Friday


25
Dec 15

Merry Christmas

We gathered in the living room in pajama pants and opened presents across the late part of the morning. I’m sure it is a tradition that once took place earlier in the day, but we’re all a bit older now, so it is now a sorta-brunch affair.

Some of my presents:

I’ll wear them next year with my pajama pants.

This book is hilarious and I held up the present-opening system at least twice reading aloud from it:

The Yankee gave me this great gift. She knows me so well!

My mother-in-law has a pretty good read on me, too. This book looks promising:

But this is the one that really seals the deal, educational Pez with the early presidents:

Now I need the full set. Do they make dispensers of all the presidents? I’m going to need some more of those for next Christmas.

Another great book:

We had the traditional prime rib dinner, with the shrimp cocktail appetizer and homemade cocktail sauce. That’s a tradition we don’t have in my family and that’s a shame. We enjoyed a delicious meal and wrapped up a lovely day over plates that told the full “A Visit From St. Nicholas” story. This was the one I had:


11
Dec 15

Most don’t remember their first roasted marshmallow

We went to a meet the merchants event in the next town over. We do a lot of shopping in that town. It’s a lovely place, a railroad town turned blue collar, until the jobs left, and it has recently come back as a great example of small town revitalization.

It is the kind of place where you drive around the square to get to the courthouse, where people point to the old storefronts and say “That’s where my dad used to hustle pool.” And then they could turn around, point in the opposite direction and say “That’s where we got married.” And then just a block away is the piece of railroad intersection that made this entire area boom in the 19th century. And to the left of that is an Irish pub, an Italian restaurant and a cajun joint, all on the same block. It is a neat place for a small town.

So we were there tonight, because the weather was nice and it was a good place to unwind and because we know some of the business owners. One we knew was doing S’mores out of her storefront. We stood and talked and had more than our share. I might have had three. Perhaps I had more.

And this lady brings her daughter, like so many other parents with their kids tonight. Only this little girl, this was her first roasted marshmallow:

She liked roasting them, but she found that she preferred them uncooked. And also the chocolate.

Here was one of the trees downtown:

Nice leaf turn, if a bit late. I’m sure we’ll see more this weekend.


4
Dec 15

Wrapping it up

At 6 p.m. on a Friday, the last day of the term, I finally shut down the office. I finally get to drive home. On long days at the end of long weeks like this you return to the motivational messages of the cough drops:

But the semester is over. Time for a break. I don’t mind at all. I will miss these things. Their builders live just outside my office. And when the weather is right they do put on a fine show.

Come back next week for more pictures of … something. Have a great weekend!


27
Nov 15

Back on the road again

We went to see the new James Bond movie late last night. Here’s my proof:

We went because some of the kids in the family just had to go see the movie. And if they didn’t they might die. As in, tomorrow. Or perhaps today. It is hard to say with Sudden Onset Bond Deprivation. So we went to the film. The kids were out before the first action sequence was over. Now, to be fair, we were at basically a midnight showing. On the other hand, these are teenagers. And we old folks managed to tough it out.

I probably couldn’t recount a lot of the plot points to you. I was awake, it just seemed an eminently forgettable film.

We got Chinese food for reasons that were almost immediately regrettable, post-Thanksgiving feast. Our fortunes:

Because philosophy cookies never sell at the same pace as fortune cookies.

We left town to this sign. And this is how you know the meme has reached pretty much all four corners of the globe. If it makes it up there … where, N.W.A was probably very late in arriving … it has made it everywhere.

And so we were back on the road today. We were doing the four hour drive at a slower rate because two teenaged boys were in the car behind us. They’re coming to spend the weekend and going to the Iron Bowl. Did I mention the cat went on our Thanksgiving tour with us?

I wonder if she’d eat turkey.


20
Nov 15

Enter the weekend

The drive home. So tired. So happy. So melancholy.

mirror

I think it is something about the sunset being behind you. But I am a sucker for that mirror shot. I had a site design like that in the early days and so each time I see it I smile. And, when it can be done safely, I try to get a picture of it.

The key is in the timing, and I think that’s where the melancholy comes in.

Chinese for dinner. Tonight’s fortunes:

mirror

Shouldn’t there be a Fortune Cookie Accountability Institute, or something? When you get those promising ones, it really makes sense, doesn’t it?

Have a great weekend.