See You Next Year

Well, by some miracle, we made it through another year.

This New Year's Eve, just like last New Year's Eve, and pretty much every New Year's Eve in recent memory, I tucked Sam into bed and I said, "Well, I'll tell you the same thing I tell you every New Year's Eve..." But unlike last those past New Year's Eves, Sam smiled before I finished, and I asked if he knew what I was going to say - and he did.

So, I didn't need to finish it.

But I did explain to him about that time the my dad told it to me... just in case he forgot that part of the story. And we hugged and said goodnight.

I hope for a good night, a good year ahead, and a good life for you.

Let's close the year off, as always, with this...

At the Movies, Part ll

What was my second favorite part of the movie, you ask? Another good question!

Picture this: In search of a mighty, hidden trident (again, don't ask), our hero and heroine are flying over the Sahara Desert in the back of a cargo plane. Also in the back of the plane are a few caged animals and some other crates of cargo-like stuff.

At one point, our heroine somehow decides they're close to where the trident must be buried, so she does what any reasonable person does - she rips the door off of the back of the cargo plane.

With the air rushing in, she stands in the doorway, makes some sort of remark - and then she jumps out of the still-flying plane (sans parachute), and sails down to the distant dunes below.

Next, our hero goes over, stands in the doorway, makes some witty remark to the pilot - and, with the wind still rushing in, he too jumps out of the plane (also sans parachute), eventually tumbling down alongside our heroine, onto the hot desert sands.

Sam leans over to me and says, "I'm sure those animals will be ok... right?"

At the Movies

I brought Sam to the movies this afternoon. What was the movie, you ask? Aquaman, but that's irrelevant.

What was the best part of the movie, you ask? Good question! The best part happened near the beginning of the movie.

Pirates had just taken over a submarine (don't ask). After the pirates had, shall we say, "disabled" much of the crew, the Lead Pirate captures the captain of the sub. The captain tells L.P. something, which I couldn't make it out, and L.P. responds by saying to the captain, "I'll make a deal with you. I don't tell you how to captain - and you don't tell me how to pirate!" - then he stabs the captain, killing him.

From the darkness of the theater, you hear Sam say, "WHAAAT??!?? THAT'S NOT A DEAL!!!!

That was the best part. Two thumbs up.

Tonight's Brief Comment

Blah. (My apologies if this has been stated before... but it bears repeating.)

On Our Next Episode: The Boys' Room.

A Christmas Classic (To Me, Anyway)

Six years ago (!), I wrote this post about the movie "Scrooge". (Technically, it's "A Christmas Carrol" but the movie goes by the name "Scrooge", so that's what I'm sticking with.)

Anyway, if you bother to read the post (and I won't hold it against you if you don't) you'll notice that I mention, more than once, how much I liked this movie. I still  do.

After a year or two of being too busy to watch it, I'm happy that we watched it again this year. I'm going to do you a favor and embed the movie right here, but first, a couple of tips.

First of all, watch this at night, in an all-dark room (having the Christmas tree lights on is ok -- but that's IT!). The other thing is, be prepared to get choked up when Scrooge is (spoiler alert!) visited by the Ghost of Things Yet to Come and watches as Bob Cratchit (spoiler alert again!) tears up over the loss of Tiny Tim.

This chokes me up Every. Single. Time.

Anyway, set aside less than an hour and a half of your so-called precious time and watch the movie preferably with someone you care about (but alone is ok,  too).

You can thank me later.

Christmas Eve

Even though Christmas Eve was several nights ago, I've decided to back date this post and pretend it is Christmas Eve all over again.

I could have written a little something about it at the time but I not only didn't have the motivation, I also didn't want to detract from the too-fast Christmas and Christmas Eve while it was happening.

Now that things have (unfortunately) quieted down, I'll take the minute or two to post these exciting photos.

Let's start with the Christmas Eve decorating of cookies...

Here's a closeup of Sam's tray before cooking. Note that some of the sugar actually made it onto the cookies. Also note the traditional Christmas Dinosaur.

Let's flash forward to just before bedtime. This is when Sam writes a letter to Santa. Every year I wonder if last year was the last time he'll write to Santa but, so far anyway, he continues with the letters.

Santa wrote a response, but I didn't think it was anything special - so I'm not bothering to post it. Sam must have liked it though. For the second year in a row, he wanted to make sure I saved it. (I did.)

And here's another flash forward - this time to when all of the kids are in bed and the stockings are stuffed and waiting for morning - a morning which came (and went) all too quickly.

I hope you had a merry Christmas.

And I hope your Christmas and Christmas Eve went by a lot slower than mine did for me.

Bedtime on Christmas Eve Eve

As I'm covering Sam up at bedtime, thoughts turn to tomorrow night...

Sam: "... And I'll write another letter to Santa... 

***pause***

"Maybe I'll tell him about how I'm out there in the world and the school's not helping me as much anymore."

***pause***

"And I can tell him about my ears…."

***pause***

***pause***

"... He really does give good advice."

 Me: "Yeah, I guess sometimes he does."

Goodnight, Sam. I love you.

Today's Update

Yesterday, I received my first mailing from SSI in, oh, I don’t know how long. The fact that I received this is, of course, my own fault. I had just been thinking about how, thankfully, I hadn’t heard anything from SSI lately. Obviously, this was a mistake on my part. I shouldn’t have thought about it, at all.

But I did, so here we are.

The mailing I received was thanking me for reporting Sam’s income for the month of November and it stated that I will be contacted "shortly" about adjustments to Sam’s income.

I had a couple of questions about this. I should probably have even more questions than just a couple, but since I don’t know what I’m doing, only a couple sprang to mind.

My first question was, do they know that Sam is still a student (please see cover sheets to my faxes and, hopefully, notes from my many, many phone calls on this very topic)? I won’t go into a lot of detail here (because I have before and I don't fell like it right now) but basically, the fact that Sam is still a student negates the issue of wage adjustment. So, that's Question One.

Question Two is, I've been reporting Sam’s income for several months, so why am I just now receiving this paperwork? Which I guess leads to the implied Question Number Three which is, should I have been receiving this type of paperwork right along?

Rather than wait for the anvil, currently hanging over my head by a fraying rope, to fall on me, I tried calling SSI right away.

By this point, it was close to the end of their day but I figured it was worth a try.

I made it through their comprehensive voicemail system - only to reach the brick wall recording, telling me that all representatives were busy and to please try again later - and then it hung up on me.

With only a couple of minutes until they closed, I had no choice but to let the rope continue to fray until morning.

So, I called again this morning and amazingly, AMAZINGLY (!), I waited almost no time at all (!) before I was able to talk to a polite and helpful (and no, that’s not sarcasm) SSI representative.

After an arm’s length of security questions (to make sure I am who I say I am) and another arm's length of more security questions (to make sure Sam is who I say he is), we had a long phone conversation, where she said, among other things, that if I think I’m buried in paperwork now, just wait until Sam's no longer a student. (I believe her phrase was something along the lines of, “You’ll be able to wallpaper your entire house in no time, with all of the paperwork you’ll be getting.”)

Aside from that helpful anecdote, she also told me what information I needed to re-fax and to whose attention I needed to re-fax to - all of which has since been done.

Now, there’s nothing to do but sit back and relax. And to not think about how smoothly everything is going. At least, until next time.

Tonight's Music Video

Today's Video (Comments)

Lately, I spend way too much time watching rat videos before bedtime. (This might explain, in part, why I don't sleep that great.)

Anyway, below is a link* to one of apparently thousands and thousands of on-line videos on how to catch a rat. I wouldn't waste a whole lot of time watching the video. In fact, do yourself a favor and don't watch it at all (unless you have an interest in trying to catch a rat).

The reason I post this is because I think the comments are pretty entertaining - and I happen to agree with the vast bulk of them.

Here you go (and if you don't want to dream about rats, don't watch the video before bedtime. Better yet, just click on mute, skip the video altogether and go straight to the viewer comments). Here's the link.

(Remember, don't watch the video.)

*This post has been edited. Out of habit, I originally embedded the rat video, but then I realized that, a) you would have been needlessly forced to watch a rat video, and b) you would have missed out on the reader comments - which was the entire point of this post.

Tonight's Music Video

Not exactly "of the season" but it will do for a distraction...

Holiday Help - P.S.

Apparently, once again I'm late getting on the train - or in this case, the Weird Nativity Scene Train (see previous post).

Here's an article about someone who collects them. Are they for sale? I have no idea. I didn't bother to read the article. I only looked at the pictures.

Holiday Help

In case you've been asking yourself, "Where can I find a nativity scene made up entirely of cat figurines?" - well, look no further. You can find exactly what you're looking for right here!

Please note, it does mention that it's a "Limited-edition", so you may want to hop all over this.

Meeting My Goals

I have an app on my phone, ironically named “Fit.” This app measures my footsteps, along with and any other theoretical exercise I might accidentally be performing.

I don’t pay a lot of attention to this thing. The only times I really pay any attention to it is when Sam and I are on walks - which, except for the occasional Pokemon Go! event, is currently pretty infrequent.

The only other time I pay attention to this app is when it suggests that maybe I should consider reducing my goals - which is kind of surprising since I didn’t know I had any goals - exercise or otherwise.

Anyway, being the sheep that I am, I followed the recommendation and reduced my alleged goal - which apparently I didn't reduce low enough, because it kept telling me to reduce it even more.

I’m happy to report that now, for the first time in quite a while, I got a “congratulations” on meeting this latest reduced goal. It seems my goal is now so low that all it takes for me to meet it, is to walk from my car to the back of the local Walmart and then back to the car again - which, by the way, I did while barely working up a sweat.

I’m feeling pretty good about this.

Now, all I have to do is to continue to reduce all of my other goals - which I’ll do, once I figure out what they are.

The Festivities Begin

With blinding speed, we somehow managed to pick out, buy and decorate our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving Day. This, of course, was driven by the tight schedule and availability of my kids. My schedule, if you can even call it that, is pretty much non existent. But the kids - like it or not, they all had places they needed to get to so Thanksgiving Day was going to be the only time we would all be together until Christmas.

So, after repeatedly harassing the local tree farm, we were given a half hour window for when someone would be around and if we wanted to roll the dice, we could drive down and get a tree - which is exactly what we wanted to do.

With a few exceptions, we normally like to wander the farm and pick out what we consider to be the perfect tree (or, as close as we can get to it with what’s available), cut it down, and then haul it back home.

This year, there was no time for this - which was just fine. The temperature was so bitter that even given the opportunity, wandering through a tree covered field in the frigid cold was not high up on anyone’s list.

So, we bombed down to the tree farm, picked out a pre-cut tree, threw it on the roof of the car, drove back and then set it in the tree stand - all in record time. Start to finish, it was less than half an hour. Add a couple of hours to put on the lights and decorate it, and presto! - all ready for Christmas! (Well, except for buying presents, wrapping them, decorating the house with the other decorations (if we feel like it), etc, etc - you get the idea.)

In the end, it all worked out fine.

Later in the day, Helaina and Jake took off for their respective visits and obligations, and the following day, Rachael headed back to The Big City - leaving nothing but the settling dust and me and a Christmas tree, waiting to be together again on Christmas.

The Ride Home

Despite my being preoccupied with things I wish I wasn't preoccupied with, I did, at least, belatedly notice the lovely late day sky while driving home from work.

Unfortunately, by the time it occurred to me to take a picture, and by the time I was done fumbling with my camera, I only managed to snap one picture.

It doesn't do it justice, but take my word for it, it was beautiful.

Still More on Nancy

Continuing with my inexplicable ongoing fascination/obsession with the comic strip, Nancy - and now, apparently, with the strip's current artist/writer, as well, here's an interesting interview.

I assume you'll want to read the entire thing, but if some bizarre reason you're not as interested as I am, you can at least check out the comic strip at the top.

Today's Brief Comment

Between the after Thanksgiving let-down and dealing with my unwanted house guests (no, not relatives), I continue to struggle to get in the holiday spirit.

Maybe this will help...

A Short Time Ago

In my nostalgia-infused mind, my home town was sort of a classic small town setup. There was the town common with the town hall situated on one end. The other three sides were surrounded by stores.

In my idealized memory, everything was awesome. There was a movie theater, a toy store, a couple of records stores, a couple of pharmacies, news stands - and more. Way back, in what I consider the “classic era”, we even had a Woolworths and for a while, a Grants.

With the exception of the movie theater, most of those places were long gone by the time I moved away. Many years ago, and many, many years after I moved, the movie theater, not only closed, but was demolished. I guess it was hard to keep afloat without me spending Mom and Dad’s hard earned money at their concession stand.

One thing our town didn’t have was a mall. Malls were kind of a new thing way back then. And while our town didn’t have one, there was one in the neighboring town - a mere fifteen minute drive away.

Where I lived, fifteen minutes was actually considered a bit of a jaunt, especially since you could walk into town in about the same amount of time. But shopping at the mall was well worth it. All of the stores were conveniently located on one floor. There was a Bradlees, a bunch of clothing stores, a Woolworths, a toy store... and... now that I think about it, other than being under one roof, it wasn’t a whole lot different than shopping in town.

But it seemed cooler, and if you were intending to do a lot of intense looking around with nothing better to do, this was a pretty good place to be - even if Mom or Dad did have to drive me over.

Not long after this mall opened up, a much larger, Mega-Mall opened up. This Mega-Mall was about a forty minute drive from where we lived. (This is based on the 1960’s traffic flow. Nowadays, the ride is probably closer to three days.)

Back then, it wasn’t called a Mega-Mall and it wouldn’t come close to qualifying as one today, but compared to the other mall, that’s what it was. The Mega-Mall had many of the same stores as the small mall, but it also had a Jordan Marsh on one end and a Filene’s on the other. In between, it had a ton of other stores. In fact, there were so many stores, they had to make the mall Two Entire Floors High! (Yes, you read that correctly.)

I’m not sure how many times we went to this Mega-Mall. I don’t think it was a lot. I only remember going there three times. Of those three visits, one was when I was older - but the other two times were family trips, when I was much younger.

For both of those two visits, Dad was the one who drove us. To this day, I'm still trying to comprehend the fact that Dad would actually drive us forty minutes - to a mall - and not just once, but at least twice!

Anyway, of those three Mega-Mall visits, one of them took place just before Christmas, in 1968.

I remember the mall being so packed that it was hard to get around. The stores, the halls, even the escalators were crammed with people. Everything in the mall was brightly lit and holiday garland was draped from the railings and over the storefronts.

In one of the stores, I think it was Filene’s, I remember watching something called a “Newton’s Cradle” (though I didn't know the name of it back then). At the time, these things seemed to be pretty popular. My teacher had one and Mr. Harris, from the Science Center, had one too. And even though my teacher had one, I still thought it was pretty cool (and no, I don’t want one).

But what I particularly remember is that the Beatles “White Album” had just been released. I remember standing there, in front of the record store, staring at this album through the window, all the while, people bumped into, and squeezed by me. It wasn’t that I was terribly interested in the album, but there was a lot of talk about it at the time. I remember it being kind of a big deal.

I've often thought of that visit, and I’m reminded of it now because this album has just been reissued and it’s been in the news a lot lately - at least the news I listen to. One of the things mentioned is that this reissue falls on the fiftieth anniversary of the original release.

It’s hard for me to believe that this memory of a particular night, a night while Christmas shopping, is from fifty years ago. As odd as it sounds, the memory, or at least, the feelings from the memory, seem like it wasn't that long ago.

But fifty years - is fifty years a long time?

Fifty years ago I would have been twelve years old. And if I was only twelve years old, then that means I would have been starting junior high.

I was a little kid in junior high.

Strange. When I think back on it, it doesn't feel that way. But I guess that's what it was. I guess that's where I was.

What's even stranger is that, when I was little, I always thought that fifty years seemed like a long, long time - but now that I'm older, I find that it really isn't that long, after all.

Tonight's Video

I was never a huge fan of Pink Floyd. This is not to say I dislike them, it’s just that they were never a band that, for whatever reason, were on my radar. If one of their songs came on the radio, I usually enjoyed it. And maybe that has something to do with it - the few times that I listen to the radio, it’s usually a news station or something of that sort.

Anyway, with that said, lately, for some unknown reason, I find myself watching this video a good bit. I have no idea why. I guess I must be enjoying it.

Today's Brief Comment

I've been struggling to try to get into some kind of holiday spirit - but so far, I haven't had much success. This may be due to the cold and gloomy weather - or it may be due to an ongoing pest problem that I have been battling in my basement. I suspect it's a little of both... though much more of a latter.

I'm hoping Thanksgiving will kick start my mood.

Employee of the Year

I would like to commend the anonymous coworker who recognized that someone besides themselves might actually need to use some toilet paper.

Usual

Unusual

Instead of, like usual, leaving behind one dangling sheet of toilet paper and saying, "Screw everybody else" (if they're even that aware), this unknown humanitarian went the extra mile and left a FULL ROLE (!) for the next poor soul (who, in this case, happened to be me).


Thank you, my new best friend. Let's hope that your shining example is an inspiration for all that follow (though, I doubt it).

P.S.

Outside my window, the wind is blowing. Dead leaves scatter across soon-to-be dead grass. The threatening sky has been a deepening grey, all day long.

I have come to the conclusion that autumn and fall are two different seasons.

Officially, autumn begins with the equinox in late September - but I think it starts earlier than that. In my mind, autumn starts in early September. Sometimes, it might even start in late August. Fall, I think, starts sometime in late October.

There's a certain undefinable romance with autumn. In autumn, leaves are changing colors, and ripened apples and pumpkins dot the trees and the farms. Late afternoons are filled with golden sunshine. Sharp shadows are cast long across still-green fields. Cool nights approach gently, and encourage deep sleep and sweet dreams.

In fall, the once colorful trees have shed their leaves, leaving behind skeletal frames silhouetted against the graying sky. The cool days of autumn have turned chilly and raw. Nights arrive abruptly and linger stubbornly through the cold, long hours ahead.

In autumn, memories of summer are still fresh, though unnecessary. The pleasant days and nights of autumn stand on their own. In fall, the wasteland of November begins and recent memories of autumn are slowly forgotten. Thoughts turn instead to the inevitable arrival of a once distant winter.

I look out of my window and the wind is still blowing, the leaves are still scattering. Over the hills, I see narrow fans of sunlight streaming through distant breaks in the sky.

But the day is still cold and soon it will be dark. And the wind still blows. The leaves still scatter.

The Fall of Autumn

Sam and I finally made it outside to rake leaves on Sunday. It was less than fun. It had rained all day on Saturday, so the leaves were nice and wet. It took us about three or four hours to clean up the front yard (with another four days and counting, to loosen up my stiff back).

If I hadn’t had Sam’s help, it would have taken me no time at all - literally. This is because I probably wouldn't have bothered to rake at all. Instead, I would have let the leaves gather on my so called “lawn” and let them decay on their own, naturally - for the next decade or so.

But I had Sam's help, and I’m really grateful for it. And, if it doesn’t rain this weekend, we’ll try to tackle the leaves in the backyard. The backyard is more of a challenge than the front yard.

The front yard has one lone maple tree. I’m told this is a red maple - though it doesn’t look red to me. The leaves on this “Red Maple” drop earlier than most of the other trees in the neighborhood. This makes it slightly easier to rake up because, first of all, the damage is fairly contained and secondly, being a lone maple tree, there are fewer leaves to rake.

The backyard is a different story. I don’t have any maple trees in the backyard. In fact, I don’t have any deciduous trees in the backyard. My neighbors, however, have plenty of them - all maple trees. I’m told that these maples are "Norway Maples". Nothing against the Norwegians, but according to this article, these trees are not well loved. I can see why - at least leaf-wise.

My tiny backyard is plastered with these leaves. (Did I mention that not one of these trees is mine?) The problem is that,while there's a ton of leaves on the ground, there are still a bunch in the trees, refusing to let go. I suppose I could attack them in waves, over many weekends, but to me, this just prolongs the agony. Instead, I would rather rake them up all at once - and only once. But they take their sweet time falling. They fall late, they fall slow and they never end.

But right now, there are enough leaves on the ground that I guess it'll be a worthwhile investment of our time. I guess. Maybe.

They're predicting rain for Saturday. We'll see. If we can't rake leaves on Saturday, we'll try for Sunday. This will make it a full week since we raked the leaves in front yard. And by then, hopefully all of the leaves will have fallen - though I doubt it. But maybe, if nothing else, by waiting that extra day or so, my stiff back will have loosened up - though I doubt that, as well.

More of the Same

I guess, like the rest of the world, I continue to get my share of scam emails. These things seem to come in spurts. I'm not sure if these people have some sort of monthly quota or what, but lately, they seem to be particularly active.

Here's one I got yesterday. This is another one from my friend, Fake Chase...

I have to give him credit. Even though he continues to struggle with spelling and grammar, he's not giving up. I say, good for him!

And here's another one. This one just came in this morning...

This one almost got me. At first I thought, How flattering is this, that Google has choosed me for their Google poster? Finally! Someone has recognized my photographic skills! Thank you Google Poster Committee!

But then I noticed that, while this appears to come from "Google Photo Share", the actual email address reads: "dean.parker@jct600.co.uk".

Interestingly enough, I used to know a real life Dean Parker, but he didn't work for Google and he was about as likely to move to the UK as I am. (No offense, UK. I just don't like to travel.) I dunno, maybe you can get a UK email address without moving there. I haven't looked into it.

Anyway, out of curiosity, I right clicked on the "View Albums" button to get the link information. Imagine my bitter disappointment when I saw the address was from somewhere called "mixmeat.ru/assets forward slash something, forward slash something". I'm not positive, but I don't think "mixmeat" is a legit email from the Google Poster Committee - even if they are from Russia.

I hate to say this, but it looks like my photographic skills will continue to be ignored. But, just like my good friend, Fake Chase, I think the lesson here is to keep on trying. It's bound to pay off someday.

More Things that Keep Me from Posting

... or "Another Typical Weekend"

On my way home from work on Friday, I called Sam, just as I do most Fridays. Friday night is when I give Sam an option of what he would like to do for dinner. Actually, I give him options just about every night, but every other night, the options involve food I already have at home - and it usually involves leftovers for one or more of the options.

On Fridays though, it’s his choice and his choice usually means going to one of the grocery stores to buy something along the lines of chicken strips and potato wedges. This is a tradition that started long ago when his brother and sisters were little. It gave me a night off from having to think of an idea for dinner and it gave them a night off from having to eat one of my meals.

So we went to the grocery store and after dinner, we prepared to make apple butter.

We still have a ton of apples left over from when we went apple picking and Sam had wanted to make apple butter. This was fine, but t apple butter takes a while to cook, eleven hours, in fact - at least, it does the way we do it. So Sam and I weighed out the right amount of apples. I peeled them and Sam chopped them and then we put them in the crock pot where, along with the other ingredients, they simmered overnight.

Saturday morning, I got Sam his breakfast and while Sam ate, I whisked out the apple butter. When the apple butter had cooled, I put some of it in a container so Sam could have some later. The rest went into some freezer bags, which Sam had labeled for me, and then I somehow managed to fit them into the freezer.

Next, it was time to help Sam with his checkbook. His bank statement had come earlier in the week, and so had another paycheck, so we worked on balancing his checkbook and getting his bank information together. While Sam worked on the math, I entered his information where I needed to enter it, for the ever present SSI issues. When we finished, we worked on making our usual grocery lists - one for him and one for me.

We knew we were going to be doing another cooking project this weekend so, along with checking out the status of our usual necessities, we went through the selected recipe, finding the ingredients we already had and adding those we didn't have to our grocery list. Then, it was off to the bank and off to the grocery store.

Back at home, Sam ate lunch and I worked on cleaning an area of our overstuffed basement. This ordeal consisted of shoveling out several buckets of damp dirt (don’t ask), getting it to the point where I could remove an old, decaying pallet (thanks Helaina) which had sat under several temporarily relocated tubs, each containing God knows what.

Helaina also helped me carry away an old butcher block table. This is a table I had made, I’m guessing, maybe forty years ago and it has sat in my basement, on that broken pallet, for close to thirty years. With that gone and the broken pallet gone, and the floor shoveled off and swept up, I put some patio blocks down on our sometimes damp floor, and then re-stacked the aforementioned mystery tubs, back on top.

Saturday night consisted of me doing another load of laundry, because life wouldn’t be complete without me doing more laundry. It also consisted of me trying to keep my back from locking up, a goal I worked on pretty much right up until bedtime.

Sunday was another crock-pot day - and also, a baking day - perfect for a well-rested back. Sam and I worked on our chicken crock pot recipe and, once that was underway and before we started any more baking, we went onto going over his upcoming schedule.

Sam’s schedule is tied into the school calendar. Earlier in the week, I had printed out a copy of this calendar and my goal was to go through it with Sam, highlight the days when he didn’t have to go to work,and then have him put those days onto his calendar on the computer.

We made it as far as highlighting the days that he didn't have to go to work, but we didn’t get to entering them onto his calendar. Neither of us had the concentration or the desire to do this. We’ll leave this as "Step Two" for some other day.

Instead, it was back to the baking.

Somewhere between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, we decided that, even after making the apple butter, we still had a ton (literally) of apples left - and maybe we could come up with another recipe involving apples. In my unwinding the night before, I had found a recipe for some apple bread.

While this recipe seemed to be fairly unexciting, it seemed like it would go perfectly with the freshly made apple butter. Plus, it had the added advantage of using up another four apples, leaving only about three thousand more to use up.

Since this was a new recipe and of questionable quality, Sam and I decided that, instead of tripling the batch, like usual, we would instead only double the batch - a fairly radical call on our part. Once again, I peeled apples and Sam chopped them - and together we did the math, doubling each of the called-for ingredients in the recipe.

We measured and mixed, then poured into greased pans - and with it done and in the oven, I got Sam some lunch.

After lunch and after the bread was out of the oven (which, by the way, looked better than I had expected) Sam and I decided to head back to the grocery store. We had to return some bad produce bought the day before, and since we were going anyway, we decided to buy a few of the items we were now low on - thanks to our recent baking. This gave us both a well needed opportunity to get out of the house, and gave Sam a bonus visit with the Sample People at the grocery store (not to mention, the bonus samples).

Back home once more, this time for the final time this weekend, Sam and I did the prerequisite fiddling with the chicken, which was still cooking away in the crock pot and, other than some frustrating and ultimately unsuccessful attempts to instigate some badly needed cleaning (another thing to not ask me about), this was pretty much "it" until dinner - which was now less than an hour away.

After dinner and after the dishes, I dug out the election booklet. We have an election coming up in early November (though actually, we can now go in to vote before then). I had told Sam earlier in the week that I would go through the ballot with him, and I would try to explain the various questions (as best I could) and we could look at who was running for which offices, and he could think about who he might want to vote for. But by this time, it was late. It was time for showers. And after showers, it was almost time for bed.

When Sam came down from his shower, he asked about going through the booklet, concerned if we would be late for the election. I told him we had well over a week to go and promised that we would go through it together tomorrow night. I told him we would aim closer to dinner time - when we both had a little more time and a little more focus. And I promised that, if nothing else came up, we would plan on going to vote together, after I got home on Thursday.

Satisfied, Sam spent the remaining fifteen minutes before bedtime, watching cartoons on the computer. And I, like usual, sat on the couch, and tried to stay awake.

Through the Woods

The path forward (and back again).

Sam and I went on our first and probably only walk at the town forest the other night. We had talked about going there at various times throughout the summer, but it was always either raining, or so hot and muggy that the prospect of attempting it was always put off for another day. That “other day” turned out to be the other night.

We left the house just after dinner and by the time we got there, there wasn’t a whole lot of daylight left, but we chose a path and headed down anyway.

We didn’t walk the hill path. Instead, we walked a path which loops around the outer bounds of the forest, eventually coming to a gate. When you reach the gate, you can either leave the woods by going onto an extremely busy road, which is filled with blind corners and no sidewalk - or you can turn around and head back on the path you just walked on. We chose to walk back on the path.

By this time, it was nearly dark.

I had grabbed a small flashlight before we left the house, just in case. Turns out, it was a good thing. It was pretty tough to see where we were going and while the small penlight wasn't great, it was better than no light at all.

As we made our way back to the car, I was going to make some joking comment about how we better keep our eyes open for any bears - but I decided that, not only was it not very funny, but that actually, it was a very real possibility. Instead, I picked up the pace and we hustled back to the car, arriving safely in what felt like the middle of the night. I think it was closer to about 7:30.

In another couple of weeks, we’ll be setting the clocks back an hour, which means less daylight and therefore, fewer options for going on walks. I have no desire to walk in the woods in the dark, and even if I were so inclined go there, the bike paths we walk along all close at dusk. Time, I guess, to explore other options.

Scenes from My Morning Commute

Part of Our Sunday

Sunday was windy and cold and there was another Pokemon Go event in the afternoon. There was no question that Sam and I were going to go into town for it. The only question was whether we would drive slowly through town for the entire thing, like the last time, or whether we would park somewhere and walk through town, as we normally would on those warmer summer days

It wasn’t a debate between Sam and myself - I had my own opinion, but I kept it to myself. The debate, really, was just within Sam.

Even as we drove into town, Sam was still debating. We made our usual first stop outside of the post office - and he still hadn’t decided. Finally, we rounded the corner and drove into the parking lot and after thinking about it for another minute or two, he decided it would be a good idea for us to walk. I agreed that this was a good idea.

Technically, I don’t view this as a lie. Getting out and getting some exercise IS a good idea. We both need it. It’s just that I didn’t want to. Did I mention it was cold? And windy? But I mustered up a superficial veneer of enthusiasm - and off we went.

I’m glad we went, as it was a pretty good time - especially in hindsight (with the hindsight taking place in the comfort of my warm home). That’s almost always the case with these kinds of things.

I didn’t really do anything except walk along, keep Sam company, ask the occasional question or make the occasional suggestion - and tell him the occasional “great job”.

After forty-five minutes or so, we headed back to the car and then back home. Once inside, we heated up some of the mulled cider we had leftover from apple picking the previous weekend - and we made our plans for what remained of the weekend.

***
Here's a screenshot from my phone, taken of our walking route though town...

And here's a few photos from our walk. All of these are of the "I guess you had to be there" variety, but you get the idea...

Unusual Activity

I got an email from Chase Bank today. The subject line read, "Unusual Activity Detected In Your Online Statment." Although I have a Chase Bank account, I didn't bother to read the email.

It was sent by someone with the return email address of  "hotrod35768@earthlink.net". I think if "hotrod 35768" is going to try and scam me, he or she ought to put a little effort into it.
 ,
First of all, they could pick a more deceptively bank-like email address. And secondly, if you're going to pretend to be a bank, at least learn how to spell "statment" correctly.

Autumn Evening

Sam and I managed to squeeze in an after dinner walk last night. Originally, we were going to go on a walk up to the tower, but when we got there, there was no place to park. I suppose we could have parked in the upper lot, but that would have defeated the point of going in the first place. Instead, we continued on.

I asked Sam where he would like to go instead and after thinking for a few minutes, he said, "Maybe the forest." This was another good idea, but the problem was, we had just driven past the road that would have taken us there and with no good place to turn around, it meant that we would have to loop across town and head back. Not impossible, except that daylight was already fading.

We decided we were closest to the train yard, so we headed there instead.

It was a brisk walk down to the iron bridge and back - partly racing against the daylight, partly because it was getting cold.

I was surprised to see that the river was still so high, though I shouldn't have been. It was a wet summer and so far, the rain has continued into the fall.

 On the way back to the car, I snapped this photo of the fields below...

I never did find out what they planted in these fields this year. I was a little disappointed to see that whatever it was, it had all been stripped away.

There's something I find a little lonely about this picture. I guess it fits the mood of this late autumn afternoon - the barren ground and the colors of fall, stretching further and further away, into the shadows of the setting sun.

Weekend Recap Photos

Here's proof of the lovely weekend...

Weekend Recap

It was a lovely, jam-packed weekend. 

It was rainy and chilly when I picked up Rachael at the bus station on Saturday morning. We headed back home to meet up with the rest of the family and we plotted out our annual attack of the apple orchard. 

After we worked out the logistics, we all headed off to the orchard - this year, as in recent years, in two separate cars. We got there first, so Sam fed the animals while we waited for his brother and sisters to show up. Fortunately, they arrived before long - and shortly after that, the cold rain stopped - just in time for us to go apple picking. 

For the last several years - or maybe even longer - we've picked about a bushel of apples. This is about three quarters of a bushel more than what we really need. But by baking apple pancakes and making apple butter and cooking other various apple-based recipes, we almost always manage to use them all up. Almost.

Before we left the orchard, each of the kids got a pumpkin. This was the first time in many, many years that we bought pumpkins.

The night before, Sam and I had shot over to the grocery store for his usual Friday night meal selection. And while we were there, I asked him if he wanted to get a pumpkin carving kit. He thought about it for a while and decided that it might be a good idea - though he was on the fence about buying a pumpkin this year. I guess he changed his mind.

Back home, everyone carved their pumpkins in record time - and did a pretty good job, in my unbiased opinion. Maybe all those years of resting paid off.

Oh! And somewhere in between the orchard and the pumpkin carving, we celebrated my birthday. So, that was pretty nice.

On Sunday morning, we managed to make it down to the flea market. Though with everyone’s different schedules and commitments, it meant that the six of us had to take three separate vehicles to get there.

I haven’t gone to the flea market at all this year, largely because it’s hard to think about looking at other people’s stuff when I have too much of my own. But that's not the main reason I haven't gone.

Like almost anything meaningful, going there is really about spending time together. It's about walking around and talking - maybe critiquing other people's junk, or commenting on how cold it is - or how warm it is. It's about pointing out the early morning fog as it rises over the autumn hills.

Still, needed or not, we managed to buy a few, perhaps unnecessary, memories - or maybe they're reminders of memories. I bought a replica metal toy rocket that I don't need. But I look at it and, for now, at least, I think about this cold Sunday, and about walking around together - and even if it doesn't last, that's worth the dollar I paid for it.

As we finished up at the flea market, Helaina and Jake both took off for prior commitments, while Rachael, Sam and I headed home. 

Back at home, Sam got a bite to eat, Rachael packed - then I brought her to the train station for her ride back to the city. 

Back home once again, I picked up Sam and brought him to the grocery store for a last minute visit with the Sample People - a crucial part of of his (and therefore, my) weekends. Then we returned home one last time, where we made the first of what will likely be many, many baked apple pancakes.

After dinner, I put in one more storm window and did another load of laundry - and then sat back and watched the rainbows on the wall and the fading golden sunshine of the late autumn afternoon - and I listened to all the quiet.

Today's Brief Comment

It's been a long week.

Things That Keep Me From Posting

This is what I do with my spare time...

Below is an email response to a counselor at one of the support services that Sam and I have periodic contact with. A month or so ago she wrote me an email with information on ways to report income to SSI - in this case, a downloadable app and by using an automated, toll-free telephone number.

It was information I appreciated, but I already had. And also, as I mention in my email, it is information that, for whatever reason, doesn't work - at least, not for me.

Because of this, and because the nature of her email was to only pass along information, I hadn't responded. But yesterday, it was on my mind because yesterday was another adventure trying to deal with SSI.

My email...

Thanks for your email. Here's an update for you on the SSI reporting...
I had a meeting at SSI a couple of months back with Sam's current caseworker. This was set up by them to make sure that Sam was "still eligible." (Why this was necessary when Sam had only been receiving assistance for about two months when I received the notice, I have no idea. Apparently, no one else did either - or at least, didn't want to bother answering the question - beyond a, "We don't make those decisions in this office.")

Anyway, he gave me an instruction paper for reporting Sam's income info - for both the phone app, as well as the automated call-in (as you mention). Unfortunately, neither one works for us - and no matter how I try the reporting (reporting for Sam or as Sam) it only gives me an error at the end of it all. Both last month and the month before, I had to call and give them the info over the phone. Each time, I explained the problem and the best anyone can come up with is, maybe it's because Sam's still a student.

I tried reporting it again today - with the same results. I called SSI and explained it all over again to the "operator of the day." Despite everyone else taking the info over the phone, he refused and said they aren't allowed to do this. He said I needed to mail it to them (!). When I asked for the address, he said, "Just mail it to our office." When I asked what I should put on the envelope, he had to think for a while, then said something like, "MVI" (or something... my notes are back at the office).

I told him (as politely as I could) that I understood that his hands were tied but could I possibly speak to a supervisor, that this was going counter to everything else I've been told the last three months. He looked around and found someone and said he would switch me over. He gave me this person's extension, in case he cut me off by mistake - but I had to promise to only use this extension just this one time. I promised and naturally, I got cut off. I called back, dialed the forbidden extension, and naturally got the supervisor's voice mail - because by this time, it was lunch time and the office closes at noon on Wednesdays!!!!

So, so far, I haven't reported Sam's income for September. But I still have two more days. I'm sure it'll go smoothly!

Here's the thing, after all of this, I went on the SSA website to look for reporting options for income under SSI. There's this page: https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/spotlights/spot-telephone-wage.htm
This page gives you info on the app and automated reporting (which doesn't work for me) but further down, under "Is There Another Way to Report Wages," it says (the bold is by me):

• sending a fax with the gross wage amount and applicable month;
• mailing a brief letter with the gross wage amount and applicable month;
• telephoning your local field office; or
• going to your local field office to give the report in person

At the bottom of that same web page, there is a link for signing up for reminders. When you click on it, it brings you to this page: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/ssi/wage-reporting.html
The third paragraph on this pages begins with, "You can report wages by visiting, calling, or writing your local Social Security Office" (again, the "bold" is by me.)

Needless to say, I am beyond frustrated with this process. Every two weeks, it's something else like this.
I'll try again tomorrow.
If I have any energy or sanity left, I'll try and let you know how it went.
Thanks.

What I didn't bother to mention (because I forgot) is that after getting home and getting Sam some dinner, in an attempt to get some clarification, I then tried calling the 800 number on the SSA website. 

After managing to get through the automated menu, I was put on hold, where an automated voice came on and told me that they were looking forward to speaking with me. After a moment or two, another automated voice came on and told me that the "current wait time is approximately fifty-five minutes." 

By this time, it was around 5:30 and I knew that even if I could stick it out, it would likely put me past their business hours and at best, I might be able to leave a voice mail. My experience with voice mail has been that, with one exception, no one ever calls me back. (That one exception? I did indeed get a call back - six weeks later.)

I gave up.

As I said in the email, I'll try again... if I have any energy or sanity left.

And like I said at the beginning of all of this, this is what I spend my free time on - this, and falling asleep on the couch.

Rediscovering the Day

Periodically, I get reminders from my online photos, allowing me the opportunity to “rediscover this day” from a previous year. The photo above is one example of this. It was taken exactly a year ago today, on a walk that Sam and I went on, through the woods at the edge of town.

We haven’t walked those woods at all this year. When it hasn’t been rainy, it’s been too humid. Even under the best of conditions, the place can be pretty buggy. But with the air being as humid as it's been, I expect the preponderance of mosquitoes would carry us away. 

And now, with the declining daylight hours, the thought of going for an evening walk along a buggy, unlit wooded path is even less appealing. Because of this, it's looking like going for a walk in these woods is going to be one more thing that's moved to our “maybe next year” column.

The other thing I want to mention about this photo - which is completely unrelated to the walk in the woods - is that the photo was taken on Dad's birthday. 

I can't remember whether I was thinking about this when I took the photo, but I've been thinking about it today.

Today's Brief Comment

The long awaited Transition Meeting for Sam has been scheduled for a week from Tuesday.

Cold Weather Cooking

All of a sudden, the weather turned sharply colder this weekend - especially the nights. For us, this meant pulling the tiny, old air conditioner out of the dining room window. And it meant that it was time for Sam and I to shift into our fall/winter/spring mode of cooking.

Removing the air conditioner was no big deal - other than a wrenched back. Figuring out what we were going to cook took a little more time.

For our first hot, un-grilled meal in quite a while, we decided we would ease into our colder weather cooking projects by cooking something in the crock pot. This involved two things. It involved me going down the basement to try to find where I put the crock pot. And it involved Sam and I figuring out what were were going to do with it, when and if I found it.

Finding the crock pot isn't as easy as it sounds. It had been about eight or nine months since I last used it, and this meant that wherever it was in the basement, it had about eight or nine months worth of opportunities for crap to get stacked on top of it.

I went down the basement and after a few tentative pokes into precarious piles of soon-to-be treasures (none of which contained a crock pot), I managed to narrow down my search to the most likely area where it might be buried (FYI: Zone #38.7b). Sure enough, there it was - hiding under a couple of moving blankets, an old jacket and a box of toys that the kids haven't played with in the last twenty years (which we're keeping anyway - just in case).

So I dragged the crock pot out of the basement and did my best make it presentable, if not usable, by scrubbing it several times in near scalding water.

Next, Sam and I had to decide what to cook.

Sure, we probably could have cooked something from our freezer, but this would have involved chipping away at the tundra in hopes of finding something food-like and trying to figure out what the object actually was (or, more appropriately, what it had been). Even if that were possible, which is unlikely, we would have been wasting our time.

It's pretty much guaranteed that whatever we might find, would have freezer burn all over it - a result of having spent decades under the ice of my non-frost free freezer. So I decided that, like usual, it was better to leave that stuff undisturbed (except for when I cram in more, soon to be forgotten, soon to be unidentifiable, food in front of it).

Instead, as with most of our meals, we decided to let the grocery store sale flyer dictate what we would be cooking. Thankfully, the store had roast beef on sale. We both like roast beef but past experience has taught me that the beef from this particular store sometimes tasted less "beefy" than it should, having only a "beef-like" quality about it.

Since we were cooking this in the crock pot, I decided it really didn't matter. We would be shoving in so much other stuff, it was bound to come out tasting nearly edible, no matter what.

Now we had a game plan. We made a list of our preferred ingredients, checking to see what we already had (which, as it turned out, was only the essentials: onions and garlic). Everything else went on the grocery list.

After our return from the grocery store (where we bought everything on our list - as well as a bunch of other stuff ) - it became apparent that we would have to slightly alter our regular routine.

When it comes to crock pot cooking, Sam and I usually do all the prep work the night before, then we stick the crock pot in the refrigerator for the night, and I take it out the next the morning and let it cook for most of the day. But it had been a busy day so we didn't have the time do any of the prep in advance - which was just as well because, much like the freezer, there was no room in the refrigerator to fit in the crock pot.

So, Sam and I did the prep work early Sunday morning. Like usual, I cut up the onions and the "beef" (somewhere along the line, we decided to go from a roast to beef stew). Sam, with periodic guidance, did the rest.

Sunday evening was chilly again so it was good to have a nice, hot meal. That's something else I like about the fall - being able to cook together and being able to enjoy it together, when we're all done.

Before

After

A Sunday Stroll

The summer has been filled with hot, humid and wet weather so the regular walks that Sam and I were going on, came to an abrupt end sometime around the beginning of August. We would get out from time to time but with nowhere near the regularity we would like - for both our physical, as well as our mental health.

Finally though, it was a beautiful day on Sunday. For the first time in what seems like forever, Sam and I went for a walk along the Canalside Rail Trail. It was kind of surprising how quiet the place was. Usually the place is pretty busy.

Off to the right, in the picture above, is a small water park and playground, and beyond them are a couple of ball fields and basketball courts and a picnic area. There's plenty to do, even if you don't want to go for a walk, and usually there are plenty of people doing it. But on Sunday, there were only a handful of people around. Not sure why that was, especially considering the weather as so nice.

Also missing was the family of geese that had been around for most of the summer. Usually, they occupied the patch of land between the river and the walkway. They tended to keep to themselves as long as we kept to ourselves - each of us pretending that the others weren't there.

The last time we saw the geese was weeks ago, during one of our, by then, infrequent walks. The young ones had grown to a point where they were nearly indistinguishable from their parents. The only giveaway was in how the parents would still hover over them if it looked as if someone might approach, or if it looked like the no longer little-ones might be heading into danger.

It seems early for the geese to have left for the season - especially with the weather still being so warm. It's hard to believe that winter will be approaching in a few short months, but if the coming months go by a fast as the ones before them, winter will be here all too soon.

Hopefully, Sam and I will get out more and more, once the weather turns cool, but before it turns cold. And hopefully we'll be able to see that family of geese, at least one more time - before they head away.

Today's Brief Comment

There are few things more depressing than going to visit an old friend, only to find their house abandoned.

Tonight's Music Video

I posted this song years ago but I think that particular video has long since been taken down. Here's another of the same song...



If you have a few minutes, you can read some excerpts from an interview with Sam Baker here. If you have about forty-five minutes, you can listen to the entire interview at the same link. It's from the broadcast where I first found out about him - and where I first heard this, and some of his other songs.

This Year's Visit to the Fair

As with the Fair Parade, it’s also time for our annual visit to the Fair. With the exception of one recent year, we went to the fair on Saturday morning, just like always.

I’m not sure what was going on but boy, the Fair sure seemed to be sparse this year.

I don't know why this was. Unlike at the parade, it didn’t rain - at least not when we were there. Granted, we get there pretty early, but even still…

And it wasn't just the crowds (or lack of them) that were thin, it was pretty much everything. Usually, the entries in the various buildings, whether they be flowers or produce, are crowding each other out. But not this year. This year, there were a lot of empty spaces.

I would attribute this to an overly wet growing season, which produced poor crop yields - and this may indeed be part of the problem - but it wasn’t just confined to agriculture. Upstairs, where they have the craft, photograph and art entries, it was also pretty sparse. Maybe too many creative people were too depressed by all the wet weather to be creative.

One good thing about this “thinning of the Fair” situation was that, when it came walking through the two buildings, where various vendors set up their displays, it was also pretty pathetic (at least, in terms of quantity of vendors. I have no comment on the quality of the vendors.) This meant that I needed to avoid eye contact with fewer people - so that was pretty good.

Speaking of these vendors, I noticed that even though there were fewer of them, of these, there seemed to be an overpopulation of bathroom re-outfitters. I didn’t know this was such a growth industry. I wonder if they knew this. Do these vendors set up at the Fair thinking that they’re going to be the only ones - and then get all pissed-off when they see that there’s a roomful of other bathroom re-outfitters? Do they badmouth the competition to any poor soul who isn’t smart enough to avoid making eye contact?

Anyway, along with everything else, there also seemed to be fewer rides this year. Here’s a couple of photos I took while riding the Ferris Wheel. The first one is from a few years ago, the other one was taken this year...

Not This Year

This Year

See? Night and day! (Get it? My next show's at eleven. Tell your friends.) It's a little hard to tell from these pictures (because of the night and day thing) but take my word for it, there were fewer rides.

We don't go on a lot of rides anymore (though this year, Helaina went on the Ferris Wheel with me, Sam went on the merry-go-round and Sam and Helaina both went on the bumper cars together) so from that perspective, having fewer rides is not that big of a deal. But to me, the Fair is about families being together and little kids having fun - and that's what, to me, the rides represent.

Once again, we went to the pig races. The Fair has had these pig races for years and years, but we didn't start watching them until two, maybe three years ago. (Naturally, this was at Sam's request.)

Though it would be hard to top the racing pig show from a few years ago, it was still a pretty good show. How this pig racing outfit compares to all of the other racing pig shows out there, I have no idea.

I have no funny story to tell about the pig races this year. There was one thing that happened which I thought was kind of nice, and I started to write about it. But it ended up taking so much explanation to set it up - and then there was no particular punchline - it even made me say, "What was the point of all of this???" Consider yourself spared.

To try to make amends for your bitter disappointment (over missing out on that non-exciting story - not this entire post,) I will instead share with you a few non-exciting fair photos...

Here's another photo of Sam taken from the second floor of the Round House. In case you're wondering, I'm pretty sure that Sam's not hiding a piece of stolen fruit behind his back. (Now, if that were me...) Just kidding,Fair Committee.

After visiting the Round House and a couple of the other buildings, we headed over the the Baby Barnyard. The fact that Sam fed a couple of the animals and risked the possibility of getting any baby animal saliva on his fingers, is pretty remarkable. This would have been unheard of a few years ago (no matter how cute the animals were).

Here's one taken as we walked down the fun packed midway (see previous years worth of photos - which look almost exactly the same).

After walking/running through the two "Gauntlet of the Vendors" buildings (soon to be renamed, "Gauntlet of the Bathroom Re-Outfitters"), we rewarded ourselves, like usual, with our traditional brunch, consisting of ketchup with some French fries on the side.

Here's another photo, this one taken approximately thirty seconds later.

After Helaina and I climbed onto the Ferris Wheel, I noticed this tool bag sitting on the deck on the opposite side. Near as I can tell, it seems to consist of a rusty chain, a short piece of rusty pipe, a couple of rusty bolts, and what looks like maybe a hacksaw.  I'm not sure what bothers me more - that this might be a collection of parts which fell off of the ride. Or that these might be the ride operator's most treasured possessions - and he keeps them close by, "just in case."

Here's another photo taken from the Ferris Wheel - this one looking in the opposite direction of the photo up above. Two things about this. First, there way fewer rides than in years past (if you don't believe me by now, then I give up trying to convince you). And second, see that little green arrow over to the right?  That's where we ate the ketchup and fries (in case you were still thinking about them since viewing the photo above).

Here's a few photos of Helaina and Sam on the bumper cars. There was a young girl in one of the cars that, for the life of her, couldn't get her car to go - and therefore, she spent most of the ride either crying, or getting slammed into by all of the other cars, and crying. It brought back memories of when the exact same thing would happen to me - only, it was usually just my brother doing the slamming. (Out of respect to her and out of respect to me not wanting to get sued, she is not in these pictures.)

Finally, here's a final picture from the pig show - this one is taken of this year's "Swifty" as he/she gets the hell out of the water.

So, that's it for now. Come back again next year, when I will likely have photos of the exact same events, and repeat everything I just said, all over again.