Saturday Slight

 

I walked in the woods yesterday afternoon. I was kinda hoping I'd see that buck with the big set of antlers again.  No luck. 

My morning trips with Bridie enjoying daylight have now ended. Today was the first day I felt the need to carry a flashlight for our 6:15 walk in the hay field. 

If my calculations are correct, I'll probably be carrying that flashlight for the next two months. 

It's a little less than a month until the shortest day of the year, so add that time to the days afterward, and that's when I can leave the flashlight behind. 

My walks with Bridie by herself follow the early, early morning walk with both dogs when they do their duty. 

The second walk involves sticking to a discipline of making sure I get outside every morning about the same time that I would be feeding the horses their breakfast. 

Since they aren't here to feed for a few months, the walks around the place provide a substitute for that time.  

My theory is that if I maintain that discipline of getting outside at horse feeding time, it won't be a big deal when the horses come home in the spring and I start feeding them breakfast again. 

Probably sounds crazy but I believe that sticking to a discipline is more important at this age than at any other time in life. 

As soon as we start to slack off, our bodies get the message, and then when the slacking off opportunities end, we can expect some major protests from knees, feet, arms, etc. 

Anyway, I have been carrying a monster flashlight lately during the early early morning outings.  

Bill brought it home a couple of weeks ago to add to his fleet of flashlights.  Bill likes buying new flashlights. With his fleet of flashlights, of course, there must be accompanying batteries to fit all the models. 

That means that the cupboard over the dryer where he keeps all those batteries is getting more dangerous than ever.  

I've had a couple of situations where I've opened the cupboard doors to get something else from a shelf, only to have a sudden deluge of batteries fly and crash all over the washer and the floor.  

So far, no bodily injuries, but I will tell you that a bunch of batteries coming from above are just as scary as those WKRP turkeys must have been. 

Plus, like turkeys must be, they're noisy when they crash on the dryer.

We really do need more places in this house where necessities like batteries can be stored safely.  For now, it's take your life in your hands.  

But I'm not complaining cuz it's really nice to have the monster flashlight while walking through snow and over uneven ground in the darkness. 

Speaking of fleets, we're also amassing a fleet of coffee pots.  Bill brought home a new Keurig coffee maker from Costco this week.  

We now have three coffee makers AND I must add that we now have two vacuum cleaners.  

A new Shark upright came with the Keurig pot after Bill's Thursday Costco run, so yesterday I was having a great time taking stuff out of boxes and putting it together and then sampling coffee and pushing that new vacuum cleaner around the living room. 

The other vacuum had started an irritating habit of picking up stuff, making me think it's doing its job and then, when I least suspected it, the dang thing kept spitting out all the dirt and lint and hair all over the carpet. 

After I had washed and dried and reinserted the filter and the vacuum still didn't work right, Bill decided it was time for a new one. 

So, I'm happy, well-equipped camper this week with coffee making, carpet cleaning and walking in the darkness. 

I think the seemingly endless rain has maybe stopped.  We certainly received more than our share.  

The result:  lots of puddles, lots of melted snow and general ugliness any direction one looks. 

That's my excuse for not posting many pictures today, which may be the norm for a while cuz dormant plants, shrubs and trees do look a lot more photogenic with some color. 

For now, we'll have to depend on the deer and snow to spruce up the outdoors. 

Also adding a little adventure to our lives is the fact that Annie is spending the next week in Ireland.  

So, we can live vicariously through her travels. I'm hearing from friends that the place is quickly lighting up for the holiday season.  

In the meantime, there are lots of football games to watch today so I'll just wish everyone a Happy Saturday.