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My thoughts released; a mind set free |
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These pages contain my thoughts, from meandering ideas and persuasions to deep cerebrations and serious mentations. Why, for what purpose? To release my mind and set creativity free. Somewhere inside the constraints of my mind dwells a writer, a poet, an artist who paints with words. In here I release those constraints and set the artist free. Perhaps, lost somewhere in the depths of thought, is a story or a poem, waiting to be written. |
| As I posted in the Newsfeed, we are under a windchill advisory until Wednesday. We stocked up on supplies today trying to get our shopping done before the temperature dropped and the winds moved in. We almost made it; the temp held at 2oF until we made our last stop. The wind had started blowing, but it wasn't strong yet at that time. But, as we left the town we were shopping in and started our forty-five minute drive home, the temps began to drop as the wind picked up. About halfway home, we came upon a vehicle on the side of the road with it's flashers on. I stopped to assist and found a young woman and her very young daughter in the car huddled together. Neither were dressed for cold weather; light jackets, not hats or gloves, and regular footwear. The woman told me the car had started to run rough and then died, they were also almost out of gas. I suspect the fuel lines froze up, but it could have been a lot of other things as well. The woman had forgot her phone at home and the daughter's phone was dead and they didn't have a charger in the car. They were as unprepared to be out on the roads in Minnesota in the winter as they could possibly have been. And, she told me they had sat there in the cold for almost an hour already, no one would stop. Of course, it's not a busy road and being Sunday and very cold, there wasn't much traffic. There was nothing I could do for the car, but we had decided to take the Yukon shopping so the dogs could ride with; we had plenty of room for two more even with the dogs and groceries. It took a few minutes to get the dogs settled down and then I drove them back home. They thanked me and offered money. I turned them down asking for something else for payment. "What?" The woman asked with a slight hesitation. With a smile I told her, "I want you to set up a winter survival kit for your vehicle with extra cloths and some of those disposable hand warmers in case you and your daughter ever get stranded in the winter again. "Sure, I will do that." She smiled, thanked me again and they went to the door. I waited in the driveway to make sure they got inside. But, after a few minutes of trying, they couldn't get the door open. The woman went around back through the deep snow and vanished. I got out and asked the daughter to sit inside where it was warm. she didn't hesitate to jump back in. As she did, her mom reappeared around the house. "I can't get the doors open." I had her get back in out of the cold, but with her slip on shoes in the snow, she had gotten snow into them and her feet were already starting to lose feeling. She explained that the key would not go into the locks and turn. I put on my gloves, my facemask, and buttoned up my coat to my neck. Then I took her keys and tried the doors, sure enough the locks were frozen; the gusting wind had blown powdery snow into the door lock where it must have melted until the temps dropped and it froze. I didn't have a lighter with me and doubt if I would have been able to get it lit in the wind if I had one. I thought for a minute about my options, then put her house key in my shirt pocket to warm it up, I re-buttoned my vest, re-zipped my sweatshirt, and then buttoned up my coat again. I thought I may have to take them to my house if I couldn't get the inside of theirs. I let the key warm up for a few minutes with my back to the bitter wind, then got ready to take it out and use it. But right before I did, I took my gloves off and wrapped my hands around the doorknob to warm it as I blew warm breaths into the lock. After I thought I may have melted the ice enough, I hurriedly stuffed the key into the lock and turned it. It resisted at first, but then I felt it turn a little. I turned it back and forth, feeling it move a bit more each time. Then, click, the lock tumblers turned and the door was open. I double checked that the door was still unlocked and would reopen before I closed it and stuffed my already frozen fingers back into my gloves and returned to the Yukon. Once inside I remembered the hand-warmers in our survival kit, I could have used them to thaw the lock. Oh well, it was done, my hands were cold, but not frostbit, and they were able to get inside. She thanked me again, offered money again, and again I turned her down. After they were inside, the lights on and the door shut, I backed out and went home to put groceries away. I hope she will take my advice and put a kit in her vehicle and dress accordingly before going out in the winter. |
| We headed out yesterday for St. Cloud, or close to it anyway. It had snowed all day so the roads weren't the best, but still fair. We reached our destination about midnight, talked with family for a half hour or so, then went to bed. Bed yes, sleep no. Very little for me, I just kind of dozed on and off. Then up early to go to the basketball playoffs. But, all that's for another day when I'm not "butt-ass tired". Yes, I said that. I'm so tired I'm unable to focus my thoughts properly. My wife asked if I had finished my blog entry and my answer was, "No, I'm too damned butt-assed tired to write anything. If I try it's going to come out "poopious"! "Poopious? is that anything like crappy?" "Yes. It's one and the same." "Why don't you write that?" "Write what?" "What you just said about it being poopious because your butt-assed tired. I'm sure anyone who reads it will get a good laugh." "Yeah" I replied, and then added, "And think I've completely lost it." So, I included my last sane thoughts for the night to explain why I'm so tired, and what happens when I get very little sleep. |
| Years back when my wife and I first began kayaking, we went out every chance we could, often at lakes close to home. One very hot day we went to a Lake Pelican and began paddling around the lake. This was in eastern South Dakota with few trees and a lot of open land, so there was little shade. We reached the opposite side from where we had started and found a small, sandy, and shallow bay that was isolated and had a lot of trees. It was a great place to stop for a break. We sat on shore and drank some water, snacked on some protein bars we had brought with, and enjoyed the shade. Despite the shade, it was still hot. The water looked very inviting so we rolled our pants up and waded out; it felt wonderful. There wasn't anyone around on land or on the lake so we decided to strip down and go skinny dipping. We waded out about twenty feet or more before we could dive into the refreshing water. We splashed around and cooled ourselves for a few minutes then headed back to shore. We hadn't brought a towel, so we sat on our shirts and let the warm air dry us before getting dressed and heading back out in the kayaks. We had just reached the area where the water was deep enough to dive when we heard muffled voices from behind us. "We got out of there just in time." I said to my wife. She replied, "Yes, we did." We continued on our way not thinking anything about it. Shortly after rounding the bed of the bay, we saw we were alongside Lake Pelican State Park. We went ashore to investigate the park; we had never visited it and were curious if it would provide us a place close to home for camping. We left the kayaks on shore by a beach and fishing area, then walked up the road. We came to a trail that went right and followed back to the bay where we had just been swimming. The trail ended at a small, wooden, overlook tower were we met two park workers who had just finished clearing some brush and cleaning up the area. As they walked past us one asked, "Hows the water? Did you enjoy your swim?" |
| I still have a half hour to get this in for a daily entry. That's my time, but for site time, I'm a half hour late. Oh well, some days are like that. My eldest son called, his daughter, my granddaughter is playing basketball this year and wants us to come and watch her play. Of course, like most kids, she's a bit late in asking; the only game/games she has left are the playoffs this Saturday. Not much notice. Not much time to set things up, and we are in a another cold snap with temps barely getting above zero during the day. I don't like traveling when it's sub-zero, it's hard on vehicles, and dangerous; it seems if something is going to break or go out, it's during a long drive in cold weather. But, it's also very hard to tell her no, we can't make it because of the cold and short notice. So, my wife will take off a couple hours early tomorrow night so we can get to St. Cloud before midnight. Then Saturday, it's up early, we have to leave my son's by nine to catch the first game. Depending on how well they do, it may be one game or it could be more. I'll have time to get my stuff done in here as well as my other daily tasks before we leave, but I'm not sure about Saturday. I could log in on my phone, but I'm pretty limited because of the screen size. Then again, I may just take this laptop with and see if I get any time. Between visiting, games, and driving back home, it may be a full day. I wonder if anyone would notice I'm on the computer during the game? |
| I know, a brisk walk means a moderate-intensity walk that's faster than a leisurely stroll but not so fast that you can't carry on a conversation. Yesterday, however, I discovered what a "brisk" walk really is. It was sunny and my wife had the day off, so we wanted to take the two dogs out and let them burn off some energy. By noon it was only five degrees Fahrenheit, and there was a slight wind blowing, so we bundled up before headed to the State Park. After getting there we let the dogs out to play and walked the campground loop they keep plowed. It's adjacent to the lake and the wind was coming across without anything to block or slow it. The snow off the road was up to Max's belly, and for Bellah it was almost as deep as she is tall. but they ran, jumped, and enjoyed themselves as well as keeping us entertained as we walked. But that wind went through our clothing and soon we were chilled and ready to go. The dogs fared better and would have enjoyed staying longer, but it was just too cold for us. Listening to the radio as we drove back home we were informed we were under a wind-chill advisory with values of minus twenty-six below! The temperature had continuously dropped, not risen, and the wind had intensified. Yes, it was a enjoyable walking, but our pace was brisk as we hurried back to the warm vehicle to get out of the brisk winter air and the brisk wind chilling our bones. |
| Twenty-three years ago I met my wife. No, silly, she wasn't my wife then. But she would become my wife later. Actually, I met her for the first time on February eighth, but it was on the ninth that we actually talked to each other. She had moved to the area with her two daughters, who had become friends with my daughter in school. Soon they were coming over regularly. On one visit, there mom stopped to pick them up, but they weren't watching, or perhaps just ignored her so she had to come to the door. I had a five-week old puppy at my feet, so I scooped her up and answered the door. I introduced myself and my puppy, then held the door for her to come in. She looked me up and down, told me her name and spoke past me to her daughters telling them they had a couple minutes to get to the car or they wouldn't be coming over again. She turned and went back to the car to wait for them, I closed the door and announced to the room, "Definitely the anti-social type." A line I had picked up from the movie, "Kelly's Heroes." The next day they came over again, and she again stopped to pick them up. This time they convinced her to come in for a bit because they were still waiting for my daughter to get home and didn't want to leave before they talked to her. Shortly after, the kids began talking about going to the Eelpout Festival in Walker, about an hour away. Of course, my future wife's daughters wanted to go as well. They weren't dressed for an ice-fishing festival, but I had plenty of winter gear and soon it was decided they could go with. We, my future wife and I, sat and talked for hours getting to know each other. Before we knew it, the kids were back home and it was about nine hours later! After that, we quickly became friends, then began dating, then she moved in with me, and eventually we were married. It wasn't until some time later, after we were a couple, that we learned my daughter and hers had planned the whole thing in order to bring us together! Forget Cupid, we have daughters... |
| The sun broke out a bit today, the first time in at least a week. Starting last weekend we had a forecast for a dusting to an inch of snow; we got about two. Midweek another forecast for a dusting to an inch of snow: we got two more. Thursday the forecast was for an inch or two of snow followed by a cold but sunny weekend. We didn't get any snow. We didn't get any sunny weekend either... Friday afternoon there was a winter storm warning–two to four inches of snow by Saturday. It finally stopped snowing early this morning, as predicted, but we have six to eight inches. Thankfully our landlord pays for snow plow services; he's been here Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and now this morning! I started shoveling walkways and around vehicles, there's about a foot, maybe more, of snow that's fallen through the week. I'm thinking about going over to the neighbors and seeing if I can use his four-wheeler. It has a plow on it and it would make cleaning up so much easier. It would make it fun, too. |
| As I posted in the Newsfeed, my email went on the glitch and wouldn't open the next email. Not a big problem, but kind of a pain to always go back to the inbox. I checked my settings and everything looked fine. I downloaded Chrome, my Linux came with Firefox, and it did the same thing. Robert Waltz   suggesting the settings, so I went back in just in case I had missed it. It was set for next message. I decided to try switching it to previous message and tried it out. It worked fine. I next went back into settings and switched back to next message. I tried it out and it works like a chimp champ!I don't know why it stopped working despite being set properly, and I don't care; it's just nice to have it work correctly again. Hopefully what ever caused the glitch is over and done, but if not, I know what to do to fix it now. I guess if all else fails, jiggle a wire or a switch, so to speak, and hope it does the trick. Now, since I mastered that, I'm thinking of trying a bigger build of Linux that will do more. I'm currently using Mint, a small but nice formatted operating system, but it's somewhat limited and difficult to add to. The old laptop I put it on had a major Windows failure, but it has plenty of resources to run a bigger system. |
| After a comment I received, I was going to get a few pictures of Max, my Husky and post them for anyone interested. I have some pictures on my phone, but I'm using a Linux operating system with Firefox on my laptop after Windows crashed. I can, but with some difficulty and a lot of messing around, transfer pictures. So, I thought I'll use the camera on my laptop and take a couple new photos. I have tried several times today to take Max's picture when he's been doing something cute. But, by the time I get the camera ready, he notices and comes over to see what I'm doing and ruins the shot. I even tried while he was sleeping, but he notices right away and heads right to me. Two of the shots I took captured his nose quite well, the others were all blurry. I then decided to just use my phone, since it's faster. I kept it close by all day to try and get a couple of nice pictures of him. Fat chance! Anytime I activate the camera, he notices and moves, blurring the shot. I tried a couple outside and thought I had finally gotten a couple of pictures. However, a warm camera taken outside in single digit temps results in a steamed up lens and more blurred photos. Back inside, I dried the lens and left my camera on and ready. But, as soon as I pick up my phone, he moves. My wife just texted me she's on her way home. I picked up the phone to answer her and before I even got the phone in front of me, Max scrambled out of the room. I think my boy is camera shy! Tomorrow I'll try being more tactful and try to get a couple shots when he's not noticing, and hopefully post a couple for anyone who is interested in what he looks like. |
| As I posted in the Newsfeed, my wife wanted to go shopping yesterday, and she wanted to get going early so we could be done and back home before it got cold. By the time we finished shopping and running around, it was past dinner time, so we went to an Oriental Buffet that used to have good food at a reasonable prize. Skyrocketing food prices have managed to revers that, now the food is mediocre at best, and much more expensive. After dinner, we took the dogs over to an open area just outside of town and let them run, play, and relieve themselves before heading home. Once home we fed them, then hauled items in and put everything away. We had just finished up when the neighbor came over to visit for a bit (he's been holding off until we got over our last round with Covid, but seeing us out shopping, he figured we were safe to be around). By the time we finished out visit and he returned home, it was almost nine in the evening. I had good intentions of logging in and keeping my streaks going, but I dozed off in my chair before I got logged in! So, I missed yesterday and find myself starting over—again. |
I have two blogs, this one for more serious entries, and the other ("Kibbles and Bits"  for balderdash, drivel, and foolishness. Most days I write in here, but on occasion, if I'm so inspired, I write a bit of malarkey or twaddle in the other.But, with the opportunity for a badge of seven (7 Day Achievement Badges) I find myself wondering if writing seven consecutive blog entries between two blogs would earn one. Or, do all seven have to be in one specific blog? For that matter, does such a creature exist, The 7 Days of Blogging Badge? I suppose I could go look and see if there is such a thing, but perhaps one of you already know (sorry, I'm feeling lazy tonight). Any feedback, as always, is greatly appreciated. Oh, and if you missed it in the Newsfeed, I have another gibberish entry "It's a Woodchuck" in my other blog "Kibbles and Bits" , not that I would self promote or anything. |
| There was a question asked for the Spiritual Newsletter in the Community Newsfeed today asking: Do you find yourself saying 'it was my fault' when it wasn't? I answered no, because I don't take fault when it falls on someone else. But, there was a time when I did. Eventually, I learned that if I take the fault, the person who is at fault doesn't have to. This was the case with siblings when I was a child. Often I would get blamed for something they did and I would not argue it wasn't my fault. Back then, I would have only gotten into more trouble. But, the die was cast and I learned to just say, "It was my fault" even if it wasn't. I would take the repercussions as they got away with it. This was the case when I skipped a half a day of school in fifth grade. It was a beautiful spring day and we were outside for our lunch break. I was talking to the girl next door (actually a couple doors down) who was also my best friend. Not only my best friend, but I also had a huge crush on her. Being so nice, we decided to skip school for the afternoon. She had never been down the mining road by our houses, so we decided it was a fine day to do just that. I don't know if it was both of us planning or if I talked her into it. Perhaps she talked me into it, I don't remember What I do remember is learning a couple of very important lessons that day. One, never skip a half a day of school. If you were there in the morning, they will check up if your gone in the afternoon. If you're going to skip, take the whole day. Secondly, don't say it's my fault after you get busted. The school called my house when I didn't return after lunch, so I was in a heap of trouble as soon as I got home. The next day when I arrived at school and walked into my classroom, I discovered there was going to be more trouble heaped on top of the existing heap. My teacher confronted me right off about skipping the previous afternoon. I was responsible and admitted my guilt, I didn't make any excuses, and I accepted my punishment, even though I did not know at the time what it would be. I anticipated it would be detention after school for a while. During the interrogation, Kelly's name was brought up since she also skipped out with me. Since I had admitted my guilt, I thought if I explained it was my fault, perhaps she would be spared punishment. I was right in part. I explained that I had convinced her to skip with me, it was all my fault. The teacher nodded, then asked, "So it was all your fault?" "Yes." I was told that my punishment would be a choice of one week detention after school, or one whack with the paddle; skipping school resulted in two weeks detention or two whacks, but I had only skipped a half a day, I would only get one week or one whack. I did not want to stay after school at all, so I opted for one whack, that wouldn't be so bad. The teacher had me bend over my desk as the entire class watched. He took out his paddle (this was normal back then) came up behind me, and with a whistling sound followed by a thunderclap, the paddle impacted with my gluteus maximus. It stung so bad my eyes watered; I would have swore my backside was on fire. I straightened up clenching my teeth to hold the tears back so my class wouldn't see me cry and was about to take my seat. But, my teacher gently put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him and he shook his head as he told me, "You said it was all your fault, so instead of Kelly getting a whack, you also get her's. He gently bent me over the desk again. A second time I heard the whistling of the paddle, a second time I felt the intense sting as it slapped against my buttocks. But this time, I was already hurting and knew how much that paddle was going to sting, so I tensed up before it hit which made it hurt even more. I was then allowed to sit if I wanted, or I could stand in the back of the classroom if my bottom was too sore to sit. I stood the entire day, sitting only after I got home to a padded chair. Even then, it still hurt to sit. How did Kelly fair in all of this? She was still punished for skipping a half a day, despite my efforts to remove any fault from her. But, instead of one whack or one week, the teacher gave her two days detention for letting me take the fault when she skipped by her own choice. She didn't get punished for skipping, but she did get punished for letting me say it was all my fault. We both learned something that day. |
| My wife and I looked at a pull-behind camper today that my wife's coworker wants to sell. She and her husband purchased it to fix up (minor repairs) for their own use, but shortly after purchasing it, he became sick and passed on. It's been sitting for almost a year since then, parked in their back yard under some pine trees. At first it was, "Take a look and make an offer." But she also said that her grandchildren had been playing in it and it was a mess inside. She was going to clean it out before we came to look at it. She added, "There is some water damage now, so I'll sell it for five hundred dollars. Everything worked when we purchased it, but the kids have stuff all over and there's a bit of water damage." A couple of days ago my wife talked to her about looking at it today, her day off. Her coworker was going to clean out so we could look at it this afternoon. We arrived a little after two, since she said between two and three would work best for her. I dropped my wife off in front so she could let the woman know we were there, then I drove around back and looked over the outside. It's in rougher shape than it was last fall when we first looked at it and inquired about it. My wife came out and said the lady didn't get it cleaned out, she wasn't feeling well but we could go in and look around. There was toys, bikes, and other stuff everywhere with barely room to get inside the door. I managed to work my way in a bit further and saw the water damage. There were spots on the ceiling where water had leaked in through the roof, not an easy fix. My wife moved a bit of stuff around so we could look in the bedroom. "I can see light! There's a hole in the ceiling." We traded places so I could see better. Half the bedroom ceiling had fallen in and a hole the size of a softball! There were also signs of water damage down the wall. The floor was covered in parts of the ceiling and junk, so I couldn't tell if the floor was damaged, but there's little doubt about it with a hole in the ceiling. We closed it up, but before we left I climbed up the ladder on the back to look at the roof. I climbed just high enough to look, the ladder was wobbly, likely the back wall was also damaged and rotted. The roof had been re-coated sometime in the past, and patched some time after that. But, a lot of the patches were lifting and peeling all over the roof, it's shot. We were kind of disappointed after seeing the extent of the damage, we had hoped it was superficial from what she had told us. I don't think she has been inside since her husband passed, except just inside the door. I feel bad for her, but there's no way I'm taking on that mess even if she gave it to us for free. I seriously doubt it can be repaired and I'd be afraid to try and tow it down the highway. |
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