It seems like everywhere I look, lately, there's someone writing about how it's starting to feel like the very earliest beginning of autumn. Usually, this opinion is presented with a twinge of sadness and a wish to hold on to summer a little bit longer.
Obviously, those people do not live around here. Sure, we're enjoying some temporary relief from the humidity and very highest temperatures, but it's only at my most unrealistically wishful that I can think autumn will be here soon. "Soon" is relative, of course; if you think a month and a half are soon, then yes, we may get a taste of autumn "soon". The way time goes whooshing by, yes, I guess it's fairly "soon"-- we're closer to summer's end than summer's beginning, thank goodness-- but it can't get here soon enough for me.
Dry air. Cool nights. Open windows and fresh air streaming through the house. Falling asleep to the sound of a nighttime breeze-- sleeping well in the natural coolness-- and waking to find the morning air beyond the cozy bed bracingly chilled. Slanting, golden sunlight in the afternoon. Feeling like going on daily walks again. Snakes and insects slowly retreating from the world for a time. Leaves crunching underfoot. Plenty of things to photograph-- all changing from day to day. Beautifully just-spooky-enough-to-be-fun late-October magic in the air. A bonfire crackling and gleaming through the fading twilight. Long-pants weather. Maybe even (dare I say it?) long sleeves weather. An excuse to finally dig out and wear scarves and hats.
...Basically it's just a whole bunch of the things that make life sweet-- and it means an end to the months of feeling like nature hates me. Being outdoors can finally stop feeling like a punishment, for a few weeks at least. ;o) Yes, I'm ready for that.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
"A Large, Amoral, Brutalised Sub-Culture"
"UK riots 2011: Liberal dogma has spawned a generation of amoral, uneducated, welfare dependent, brutalised youth."
I have to agree, and unfortunately, we're facing many of the same problems, here.
I have to agree, and unfortunately, we're facing many of the same problems, here.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Zombies, Spiders, & Snakes (Oh My)
The news is depressing, lately. ("But when is it not?" you ask. So true.)
An odd jumble of things I was thinking about yesterday (the London riots, music from zombie movies, etc.) led to an exciting night of vivid dreaming about zombies. (I am now about to relate that dream, in part. Those who dislike reading about other people's dreams should consider themselves warned.)
We were living in a beautifully dreary (green-on-the-verge-of-autumnal, almost perpetually cloudy-skied) English neighborhood. Zombies roamed the world-- had done so for long enough that people had moved past the freak-out stage of reaction and now just accepted them as a threat. That threat kept people tethered to their own personal safe zones, but we were afforded some small comfort by the fact that the zombies were mostly only mobile after dark. (Yeah, subconscious. Way to mix zombies with vampires...) For some reason, we ended up moving in with the family next door. (Consolidating resources? Safety in numbers?)
There was a fair bit of mundane interaction with this family-- conversation, routines, making do, repairing things. One day, while we worked on something outdoors during the relative safety of daylight, the wife/mother spoke of how she came from New Zealand, originally, and wished she could go back home, though she was afraid of what she'd find. I sympathized, of course, but commented wryly that at least the weather here suited me well. She was tired of clouds, and on cue, we glimpsed a fleeting patch of blue sky.
We and the family had plenty of safety measures in place and were doing as well as could be expected. We even discussed the possibility of putting up some sort of makeshift, protective passageway between our two homes, so that we could travel between them at night, in an emergency. But despite our planning, I had a gloomy sense that these things-- zombie scenarios-- never end well. Something always goes wrong, eventually, no matter how careful you are. Someone always has a moment of thoughtlessness, of stupidity-- wanders off too far-- or for reasons beyond his control, comes face-to-face with the monster when least expected. And, of course, since it was my dream, where I have the most amazing ability of prediction, that's exactly what happened.
I'll spare you the gory details. ;o)
I've seen a couple of large spiders on the outside of the house, lately-- not the exotic, alien-looking "banana spiders" that come later in the year and turn a woodland path into a creepy, crawly obstacle course of giant webs and palm-sized arachnids that seem to be invisible until they're dangling mere inches from your face. These are probably somewhat smaller than banana spiders, but they're darker and fuzzier to make up for it. There's something sinister about them-- but then, I don't like any spiders very much. It's this type of thing that makes me so unique, which is why I bother mentioning it at all.
This weekend, we found another skinny snake stuck in the silicone (?) caulking around the exterior of our kitchen window. It's so bizarre, the way that keeps happening! That's at least the second one we've found in that window, alone. (There have been more in the bay window.) We can't be the only ones having that particular problem-- but a quick Google search yields no relevant results, so I'm not sure what's going on, really.
The ones that get caught on the kitchen window have a better chance of survival, since we're more likely to spot them and try to free them before it's too late. Donald managed to get this one loose and drop it outside the fence. It was another of those corn snakes, I think. I'd much rather have them around than something worse, so live, little snake, and eat up all the food before your big, bad cousins decide this is an attractive location.
- - - - - - -
An odd jumble of things I was thinking about yesterday (the London riots, music from zombie movies, etc.) led to an exciting night of vivid dreaming about zombies. (I am now about to relate that dream, in part. Those who dislike reading about other people's dreams should consider themselves warned.)
We were living in a beautifully dreary (green-on-the-verge-of-autumnal, almost perpetually cloudy-skied) English neighborhood. Zombies roamed the world-- had done so for long enough that people had moved past the freak-out stage of reaction and now just accepted them as a threat. That threat kept people tethered to their own personal safe zones, but we were afforded some small comfort by the fact that the zombies were mostly only mobile after dark. (Yeah, subconscious. Way to mix zombies with vampires...) For some reason, we ended up moving in with the family next door. (Consolidating resources? Safety in numbers?)
There was a fair bit of mundane interaction with this family-- conversation, routines, making do, repairing things. One day, while we worked on something outdoors during the relative safety of daylight, the wife/mother spoke of how she came from New Zealand, originally, and wished she could go back home, though she was afraid of what she'd find. I sympathized, of course, but commented wryly that at least the weather here suited me well. She was tired of clouds, and on cue, we glimpsed a fleeting patch of blue sky.
We and the family had plenty of safety measures in place and were doing as well as could be expected. We even discussed the possibility of putting up some sort of makeshift, protective passageway between our two homes, so that we could travel between them at night, in an emergency. But despite our planning, I had a gloomy sense that these things-- zombie scenarios-- never end well. Something always goes wrong, eventually, no matter how careful you are. Someone always has a moment of thoughtlessness, of stupidity-- wanders off too far-- or for reasons beyond his control, comes face-to-face with the monster when least expected. And, of course, since it was my dream, where I have the most amazing ability of prediction, that's exactly what happened.
I'll spare you the gory details. ;o)
- - - - - - -
I've seen a couple of large spiders on the outside of the house, lately-- not the exotic, alien-looking "banana spiders" that come later in the year and turn a woodland path into a creepy, crawly obstacle course of giant webs and palm-sized arachnids that seem to be invisible until they're dangling mere inches from your face. These are probably somewhat smaller than banana spiders, but they're darker and fuzzier to make up for it. There's something sinister about them-- but then, I don't like any spiders very much. It's this type of thing that makes me so unique, which is why I bother mentioning it at all.
- - - - - - -
This weekend, we found another skinny snake stuck in the silicone (?) caulking around the exterior of our kitchen window. It's so bizarre, the way that keeps happening! That's at least the second one we've found in that window, alone. (There have been more in the bay window.) We can't be the only ones having that particular problem-- but a quick Google search yields no relevant results, so I'm not sure what's going on, really.
The ones that get caught on the kitchen window have a better chance of survival, since we're more likely to spot them and try to free them before it's too late. Donald managed to get this one loose and drop it outside the fence. It was another of those corn snakes, I think. I'd much rather have them around than something worse, so live, little snake, and eat up all the food before your big, bad cousins decide this is an attractive location.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Worlds Colliding!
(Via James Lileks on Twitter...)
If you're familiar with The Andy Griffith Show and the original Star Trek TV series, maybe you'll appreciate this "worlds colliding" moment. Apparently, two Star Trek episodes used the "Mayberry" sets when the crew of the Enterprise visited an Earth-like planet. Check out some stills on this site: Mayberry in Star Trek.
My favorite is the one where Kirk and some lady are walking right past Floyd's Barber Shop-- with the name right there on the window. (g) If only they'd gone in and visited a while with the friendly denizens of Mayberry!
If you're familiar with The Andy Griffith Show and the original Star Trek TV series, maybe you'll appreciate this "worlds colliding" moment. Apparently, two Star Trek episodes used the "Mayberry" sets when the crew of the Enterprise visited an Earth-like planet. Check out some stills on this site: Mayberry in Star Trek.
My favorite is the one where Kirk and some lady are walking right past Floyd's Barber Shop-- with the name right there on the window. (g) If only they'd gone in and visited a while with the friendly denizens of Mayberry!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)