Thanksgiving '08

We went out to Hays this year. It's the wife's bloodline. Always like visiting this area of Kansas. More open spaces. Smaller towns. Nice family. Luckily both kids are home from college. Had a nice time, though nothing you'd make a movie or reality TV show about.

Bottle Caps - Old Style

I haven't 'popped a cap' for a long time. Just bought a 6-pack that had the old caps. Can't get too cerebral about bottle caps. But they're neat! Never noticed before how nicely they're shaped ... and contrasting. The smooth crown with the jagged skirt. The light shade of color on crown and sharp shadows of the skirt. And they pull off the bottle top so smoothly. It's a better way. It beats the harsh feel of the omnipresent twist-top. But society won't be returning any time soon. So I'll just sketch'm.

Where's the Leak!

I started getting plumbing experience with our first house after we got married 27 years ago. Before that I'd just watch Dad mess with plumbing. It wasn't his strong point and I learned more cuss words from him than plumbing skills. As it turns out, it's not my strong suit either. But sometimes it's just the practical choice to take on a plumbing repair project. In my years of doing odd plumbing jobs around the house I know my limits. Toilets, for the most part, I can handle. Don't have to like it but I can handle it. I respect the skill of a professional plumber and hire them as needed. May need one yet for this project.

Goodbye, Wild One

Nights are long and dark now. Deer are frisky. Animals moving at all hours. The perpetual animal/car conflict. It sucks. I've been having a bad run lately. I know these blogs are best if they are fun and optimistic. Well, life isn't always that way. In the big picture roadkill is a minor issue. But every night when I'm behind the wheel in this season I'm not thinking it's minor anymore. Too many memories. I just gotta journal about it and move on.

Don't worry. I won't leave you in a downer funk for long. My next post will be more lighthearted, even if it deals with yet another frustration of mine.

A Project w/Dad

End of season landscaping. The wife and I are helping Mom get some yard stuff done before winter. We put in this edged area for plantings, and a place for the old lighthouse.

I love working in my simple shop in our garage. Wood, mostly. It's what I learned from my Dad, who learned it from his Dad. Had a chance to restore one of Dad's projects lately, this old lighthouse.

Slash & Gut

It's that time of year. Even though we are empty nesters, I still feel the need to carve at least one Jack-o-lantern. Used to carve close to a dozen when we lived in the city and could display them on our porch. It was fun watching the reactions or Trick or Treaters and their parents. Oh well. I'm typing this in the dark, late at night, as the owl silently watches me. Never grow tired of watching them flicker. Cost me many hours of sleep. When we lived in a smaller town with an active city recreation commission I taught pumpkin carving. Me with a room of 25 youth armed with saws and knives! That should have been a nightmare but the kids absolutely loved it, and came back year after year. They'd tell me what they carve at home and what they carved last year. Their energy level and excitement were a boost that made the HUGE cleanup effort even seem worthwhile. And teachers would have me come in and give a quick demo and tell the history of this holiday. They kids would send me neat Thank You notes. But we're in a larger city with a rec commission that doesn't need my services (I asked) and our kids are grown and gone. So now it's a personal venture. The wife and I quietly enjoy the simple pleasures of a family tradition that I can't let die.

Oops, forgot a page.

In looking at my last post I see I forgot one page of my bike tour. Here it is, and it's the next to last page.