays.

See?  It just looks grumpy all the time!

I learned that there is no color difference between male and female scrub jays, so I'm assuming these two in our yard are Mom and Dad.  They're actually quite pretty birds, but with horrible personalities.

Listed under behavior:  "Assertive, inquisitive, and vocal"  Yup.

If one of us humans is outside with the cat, they leave him/us alone while keeping a watchful eye.  So now the cat not only lets us know he wants to go out, he also begs us to go with him.  Bodyguard style.

I'll admit that I've lobbed a lacrosse ball at them a few times - meaning only to scare them off.  However, if one of  my tosses were to "accidentally" hit the mark, I'm not sure I'd be too remorseful.

But then I think, they're just being good parents.  Good parents that make for lousy neighbors.

I was thinking this morning that we could rig up some sort of scarecrow... scarejay?  Maybe tether some obnoxious mylar balloons in the yard, but with my luck it wouldn't work.  Then we'd have annoying birds and obnoxious mylar balloons in the yard. 

I guess we're stuck in this phase until the little twerps grow up.

moving house

A large and very furry dog has appeared at the next door neighbor's.  He's clearly not a puppy, so I'm guessing the neighbors are dog sitting, or maybe have adopted an older dog.  I googled, and I'm pretty sure he's a Great Pyrenees.

It's a rather hot day today, and I don't think he's happy judging by the amount of barking.  I'm uncomfortable just looking at him.  But maybe it's his change of living quarters that has him a bit unsettled.

We had brunch today with my Mother-in-law and her husband.  They are in the midst of selling their home in New Mexico and moving here to a Senior Living Community.  So we had a little tour of their new house and walked around the place and ate in the dining hall.

It was all very clean and comfortable, their new house is nice, staff people are friendly.  Plus, they'll be close to us now and also to Magnum's sister who lives here in town.  But I could sense a tone of resistant acceptance from both of them.  It's an admission of growing old and losing some independence.  A situation that is not temporary.

I'm reminded of my own parents' resistance to leaving their home.  In fact, I'd hoped they would move to the very place my in-laws are moving to, but they wouldn't even consider it.  Moving out of their house was about all they could accept.  Leaving town was not an option.

Watching my parents, I would think to myself, "Well, if/when my time comes to admit I can't do it all myself, I'll know and be okay with it", but it's probably easier said than done.

As we were strolling the area, my stepfather-in-law mentioned that residents need to be at least 55 years old to live there, and I was all, "Wait... what?"  Magnum will be 55 in a couple of months.

No way we're that close to being eligible to live in a Senior Living Community.  Seems like I was still a kid just yesterday!

there goes the neighborhood

The  next door neighbors have been having regular nightly fireside gatherings.

Over the last few weeks, I've been awakened by the smell of campfire smoke, the sight of flickering firelight, and the sound of voices.  One night, I heard what can only loosely be referred to as "music".

What have they been doing?  Are they conjuring up some sort of spirit?  Evil or otherwise?  And the chickens.  What's with the chickens?!

And there was that full moon over the weekend.  Come to think of it, there's been no such gathering since.

Okay, so maybe it's just been the kids next door having friends over for chats around the fire pit late at night.  They're not even technically "kids", as they're all around 19 or early 20s.

And maybe they haven't been dancing or conjuring up anything from beyond, but just hanging out late at night and waking the neighbors who like to sleep with the windows open during summertime.  What is it about people in that age group being so  nocturnal?

But alas, this morning I heard a splashing in the backyard and looked out to see Mrs. Neighbor watering the pet chickens.  Then I saw Mr. Neighbor out front talking with another neighbor.

Looks like Mom and Dad are back home.  I've missed them.

Tribal

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "Tribal", and I drew this mask for no other meaning than it was just fun.  I don't know the origin of this mask.  I just found the reference on Pinterest and think that it's African, and that's all the culture from me today.

Merriam-Webster defines "tribe" as:
a group of people that includes many families and relatives who have the same language, customs, and beliefs.

And it occurs to me that this is a time of year when many tribes get together.  Our next-door neighbors had  a large gathering at their house yesterday.  They've lived there for about a year, and I don't know them all that well, but what I do know is all good.

This is the neighbor who killed an antelope last fall, then gave us a couple pounds of meat from the murder.  None of us had eaten antelope before, and we declared it good with a very distinct flavor.



Their tribal gathering also seemed nice in that, despite the throngs of people in attendance, it was relatively subdued save for one girl child who felt that screaming was a necessary part of any game being played in the yard.

As for us, Wolfgang was here for most of the day.  He'd dropped his truck off at that same tire store that lives across the creek from us.  Smartly, he asked us for a ride rather than traverse the creek.

He continues to lobby for me to get a family membership at that high faluting fitness center he goes to. It would considerably lower his portion of the membership fee, which he now pays as an individual.   I remind him that it would substantially increase our portion of the membership fee for which we currently pay zero.

Still, we might go visit to have a look around.  "The outdoor pool opens this weekend.  It's REALLY nice... you should check it out!",  as just a portion of his sales pitch.   He knows which of my buttons to push.

I still use the university rec center, but it's not as easily accessible, nor does it have as nice of ammenities as Wolfgang's place.  On the other hand, it costs us nothing (more).  Magnum says he'd be interested in trying a yoga class at the nice place.  But don't tell Wolfgang.

I drew the illustration while Wolfgang and I chatted about fitness centers and various other topics.  I did it in my pocket moleskine, which is just the cutest thing and one of my indulgences.

I don't really have time (nor the inclination) to do bigger art projects, so this is a nice plaything.  I can get cheaper knock-offs, but I think, once you go moleskine, you don't go back.

fresh air, sunshine, and meat

There's a predicted big storm headed our way.  It's just teasing now with pretty fluffy snow outside. The ugly mean snow is expected to arrive later on and the meanness will last until mid-week.  So, in preparation, we went out yesterday and stocked up.

Not on food and other provisions, which might have been the more practical thing, but we stocked up on fun outdoor time.  After managing to rouse the teenager, we headed for the hills.

If lost in the wilderness, it can be helpful to have fuschia shoes

Despite the weather forecast doom, yesterday was a warm day for January.  The trails were quite muddy slushy snowy, but manageable.

And it was nice to see quite a few others of all ages out enjoying the area as well.  But not so many as to not give a sense of being in the boonies.

We were at Spruce Mountain Open Space, which I highly recommend.  It's easy to get to and has great views.

Sacrificing safety for the all important photo
(disclaimer:  Meego made me do it)

We even managed to log a geocache during our indulgent adventure.  The clue said it was "in plain sight".

Well, I guess it would be in plain sight if you live inside the old dead tree stump.

Thus satisfied, I can now accept my outdoor time being spent with a snow shovel.  For a while.

Speaking of outdoors and provisions, our neighbor apparently went out, hunted down, killed, and processed an antelope.  This because he gave us a couple of pounds of freshly processed antelope meat.

I've never eaten antelope and just keep picturing this------->

which is why I'm not much of a meat eater and would really suck as a hunter.  But since the deed is done, I'm thinking I'll slow cook it into a stew and let the carnivores have at it.

The neighbor is a nice guy, and now I see that he could also come in handy for the apocalypse.  

So as I'm probably settling into a few days of cabin fever spent with cooking dead animal, I'm plotting a course to help me through... other than just hoping for a good outcome from that groundhog on Tuesday.

Feel free to take pity on me with updates on your blogs for me to read.  My note to self to "don't look down" only carries me so far.

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Silver Liningness Sunday

Hello and happy Sunday!  Another week of good things down.

It started with Labor Day and working the marathon, which felt worthy and somewhat productive.  I met some nice volunteers and nice runners.  Especially at the later stages of the race, several runners who aren't too serious, stop to chat or just mosey on through the aid stations and seem happy for the human contact during such an arduous exercise.

I think Meego also enjoyed himself.  He's pretty easy to persuade for such things and strangely seems to like getting up early as long as there's purpose to it.  Otherwise, forget it!  The bike ride to the aid station was memorable as well.  It was a 4 mile ride in the dark with hardly another soul on our route. So quiet and crisp, with our bike lights a-flashing.  Pretty cool actually.

Speaking of bikes, Alice was creakily limping along and just not her usual graceful self.  It was a difficulty to diagnose problem, and after trying a few home remedies, I decided to take her into the shop.  All five of the service techs took turns riding her (there's a sentence!).  Eventually, we got her problem figured out and taken care of.

I'm grateful for a variety of things:  (1) this particular shop continues to give great service, (2) repair costs were very reasonable and (3) were done in just a few hours, (4) Alice is back to her awesome self, and (5) turns out it really wasn't something I could've fixed myself.  She now has a nice clean and tight new bottom bracket - the bicycle equivalent of a butt lift!

The bite from the vicious mongrel is healing nicely.  I have since been on two more morning runs and have not encountered "Fang" nor been bitten by anything else that has left a mark.

Oh, and the neighbor across the street, whom I don't really know but was carted off in an ambulance yesterday?  She's back home.  I still don't know what actually happened.  As is typical, though, they had friends over for the Bronco game today, so that was nice to see.

This afternoon I went out with the intention of cleaning out the weeds underneath the trampoline, which no one has used in a long time.  I asked Meego to help me move it, and we ended up disassembling the whole thing.  Not sure what to do with it, but will probably just scrap it since it's pretty old.  And the weeds are gone, yay.

The cat is probably upset, however.  This is where he liked to keep his cache of dead things...

I told Magnum that I was actually looking forward to mowing back there now that I don't have that pain-in-the-butt obstacle anymore.

Yeah, life is exciting here!



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