Chocolate Now... Stress Later

It has been kind of a running joke on here that there are a number of the sayings on the back of Dove Chocolate wrappers that really fit the day. The newest round of "fortunes" is mostly lame. They recruited suggestions from consumers, and I'm mostly underwhelmed with this round of sayings.

However, one of them stood out, but I've been hanging onto it because it doesn't fit very often anymore. I'm really quite stress-free in this season of my life. I'm mostly doing things I've chosen to do with little hassle, maybe a deadline or two, sometimes extra energy required. But not much actual stress.

But today was a little stressful. I fixed one of the computer programming issues I was frustrated about yesterday, but I can not seem to find the other one. It's something easy that I'm just not seeing. Troubleshooting identifies the problem as being not in the code, but in the file structure. I keep looking at it and it looks OK. Maybe tomorrow I'll see the problem instantly.

But my frustration level is high. In response, I cleaned the dining room table. I promised the guys I'd cook for Thanksgiving. The autumn tablecloth that I couldn't find last year turned up this summer. (See, you just have to be patient!). I decided to go with the turkey candy dish for this year's decor. The nice candle I bought last year still looks good. I added some of those shaped candles that were so popular in the 1950s- 1960s. These are from Omer's mother. So we have a mix of family treasures on display.

I like having a really clean area. But, the project part of me just looks at that nice open flat surface and thinks it's being wasted as work space!

So, yes, there has been a tiny bit more chocolate involved in today than usual.

And also, in frustration, I started playing one of my favorite computer games again today. I quit it before the big hike because it takes too much time. And I couldn't get my old account back, so I had to start over at level 1. Bummer. But I'm tired of match-three games. Maybe I can do a better job of controlling my time-wasting now. Or not.

Hopefully, tomorrow I'll see the error in the web file structure.

The heavy snow has totally missed our hill. However, it was starting to snow harder as it got dark. We will see what morning brings!

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Kindness Thrown Like Confetti

 
This was another perfect Dove chocolate wrapper, received earlier this week at Randy and Annette's house. Southern hospitality is real, and the confetti of kindness has been thrown my way by the bucketfull this week.


I've had such a good time with the people in these pictures, and others that we didn't manage to capture digitally. Of course, Loretta.


Paul and Mary Ellen



Randy and Annette, Marleen (and her daughter who arrived today to help her with the move)



Today was Sunday, with all the usual church activities. But I also went swimming with Rhett, a new young friend.



Tomorrow morning I head for home. It's been a wonderful, wonderful two-plus weeks, but I think I'm ready to slip into the writing harness. One more night on the road with more friends, and then I'm ready for some quiet time.

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Celebrate Family and Friends

 
OK, so the Dove candy company prints things on wrappers that will work in any number of situations, but this is now number four that has been a perfect match for the day's activities. Today they suggest I celebrate family and friends. And I can do that.



For starters, the newest member of the genealogical clan arrived last evening in Texas. His name is Shepherd Dean Greenawalt. He's Omer's youngest sister's (Kathleen, who died) grandson.



For the friends part, there was an artist reception at the Art Center in Ludington this afternoon. I just have a hard time making myself go to anything between work shifts on Friday, however...

One of the artists is Linda Sandow, who is doing the cover art for my Dubois Files mysteries. Here she is, showing off the cover art for The Secret Cellar against the display of some of her work. I took this picture the other day.



Here she is this evening, talking about her works with some of the visitors at the reception.



I also know another of the artists, Ellen Niemann, quite well. Our lives have intersected off and on for about 50 years. I knew she did black and white portraits, but I had no idea until a few weeks ago that she also does beautiful color paintings, often incorporating calligraphy with the images.

Here she is (on the left) talking about her work with another visitor. These paintings were all inspired by a trip she and her husband took to Rwanda a few years ago.



Here is another of her works.



So, I'm glad I made the effort to go. They said it was a pretty good turnout. That's good. The community is supporting the arts to some extent during the non-tourist season.

In other news: work. Well, I'm trying to finish chapter 9 in The Hitchhiker.

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Learn Something New...

 
The appropriate Dove candy wrappers that appear in coordination with my fun times has increased to three, so it is now elevated to a collection and gets its own tag. Pam gave me this one over the weekend.



Today has become nasty nasty outside. It's been raining and the wind has been blowing. No outside walking or driveway clearing. The snow is soggy and melting. Bummer. I choose to coast on the good experiences of the weekend. Besides, the weekend was filled with new experiences, a key component of My Quality Day.



Someone at work asked me how many new musical instruments I tried at Pam's house. The answer is five. You saw the Celtic harp and pentatonic harp yesterday. I don't have pictures of all of them, but do have poor pictures of two.

I also tried the pentatonic guitar (made by the same man who made the harps). It has four sets of strings which each play a chord. This one has D, G, C, and F.



The celesta, or celeste makes the "twinkling," ethereal music in the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, from the Nutcracker Suite. Tchaikovsy was one of the first to use the instrument in an orchestral piece. The keyboard activates metal hammers that strike metal bars.



The other instrument I tried was the concertina. Most instruments, sometimes collectively nicknamed squeezeboxes, work quite differently from the piano accordion, which is the one I play. The concertina was something of a mystery, but it was fun to get acquainted. I learned that you get a different note depending on whether you open or close the bellows. In this respect, it's like a harmonica, where you get a different note if you blow or suck a particular hole.

Finally, in response to requests, I've edited the harp video and bring you a piece of it with a still photo. The visual part of the original wasn't too appealing, so I've pulled one frame to use. Pam covers up my mistakes nicely!

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Engage, Embrace, Enjoy

 
I'm no great believer in fortune cookies, but Dove candy wrappers are running a pretty high percentage for me! You might remember another really nifty one from Tempt Your Sense of Exploration. But today, Engage, Embrace, Enjoy was a little chocolate gift from a different person.

First of all, here are my hosts for Friday and Saturday nights, Bruce Matthews and Linda JeRue. They gave the party Friday night, and I stayed at their house. Don't you love those smiles! I think they make a great couple.



Maggie had to go along with me because Om is still on his trip. She's never traveled with me very much and had to do a great many new things. I wasn't sure how that would go with such an old pup. However, she handled it very well. She was good about staying on her bed. She was a little confused sometimes, but didn't get frightened or noisy. I'm very proud of her.



But, whose house is her bed in?



Chuck and Sylvia's! Don't you think Sylvia offered me the perfect little sweet with that Dove chocolate? Believe me, she provided much more than one little candy! Their eating style is very much like mine, and I enjoy eating with them. We also attended a Bible study, and visited lots and lots!

Every once in a while,you meet someone who is more or less instantly a great friend. I feel that way about them. You can visit Chuck's blog at Secondary Roads

Now, Maggie and I are home safe and sound. She's quite worn out, but I think everything went well. Back to work tomorrow!

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Tempt Your Sense of Exploration

 
Ellen and I are trying to get back to our excellent adventures. She was gone a lot this winter (to India, actually!), but now she's back in the groove.

Today I'll give you the weirdness, tomorrow the nature. Here's a small piece of the map of the White River Semi-Primitive Area where we went. This is a large section of the Manistee National Forest, about five miles on a side. Its the same area where I helped with the Karner Blue Butterfly survey last summer.

First, note the star and the red line. We put the car where the star is, and walked the red line, about 5 miles. Ellen brought us each a Dove candy for dessert, and this wrapper was as good as a fortune cookie. It reads "Tempt your sense of exploration." We sure did.



Have you ever been hiking, and needed a latrine really bad? Some of us are comfortable finding a place to go in the woods, but it you aren't... well... someone has provided you with a handy trailside commode.

Don't ask me why. I'm only reporting. "Just the facts, ma'am."

You might note that the chamber pot for collections is well-aerated. I guess that prevents it from getting overfull. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm making this up as I go. But no photoshopping was involved. The latrine really was out there. (I did not check to see if it had actually been used.)



But this wasn't the weirdest. We progressed to:



What? Well, what can I say? We found the grove of killer trees. You thought that only happened in fairy tales? Maybe, but this is the era of regulated labeling, the information age, you know...



And Lin thought she lived in Weirdville. Sorry, Lin. I'm placing my bet that I've out weirded you today, sight unseen.

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