First Look Vacation - Wednesday

More vacation photos. It was such a grand time and I have so many impressions and there was just no time to blog about everything so, here we are, some two and a half months removed, and I still have a lot to post.

I have all my BlizzCon/Disneyland photos in a folder and I go through them to see what is worth blogging. I took a lot of photos from the airplane window. It was clear both going to and coming from Los Angeles. I love looking at the ground from the air. There is so much diversity and difference in our country. It almost takes an airplane flight to appreciate the change from the lush and green Midwest to the tan of the Great Plains to the Rocky Mountains with snow to Los Angeles. But, because there is no giant line on the ground delineating where one state ends and another begins, I sort of have to guess that we might be flying over Kansas at the moment or maybe this is western Colorado. The photos, while interesting to me, aren't going to be interesting to anyone else. So, I've decided to go with a "first look" theme. I can say something about those photos.

Wednesday, November 4th, was a travel day. I got up at 5 a.m., showered and finished packing. The limo to the airport would pick me up by 6:45. I wanted to be completely ready. I had cats to reassure and feed and one last swing through the house to make sure it was reasonably clean. I hate coming home to a dirty house.

I set my luggage on the sidewalk in front of the steps. I saw a limo drive down the street, go to the next intersection and turn around. When I got back to the front door, the driver had parked and claimed my luggage. One last chin and ear scratch with a promise I'd be back soon, and I left. It was foggy.

Sometimes I think I should print this or have it made into a print. It was an accidental photo taken more to document that it was a) fall in Illinois, b) foggy and c) before sunrise. Generally, I don't try for an arty photo. My photos are to document things. When something like the above happens, I'm quite surprised. It looked okay on my phone, just what I needed.

My flight left at 9:45. I got to the airport at 7:30, owing to the limo being at the house at 6:25 and me ready to go. Thanks to an app, I had curbside check-in of my luggage and a boarding pass all ready. The guy at curbside checked all my paperwork and pointed me in the direction of the security line. Yeah...about that.

There are debates and debates about whether this makes us safer. When you have something like RA, standing in lines like this can be tough. Three years ago, this would have been a nightmare for me. I found, at the end of the day on Sunday, November 8th, when we were waiting for the evening light show and the security personnel from Disney were telling everyone to stand, it was too much. I had to sit down, irrespective of calls to stand up. It's about knowing your limits.

Here, it was early morning. I hadn't had a whole day to be on my feet and the line was moving, albeit slowly, but it was moving. The one thing I don't "get" is the person who has a 7:45 flight, arriving at the airport at 7:30 and expecting to make said flight when the security line is this long. There was one guy walking this middle row, calling out flight times and then pulling people for special fast screening. But after this was the metal detectors and there was a line for that. I cannot imagine those people made their flights. Some comments from people around me were quite "colorful" in their opinion of folks who seem to think they can just run up to the gate. Those days are 15 years behind us. I wasn't happy that the limo company said 6:45 for pick-up, but I see why. And TSA people, when you finally got to the screening point, were shouting that there would be more restrictive screening upcoming "for the holidays".

Once I got through all that, I found the gate and got breakfast. As early as I was, there were empty seats near the windows. Airports are fascinating places, akin to hives. Planes are the worker drones who bring their cargo, passengers, to the hive. On this day, the hive was slightly obscured by fog.

Had this been a clear day, you would have seen the Chicago skyline. As it was, sky and ground merged. The backlash of a foggy day in Chicago is the delays across the country as planes have to land in a slow fashion. My flight wasn't delayed getting out, but others were because their planes were stuck flying circles over Memphis while waiting for permission to proceed north. I thought the seats next to me would stay empty but the couple who finally occupied them made it on at the last minute. They were coming from Traverse City, Michigan, and had been delayed because of the fog in Chicago. Every seat was filled.

It's a 4 hour flight to LA, give or take a new minutes depending upon the weather. I took a nap and read. I packed a Discworld book and wound up coming within 50 pages of finishing it on the flight back. After my nap, I had no idea where we were. The ground was brownish green. There were foothills and eventually, towns merging into one another. The pilot informed us we were 30 minutes from arrival. I looked up.

In the distance, the sun glinted off the Pacific Ocean. I'm here. Excitement started building.  We flew over some of LA's Interstates.

I have an aunt in Pasadena. I haven't seen her in decades, other than photos on Facebook. I tried to arrange my schedule so there was time to visit, but I would have had to rent a car and drive to and from some point. When we flew over this interchange, I could feel anxiety rising. Generally speaking, give me a map and I can find anything. But I looked at this and decided I was very grateful I opted not to rent a car and try to drive. If I lived out here, eventually, I'd probably have to navigate this, but I'm just a tourist and I know how I feel about tourists who suddenly discover they have to be in the right lane to go south on the Dan Ryan and they are in the far left lane headed into Chicago. I made the right decision. Terror is never a good passenger.

And then we landed.

Hello LA! Hello Disneyland! Hello BlizzCon 2015! I have arrived. With signs and people from whom to get directions, I found my luggage and got to the SuperShuttle. The Shuttle was filled and everyone was going to BlizzCon. The guy in the far back was from Germany and was staying at the flagship hotel, the Hilton. I was the last passenger picked up so I got to ride in the front.

Car pool lanes. We don't have those in Chicago. And there are four lanes of traffic in addition to the car pool lanes. My feeling of "I can drive anywhere" faded very quickly. Nope; a big nope.

The only palm trees we have are in the Garfield Park conservatory. Yeah, this landscape is a bit different than a leaf-shedding maple on a quiet street in Wheaton, Illinois.

We drove past the entry to Disneyland.

I grew up on The Wonderful World of Disney. I remember some programs which gave you a tour of Disneyland. It seemed like such a far-off place and here I was, going right by it. I would be there the next day, with avowed "Disney freak", Liz. Even though I was passing it, it didn't seem real.

We went 6 blocks south and made a right turn.

The Anaheim Convention Center loomed into view. You can't see from this distance, but it's festooned with all things Blizzard. Ive seen photos of the convention center with the banners but here it was. It didn't seem real. Everyone in the shuttle got quiet. We were all first time attendees and I think it had now dawned on all of us that we were, in fact, at BlizzCon. I didn't say a word other than "Have fun. Nice to ride with you." as the others disembarked at their respective hotels. I was the last person to be dropped off.

After getting to the hotel room, I sat down and looked at the photo of the convention center. All the planning and saving. I really was here. I had seen the convention center with my own eyes. So this is Southern California, Disneyland and Anaheim. This was going to be an amazing 4 days.

Beverage:  English Breakfast Tea

Deb

It's Coming

Next Monday, Autumn begins. There have been changes in the yard to remind me that fall is coming.

It's too chilly at night now to have the windows open. I have to remember to open them before I leave or the house seems close when I come home. Funny how it doesn't feel that way once November comes and I have all the windows covered in plastic. I know some people love it when the night temperatures dip into the 50's. I think good sleeping weather is mid to upper 60's. So, I go around closing windows at night and opening them during the day.

The other thing that's happening is the spiders are coming inside. I came home from work yesterday and decided to open the windows. We've had rain and a threat of it enough that I had been keeping the windows closed. But yesterday, the temperatures were in the 70's and there was not a reason to keep the windows closed, even though I have to shut them at night.

I go to open the living room window and my hand hits a mass of spider webbing. You can see one long strand in the photo but trust me when I say the whole bottom of the window was a mass of thin webbing. I opened the window and then got the broom to remove it. The girls usually sit over by this window because squirrels will go up and down the pine tree just outside it. I wondered why they hadn't been in the window. They didn't want to deal with it either.

And, on Monday, as I was brushing my teeth before bed, I felt something fall into my cleavage. Thinking I had misjudged a glop of toothpaste, I looked down to see a spider crawling across the inside of my pjs.

Now spiders don't necessarily bother me. Their benefit to the outside world in removing harmful insects is well known. If I find one, I usually chase it onto a piece of paper or the fly swatter and drop it outside. The operative word in all of this is "outside". That's where they really need to be and to stay. Crawling across the ceiling of my bathroom and then deciding to drop onto whatever they can find is not my idea of a beneficial insect.

I did not scream but I removed that pair of pajamas in record time. If there ever is a pajama removing contest, sign me up and tell me there is a spider in the top. I saw it later, crawling across the floor. before I could crush it, it darted into the pile of dirty clothes, which included the pajamas. I just scooped the whole pile up and dropped it into the laundry chute. Maybe the weight of clothing, including pairs of jeans, will crush it.

This morning, we had fog, another harbinger, at least in the Midwest, of the arrival of fall.

I don't remember when the last time was this year that weather conditions produced morning fog. I love how it makes the world smell. There were minor delays at the airports because it kind of rolled in unexpectedly but it wasn't that heavy.

We haven't had a heavy, can't see your hand in front of your face type, fog in years. I'm wondering if that's a product of global warming. Conditions are just not right anymore to develop that kind of "peering through waxed paper" fog. The world looks so different when it's foggy. We see more of this as fall approaches.

I need to buy more hot cocoa and some pumpkins and some apples.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

A Foggy Day in Old Chi-Town

As promised, here are the foggy Chicago photos from a week ago. I was west of the Lincoln Park Zoo, just off Fullerton, for those who know their Chicago. This is about 2 miles from the lake itself. When I was done, I headed east on Fullerton to pick up Lake Shore Drive to go south toward "the city", i.e. the location of all the skyscrapers, and connect with the interstate to head back to the office.

This is just north of the zoo.

What was so interesting about this fog was that it came in waves. The sky would brighten a bit and then the next ribbon of fog would come. Lake Michigan is about a quarter of a mile east of here.

Turn right and get on Lake Shore Drive, the iconic road that winds from Hollywood down to 65th Street, running along the lake. It can be called "LSD", but most people I know who are natives call it "the Drive".

The zoo is to the right and the lake is to the left. The Drive was still reasonably busy at 10:15 a.m. so I didn't really oogle the lake. Didn't have to. The atmosphere of the heavy fog was enough for me.

Straight ahead of me should be the beginning of the "Magnificent Mile" if you approach it from the north. You see, to the right, the sign pointing to Michigan Avenue. Oak Street beach is to the left off the photo and the only true "S" curve left on the drive is approaching. Putting the camera away.

Now that traffic is stopped for the first of about a dozen traffic lights east of Chicago's downtown proper, I could pull the camera out for a last look at the fog.

To the left should be Navy Pier with Lake Point Tower and the ferris wheel. Um... The lake was a dark green color, not real choppy. The fog only went inland a couple miles and by the time I'd crossed the river, it was mostly gone.

We haven't had these kinds of fog in the 'burbs. I love being out in this, drinking in the water droplets, feeling the dew on my face. It takes a special kind of weather to get this heavy fog. I have no idea how tall it went either. As much as I'm afraid of heights, I'd love to be up in a multi-story building where the floor was in the middle of the fog and then above the fog. Of course, if I was above the fog, I'd probably be standing 10 feet from the window sayings, "Yes, I can see. Looks nice."

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

Lights

'Tis the season of lights. We string them up, around and about. We ooh and ahh over a well designed display. We drive miles out of our way to look at a collection and they frame this holiday. NBC Nightly News has asked the people on the space station to see if they can spot and photograph from space the home in Australia with the Guinness Book of World Records most Christmas lights.

Lately, in my neighborhood, we've had lights of a different sort.

These are not the lights you want to see in your neighborhood and certainly not at 1 a.m., when the photo was taken. It was a rainy, foggy Friday night and I had just fallen asleep when I was jarred awake by the 'whoop whoop' of the emergency siren. I don't know what was the problem. The neighbors in that direction are unknown to me. I was drawn by the reflection of the lights off the homes and the wet pavement and how the building fog diffused the red flashers.

I like observing lights on a foggy night. There's something intriguing about how light is bent and blurred by the water droplets of fog. I know it's all very scientific, how that works, but what I like is the visual. Flashing lights, a misty night and the enveloping fog made for a mesmerizing scene. 

Beverage:  Irish Breakfast tea

Deb

Rollin' Home

Thursday, August 22nd, I headed home from Virginia. It had been a lovely visit. I made the decision to go a different route back because of all the construction I had encountered in Ohio.

The morning was foggy.

I love driving in the fog, as long as I either know the road or, in this case, it was Interstate and I could be fairly certain of the highway. The fog only lasted an hour.

The morning was impossibly beautiful. The above photo was taken on I-64 west of Charlottesville. I hadn't seen this scenery the previous week because it was dark.

At the intersection of I-64 and I-81, I went right, north.

I drove north to almost the Pennsylvania border, meeting I-70 in Maryland, and turned left, to head west.

Here's where I met the mountains. I've driven this section before, back in 2011. Some of the scenery seemed familiar but it's still new. I-70 gave way to I-68 and I approached this cut through the mountains. This was familiar.

I noticed on the way out that there just weren't very many bug splats on the window. There were more on the way home, but I remember years of travel where you'd use the windshield wipers and the sprayer in an effort to get the bugs off the windows. Are there less bugs? Did I happen to travel during a time when bugs aren't plentiful? Or was my travel through a bugless area?

I-68 is designated the "National Freeway" and passes through some beautiful scenery in western Maryland. Notice I'm in the right lane. It was this drive where I really encountered the slowness of the Jeep. Try as I might, I couldn't build up enough steam to sustain even 60 miles per hour. My speed dropped to around 50 when I would finally clear the top of these mountains.

This photo is a good example of the "Blue Ridge Mountains". Notice the difference in color. The highest peak I cleared topped out at over 2800 feet. This is the time you want someone else with you so someone could take a photo of the nice sign they put up letting you know that, yes, your ears have popped because you're over 2600 feet. 

Here I am in West Virginia. 

I met up with I-79 and headed right, to the north, to Pennsylvania. 

Western Pennsylvania still contains similar mountains. I knew, from checking the weather, that I could be driving into rain. Although the overcast weather in Maryland and West Virginia, kept the temperatures cool, once I got into Pennsylvania, the temperature went up, even in the mountains, by about 15 degrees. And there, like a wall, were the rain clouds. 

It turned out, however, that I drove around the rain for at least an hour. 

North of Pittsburgh, we met, but it wasn't much to speak of, a brief shower moving from left to right and I drove out of it as quickly as I drove into it. 

It didn't cool off the air at all. 

I picked up good old familiar Interstate 80, turned left and headed west. Oh hey! I know this intersection. 

I waved in the direction of April and Perry's. Next time, I hope my trip allows me to see all the people I know around Youngstown. 

As I headed west, I could see the rain south and west of me. It seemed like all the hype about "heavy" rain or even any kind of rain wasn't going to happen. 

But it was in western Indiana when I finally met the rain which actually cooled things off. I love driving in rain. I love the swoosh of the wipers and the rattle of the rain on the roof. In the summer, I love the change of smells from hot pavement to steamy pavement to cool, wet pavement. I love the look of the land in the rain. 

Beyond this, it grew too dark to take photos and I could feel how close home was. When I pulled in the drive, 16 hours after leaving Richmond, I was exhausted, but nothing is quite so wonderful as knowing you're home.

Would I go that route again? It's all Interstate, unlike the route out. I'm not sure. Knowing that there is major construction in Dayton and how poorly marked the intersection of the two routes was where I had to leave the Interstate and pick up the US Highway, I'm not inclined to want to go that way. But the way out was 2 hours less time and that's a strong consideration in travel. There are a number of ways to get from here to there and back again. If this becomes a yearly event, I'll have a chance to experience them all. 

Beverage:  Lady Gray Tea

Deb

Travel

I've been on the road lately. I'm ready to just sit although the beauty of the country through which I find myself is energizing.

I went to Iowa on the 13th. This was the view out my mother's south window in the morning of the 14th.

The yard is brown, due to the drought, but the corn looked sort of okay. There was light fog in the lowlands of the creek bed and the sky was a crystal clear blue.

I had to go to Danville, Illinois, yesterday. The morning was similar to the one I experienced in Iowa.

There was a light fog that hugged the distance. I never drove through it although I could see it.

I did what I had to do and then headed home. Although I am getting rather tired of this drive down and back, I am so grateful for the scenery.

Not a cloud in the sky. The warm sunshine on my left arm which is now a half shade darker than my right arm. Jazz (Miles Davis, a gift, last year at Christmas, from my son-in-law) on the CD since jazz is nowhere to be found in this area.

My body would like, very much, not to have to do this drive again, but I have one more trip I need to do next week. Days like these, where the air is sweet and the sky is clear and the temperature is warm but not hot, make me wish I had the funds to just leave, pick a direction and go. The wanderlust gets strong. We have a big beautiful country to explore. I might look at the alternate route those internet "find your route" sites have recommended and drive it home next week. The Interstate is a swift but generally homogenized route. Four lanes where the only excitement is this.

If I want to get from "A" to "B" in a generally fast and efficient manner, it's the route to take. Yet, there's so much to see if you get off the 4-lane. Perhaps that's what I shall do next week. I'm sure there are blog posts just waiting to happen from a 2-lane road in the middle of eastern Illinois.

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

Have You Ever Considered...?

Tuesday, I drove into fog.

It was heavy and thick and clung to the landscape like it had been glued there. I love to drive in fog. I love the atmosphere it gives to the world. I love to breathe it in, feeling the water droplets in my lungs. I love to feel it on my face. 

When I went to college in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, fall and spring had intriguingly foggy days. It would roll in off the Mississippi River and, although Viterbo was a small college with a condensed footprint, it could envelope the whole campus and make buildings resemble charcoal drawings. If I could get up earlier in the morning, I might see more fog. As it is, it's usually gone by the time I get up. 

On Friday, the same area was devoid of fog but filled with color. 

Fall is in full bloom. We seem to have received just the right amount of rain to allow color to grow under the green. There is an explosion of bright yellows, oranges and reds this year. I don't remember it being so colorful. It also could be because we've had deliciously warm weather this past week and it's conducive to being outside where you can notice the color. 

I get to the on ramp to Interstate 80 outside of Mishawaka and I have the option of going to Ohio or to Chicago. I actually hesitated. I get to the junction of I-355 and I-80 and I have this option.

I'm in the right lane to go north and home, but I looked longingly at the west bound traffic, at the sign that pointed to Iowa. 

I can't remember a time when I didn't want to have the kind of disposable income and freedom to say, "I want to go that way" and just decide that's the way I'm going. I've always wanted to be able to just hop in the car and follow a road wherever that road may go. It was Friday. I could have just continued the 5 hours on to my mother's. She wasn't expecting me but I tell myself she would have been happy to see me. But I have cats that need tending and a life that can't quite just be chucked to follow Interstate 80 to the next big thing. 

Still, I dream about being able to just drive, to have the money that I could fill out those ends of I-80 that I've never driven or to follow I-55 from its start by Lake Michigan in Chicago to wherever it ends. Maybe some day I can do that. 

Beverage:  Edinburgh's Finest tea

Deb

Ethereal

We often gripe about having to drive into the city. It's often not a pleasant trip. I've done it for so long that it's pretty much a mindless drive. I turn on WDCB and head east.

But yesterday was quite the scenic day. It made me glad that I always have my little camera on me and reminded me of why I love living here.

We had drizzle all morning. The combination of a large body of water to the east and warmer air created an impressive fog bank. You get kind of used to seeing the skyscrapers of the skyline obliterated on cloudy days. It wasn't until I got into the downtown that I realized this was a different kind of cloudy.

 

I forget the name of the building in the forefront. That's the Sears, oops, Willis, Tower in the background. The clouds and fog seem to wrap themselves, like a shawl, around the buildings. Almost anything of 10+ stories had fog wisps above the 10th floor. 

Jon and I headed to this job he's had for the past 4 years. My photos going northbound on Lake Shore Drive are blurry and not very good. I think the combination of the gray and the drizzle just didn't lend themselves to through the windshield photography. My little camera has proven itself great for doing what I need it to do when I need it to do it. It's just that if I'm driving, I can't compensate for water on the windshield. 

Heading southbound on Lake Shore Drive after lunch, it was a different story. The drizzle had ended but the fog remained. It was so cool. Lake Shore Drive's "technical" speed limit is 45 but I don't know anyone who drives that. I could drive 50-55 while shooting photos and not get honked at. 

I really like this photo.

 

The north end of Michigan Avenue with the Hancock Center is just barely visible. I was across from the Lincoln Park Zoo when I took it, for those who know their Chicago. It's almost like they are ghosts of buildings, suggestions. They did become more visible as you got closer. The fog was still heavy but you could see the top of the Hancock in between cloud drifts. 

I think, however, this is the best photo to come from the drive. 

 

This is Lake Point Tower. It's a condo building that sits the farthest east off the near north side. Just south of it is the point where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan. To the east of it is the lake and, what is wholly obscured here, Navy Pier. Lake Michigan is to my left, just concrete barriers away. This section of Lake Shore Drive is about as close as you'll get to the lake. 

I love how this is almost a black, white and gray photo. The only color is the red from the taillights of the car ahead of me and the almost imperceptible green traffic lights. I love how the fog cuts the building off, making it ghostly and completely removes the park and buildings that are Navy Pier to the east. Lake Point Tower sits almost defiantly east of the Drive. 

It was damp and cold doing what I had to do, but when I get photos like this, accidentally, really, it makes the drive in worth it. I know I have quoted this poem by Carl Sandberg before.

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on. 

Yes, this was his inspiration.

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

I Love These Kinds of Nights.

After an overnight of 4 inches of snow, changing to freezing rain and drizzle and temperatures that went up during the day, fog developed as I was heading home for the evening. I love these kinds of evenings in winter. The heavy overcast had blotted out what would be weak sunshine anyway and it surrounds any lights, blurring the edges. Sound is reflected back down as well as partially muffled. And the air has a unique, crisp, smell to it as snow melts and goes from a frozen to a gaseous state with almost no time spent as a liquid.

I should go out later tonight, before bed, and take photos of neighbor's Christmas lights. I'm sure flights are hugely delayed at the airports and the street lights look surrounded by gray batting. It's the kind of night that Santa would need Rudolph's services, for sure.

Beverage:  7Up

Deb

Atmospheric

I love these kinds of summer mornings where the fog hangs about the landscape. First of all, it makes everything look so different. Secondly, it muffles the sound. Third, you can smell the earth, deeply. And lastly, I like to breathe in the water droplets of fog. It has a cleansing feeling. I like to go for walks in the fog or just sit on the deck with a cup of tea. I know people hate it because of the whole lack of visibility but I could enjoy a foggy morning once every couple weeks.

Beverage: English Breakfast tea

Deb

Fog

The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

--Carl Sandberg

It was foggy this morning. I love the fog. I love how it drapes itself like gossamer around trees and buildings. I love how it diminishes the sounds of a city. I love how, when you walk through it and breath deeply, your lungs fill with the freshness of water. I love being out in it, feeling it on my face.

I remember fog on the farm. There were days you could not see across the yard. There were days when the fog was like torn sheets, sitting only in the hollows.

I love driving in the fog. Yes, it's dangerous, but I love the enveloped feeling and the act of discovery as you drive down even the most familiar of roads and the trees, signs and markers of life slowly reveal themselves to you.

Most of all, I love to walk in it. It's my introverted nature to need to recharge my batteries by alone-ness. This is not loneliness, this is just being alone. Fog is marvelous for that. I reach out and touch it. I surround myself with it. I loved going for a walk on the farm on a heavily foggy day. The sounds of the cows or the pigs or the chickens seemed a world away. I felt a balm for my busy soul.

And I remember in college, getting up to go to class on foggy days. As Old Style beer was brewed in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where I went to college, the fog would keep the smell of roasted hops in the city and it would not dissipate into the air. You would walk to your 8 a.m. class with this incredibly intriguing aroma; the damp on your face combined with the smell of hops and the Mississippi river. I know it sounds weird, but it was, to me, an inspiring smell. I remember being late to classes because I just wanted to be in it.

We don't get many foggy days in the city now. My memory thinks there were more, but it could be my memory is a fog. The tapestry of life changes in the fog. It's a change I miss. I would love to walk along a beach on a foggy day or hike through a forest or climb a hill while brushing the damp from my face. I was content this morning to linger in the back yard, breathing in the little that was left at 7:45.

More please. I want to sit on the deck in the morning with a mug of hot tea and just be in a fog.

Beverage: Assam tea

Deb

Only a couple more hours

and the sun will be up. The above photo was taken in 2007 in Columbus, Indiana where I was attending a Highland Games for my clan.

It's just after 2 a.m. and I'm finally feeling tired enough to sleep. I didn't get up until 8:30 but I've been going all day without feeling tired enough to take the body to sleep. I don't have to go anywhere when I finally do get up except the cats will want me to feed them in roughly 4 hours.

I love sunrises and sunsets. I knew this guy from Florida, Bradenton, to be exact. As part of the pseudo-romantic talk some guys indulge in, he promised that "some day", we'd start our morning with croissants, juice and strawberries on the beach watching the sun come up and then drive across the state to have hamburgers, french fries and beer while watching the sun set. Nope, never happened.

My dad was an early riser. He would wake me up in the summer to go for walks into the fields. I remember following him as he plowed through the alfalfa drenched with morning dew. Spittle bugs made their homes in the alfalfa and dad would catch them and the dew, getting his pants soaked but making it sort of easy for me to walk.

Often times, we'd stumble into a deer rut, where the deer were either just leaving or had just left. The deer would come into the alfalfa field at night to sleep instead of sleeping in the woods. It would smash down the alfalfa but the stuff would spring back fairly quickly in a summer day.

What I remember most is the intense musky smell of deer. That is definately an animal smell which could be compounded by dew-laden grass. If we had a ground fog, that would trap the smell. It's not like anything I can describe for you. You know it if you've smelled it.

So what am I doing up blogging at now 2:20 a.m. I don't really know other than I wasn't tired earlier. I miss having someone to wake up with and go to watch the sun rise or set. It's quiet outside tonight and I know I will sleep soundly. I also know, there are days when I'd give my eye teeth to have someone poke me and whisper, "Come on. The sun isn't going to wait for you to get there to watch."

Beverage: Coca-Cola

Deb

Happy July 4th a day late.

I've spend a leisurely weekend just lounging. I have to head to Iowa in the next few hours. I will be installing equipment on a road construction job in Fort Madison tomorrow morning at 10. I'm going to see my mother. It won't be a long visit. I'm fairly certain I need to be on the road early tomorrow morning to be where I have to be on time. The weather is supposed to be nice. Rain on Tuesday so I think just taking off the windows is all I can do.

It rained most of yesterday. For some reason, it was far noisier around the neighborhood this year than in past years. Fireworks, beyond sprinklers, small firecrackers and smoke bombs, are prohibited in Illinois. Certainly what went off several times over the last 3 days has not been of the "small" variety. I was tempted, when one blast shook my house, to call the constabulary, but I know they had their hands full last night.

It got really foggy last night late, the kind of fog I love to walk in. When I went to bed the fog had blurred the house lights across the street. I almost expected to see Humphrey Bogart, trench coat and cigarette, leaning against the street light north of my house, as he waited for Lauren Bacall or Sydney Greenstreet.

Shall I go see "Public Enemies", the new Johnny Depp movie about John Dillinger? I have a date Wednesday night. He has suggested dinner and a movie. I'm not a rabid Depp fan. I would probably go to see the locations around Chicagoland which were used for filming. I heard the ending is not how Dillinger died. As it's something of shrine in Chicago, perhaps I should go so I can say, "That's not what happened". Some day, I should take the "Gangster Tour".

I was invited to the neighbor's cook-out last night, but the thought of jockeying for protection under a tent from the steady rain was not my cuppa. I made cheeseburgers and cottage fries and had myself a Belhaven Scottish Ale. Perfect holiday fare.

Time to move on to other things. I don't like leaving a messy house. Pam is coming over to feed the girls tonight and tomorrow morning. I'll be back in the late afternoon. I need to clean litter boxes, damp mop floors and pack a bit for myself. Then I head over to the office to pick up the equipment and I'm good to go. Gas here is $2.79/gallon. What will it be in Iowa, I wonder?

Beverage: Orange juice

Deb