morrowlife

Here’s Loyal Reader Number Twelve smiling for the camera a couple of months ago.

Wonders of Blogger today. I didn’t get hooked up to the internet until this (Saturday) morning. I wasn’t sure I’d make it at all.

Greetings from Michigan! I’m having a really nice time visiting with my family here. My mom was surprised to see me. Pleasantly, I hope. I attended my first bridal shower this morning, for my nephew Joe’s bride-to-be, Jen. Everybody had a nice time. We had a nice brunch, played games (I didn’t win, in spite of the slight advantage I got by copying other partygoers’ papers), and opened presents.

Took a short nap in the early afternoon and then got ready for Loyal Readers Numbers Sixteen’s and Eighteen’s Halloween party. Lots of family members were there and we had lots of fun. Tomorrow morning it’s early church and then back to Royal Oak in the evening for my mother’s birthday party. I’m not sure what’s on tap for Monday, but I am sure it will be enjoyable.

And then I fly home on Monday evening. I should get home shortly before midnight. Tuesday ought to be a sleepy day at work. Sigh.

That’s about it for tonight. Love to the family. See you on Monday.

Here’s Loyal Reader Number Two a couple of years ago being viciously attacked by a small flock of highly-dangerous birds. Shades of Hitchcock. That other guy there was desperately trying to scare those bad boys away, but with little success. Scary situation.

Another night of short shriftness. It’s already 10:00 and I’m doing a little traveling over the extended weekend, so I must rest. Trip description in an upcoming post when I have more time. Friday and Monday posts may not happen – it depends on the availability of an internet connection. You have been warned.

Good commutes in both directions again today – slightly less than par morning and night. I didn’t drive the Miata at all this week – it looked like it might rain every day. It did rain a little early in the week, but the last couple of days turned out quite nice, especially today. Sigh. Next week looks pretty good too, so I might get to do a little open-air motoring then.

Although I’m working an extremely short week next week. As mentioned above, I won’t be returning to work until Tuesday, and I’m taking Thursday and Friday off for a little family camping trip. Bloggage will definitely be non-existent those days. I fear for the mental health and stability of my Loyal Readers under such conditions. When you have two dozen people (well, in reality not all of the Loyal Readers are very loyal, but there are at least a few, anyway) depending on your keen insights and biting wit every weekday, you have Certain Responsibilities. Try to survive, Loyal Readers. I’ll be back.

But not for now. See you either tomorrow, Monday, or Tuesday.

Here are Loyal Readers Numbers One and Two and several strangers at an organ concert. LRN2 played shortly after (or possibly before) this picture was taken.

Quick post tonight – I have to leave for my meeting in 22 minutes.

The commute time finally shortened up a bit today – both ends of the trip were about five minutes under par (defined as 120 minutes), including the stop for gas and a car wash this morning. It’s about time is all I can say – it seems like there’s been a problem every morning for weeks.

Otherwise, situation normal. The house has gotten quiet these past few days. We had been hoping to see Loyal Reader Number Twelve’s first step before she left but, alas, it was not to be. She was really close but not yet ready to risk it. I hope her parents let us know when it happens.

I’ve been listening to more old-time radio shows. As mentioned before, I’m particularly enjoying Nero Wolfe with Sidney Greenstreet. Today I heard a couple of old Blondie shows – they’re almost always fun but the quality of many of the recordings is bad enough that I end up skipping them out of frustration at not being able to understand what anybody is saying. I heard several Jack Benny shows this week too – they’re all pretty good. He wasn’t a caricature of himself back then like he became after the start of the television era. Less corny, more funny. I have several other shows waiting to be heard, and there are hundreds if not thousands more available on the internet. One of the best places to find them is on the Internet Archive. It’s also a good place to find books, although probably not as good as Gutenberg. In fact, it’s a good place to find a lot of cool stuff. Like this. Or this.

Time to go. See you tomorrow.

Here’s a big hole in the rock in the waterfall at Clark’s Fork, apparently carved out by the water itself. The interesting thing is that, though water is continuously pouring into this hole, the water level never seems to rise. Where does it go?

We have a new Loyal Reader! Let’s all give our typical hearty welcome to Moriah, Loyal Reader Number Twenty-Four. LRN24’s name is officially over there on the right. As soon as we get a picture, you’ll have your own Very Special Morrowlife Day. Wow!

As promised yesterday, let’s talk about the weekend. The big news, of course, is that Loyal Readers Numbers Five, Six, and Twelve got moved into their apartment. It’s a really nice little place in Daly City. The setting is green and very pretty, the building is nice, and the area looks quite pleasant. There is an unusually high number of cemeteries in the neighborhood, but they turn out to be pretty good neighbors. Quiet, anyway.

The closest cemetery is interesting – it’s just for Asian people. The gravestones are in Chinese and are unique and pretty. The town is rumored to be foggy and cold all the time. I guess the Loyal Readers will find out for themselves. Let us know, Loyal Readers!

Anyway, we miss the Loyal Readers, but we’re glad to have things back to normal for both families.

The move took longer than expected, so we were late to our friend Danell’s surprise birthday party. We had a nice time anyway, and the Party People were deprived of our company for only about 45 minutes.

Sunday, I substitute taught a Sunday School class. It went fine and turned out to be a more interesting discussion than I had expected. Otherwise, the day was pretty much taken up with meetings and, umm, more meetings. And a couple of meals. Not that that’s a bad thing. It was a quiet, restful day.

And I need to get to sleep already. See you tomorrow.

Here’s the road through the campground at Clark’s Fork. That was just the prettiest place ever.

Extremely short shrift tonight. I’ll have to report on the weekend tomorrow. Reason: we went to the local corn maze this evening. I stopped there on my way home from work and met the family. We had a really nice time. It was cool and kind of windy, but we wore jackets and were reasonably comfortable.

We went through the haunted house, rode the scarecrow ride (tractor-pulled cars with bleacher seating on them going through the corn, viewing about 86 scarecrows donated by local elementary schools and Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops), walked through the gigantic corn maze (actually, it was one of two gigantic mazes), and watched Loyal Readers Numbers One and Two ride the go-karts. Human-powered go-karts, that is. They had a great time there, but Loyal Reader Number Four and I were happy to just watch.

We also had Moriah with us. She is, strangely enough, not a Loyal Reader. Very serious character flaw, that. Must look into that problem. Anyway, she rode the go-karts too.

We saw the Young Single Adult ward members there, along with our friend (and Loyal Reader Number One’s employer) Bob. I was extremely satisfied to learn that Danny, a young man who was baptized several months back, was there. He’s still active in the church and looked like he was having a great time. His family situation isn’t exactly supportive, so I’m delighted he’s still with us.

Congrats to Loyal Reader Number Three for catching the Coach_Z reference in yesterday’s post. That’s excellent tribal knowledge.

Time for bed. See you tomorrow.