This and That

 or My Speed Blogging for the Week

In an attempt to post more often and not overthink things, I will be doing speed blogging from time to time. I will blog for however long it is on my timer. Currently, that's 16 minutes. Read ahead for a bit of stream-of-consciousness posting. : )

I have had two sightings of bluebirds this past week.

Well, the Super Bowl has come and gone, and if you're into football, it was a good game. And if you're a Swiftie, I guess it was a good game, too. I'm not into either one, but I enjoyed checking in then and again on the game and the commercials, which, BTW, are not as special as they used to be since there are so many of them. 

I was discussing this with Wally the other day, telling him about the "good old days" when there was not so much content available. I was telling him about Christmas shows when I was a kid. We only had one channel until I was older, and we only had two shows to watch before Christmas - Rudolph and Frosty. I got so excited when I started to see commercials for them and loved seeing them every year - just once. That made them very special. There are many advantages to the plethora of things we can watch these days, but I think this abundance dilutes the experience. 

Also, I've been stressed lately because our new car was in an accident. The good news is that no one was hurt. The bad news is that the damage was bad enough that it might be totaled. It's been in the shop for almost a week, waiting for an evaluation. The car is so new that we don't have the tags or permanent registration yet. I can only imagine what the paperwork will be like if it's totaled. But maybe they'll fix it. I don't know how to predict. In the meantime, we are lucky that Ward and I are able to coordinate our trips without it. 

Speaking of Ward, he smoked two pork shoulders yesterday, and Wally and Theo came over for dinner. All of the carnivores enjoyed Ward's efforts, and Wally and Theo were very happy to leave with a lot of meat, as was Ward's plan. We still had plenty of meat left, but unfortunately, the roasted carrots, my favorite part of the meal, were gone. I'll roast more once we get to the store to buy some.

The work on cleaning out our files is moving along at a steady pace - not a fast one, but progress is being made. We found a place that will do shredding for free, so we took two large bags to them last week. The place is out of our way, but we had an errand in the area, so we took advantage of the service. We do regular shredding of a few papers here and there, but we are generating large volumes of them with our file cleanout, so we'd rather not see how strong our shredder motor is. 

Looks like time is up for now. Hope you are having an enjoyable week and find at least one thing to smile about each day.

Until next time...

A Walk in the Park

Today was a beautiful day with blue skies and temperatures in the 50s. Definitely, a day that we did not want to waste on inside chores. So, after a productive morning at home, Ward and I went to a nearby town to walk in their park. We considered something more rural but decided most trails would be muddy - which we didn't want. We had been to this park before but had yet to explore all of it as we did today. We were not the only ones enjoying the park and sunshine; we saw many other people enjoying it just as we did. Here are pictures from our walk in the park.

The park is centered around Carroll Creek, which flows through it.

I got excited when I saw a swan in the creek. It turns out that it was made out of plastic.

This swinging bridge across the creek was initially built in 1875
and moved to this location in 1929. Subsequently, they have
 upgraded it to make it safe by today's standards.

The park also has a lake where we saw this statue of Lefty Kreh, a fly-fishing innovator.
We saw real people fishing, also.

And we saw real waterfowl on the lake when we spotted these mallards. 

The park has an amphitheater as well as a bell tower. The tower has 49 carillon bells
and still plays concerts. Someday, we will make it to one of them.

On the edge of the park is a former armory. The building was built in 1913 in the style of medieval fortifications. Today, it houses rec department facilities.

We did a little more exploring around the neighborhoods near the park before we headed home. It was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Until next time...

Time. Again.

I've been writing a blog for over 12 years, and I've covered a lot of material - some of which I don't even remember. So I come back to a theme then and again. And sometimes, I just rerun something I've written before because, you know, why reinvent the wheel. And that's what I'm going to do today. Maybe it will seem new to you like it did to me.:)

In the first post of this year, on New Year's Day, I started to write about time and its passage. However, I ran out of time and energy to do the research I needed for the post, so I punted and promised a post about it later. Well, you know what? I did a post about time a few years ago. And while it does not cover everything I promised in my January post, it does bring up some interesting points about time. 

Without further ado, here is one from the files.

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2017

Time Flies, Sometimes

I turned around yesterday and realized that, somehow, it was the end of October. How could that be? In my mind, I just finished July. Time is a funny thing. It's a constant but seems to speed up and slow down at different times. How does that work? I stumbled across an article that gives insight into this question.

It all relates to how we process things in our brain, according to a study done in Munich, Germany, and reported by Scientific American. Researchers interviewed 499 people aged 14-94 about their perception of time. They found that in short durations up to a year, for all ages, time seems to go fast--especially when they were having fun. The difference came when time was examined in retrospect. Time from childhood went slowly, while time from later years (over 40) went much faster.

Here's how the researchers explained this phenomenon. The brain lays down memories for novel experiences. However, it doesn't do that for familiar ones. So when you experience a lot of new things, like everything in childhood, there are a lot of memories to go with that time period. However, when you experience fewer new things, like much of adulthood, you have fewer memories. So the same time period can seem either long or short depending on how many memories you have associated with it.

I'm not sure this explains how time seemed to jump from July to October, but it does explain some other things, like why I remember and quote more things from my childhood than any other time. This subject needs more examination. When I have time. :)

Do you notice time in different ways?

Spring ?

 As of late, I've seen pictures of snowdrops and crocuses on Facebook posts. So, with high hopes in hand, I went looking around my yard to see what signs of spring I could find. No snowdrops yet, but I did find a few things had poked their heads above the dirt. Winter is definitely not over, but spring is coming. Get ready for some pictures below of mostly brown with a few splashes of green as you see what I found.

Tulips

Crocuses

Daylilies

Daffodils

Hydrangea. Last summer's blooms are providing
some interest in the winter.

Mums

Nandina. The nandina berries provide color all winter long
 because the birds don't like them.

Beautyberry. The birds do like these berries, so there are only a few left.

Lilac buds

According to the groundhog yesterday, spring is coming soon. So we shall see.

Until next time...

Speed Blogging, January 31, 2024

In an attempt to post more often and not overthink things, I will be doing speed blogging from time to time. I will blog for however long it is on my timer. Currently, that's 16 minutes. Read ahead for a bit of stream-of-consciousness posting. :) 

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Note: I haven't been taking many pictures recently, so pictures with this post are from this day 10 years ago, Jan. 2014.

Back when we had 4 kitties. Annie, Lucky, Lucy, and Leo.

I will have to stick to my timer today because I need to help Theo, who is locked out of his car. He is in the dentist's chair, so I have a few minutes before I have to leave. In the meantime, we have workmen here working on a loose tile in the kitchen. Ward will stay with them. Luckily, I don't go to work until later this afternoon, so I'm free to help.

I heard something the other day that had me making one of those "Well, in my day..." comments. Someone told me they were at a local brew pub and tried to pay with cash. Then, the employee said they didn't take cash. I was surprised to hear that. I know that most people use less cash these days by using a credit card or some form of electronic payment. But cash is what it's all based on! It seems like there should be some kind of regulation that businesses have to accept cash. I don't know how common this no-cash policy is. I do know a few people who only take Venmo for their handcrafted things, but that's different than an establishment where you can come in off the street. Anyway, times are a changin'.

Female cardinal

This past week has been busy. I worked more than usual, and we've had a few more extracurriculars than usual. Ward and I are basically introverts who sometimes find it an effort to socialize in unfamiliar places. But we try to do it anyway. Last weekend's big event was a line dancing party at the local American Legion Hall. We had no idea what to expect. Although we did know some people there, we spent most of the time by ourselves. That is, except for the other 150 people we were dancing with. It was a good fit for us, and we had fun. They spent the first two hours teaching dances, and the last hour was free dancing. And the experienced people knew just what dance to do for what song. 

Times up for now. Another time, I may talk more about me and dancing.

Until next time...