WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY

While I am writing this blog post, the furnace kicked on and filled the house with a warm and welcome blast of hot air. I have WNIC on the radio and Christmas music is softly playing in the background. Buddy is warbling away to “Carol of the Bells”. I am happy to hear him since he has been moulting the last six weeks and it saps his strength so much he hasn’t been singing … I’ve missed his sweet voice. The air is filled with the smell of Hill’s Brothers English Toffee Cappuccino and clementine oranges, two items which make my Winter season bearable and bring a smile to my face. The smell is heavenly and the ambiance is heady. I almost feel like digging out my Christmas cards and addressing them, and, if I was not so comfy, I’d probably do so. Usually the cup of cappuccino is my Sunday afternoon indulgence, but I felt like I needed some kind of treat after my plans for a long walk were dashed when I opened the storm door to head out and it was drizzling. Besides, what better way is there to celebrate National Cappuccino Day? Well, phooey on this weather anyway, and the coming week is supposed to be some type of mini Polar Vortex … really?! With that future forecast, it’s just another reason for curling my fingers around my cappuccino-filled mug and savoring it all the more. I tucked this quote away some time ago and dug it out just now … these words sure sum up my post on this soggy Saturday, don’t they?

Live each season as it passes, breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit and resign yourself to the influences of each. ~Henry David Thoreau

Well, I wavered a bit on whether to walk, since it was so windy this morning, but there was no precip, so I ventured out. It was one of those “hold onto your hat” days for sure. I lost a beret at the Park last year when a swift wind whooshed down and plucked it from my head. That wicked wind sent it hovering, in drone-like fashion, across the Creek where it eventually snagged onto an old dead branch out of my reach. Today, I had my red knitted headband on, but it kept creeping up and away from my ears so it didn’t do much good, save for making me look Christmassy since it was bright red and my coat was green, and each time I flipped up my jacket hood, it promptly fell back down. I didn’t head to Council Point Park as it is such an open area for the most part, so I figured it would not make for a very pleasurable walk. Leaves were lifting off trees and swirling around everywhere and I sure hope those in my neighborhood head up to Fort Street, saving me the chore of raking them again this weekend. During Wednesday’s walk, the weather was so beautiful that I asked myself: “So why end your goal at 500 miles? Why can’t you make a new goal? Supersede last year’s?” Perhaps I’ll ponder on that grandiose goal setting just a wee bit longer – after all, 501 miles would be besting last year’s goal, so why quibble over specifics? As to the solution …. “the answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind”.

This morning’s meandering was short and sweet. First of all … yesterday, my repertoire of weather folks all predicted a dismal day for today, from start to finish. But, when I got up this morning, the weather report was just clouds until mid-day when the dreary drizzly conditions would commence. Great, nothing to rain on my parade, so I got all suited up, and dressed to go, remembering to wear my raggedy coat with the huge pockets and to tuck a Ziploc pack of fresh peanuts inside. Out I went. However, a quick glance at the dark sky told me that a trip to Council Point Park might not be in the cards today – it is, after all, 3/4s of a mile one way. So, I headed over to Ford Park, a few blocks away, to walk in the neighborhood instead. Midway through the first loop, in my peripheral vision, I saw a chunky-looking squirrel trying to scale a large tree. I watched him as I walked along, then he took a flying leap and landed on a birdfeeder. Nice work! But what about the bevy of birds who lined up along the split-rail fence waiting for him to feast then leave? You little piglet! I kept walking. I felt something wet land on my nose and hoped it was precip from a leafy maple tree overhead. I was, of course, at the opposite end of the Park, but hey – I guess I’m not made of sugar and won’t melt, though I don’t really like traipsing around in the rain. Soon, a few more drops plopped down on my head and I looked up at the sky, as if to beseech the rain gods to stop it already. In looking up, I noticed another chubby squirrel, tiptoeing along an electrical wire with about as much precision as Nik Wallenda had in his recent high-wire feat. He scrambled along, stopping every few feet to pause and look down. Then he went on a few more feet, and stopped again. Was he scared of falling? No, but I figured it out. Mr. Squirrel was up in the proverbial catbird seat, watching for “his human”, an older gentleman, clad in a flannel shirt and jeans, who trudged out of the warm house, a narrow red plastic scoop in hand, and dutifully dumped its contents into a wooden box mounted on a tree. Then, his benefactor walked slowly back into the house, and that squirrel swiftly crossed the wire, scrambled down a nearby tree and up another tree to access this wooden device. My interest was piqued, and, as I approached the dispenser, which hung on the side of a tree, I noticed it had a Plexiglas front and a small trough which dispensed nuts, much like a gumball machine. These were not raw peanuts in the shell, but cocktail peanuts. Geez, and I thought I was a nice human giving the Park squirrels unsalted raw peanuts so that they did not get excessive sodium in their diet. Guess I was sadly mistaken, huh? Nice to know others cannot resist that fuzzy face and tail swishing … yup, they capture your heart, glean goodies and then proceed to drain your pocketbook with that plaintive face and sweet antics.

A brilliant blue sky awaited me just as soon as I stepped out of the door to leave on my walk. My boss was out of the office all morning, so I planned to enjoy an extended excursion at Council Point Park and simply enjoy the beautiful day … and I surely did. As I walked through the neighborhoods I noted the carnage of once-ornately carved pumpkins which have since been ravaged by the weather … and the squirrels. That killer frost the other night didn’t take out any of the mums and they were still looking like clumps of rich jewels in homeowners’ gardens and porch pots as I passed them. I arrived at the Park parking lot at promptly 8:30 a.m. and my heart just melted as one of my peanut pals dashed (or maybe I should say waddled quickly) over to see me. I immediately cursed at myself for not wearing my raggedy coat with the huge cargo pockets that I can stuff with critter treats, because I only had the remnants of an old Baggieful of peanuts from the last visit to the Park to offer up. Before I dispensed any peanuts, and, as my squirrel buddy wiggled around, eagerly waiting on me next to my shoe tip, I first dispensed some wisdom by admonishing him for running around in the parking lot. His cuteness factor yielded all my stash and I left him happily munching away, only for him to come trailing after me the second loop on the trail. Yup, it was him, and, nope, not all squirrels look alike. I’m sure this was the guy I spoiled silly last Fall as he always came to greet me. I am such a sucker for animals. He followed along behind me as I walked along the perimeter path and I kept turning and looking over my shoulder. I found myself making such promises as “next time I’ll bring you more” and I was surely losing my credibility to any onlookers. That’s okay by me.

My attention was next diverted when I heard honking – alot of honking … probably more than in a mall parking lot on Black Friday. I swiveled my head up and saw a gaggle of geese overhead and soon they started swooping down to near the baseball diamond. They descended quickly and regrouped on the ground, stopping to nibble on the freshly shorn grass. I watched them from the trail and they lingered on. By the time I was ready to leave they still were there milling about. I purposely walked by them and whipped out my camera to get a group shot but it was a little blurry. Suddenly the leader decided no more languishing and in a heartbeat he was airborne. The remaining geese started to follow him, lifting off one by one … it was fascinating to watch and I did it from the viewfinder of the camera and took a shot, as you see above. I wondered if somehow in “goose speak” they do a pre-flight check amongst themselves, i.e.:

“Wings – check”
“Flaps – check”
“Nose (er, beak) – check”
“Landing gear – check”
“All systems are go.”
“Okey-dokey – Let’s head out boys.”

Well, in the end, between looking behind me and above my head, I managed to walk six miles on a beautiful Autumn morn – a walk fueled by nature’s inspiration and a little imagination.

I hit the ground running today to make a quick grocery shopping trip to Meijer. It was a combo car ride and walk event, guaranteed to give the buggy a spin and glean a few walking miles for me as well, before I headed back home to work. The store was abuzz with activity as many of the clerks were putting together Christmas displays. In the holiday décor section, the dregs of Halloween gear had been hastily pushed aside to a corner to make ample room for the Christmas trees and large lawn ornaments. The individual holiday cards were lined up, ready to peruse and it’s not too early to buy a Sponge Bob Square Pants Chia Pet or a beautiful Amaryllis Bulb Starter Kit for the plant lover on your holiday list. As I entered the produce area, which had been laden down with chocolate goodies galore just a handful of days ago, it was as if a witch had taken her mighty broom and swept away all the remnants of Halloween candy – even the bags of Brach’s candy corn (which often linger long after Halloween) had already been snapped up, having been swapped with “reindeer corn”. I saw cartons of candy canes stacked up, holiday M&M Mickeys and Minnies and Santa boots brimming with cashews. I wondered anew where Thanksgiving configures into this bustle to bring forth the holiday season? Maybe it’s too early yet to dwell on the Thanksgiving bird and green bean casserole? The Christmas tree was put up at the Capitol Building in Lansing on Saturday, but the 24/7 holiday music hasn’t begun yet on WNIC. Whew! I thought maybe we flipped that calendar over to December for a minute. While I was musing how the stores usher in the holiday season earlier and earlier every year, my friend and neighbor Marge e-mailed me this picture taken earlier today during a photo expedition to the water’s edge in Wyandotte. “Simply beautiful” I wrote back, then upon closer inspection I couldn’t help but notice “seven swans a swimming”.

Tomorrow I think I’ll trek down to Council Point Park where the pace is slower. I’ll leave you with these words of wisdom:

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.“ – Ralph Waldo Emerson

It seems that not that long ago I was bemoaning the state of my garden post-Polar Vortex. Since then, two of the Golden Vicary bushes have come back to life, albeit much smaller as they were just new growth that took off with TLC and Miracle-Gro, but the holly is not looking very jolly these days. Because it will make a huge hole in my front garden, I’ve shut my eyes to the fact that it grew about a dozen bright-green pointy leaves and quit. The Home Run roses rallied back bigtime and I hated to prune them down for the Winter today since they were still loaded with hips and full of beautiful buds. I honestly held no hope for them when I cut them to the ground on Mother’s Day.

It was a gorgeous, sunny morning, albeit COLD, when I headed outside at 8:30 a.m.. I was dressed for it though, and donned snow boots instead of walking shoes, as I figured I’d be spending the entire morning raking and putting the garden to bed. There was a layer of frost on the leaves, and beneath them as well, and they were a bit slick to handle, slipping off the tines of the rake and my cymbal-like leaf grabbers. I got everything done and still made it inside in a decent time, all the while wishing I could sneak in a quick walk, but work beckoned inside.

I enjoyed that extra hour … hey, can we do that every weekend, because it sure would be great? I especially enjoyed having all the clocks set at the correct time once again. Because I work from home, I spend many hours a day on the computer, so I often just look at the laptop clock to check the time. The table-top radio has been inaccurate since the Summer when we had two minor power outages and when we lost power for the entire day, it lost more minutes. I just dealt with it as I seldom glance at it. The Westminster Chimes clock on the wall is always set to strike the top and bottom of the hour five minutes early. That way, I always know when the top of the hour is imminent because I am a news hound and I hate to miss the beginning of the national news. About two or three weeks ago, that clock’s battery started going and each time the clock struck it made an awkward, if not painful-sounding boing, boing, boing … so, I finally put it out of its misery by putting in a new C battery. But, call me lazy, or I figured it was only a few weeks ‘til the time change, so I went ahead and “fell back” then and there. I must admit, it was getting a little confusing though. The little apple clock I used to have on my desk at work, now sits on the kitchen corner cabinet – I see it in my peripheral vision and it has needed a battery for about a month, but it is painstaking to take the front “face” off to change the battery or adjust the time, so I waited ‘til today. Finally, the stove clock is not the only one that is not a half-bubble off level. That is, except for the car clock … when my three-year-old car battery suddenly went dead back in 2012, I never adjusted the time. I always meant to do it, but have to read the big manual as I never made myself a cheat sheet like I did for my last car. Maybe when I take the car for its new ignition ring regarding the GM recall next week, the dealership will have pity on me and just correct the time. My car is five years old and I only have 2,847 miles on it, so you know how much time I spend driving it … depending on whether we are on EST or DST, I’m either 1½ hours off, or 2½ hours off. Really?! I say … why sweat the small stuff. Time is fleeting, no matter how you look at it. I used to be a slave to the time when I took the bus to school and work – it was a race to be timely every morning, because just a few minutes tardy could tarnish the rest of my day. At the end of the workday, I had to scurry out the door, hoping no last-minute rushes happened to make me miss the bus. Sigh. I kinda sorta like a slower pace these days – and you? I’ll close this blog post with this quote about time …

A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.
~ Charles Darwin

The alarm went off and the wind was howling outside – I swear I could hear all the leaves being stripped from the trees and fluttering sadly to the cold ground to join their crispy counterparts. The blinds were rattling slightly and I made the decision then and there … no walk today… no regrets. I would enjoy my extra hour of sleep today thank you very much. Tomorrow will be beautiful, but cold, after a hard freeze takes the rest of the blooms out in the backyard and makes them brittle, but beautifully forever frozen in time, until I come along with my hand pruners and finish them off after I return from a brisk walk. So, I snuggled down deeper under the blankets for a little while longer. When I got up, I was eating breakfast and saw a faint sun trying to peek between the blinds and I wondered if I should have just gotten bundled up and headed out. But my decision was reinforced when the traffic reporter said to be careful of black ice and that was all I needed to hear, having nearly wiped out on the trail last year after stepping on what I perceived to be just wet asphalt. Instead I diligently worked in the house and caught up with some housework … that stuff I put off for weeks so I could scurry out the door daily for a walk or errands. I’ve heard the buzz of leaf blowers and lawn mowers munching leaves and grass into bite-sized pieces … where else but in Michigan, can you have snow flurries and a mere twelve hours later you are doing yard work? Ahhh, the joys of Autumn.

… it was bone-chilling this morning but I managed to eke out a walk, albeit small, just in the neighborhood, to pile on a couple of more miles toward the big goal. I toyed with the idea of sleeping in instead, which sounded mighty fine while I was curled up so cozy when the alarm went off, but decided not be a lazybones and get out there and walk. Last year I was kicking myself at year end for those last two weeks in October when I deemed it too dark in the early a.m., and not worth my while getting suited up and out the door for a mere two miles. Bonehead, that I was back then, I stayed inside instead; then, at the end of the year I was wishing I had those measly miles and did not have to traipse in Memorial Park in the snow, ‘round and ‘round like a draft horse stomping out the required miles to meet my goal. This morning, it took forever to get light outside, however, and I just did a couple of laps around Ford Park since it was too late to head down to Council Point Park; I’ll reserve that outing for the weekend and next week after Daylight Saving Time ends. Nothing spooky this morning … it’s crunch time as leaves were falling and fluttering all around me as we get ready to close out October and speed toward November. The leaves were still intact on this mini King Crimson Maple from where I found Mr. Skeleton hanging from a branch, his bones wiggling and rattling in the slight breeze. He looked kinda cold – they could have at least given him a muffler and mitts to keep him warm.

I scurried out for a short walk this morning, blustery and cold as it was. Before heading outside I piled on some extra clothes and my wool headband and set out when it was finally light enough to do so. The Halloween décor in the neighborhood was blowing in the breeze, making it seem even spookier than normal, especially those ghastly looking spider webs with their humungous spiders hanging from them or those gauzy-looking ghosts. It looked like alot of the Halloween decorations have already ended up on neighbor’s lawns due to the windy weather we’ve had of late, which is too bad as you know they’ll never find their way back home again. I just walked in the neighborhood, since it was later, and it seemed like I was just chugging along and I glanced at my pedometer clock and it was time to turn back home. I sure am looking forward to the time change this Sunday, that is, unless the sidewalks and streets are snow covered … I hope they are wrong about this upcoming Halloween forecast, but it doesn’t sound like it – not only is the frost on the pumpkin, but it sounds like it will be covered in snow as well.

Shakin’ too … as those leaves are often wiggling precariously when one big wind whoosh will whisk them down to the ground. Most of the time they are hanging on for dear life, their jewel tones glistening in the warm sun, and the unlucky ones fluttering silently onto the lawn or sidewalk. Alot of them came down in yesterday’s wind and today’s as well. I surveyed my back and front yards, but there are not enough leaves to rake yet. My neighbor’s maple tree is ablaze in yellow and red and those leaves are already starting to drop, so inevitably raking will be on next weekend’s agenda for sure. I had to go grocery shopping, so I drove the car to Meijer and then walked around the neighborhood to get a couple of miles in before going into the store. As I walked through the neighborhood I heard the scrape of rake tines hitting the concrete and the rattle of yard waste bags. This time of year it seems sometimes you need an assembly line to open and ready the bags to dump in all the leaves … they fill up that fast. It seemed everyone was shoveling rakefuls of crisp leaves into those yard waste bags, hurriedly trying to get done to get back into the house for the Lion’s game at 9:30 a.m. That’s why I chose this morning to go to the store – I figured everyone was either at the big Meijer sale yesterday, then watching the Lions or at church services today … well, I was wrong on all counts. Guess everyone had the same scheme going on. I got in four miles between my walk and running around in the store and hauling bags back-and-forth into the house after I came home. Not bad for the last weekend of October and the last week before Daylight Savings Time ends … I still have 45 more miles to go toward my goal.