Daylight Savings Time ends at midnight on November 1. I don’t really love the whole idea of either time change.
DST is annoying and disrupts my sleep and the grandkids are messed up for a few days, which isn’t pleasant.
So after the trick or treaters leave, we’ll go to sleep and wake up having gained an extra hour. That’s what “spring forward, fall back” means.
However, it’s illusory, as time is both a practical social construct used to organize human society and a real physical dimension rooted in the mechanics of the universe. I’m not sure the idea of “time” really means anything at all.
Ugh. That’s way too much deep thinking for today. Have a great weekend!
Because of my inability to stop eating chocolate once I start, several years ago I came up with what I thought was a brilliant solution: I’d only buy Halloween candy that I didn’t like.
That meant I bought Nerds, Sour Patch, Skittles, and the grossest stuff EVER, Airheads. I don’t like anything that’s non-choc, so I felt no uncontrollable cravings.
I failed myself this year because in addition to some of those, I bought mini M&Ms and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. These aren’t even my favorites so I thought I wouldn’t be tempted so I hid them, hoping I wouldn’t remember where, but obviously I failed. I can’t stop, I have no impulse control, and now I have a headache.
With a rain event forecasted on Halloween, I doubt we’re even going to have very many trick or treaters, so I’m at my wit’s end about what to do with any leftover candy.
I’ll be haunted by nightmares of individual snack size portions of yummyyummy chocolate.
Do you have any suggestions that might help me? Before you reply, don’t suggest the freezer. I tried that a few years ago, but that didn’t restrict me for very long.
Do you have a favorite Halloween candy? Do you have willpower? Help!
Since I now refer to the grandkids as “The Ferals”, I need to join the club, too. It’s cool to be feral!
We were fooled again. Tropical Storm Rachel brought much needed rain, a bit less than two inches, but it wasn’t nearly the catastrophe that was predicted, which is great, but I feel slightly let down.
Curated from The Plantriarchy: “For humans growing wild — Feral Aesthetic,”
Myrmecophobia: that huge word describes a fear of ants.
I don’t mind if they stay outside and it’s not like I have intense physical reactions like panic attacks. but I do admit to compulsive cleaning and excessive use of toxic chemical sprays to prevent any possibility of an ant infestation.
I read some articles about how to overcome a fear of ants but I don’t really want to do that. Overcoming this phobia isn’t my goal. I like that I’m diligent about NOT allowing an army of ants to occupy my living space.
Updated ant saga: After I initially encountered the scout ants in my bathroom and quickly dispatched them, the next day I walked into the kitchen and was shocked to see a MILLION ants. I’m not exaggerating. Well, maybe I am, but only slightly.
I had been hopeful that the scouts found in the bathroom had been successfully “dealt” with, but I guess a message was still able to reach the collective.
The colony decided to retaliate in a big way and war was imminent. It seems as if they gathered their forces and decided to descend on my kitchen counters and sink during the night. I awoke to large-scale hostility.
I had to take immediate action, and I’m quietly optimistic that this will be the end of the 2026 ant assault. All surfaces have been compulsively scrubbed and bleached and there isn’t a single crumb of food in the sink to attract another interloper.
The part that terrifies me is when I ruminate about how they breached my defenses and found a way to stealthily sneak in the house while I was asleep and vulnerable. Was it revenge for the “scout” episode? Are their tiny ant minds capable of such machination?
But why me?
A couple days have passed and the enemy lines have been drawn. It’s the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morningvand I check to make sure my perimeters haven’t been breached.
However, it appears that these militant ants have honored the agreement to stay outside (at least for now). My fears have slightly subsided but I am on high alert.
I was never a Girl Scout for several reasons: I hate uniforms, especially ugly brown ones, and I don’t enjoy enforced gatherings and/or making weird crafty things to earn useless badges.
Don’t even get me started on how much I would LOATHE being forced to go door to door or stand in front of a grocery store to hawk cookies. That’s a firm and hard NO from me, at any age.
Yeah, I’m not a joiner of anything; I guess I’m a lone wolf by nature.
So…when I noticed a couple ants here and there in my bathroom, on the wall and in the shower — not a steady stream of them but a few that seemed to be aimlessly wandering around, I was perplexed.
A little research taught me something I had never known–these seemingly random ants are actually SCOUTS.
Scout ants are lone worker ants sent out by a colony to explore unfamiliar terrain, locate food sources, and assess potential nesting sites or threats, however, they chose the wrong location here because there’s no food in my bathroom!
They wander independently away from the nest using keen senses of smell and visual cues. When food is located, they consume a small sample and head straight back to the nest. Before they go, they leave a chemical scent called a pheromone trail on their return trip so other worker ants can follow the path to the food.
As fascinating as that info IS, I don’t want them anywhere near me. I get totally freaked out if I think an ant could possibly crawl on me in any way.
I don’t even care if the spiritual meaning of a scout ant represents a call to explore uncharted territory, to trust our inner instincts, or even to pioneer new paths before bringing others along.
I can admire their industrious nature, but stay away from me.
If you’re wondering what ultimately happened to these scout ants, the short answer is that these good little scouts are no longer able to bring back any info to their colony, which isn’t very animal-ioving of me, but I have my limits.
Let’s raise a glass to honor those brave, selfless little soldiers. RIP.
In the midst of all the horrible stories swirling around this country, the talk of the town is the shiniest ray of light, #Jimothy, Seattle’s latest local legend!
I’ve named him Dr. Jimothy Sprinkles, since UW conferred an honorary Ph.D. on this special little guy.
Credit to creator, found on Twitter
Jimothy is a short-spined raccoon spotted thriving in Ballard, a suburb of Seattle, despite a rare congenital condition. He doesn’t seem to be in pain and it looks like he’s living his best life.
The Ferals (formerly Angel Kids) hope they get a glimpse of him because the sightings have been fairly close to their neighborhood.
Filming the creature with her cellphone Monday night, Kiana Hall was certain of only one thing: The tiny beast skittering out from under a car in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood was definitely not a cat.
“I got very confused at what I was seeing,” Hall said. “I just have never seen any other animal like it.”
She also didn’t know her five-second video clip would turn a teetering trash panda into an overnight internet celebrity.
Hall, 33, and her partner were strolling near the Ballard Goodwill about 8:30 p.m. Monday when she spotted what she thought was a cat under a car. She took out her phone to film the animal, then watched in disbelief as a decidedly different critter crept from the shadows.
Smaller than a house cat and unusually round, the gray-furred creature loped on long legs across a patch of grass and up a nearby staircase before climbing over a fence and out of sight. Hall guessed it was a raccoon based on its masklike facial markings. She also suspected it had short spine syndrome, a rare congenital disorder she had learned about online.
Hall published the video the next day on her Instagram, naming the creature “Jimothy” because, she said, “he looked like a Jimothy.”
Within hours, Hall’s video started going viral, garnering more than 5 million views and thousands of comments by Thursday afternoon. A Ballard resident who saw the video recognized Jimothy as an oddly shaped raccoon their security cameras had captured last month crawling on their patio. The resident posted their footage Wednesday on Reddit, attracting hundreds of awed comments, including ones comparing Jimothy to mythical creatures like cryptids and chupacabras.
And thus, Seattle’s latest local legend — a belovedly bedraggled raccoon — was born.
Seattleites’ adoption of Jimothy as their scrappy hometown hero has brought Hall “a lot of joy,” she said in a Thursday phone call.
“I think times have been hard for everyone, so I’m really happy to have posted something online that reaches so many people and makes them so happy,” Hall said. “I just hope (Jimothy) continues to live his life freely and I hope he can be healthy.”
Jimothy’s prognosis seems positive, despite his unusual appearance, said Marcie Logsdon, an associate professor at Washington State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
Logsdon could not diagnose Jimothy based on reviewing the videos of the “kind of crazy little thing.” But she said the raccoon was likely born this year, and that its abnormally shortened neck is likely caused by a congenital deformity of the spine.
Jimothy appears to be functioning well and “very spry,” excellent signs for his survival in the wild, Logsdon said.
“The fact that he’s made it to this age tells me that he’s managing and that he’s adapting,” she said. “I was surprised and honestly a little bit inspired that he’s that resilient.”
Jimothy is likely best off “left to his own devices.” Anyone who spots him and is concerned about his health should call a local wildlife rehabilitator before trying to intervene, she said.
“Raccoons are amazing because they have done an amazing job at adapting to and sharing urban and suburban areas,” she said. “But respectful sharing needs to remain just that.” (Curated from Catalina Gaitán, Seattle Times breaking news reporter.)
This is my personal fave cos Angel Boy (only slightly feral) teaches at UW.
On Thursday afternoon, I saw a white van parked DIRECTLY across my driveway, completely blocking it. For a minute, I thought it might be a delivery, but I wasn’t expecting anything.
After noticing it didn’t move and no one came out with a package, I walked outside. Never one to shy away from direct action, I went around to the driver’s side, tapped on the window, and a man opened the door.
I pointed at my driveway and calmly stated, ” You’re completely blocking my driveway.”
He replied, “I’m just on my phone.”
Still calm, I responded, “You can’t block a driveway. MOVE. NOW.”
And he did move but parked directly across the street and kept staring at my house while still on his stupid phone, now with the door open.
Once again, it might not have been the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but sometimes I have ZERO impulse control plus I know the assistant police chief lives a few houses away, if needed. I only regret not getting the license plate number.
Honestly, I don’t know what’s wrong with people, do you? First of all, there are literally dozens of miles of sidewalk unencumbered by driveways, and secondly, how in any entitled universe does HIS phone call justify illegal parking? I am convinced that there are more and more selfish people who think the whole world revolves solely around them, and I’m not sure why or how to navigate these life experiences.
Another random event happened at TJ Maxx as I was standing in line to pay for a couple of cute and sparkly t-shirts for Angel Girl. A woman with a full cart pushed in front of me as if I was invisible. As if I didn’t exist! The hubris!
It took me a couple of seconds to fully realize the situation, like what just happened here, because first, she was behind me and then she wasn’t. I looked around; aghast, as the other customers in line also noticed and I’m sure wondered how I would handle the situation.
This time, I chalked it up to the full moon. I shook my head, turned around, got out of line, put my items back on the shelf, and left the store. It didn’t seem to be the right time to have a confrontation over something trivial and I assumed the universe intervened for a good reason, so I listened.
Finally… my city can’t seem to figure out what to do with an intersection on my street near an elementary school. For many years, there were two stop signs, then they put in a dangerous and ineffective roundabout. Last year they took away the $20,000 waste-of-money roundabout and put in a four-way-stop. I don’t know how much it cost to remove the roundabout and cement in four stop signs, but that’s how they spend our tax dollars around here…
Yesterday, I pulled up to one of the stop signs, preparing to turn left. I noticed two cars that completely ignored another of the four stop signs and turned right, not even bothering to slow down. Since no one was behind me and I was early for a dental appointment, I sat there and watched at least SIX other cars completely ignore that same stop sign. Stop means stop, right? A couple of them even glanced my way as they barrelled around the corner, exceeding the 25 mph speed limit.
What part of STOP don’t they understand? Are they the same people who don’t comprehend that NO means NO?
I decided it might be wise to spend the day at home, in the garden, where it’s slightly more peaceful, although there’s STILL construction noise from next door. I’m trying to tune it all out, but it’s permeating my soul in a not very positive way.
I’m exhorting myself to BREATHE and listen to the birds who’re busy building nests in the mulberry tree.
…and an interesting and coincidental fact about (of course) Leon Russell.
Eleven years before there was even a hint of a thought about any baby, even one as wonderful as Angel Boy, Leon Russell released his self-titled debut solo album on March 23, 1970.
The album featured the classics: Delta Lady, Dixie Lullaby, A Song For You, Hummingbird, and Prince of Peace.
Leon played piano, guitar, bass guitar, and vocals. He was backed by an impressive list of friends, including Klaus Voormann, Mick Jagger, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Alan Spenner, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Delaney Bramlett, Eric Clapton, Jim Horn, Bonnie Bramlett, Steve Winwood, Jim Gordon, Chris Stainton, B.J. Wilson, Joe Cocker, and Merry Clayton.
What was I doing on March 23, 1970? I was in high school and I’m sure I bought that album as soon as it came out, probably at The Wherehouse or Licorice Pizza, two cool record stores that no longer exist.
He’s still the same person he’s always been; a voracious reader and writer, loves to garden, is kind to animals. He’s got a wicked sense of humor, and now that he’s a dad, he skateboards with the Angel Kids and finally realizes why I worried so much about his safety.
Could he really be all grown up? Nah, he’ll always be my Angel Boy and I’ll always be the proud Boy Mom.
EXCOGITATE: To think out; devise; invent. To study intently and carefully in order to grasp or comprehend fully.
TO THIINK IN OR THINK OUT…WHAT IS YOUR METHOD?
According to wiseGEEK, to think outside the box means means to “handle a situation or challenge in an unconventional manner. The origin of the phrase is believed to date back to the 1960s, and is often associated with a famous mental puzzle called The Nine Dots.”
I’ve had a lot of jobs over the years and I’ve found that no one really wanted me to think outside the box — independently, creatively, with imagination or compassion. I felt the overwhelming corporate mantra was to agree with everything and keep quiet.
And that leads us on to another outside the box obsession of mine…
I love boxes; cardboard boxes, wooden boxes, large and small boxes. Over the years, I’ve accumulated a massive collection. (I’m not a hoarder, I’m not a hoarder, I’m NOT a hoarder. Stop thinking that!)
But a box full of Bandit was my favorite. Our poor baby died of chronic renal failure. Wasn’t she soo beautiful? Sniff.
She’s speaking to me with her eyes, ” I don’t feel very good, Mommy.” Photo by Enchanted Seashells
This WordPress snow feature has always made my childsoul irrationally happy. For some reason, it was removed for a few years, but now it’s back, and it’s joyful!
I love snow…and it rhymes with crow!
Dust of Snow
The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I had rued. Robert Frost
