HOLIDAY WARS

Yearly my dear blogging friend, Suldog posts his "rant" on "Thanksgiving Comes First" and invites others who are like minded to join in with a post of their own on the subject.  I am happy to do this.
You can get up to speed with him here:

Suldog

Thanksgiving Comes First - The First Round-Up  

  

In short, the issue at hand is how Christmas is vomited all over our store shelves, media, etc. before we even get to Thanksgiving.

 
I do agree with Suldog. I began seeing Halloween and Thanksgiving stuff before the weather was cool enough to call it fall... back in August. To me, that is when the pushing of holidays before their time comes into play... when I am still trying to hang onto summer.  I suppose its appropriate if you plan on creating all sorts of holiday decorations or gifts and need the supplies and that much time.  But it seems to me that this sort of thing should be restricted to craft stores and the like. Not in general stores and in the media. Sheesh!

 
When I was a kid, I admit that I began my school year with holidays in mind... as in school has begun and that meant that soon there would be a costume to make, goodies to gather and then the beloved "days off from school" would begin, a turkey feast and wind up toward the main event of presents under the tree and more goodies to eat.

 
Like most kids, I was into the "me" mode and what I got from holidays. I was not yet impressed by the gathering of family as much as the getting. That would come later when as a parent I found out the giving and watching of joy on the faces of children and others that I loved were a way better treat. But even as a child, I understood that there was an order to the holidays.  They rolled out, you ticked them off in a count down to Christmas.  Then after Christmas there was a new count down to summer that began with the "candy holidays"... Valentine's Day and Easter.  Once I made it to Easter, summer wasn't far off and another old school year would be gone.  Yay!

 
The point is that in my own kid way, I did keep my holidays in order, no matter the reason.  There was a comforting pattern to my year that always followed true.

 
It had reason and it had traditions that were fun and pleasing.  A stablizing set in stone pattern to be expected and followed no matter what else may happen.  Patterns, schedules and order are good things. Even for the ultimate impulsiveness of childhood. Holidays were a sort of anchor.

 
Somewhere along the line, those set in stone reliable holidays began to be fused together. Right now, this week I have already seen Christmas in every store that I have entered. 

I'm not there yet!  I've still got Halloween, Vetran's Day, November 16th and Thanksgiving to create and celebrate. I don't want to be planning my Christmas yet.  It is not time.  It won't be time until December 1st.

I am raging against the machine. It chews things up and spits them out. By the time I need a winter coat, they have bathing suits on the shelf and the coats are packed away. Why should I have to begin choosing a month and a half ahead what I want to hang on a tree that hasn't even been cut yet? 

I've noticed an increase in toy commercials for children and adults. Its only going to get worse. I want to enjoy each holiday in their time, not be steam rolled over by them in advance and exhausted to the point of not enjoying my holiday due to overkill.

 
Though I will admit, as a parent, I have in the past begun Christmas shopping... and putting things on lay-away during summer months. Otherwise, I could not have afforded to put things under the tree. Perhaps I am partially to blame for the retailers pushing things too early as a consumer willing to plan so far ahead.

 
But those days are gone. My rug rats have their own babies to plan for and my time of worry that I will fail to bring about that joy on Christmas morning has passed behind me. In my defense, I did not buy what the retailers pushed.  I bought clothes they would need for winter and the rest of the school year. I did wait for wish lists in December to pick out things they desperately wanted.

  Then retailers began to reduce the time for lay-away to their schedule for pushing items for the holiday. That ended lay-away for me.

I have joined Suldog in his war against the shoving of holidays down our collective throats. I will follow my own traditional schedule, marketing be damned. If a carol comes on my radio before December 1st, I'll switch channels and even send an email about my displeasure in a polite and firm tone. I will not begin my Christmas baking before December 1st.  I will not begin my Thanksgiving baking before November 1st. I will celebrate November 16th on that day and that day only!

I will stand my ground and take my traditions back.

 
Any questions?

TAKING DIRECTION

I found this lovely compass rose here:

http://summitstonesadventuremusings.blogspot.com

Which, I must add is an interesting blog post.

Being a person who gets lost easily...

and still dares to venture out,

I have come upon an observation that I'm not sure it true or false.

So here it is right or wrong.

When I ask a female how to get somewhere,

they give me suggestions of landmarks along the way

and trust that my address and the landmarks will show me the path.

Males will also give me landmarks sometimes,

but they add in actual "directions".

By this I mean

North, South, East, West, etc.

I know that they mean well and feel that this will clarify things for me.

No.

If I had a compass in my head...

and I'm sure that many people do, yet I do not...

it would make things easier.

Yes, I can find the sun and I know it rises in the East and sets in the West.

But I don't always know where that is in relation to where I am at

when I need to know it.
(Noon, clouds, night...)

(BTW... moss grows on many sides of a tree, so forget that old saw about it only growing on the North side of a tree!)

I had an interview with a nice man about a job.

He said

"The building complex is very large, so you'll want the building in the North-most 

corner of the complex."

Not wanting him to know that I don't know North from a hole in the ground,

I said 
"OK."

I have actually been lost there before...

it was the big red brick building complex that I ended up at

the very first time I came to visit the man here.

I had to call him to come and lead me to his, now our, home.

I could find my way to the complex blindfolded in a snow storm now.

I asked the man how to find North here.

He pointed across the street.
But this street is not that street.

Later I got the bright idea to ask him for his compass.

I am picturing the sort of compass one would have gotten in a Cracker Jack Box.

What he brought me wasn't.

It does things.
He promptly launched into a lesson about how to use its 
marvelous functions.
He may as well have been Charlie Brown's teacher.
Way too complex for my purpose.
But I listened and tried to understand it
because he obviously delighted in his directional machine.


All I cared about was the Cracker Jack Box prize part.
When he handed it to me,
I held it and pointed in the direction I thought it was pointing North.
No.
The swell gizmo is very sensitive and you must hold it level.
Who knew I couldn't tell level any more than I could find North?


The man looked crestfallen.
He sighed.
He said
"Baby, when you are facing the front doors of the main building...
North is on your Left."


I do know my Right from my Left.
No one had to mark the toes of my Red Ball Jets
with a big "R" or "L".
That was a direction that I could not only take,
but successfully follow.




Now wasn't that sooo much easier?

Mystery House

My house is a bit of a mystery to me still.

I moved into the man's house and it is full of his stuff...

much of which I have not seen.

He collects things.

Lots of things.

Not like a hoarder...

but in an orderly way that fills up a great deal of our storage space.

I came across this great game the other day!

Being a sci-fi fan I was thrilled to find it.

It was his when he was in high school.

Very complex as games go.

The enemy are bugs, so you play on this sort of hive grid.

It has a rule book that rivals any of my appliance manuals.

At least its not in three different languages.

That thing up there is one of the brain bugs.

Very cool.

It also has a bazillion pieces and thingies.

All in tiny boxes with careful labeling.

The man says it takes hours to play.

I am tempted to learn how.

But I don't know.

Hours?

And complicated?

The man ran off to copy the game pads into the computer...

so I guess that decides it.

One of these nights, we will play.

He always wins at strategical games.

I feel doom coming.

But it is very cool isn't it?

I'm also impressed that he never lost a single game piece.

And that its in such good condition.

I think the only item I have from the 70s

is my Mickey Mouse watch.

I'll let you know how the game goes.

I think I'll let him be the hero...

and I'll be a bug.

So do you have cool things tucked away?

Or are you more like me...

tossing way more than you keep?

FALLING

I have not posted in over a week I think.

Not at all normal for me.

One thing occurred to me the other day...

despite the fact that fall is my favorite season...

it is also the precursor of seasonal depression.

Ironic.

I have not always suffered from seasonal depression.

It began a few years after I moved from Cal to the north of Or.

It went away again when I moved back south for eight years

and I thought that it was some other inexplicable event.

Then it came back when I returned to the northwest.

I thought ah ha!

But then when I moved to the southern end of Or

for a number of years where it still snowed and rained...

it vanished again.

Only to return when I moved to the northern end of the state again.

Hummmm... okay then.

I have come to believe that it is triggered by the amount of rainfall.

Cold has less to do with it than I imagined at first.

My original experiences with snow required a two hour car ride,

hot cocoa and inner tubes.

Valley dwellers had to go in search of snow with only two exceptions 

in my young life... and they were pitiful representations.

Last year I had no trouble with it worth mentioning.

I am sure that was the excitement of a developing new relationship...

and my trips here to the land of less rain.

I had hoped that I had seen an end to all that blahness.

Because that is what it is...

blahness.

No high, no low,

with a lack of motivation or creativity.

This year it has returned once more.

Grumble.

Hence my absence.

But I do know how to deal with it.

Its a matter of eating right and moving.

Not moving away...

I mean the simple act of getting up and moving around enough to elevate those glorious endorphins,

then tagging those things that want to sit in my brain and stew,

despite a lack of importance.

I can worry a thought like Roxy worries a good bone.

Getting rid of them is simple in theory...

just get up and do something that changes my thought pattern and focus on it.

Less simple when you add in the "meh" feeling.

It takes effort on my part to act on it.

I think too that the new schedule in our lives holds some responsibility.

The man's graveyard shift.

I see him for a few hours in the morning and maybe an hour and a half before he leaves for work.

He seems to be always tired.

Then Roxy and I are alone for the night.

As soon as that door shuts behind him as he leaves,

Roxy is in her bed.

I have to lure her into my room with the promise of a nice big warm quilt to lay on.

Bribery works.

Even the weekends are affected by this schedule.

Anyone who wants to see the man, waits until then to show up...

which eats our time together.

If they all came at once, it would not be so time consuming.

They don't.

Hunting appears to be our best time together.

We have not seen a single deer...

but we spend valuable time with each other.

Then there is a void to my week days...

since everyone waits for his weekend to visit...

I don't see anyone during the week days.

I am a people person.

I am used to days filled with the riot and uproar of children...

mine or the school's.

No riot here.

It's too fecking quiet all the time.

I need a damn job.

I'm doing good right now on that front with interviews lined up.

But there are no guarantees there.

So I decided to volunteer at a hospital where I'd like to work...

reading to children and any willing adults stuck in hospital beds.

That begins next week.

I have no doubt that it will do the trick.

This week its back to my fanatical walking and keeping my diet right.

I also got a book to read for the evening hours that I am alone,

while the man sleeps.

But any speck of daylight to be had

will be used for all its worth.

Now I'm off to play catch-up on your blogs.

=:]

Why is this bear so happy?

Because he didn't sit on his ass...

he got up, got out and caught a fish!

Smart bear.

THURSDAY THOUGHTS

Happy birthday to the one and only 

Sukey!

My amazing pirate and trickster granddaughter turns 10 today.

This gal has a kicking sense of humor and a Sneaky Pete

way of creeping into your heart.

 

I had a good laugh yesterday...

usually my unemployment pay day.

Went to check to be sure that my check was indeed there...

and it wasn't.

But there on the site was a notice that made me giggle.

It said

"Due to a processing problem, checks will be processed a day late."

A processing problem?

Of course there was a problem...

They had Columbus Day off and no one was there to 

process anything!

I'm guessing that they don't want to remind us that while

we are waiting for our meager pittance,

they are having a paid day off.

Chickens!

 

This morning we found out that there will be

another new grand baby soon...

the man's daughter is expecting.

This will be her third child.

So we'll have two new babies to enjoy!

 

The crew from College Game Day is in town.

They are filming for this weekend's

Duck game.

Arizona State vs the Ducks.

It's a night game and we will be there.

Of course by then all the filming will be over...

except for the game.

 

It looks like the rain has forced the grass to grow.

Guess what I'm getting ready to do?

I get to use my new mower one more time before

putting to bed for the winter.

 

My brain is kapoot.

That's it for thoughts today.

It should be full by tomorrow when I can empty it again.

=;]

Timmy's in the well!

The man came home, ate and went to bed.

I spend my days now with Roxy for the most part.

When its raining,

she tends to ignore me and goes to nap in her bed.

Rain is back for my neck of the woods to stay until next spring.

I spend most of my time in the shop.

Out there I can carve and not worry about getting chips on the floor.

I've got a TV and sound system.

Its cozy.

Meanwhile I don't have to worry about being quiet so that the man can sleep.

A few days ago Roxy went outside,

then quickly ran back into the shop to dance around.

I thought she wanted to play.

I was preparing to set down my carving when she began to bark.

She rarely barks unless a person is in the yard.

She insisted that I follow her.

"What Lassie?  Timmy's fallen into the well?"

I followed my crazy dog outside.

No stranger in the yard.

Good.

The problem seemed to be under my house.

She was running frantically from vent to vent to

bark, look at me, bark some more and then snuffle the air through the vent.

Now as I type, 

she is currently snuffling along the place where our deck meets

the house.

She sounds like a freight train.

She keeps looking at me like I should do something.

The day after the Rotor Rooter Man was here,

Todd came over to show us the hunting map for our new spot.

Roxy followed the guys to Todd's truck for something.

And vanished.

She has never tried to go anywhere...

except for the day when I was hacking my way through the Amazon on the side of the house to get to the access door.

She was closed off from me by a gate to the side yard.

Roxy is quite a jumper.

We knew this, so when she jumped the barrier to the shop,

which is fairly low and showed up in the berries from the other side,

I knew what had happened.

That was the day she became fascinated with the vents.

When she vanished,

I decided to check the berries on that side and found that 

someone had left the access door open.

I was sure she was under the house chasing whatever she thinks is in there.

The man and Todd both tried to find her with a flash light.

No dog.  No other critter.

After that began a search of the neighborhood by cars.

No dog.

I was very worried and upset.

She was gone for hours.

As it turns out, the neighbor kids decided to invite her into their house.

Roxy was kicked out when their mom came home.

She wiggled back into the shop...

and warm, dry and happy despite the rain.

I was very unhappy.

We know that Roxy loves people when she is with us.

What if one of the kids had played too hard?

She is not allowed around children unsupervised.

She can be dangerous with those jaws.

Its our responsibility to keep her from getting into a situation that will cause her or anyone else harm.

Fail!

Right now Missy Moo, as we call her,

is on notice.

Obviously we cannot trust her not to run off,

even though no harm was done and she came right home as soon as she was able.

The man had a serious conversation with the neighbor and their kids.

Not mad at them, but cautioning them not to assume that all dogs are going to stay friendly.

The mom gladly backed him up on that.

I don't know what's up with my wacky dog these days...

her foe under the house and leaving the yard like that.

Who knows what she smells under the house...

but every day now is a "Timmy's in the well!" day.

Once she gets me to go out and look, she is fine.

I just hope its not a repeat of the raccoon issue...

but that's another story.

=:]

(Photo property of kezi.com)

(I should have taken my camera, but didn't to save space.

The photo above looks very much like the area where we have been hunting.

Lots of scrub growth in areas that have been logged.

Not to worry, there are a bazillion small trees

planted to replace those that are gone...

and we all are careful to avoid doing anything to harm them.)

I know very little of hunting.

Fortunately I have experienced hunters to teach me.

I've been out hunting three times now.

Here are things that I have learned.

Hunting is a strangely quiet experience.

You hunt alone, even in a group.

Always take toilet paper with you!

The deer are far smarter than I thought.

There are different ways to hunt.

You can stake out an area... we don't.

Hunting has far more walking than shooting... I haven't shot yet.

You can have shooters and "dogs".

Dogs are hunters who thrash in the brush and make noise...

so that you know where they are and shoot the deer who

run out in front of them in a safe for the dog way.

My personal favorite is to find a nice little spot...

with a rock or tree stump to set my rump on and wait and watch for a bit before moving on...

Gradually moving along the route that leads to meeting up with the others.

It is very peaceful and my mind enjoys the sounds and sights of the woods.

It is very relaxing.

There is also "raod" hunting...

driving down little dirt paths and looking for deer in the brush.

It makes you sleepy.

Kind of evens it out for the deer.

Did I say that deer are much smarter than I thought?

When it is sunny, they hunker down and hide in the brush.

They are the color of the brush and you can't see them.

They come out of hiding when it rains...

because they can't hear predators when the rain drips...

they want to keep moving into more open areas to stay safe.

They want to see what might be hunting them.

So three days of hunting down and about three more weeks of hunting left.

I've enjoyed my walks in the woods more than I thought I could.

Hunters are automatically in the club and greet each other with silent waves.

They don't want to alert the deer, so they leave each other alone...

in a friendly sort of way.

Hunters take a ton of food to snack on.

Most take their wrappers away...

and my hunters carry a garbage bag to pick up what messy hunters leave behind.

We take coolers with WATER and soda in them.

No booze.

I found the cooler very helpful...

as a step stool to get into Todd's truck.

Ford thinks that all people who drive standard sized trucks

are six feet tall and have legs that go on forever.

I do not.

I think the deer have very little to fear from me.

I try to walk silently, but still manage to make sounds.

I don't know if I will be able to move fast enough 

to actually figure out if it has enough horns

and sight on it to fire before one bounds past me.

Or if I will be so surprised that I just gape at it.

Next weekend we will go again.

Saturday evening we have seats in Autzen to watch the Ducks in person.

Woot!

Its a night game, so we will hunt only half day.

BTW...

"half day" in hunting begins at 4:00 AM

and ends at noon or whenever your feet stop having feeling

and the damp has chilled you to the point of craving home.

I'm looking forward to another quiet walking day in the woods.

If I manage to shoot a buck...

cool beans!

But I'll enjoy it even if I don't see a single one.