Good morning on this rather cool, cloudy, wet evening on the last Monday of the month of September and it is definitely a cool day once again and we have been getting cool day after day for a while now and though I know it is fall, or autumn if you prefer, but it is still very cool even for this time of year although it did manage to climb all the way up to 52F, or 11C for those who prefer the more inaccurate form of measuring temperature, which I definitely do not and I can’t understand why anyone would but this is a strange world at times and it is really and actually officially fall now and this is a beautiful time of year except of course for one thing and that is quite simply because it is very cool and wet and is supposed to continue very cool and wet this fall, meaning of course that it rains a lot, which is not something that I enjoy since I am definitely a warm weather type of person where it is warm enough that you don’t have to dress so warm it is hard to move around and of course fall means that we move from cool to cold to very cold to extremely cold where we stay for a few months and…sigh.  What a terrible thing to think about.  I missed last week.  Well, in some ways I didn’t miss last week but I still missed last week, if you know what I mean.  Technical difficulties again.  Me, this time.  Often it is, even if it isn’t, if you know what I mean.  I have started my Christmas shopping.  Hey, it’s cold, what else is there to do?  Besides, stores are putting out Christmas displays already so why not start shopping?  And to think that dad and I used to enjoy going insulatoring this time of year.  Though it was nicer when the weather was a bit warmer than it has been lately.  This is just too cool.  Or did I mention that already?  Anyway, back to insulatoring.  Dad and I finally made it to our destination, or at least the beginning of our destination.  So we decided to sit down and have an early lunch before heading out looking for the elusive chunks of glass and porcelain.  Dad says to me, you sit here while I go sit over there.  How nice, doesn’t even want to sit close to me.  Oh well.  You’re not going to sit on that log are you?, I asked.  Naturally, said dad, it’s a good place to sit.  Could be bees living in that old log, I said.  Too fresh and solid, he replied.  Uh, maybe you shouldn’t sit there anyway, said I.  Just toss me my sandwiches, said dad, and do it gently.  So I did, and he caught them for a change.  Then it happened.  Dad suddenly jumps up, drops his sandwiches and starts yelling and dancing around.  Good thing no one else is around to see you, I said.  I’m covered with ants, dad yelled!  Not surprising, you put your foot right on top of their little home, I said.  Dad was ripping his pants off at this point.  AAAAAAAAA!!!!!!  What are you doing?, I yelled.  Dad didn’t reply, he was too busy wiping ants off of himself.  Why didn’t you tell me there was ants?, asked dad.  Well, actually, I did try to warn you but you didn’t listen, I replied.  BONEHEAD!  Strange that he could possibly be enjoying himself.  For any new readers out there, dad used to say BONEHEAD a lot when we were together.  I finally figured it must mean he was enjoying himself.  Couldn’t think of any other reason for saying it so much.  Oh well. One of dad’s sandwiches was now covered with ants.  Just scrape them off, I said, they are likely clean little critters.  Dad just looked at me.  Somehow I don’t think he believed me.  Sigh.  Dad sat down on a small rock and asked me to toss him his thermos of COFFEE.  So I did.  Dad was bent over looking at something on the ground.  THUNK!  Right on his head.  Knocked his glasses off.  And his hat.  And he got up quickly holding his head and moaning.  NO, be careful, I yelled!!  Guess it startled dad and he sat down very suddenly forgetting he had been sitting on a rock so he yelled again.  Then he asked what was wrong.  I didn’t want you to step on your glasses, I said.  I had already picked them up, dad replied, now I have dropped them again, and I can’t see them now.  Neither could I.  Dad just sat there looking all around, after telling me not to move.  I just wanted to help.  Over there by the ants, I called out.  Good, go get them, he said.  Me?  It was your fault, he said.  How could it be my fault when I was trying to help you?, I asked.  But I got them anyway.  You really should be more careful with these, I said as I walked over to him.  That’s when I tripped.  Dad’s eyes got real big.  He was pouring his COFFEE at the time, knocked the cup on the ground, COFFEE ran down his leg.  Dad jumped up again.  At least he didn’t dance around this time or rip his pants off.  BONEHEAD!  Amazing.  It was such a nice sunny and warm day.  Unlike today which is cloudy, cool and wet.  Sigh.  Whatever the weather I hope you can get out and enjoy your week!  God bless!

Steve.

And then there are critters.  But that is for next week.

Well, here it is another day in another week in a very unpredictable type of month being our first month of fall, or autumn if you prefer.  I prefer ‘fall’ myself since that is what happens this time of year.  Leaves fall.  Trees fall.  I fall.  And how.  Like the other day.  Taking out the garbage.  Which has become a rather dangerous chore for this character.  It always seems like something happens to make something relatively simple something amazingly difficult or dangerous or even sometimes hilarious which is not what happened this time although it might have seemed that way to anyone who might have witnessed the activity which fortunately no one did witness what happened which is a good thing since it probably would have elicited some rather hearty laughter and I can understand that when I stopped to think of how it really must have looked as I started down the steps with garbage can thumping on each step and then the final step which ends on the lawn which now has a rather large hole right at that location due to the much rain we have had this summer, and yes I know that is not exactly good grammar but then nothing in these ‘musings’ usually is and getting on with my little story here, when the wheel hit that hole in the ground the garbage can stopped rather abruptly sending the handle into my stomach which then caused the garbage can to turn over to the side dumping the blue box which was on top speeding its way to the ground and sending its contents in every direction with the garbage can right behind it kind of twisting its way down and me trying to stop all of this and I just kind of followed everything in a downward direction and landing on top of the garbage can and rolling over onto the ground and almost getting it rolling over me and of course there are rocks right there and a small drainage ditch for the water when it rains and all in all it was quite uncomfortable and to be quite honest it HURT!!  But thinking about what it must have looked like since all of this did not happen quickly and therefore it must have looked amazingly funny which did make me laugh quite a bit though that made it harder to get up on my feet again and…oh well, it’s over.  Fortunately.  Thanks to the many of you who inquired about little Muffin from last week and as you know she is back home safe and sound after her rather terrifying experience outdoors lost in the fog.  What a time that was.  But she is happy to be home and inside again.  She is not an outdoor cat, so this was not fun.  At least for me.  500 hundred new grey hairs over that one.  Sigh.  How did that happen you ask?  Simple.  A chipmunk managed to get inside when I tossed out a handful of peanuts.  Muffin was sleeping at the time.  Not for long.  The chase was on throughout the apartment.  I left the door open so hopefully the chipmunk could escape and I could stop Muffin before she got out.  Right.  I’m not sure where my brain was that morning.  Me, whose top speed is less than 1 mph trying to stop a cat moving at 50 mph.  It didn’t work obviously.  But prayer did.  And she was back by late afternoon.  Sigh.  Sometimes I think I’m getting old.  Sigh.  Oddly enough that chipmunk still comes for peanuts.  Obviously he didn’t learn anything.  Or he figures that peanuts are worth the danger of becoming cat food.  Almost as bad as the squirrel awhile back that was sitting on the edge of the bird bath, on the deep end, with his head totally submerged.  He’s trying to drown himself!  NO! Stop little squirrel!  Things can’t be that bad!  Then he pops up his little head holding part of a peanut.  Chuck, the crow, likes to sit on the edge of the bird bath at that spot and break open peanuts, when he manages to get one.  Guess he dropped a piece and decided it wasn’t worth diving for it.  But the squirrel figured it was worth the effort.  Strange critters around here.  But that fits me I guess.  People ask me how I get such strange names for my critters.  From my brain of course.  Where else would I arrive at strange names.  Shouldn’t be hard to figure that one out.  Sigh.  I know.  I was supposed to continue that saga with dad and I.  But it was too cold today to talk about a hot day, even though there is some similarities.  Next week.  It was only 51F today.  Just a few days ago it was 81F, a much nicer temp.  This is just too cold.  Even for this time of year.  And now it is raining.  Supposed to get a lot of rain tonight.  And thunderstorms.  Which is also amazing considering it is so cold.  Sigh.  Summer is definitely finished.  Sigh.  I hope some of you are experiencing better weather where you live.  But no matter what the weather, try to enjoy your fall weekend and God bless!

Steve.  And Muffin. And critters.