Say What?

My blog has fallen in priority as I've been spending most of my time down in my shop working on stained glass projects. One would think that making an entry in a blog would be a quick 30-minute exercise but it's not. At least not for me—not usually, anyway. But here I am, determined to make an entry of some sort for future reference. I began a rather large stained glass project for Bryan and Sue last spring after we'd returned from visiting them  in Oregon. They had a decades-old, wood-framed stained glass panel hanging in the sidelight of their front entry which has a few cracked pieces of glass. I offered to remake the window, figuring it would be just as easy to simply redo the entire panel rather than repairing it. They told me it wasn't necessary to copy the existing panel and to feel free to do whatever my heart desired for the space. And so I did. I came up with plans for a 3-part panel but I didn't share the design with them, wanting it to be a surpris...

My day usually begins anywhere from 5:30 to 7:00 when Toby wakes up and lets me know it's time. His most effective method for waking me is a fake sneeze that sounds like the real deal, but I know it's not. We head downstairs and I let the pups out, standing with them in the front yard while they do their business. The occasional coyote or fox is enough of a threat that I don't like to leave them unattended. We go inside and I turn on the gas fireplace in the sunporch to take the chill out of the air so it's toasty warm when Tammy comes down a half-hour later. The pups prance at my feet while I fix their main meal of the day. I reach over and flip on the TV to Morning Joe to get a recap of the previous day's happenings. I like my news shows to offer a variety of opinions from people across the political spectrum, and Morning Joe does that. During commercial breaks, I'll switch to some of the other competing morning shows to see what they're discussing. Two ...

Today would've been Mom's 90th birthday. She died a few years ago, just shy of her 87th birthday, and on the same day that I retired—9/3/15. For years, she was so certain that each birthday, Christmas or Mother's Day, etc. would be her last. I would try and assure her that she still had many years left to live but of course, she'd eventually be right. She never found love again after my father died in 1995. I asked her about it once and I got the feeling that she felt a sense of loyalty to him and didn't want to betray their bond. She was only 66 and would live another 20 years, alone. I never mentioned it again to her. Here's thinking of you, Mom. I think I may be done with organized religion. I won't speak for Tammy. We joined a church in Lakeville two years ago but I've lost my desire to continue on as I question more than ever the faith I've been practicing ever since I can remember. I'm a spiritual person who believes in a higher power ...

In keeping with my strange obsession with tracking meaningless stuff, I'm up to 50 bags of leaves this year. That's important to know because once I get to 59 (the most I've ever filled), I'm pretty much home free when it comes to yard work, and I could use a break. I typically mow/vacuum up leaves once, maybe twice a week but I was out there 5 times in the last 7 days! I've never done that. It gets a bit overwhelming if I wait too long so I sorta like this new approach. With the exception of some major trimming of trees in our yard, I've done all of the landscaping work myself over the years, until now. I hired a guy to remove 3 Japanese Yews in front of our home rather than do the work myself. They'd become overgrown  from 26 years of growth in spite of my best efforts to keep them trimmed. I was reading online where they're a real pain to remove because of their root structure and I just didn't want the hassle, not with all of the other yard wo...

The plan was to spend the day in the yard but a steady snowfall through the morning and into the afternoon kept me indoors. I was in need of a lazy day so I was happy to comply. Tammy and I went to see Aussie Pink Floyd at The State Theater in Minneapolis Friday night. They're an Australian band who play Pink Floyd covers. Pink Floyd has been a favorite for as long as I can remember and their lead guitarist, David Gilmour, is one of the coolest guys in rock. I wasn't sure what to expect when we sat in our seats. The guy next to me said he'd seen them before and that we should expect an awesome show. He wasn't fooling. He also said the band has been performing together for about 30 years and that they were actually hired by David Gilmour to play at his 50th birthday celebration. What a fun night! Here are some snippets of video I took of a few of the songs they played. There was so much more. As we were leaving the theater we were greeted by some buskers drummi...

It's dusk as I sit down to write this, and it's usually around this time that I can look out at our hummingbird feeders and see at least one little flyer feeding at them before darting for the safety of the dense foliage between the neighboring homes. But not tonight. It appears they've all made the trip south. The last sighting I had of one was last Saturday morning. Safe travels, my little friends! My niece Erin and her daughter Anja went to see an astronomy/stargazing class last week put on by Mike Lynch, a meteorologist for WCCO radio. It's something I've been meaning to do for the longest time but hadn't, until last Thursday night. (Thanks, Erin, for the prompt.) Our family lived two doors down from Mike and his family  in 1965 when I was 8 years old. I'd long since lost touch with Mike, Don, and Steve so it was nice to arrive a little early before Mike's presentation to talk with him. Through Mike, I was able to reconnect with Don. Don and I ...

I was sitting with the pups and my laptop this morning in our sunporch when something in my periphery caught my attention. I hadn't seen a hummingbird at our feeders in more than two days so I assumed they'd all begun their 2-week trip south to more hospitable weather. I was wrong. It's October 1st and we've still got at least one hearty soul staying put. I quickly changed out the nectar in their feeders for one last time. I think. Tammy and I spent all of Thursday watching the testimony of Dr. Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She claims he sexually assaulted her 36 years ago and that her claim needs to be heard before he's granted a lifetime appointment to our nation's highest court. It was riveting television but it was also exhausting. I was left with a helpless feeling that Kavanaugh's confirmation is pretty much a sure thing. Democrats simply don't have the votes to stop it, and it's doubtful that th...