More Gossip

I was saddened to read that Jennifer spent a lonely holiday without Vince, her latest boyfriend.

Robert

Today was the day that our sweet Robert went into a home. “Home” being a euphemism for “not home.” I suppose the right thing to do would be to call Joy and ask her how it went, but I am weak of heart and not sure that I am ready to hear the details. I just heard from Robert’s son that after visiting a home (maybe the very home in question) he asked Joy, “If I am good, can I stay here and play with my friend?” That is, he wanted to stay at his real home with his friend (assistant/caregiver) Justin.

A hard thing about your dog getting old is learning to separate the ticks from the moles.

A few Christmas Observations

Noah, my great nephew or grandnephew – I am not sure which – open’s every present with a gasp and says, “Oh, my very own clothes,” or “Oh, my very own Robot.” When he gets something and doesn’t know what it is he gasps and says, “Oh, my very own ‘this’.”

My niece and nephew were bathing yesterday afternoon and the nephew said, laughing, “I have my finger in my butt.” My mother told them that they should not talk that way. The niece said, “We are in the bathroom. It’s okay to talk like this in the bathroom.” I suppose she was thinking of potty talk.

Make that two Christmas observations.

Is the music for “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” so good that it warrants an instrumental version? Because I thought the song was dependent on the titular line “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” It’s kind of like a comedian humming the tune of a joke. I guess it could work if its an old joke.

Did you ever have one of those mornings where you woke up in Kewaskum but you were sure you went to bed in Wauwatosa?

Breakfast

Luke says presentation is one of the more important considerations when serving a meal. He says a little color can make all the difference in the world. I do not know why these words are underlined.

Pen Yan

I do not remember what this boat smelled like, but it reminds me of Dave who worked in a boat shop across the lake from Pen Yan, New York. Pen Yan is the boat’s brand. The green Johnson would suit this boat well.

Sea Horse

When I was your age I loved the smell of the gas/oil burning when a motor like this was running. They say smell is a strong memory trigger and this time I think they are right. Once, when I was about 6 years old, I fell asleep in class and woke up to what I thought was an outboard motor running. I lifted my head from my desk and realized I was in school and that the motor I had heard was from a passing car. I hated school and loved summer. I still love summer.

Ivy Leaguer

I’ve got this friend whom I’ve known for years and one day he was talking to me about how great the school I went to was: great tradition of education, old, famous, ivy covered walls. I finally asked him what school I went to. He said Harvard. I had to break it to him that I did not go to Harvard. Then I told him that it is a good thing I didn’t go to Yale either or I’d be offended. Then a couple of years later, I heard him talking to his girlfriend about me and the fact that I attended Harvard. I guess he forgot. This time I figured, “no harm no foul,” and let it stand. It could be just me but I feel I get more respect from the two of them than I would if I hadn’t gone to Harvard.

Winter

It is so cold here in the Midwest that there is almost no temperature. At least that’s what I heard on the news: the temperature is near zero (with wind chill). To me the colder it gets the more temperature there should be because the cold is such a physical thing. I feel like I am walking through a lot of degrees in Milwaukee and Chicago when there is almost no temperature.
Click for a taste of spring.

Ektachrome

Kodachrome

I like the look of Kodachrome

More Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, Northern Wisconsin

Could This Be True?

How can we be sure? Is this something that is measurable? I, for one, am skeptical. But that's healthy right? The scientific method relies on skepticism.

Another from the Ewing archive.

Bird Dog?

This picture is by a Ewing (Perhaps James' father) taken sometime in the 50s or maybe the 40s. It was taken somewhere near Mt. Shasta, California.

Cat Hunt.
Here is a quote from the article linked above:

The proposal, which was raised five years ago and voted down by the Conservation Congress, was revived after a 2004 University of Wisconsin study that found non-native feral cats were a threat to native animals such as lovebirds.

There is not a bird called a lovebird native to Wisconsin. Lovebirds are Parrots native to Africa. But cats would kill them if they could.

Birding Chicago

Walking by a semi public garden in the West Loop, I stopped to see what birds were chirping. I was not surprised to see White-throated Sparrows. They seem to be the only sparrows in Chicago other than House Sparrows (which aren’t technically sparrows anyway) this time of year. Maybe Chicago is the fall home for White-throated sparrows. All the birds started to chirp with urgency when a Kestrel (sparrow hawk!) landed on the garden’s flagpole.