Musings

We enjoyed a tasty and festive brunch at our niece’s….

…with entertainment by young Nova…

…and our not-a-tree welcomed us home to almost-vegetarian left-over chili.

Posted at 7:29 PM | Comments Off on Festive trio

Our fine decorative wooden bench in the front yard is a lichen wonderland. My latest gardening success?!!

Posted at 8:03 PM | Comments Off on Fungi + fungal partner

On this day in 2017, we were high-tailing it for Seattle, stopping briefly to watch the sun set at what was once a regional center-of-the-world, now a place called Cahokia, in the state of Illinois. Before it got this dark, we watched the deer come in to feed on the open ground around the many, many civic-ceremonial mounds that remain.

Posted at 7:14 PM | Comments Off on Mem’ries

Seasonal public art.

Honoring new-to-me medication I just got today. So far: successful. It’s a gel with 1% diclofenac sodium (yes, I got the generic), to treat arthritis joint pain and swelling. With the first treatment, I felt much better in 10 minutes, which is huge. It’s rather messy to put on, especially compared to the ease of chugging a couple of tablets, but the NSAID chemistry is better overall with the gel than by-mouth tabs.

Posted at 7:12 PM | Comments Off on Oh, JOY

Enjoying remembering this line of folks enjoying the sun on this bridge over the Liffey in Dublin in 2018. Here, overcast and rainy, and cold. No sun. No Liffey.

Posted at 6:11 PM | Comments Off on Antidote

Omicron is the dominant strain of COVID now in the US. This is what highly transmissible statistics look like.

And my sense of science indicates more variants are coming…not just variants, but variants we civilians will be talking about.

Yikes.

Posted at 7:30 PM | Comments Off on Oh, my

We watched the final episode of this season of “Succession,” and those are the nastiest folks. Every one. At the drop of an iPhone, they will connive and lie and insult, and, mostly mean it.

Posted at 8:55 PM | Comments Off on Five-star backstabbers

This was the easy one: no typical recipe details (e.g., teaspoons and whatnot) needed. Just halve grape tomatoes, skewer half, then skewer a piece of buffala mozzarella and a basil leaf, then add the other tomato half. Just before serving, drizzle with balsamic glaze (e.g., Trader Giotto’s).

Thanks to Cousin M for this….

Posted at 8:06 PM | 1 Comment »

Got more Blue Ridge vista views.

Got high-altitude clouds.

Got truly high.

Got Greenville.

And this is the view of Reedy Falls from the Freedom Bridge, above.

Posted at 9:04 PM | Comments Off on Got…

Our first notable sight, however, was a covered bridge made of blackened, tarred (?), timbers. Private. Keep your vehicle off.

Today’s headline has to be about the long views, however. Especially long from the top of Mount Mitchell. Highest peak east of the Mississippi, if you can read the fine print.

And up in that rarified atmosphere, the acid rain is killing the most susceptible species (hemlock?), and the tree skeletons are being colonized by mosses and lichens. Life goes on.

At a lower elevation, another tree skeleton, very artful.

Posted at 7:03 PM | 1 Comment »