Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – Black, Grey, and White

November 20, 2021November 19, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 93 Comments

I fixed a nice cup of coffee and wandered out the front door to walk to the mailbox. I was expecting a delivery of this week’s prompt from Linda Hill. Unfortunately, I had completely forgotten about the box from the Acme fireworks company sitting on the porch. The package also reminded me about the key which fell from Linda’s envelope last week. This box has been sitting a whole week, and I’m sure Mr. Coyote is frantic by now. The key was still lying on the porch as well.

My first thought was to figure out how to contact a cartoon character about the missing box. It was only a second thought about the key. Second or not, I picked up the key and put it in my pocket. While walking the short distance to the mailbox, I happen to see a quick flash of light like when a mirror hits the sun. In this case, it was a chrome bumper on a 1953 white Cadillac convertible that stopped in front of me. The driver was dressed in black and wearing a chauffeur hat and sunglasses. “Hey, big boy.”

It was a very colorful person in the back seat, seemingly talking to me. “W-who me?” was my erudite reply. She nodded and beckoned with her finger. Then, moving to the car, it was terrific to see Jessica Rabbit. She was wrapped in a feather boa and wearing a red dress that contrasted with the grey leather interior of the vehicle. She handed me an envelope and then ordered the driver to pick up the box. He got out and, with ease, moved the box to the front seat of the car. All the while, Jessica fussed with the boa and kept checking herself in a pocket mirror. Finally, she said no more as the vehicle made a sweeping turn out of the cul-de-sac and disappeared around the corner. Jessica did give me a four-finger wave on her way out. I think I’m in love.

I opened the envelope, and here was the Linda Hill message. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “black, gray, and white.” Use one, use ’em all. Bonus points if you use all three. Have fun! If you would like to have, fun go to Linda’s blog and read how. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2021/11/19/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-20-2021/

“What about the key?”

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting the key.”

“You can’t keep forgetting the key. You are torturing us.”

“Who?”

“Me and the readers.”

“Well, the key has to fit something. So it’s safe in my pocket.”

“‘Well, the key has to fit something.’ No kidding. Your mind always goes to the black and white of things.”

“What does that mean?”

“You don’t operate in the grey area of uncertainty. Like your statement, ‘The key has to fit something.’ We want to know what is the something.”

“Well, I don’t know.”

“A grey area for you. For us, we would hope you would find out.”

“How am I going to find out?”

“Tell that goofball behind your persona to figure it out.”

“He’ll tell me to head to the pub.”

“Yeah, that will help. Not.”

“But he will give me the words.”

“What words?”

“I’m buying.”

“Okay, then a different situation. I’m in.”

“Not sure you’re invited.”

“What did I just say?”

“‘I’m in.'”

“Who wrote those words?”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF Friyay Good News

November 19, 2021November 18, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 80 Comments

It is Friday again, which some of us believe to be Saturday eve. However, we all know Saturday represents an element of freedom, so we are happy to see you Friday.

Today’s good news stories are about humans and bees.

Story one is about the kindness of a Billings Montana Firefighter. Take a look at this photo.

Yes, that is Firefighter Ryan Benton reading a story to a little girl. The girl and family were involved in a car accident, so the firefighter took her to the side of the road and read her a story. This brought her mind off the trauma while he family dealt with the situation. It is the policy for the Billings fire crews to carry stuffed animals and books for such an occasion. Yet the goodness here is Ryan Benton saw a need and stepped in to help a small child without a moment of hesitation.

Our second story is about discovering honey bees in the UK that could mean the return of a subspecies there.

800,000 native honeybees, which some thought extinct, were found in ancient oak woodland at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. Experts said they could be the last remaining descendants of the British isle’s original forest honeybee populations. Since these bees are thriving, it is thought that this is an excellent second chance for the subspecies.

A bee-keeping veteran with more than 40 years of experience, Filipe Salbany found 50 separate nests in the estate’s forest. The grounds have had no gardening activity, and the property isn’t open to the public, so this has been a ‘rewilding’ area. The good news is the bees seem to be immune to the varroa mite—a big killer of bees.

Today’s JohnKu talks about those news items that make us feel good. I hope you have a delightful weekend.

The stories we hear,

And read, make us happy when . . .

We can’t help smiling.

Thursday – A Little Personal – Lucy and Twiggy Deal with a Conundrum

November 18, 2021November 17, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 109 Comments

“Lucy, there must be something wrong.”

“Why do you say that, Little One?”

“Do you see all those leaves?”

“Yes, but this is fall. The leaves come off the trees.”

“I’m worried cause yesterday there were none.”

“Yes, that’s true, but we had some high winds last night.”

“Are you sure this is normal? Look how they’ve fallen all at once.”

“Yeah, that does seem a bit strange.”

“Come down here and take a close look at the leaves.”

“If that will make you feel better, okay.”

“What do you think?”

“They look normal to me. All dead.”

“Dead? What are you talking about?”

“Trees go through a cycle. The leaves are meant to die and fall off. Then they grow back in the spring.”

“Even if it is normal, it doesn’t make me feel any better about dying leaves.”

“I know how you feel. But, since there is nothing we can do, how about a game of tag?”

“Are you ‘it?'”

“Of course.”

Finger Point Prompt – Stars

November 16, 2021November 16, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 59 Comments

Since Keith Channing is involved with Na/Mo, I am making finger point prompts this month. Today’s prompt was found by randomly opening Eternal Road – The final stop. The page that turned up was 183. After hiding my eyes and pointing at the page, the nearest word was ‘stars.’ So that is our prompt today.

So you just got back from Hollywood, huh?”

“Yeah, it was some trip.”

“It usually is. Did you see any stars?”

“Naw, there were clouds at night.”

“I mean movie stars.”

“Oh, sorry. No. Even if I did see any, I wouldn’t have recognized them.”

“Why not.”

“Everyone is masked in Hollywood. Besides, all the stars I know are probably in a nursing home by now.”

“Oh, come on. You must have some others that you recognize.”

“But if you ask me, I might be hard-pressed to give you a name.”

‘Let’s go at it differently. What’s your favorite TV show?”

“NCIS.”

“Okay, how about Mark Harmon.”

“Leroy Jethro Gibbs?”

“Well, yeah.”

“He’s off the show.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.”

“So much for your suggestions. You don’t even watch the show.”

“Just trying to help.”

“Gibbs went to Alaska of all places.”

“Good place to get lost.”

“That’s what he said.”

“So what now?’

“Like I said, I wouldn’t recognize others.”

“Well, maybe something will come along, and you’ll be a fan again.”

“How could you ever beat Gibbs.”

“You need to move on.”

“Seventeen years.”

“You need to find a new star.”

“Maybe I’ll take up astronomy.”

“There you go.”

“Of course, the star I’ll choose to like has probably already blown up in the middle ages.”

“Yes, well, lucky for you, it will still take a hundred years to go out here.”

“Or tomorrow morning.”

“I think I’m going to leave you now.”

“Where you going?”

“To a place that has more positive energy than here with you.”

“Where’s that?”

“The dentist. I need to have a root canal done.”

Top Ten Things Not to Do When the Weather Turns Cold

November 15, 2021November 14, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 94 Comments

This list was originally posted on November 17th, 2014. We are expecting a cold front next week, so I thought I would remind myself of those things I shouldn’t do. Maybe if it turns cold where you are, you could use a reminder as well.

* * *

This list is inspired by the temperature here on the south Texas Coast. As I write this, the temperature is thirty-seven degrees. Way too cold for an old fart and his dogs.

Top Ten Things Not to Do When the Weather Turns Cold

10 If the weather turns cold, do not think turning on the heat is for wimps. If you do, at best, you may find yourself refusing to get out of bed. At worst, you could see your pipes freeze and split like a bratwurst on a hot fire. (A slit bratwurst is no big deal, the pipes are a little more problematic.)

9 If the weather turns cold, do not avoid getting out the heavy clothes. If you do, at best, you will find yourself shivering when you go outside. At worst, you could be found stiff as a board sitting on a bench waiting for the rescue dog with the brandy. (Be sure to pen a goodbye note)

8 If the weather turns cold, do not think that the black spot in the road is water. If you do, at best, you will only skid a little as you hit it. At worst, you will get a free-spinning ride like the one you paid good money for back in July when you visited Disney World. (This time, though, the stop might be a little more sudden and a little more hurtful.)

7 If the weather turns cold, do not think that the white stuff falling from the sky will go away on its own. If you do, At best, you could have a hard time moving when you go outside. At worst, the buildup will be such that you can no longer open the doors and will have to resort to eating leftovers out of the freezer, which has been in there for an eon or two. (And nothing’s marked as to content or date)

6 If the weather turns cold, do not think the outdoor plans you made in July should be modified. If you do, at best, you might not have much fun playing badminton in twenty-five mile an hour wind and chill of minus twenty. At worst, you will lose several family members to frostbite before you realize the shirts and skins basketball game was not such a good idea. (You thought uncle Harry who is on the skins team, was being a blue Smurf for the day)

5 If the weather turns cold, do not think you can enjoy a coffee at your usual outdoor café. If you do, at best, you will find yourself hugging the cup instead of drinking it. At worst, you will be the only one outside and will remain there until the street clearing crew uncovers your carcass in the spring. (You would have thought the server would have checked on you.)

4 If the weather turns cold, do not think you can continue to commute to work on your bicycle. If you do, at best, you will arrive at work unable to release your hands from the grips. At worst, you will not be able to thaw out until after the critical meeting with new clients. (They did comment to your boss to the effect that you seem stiff and cold.)

3 If the weather turns cold, do not take your dog for a walk without some kind of wrap on the dog. If you do, at best, the dog won’t want to go and will surprise you later at home. At worst, your dog will not want to go and will decide you are the one who needs to be led by the leash. (He may even think you need to be carried back home and a trainer.)

2 If the weather turns cold, do not think you can continue to grill outside like in August. If you do, At best, you will be serving cold meals although not intended. At worst, you will be way too close to the grill to keep warm and chance spontaneous combustion, which, if it happens, will possibly ruin the meat as well. (No one likes bone meal ash on their burger.)

1 If the weather turns cold, do not think this is an excellent time to finally put away the garden hoses that have been lying around the yard. If you do, at best, you will have the equivalent of an octopus to manage, given how stiff the hose has become. At worst, you will find that the hose is connected to the faucet, and every effort to remove it leads to an expensive visit by a plumber and housing contractor. (Not to mention the new skating rink that you used to call your backyard.)

Views of the Neighborhood- Bronze and Bucks

November 14, 2021November 14, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 83 Comments

Today we are going to check out four new bronzes that have been installed in Lakeway. Also, since this rutting season is here I thought you would like to see some photos of the bucks. They are everywhere and usually, they are out of sight. We are being catered by Cavalier in Austin and our entertainment is Carole King, Shania Twain, Gloria Estefan, and Celene Dion. (budget buster).

So let’s get on the bus.

Our first bronze is the new sign for Lakeway.

Here is the old sign for your reference.

Our first buck is one with determination.

Our next bronze is a family of elk placed out in front of city hall.

This is a fellow who has tangled with a bush and has has lost his sense of humor. He does have part of the bush in his antlers for a reminder.

This guy came up the drive at our house.

He seems a little put out that I’m not a doe.

The next bronze is to honor the heron outside the Tennis center.

This doe is not taking any chances. One look and she is off.

Our final bronze is in the courtyard of the Activies Center. I asked it to smile and all I got was “Wwwwhat?”

Enjoy the music and food and I hope you have a super week.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – Cam

November 13, 2021November 19, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 59 Comments

Saturday is a good day to catch up on some of the things that need to be done around the house. Today is the day to tackle the garage. Now for the record, there is nothing wrong with the garage. It’s just in need of a little reorganization. There are several tools I no longer need and so now it’s time to get them ready for a rehoming exercise.

I went out to the garage to make a note of those things that needed to find a home somewhere else. Let’s see. The lawnmower can go since I don’t have a lawn anymore. I think the fertilizer spreader can follow the lawnmower. What about the trimmer? No, I better hold on to that since the neighbor is kind of sloppy about letting his grass grow into my pea gravel bed. I guess the rest can stay since most are used to pick up leaves, and they still need that attention.

I was plugging in my shop vac to give the floor a good sweep when my phone alerted me to someone at the front door. I hit the door cam app, and sure enough, I could see a big guy putting a box on the front porch. I hope he doesn’t ring the doorbell was my first thought. Twiggy was inside, and the ceiling plaster is still wet from last week’s repair. He turned to go and then did a strange thing. He pulled an envelope out of his back pocket with two fingers and dropped it on top of the package.

Waiting until he left, I rushed out to the porch to see what was delivered. The box was from the ACME fireworks company, and I could see it was delivered to the wrong address. No Wilie E. Coyote is living at my house. The envelope had no return address. I opened it quickly and out fell a key. There was also a message. Here’s what it said. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “cam.” Find a word that contains “cam” or use it as is. Enjoy! If you want to enjoy it, visit Linda Hill’s blog and read how easy it is. Here is the link https://lindaghill.com/2021/11/12/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-13-2021/

“You’ve taken all our time with that stupid story about the garage.”

“I snuck in cam, though.”

“Well, that was the only thing good about it. So what’s with the key?”

“I think you will have to come back next week to find out.”

“Oh, no, a cliffhanger. I hate those.”

“I’m sure you do. But there it is anyway.”

“Come on. Tell me about the key.”

“Nope. You’ll have to wait.”

“You know there are a ton of words with ‘cam’ in them.”

“Oh, yeah, tell me one.”

“Er, camel.”

“Not bad I thought you were going to say camera.”

“I was going to tell a story about a camel.”

“Go ahead, tell it.”

“It’s too late the word count is building, and there is no time.”

“Okay, then what do you want to do?”

“Do you think the pub still has shrimp Scampi?”

“They never had Shrimp Scampi. You just threw that in to get a ‘cam’ word, right?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“You got the pub thing right, and if it would make you feel better, we could get a couple of Campari cocktails to drink.”

“You dog.”

“I know, right. Dang me.”

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – Friyay Good News

November 12, 2021November 11, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 70 Comments

It is another glorious Friday pointing to the weekend. Today’s good news is about animals. As we know, animal stories tend to put a positive spin on our daily life. Hopefully, this will be the result of these two.

Our first story is about the rebound of the Monarch butterfly population in the Western United States.

photo courtesy of Steve Corey, CC license

The Thanksgiving count of Monarchs has not begun, but an early count on October 16th, 2021 of the overwintering sites on the California coast is encouraging. The Pacific Grove count of 1300 butterflies this year is compared to zero in 2020. The Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove found about 8,000 monarchs compared to 300 last year. All in all, about 10,000 Monarchs have been counted this year which is a substantial increase. The good news here is that the signs are suitable for a Monarch recovery.

This is good news, but the Monarch is not out of the woods yet. How can you help? You can by planting nectar-bearing plants in the spring and the fall and buy not using insecticides.

Bear The Koala Dog – Instagram, USC/IFAW

In 2019 and 2020, six-year-old Australian Koole named Bear was instrumental in finding over 100 Koala bears who were injured and lost in the ashes due to the horrible bush fires there.

Bear has been named a hero, winning an award from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

Bear was trained in Australia at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Their Detection Dogs for Conservation team taught the former rescue dog to use his heightened sense of smell to hunt out the injured koalas among the ashes.

Bear is a rescue from an animal shelter after his former owners gave him up due to behavior issues caused by his “boundless energy and obsessive enthusiasm for play.”

The very reasons Bear was given up are the strengths he brings to his work which continues today.

Today’s JohnKu talks about Bear and his life. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Sent to a shelter,

By those not seeing his worth . . .

Destined to be great.

Thursday – A Little Personal – Veterans Day 2021

November 11, 2021November 9, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 94 Comments

“It is a beautiful flag. We should remind everyone that today is the day to remember all those who have served our country in the armed services.”

“Yes, Twiggy and to also remember those who served but are now across the rainbow bridge.”

“I think we owe them a lot, Lucy.”

“We do Little One and mostly we owe them our thoughts and thanks for protecting our freedoms.”

“You think a message coming from a couple of dogs is okay?”

“I think they will like it.”

Tuesday – Anything Possible – Finger Point Prompt – Bugs Bunny

November 9, 2021November 8, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 78 Comments

Since Keith Channing is off doing NaNoMo stuff, I decided to do a finger prompt. This is where I grab a book and randomly open it and point to a page without looking. Today’s book is Eternal Road – The last stop by that bon vivant, internally acclaimed, and humble author John W. Howell. The page is 141, and the word closest to my finger is Bugs Bunny. Here we go.

“Who are you meeting with today?”

“The head of a major film studio.”

“Why?”

“They have some interest in doing a movie using one of my books.”

“Wow, that’s great. Which one?”

“I never heard of it.”

“What?”

“I never heard of the studio,”

“I mean, which book?”

“Oh, they didn’t say. They just said we should take a meeting and figure out the details.”

“Okay, this sounds strange.”

“Why?”

“I never heard of a studio just inviting an author to come in and discuss making a movie unless he’s Matthew McConaughey.”

“There is always the first time.”

“Did you call them?”

“No, I got an email and was told to call a number.”

“So you called.”

“Yup, and the studio head got right on.”

“Well, what can I say? Make sure you get a contract.”

“They said we would sign it after the option money is paid.”

“That’s odd. You usually sign the contract before the option money is paid.”

“I guess they handle it differently. So nice that they will take my check.”

“Wait a minute. You are paying them.”

“Yeah. Only thirteen hundred dollars, and they will do all the work.”

“What work?”

“Getting the pitch deck together, media kit, bio video, and trailer.”

“This sounds a lot like what an agent does for no money as part of their job. This doesn’t sound like a studio. You use all those things to get a studio to buy the option rights.”

“Oh. Maybe I misunderstood about the studio,”

“Yeah, maybe. What was the guy’s name you talked to?”

“Mr. Bunny.”

“Mr. Bunny?”

“He said I could call him Bugs.”

“You haven’t sent any money yet, have you?”

“No.”

“Good. Cancel the meeting.”

“Why?”

“You do know that Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character, right?”

“This guy sounded real.”

“Please shoot me in the face.”