Kakahead

I love the farmers’ market.  The whole experience is truly spiritual, in my professional opinion.  All the growers bring their goodies, in all kinds of weather, so we can come and get the best fresh produce money can buy.  You know how people sometimes get cranky at the grocery store?  Whether they’re giving the cashier a hard time about a price they don’t like, or yelling at their kids, there can be discord at the store at various times.

 Never, never have I seen anything like that at the market.

 Last Saturday, I was in charge of our grandson Ollie, after Nini (pronounced “Neenee”) fed him breakfast and ran off to work.  His Dad went on a hunting trip, and his Mom was entertaining a friend who was home from overseas.  So, we had the privilege of watching our wonderful young man over the weekend.  On the agenda:  a trip to the market to buy some fruit.

 We get plenty of veggies in our garden, so no need to buy any of those right now.  But we don’t have any plums, pears, or apples growing around the place, so off to the market I go each weekend.  I sometimes get a bit over zealous with the grabbing of the fruit.  For example, I found it necessary to buy ½ peck of plums.  That’s a lot of plums!!  And of course I had to get almost as many pears.  Both of those are going out of season soon you know.  And last but not least, I had to get some more apples.  One can never have too many apples… right??

 Once we parked the car, we got out and noticed the REALLY BIG BACKHOE moving REALLY BIG THINGS across the road from the farmers’ market.  Seemed like they were doing some kind of storm drain work, and we arrived just in time to see the back hoe moving a gigantic section of concrete drain.  Pretty cool stuff for such a  young man to watch! 

 Then off we went to get the goodies.  When we came upon the booth with the plums, Ollie mentioned that he likes those.  “You want one now?” I asked.  “I do!” he replied without hesitation.  As we continued on, one of the kind ladies at another booth caught up to me with a big hunk of paper towel.  “You’re gonna need this soon!” she said, smiling.  I smiled back and thanked her, then off we went to finish shopping. 

 On our way out, we walked to the edge of the parking lot for another glimpse of the REALLY BIG BACKHOE.   Our dear friend Kathleen caught up to us just as we were getting into the car.

 “Hi Ken!!  What are you doing here??” she asked.  Being the eternal smarty pants, I quipped, “I was trying to go fishing.  I went all up and down those aisles but no fish anywhere.”   Many folks are surprised that although I have a pretty prolific garden I still go to the farmers’ market.  One extra bonus of going to market, though, is I almost always run into someone who’s near and dear to my heart.  Plus, Kathleen had heard me and my beautiful girlfriend brag about Ollie but now she finally got to meet him.

 Fast forward several days… the pears are almost all eaten.  Some went home with our son the other day so that helped.  My lovely girlfriend put out a fruit bowl with assorted market goodies for her women’s meeting, so that got rid of some of the plums.  However, some of the plums were becoming compost, and some of the pears and apples were fast on the way to not-so-yummy land.   Every time I opened the fruit drawer to get something for work, all kinds of thoughts raced through my noggin.  Most of these were predicated with the question, “WHAT THE HECK ARE WE GONNA DO WITH ALL THIS FRUIT???”

 Then came Wednesday.  My lovely bride was exhausted from a long work day and some physical therapy to help her heel problems.  I was in charge of dinner.  I found a nice salmon filet on sale at Meijer.  Cooked that up with some beets and beet greens, nuked a couple potatoes, and voila!!  Dinner is served.  OK… how about some dessert??  What to make… that is the question.  Then it came to me in a flash, and I jumped up on top of the kitchen counter, clanged some Revere Ware together, and shouted “EUREKA!!” at the top of my lungs. 

 Or not.

 But I did have a flash of inspiration for something I thought might be yummy:  fruit sauce.  You know, like apple sauce, but with more than just apples.  I hunted down all the not so wonderful fruit:  apples, plums, and pears.  Then I chopped them up whole, skins and all (minus cores and pits of course) and threw them in a 2 ½ quart Revere Ware pan.  Next, I poured about a cup or so of apple juice in the pan for a sweet but moist head start for boiling.  Couple dashes of cinnamon and the last of a bag of brown sugar just to sweeten it a bit more.  There was only about one tablespoon of sugar left in the bag, maybe less (probably could have omitted the sugar, but what the heck).  Oh, and for an added nutritional wallop, I tossed about a half handful each of walnut halves and shaved almonds in there.

 I brought all this to a boil, stirred them around a bit with one of  our many wooden spoons.  After the fruit was nice and soft, into the food processor it went.  Now, many of you have heard me rant that I’m old school in many ways.  A dinosaur even.  And I like it already!   Although I bought my lovely girlfriend a nice Kitchenaid food processor a couple Santa times ago, I still turn to my favorite food processor every time.   It’s the one my father-in-law gave us for a wedding present 38 years ago.  Made in the USA, sold by Montgomery Ward where he worked at the time.  Here it is next to my finished product, which turned out nice and smooth but was more like fruit soup than fruit sauce.    Click on the picture for a larger view.

HI-Tech Food Processor from 1973

 That blender has helped me make many a pumpkin puree for pies over the years.  Works great for iced coffee smoothies in the summer too.  The crazy thing works and even (almost) looks like brand new.  And of course, every time I use it, I have fond memories of Grampa Hilliard who’s probably reading this down in Jasper, Florida. 

 So the fruit became soup instead of compost.  Well, more like pudding than soup I guess.  Pretty darn tasty though… and while it was still warm I plopped some in a couple bowls and accidentally dropped some Breyer’s Fat Free Vanilla Ice Cream on top of it.  Oh my goodness it was cosmic!! 

 With winter on the way, I’ll be staying home tomorrow instead of the usual trek to the market.  Gotta get the swiss chard and some other veggies out before the snow moves in!!  I’d like to be at least a little prepared and stock our pantry (or, more accurately, the freezer) before the snows come. 

 Well, I tried to find a suitable video for this Happy Friday and found this gem featuring my favorite chefs.  Please forgive the fact that it’s broken into two parts… but quite often that’s the “price” of free stuff these days. 
 
Part 1 -

 
Part 2 -

Tickling a grandchild is very important.  Techniques are varied, but some are steeped in tradition.  This one was passed down from my beautiful girlfriend’s family:

The “tickling hand” is closed with the exception of the index finger pointed straight out.  Next, the hand is moved in a circle, drawing ever closer to the target.  Since we only have one grandchild, we are the ticklers and Oliver is the ticklee.  As the circling hand is in motion, the following refrain is unleashed, all the while maintaining an impish look and complete, unwaivering eye contact…

“Bumblebee bumblebee right from the farm… I’m gonna get Oliver… under the arm!!”   At this time, serious tickling is in progress.  This of course is repeated a few times, and then given a rest until a later time (sometimes just a little bit later).

As luck would have it, my beautiful girlfriend (who was kind enough to married me some years ago) and our beautiful daughter were at an outlet mall last year.  My honey found a bumblebee costume for Ollie at Old Navy for a whopping four dollars!!  Such a splendid bargain, and it came in very handy for this past Hallowe’en.  As you can see, Ollie’s mind was focused on getting some loot.  Click on the picture for a bigger view.

I'm gonna get me some candy!!

His trick-or-treating pal was Fern, the Care Bear.  Again, click for a better look.

Ready to go!

As we escorted Ollie through Fern’s neighborhood, Ollie announced to his Care Bear friend, “time to hold hands!!”   I don’t think they were very pleased with the flash but I simply had to get a picture of that!!

Time to hold hands!

As we “big kids” were walking about and enjoying the various ghouls, goblins, and other festive get-ups, we couldn’t help but reminisce about our own childhoods.  Having started in Long Island, NY, my brothers, my sister and I were pretty much in Candy Land when trick-or-treating time came along.  We would literally fill a pillowcase with candy, go home and dump it (in what we believed to be a secure location), and go out and get at least another half load.  Our poor parents were probably tested to the max once we got all sugared up.

We had mischievous souls in our day; but usually nothing more than some shaving cream on door handles or something innocuous like that.  Of course we did have the “bad eggs” who would prove their naughtiness by throwing them.  Nothing really destructive though.

That of course has changed to some degree.  What with “Devils Night” arson and other such nasty business, now there are churches and other organizations who sponsor “trunk-or-treating,” where kids go to a parking lot and walk from car to car to get their goodies.  All well and good I suppose, but in my book, the old fashioned trick-or-treating is still the best entertainment for the kids, young and old.

There, I said it:  old fashioned.  Well what the heck, I’m a dinosaur/hippie/tree hugger/baby boomer guy.  I’m allowed to be a little old fashioned.  We still love Hallowe’en.  My lovely wife (girlfriend) “makes” me watch “The Great Pumpkin” Charlie Brown classic every year.  This year I showed her:  I “made” her watch “The Bride of Frankenstein.”

Our little bumblebee loves Hallowe’en too I think, but for the same primal reason as we had when we were kids.

“What do you like best about Hallowe’en, Ollie??”  I asked today.

“CANDY!!” he said without hesitation.

Ollie’s not quite three, so he won’t be watching any Popeye cartoons at our house for several years. But I couldn’t help but go hunting for a Hallowe’en cartoon so here you go!

Very big thanks go out to our daughter for calling us this past Monday night.  My lovely girlfriend (wife) and I were watching the idiot box in the bedroom.  It was about 9:30 PM when the phone rang. 

“Dad!?!?!” she blurted when I answered the phone.  “THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ARE OUT!!”  

“Oh wow!!” I said and, to my wife’s bewilderment, I zoomed from the bedroom to the back door.  “HOLY  WAZOOKA!!”  I said as I gazed at the beautifully lit sky.  “OK,” she said, “I gotta call Andrea now.”   I quickly dialed our son… but alas it went to voicemail. 

Last time I remember a similar spectacle was during the summer of 1972, when dinosaurs roamed the earth.  My beautiful girlfriend and I were watching the submarine races one lovely summer night at Hodag Park in metropolitan Rhinelander, Wisconsin.  And yes, I still am completely smitten by my beautiful girlfriend.  Same lovely girl I was smooching in those days… but the added bonus is that we’re married now.

Anyway, the northern lights were all aglow that night, at first dazzling us with all different colors:  red, blue, purple, green, and various morphing of all combined.  The show “settled down” after a bit.  However, I distinctly remember luminous feathery green waves of light wafting way up above us throughout the night sky into the wee hours.

The show from this past Monday was much more brief, at least in these parts.  Lasted maybe 20 to 30 minutes after our daughter called.  According to my brief search on Google, though, this particular display was seen over 20 states, and as far south as Alabama!!  Very unusual.   It’s even a bit rare to see them here in lower Michigan, but we do see them from time to time.

The following day I was at our local McDonalds picking up an order for a friend (yes, really for a friend).  Tuesday night is “Women’s Group” night, with my lovely bride hosting for October.  Split pea soup was on the menu at our house.   When I told our dear friend what was on the menu her reaction was “BLECHH!!”   Last time I checked, I am not a woman, and therefore not welcome at the Women’s Group meeting.  So, my mission was to get our dear friend a burger so she could forego the pea soup; then skedaddle.  After I paid I asked the young lady, “did you see the Northern Lights last night??  They were awesome!”  “No,” she answered, “I don’t know what that is.” 

Sheesh!!  I thought to myself, “OK lady… do you even know where NORTH is??”

After I delivered the McDonalds, Musky Da Husky and I had a “boys’ night out” at Mr. Quick; a local hamburger joint.  I ate inside, and reserved a cheeseburger for Da Husky.  As I finished up, I thought I’d try my “northern lights” question again. 

“Any of you see the northern lights last night?” 

One of the young ladies piped up, “No!!  Were they out??”

“Yeah… it was awesome.  You know what they are?”

“Ummm yeah… Aurora Borealis, right?” 

I breathed an inaudible sigh of relief.  “Yes!!  I asked this young lady at McDonalds and she had no clue.”  I was commiserating about this with a friend at work and we both lamented the lacking education of our young people.  “However,” he said, “when asked ‘who lives in a pineapple under the sea?’  the immediate response is, ‘SPONGE BOB!!’ “

Oh well… take a gander at some the pictures captured from the display on Monday night.  Just click —-> here.   But come back for the video! 

No northern lights, but these guys are definitely from outer space…

Well it’s that time of year again. “Benefits Enrollment,” they call it in corporate speak. Our annual benefits meeting informed us all that the pension plan is being phased out; and medical benefits will cost us more. We haven’t had a raise in 4 years and that probably won’t change. However, the Upper Crust seems to make sure their pockets are nicely lined with 6-figure bonuses. This is not unique to the company I work for, it’s become common all over the corporate world.

Small wonder there are world wide “Occupy” demonstrations!

Lots of folks are all buzzing about and grimacing from the changes. Nobody loves change, including me. However, I’m getting a little better at keeping the negative fire storms out of my head. Being annoyed is one thing; but my magnifying mind can, if let loose, really run with a grudge that ends up being harmful to me.

I’ve been thinking out loud to groups of friends about all this work stuff. They are very good at reminding me to stay grateful and just try to do the next right thing. Bless them… they’re probably getting a bit weary of my rants when I start spouting off about all the injustice at work and elsewhere. They’ve heard it before, and before that, and before that. Yet, they seem to love me anyway! Not sure how anyone else works it all out; but I need to vent to someone who understands when I’m hurting inside. The way it works for me is to vent until I get tired of hearing it myself. Fortunately, I’ve become aware that if I allow anger and resentment to fester in my heart, I’m basically working on poisoning myself. Being livid about things over which I have no control is about as effective as eating a poison pill and expecting someone else to die.

I do have choices here of course. I could quit my job. Boy would that show them or what?? Umm, no it wouldn’t. Nothing would change except my ability to pay bills and buy food. So what’s the alternative? Find another job! Well, hey, not much out there that pays very well. OK smartypants (I’m thinking out loud in writing here), now what do you do?

I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do!! I’m gonna continue to work at the job and try to be happy! So there!! I’m going to try to avoid dipping into the poison pot with my peers when they start sniping about corporate dysfunction. After all, the only thing I have any control over is how I react to all these “wonderful” things that are changing at my workplace.

When my serenity alarm goes off, I need to remind myself to run through my “gratitude list.” I am healthy and I have the love of a beautiful woman. She even let me marry her! We have cars that work, a nice home, plenty to eat. We have loving relationships with our offspring, relatives and friends. Life really is good at our house.

No poison for me thanks. I need to make gratitude my attitude. Sometimes it takes a bit of work to pull it off, but life is much more peaceful when I succeed.

Can you tell I’m practicing?

I can’t help but think of Louie Armstrong’s “Wonderful World” when I need an attitude adjustment. Here’s one of his recordings with a very nice photo collage someone put together for youtube.

Although summer is my favorite time of year, autumn rates a very close second when I consider what’s happening in the garden.  Most of the warm weather crops have been frosted to death now; so the remaining harvest is, in large part, greens. 

My beautiful girlfriend and I got hooked on greens as a result of living in Dixie while I was in the Air Force.  Southerners do love their greens:  collards, turnip greens, beet greens, mustard greens…   We tried all of them and were smitten pretty much instantly.  Greens of one variety or another have been a staple in our garden ever since. They are easy to grow and packed with nutrition.  And of course, while we are eating our greens, we sing the Greens Eating Song: 

Greens!!  Greens!! They’re good for your heart!!

The more you eat ‘em the more you’re smart!!

The more you’re smart, the better you feel,

So eat  your greens with every meal!!

(And eat clam chowder to make them louder!!)

Well maybe that’s not how the song goes…

Anyway, greens are one of the most versatile vegetables for the simple fact that you can eat them just as soon as they start growing; and continue to harvest right up through winter.  I garden intensively; meaning I grow a lot of food in a small space.  I often purposely sow seeds for collards or kale a bit too thickly and thin them out as they germinate.  The remaining seedlings are then allowed to grow a bit more, and I continue to harvest by thinning as the plants grow.  The sprouts and / or young plants are a wonderful addition to any almost any dish, salad and stir-fry to name just two.   Just snip off the roots, rinse a bit, and toss them into whatever you like.  I’ve even been known to use them as a substitute for lettuce on a sandwich. 

Eventually my beds of greens will be thinned so there’s about a foot between plants.  Many of them will thrive throughout the entire gardening season.   I often plant root crops in the beds with the greens.   Here’s an example, click the image for a better view.

Swiss chard and beets

Again, this allows me to grow more food in a smaller space.   The combination of leafy vegetables and root crops keeps weeds at bay while the vegetables thrive.  Beds are also a good habitat for toads, spiders, and other beneficial creatures who keep pest insect damage to a minimum.

Swiss chard tastes very similar to spinach. However, spinach will “bolt” and go to seed in the heat of summer while chard will produce right up to winter. It’s frost hardy, but after the temp falls below 20 degrees F for awhile it will die.  Therefore, the Swiss chard has to be completely harvested before the weather stays bitter cold.  Kale and collards, though, will survive the entire winter.  These two are among our favorites.  They’re good, hearty fare at the table either by themselves or mixed up in other dishes.  The flavor is pretty strong in summer but mellows nicely when the cool weather comes.  And besides, aren’t they just plain pretty?  Again, click on the pictures for a larger view.

Beautiful Kale

We Do Love Our Collards

On more than one occasion I’ve picked collards or kale, and also kohlrabi out of the snow.  Although they  appear to be dead in the garden they’re still green.  When brought inside the effectiveness of their natural antifreeze shows up as they magically “come to life.”  A good snow cover is welcome in the kale and collard beds, because snow protects their leaves from getting wind burn during the cold winter weather. 

However, I’ve learned the hard way that it’s a good idea to mark where the beds are with some long sticks.  It’s no fun shoveling snow around looking for your greens!

Now HERE’S a guy who always loved his greens…

Another great creative soul has left our midst and journeyed into the Great Beyond.  As most everyone knows, Steve Jobs finally succumbed to cancer after a brilliant worldly career. His creative drive sparked Apple Computers and Pixar, but I’m not going to be so bold as to profess I can tell even a fraction of his story. 

October, November, and December are months that I for one can’t help but equate with loss.  Our good friend Lew left this world 3 years ago this month.  Goodness how time flies, yet drags along.  Last night, HBO broadcast the first part of a new film about George Harrison, who left in November of 2001.  And then of course John Lennon was literally shot into heaven in December of 1980.  I mention these not to glorify any of them; but one cannot help but reflect when someone you love deeply and / or has affected your life passes on.

This is supposed to be an installment of “Happy Friday!!!,” so I won’t go dabbling into any morose analyses of all this life and death stuff.  No, I think I will just make this short an sweet, so to speak.

However I would like to close with the thought that grief is an expression of love.   And love for friends, family, Mother Nature, and our fellow creatures (all creatures) is, in my mind anyway, the most valuable and indeed  the most powerful force in the universe.

OK, enough of such babbling… here’s a little stroll down memory lane.

Summer has waved bye-bye here in beautiful West Michigan.  Forty two degrees out tonight already, and my Beautiful Girlfriend and I were scrambling to harvest the last of the tomatoes this evening.  Usually such a low temperature before sundown means a heavy frost overnight.  However, even though we’ve had more than enough rain lately, I see clouds lingering and the deck has telltale signs of a few sprinkles.  Rain means frost is unlikely, but better safe than sorry.

I was in the garden Wednesday evening also, with the dual purpose of picking tomatoes and avoiding the Tupperware party that was busily occupying our home.  My good friend Steve accompanied his lovely bride to the Tupperware gig, and when he learned I was in the garden that gave him an excellent escape plan.

Daylight began to vanish so the tomatoes became less and less visible.  Then Steve asked, “what else you need to get?”  I brought him over to the popcorn row and we got as many ears as we could see. 

That’s right… the popcorn row.  I don’t really have the space to grow a big patch of corn, so I grew about 10 plants each of sweet corn and popcorn.  Raising the popcorn was purely recreational.  As you may know, corn doesn’t fill the cobs with kernels well unless it’s pollinated completely.  When you only grow one row of corn, the best success occurs when the popcorn is pollinated by hand.  So as we were picking I was relating the pollination story to Steve:  “yeah, I saved the seed from some popcorn I bought from this art studio (the Khnemu Studio)we visit every year.  They make pottery but also raise vegetables organically and have lots of interesting poultry.  The plants grew so tall I had to climb a step ladder to get to the tassles!!” 

We finished picking just as the early autumn night had set upon us.  All the ladies were on their way out of the party when they spied our haul from the garden.  I couldn’t resist pulling back the husks on several of the ears of popcorn.  That, of course resulted in not only a few “ooohhss and aaahhhs” but also in me giving away several ears.  That’s very OK, I grew the popcorn for fun anyway, and it’s also fun to share.  Aren’t they pretty?? Freddy seems to think so…

Freddy thinks corn husks are fun. Click the picture for a better view.

I simply had to show off my toy popcorn you know… it’s only fair.  After all, my Beautiful Girlfriend shows her toys off every season.  Sometimes I joke with her (and family and friends) that if she gets any more seasonal decoration stuff our house will explode from creative critical mass.  It really is a treat for me to watch her get into “decorating mode,” where she pulls all her toys out and places them just so.  She’s had several of her gems for many years, and she often remarks aloud about the memories they conjure up when she holds them and ponders where they need to be.  I have to admit she’s developed quite the knack for making our house festive for every major holiday.  Just look at some of her handiwork. Again, click on the pictures for a better view: 

A Hallowe'en Latrine??

Of course, the bathroom window has to look the part…

Spider web - skeleton window treatment

I call them “my speakers,” but they are also “her counter tops…”

Jack O' Lanterns On Top of My Speaker!!

  As you can see we have no shortage of toys…popcorn or otherwise.  And these are just for Hallowe’en!!  We are basically spoiled rotten.  We’re blessed  with plenty to eat, a nice home, and the love of wonderful friends and family.  What more can we ask for?

Well I’m not sure, but I think my Beautiful Girlfriend still wants more toys! 

Did someone say, “TOYS??”

Once Upon A Time, in a yard very nearby, there lived a very old shed with a slanted roof.  The poor shed was not very attractive.   Made of wood that was apparently scrounged from hither and yon; it was covered from head to toe with tar paper to protect it from the elements.  It had very little paint on it, except on and around the door, which had fallen off years ago.  The poor shed lived near a swamp, so having wet feet would surely have caused it to rot away many years ago.  However, its maker saw fit to place it on a concrete foundation. 

In 1982, a young tree-hugger peacenik hippie-type man and his Beautiful Princess bride bought the land on which the very old shed stood.  The Beautiful Princess was never too thrilled with the house the young man bought for her.  However, they were soul mates and she agreed to live with him in the old homestead with the very old shed.  The young man loved the old shed, because it kept his garden tools and rototiller protected from the weather.  He didn’t have much money and tried many times to patch the slanted roof with whatever was available:  old shingles, old linoleum, old siding… lots of tar and other assorted goops.  This worked for awhile but eventually the slanted roof gave up the ghost and began to droop ever closer to the floor.

Fast forward several years:  the tree-hugger peacenik hippie-type man was not so young now, and he thought it was high time to fix up the shed.  The Beautiful Princess, however, was pretty much sick up and fed with the unsightly shack, and exhorted, “let’s just torch the stupid thing.”  Well this saddened the tree-hugger hippy heart of the tree-hugger peacenik hippie-type man, so he convinced the Beautiful Princess to buy some trusses for a new roof.  This, he believed would be the beginning of a beautiful new shed.

Fast forward a few more years.  Remember the tree-hugger peacenik hippie-type man??  Well, a carpenter he was not.  So after several years of watching the trusses age (along with a few “harrumphs” from the Beautiful Princess), he finally got off his hiney and hired a young man to replace the roof.  He did a splendid job, and although the tree-hugger peacenik hippie-type man had grandiose (good) intentions of finishing the job, the very old shed looked like this for several more years (click on the picture for a larger view):

The old shed in 2006

Please note that the small shed-like building in front is NOT the very old shed, but a doghouse that was inherited when the tree-hugger peacenik hippie-type man and the Beautiful Princess adopted Musky Da Husky.  He doesn’t live in the dog house anymore…

Fast forward a couple more years:  now the very old house that came with the old homestead was newly remodeled and beautiful.  However, by this time the Beautiful Princess had lost patience with the tree-hugger peacenik hippie-type man  regarding the very old shed with the new roof.  She began calling the very old shed the “F*&%ing Shed;” and since great care is taken to keep this a family oriented web site I shall not transcribe the expletive in its full form.

Fast forward five more years:  remember the statement that the tree-hugger peacenik hippie-type man is no carpenter?  Well that has not changed.  However, all hope was not lost thanks to the Most Wonderful Son-In-Law.  Although the Most Wonderful Son-In-Law is not a carpenter by trade, he has acquired much practical knowledge in this craft.  By some wonderful miracle, the Most Wonderful Son-In-Law agreed to lend his skills to the tree-hugger peacenik hippie-type man and his Beautiful Princess.  He came one afternoon and calculated how much lumber, etc. would be needed and assisted with the purchase of it all.  Then, he arrived early on a Saturday morning and worked his and the tree-hugger peacenik hippie-type man’s hineys off.  Then he came back a third time to finish the job!!

The results were amazing (again, click the image for a larger view): 

New and improved very old shed!

Truly remarkable, wouldn’t you say?

So, the tree-hugger peacenik hippie-type man and his Beautiful Princess will be forever grateful to the Most Wonderful Son-In-Law.  And now, the “F*&%ing Shed” has been renamed the “Beautiful F*&%ing Shed.”  And the tree-hugger peacenik hippie-type man will, for the foreseeable future anyway, believe that he owes the Most Wonderful Son-In-Law. Big time. 

The End.

It’s really a very good thing the tree-hugger peacenik hippie-type man did NOT try to rebuild the shed himself, as it’s highly likely the result would have been similar to one of his favorite Buster Keaton films…

Vacation can be very addictive.  I’m really grateful I have a job so I can actually have vacation; but I did something rather foolish last month.  I took a whole week off.  In conjunction with the Labor Day holiday, that meant a total of 10 days away from work.

We loved it. 

Didn’t do anything special, just our annual trek to Pennsylvania to see my Aunt and cousins.  This visit was to be quite different than previous years, however, as my poor Tante (Norwegian for Aunt) was in the hospital with a broken pelvis.  My cousin, God bless him, has stepped in to take care of her.  She really can’t be left alone anymore.  He definitely has some challenges in store for him.

Since he moved my Tante from her house to his, he offered to put us up at his home during our stay.  Very kind indeed.  Then some stormy lady named Irene blasted past his house, and the wind knocked down a bunch of trees.  The result:  no power at Cousin Pete’s house.  

No big deal right?  We stayed there anyway… hey we’re from the sticks and understand how to rough it for a few days.  We’ve lost power ourselves a few times in the past, and actually broke down and bought our first ever generator this year.   When you raise a big garden and freeze lots of veggies, it’s very disheartening to try to find a friend who has both electricity and enough freezer space to help us out.  So we took the plunge this year.

Thankfully Cousin Pete introduced us to his wonderful friends Steve and Lisa who opened their home to us so we could shower up.  Pete used their kitchen and cooked us all up some fabulous spaghetti and meatballs with a nice salad. 

We borrowed Pete’s GPS and went to see Tante in the hospital while he was cooking.  First experience with a newfangled thing like that.  I work in computer support but I shun away from such toys.  I have a small compass on my car’s dashboard and that’s my GPS… also known as a General Pointing System.  Call me stubborn but I prefer to read maps over listening to the voice of C3PO navigating aloud and then shrieking with delight, “congratulations!!  You’ve reached  your destination!!”   Well OK, I have to admit the silly thing was quite handy.  I actually managed to navigate backwards and get us back to the delicious dinner at Steve and Lisa’s house. 

My lovely girlfriend and I commiserated during the drive back that we felt powerless over my Tante’s predicament in the hospital.  We consider ourselves pretty young, but we’re approaching 60 and we know that our turn will come eventually.  Unfortunately I can’t seem to find my magic wand so I could wave it over my Aunt and fix her up so she could be self reliant again.   Life doesn’t work that way… all we can do is pray, try to accept, and be cheerful when we visit. 

We left Pennsylvania in a powerless state also… we saw trucks driving about that appeared to be working on electric things but still now power when we left.  Still had a nice visit though… very kind people made all the adversity pretty easily tolerated.

Off we went through Canada on the way home, just because.  Didn’t do anything special… stayed overnight in Brantford, Ontario and ate at Moose Winooski’s.  We both ordered what we now consider “naughty” food:  ribs.  Oh my they were good.  Got about 10 pounds of potatoes with the meal though… I got mashed and she got fries.  Gravy with both.  Delicious and deadly.  Then we stopped in Sarnia, Ontario and went to our favorite Salvation Army thrift store and spent our $15 in Canadian bills (started out with $20 I got from an ATM in Brantford) and found some “treasures.”  Doesn’t take much to please us…  Didn’t even get any Tim Hortons until we got back into Michigan!

Ah well, home again, home again, jiggety jig.  Home a couple days, then WHAM!!  It was our turn to get a big storm and lose power for a couple days.  Powerless again!!  Let’s hear it for the generator!!

So… vacation didn’t go exactly as we had planned.  Whenever I experience that kind of scenario, I’m reminded of what a good friend of mine once told me:  “hey, you wanna make God laugh??  Tell him you have plans!!”  Ten days off in a row gave us a good sense of what retirement might be like.  I’m thinking that could be a really nice thing to wake up to each morning. 

Only 8 ½ years to go!!  That is, of course, if everything goes according to plan…
 
We drove again, and these guys seem to be as thankful as we were to get home safely.
 

Another marvelous vacation… but as Dorothy repeated at the end of her stay in the merry old land of Oz, “there’s no place like home.” 

Needless to say, I’m a bit fried from all the driving.  However, I’ve certainly changed my ways as I’ve gotten older and (I hope) a little wiser.  When I was in my 20s and 30s I actually believed I could drive for 24 hours straight safely.   Such denial I nurtured!!  Worked pretty hard to convince myself and others that I could actually drive ridiculous distances with no rest. 

Thank God I didn’t kill anyone!!

We still were in the car pretty much all day yesterday and today.  Or at least, it seems like it.  A little over 700 miles from our house to Cousin Pete’s.  In the “good old days” I would have gotten up way too early and drove the whole thing, stopping only briefly for food and fuel, etc.  These days my lovely girlfriend and I stop more often, and one of those stops is an overnight stay somewhere.  This year the Hampton Inn of choice was in Youngstown, Ohio.  Kind of a halfway point.  We love Hampton Inn!!.  Just makes much more sense to travel during daylight, and to get a good night’s rest and some hot breakfast before resuming the journey. 

Same thing on the way back, but rather than slog through on I-80 again we like to take advantage of our passport ownership and swing up through Canada (eh) for the fun of it.  After checking in to the hotel in Ontario, we asked what local eateries we should look for.  Ended up at Moose Winooski’s… very nice ribs with a side of way too many potatoes. 

Anyway, nice to be home, and really nice to be OUT OF THE CAR!!  So forgive me for being brief, but I’m going to close with:  again, holy cow it’s nice to be  home!!  And dig up a video for your enjoyment. 

Did I mention that it’s really nice to be home?
Now this video has nothing to do with traveling… or does it??