that's how they roll

Greetings on this lovely spring day.  I have the day off from work, and I'm not complaining.  I'm currently at the germ-riddled public library computer lab because I don't like being holed up at home.  I think I have the opposite of agoraphobia. 

I had a lovely bike ride here, mainly because of a tail wind.  I will b*tch all the way home when it's a head wind, so it all balances out.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was using an old GoPro that I think Wolfgang left behind, as a bicycle cam.  I usually roll video while I'm commuting to and from work in case I encounter any idiots on the road and want evidence of the idiocy - not that it's typically been a problem.  

I have bicycle commuter acquaintances who, honestly, I think are overly paranoid.  They have front view, rear view, and helmet view cams.  Seems like overkill to me - not to mention expensive and cumbersome. But for the most part, Fort Collins is pretty bike friendly with providing bike routes that avoid much motorized traffic.

Happily, my footage has all been very hum drum.  I usually erase it after I get home to make room for the next commute.  But yesterday, I came across this cute(?) vehicle on the bike path after work and decided to save this 10-second snippet of the ride.

Man, woman, and child were just tooling on down the pathway in this 4-seater, complete with canopy.  Rental?  I've never seen such a thing, but the group seemed to be enjoying their playtime, the assumed mom waving as I ding-a-linged past.

In other recreational news, one of the local PEOs I recently met decreed, "we HAVE to walk together!" when I mentioned that I lived about a mile and a half from her.  Do we?  She's assuming I'm a "walker"?

Well, she hit me up and I agreed to walk with her next Monday - after work, after walking the dogs? Honestly, I didn't feel that we "HAVE" to walk together, but I said okay. 

She has a rather strong and persistent personality, so I rolled over.  She is also quite the loud talker and is... strangely... a librarian.  But she certainly seems joyful, so what can it hurt?  Other than my ears?

Or maybe it's karma, for that library book I ruined?

can I run the trace of your mind

Christmas is a wrap.

We had a nice one here with the brood.  The kids are all currently single, so it was a low-key fivesome plus three dogs and a disgruntled cat.  We opened some cards and gifts, ate, walked the pooches, played some boardgames... a good day was had.

Magnum and I don't gift each other. If we want something, we buy it, no matter the date.  I'm too much of a noncomformist to make a list or such *shivers*.  But we do get SOMEthing for each of the kids to open on Christmas day.  It gets harder every year.

In my recent tidyings, I did come across someone's gift from years ago:  a GoProⓇ camera.  I dusted it off, woke it up, and bought a bicycle mount for it to use as a sort of "dashcam".  I found a handful of skateboarding videos on it and determined it was Wolfgang's.  Don't tell him I've made it mine 🙊

I took it for a test drive on Christmas Eve.  Once I put it on, I noticed that the brake cables on Violet sit right in front of the best placement for the camera, but didn't obscure much in the end result.

Don't worry, I don't plan on turning this blog into a record of boring bicycle commuting videos.  

Other commuters I know use cameras to catalog abuse from motorists, but I manage to avoid those scenarios *knock on wood*.  Respect goes both ways.

Here's a test run snippet.  I found a generic app on my computer for editing and set it to Mozart for hopeful increase in entertainment value.

We're scheduled tomorrow to begin our new window install - replacing every window in the house.  Ooh, a makeover!  It will probably the coldest day of the year, our luck.

The impending window install did spur me to take down the paltry Christmas decorations I'd put up.  So there's that.

Onward to 2022!

welcome to the Himalayas!

Several years ago, I was stranded in a blizzard in eastern Colorado.  I was on a Juco women's basketball team, and we were coming home from an away game when the storm hit.  Our team was in two big travel vans, so we were relatively "comfy" sitting on the side of the road in a blizzard with about one inch of visibility.

At one point, Coach said, "Welp, if anyone has to go to the bathroom, I think there's a coffee can in the back of the van"

And suddenly, through the power of suggestion, we all had to pee.

The coffee can was pretty much a non-option, however.  A bunch of us braved the storm and peed outside the van, surrounded by other stranded motorists.  Good thing for that one-inch of visibility. 

It was a most memorable experience, girl-peeing in a snowstorm with about 50 mph winds.  We formed a sort of semi-circle, so as to both protect each other and hold each other steady in the storm and from the exiting urine.  One of our best teamwork moments.

Today, we're having us an epic blizzard.   Most non-essential stuff is closed.  The local news teams are out driving around while telling everyone to not go out and drive around. 

My bum tooth continues to throb (fixi-it appointment on Friday), so I did a doodle and played with the camera to make a quick test vid and keep my mind off the throbbing.  The video is a bit too quiet, and I think that's the fault of the microphone I used.  I could redo the audio with a different mic, but nah. 

Plus, I wanted to keep it under 2 mins, so good enough for throbbing-tooth-blizzard-day.

the big bang

As I mentioned, I managed to get some bootlegged video of the winter percussion championships.  Typically, video recording of these things is discouraged because of student privacy.  Another band mom shot these on her phone, so the video quality is not so great.  As such, it's a bit difficult to make out individual people, let alone their faces, so I'm okay with it.

Anyhoo, I'd never heard of winter percussion before Meego got into it his freshman year.  Shows are performed inside and are limited to, I think, six minutes, which includes setting up, tearing down, and getting on and off the floor.  Groups are penalized if they go over that allotted time.

They score points through a variety of factors including

• complexity of music 
• playing in synch 
• audience engagement
• "general effect".  

The music of Meego's group this year was quite complex with several points requiring the marimbas to play very fast and in unison.  They were in third place going into the finals and totally got 'er done to take home the first place trophy!

So with that in mind, here's the bootleg of their finals opening number.  Probably not something you would choose to play at your wedding or background for the garden party, but it kicked butt at competition:





I include this portion of the video because in the beginning, there's a break where Meego, on bass, and the guitar player play behind their heads. They just decided to throw that in.  The video also  highlights those marimba skillz





So definitely a memorable finish to the season for this nice bunch of kids and their coaches!

oy vey and "oooooooh!" day

This morning was sort of an "oy vey" morning, and I'm not even Jewish, so allow me to vent a little.  Now, y'all know I'm prez of my local little P.E.O. chapter.  It's not bad duty, not at all.  In fact, I rather enjoy it.  At our upcoming meeting next week,we're planning to initiate a new member, which makes it a bit special.  I'll try to explain my oy vey-ness without (a) giving away any secrets of the 'hood or (b) being absolutely boring.

For an initiation, there are certain roles that each officer has.  Last week, alas, our "guard" informed me that, "SHOOT!  I forgot I'm gonna be out of town that week!"

Okay,  no biggie, just get someone to fill in.

Well, she didn't.  She just left me holding the empty bag.  Fine, I'll find someone.  One by one, each person I asked either said "no", including a load of excuses, or didn't reply until after I'd given  up on them and asked someone else.  I had my webcam up for skyping, and it got to be where I was opening my e-mail like this:

I understand that some people aren't comfortable getting in front of a group and such, but it's just US!  Oh well, I finally went to one of the "Go To" girls, Ruby*

While I awaited her response, I was feeling grumpy in part because of (1) this guard business, and (2) the fact that I'm still a bit of a stumbling drunkard with zero blood alcohol content.  Stupidly, I went over to fa(ebook.

Now, I'm not stupid enough to get into any of the political discussions, but there's this one guy I've seen on there before.  Maybe others are familiar with him - he does these "tricks" where he has you manipulate numbers and dates and stuff, and then he guesses your original thought?  Seen him?

His "tricks" are so lame and so figure-outable, and there was another of his videos that one of my friends had liked and shared because he got their thing correct.  *SIGH*  On a side note, we all know here that "liking" a video on facebook does not "lock in your answer!", right?!

Remember that I'm a tutor and a bit of a nerd.  I watched the video, and the many comments got me down.  "OMG, you're amazing!"... "How do you KNOW these things?!?" ... "OMG, that's my number!  Spooky!!".
Oh, Jiminy Cricket.

It made me grumpy.  Thinking about how poorly the U.S. has consistently been in math in recent years.  I know right?!  Why should I care so much!?  After all, it's job security!

So I actually left a comment, and I never comment on such things, particularly not haterish comments.  I pointed out that the "trick" was based on something we all learn (supposedly) in grade school.  I even included this snarky little sticker.  

So at that point, I knew I'd gone over the edge.  It was time to turn that frown upside down.  Thank goodness Wolfgang talked us into that gym membership, because I went to the gym to ride their bikes that go nowhere.  It proved to be good therapy, plus no one mistook me for a drunk person... at least not out loud.

Eventually, I got a reply from Ruby:

Ruby:  I've never done guard at initiation before...
Me:  Oh crapola, here we go again...
Ruby: ...but I'm willing to give it a try...
Me:  YES!! RU-BEE!  RU-BEE!  RU-BEE!  *ahem* Suffice to say, Ruby took a load off.

Then, I just happened to catch Britney Spears' latest video for that orgasm song, because I actually happen to like the tune.  Webcam still up...

She claims that the video "features lots of female empowerment".

Well, doesn't it now.  Little somethin' for everybody, that one.


*Name changed to protect the innocent

effing arachnids and cutesy video

Looks like I've been a neglectful blogger this week.  I'll blame the effing spiders!  That and maybe there just wasn't a whole lot of excitement around here...

As far as effing spiders go, I woke one morning and as the day progressed, I noticed itchy welts forming.  Four of them in total.  I concluded they were spider bites.  I'm not sure if one big spider bit me four times, four spiders each bit me once, or some combination in between.  I'd rather not think about it.

Two were on my inner right thigh, one was a bit below and to the right of my belly button, and the fourth one was an outlier on the back of my right shoulder.  I'm glad to say that the worst is behind me, and that it wasn't quite as bad as the summer of the bees, but memorable nonetheless.

Apparently, they weren't poisonous bites or I could possible be near death by now.  But they itched and got all swoll up, and I felt a bit deformed for a couple of days.  The one beneath the belly button caused the most freakish deformity - from the swelling and gravity, I assume, I was left rather asymmetric if y'know what I'm sayin'...

Thankfully, that's behind me, and I never saw nor felt the culprit(s), but clearly this is in retaliation for the spider spraying I do during the summer.  I don't kill them, I just blast the spiders and their webbery from the front porch and door.  On the one hand, I look at all the little morsels they've caught in their webs and am grateful that those things didn't make it into the house, but on the other, it makes the front door quite creepy and unwelcoming.

So I blast them away, and for a little while, we appear friendly.  Soon, they're back and rebuilding the webs and, apparently, infusing me with vengeful venom.  I keep hoping for super hero powers to come of this, but so far, I got nuthin.

In other news, it was bike jam day at the university this week to kick off another year of Pedal Perks.  I didn't get any freebies or participate in any contests, but I was there for the "campus cruise".  It's just a slow pack ride through campus for anyone who wants to go along, which effectively ties up any car traffic that happens to regretfully cross its path.  How could I not play along with that?

Last year, a couple of brave souls rode on the back of a small, unstable, no-handles towed trailer to shoot video footage of the campus cruise.  The result was this cute little feel-good production.  If you're observant, you might spot me in red and Alice as her typical photogenic self:


UCCS Bike Jam Fall 2015 from Rich Moricz on Vimeo.


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thanks for the nosebleed

Remember last summer?  The summer of the bees?  Boy, I do.

Let me briefly refresh...
Over a span of about a week and a half, I was bee stung three times.

Exhibit A

Exhibit A shows sting result number 1.

Clearly, that kamikaze bee was going for the jugular.

Exhibit B

Exhibit B shows sting result number 2.

Knowing I'm right-handed, that kamikaze bee was obviously seeking to render me helpless.








Last, but certainly not least, was sting result number 3.  Out of blog appropriateness, I have no Exhibit C as that kamikaze bee got me square in the chest, the result of which was the development of an awkward third boob. 

Just take my word for it when I say that sting number three was the MOST disfiguring of them all *ahem*.

So far this summer, I have remained stingless (knock on wood!  Hear me knocking, bees??), but I fear that I'm still being stalked.

Monday, I gave Meego a ride to work.  He got a bloody nose just before leaving and was afraid he'd be late if he rode his bike so I drove him.  As we got into the van, he noticed a wasp buzzing around his window.  We didn't think much of it and just drove off.

Later that afternoon, when I went to pick him up, we once again noticed a wasp buzzing around the passenger window after he got in the van.  Hmmm... how curious...

We pondered what this all meant for a moment, and we saw the wasp fly into the housing behind the passenger side mirror.  I moved the mirror around, but it never emerged.  Okay, whatever.

Then we got home and had a look:

 

Can I get a collective, "EEWWWW!!" ?  

Those little moochers had built a house in the mirror of the van and were multiplying!

I googled like a madwoman to figure out the best remedy.  In the end, we waited until after sundown and sprayed those buggers instantly dead.  We were a bit concerned about the poison messing up the paint and/or the wiring inside the mirror, but neither turned out to be an issue.  

This is what's left of their dead planet:

 Meego got a bit of video.  The actual killing didn't get recorded - something to do with pushing "pause" when meaning to push "record" and vice versa...

ANYWAY, may they rest in peace... and Leave.  Me.  Alone.

  .


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swoop swoop doo bee bop!

So I'm glad I was able to take one of my classes this summer semester.  One step closer to being finished.  Plus it's kept my brain active and productive, and that's certainly a good thing.

I've learned a lot of useful concepts too, but one thing I've learned this summer stands out.  However, I didn't learn through the university.  It just came to me as a gift.  I learned about swooping season.

Swooping season is something that happens in Australia, thanks to the Australian Magpie:

"This species is commonly fed by households around the country, but in spring a small minority of breeding magpies (almost always males) become aggressive and swoop and attack those who approach their nests, especially bike riders."  ~ Wikipedia

When I first learned of it, I thought it was just someone making silly videos, or there was just one nasty magpie someone managed to catch on video, but NO.  It's a real thing!  There are dozens of videos and other accounts of these... these... outright attacks.  On friendly bicyclists!

Out of these attacks have come a variety of theories on how best to deter these nasty swooping Australian Magpies.  The following is probably my favorite educational clip that tests a couple of theories.  Amber of "Amber and Billo's" - a popular morning radio team - takes a couple of theories on the road.  Let's see what her results are, shall we?? (make sure your audio is on)






[F*BLEEP*k] Yeah, Magpies!

Who's up for some educational adventure travel to Australia!?!  I'm in!  Swooping Season, let's go!
... seriously, I kinda want to do that.

-----------------------------------------
For Mama Kat's prompt this week:
3. Share something you learned in June


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hail to the no!

Yesterday afternoon, I was here at home taking care of a few things when the rains came.  I was glad I wasn't on my way home on the bicycle.  Then the hail joined in and I was really glad.

And it just kept on a-hailing.  Buckets of the stuff, it seemed!  I was here with just the menagerie and shot this video shortly after the cat came in and verbally abused me, like the mother hail storm was my fault.

As you can see, China was not too happy about it either, but at least she wasn't blaming me.

The toads and snake seemed pretty oblivious.  The monster fish?  Who cares, it was probably their doing as part of their evil quest for world domination.

At that point, it turned out that the hail was just getting started.  By the time things calmed down, we'd gotten about nine inches.  The good part was that it was pretty isolated to our neck of the woods - possible additional evidence against our evil fish residents.

Meego texted me for a ride home from school.  He typically walks, as his school is about a mile and a half away and the hail had stopped by then, but there was no walking around among the piles.

I looked out the window at our street and wasn't sure I could even get out of the neighborhood, especially since I just had my parents' diminutive Toyota Echo they'd entrusted to my care.  The big van is here, but trapped in a hail bog.

Boldly, the Echo (Suzy Q) and I ventured.  I barely made it out of the driveway, but kept it slow and steady, the whole while "this is a bad idea... this is a bad idea... this is a bad idea..." repeating in my head.

I really had to pick my route carefully. Where there weren't huge mounds of hail, the roads were veritable rivers.  I felt like I was trying to drive a Toyota through the Everglades.  To make matters worse, several cars were stuck anywhere and everywhere, leaving limited options as to where to drive.  Stopping to help them would be futile and only make matters worse, it was best to try to keep moving.  So I did.

Magically, I made it to the high school.  My route took me a good 20 minutes.  The parking lot was still pretty full with people trying to extract their cars from hail lake.  Meego swam over and climbed soggily in.  Our next adventure - make it back  home.

Employing the same tactics I'd used to get out, we eventually made it back to the house.  Suzy Q to the rescue!  She was pretty beat up, though.  I had to free the gallons of hail that had collected just underneath the grill.  A panel there had come loose and had acted like a big scoop every time we bottomed out through the hail - which was pretty much the whole route.  Upon my inspection, I'm guessing that the panel has probably been loose for a while, just hadn't made itself known before now.

Eventually, the sun came out.  Then a snowplow cleared our street.

I made it out later, in Ellie Mae, for some groceries.  There was a guy near the toothpaste, talking animatedly on his phone.

"There's like 10 inches of hail!  They closed the freeway!"

I'm guessing he's from out of town since people around here don't typically call the highway the freeway.  It's the highway.  Legal pot, remember?

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that thing they do

Terri says, "The percussion stuff sounds like a lot of fun! Maybe you can get video of them sometime and share it with your blog fans?"

I did manage to get an official copy of their show from last week.   It's shot from far enough away to see and hear what everyone's doing without identifying any individual students.  There's a bit of background chatter that I'm guessing is from someone near the camera watching a basketball game?? Making our own videos is frowned upon because of privacy rules and such - although I've seen plenty of cameras rolling in the audience.

Each performance lasts six minutes.  If they go even one second over, they're docked points.  Then there's a mad scramble to haul everything out of the way for the next group.  It's nice for spectators, not much downtime!

Anyhoo, I edited the video down to three minutes to give the gist of the thing.

Take the floor!

 


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one does not simply...

Like The Incline, the story doesn't necessarily end when you reach the top.  It's all...

"Yay, we made it!"

"Look how purdy!"

and soon becomes...

"Okay, now we gotta get back down"

But, what to do?  Because...

Incline people are typically a courteous bunch, watching out for each other because of the common bond formed from climbing over piles of trash together.  One unwritten rule is that, you climb up, but you don't climb down The Incline.  It's just common courtesy to the suffering souls going up.  

The way down is the Barr Trail, which is the trail that leads to the summit of Pikes Peak.  The top of The Incline hooks up with the Barr Trail, and there is also an outlet about two thirds of the way up The Incline for bailing out, for those who are so inclined (see what I did there?)

So the process of cancelling out all of the gain in elevation of The Incline is going down a three-mile stretch of loose gravel switchback trail.  Many Incliners like to run back down the trail.  That's kinda what we were doing, peppered in with some walking, chit chatting, and enjoying the views.

Halfway down Barr Trail
Chaco says, "Take our pic, the more Mom smiles the bigger I will frown!"

We were about two feet from the end of the trail with Ellie Mae in sight - me in the lead, Chaco behind me, and Wolfgang bringing up the rear.  We were strangely discussing anesthesia and pain killers (foreshadowing?) when I sense this slight ruckus behind me.  

I turned to see Chaco writhing on the ground, gripping his ankle.  Wolfgang explains, "Yeah, he rolled it", showing me the side of the trail that fell away making for perfect ankle-rolling.  

So I'm thinking, "Great, we make it UP The Incline, DOWN Barr Trail, and he breaks his ankle in the parking lot"

But he didn't.  Break it, that is.  Just a sprain leaving him a bit of a gimp. 

And it didn't foil his photography skills.  He got more nice shots of the Thunderbirds later that day during USAFA graduation. 

I put together this little video which features some of his photos, the YouTubization of which doesn't do them justice.  There's also some shaky video coverage of graduation practice that I take full blame for.  I mean, I could totally make a blooper video from the footage, but it would run twice as long at least.

Turn up your volume, Sound o' Freedom!

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warm fuzzies

It's snowing in Georgia, but we're warm here!  About as warm as Georgia!

No problem though, because Clyde, the university mascot (Mountain Lions... rawr) was wandering around campus giving free SuperBowl hugs yesterday.

I didn't get one.  *waaaah*

But Wolfgang made the movie!  In fact, the only reason I noticed it was because Wolfgang made the screen shot of the movie:

Post by UCCS.

Anyway, it's good to know that the family is represented in these promo videos, after the load of tuition I dropped off earlier this week.

I notice that Clyde was mainly hugging the youngsters.  What are us old "non-traditionals"?  Chopped liver?  Hmmm, actually, a mountain lion would probably like some chopped liver...

And that Manning jersey.  Clyde could probably get a couple hundred bucks for it this week.  Next week?  Remains to be seen.

Who are you rooting for?  Do you care?
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six minutes

I did one of them Draw-My-Life videos...





You saw it here first.

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home for the holidays

Some of the old long-time readers of this blog may recall past Christmases around here when we used to go on our yurt adventures over the winter break.  We'd go a-yurtin' for a couple of days up in the mountains.

It was always a good time, but one of the drawbacks was that we had to reserve the yurt plenty in advance, and the weather and roads getting to and from yurt country often presented mild peril.  As I recall, one of the roads along the journey is called "OH MY GOD! Road".

So we stopped going.

BUT, this year, we've got the next best thing!  We've decided to field test our Zombie Apocalypse tent.  (Thanks to setup team of Magnum and Meego)



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This is to be our accomodations for Christmas Eve.  I've decreed no prezzents for anyone who doesn't make it the full night.

... which means I'll probably have a lump of coal, if anything, to show this year.


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reminiscing

Dear Sun,

I miss you.  I need you.  I realize that I can't live without you.  I'm just able to see you in pictures and videos.  It's not enough.

It feels only cold now.  Please come home.

Love,
Your Abby
xoxoxo


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Silver Liningness Sunday

I was paying some bills, but writing the silver lining blog post sounded like more fun.

Another good week of course.  It's even good to have bills to pay I suppose.  And last night I had a dream that I was on a chartered airplane going someplace fun, except the plane didn't have a bathroom.  WTH?

Anyway, I visited another PEO chapter this week.  I'm starting to feel a little impatient with just visiting and want to settle down with one of them soon, but I really should give them all a fair shake.  I've narrowed it down to five chapters, based on their meeting times, and I've visited three.  Sheesh, it's like The Dating Game.

School's going well.  I think I've settled into the whole student thing now, just in time to start setting up my schedule for the next semester.  I'm taking part 2 of the math class I have now and I'm torn between continuing with my same instructor, whom I like, or switching to a different instructor with a better time slot.  Sheesh, more Dating Game!

I mentioned Napolion's first trip to the vet's.  I still don't know if he's responsible for my flat tire, but I'm keeping an eye on him.  Speaking of tires, I had a lovely autumn bike ride this morning and decided to bring the helmet cam along.

I took a spin over passed MouseTown*.  Weather was beaut, but it's changing fast.  More snow in the forecast for tonight.   I didn't see any rare mice, as usual.  Here's the minute-and-a-half version:






*Local Preble Jumping Mouse preserve



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feels good!

The sun is out!  Could this be the beginning of the dry out?  Either way, I hung my shoes on the clothesline for some good sun exposure.  Those are my shoes from last Friday's ride to class.  They're still damp!  Camp Dry was no match.

It rained more all weekend and again yesterday, but not as hard.  This morning, I went out for a run and was so pleased to see stars.

As for our mini rainforest, the Fire Belly Toads have been quite busy.  They really do bark.  Sound like dogs.  I still have trouble telling them apart from one viewing to the next, but we know that at least one is male and one is female.  In addition to being Fire Belly Toads, they also seem to be... uhm... Horny Toads.

Meego wants babies, but I don't know where we'd put them.  He says we can put the tadpoles in the fish aquarium, but I know my zombie apocalypse fish would eat them.

So we shot a little video action.  Please note that we didn't intend to shoot a porno!  We actually just wanted to film them barking, but they had other things in mind.  Nature's way and all that.







It seems that everyone in the household is happy it's stopped raining.

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take a picture, make a show

You know how when you've had to go so long without it, that when you finally get some, it's just SO good?  This weekend was like that.

I'm sitting here in the afterglow, still feeling a bit drunk from it.

Plus, I even got some more this morning.

Gone is the cold / windy / cloudy / snowy frustration.  Here is the warm / sunny / festive release.  We took an enjoyable bike ride yesterday afternoon.  I made a sex tape helmet cam [video] to record our love.

Loitering outside 7-11
Under the "No Loitering" sign

Maybe it's my imagination, but I think the traffic was more cautious during our encounters with it than usual, thanks to the helmet cam.  I've heard that more bicyclists and motorcyclists are wearing helmet cams in full view so that the traffic knows it's being recorded.  Best to behave.

So, like the hideous crossing guard vest, the geeky helmet cam serves a safety purpose.  I take another hit for our fashionless city.






Today is "Run With Lumber" at the school.   It was supposed to be a couple of weeks ago but got postponed on account of weather to last week but got postponed on account of weather to this week.  Today should be a lovely Lumber day.  I've kept a low profile just in case my friend's Lumber victim's plans were thwarted by the multiple postponements.

And in times like these, as we bask, pillow talk turns to what's next.  Many locals now have Wednesday on their minds.  What's wrong with THIS picture?

I think I can do this, though.  I can do Wednesday.  I'm going to go outside today and be a sun camel!

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Train

This week's prompt for Illustration Friday is "Train".  Train is one of those words that has many meanings.

It can be a noun, as in a succession of railroad cars or a part of a gown dragging on the ground.  It can be a verb as in teaching or coaching or preparing...

All those choices left me behind, so I drew none of them.  I drew a caboose.

When I was a kid, I'd get excited to watch the trains move through town.  My hometown was a coal mining town (there's more to life than sex change operations), so coal trains moved through quite frequently.  We'd never know how many cars there would be, or if the train would come to a stop while we watched.  One thing we knew, however, was that the caboose signaled the end.

Cabooses (Cabeese??) provided shelter for the train crew and used to be required.  Now, they are quite rare.  As a mom of boys, I have been to many many a train museum, and I always enjoyed climbing around  the old caboose displays the best.  They just seemed so cozy and restful compared to the rest of the old freight trains.

So, always a fan of the behind, I do a caboose.

Now a major [motion picture]
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white powdery substance

Come Ona My House!

We're still fighting the snow wars, but all things considered, I rather like today.  Today is more of a typical spring snow - kinda wet, kinda fluffy, not too cold.

Way better than that cursed freezing rain driven by blustery wind that sends the ice pellets pitter pattering loudly against the hood of my jacket.




So yeah, it's actually quite pretty relatively speaking.  I took this pic a couple of hours ago, and we've actually gotten an appreciable amount of snow since then, but I don't think much more will come of it (famous last words).  And at least, it's not really sticking to the roads, just making them wet (famous last words).

The cat had been pacing by the back door, contemplating whether or not she would go out.  She can hear the birds and I know she wants to go hunting, but... oooh... snow...

I helped her out.  We both needed a bit of fresh air after a morning hermitage.  I rather enjoyed our little break, but she seems to share the prevailing attitude of winter in April:





I guess I can understand.  Her camouflage leaves much to be desired.
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