Goodbyes

After Hope's funeral, Brian tossed a tiny flower into a half full glass of liquor with the words, "Forget me not."

Pontiac

If you have a keen eye for detail, you will notice the exhaust coming
from both vehicles. After having been in the snow for an extended period, the cars started on the first crank. Not too bad for a pair of late eighties. "We build excitement."

Aphorisms @ Large

Echoes for today; Aunt Pat-"You can't rest unless you work", Uncle Paul-"I'm just going to sweat out my craziness", Phil-"Mental illness is just bad manners." and last but not least, " For a difference to be a difference, it has to make a difference."
Uncle Mike, aka "The King"or "Windwalker", is having his 70th birthday on Saturday. There will be a party at the Moose Club. I'm expecting a blowout of the Bilbo Baggins destroyer class.

Tale of Apples

When visiting Hope and Bill in Mindin City, I pushed through the door surprised to see them both sitting at the table eating apples. Talking about apples in general and those in the barrel in particular, I discovered that they looked at the exercise in a different way. I always assumed that a person would eat the worst apples first so that less would spoil. They held the opposite opinion. Eat the best ones first. Let those that perish, perish.

Possible Idioms

I woke up last night thinking about idioms.
Reading Mary Karr's book Liar's Club, I came across many fine tuned phrases, as she is a very good writer. She says about her mother, "She transcended thrift" even when in poverty.
Brother Mike, when he is talking about dying, uses the phrase "Hitting the wall." To me this has a very cartoon, picturesque, quality to it that I enjoy.
The posted picture is me leaning on a manure spreader.

Question ?

Some have questioned the presence of a ancient steam tractor in the previous post. T.S. Eliot would say, "Words strain, crack and sometimes break, under the burden, under the tension, slip, slide, perish, decay with imprecision, will not stay in place, will not stay still." Visuals often do not labor under the same difficulty.

New Year

Christmas Spirit crystalized swiftly, and then, wrapped in the refrain of Long, Long, Long issued in the New Year with beautiful music.

Christmas Note

Christmas Spirit races magically across the land. Colleen, Tiffany, and Patrick have been making things happen in their lives all year. Woodstock, the Peanuts character, would say, "Mixing it up in town." This makes me very proud of them all.

At the Outpost, we have a fresh supply of wood, still retain propane, and are chipping away, at a modest rate everyday, the ice that remains on the roof.

Merry Christmas!

Free Reading

Today, I finished Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter" and I just loved it. There is even more in that book than I remember from 10th grade. I looked in a used book store today to find a hard copy that I might highlight, but no luck. My library book had to be returned without any marks.

Fire & Wood

Wednesday was a gift! A snow day, and the world changes for the time being. I celebrated by washing Casey's truck and taking a load of garbage to the dump. First, I couldn't get the truck out of the driveway, and then I couldn't get it back. Hope says, "Anybody can drive a new truck!" Fully satisfying trip, nothing left out.

Confirmed again that, "We are in charge of celebrations."

Now, I'm waiting for a load of firewood. It is one cold bugger out side! The woodcutter was a bit late, as his truck caught on fire. He brought his son, who is taking over the business, and they both seemed in pretty good spirits, considering how the morning went and the afternoon followed.