with John W. Howell
“So this is Thanksgiving.”
“Yes, Tempeste. A time to give thanks for all our blessings.”
“Look. Dad has turned off comments.”
“He wants our readers to not have to take time away to comment.”
“So we should wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Yes. Wait for it.”
“Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours.”
“And if you know the ASPCA emergency number, ask them to help us.”
Costumes courtesy of ChatGPT.
Today I randomly opened Detour on the Eternal Road to page 167. With eyes closed, I pointed to the page. The word closest to my finger is “jaw.” That will be the prompt today.
Jaw by John W. Howell © 2025
“What did you say?”
“You deserve a punch on the jaw is what I said.”
“Why’s that?”
“You are so rude that you need a lesson.”
“What did I do to you?”
“It’s not what you did to me. It’s what you took from me.”
“Now I’m really confused. What could I have taken from you?”
“My pride.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah. Everyone is looking at us, and if I don’t do something, I will lose face.”
“I’m so in the dark. What the heck are you talking about?”
“My egg. You’re sitting on my egg.”
“Whattt? This is my egg.”
“Your egg is over there. Your stupid mate moved it.”
“Oh, my goodness. Now that I have looked, you are right.”
“So get off.”
“Why don’t you just sit on my egg?”
“Penguins don’t do that. Last chance before I head butt you.”
“Okay, okay. Don’t get your feathers in a knot, I’m going.”
“You might want to clue in your idiot.”
“You can say stuff about me all you want, but keep my idiot out of this.”
“Yeah, he’s your burden. Thanks for keeping my egg warm.”
“No problem. Where is that idiot anyway?”
“Not my turn to watch him.”
“Very funny.”
This post was published on December 6th, 2013, by Marie Ann Bailey and me. Since it is close to Black Friday, I figure it might come in handy.
Top Ten Things Not to Do When Buying Gifts for Others
10. If you are buying a gift for a girlfriend, do not plan to give clothes unless you are double-dog sure of the sizes. If you’re lucky, you buy something too small and she feels bad (yet happy) because you think she’s smaller than she really is. If you’re unlucky, you buy something too big and she makes you feel bad for thinking that she’s bigger than she really is.
9. If you are buying a gift for a boyfriend, do not plan to give him one of those latest mechanical gifts from an online gadget store. Best case: he won’t be able to figure out what it is for and will feel stupid. Worst case: he will know what it is for since he already has one.
8. If you are getting a gift for a mother-in-law, do not plan to re-gift something you received from a family member or even a complete stranger. In the best case, you’ll have left the gift receipt in the box with last year’s date. In the worst case, it will be the very gift your mother-in-law gave you two years ago. To make it even more embarrassing, you raved about how perfect the gift was when you got it.
7. If you are buying a gift for a father-in-law, do not plan to give any kind of hat. The best case is that your mother-in-law will tell him he looks ridiculous in it. The worst case is that he will actually like it and wear it just to spite the mother-in-law, and then you will be on the hook for the resulting friction.
6. If you are buying a gift for a spouse, do not plan to give them anything they asked for when you asked what they wanted for Christmas. At best, your spouse will consider the gift as a no-brainer on your part and wonder why you didn’t get something else. At worst, your spouse will have changed their mind, and you now have a new doorstop.
5. If you want to give a gift to a teenager, do not buy anything. Simply provide them with the money you would have spent. If you do buy an unwanted gift, the best you can hope for is an eye roll, followed by the teenager getting a cash refund for it. At the worst, you’ll soon find the gift, with the gift sticker still affixed, at your local thrift store.
4. If you are buying a gift for a co-worker, do not buy any intimate apparel or anything that could be considered personal. In the best case, you will be thought of as “kind of creepy.” In the worst case, you will be explaining to Human Resources what you had intended by the gift.
3. If you are buying a gift for the postal person, do not give anything you have baked. The postal employee is fully capable of putting together their own cookie. At best, you will see your baked goods handed off to the following mailbox on your street. At worst, you will wonder why your mail stopped after the holidays.
2. If you are buying a gift for a white elephant gift exchange, do not buy anything you might not want to take home. The best case is that you manage to avoid being stuck with what you brought. The worst case is that you will be the proud owner of the gift you brought, which you will then have to store away until next year or give to your mother-in-law.
1. If you are buying a gift for your boss, do not try to keep up with his tastes. Simply get a gift card from Amazon and let him pick up a book. The best case is that whatever you give other than the gift card will never cost enough. The worst case is that you might actually spend enough to find out your boss has one of the things you bought. Unless it is a new Ferrari, you will never recover.
Today we have nothing specific to look at so we will cruise the neighborhood to see what is going on. Hopefully we can catch sight of Thanksgiving decorations. We are catered by Joe’s Bakery of Austin. Our entertainment is Keith Urban
Menu
JOEY ROCHA PLATE – Two eggs any style with side of pork carne guisada, potatoes, beans, sausage or bacon, & two tortiilas
BARBACOA PLATE – Two eggs any style with side of barbacoa, beans, potatoes, & two tortillas
15.25
PORK CHOP PLATE – Two eggs* any style with 4 oz. breaded pork chop, side of beans, potatoes, & two tortillas
MIGA CON TODO PLATE – Two scrambled eggs with corn chips, onions, tomatoes, & jalapenos topped
with cheese, side of beans, & two tortillas
MIGA PLATE – Two scrambled eggs with corn chips & topped with cheese, side of beans, & two tortillas
CHICHARRONE PLATE – Two eggs any style with side of fried pork skins cooked in salsa, side of beans, potatoes, & two tortillas
HUEVOS RANCHEROS PLATe – Two eggs any style with ranchero sauce, side of beans, potatoes, bacon or sausage, & two tortillas
HUEVOS A LA MEXICANA – PLATE – Two scrambled eggs mixed with tomato, onions, & jalapenos, side of beans, bacon, &
two tortillas
The bus is ready
There is a cute mailbox topper. Margaritaville truck.
How about a flying pig that is tied down. (go figure)
Aw Mom and fawn ready for the holidays.
There it is. A Thanksgiving decoration.
Santa, Mickey, and Snoopy after the office party.
A herd of Raideer outside the Activity Center.
Preparations underway for the walk of lights in December.
A buck wondering about the idiot with a camera.
The Producer’s Hibiscus.
Hard to explain. Looks like a post apocalyptic fraternity party.
Let’s finish with a Turkey blow-up.
Time now for music and food. I hope you have a lovely week.
Here is the philosophical question on one’s outlook on life. “Do you see a glass as half full or half empty?” Right now the cup is entirely empty and a push of the two coffee button should remedy that unfortunate situation. The first sip is a reminder to take a trip with the clock. It is set for November 21, 1925. The location is New York City, and the duration is an hour. The plunger is pulled, and we find ourselves in the lower level of Grand Central Station to witness the inaugural trip of the Orange Blossom Special.
The Orange Blossom Special, a luxury train operated by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad(SAL) to transport winter-weary travelers from New York City to Miami in Florida, began operations. The first Orange Blossom route used tracks from the Pennsylvania Railroad (from New York to Washington, D.C., the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad from Washington to Richmond, Virginia, and the SAL route from Richmond through Seaboard Air Line Railroad from Richmond via Raleigh, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia to West Palm Beach. (Miami service began in 1927). The trip covered 1,388.7 miles ( 2,234.9 km) and took 35 hours. The service would continue until 1953. Music is playing, and speeches are given. As the conductor calls “All aboard,” our alarm goes off, and we find ourselves on the couch back home.
A text comes in from Linda Hill. It reads.
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “full/empty.” Use one, use ’em both, use ’em any way you’d like. Bonus points for getting them both into your post. Have fun!
To see what others have done with the prompt, visit Linda’s post. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2025/11/21/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-22-2025/
Full/Empty by John W. Howell © 2025
Was the music The Orange Blossom Special?”
“No, according to Wikipedia, it was written during the maiden run of the new streamlined train. At the Jacksonville Seaboard Railroad Station, Ervin T. Rouse and Robert Russell “Chubby” Wise saw this train. Rouse and Wise wrote the Orange Blossom Special song as a fiddle tune. The tune was first recorded by Ervin and his brother Gordon one year later in New York.”
“Well, it was a good trip back.”
“I think a break was needed.”
“I agree. There is only so much a coffee machine and security shutdown can do.”
“I’ll reserve comment.”
“How about a Voo Doo Ranger?”
“Talk about a potential overdone subject.”
“No way. Uber’s right over there.”
“What’s that?”
“A streetcar. What does it look like?”
“How are we supposed to get up there?”
“That building on the right has an elevator. We punch the button for the station, and it takes us there.”
“Seems easy.”
“One thing, though.”
“Not surprised. What is it?”
“There are a few stops between here and the pub.”
“A few?”
“Well, maybe more than a few.”
“How many more?”
“Thirty stops.”
“That’s going to take hours.”
“Naw. They go quick.”
“We’ve been here five minutes and that thing hasn’t moved.”
“They are waiting for us.”
“I hope there aren’t others that they wait for.”
“Only one group that I know of.”
“Okay. Here it comes. What’s the one?”
“The high school marching band.”
“I give up.”
* * *
When I was in College 62 years ago, an event took place on November 22, 1963. I am referring to the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas Texas. Today is the anniversary of that tragic day and it still lives in my memory. Those of us who were a witness to the day will not forget. It is hoped that those who were not will still feel the injustice of such an act.
Today’s story comes from the Good News Network
An experienced wildlife photographer with a penchant for marine mammals, such as whales, recently witnessed a lone seal miraculously survive a hunt by 8 killer whales.
Far more than just bearing witness, it was more or less the photographer’s presence that allowed it to happen, as the seal escaped the jaws of the hunters by clambering up onto the boat.
Shared with AP, Charvet Drucker told her story of the encounter that began last week on a whale-watching boat. About 40 miles northwest of Seattle, in the Salish Sea, she spotted a pod of orcas, also called killer whales, and observed behavior suggesting they were hunting.
Quickly attaching her telescopic lens, the orcas splashed into action, attempting to secure a meal out of an adult seal that was thrown into the air among the scrum of black and white bodies. Her shutter rang out in her ears as Drucker observed what she thought were the seal’s last moments of life.
Suddenly, the pod altered its course and headed straight for the boat, and she realized they were still hunting the seal. Following marine life regulations, the skipper killed the engines as the pod approached to avoid harming them.
That’s when the seal flopped out of the water and onto the flat panel at the back of the boat like it would a piece of ice in the sea.
“You poor thing,” Drucker can be heard saying, as the seal looks up at her. “You’re good, just stay, buddy.”
In the wild, orcas have ways of dislodging seals from tiny icebergs, and they went straight into their playbook, even though the safe haven was a boat, not an iceberg. They began to move toward the boat and execute a series of staggered dives that create subsurface waves that can rock a seal off its perch.
First documented in 1980, the orca’s strategy worked, but none among them were fast enough to catch the seal during the brief moments that it fell back into the water. After about 15 minutes, the orcas left.
It’s not the first time Drucker has witnessed this behavior, and she usually accepts the natural order of prey-predator interactions and is happy when the orcas get to eat.
“I’m definitely Team Orca, all day, every day. But once that seal was on the boat, I kind of turned (into) Team Seal,” she said in an interview with AP last Thursday.
Apparently, orcas near Washington that feed on seals are migratory, or “transient” orcas, and tend to be better fed than “resident” orcas that seem to specialize in eating salmon.
Watch the video
The good news in this story is the seal lived to see another day. Also, one missed seal is not a big deal for the orcas. They will find more. Today’s JohnKu talks about the natural way of things. I hope you have a super weekend.
Natural by John W. Howell © 2025
Prey and predictor,
Are nature’s natural way. . .
Respect the process.
“Twiggy. Look at all these delicious leaves.”
“Oh no. Tempeste, you leave them alone.”
“I’ll leave them alone. Alone with me in my mouth.”
“You are going to get in so much trouble.”
“Who’s going to know? Unless you tell.”
“I’m not going to tell, but you know those aren’t good for you.”
“Not good for me? Well, I think otherwise.”
“Come up on this porch now.”
“You sounded just like Mom.”
“That was Mom,”
“Oh man, just look out there. And more keep falling.”
“And you will make yourself sick if you keep eating them.”
“Look at this one.”
“Leave it.”
“It’s such a little one. Couldn’t possibly hurt.”
“You are going to develop a leaf dependency if you’re not careful.”
“What a way to go.”
“Oh, brother. You’re hopeless.”
“Okay, I’ll leave them alone.”
“If only.”
Today I randomly opened The Last Drive to page 133. I closed my eyes and pointed to the page. The word nearest my finger is fly. This is our prompt today.
Fly by John W. Howell © 2025
“How long have you been flying?”
“I can’t remember when I started.”
“That long ago?”
“I guess. How about you?”
“I just started maybe five years ago.”
“Wow, so you are a newbie.”
“Well, I think I’m a little more experienced than a newbie.”
“Yeah, you’re right. No offense, but I was comparing you to me.”
“No offense taken. So we are headed for the sunny South.”
“Yup. Can’t wait to get out of this cold weather.”
“I hear it’s going to be a hellacious winter.”
“I heard the same. I wish I had decided to fly to a warmer place earlier.”
“It is only going to get worse.”
“That’s what I hear. I saw our captain earlier.”
“You did. How’s he look?”
“Well. You know it is tough to tell competence just by looks.”
“I’m sure you are right. Any thoughts on the captain, though?”
“I was quite surprised that she is a goose.”
“Why are you surprised?”
“Normally, a gander leads the migration flight. It was a surprise, I’m all.”
“I’m sure she will be fine.”
“I agree. Oh, look. Time for take off.”
This post was published on November 25th, 2013, by Marie Ann Bailey and me. Since Thanksgiving is almost here, it could prove useful now.
Top Ten Things Not to Do with Your Thanksgiving Turkey
10. If you get a live bird for Thanksgiving, do not let your kids dress it up as a pilgrim. If you do, at best, the bird might actually look good. At worst, you’ll probably be having carry out for dinner after the kids discover what is going to happen to their new best friend
9. If you decide to get a live bird for Thanksgiving, do not listen when it starts singing “gimmie three steps… gimmie three steps, mister… Gimme three steps toward the door.” Chances are that your kids are playing Lynyrd Skynyrd too loud, and you’ve already had too many celebratory drinks.
8. If you decide to get a live bird for Thanksgiving, do not watch the “Presidential Pardon” ceremony on TV with your kids. You will likely end up with the same problem as item #10.
7. If you decide to go hunting for your Thanksgiving turkey, be aware that the turkey population has ways of fooling you into shooting a cow or your hunting partner. The turkey won’t care who gets hurt as long as it’s not a turkey.
6. If you plan on deep-frying your Thanksgiving turkey, do not drop a cold, icy bird into a giant vat of hot peanut oil. If you do, at best, you will have an overflow of hot liquid that will take a lot of elbow grease to clean up. At worst, you may burn down your house.
5. If your turkey is still frozen on Thanksgiving, do not invent a game where the turkey is used as a bowling ball with empty beer bottles as pins. It may sound fun after you’ve had all those before-dinner drinks, but the clean-up of thawed bird and broken glass will be hell.
4. If you plan to serve fresh turkey on Thanksgiving, do not let the bird sit out as you would a frozen one. If you do, at best, you’ll wind up with a precooked bird. At worst, you will all wind up seeing the friendly ER doctor in the early morning hours.
3. If you plan to serve tofu turkey for Thanksgiving, do not try to dress it up to look like an actual turkey. Your guests won’t be fooled and might actually wonder if you have lost your mind.
2. If you find that your turkey is too big for the refrigerator, do not put it out in the cold garage on the roof of the car. If you do, at best, your cat may help itself, and you’ll have shredded turkey for dinner. At worst, you may forget the turkey is there until you’re making that frantic dash to the store for eggnog, at which point you slam on the brakes, your turkey rolls off the hood and into the street, and then is run over by a Hummer.
1. If you have leftover turkey for Thanksgiving, do not try to disguise it in other forms. You are not on “Chopped,” and good ole turkey is best served as itself.
The bus is ready.
Here is the entrance.
We have to walk through a relaxing area of the Activity Center.
Along the building.
Through another gate, and here we are. The dedication.
A welcoming water feature.
The play structure.
An example of the many games available. There is a crank that activates the game.
Climb the little hill and go through the log. Those mushrooms in the background provide sound when struck with a mallet.
Modern-day teeter-totter.
Wind chimes provide a relaxing background.
The Producer was brave enough to climb to the top of the play structure.
Here is a view from up there. Swings, the fountain, and those snake-looking things are more instruments.
The aerial view of the log, mushrooms, and teeter-totter. The flower on the left can be played as well.
On the other side of the fountain is a tortoise sculpture.
As we leave, we see a little more information about the play scape.
Now is the time to relax with the food and music. I hope you have a beautiful week.
