Brisk Is Perfect

Today's Wip. So different from yesterday. Currently we have 14°, fair skies, calm winds and 80% humidity. Brisk. Perfect word for today. I feel I must add a couple of pictures from yesterday. It's beauty is still vivid in my mind. I took these next 2 pictures on my way to work. Still, the pics could not capture what a gorgeous sight we were treated to yesterday. My heart goes out to all those who have no power and were unable to enjoy the spectacular weather breakfast Mother Nature served up.

I must run. No time to play today. Work. That work thing. It's calling. May all your brisk days be wonderfully enjoyed! Here's to cozy homes, heated cars and workplaces, or warm winter clothes!!

Happy B-Day to my L!!

Unsullied Pleasure

Good morning, Fellow Travelers of the Universe. You ever wonder how many lifeforms get to experience unsullied pleasure? I hope they all do. Not the pleasure that comes at the expense of others, but pure untainted pleasure. I mean, I love a good steak. But lets face it, that pleasure comes at the expense of another life. That won't stop me from enjoying the next perfectly cooked steak placed in front of me. I'm an omnivore. Even the simplest forms of life struggle to survive on what nourishment is available to them. But the unsullied pleasure of a perfect sunset, or the sound of the wind thru pines trees, that's a pure pleasure. Untainted by any other thought or consequence. I hope all life forms are able to experience such moments. On with the Front Porch Report!! Umm... I gotta go say hi to the Front Porch before the report is possible. I'll be back!!

 WHAT WAS I JUST SAYING ABOUT UNSULLIED PLEASURE!!!???!!!

Neither Camera or Phone could capture how beautiful the view from the Front Porch!! 

34°, partly cloudy skies, 85% humidity and 7 mph winds.

Pure Winter Heaven!

They tried. WE tried. But none of the photos do the beauty of this morning justice. One of those 'ya had ta be there' moments. I hope your winter brings such pleasant and unsullied beauty your way! LIVE LAUGH LOVE Travelers!

Blue Morning

22°, calm winds, 68% hunidity and partly cloudy skies. Check out this WIP!

Camera likes to take liberties with the colors it sees and most often what Camera captures digitally, isn't what my eyes see. Some mornings the WIP is decidedly bluer than what I actually see. Then again it could be my eyes. Whatever the case, as I was stepping out onto the Front Porch this morning my eyes were dazzled by how blue the morning was! I love it when that happens!! And Camera pretty much captured the blue I was seeing in the above WIP. It was also very quiet and peaceful on the Porch. A Peaceful Blue Morning. Magical, in it's beauty. May you oft have Magical Mornings of Blue Beauty. They're a sight to behold! Te Quiero, Travelers!

I Got Nuttin' Part 20

It was nice out on the Front Porch. Mr. Hack-and-Yak was out and engaged in his hack 'n' yak business. And it was ok. Didn't ruin my morning musings. I heard a camera somewhere. Someone was taking pictures. Dogs were barking, planes were flying, cars were driving, trucks were trucking, crows were cawing, birds were chirping and squirrels were dashing thru the snow. A good morning. OBACE and the We-Gues once again are in agreement with the weather assessment. 31°, overcast, 83% humidity and calm winds. Work is beginning to beckon. It's early for work yet, but sometimes I let the job wriggle it's way into my head before I really need to. I think it's cus I got nuttin' this morning. Time to move off me fanny. My face is really twitching. Just thought I'd share that with you as I have absolutely nothing else to say. That's probably why we share WAY too much info on a regular basis. Ok, shutting up now and moving on! Have a great day Travelers, grab all the nourishment you can when the 6 L's pass your way. There is plenty for everyone, no matter how much you take.

Zoomed in to the max blurs out the pictures. The above pic is this mornings visitor, of the beautiful Crow persuasion, to the lady across the street. My visitor was a twitchy red squirrel that shot thru the yard like lightning. Camera never had a chance to even think about a picture, blurry or otherwise.

Hey, There's A Fog Bank Out There

FOGGY!! Considering the cold weather we've had and the WARM! weather this morning, I'm not surprised there's a fog bank out there. It's 48 degrees on the Front Porch!! 48!! OBACE, in it's usual non-protective, aka shirtsleeves only, accoutrements, experienced not a single shiver or even the slightest hint of cutis anserina or horripilliation. Overcast skies and 93% humidity, OBACE agrees with completely. But 12 mph winds with 18 mph gusts? I think I would have noticed winds of that speed. I ... WAIT! I took a video! Hold on...  LIIIIIAAAAAARRRRRRS!!!! Wow. I think I saw my tonsils. There's not a single sway in those tree tops the entire 13 seconds of video. But, I do remember why I took the video. What I thought were the traffic noises sounding like rushing water might well have been the sounds of the winds thru the pines. We all know the winds thru the pines sounds like the ocean. Whoopsie... a little too eager to sling my favored sobriquet at the We-Gues this morning. That's it, I'll BRB. Ok, I feel justified in my slingage. There is a slight breeze, but not enuf to make my wind chimes sing and they sing at 7/8 mph winds. 12 to 18 mph winds, my Ashtabula. Huh... I was quoting a movie but found it necessary to understand what I was quoting. Ashtabula, Ohio. A port city on Lake Erie. The name Ashtabula is derived from ashtepihəle, which means 'always enough fish to be shared around' in the Lenape language. Learn something everyday!! It's brain food! Te Quiero Travelers. Stay warm. That might not be to difficult today. Possible snow coming in on Thursday. Love and Happiness to... :) I just heard another movie quote in my head. I cannot use, as it is highly inappropriate for young ears. But it's kinda sorta funny :) Anybody ever see The Toy? Not a great movie but some great innuendo in the script! Done Now!! Time to go to work. Oh, wait. I had a visitor but couldn't get a picture, blast it. A Gold Finch! A purdy fella. I dunno why I thought they migrated to warmer climes, but there he was in the M Woods!

 

If the little fella is in this picture I sure couldn't find him. Got nuttin fer my troubles but a squint/monitor headache. He probably flew off as I tried to ready my camera. *Humphf*

Toodles, Travelers :)

What Will Become Of LIARS!

A cold Front Porch this morning. 16°, 49% humidity, vrbl 6 mph winds and fair skies. OBACE and the We-Gues are in agreement again. Wow. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new and more agreeable relationship. Uh-oh. Who am I gonna sling my favored epithet at should OBACE and the WE-Gues start to concur every morning? I can't go slinging it willy-nilly. It must have a target. The poor old ladies cashiering at the grocery stores and such, don't really deserve to have their carefully plastered hairdos messed up by the gale force winds created with the eruption of

LIARS!!!

all because my uvula decides to act out. This could be a potential problem. 

I had a visitor this morning! He was fussin' like mad a me for interrupting his breakfast forage. But the little guys voice was so quiet I thought he was a tiny little sparrow at first. As a lookout he would seriously lack in efficiency.

The poor quality of the pictures are the results of the cameras inability to decide what to focus on. I can't fault the poor thing as I often suffer from the same quandary. The two of us need to stick together. Have a three G day, my beloved Travelers! You deserve nothing less!

Merry Christmas To All

A great Christmas at the Beach!

One more time- Merry Christmas Everyone!

Inner Child Delight

Good morning from the Front Porch. Merry Christmas Eve! The We-Gues have decided that the oracles they consult with have predicted a light snow for us today. Which will then turn into rain/sleet as the day warms up. As long as Trusty's short little legs can negotiate the icy roads, it's all good with me. I must work today. I'm already procrastinating by not having showered yet.... where's my coffee.. in the microwave of course. It's currently 23°, with 88% humidity, calm winds and fair skies. OBACE completely agrees. Or at least, wants to agree. I have yet to get the engines started in order to steer OBACE onto the Front Porch... where's my coffee... oh. Right next to me. How handy. ALL RIGHT, already! I'm moving. I'm moving, but with much protest. I'll start with the best thing in the morning. My beloved Front Porch awaits... 

...sigh...

It's amazing what a simple and routine thing, like shoving OBACE out the door every morning, can do to ones attitude. Camera, Phone and I had a very enjoyable 15 minutes while in the Front Porch's company! Right off the bat we spotted a shadow selfy opportunity.

After many many pictures, of which only the one above came out recognizable, OBACE initiated it's WIP program.

Dark. Still very dark out.

OBACE immediately realized not a single star was shining in the sky. Ahem, We-Gues, did you not say Fair Skies? LIARS!!!!! My uvula enjoyed that. OBACE was very quickly distracted immediately after the discovery of no stars in the sky by the next picture:

It was decided, because of the dark, that the flash would be necessary to take this morning's WIP. But wait... what's that white blob in the upper middle quadrant, we asked. OH! GOODY!! The inner child sprang to life when we realized it was my breath! 15 minutes and dozens of pictures later my cold feet informed me it was time to leave the good company of the Front Porch and get back into the warm. But what fun we had!!

It's the simple things, right!?

May the simple things in life bring your inner child delight, Fellow Travelers!!

It works wonders!

LIVE

LAUGH

LOVE!

Lost Joy Of The Seasons

The moon is in the WIP! It's just very very hard to see. We have brisk 23° with 92% humidity, fair skies and calm winds today. Now I must decide if I am to use this day off as my

LAST SHOPPING DAY!!! 

Well, it's the last opportunity for me. And I'm pretty sure it ain't gonna happen this year. I have about given up on the whole notion of "Christmas" shopping. Since I have accepted that, most of the stress has lifted. The only stress left is to deal with the potential disappointment in those with whom I have traditionally given gifts. Change is difficult. We find comfort in the traditional things we come to look forward to and rely on. I know all of the stress I feel is ME. No one around me is the cause. It's all me. I don't have the energy any more for what commercialism has done to my way of thinking about the holidays. Walking around a couple of the shopping "hotspots" I saw so many faces pinched with stress. Where were the smiling faces of those truly enjoying the holidays? Some very wise people have been trying to teach me to think 'homemade' for the giving season. That notion is trying to sink in. Why such an excellent notion is so hard to adapt to is beyond me. I guess it takes a long time to break a lifelong way of thinking, but I'm slowly getting there. I can already feel the subtle easing of the stress and a hint of the long absent joy trying to return inside me. Maybe in a couple of more years I'll finally get there. My wish for you today, may you never lose your joy of the seasons. If, by some chance, you find your joy missing, I really think it's still there. Inside you. Waiting to be found again.

MS. Grumpy-Cashier

Ok, what is it with cashiers and conveyor belts at the stores lately!? I have encountered a rather fascinating but completely irritating phenomenon so many times the last few months, I feel the need to ask the question, "What the h@#l!?" This latest experience at the grocery store has become my personal favorite out of a fast growing list of similar incidences. This time it started with a man in front of me who had to move his purchases forward on the belt because the cashier just stood and scowled at him until he did. Meanwhile, I'm having the classic "OMG! Did that really just happen?" thought flash thru my head and most likely on my face. By the time the gentleman finished moving his groceries up the CONVEYOR belt, the same belt that could have moved the groceries for him with the simple flip of a switch located right by the cashiers hand, I had convinced myself that they were friends and that the cashier was just giving him a playful hard time. He walked back around to the card reader, inserted his card, then informed the cashier, very politely I might add, that he wanted 20$ in cash back. To this request... hold on a sec. Allow me to share with you that I hear this completely inane and infantile wisecrack, WAY TOO MUCH in this region. If it was ever funny, that trait died in it long ago from overuse. Where was I? Oh yes, to the gentleman's request that he wanted 20 in cash back, MS. Grumpy-Cashier responded with "HOW DOES IT FEEL TO WANT?". Yep, you heard me right. "How- does- it- feel- to- want?" Apparently she has never heard the words 'good customer service' before. No, she was NOT a teenager. Not with her wizened countenance and antagonistic demeanor. It takes years of practice to become that despicable. I'm quite sure everyone has heard the asinine "How does it feel to want" statement dozens of times. Which is dozens of times too many if you ask me. I stood there in shock as the man turned a bit red and tried to laugh it off. Because I am non-confrontational, I said nothing. I also did nothing. At first. I did attempt a smile at the gentleman, who was now looking at me with a raised eyebrow as if to ask "What the h@#l!?" I feel yer pain, dude. My turn in line. My groceries were at the VERY back of the belt. Now, I may be non-confrontational but I do have subtle ways to rebel in the face of such poor behavior. Unfortunately, this rebellion is nothing less than more poor behavior, on my part. No, I'm not a teenager. I promptly left my groceries right where they were, walked around to the card reader and started fumbling for my wallet. All the while, I was watching in the peripheral every move MS. Grumpy-Cashier made. Already hostile, she never verbally acknowledged me. She just glanced at my groceries, turned back to me and glared intently. She didn't just swivel her head around to watch me as I abandoned my groceries at the end of her belt. She actually turned her body in step with my every move while I walked around the register. This allowed her to face me the entire way with her best "if looks could kill" glare, holding one hand on her hip. That's right! Hand on hip! No, she was not a teenager. Such behavior is totally forgivable in a teenager who has yet to learn. 60 plus grizzled old ladies like she and I should know better by now. I could see the look she was directing at me, but I kept my eyes lowered just enuf to keep from making eye contact and continued to fumble for my wallet. She turned back toward the belt after what felt like an eternity, 10 seconds maybe, and reached for my groceries. You heard right. Instead of turning on the belt, she actually tried to reach for them! Her arms were about 8 inches too short. I was so happy the lady in line behind me didn't attempt to move any of my things closer to Grumpy-Cashier. Perhaps the lady witnessed the exchange that occurred with the gentleman or recognized the body language silently being wrangled between the cashier and I. After a futile attempt to grab my groceries, again with no help from the lady next in line, who was still holding her own groceries, MS. Grumpy-Cashier turned all the way back around to face me yet again. With BOTH hands on her hips, she once again tried to skewer me with her best "I'll kill you" look. Ah, but my shields were up. I never felt a thing. I was however, having a difficult time keeping up the 'fumbling for the wallet' routine. G-C finally turned around with a very heavy sigh/snort combo that probably produced enuf wind to lift the hair up on the head of everyone in it's direct path for at least a mile. She was not looking at me right then, so I lifted my eyes to watch her directly. I wanted to see if I could figure out what was going thru her head. Maybe she saw her store manager and conceded, or maybe she was weighing the pros and cons of attempting murder in the presence of so many witnesses and the cons were winning, or maybe she was trying to come up with a new strategy to win this battle and came up with nothing, I couldn't tell. But I did see her oh so tiny flick of the wrist that turned on the conveyor. I also saw her intently over-examine all three items I had placed on the belt, once the belt had effortlessly delivered them within her reach. It was almost as if she was trying to figure out some devious way to damage the merchandise under the guise of innocently looking for the barcode. She was unnecessarily hard on my little loaf bread. I got the sense she wanted to crush it SOOOO bad. But SHE was now watching ME in her peripheral and knew she was under close scrutiny. No, neither of us are teenagers. Childish, yes. But I admit completely and without reservation that I reveled in my small victory. A huge grin was on my face, one that I couldn't control, when I looked Ms. Grumpy-Cashier in the eyes and wished her a good day. Especially when I saw the same grin mirrored on the face of the oh so patient customer still in line behind me. Guess where she put her groceries!?   :)

A Half A Pizza Pie

When the Moon hits your eye

Like a half pizza pie, 'at's amore!

Yes, I did take some liberties with the lyrics. I did. But there's not a 'big' pizza pie in the sky as you can see in this morning's WIP. Only half :)

Happy Winter Oneth! The first day of winter came in at 21° on the Front Porch. At least it did at 7am when OBACE stepped outside and conferred with the WE-Gues. 74% hue-maa-did-eee, calm winds and fair skies unanimously agreed upon. OBACE and the WE-Gues are getting along this morning. My Beauty spent the night last night with me! My Raine spent the night with other family! Both these being wonderfully good things! I will see my Beautiful Raine again soon. I hope my Beautiful G is rested. May your first day of Winter be a Great Grand and Glorious day, my Fellow Travelers of the Universe. And may Love and Happiness always be your companions.

Beauty and Raine

-4? It says 0° now. I don't think I was dreaming. I saw -4°. The moon peeking thru the tree limbs was purdy. MOLES AND TROLLS! WORK WORK WORK! 

Today, I feel good about that. Life was fun yesterday thanks to 2 very beloved girls! 

THANK YOU my Beauty and my Raine!

Here Comes The Sun

Here Comes The Sun

And I say 

It's all right.

My babies are here and they're all right!

Blues And The Porch

There are four Bluejays in this lousy picture. My apple-gees for the quality and the possible squint headache caused by the eyes attempt to focus something that can't be focused. But Camera can't help it. I have sat on it one too many times. The poor thing keeps snappin' along in spite of my posterior abuse. It's not dead yet! It can still catch a great shot! Today it just couldn't. Anyway, I'm sharing this pic cus it kinda sorta illustrates in a round about sorta way something that happened yesterday when I went to the back door. As I slid it open, a dozen or more Bluejays, seeking refuge from the rain, flew out from under our back porch. A beautiful explosion of blue! Well, of course I was hoping for more this morning. I had Camera up and at the ready just in case. I got nothin'. Then I saw why. They were all under and around the neighbors porch. No wonder. The neighbors have a feeder out for their feathered friends. We do not have a feeder for them. The neighbors also have an elevated porch with plenty of room underneath. So, what made the Blues use our porch yesterday? Nuff brain cells have been used pondering that one. I'm just glad they did. Phone cannot seem to function this morning. As a result, OBACE has released this report concerning the current conditions on the Front Porch. Cold. Cold turned colder because of the mild winds. Dry, cracked and irritated skin sure to guarantee a perma-frown. And partly cloudy skies. Oh, and I almost forgot. Extremely slippery Front Porch steps, walkway and driveway. :) Yep. That about covers it! May you always have a safe refuge from the bitter cold, my Fellow Travelers. Love and Happiness to you as always! A WIP! Leave us not forget the WIP!

Icy Front Porch

I didn't steer OBACE onto the Front Porch this morning, as the layer of ice seemed to much a risk for such delicate equipment. :) However, by using and extending one of OBACES's upper appendages to it's maximum limit, I did force Camera out into the freezing rain to snap a few WIPs. Seemed a shame to force such a task onto Camera and then not post the results of all it's efforts. Hence the triptych this morning. It's currently... wait a sec... FOG/MIST?!? Really? I just don't have the energy to throw names today. It is RAINING out there! Wake up, We-Gues! RAINING! Wait. Let's see if there is an update. Yes, they have updated their site. Light rain it says now. Not so 'light' when I was out, or almost out. At least they got the rain part right. Ok. Currently 33°, 92% humidity, 5 mph east winds causing a wind chill of 28°, and once again, light rain. I'm done. I'm am too preoccupied awaiting the safe arrival of a very precious sort and cannot think this morning. Te quiero, Travelers.

Light Snow Today

8°, 73% humidity, calm winds, light snow. The weather quadriptych. Mother Nature is quite the artist. I got nuttin' today. My head has been dead for weeks now. I'm sure anyone who may read this has had no problem figuring that out. I think this is the longest stretch I've had to struggle to find something to say. Thank the Powers that may be for the weather! Else I'd have nuttin'. Except for the whole point of this FP Report, which is an I Love You to those who mean so much to me. I may got nuttin' but I got a WIP!

Make that 2 WIPs.

And a footsy!

Love and Happiness to you!

Frosty Door Handle Vs Adrenaline

This is not a WIP.

Can you see the frost on that door handle!? Yeah. Well, lemme tell ya what, I bebopped my way up the stairs, in the dark (without injury! Yea for the small victories!), to prepare OBACE for an evaluation of the current weather. We already know it's cold out there. We checked the We-Gues for their evaluation earlier. -4° and 38% humidity combined with winds at 7 to 17 mph equals -18° wind chill. UH HUH, in a word, COLD! Opened the front door, in the dark, grabbed the storm door handle and experienced a moment of pure shock caused by the absolute certain belief that I had just grabbed something foreign, something that was where it shouldn't be and of course my brain, being the brain that it is, instantly thought an attack was underway. The shock was followed by an instant of pure terror when, for a brief second my hand resisted the brains command to initiate an immediate release and retreat. Stuck! STUCK!! Ok, it didn't stick for long. I mean, really, it wasn't actually stuck. It was just the merest threat of stickage. But it was enuf for my adrenal gland to unload it's entire stock of hormone. What a way to start a morning! And ya know, I shoulda known! I shoulda! I had a similar experience last winter. It must be true, the old adage, Ya can't teach an old dog new tricks!! Here's the current WIP to go with the current Front Porch Report. And I don't mind saying again, it's 

COLD!

The moon was so purdy shining thru them trees. I'm surprised I spotted it at all, what with the amount of adrenaline coursing thru my system.

Te quiero, Travelers!

And stay warm!

One More Quick Note

A quick note while my car is guzzling down the gas while going nowhere because it's trying to warm up. Ya ever get to the bottom of a flight of stairs... why are they called a flight?... DIGRESSION! Back on track. Ya ever get to the bottom of a flight of stairs and think you have one more step. Well, let me tell ya, that last non-step is a serious jolt to the system! I felt it from my foot slamming down on the floor to the top of my head! Not to mention how completely disorienting it is!!! *HUMPHF!* Ok, car is probably warm now! Back out in the cold with me. Toodles Travelers!

High Fly By

Todays WIP

  I had a Crow buzz me on the Front Porch! Of course, by the time I got my camera turned on, pointed up and focused on the little fella, he was long gone. Almost. He's pretty much dead center of the photo. That's right! He's the single pixel black spot between the branches of the 2 trees. Really.

 Ok. Going in for a closer close-up.

 Ok extreme close-up.

Alrighty then. We need an extremely extreme close-up.

See! There he is!

*HEAVY SIGH*

I confess. I was on the Porch long enuf to take one picture. 22° of goosebumps on top of goosebumps sent me scurrying back into the delicious warmth of the house. The preceding was a poor attempt to make the mundane not so mundane. I keep hoping something entertaining to share with you other than the weather which, lets face it, is NOT entertaining, will develop in the gray matter that is housed in my head. So far nuttin'. Have a good day and stay warm, wherever you are. I'm off. A paycheck is demanding I leave this warm house and go out in the cold.

A Dusting Of Snow

We got a new dustin' of snow last night.

Just enuf to leave shadow footsies on the Front Porch,

and icicles hanging from the eaves. 

 Current weather conditions are ... lets see if the phone will cooperate... 23°, check, calm winds, check, 92% humidity, so the We-Gues say, no way for OBACE to confirm, and finally fog/mist... wait... what? Fog/mist? :) :) :) here it comes! LIARS!!!! OBACE may have antiquated visual apparati (yer right, that ain't a word) but identifying a fog/mist is still within it's capabilities. To re-quote a fav movie from the 80's, specifically John Carpenter's 'The Fog',
"There ain't no fog bank out there."

A 3 G day to you, Travelers. Keep yer eyes peeled for the 6 L's and grab 'em while ya can!! And Dream. Don't forget to Dream.

Cold Clear Calm

Brrrr ba brr brr brrrr!!!! 17° of chilly! Clear, calm and COLD!! Kinda noisy on the F P. Two dogs were making all kinds of racket. One was sounding an alert. Something was in or near it's territory so the bark was on. The other was, well, my head instantly pictured a smaller dog at the door to the nice warm house where it resides telling the human, the one that can manipulate the door knob with it's opposable thumbs, that it's morning constitutional was finished and it's time to be let back in. Which is exactly what OBACE was telling me. Climate has been evaluated, time to go back in the WARM house! Where the hot cup of tea is! And where the fireplace/heater is. And let's not forget the WARM!! 

Thawing out is in progress. Have a three G day, my Fellow Travelers of this Great Grand and Glorious Universe. Love and Happiness I wish for you, always!