by jphilo | Aug 26, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. The temperature soared as soon as the municipal pool was drained.
9. Our property tax bill, due at the end of September, arrived.
8. My waking hours are spent trying to think of a gift Mom would like for her birthday in September. The only idea so far is to put a big bow on our property tax bill and give it to her. But I have a feeling she’ll just give that back.
7. Despite all the rain we’ve had lately, the leaves on the trees are now more yellow-green than vibrant green.
6. The cricket that found its way into our bedroom likes to sing. At night. We are not amused.
5. For the past week or so, the daylight’s been pretty dim when I leave for my morning walk.
4. Unless you arrive at Hickory Park the minute they open, there’s a 5 to 15 minute wait for a booth, now that the college kids are moving back to ISU.
3. My to do list includes trips to Walmart and Target to check the back to school aisles for clearance bargains.
2. Every once in a while, soup and other cold weather comfort foods like Balkan Meatballs sound like a good idea for supper…even though it’s still way too hot to enjoy them.
1. Every time I walk by the empty Boone Municipal Pool, I feel sad. How much longer until spring?
by jphilo | Jun 19, 2012 | Top Ten Tuesday
Yesterday, the weather was hot, steamy, and breezy – our first 90+ day of the year. The sweltering and sweating that accompanied the temperatures revealed these top ten benefits to hot weather:
10. Days like yesterday take the bloom off the I-want-to-live-on-a-tropical-island fantasy.
9. Days like yesterday make winter more attractive.
8. Hot weather motivates me to get up early to walk, and then I feel ahead of schedule all day long.
7. Hot afternoons means either grilling or cold supper to keep the heat out of the kitchen. Yum to both prospects!
6. I have less appetite on hot days. This phenomenon has not yet translated into consistent summer weight loss, but hope springs eternal in this human’s hips.
5. The heat make a person grateful for air conditioning
4. Hot days are a convenient excuse for staying inside to write instead of doing yard work.
3. This is sweet corn weather. Can’t you just taste it?
2. Ditto for tomato weather.
1. Days like yesterday give grandmas-in-training an excuse to take the neighbor kids to the pool and soak up the sunshine together.
What are benefits do 90+ days hold for you? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | May 11, 2012 | Walking Down the Gravel Road
This beautiful spring morning, I decided not to lug my camera along on my walk.
“I took it yesterday,” I reminded myself. “And what with stopping to take pictures of
our town’s freshly painted, newly filled swimming pool,
two goldfinches playing king-of-the-hill at a bird feeder,
Papa Gander, Mama Goose, and the goslings out for their morning constitutional,
and a bluejay in a tree, I wasted a good portion of the morning.
So no, I won’t take it along today.”
My decision seemed like the right one at first.
The swimming pool looked much the same as yesterday.
The bird feeder was abandoned.
The pond was still as glass and empty.
The bluejays were nowhere to be found.
But just past the pond, an unfamiliar chirping made my head lift.
Only a yard away, at eye level,
An indigo bunting perched in a sapling.
It glowed in a shaft of sunlight,
puffed its chest, and sang a clear and piercing song.
Yesterday, I took my camera.
But today I chose
Time over nature,
Time over beauty.
Time over a picture I’ve been waiting years to capture with the lens.
When will I learn that time hoarded is opportunity lost?
