A Change in Plans

Mini Rock Hoppers

I realize that it is Monday. I should have jetted off to Africa to continue my saga. I have left you hanging, as I climbed up into the cab of another truck. What happened next? Well... I feel bad about it, but you are going to have to wait a little longer to see. It can't be helped. I spent almost four hours driving home from my sister's house (in what should have been a two-hour drive). I am still sluggish with tryptophan from the turkey, plus from chasing those four delightful kids you see up there around. So I am pooped and am going to bed.

I apologize, but thought perhaps I would share a video from a band that I am going to be going to see this coming weekend with Me. Haven't seen a concert in a while and I am stoked! So here is a little Iron & Wine for you to enjoy. I will have to get some writing done later, but right now its bedtime. Happy Thanksgiving Canada! Happy Columbus Day US!

Hello pillows. I hear you calling! I am on my way...

Saturday's Email of the Week: Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!

Saturday's Email of the Week

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends! I am sure you aren't surprised to learn that I am travelling this weekend because of it. The joys of having relatives spread all over the place. We are looking forward to a warm and sunny weekend  here(mid-20s in Celsius- not sure the translation for F, but thinking in the 80s). I have thrown off the shackles of work and am about to put on my walking shoes. The woods are calling! My sister and I are about to embark on an adventure with all the kids, collecting leaves, pine cones, acorns and more for a Thanksgiving centerpiece for dinner tomorrow. Therefore I have to fly, before I get yelled at!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and enjoy the fine weather. I leave you with a little humour to go out into your weekend with. Peace!

Sitting on the side of the highway waiting to catch speeding drivers, a  Police Officer sees a car puttering along at 22 KPH.

Says he to himself: "This driver is just as dangerous as a speeder!"         So he turns on his lights and pulls the driver over.
  Approaching the car, he notices that there are five old  ladies, two in the  front seat and three in the  back...wide eyed and white as ghosts.
 
The driver, obviously confused, says to him "Officer, I don't understand, I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem?"
 
"Ma'am," the officer replies, "you weren't speeding, but you should  know that  driving slower than the speed limit can also be a danger to other   drivers."
 
"Slower than the speed  limit? No sir, I was doing the speed limit  exactly...twenty-two kilometers an hour!"...the  old woman says a bit proudly. 
 
The Police officer, trying to contain a chuckle explains to her that 22 is the highway number, not the speed limit.
 
A bit embarrassed, the woman grins and thanks the officer for pointing out her error.
 
"But before I let you go, Ma'am, I have to ask...Is everyone in this car OK? These women seem awfully shaken, and they haven't made a peep this whole time," the officer asks.
 
"Oh, they'll be all right in a minute officer. We just got off Highway189."

55 Words for Giving Thanks

Turkey

Hunting for you

Gobble, gobble, gob-

ble -ble -ble

GULP!

Ah…

Can’t

wait for my

Thanksgiving feast

When I get to

Flip the bird

Again

Stuffing

Moist, delicious

Stuffing, stuffing, stuffing

To fill turkey full

Dressing

~

Sunshine

Autumn days

Walking, laughing, spinning

Children at merry play

Dancing, singing, living

Family round

Smiles

~Thanks~

***

Well G-Man,

you can tell what I have on the brain already

Thanksgiving this weekend!

and I have a hankering on for some 

TURKEY!

I shall be bringing 

STUFFING

(Yum)

PICKLES

(that's why I make them don't you know!)

and PIE

(with apples that we gathered on our recent trip to the orchard)

God, I'm hungry now.

 Maybe I will grab an apple while I wait.

Oh, my mixed bag of poetry 

(think I have a little free verse/shaped, cinquain & diamante in there) 

sums up to 55 words as well

in case you were wondering.

BOOK!!!!

What are you up to this weekend?

My "Fall" Garden

Can I just remark that it was a beautiful day in my neck of the woods today! The sun was shining bright and golden yellow in a cloudless sky, but that wasn't the only yellow thing to be found. Check out these hardy nasturtiums that just continue to blossom and thrive out in the yard. Beautiful, plus peppery good to eat, if you are so inclined. I love to look at them, but they are fun in a salad as well!

This here plant is also good in a salad, but a staple in the spaghetti pot as well. Anyone know what this pretty herb is called? While it has lost some of its pungency now that it is flowering, this hardy perenial is oregano! I started mine from a four inch pot and it is now competing with everything around it. If you need any, let me know! Divisions are always available!

Wow,

this colour surely lets you know what time of year it is.

The burning bush is starting to flame in the back yard,

so it's got to be Fall. 

I really do love its vibrant red though

Don't you?

While you might not recognize this prickly specimen as it sits now, you have all heard of this plant too. In fact, I think I like it just as much in this state as when it waves its pink blooms in the late summer. Does echinacea ring a bell? If you don't recognize this brown beauty by that name, you have probably heard of purple cone flowers. Should be called spiky cone flowers, I'd say!

And with the feathery wisps of grasses delicately brushing the Autumn sky, I fear that the changing of the seasons cannot be ignored. Summer is now a distant memory. Winter's warnings have been in the air on a crisp morning or two already. 

But today

I just had to get out 

and enjoy the last few precious days of sunshine

in my garden

with my poor sick kitty in tow

I soaked up some sunshine

before winter winds

erase any memory

of summer days

and the great warm

outdoors

Oh, surprise!

with all those tempting temperatures

not much writing gone done today either.

Oops!

Keeping the Wheels Moving

***APOLOGIES: ***

As I began writing the next section of my tale, I realized that I made a mistake in my timeline (for those of you who have been regularly following my yarn). Oops! It looks like I have some editing to do! It will all get worked out in the final draft, but I leave you with the tale as it sits today. Tell me if you pick up on my glitch. 

~___*___~

The sun was shining. The road was smooth and ran long in front of us. Conversation flowed with an easy banter back and forth. Few awkward moments interrupted the journey. Today, I was hitching a ride with a big rig and life was good. The driver even bought me lunch, when we stopped about an hour into our journey. The memory of my previous drunken ride faded out behind me, as the kilometers clicked by on our way to the coast.

That is, until a worried look crossed the driver’s face. And then he started to gear down. In the uncertainty of what was going on, silence took over the cab. When the tires finally crunched onto the side of the road, we slowly came to a stop. It appeared that my blue skies were now marred by a nasty cloud that amounted to truck failings. In case you were wondering, when an AZ truck has mechanical problems, the driver is usually pretty much powerless to do much about it. More often than not, the drivers are not mechanics and the engines are a little awkward to manipulate. My driver was no different. Even if he knew what was wrong with the truck, he was unable to fix it. He was now stuck, until such time as a mechanic showed up on the scene. Despite the presence of a CB to call in a request for help, he would have to wait several hours before he would be mobile again. It appeared that it was time to switch rides again.

While the truck troubles were not his fault, my driver felt horrible about abandoning me on the side of the road. Perhaps he had forgotten that that was where he picked me up in the first place, but he now insisted that he help to get me another ride. He advised me that when the sun went down in the desert, the temperature would drop significantly. There were not that many hours left in the day and he bemoaned the idea of me stuck out in the cold after dark. I figured that he would not steer me wrong, so when he CBed the truck that was following him to stop and pick me up, I was grateful for his assistance. He had already done so much for me and now it looked like he would get me all the way to the coast, despite the inability of transporting me there personally. I also figured that this might prevent another drunk driver from careening me off of the side of the road, so agreed to his plan.

Within a short span, I was hauling my back pack down out of the first truck and loading it into a second one. This time there were two drivers, but at least another woman now joined me as a passenger in the truck. She gladly pushed her parcel up ahead of me and took a seat in the back of the cab on the long bunk with the second driver. I lucked into the passenger seat to share conversation with my newest driver of the day. By the time we were rolling again, there wasn’t much day left though. It was enough that I was moving West again though.