Time's Up

It was a quiet family day here.  The Grands spent the last day of their long weekend here with us before heading back to school and home.  We miss their energy once they have gone.

They slept in while I walked this morning, through the neighborhoods at the bottom of the hill, returning through the Sunset Bluff shortcut past the tennis courts, then home.

Many of my neighbors took advantage of the relatively milder weather these past couple of days and have put up Christmas decorations.   It's as good a sign as any that November is done and December is ready to take its turn.  And so it goes.

Indeed

Penultimate Post of BEDFAMM

I'm probably going to do today's contribution in stages.  I'll try to hit on some of themes that I've used this month to fill this space.  Since it's the next to the last day of this month, a new light at the end of the tunnel photo seemed appropriate.  Taken on this morning's walk.

A fairly common theme has been the lake outside my door/windows.  November isn't really a beach month, but the lake still makes its presence felt most days.  Photo below taken from the end of the tunnel.

Other common threads woven through this month were family (especially the COTU) and outdoor activities.  And of course the weather.  Always the weather.  Check back later, we'll see what else I come up with ......  Okay, I'm back.  This didn't work out quite the way I originally envisioned it, but I will persevere.  Use of the family theme got me through many a weekend of blog posts and this one is no exception.  The Centers of the Universe arrived this afternoon and have a movie/BBC marathon planned for our evening's entertainment. I'd say from the looks on their faces that they're a little bored with being my photography models.  Priceless.

An early supper at Russ' Restaurant

It may be that all of those years spent standing in front of a classroom have given me an edge when it comes to making up stuff to fill up some time and space.  In any case, I haven't really found BEDFAMM to be all that much of a chore.  A challenge, yes.  But not a chore.  I love getting a glimpse into how each of you fills this space every day, and I'm thankful to our fearless leader for conning us into this.  One more to go.

Irony

Today was the day the trash was picked up here.  Picture this.  I walk out into the garage, wearing my YakTrax on my boots.  I then take the handle of the trash container, tip it back on its two wheels and start to push it out of the garage between the two vehicles.  The springs on the bottom of the YakTrax snag on the piece of carpet we use as a rug at the door to the house from the garage.  My feet become tangled in the rug, the trash container -- on wheels -- continues to move forward with me still holding on to the handle.  In slow motion, I fall onto the garage floor taking the trash container with me.   I untangle my feet from the rug, pick up the trash container, take it to the curb and continue on.  The irony?  The devices that I purchased to prevent falls on the ice caused a fall on concrete.

About half way through the morning walk.   Photo by Jill.

I then walked over 2.5 miles on slippery streets without a hint of a slip.  Other than a sore knee, no harm was done.  But it seems prudent to caution anyone who uses YakTrax to be careful when walking on a carpeted surface.  Or rugs.

Thanksgiving in Michigan

We had a pretty nice day today, and I hope my faithful readers did, too.  Given the certainty that I was going to abandon all forms of dietary discipline, a morning walk seemed like the least I could do for myself.  We got caught in a snow squall on the final leg and our faithful desert dog got renamed snow dog.

JB and I loaded up our four wheel drive vehicle and headed north, giving thanks for new tires.  Our ambitious plan was to celebrate two holidays on the same day.  OSLO had everything under control in her kitchen when we arrived, so our first order of business was to exchange gifts.  A lot of thought and love went into what we received, and JB and I were both touched.

It was a two dog day, which was fine.

JB made his traditional gravy, with his traditional patience, and it was very good.

It was a smallish group at the table -- but we made a pretty good dent in an 18 pound turkey.  The food was excellent, as was the company.  I bought OSLO a turkey platter so that I don't have to bring mine every year when I come for Thanksgiving dinner.  I've officially handed off that torch to her.

Check the radar behind the COTU in the third photo from the bottom.  Once again I'll say that I'm thankful for my truck.  Slow and easy, and we made it home safely.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Eve

We're going to OSLO's tomorrow for turkey day, so my preparations for the meal are minimal.  I have wild rice cooking, and I will be making some stuffing to bring with  us.  A pumpkin pie and a cherry pie were purchased as Russ' restaurant last night, and she has the rest under control, she says.  JB will make the gravy, as is traditional.  With some time on my hands and some adequate cold weather gear, I got outside enough today to get my pedometer to register over 10,000 steps for the day.

The lake was quieter today than it has been for quite a while.

Kelly's next door neighbor has decided she'd rather live in a condo downtown.  She's a single woman with a college aged child, and works at the college.  I've known her for years, and like her.  I'm a little sad to see the sign go up.  Though for what she's asking for the place, it might be a while before it sells.

The guy who plows our driveway in the winter got caught unprepared with our first big snowfall.  Today they got the stakes in to mark the edge of the lawn and the end of the driveway.  Tomorrow's blog post should just about write itself, then an easy slide to the end of the month.  It's looking promising.  Happy Thanksgiving Eve to you all.

Miles to go...

It wasn't so much that nothing happened today as it was that nothing happened that I want to write a blog post about.  There was a 9 am hair appointment, followed by a grocery shopping trip.  (I have everything I need for what I'm bringing to OSLO's for Thursday's dinner.)  I took a short walk early this afternoon, but I have trouble getting motivated to walk alone.  Biking alone is great, walking alone -- not so much.  Later Jill and Charlie stopped by to see if I wanted to take a walk -- I did -- and even later JB and I went to Russ' to pick up the pies I'd ordered for Thursday.  See?  Just an ordinary day.  I don't really want to blog about my appliances, either.  Though I appreciate the suggestion and it was nice of Wireless to try to help out.  (I do have a new washing machine.  It's pretty nice.)  I think maybe it's time to start thinking about something a little different.

I don't know.  That high surf advisory could be a deal breaker...

NCAA Division III National championship -- Go Hope!

Earlier this month I went to a (women's) volleyball game between Hope and Calvin, mentioned here .  It was the championship game for our conference, and another battle in the religious war between the two Dutch schools, which Calvin won, sadly.   Calvin was National champ last year for NCAA Division III, and had a strong team again this year.  This year both teams went to Regionals, and both moved on to the final four where in the first round on Saturday, Hope beat Calvin.  (Loud cheering.)  Today Hope's women played the women from Emory University for the National Title.  Emory won the National title in 2010 and lost it to (wait for it) Calvin, last year.  It was Hope's first trip to the Championship round.  Emory 2, Hope 3.  (More loud cheering.)  I watched the game with the members of my morning walk group at Kelly's on her big TV.  It was a nice way to  spend a blustery Monday afternoon.

Nothing bittersweet about it.

Pre-HolidayActivity

Along the hill that leads to where I live there is a tree with a squirrels' nest in it. It was on my walking route this morning.

The vehicle gates to Tunnel Park are closed and locked for the winter -- they don't permanently lock the pedestrians' gate, as far as I know.  At least it was open this morning.

I noticed condensation dripping from the ceiling of the tunnel, and a few big cracks.  It's an old tunnel.

No snow on the beach today.  Or much of anywhere near the lake shore.

No ice, either.  It was 50 degrees.

The chairs must have been surprised by the meltdown.  The full route was around the neighborhood, down the hill, through the tunnel and back up the beach to our stairs.  Less than a mile and a half.  And then the rain arrived.  The restricted exercise is becoming a problem.

The Grands were here and we finished up some Christmas present wrapping.  We're planning to exchange gifts with them on Thanksgiving since we'll be gone on the actual holiday.

The college girl has a potluck lunch tomorrow at her school, and her group has been asked to bring dessert.  She's bringing chocolate chip and sugar cookies.  This was the frosting/decorating stage.  ThanksChristmas is just a few days away.

No Snow

There are no new photos in the queue, it was a gray, foggy and drizzley day.  Not a day that lends itself to picture taking.  There was a morning walk today, and the Grands arrived this afternoon to brighten our day.  JB successfully fought off some computer viruses, TJ and I did some Christmas shopping (quite successfully, I believe), the college girl went off to visit some friends but will return later this evening, and for the first time since the snow began last Sunday, we ate out.  All good stuff, but in any month but November, nothing bloggable occurred.  NaBloPoMo rule number 1 -- use a photo, or two.  This one is recent, taken on a shopping trip downtown this week.  It has bicycle content, in a way, and it demonstrates the effect of the snow-melt system being used along 8th Street downtown.  Warm water from the power plant is piped beneath the streets and sidewalks, and the snow melts.  WooHoo.

In yesterday's comments, TT asked me where the lake effect snow is.  You've heard that Buffalo got 7 feet of it.  Grand Rapids, MI has a new record amount of snow for November, measured at the airport at 29 inches, much of it lake effect, all of it fell this week.  36 inches fell at the TV station that was reporting all of this, all of it this week.  We were in the band right along the lake itself that got 3-6 inches, and the 3 inches is closer.  And no, this isn't how lake effect usually works.  The reason for this oddity, we're told, is wind.   Glass pane bending, relentless wind for days on end that blew the snow inland as far as Lansing.  (Nearly unheard of.)  I don't know if any of this is true, but it's what we're told.  After an all day drizzle, we're close to being snow free.  Go figure.

A Walk on the Winter Beach

The wind calmed down enough to go down to the beach this morning -- and down was the direction we took, but first we did some up. Because, you know, it's not far enough down there from here.  The morning walking group first hiked past the edge of the tennis courts in the back corner of this neighborhood, then up that hill into Sunset Bluff.  From there we walked up that street to their beach access point, and finally we went down their stairs.

It looks like a long way down, and it is.

Everyone but Charlie was wearing some version of YakTrax.  There was a lot of ice.

The photo above was taken facing north towards my house, the one below looks south towards the lighthouse.  Dog for scale.

I found a couple of things that looked like beach art to me, photos below.

Jill suggested the beach chair photo "for the blog" and I liked the frozen grass.

At about that point Kelly caught her foot on something in the dune grass and fell.  She said she was unhurt, but we turned back.  The sun was out, the wind was light -- and it was still marginal trying to hike along the beach.  I'm glad we did.

Nocemuary

I've read several versions of blending the months of November through January, and all of the best ones have been used.  Just like all of the good blogging topics I had in mind when we started this month.  I don't like to give up though, and I have yet to fall back on my favorite old standby -- food.  I checked, and last year I even posted a photo of a bowl of my breakfast cereal.  My November 21, 2013 post was "If it's Thursday, it must be shredded wheat."  Really scraped the bottom of the barrel with that one.  But who doesn't like a challenge?  That said, here's another meal, though not one that's family food blog worthy,  in my opinion.  I started by cooking up some brown rice -- I rinsed it first because someone said that reduces the level of arsenic in it.  I don't believe it, but *sigh* you never know when the food police will show up at your door.

This is a dish that I use when I have leftover rotisserie chicken around, so I cut up some of that.  Rummaging through my pantry and refrigerator I found these, then I chopped up the onion and rinsed the vegetables (to get rid of some of the sodium).  Adam left some of this nice five spice stuff, so I used some of that.  Also some oyster sauce and soy sauce (to put back in some sodium.)  The gravy isn't necessary, but JB likes it that way.  A half of a can seemed like enough.

Usually there is celery in this but I didn't have any.  I had an opened package of frozen peas, so I stirred in a cup of those.  The whole concept is leftovers, anyway.  Here are a couple of process shots--

Before I added the gravy --

 I turned the heat way, way down and let it simmer for a while.  I sprinkled a few chow mein noodles on top of it before I ate it, to add a little extra crunch.

JB said "We don't have this often enough."  So that's a good sign.  It works equally well with leftover turkey, though we'll be eating our Thanksgiving dinner at OSLO's again this year, and I won't have leftover turkey to deal with.

Benches

Here's a link to a snowfall map.  It has options for 24, 36 and 72 hour amounts using check boxes along the bottom of the graph,called "available snowfall images."


http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge2/snow/index.php?site=grr&lat=43.2&lon=-85.6&zoom=4

The darkest color just north of Grand Rapids is 18 to 21 inches in the last 3 days.  We've edged into the 6 to 8 inch category here.  The college girl's college is in the 12 to 15 inch circle...

So what else is there to talk about --

Here's a couple of bench photos I took last Saturday in Tunnel Park.

This one confuses me.

So which is it?  Stimulus money or a donation?  That sounds mutually exclusive to me.

I have four wheel drive with my truck, so I got out today and did some Christmas shopping, believe it or not.  I also picked up a rotisserie chicken for our evening meal while I was out.   Schools are open, so apparently the worst is over.  I dunno.  It still looks like winter.

No School Today for the Birthday Boy

The weather is just ugly.  It all circles around to that.  Today is my grandson's 16th birthday, and for the first time ever on this date, there was no school.  He and I texted back and forth about it this morning and he was pretty cheerful about it.  The most snowfall locally (15 inches we're told) was in a large bullseye centered on Grand Rapids and including Grand Valley State University, which was also closed today.  Texting with the college girl established that she has plenty of food and plenty of layers if she needs to get out for a while.  She planned to Skype or Facetime  with her brother to wish him a happy birthday later today.  Us oldsters are wondering why on earth we live here.  Snow is currently falling horizontally but resists all of my attempts to photograph it.  Here's what the outside of the house looked like when our group left for a walk this morning about 8:00.

There will be no trip to OSLO's house for cake today  -- hazardous driving conditions.   I remember well the day Totally Jammin' was born, there were flurries in the air as I drove north to take his Mom in to see the doctor when she went into labor early.  Ultra sounds confirmed he was big enough to go ahead and deliver him, and the rest is history.  We sure do like that kid.

This will have to do as a birthday photo -- from his Playmobile days.  And the grass outside the window was green.

Michigan Looks Black and White

I was really lucky this morning -- the bloggable moment happened early in the day.  All three human members of my walking group were deep in conversation this morning when Charlie alerted us to the presence of other four footed creatures on the hillside above us. (He rarely barks, his alert amounts to stopping, stiffening his stance and raising his ears.  Barking would have likely scared off the five deer in this photo.)  We were on the bike path along Lakeshore Drive, somewhere between Sunset Bluff and Idlewood.

I haven't seen many deer this year, but firearm deer season started in Michigan on Saturday and groups of deer (herd?  leash?  gang?) have moved into populated neighborhoods where hunting is not allowed.  I wonder how they know that?

I had left the house in a bit of a hurry -- Jill, Kelly and Charlie showed up at my door earlier than I'd expected -- and I didn't have my real camera with me.  The camera on my phone does pretty well for lots of situations, but low light and zoom and not among them.  That's my excuse for why the the second photo is a bit fuzzy.  (For the curious, we're feeling under-exercised now that the weather has shut down many forms of outdoor activities, and we were talking about extending our morning walks to help compensate for that.)

The winter storm warning began today at 1 pm, and I'd managed to get to the grocery store and back by then.  We could probably have eaten for a week out of the pantry, but we would have relied heavily on peanut butter and eggs for protein.  Though we both like peanut butter and eggs -- no, not together.  Instead we had some tasty chili for supper.  The lake is kicking up some waves, and I took this photo from the shelter of the outdoor showering area.  Our builder was here this afternoon to fix a sticky door and reported a foot of snow in Allendale.  We're probably going to give that hunkering down thing another try.