Naselle
Friday, November 14
Got back from my trip to the Pacific Northwest. Had a good time, saw lots of trees, mountains, the coast, family, and lovely new grandniece.
Discovered a new talent: if I hold the baby, it is sure and certain the child will poop. Maybe I can go on Jay Leno or something.
The older grandniece and I were the first ones up in the morning. Zoe introduced me to the concept of "mixed" cereal, which consists of 7/8ths Toasty Os and 1/8 Cocoa Blasts. It wasn't bad, but I figure it would take me months to go through a bag of Coco Blasts (what a weird name!) on my own.
My sister and I took a trip to the coast and then down to southern Oregon to see our father and had a very nice time. We went though a number of small towns. One was called "Naselle." We wondered how it would be pronounced and decided on "nasal" as the American Way of pronunciation.
"So," I joked, "the place doesn't have streets, just nasal passages. . . ".
This set my sister off, and for many miles we entertained ourselves by naming things in Naselle. The ones we could remember that night at dinner included:
A town population sign with the words
"Congested Area Ahead"
The Honky Tonk Saloon
Bob's Hambooger Joint
Snotty Pine Inn
Naselle Spray Paints
Naselle Drip Espresso
Snot-Nosed Kids Day Care
Naselle Ear and Throat Clinic
Kleenex Supper Club
Drip Dry Cleaners
The Blow and Dry Hairdressers
Deviated Septic Co.
Naselle Allergy Specialists
Nostrildamus Fortune Telling (my favorite)
These are mostly Meg's. What can I say? Brilliantly twisted? Disgusting? You be the judge.
There were others, but we've forgotten them. I'm sure other folks will come up with equally charming concepts.
Just got our first real snow of the season. Fender benders all over the place, NOP for this time of year. Hope it melts off enough for me to mulch the plants.
Nice to be back, though. Hope all is well out there!
Frostytreez
Friday, November 21
Yesterday we had the joy of freezing fog, but boy, did the trees look great. You could have set "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" in Minnesota with no problem. The sky was very grey, so the tips of the frosted trees melted into the sky. Seriously ethereal.
Birds are going through the birdseed at an astounding rate. We get mostly sparrows, which are not ethereal. The squirrels destroyed the wooden birdfeeder, so I got two new ones. The cheap plastic one is already broken, although I might be able to fix it. The soda bottle converter works fine. You buy the zinc perch, screw it into the top of a plastic soda bottle, attach a little bail wire into a couple of holes you've melted into the bottom of the bottle (which will function as the top), fill and hang.
Sparrows prefer to feed on the ground. Two generally take over the two small perches, and start trying to feed, scattering seed far and wide as they fend off all comers. The two on the perches don't get much to eat but the birds on the ground do fine. Eventually the two greedy guts are replaced by two others and the original two hop to the ground after sulking for a while. Entertaining. Keeps Dover amused for hours.
By now my friends Arthur and Wendy should have opened their new store in Fresno, California. They are avid collectors of Disney, especially Mickey Mouse, action dolls, Native American Art and whatever else strikes their fancy. I don't know the exact location, but the store is called "Oh, Grow Up!" and I'm sure it's a delight. Visit if you get a chance. I believe they have a catalogue, but am not sure.
Many years ago Arthur introduced me to the concept of wind-up sushi — that should give you a clue.
Hope everyone out there is doing fine and getting ready to give thanks. I, personally, am giving thanks for finding the hair drier. Been looking for it for months and found it in the spare medicine cabinet, where I must have stashed it after drying some paint last spring. Yes, it belongs there, but how was I to know I'd had a tidy fit five months ago? Now we can shrink-wrap the windows for winter. Yay!
