October Shenanigans

 

“October had tremendous possibility. The summer's oppressive heat was a distant memory, and the golden leaves promised a world full of beautiful adventures. They made me believe in miracles.”

 
~Sarah Guillory,

  Reclaimed

 

We ventured out Thursday to, Rodeo Beach, to do a little bird watching and bask in the glow of seeing San Francisco from the Marin Headlands. It couldn't have been a worse day for birding, as there were almost no birds there we haven't already cataloged for this year, except for one, the Redhead. It was fun to spot him, but the cost of the overall trip was a lot, between gas and picking up lunch. Sigh. I can remember a similar trip just a few years ago, costing about half what it does now. Anyway, we found a new place to check back on, which is nice. Its easy to access and it has a lot of promise. We'll see before I write it off. 

 

I took some pretty photos of San Francisco, and I will share them tomorrow. Right now I have a cold, so I am heading off to bed so I can knock it out before Halloween. October, is my favorite month of the year, but this October has been, well, frankly, depressing and challenging. Political shenanigans, mass murder, wars, rumors of wars, celebrity deaths, you name it, October tried to do it, all in one month! Everything but bring the birds, and now I have a cold! Oh well, here is crossing my fingers I will be well enough to enjoy Halloween. Wish me luck!

 

 

It's The Cold And Flu Season

 

"In her finest gold tipped pen,

 nature writes the poem of autumn upon the earth!

 

~Laura Jaworski 

 

The leaves are falling really fast now. Gold is the color of the earth, to be sure. It hasn't been the most brilliant of autumn seasons, but so far it's been quiet and low drama, so that's good. I took a few days off from leaf peeping, and bird watching, to enjoy a cold ... not Covid. That's a nice feeling. My first simple cold since the virus entered my life, and changed everything in my body, seemingly forever. I am back, and 100 percent, and I have beautiful news to share, but not until tomorrow, so for now, here are the leaves I didn't post, all caught up!

 

Beautiful!

 

And today's ...

~Me

2018 Or Whatever (The Elephant In The Tree)

"Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, 

 but then, for the love of God, tell a joke."

~Joss Whedon

Do You See The Elephant In The Tree?

It's 2018! How the actual HELL did that happen? I was so sure that we, America, wouldn't make it out of 2017, but somehow, someway, we did! I am exhausted, but not disappointed in our fortunate luck of surviving the first year of the Trump presidency, but here we are, in the second day of the second year, although it won't technically be the second year, until after January 20th, but whose counting?

Anyway, I was going to post a nice New Year's reflection on December 31st, but I caught a cold, or something, that laid me out in a coma like state for most of the weekend, and by the time midnight came around, on New Year's Eve, I could barely raise my head to kiss Alan a HAPPY NEW YEAR kiss!

My temperature fluxed a little, and my body ached like crazy, and as I said, I was in a coma like condition, but to be honest I am not really sure if I was truly sick, or just suffering from Trump fatigue at the end of what had been a very long, stressful year of crazy! As I sit typing this, I am barely able to do so, because I still feel achy and tired, but I just need to do something normal, because I could see myself just staying in bed, the rest of my life.

So is it a cold, or is it Trump fatigue?

Can you run a fever with Trump fatigue?

Shrug.

Anyway, tomorrow will come around, and it will be another day on earth... I guess. And we will all come through it, minute by minute. Come what may, it's mostly out our hands, but thankfully I have my camera in one of those hands. I just need to fight off whatever is attacking my body right now, be it Trump, depression, or possibly something else. It's cold. And it's January, but at least that's normal!

By the way, the photo in this post was taken on December 10th 2017, and is one of my last autumn photos of 2017. I couldn't resist posting it! It will appear in both Flickr albums for 2017 and 2018.

 Mood: Tired/Achy

~Me

 

Is It Gone? Yep... HAPPY 2017!

Last photo of 2016

December 31st 2016 

"Hope smiles from the threshold of the new year to come whispering... 'it will be happier'..."

~Alfred Tenneyson 

If you have been reading along, you already know I haven't posted in over a week! You see, Alan and I have been sick with one of the worst colds either one of us has had in a long time. We both had colds last Christmas as well, but nothing compared to this year's fresh hell, but then FRESH HELL is pretty much how their entirety of 2016 could be summed up!

 I am not going to dwell, it's gone, and 2017 has just begun, so I am going to give it a fair chance. It has no fault in the shitshow that was 2016. It's not responsible for all the deaths and destruction. It's just a new year, and while I see a lot of room for catastrophe, lets hold onto the one bit of hope that continues to see me through the pain of 2016...

Donald Trump lost the popular vote by 2.9 million votes.

That means there are still more people

 who think straight than don't.

There is a great deal of hope in that. 

WELCOME 2017!

Don't Let Me Down!

Mood: Encouraged

~Me :)

Good News Should Always Involve White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

"Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart."

~Erma Bombeck

It's official... I am better! The cold is finally lifting, after a long four weeks, I can breathe again, and OMG, I can sleep for longer than an 1 1/2 hours without waking up with the sensation of choking to death! Yippee! I slept yesterday for... wait for it... 6 straight hours! Yes, woke up coughing, a little bit, maybe 30 minutes or so, but that is a huge improvement! At the peak of the cold, I would wake up choking and coughing, and I would be in a spasm of coughing that would last up to 2 hours! Several times I felt like I was about to break a rib, and I pulled more than one muscle, but thankfully the pain didn't last long! If I continue on this course, I think next week at this time I should be 100% or better. I am aiming for that.

Come HELL or HIGH WATER, I am getting out one day this week with the cameras! Ideally, I would spend the day on the peninsula and in the city, because that would maximise my chances of doing a lot of spontaneous photography amongst my self assigned ops. I love those photos that come along by pure chance, when your mind is concentrating elsewhere! Those moments, and images, are the gifts of the muse. Sometimes I prefer to jump in the car with no preconceived ideas or notions about the day in photos. It's fun! It's exciting! Well... to me it is! LOL.

So, that's the good news. And so is that luscious White Chocolate Raspberry cheesecake! Alan brought me home a slice, and I made a deal with myself to make it last 3 days! Don't get me wrong, I could inhale that yumminess in one quick breath, even with my cold, but the truth is I don't need all the calories at once, so I am pacing myself and counting calories accordingly. Everything is managed when you are a diabetic. It's all good.

Okay, do you have any good news to share? Feel free to leave me your thoughts in the comment thread!

"Dessert is probably the most important stage of the meal, since it will be the last thing your guests remember before they pass out all over the table.'

~William Powell

Mood: HAPPY

~Me :)

Sleeping In Tinfoil

"Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax."

~Arthur Schopenhauer

I have a cold. The Bay Area has a cold  front moving in, the meteorologists like to call it a storm. It's supposed to rain and rain and rain. It was supposed to be cloudy yesterday... it wasn't. I was looking forward to big bad, dark, threatening, ice filled rain clouds. Okay. Today it's supposed to rain. Okay. RAIN! It's the last 5 minutes of winter... act like it!

That is all.

“Sleeping in a tinfoil suit keeps me warmer and helps prepare me for my voyage to the moon. Would
 you care for some licorice? 
”



~Jarod Kintz, At Even One Penney, This Book Would Be Overpriced. In Fact Free Is Too Expensive, Because You'd Still Waste Time By Reading It."


Mumphf.

Temperature: 103.0

Mood: Flummoxed.

~Me :(

Odds And Ends

"You can't change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future."

-Unknown

Just a short entry for today. Alan has been home with a cold since Christmas Day, and I have been fighting the same bug as well. It was 39 degrees in parts of the Bay Area last night, and the rain came as well. It's winter with a vengeance. That's ok, all things in their own time... right? So, while my body might be achy, my spirits are up, and Alan and I are playing a lot of board games, and drinking a lot of juice so what can be bad about that?!

In the meantime, how about some late 2007 business? There is still time to help name the mysterious man I wrote about earlier this month. He is still on my sidebar, right above the poll. So go choose your favorite name for him from the list, and let's give him an official handle for the new year, unless you happen to know who and what he is, because that would be even better! The poll ends on New Year's Eve.

Don't forget to visit the ScalziCelebration blog, and leave your comments for John. His last day as our Blogfather is New Year's Eve. I you are feeling in a playful mood, maybe you might consider playing, Where In The World Is Flat Scalzi." You can download your own Flat Scalzi, suitable for spotting, and do your own entry, but don't forget to comeback to the blog and leave us a link. Who knows where that guy will end up next?

We have a Round Robin Challenge tomorrow, "Going Going Gone." There is still time to sign up to play along. Just hop on over to the official Round Robin blog and leave us your complete information. If you can't make it this time, maybe you will be able to join us next time. Check the blog on Sunday, to find out what our next challenge will be. :)

There, that's it. That's the Odds and Ends for this now. :) How are things in your neck of the woods?

-OndineMonet
"Mr Unknownman"
Berkeley, California
December 2005
Afternoon