Weekly Ephemera #148

• The Wife and I went to see the procession at the Santa Lucia Festival today.  It turned out to be a bit underwhelming.  The food from the stalls did smell good after the procession but we didn't partake.
• One reason I didn't buy any food at the Italian themed festival is that I'm getting blood work done later this week and pasta, bread, and other carb-heavy food would not be helpful.
• I went to see "Fantastic Four: First Steps" in IMAX this wednesday.  I like how Marvel is moving to smaller scale movies and varying the styles and stories.  I enjoyed the movie and can't wait to see what's coming.
• I watched more "One Piece" before starting the second season of "The Sandman".  I like "The Sandman" but it's too bad that the author turned out to be so stupid.
• I walked twice this week for a total of 12.7 miles (20.4 km).  I need to start increasing the length of my walks.  I feel like I'm slacking off.

Weekly Ephemera #146

• I went to see if it was worth changing to Allo Fiber over the Cox Internet we currently have.  While Allo has no data caps – a big advantage – and is faster, there's no price advantage.  The increased speed isn't a big factor as we currently have enough speed to do everything we want.  I decided that we would not switch until Cox prices went up.
• We restarted Netflix for a month and I binged the latest seasons of "Love, Death, and Robots" and "Black Mirror".  I started the last two seasons of "Squid Game".
• I started walking again.  It's strange that even short walks feel hard after doing a long, multi-day hike.  I only managed 4.4 miles (7.1 km).  Next week, the temperatures are going to be over 90℉ (32℃) with 'feels like' temperatures over 100℉ (38℃).  I want to walk twice this week and will probably start walking earlier than usual to try and beat the worst of the heat.
• We're taking care of the Wife's niece's dog, Cooper.  We've taken care of him many times over the years, starting when he was nearly a puppy.  Now he's an old man.  Since he lives in a house full of little kids, this week will be a quiet one for Cooper.
• Today I turned sixty-two.  Not sure what to think.

Weekly Ephemera #145

Ok...It's been a while since I last posted.  As a matter of fact, I didn't post even once in June.  This is the first time since August 2006 – when I started Homer's Travels – that I've had a month without a single post.  This is unlike me.  The reason: my third Camino.

• Since my last post, the Wife and I finished her Camino (and I finished my third).  I could have posted while I was walking, but it didn't feel like an important thing for me to do at the time.
  
  We returned from Spain on Tuesday and I am having a difficult time re-entering the real world.  I was originally going to put together posts to document each day of our walk across northern Spain, but I stopped taking notes on day two or three.  Instead, I'll be composing three posts: my impressions of the walk, photos taken by me and the Wife, and a magnets post.  I'll give one preview of my impressions: I'm very proud of the Wife.
• Speaking of being proud of the Wife, this Friday was our twenty-eighth wedding anniversary.  The Wife celebrated by having a spa day.  We didn't go out or anything, as we were/are still tired.  It takes a while for your body to recover from walking thirty-seven days straight.
• While I was walking I was still reading.  Actually, I stopped reading for the first couple of weeks of our Camino.  Not sure why I stopped, but I eventually re-started my reading, and it became an important part of my after-walk recovery.  I ended up finishing three books which I will post about eventually.
• After getting home, I started catching up on my TV watching.  It was an activity that didn't require me moving, which is the only activity I could psychologically muster.  The only notable show was "Ironheart".  I like how it became a mix of tech and magic, and I was pleasantly surprised when an infamous magical villain was introduced.  I hope there's a second season.
• I ended this last week going to a concert – more on that in a later post.

Happy Birthday Mom

This would have been my Mom's ninetieth birthday.  Based on some genealogy research and some questioning of my one-hundred-years-old Great Aunt, she probably would be turning ninety-one today but that's a whole different story.

Happy Birthday Mom!  Miss you.

P.S. We are celebrating this birthday by starting our Camino and leaving Burgos to our first stop, Rabé de las Calzadas.

2025 Spring Solstice

Today is the Spring equinox in the northern hemisphere.  While I have lamented the lack of a decent winter this season, I do welcome the arrival of astronomical Spring.

I hope everyone has a great first day of Spring!

P.S. For those expecting a Guatemala Post, I am taking a brief break and will post the next one on Monday (probably).

3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172 5359408128 4811174502 8410270193 8521105559 6446229489 5493038196 4428810975 6659334461 2847564823 3786783165 2712019091 4564856692 3460348610 4543266482

Hope you all are having an irrational ℼ day.

Weekly Ephemera #131

"I will not give into the lies.

I will not give into the fear."

      - Jim Acosta

        ex-CNN correspondent/anchor

• I have spent most of this week doomscrolling.  I have spent too much time on Bluesky watching our great nation starting to corrode and crumble in darkness.
• On Tuesday I had an MRI taken of my abdomen to check for lesions in my prostate.  None were found (yay).  I am not a claustrophobic person most of the time but after nearly an hour in the tight spaces of the MRI machine, I was getting antsy.
• Wednesday was the Lunar New Year.  Happy year of the snake everyone!
• Saturday was the first day of February which is kinda blowing my mind.  Where did January go?
• I walked three times this week for a total of 30.8 miles (49.6 km).  Next week I plan to walk twice.
• My television watching this week was of a scientific nature.  Namely, I watched episodes of "Nova".  I watched one on Quantum discoveries, one on Astrophysical discoveries, and several on the different planets, moons, and other objects in our solar system.  In my early years I had most of this type of knowledge memorized.  I was fascinated with it.  But over the last few decades I have not kept up with the cutting edge research.  These episodes helped bring me up to speed.
• In a week the Wife and I will be traveling to our next international destination.  It's somewhere I've been before - Guatemala.  I intend to post about the upcoming trip later this week.  Stand by.

Another of the old pictures my cousin sent me:

My cousin's sixth birthday.  She is on the right.  My brother is left of her.  I am the three and
a half year old covering his face on the left.  My Mom is standing behind me.
1967, our house, Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.

Weekly Ephemera #127

• This week we took down our Christmas decorations.  On Tuesday the tree came down and the Wife took down the rest of the inside decorations.  On Wednesday I took down the outside decorations including wreaths, laser lights, and the ornaments from the oak tree.
  
  Our Christmas cactus bloomed this week.  This was several weeks later than normal.  Even the bloom was trying to avoid the new year.
  

  

  First bloom of my 'Christmas" cactus.
  This is several weeks later than usual.

• New Year's Eve was quiet.  The Wife watched football and I watched the Times Square ball drop.  At 11:00PM after watching the east coast new Year's celebration, I went to bed and read until about 11:56Pm when I said to heck with it and turn off the lights - the Wife had given up about twenty minutes earlier.
• The most poignant part of the celebrations were the memorials for the people we lost last year.  I should have known that as I aged, more people who entertained and informed me as I grew up would start dying off at an ever increasing rate.  I should expect it but denial always ensures I will be surprised.
• The New Year started off with terror and violence.  Not an auspicious start to 2025.
• We had a slight dusting of snow on Thursday.  I shoveled it but it would have melted on its own if I'd just waited.  Not sure I can count this as our first snow of the 24-25 winter season since it was such a small amount.  We were supposed to get one to three inches today but ... there ain't no snow out there at all.
• I hiked twice this week.  I took the first two days of the week off before restarting on the first of January.  I walked 20 miles (32 km).  I have a blood test a week from tomorrow so I'm really going to try hard to walk three times this week.  It's going to be really cold early in the week so it will be a bundle up walk with many layers.
• I watched Marvel's "What If ... ?" season three this week.  It was interesting.  I wish Disney would figure out how to make the movies better again.
  
  I returned to the Alien world with "Alien: Romulus".  After rather crappy Aliens 3 and 4, This one was pretty good, returning to horror mixed with corporate malfeasance.
  
  We also watched "Cool Hand Luke".  As the Wife said, and I agree, it was better than the last fifty movies that we've watched.

Weekly Ephemera #126

• On Christmas Eve the Wife and I went to see "A Complete Unknown".  I thought it was ok but the Wife thought it didn't tell us anything about Bob Dylan leaving out "why he cut ties with his family, why he was in and out of relationships, and why he was such a dick to the folk movement."  She suggests waiting for it to stream instead of paying to see it in the theatre.  This means it will probably win some Oscars.
• I went on a mini Godzilla/Kong Marathon this week watching three of the last five Godzilla/Kong movies.  I've seen the first Kong movie and the first of the new Godzilla movies is not on streaming it seems ... unless you want to pay.
  
  Also watched "Civil War" (ok), The Doctor Who Christmas Special (ok), "Inside Out 2" (enjoyed it), and "Asteroid City" (WTF was that ... remind me not to waste my time on a Wes Anderson film ever again).
• I walked twice this week.  I was going to walk three times but the gloomy/foggy/drizzly weather kept me indoors on Friday.  I still walked 20.9 miles (33.7 km) which isn't bad.  I'm done walking for the year.  My next walk will likely be Thursday or Friday.
• Christmas decorations come down this week.  If things go as planned everything will be put away by the 1st.
• They say it may snow this coming Monday-Tuesday.  If it does it will be the first real snow of this winter.  I'm not holding my breath though.
• Question:  If I put this thing in a Museum of Modern Art, how much would it sell it for?

  

  Is this art?  If it is, would it be worth more than a banana duct taped to a wall?

  
  

Merry Christmas!

Weekly Ephemera #125

• Today we celebrated Christmas with the Wife's niece's family.  We met their new dog, Moose, who is a sweetie and watched the kiddos open presents.
  
  It's kind of nice celebrating holidays before the actual holiday.  It lets the actual day of celebration be relaxing and quiet.
• I walked three times this week doing 32.4 miles (52.1 km).  I prefer doing three shorter hikes than two longer ones.  Of course your definition of shorter might be different than mine (10 - 12 miles).
  
  I listen to podcasts while I walk.  This week, for the first time in a while, I ran out of podcasts and had to switch to music.  I will have to find new podcasts to add to my list though listening to music while I walk is not a bad thing.

  

  "In an age of performative cruelty, kindness is punk as f*ck.  Please, be punk as f*ck"
  - Signed ☮,❤, Anarchy!

• On Max I watched "The Penguin".  While I'm not a big DC comics fan I did like this show.  Batman and Batman adjacent shows have always been done well.  I think it's because they are grittier and more 'realistic'.  Also watched "Dune pt 2".  It met my love/hate relationship with the Dune series.

Happy Winter Solstice!!!

Winter has started but here the snow has not arrived yet.  Next week is going to be practically balmy.  Enjoy the shortest day and remember, it all just gets longer from here.

Happy First Day of Winter!!!

Ornamental!

 

The big balls are in the oak tree once again.

We were supposed to get our first substantial snow overnight but we got nothing.  The sidewalks were lightly dusted with snow yesterday morning but that was it.  Where is the snow?

It's come a long way since the first time in 2008.

Weekly Ephemera #122

A fairly slow week for me this week.

• The leaves dropped from our oak tree so I put up the Christmas ornaments.  The Wife decorated the inside of the house including putting the ornaments on the Christmas tree.
• I walked three times this week.  It's been a bit since I did more than two walks in a week.  I walked for a total of 32.0 miles (51.6 km).
  
  

  

  A giant chair if a giant happens to be walking the Wabash Trace.

  The third hike on Friday was a return to the Wabash Trace.  It was nice to get back out in nature away from the sidewalks and city streets.  Back in 2009-2010 I stage hiked the whole sixty-three miles of the trace.  Maybe I'll have to revisit those hikes to see how things have changed.  The trace has several different styles of benches along the way.  I found one old conventional bench in an odd location.  Instead of facing the main trail it was twenty feet off facing away.  The bench was old, had "The AᐧBᐧC Bench" carved into it, was damaged a bit, and probably had been there for a while.  At one time it faced a green valley lined with trees and would have been a nice view.  Over the years some trees have grown to obscure the view a bit.   I think there probably is a story attached to that bench.

  

  The AᐧBᐧC Bench.

  If you want to see pictures I've taken along the Wabash Trace check out my 2009-2024 Wabash Trace Nature Trail Hike Google Photos album.
• I finished "Arcane" this week.  I really, really, really enjoyed it.  I was hoping for a third season but two seems to be it.  Worth the watch.
• Also really liking Bluesky.  Wish it was truly federated but it is active and fairly civil so far.

Weekly Ephemera #121

Eight years ago yesterday my friend G_v passed away.  Sometimes it feels like yesterday ... other times it's been forever.

• I decorated the house for Christmas this week.  Early in the week I put up the front door garland, wreaths, and laser lights.  Yesterday I put up the tree.
  
  I was going to put up the balls in our oak tree but the tree hasn't shed its leaves yet.  If my crappy memory serves, there was a year when the tree didn't drop its leaves until the end of winter/early spring.  I'm going to wait for a week to see if something happens with he leaves and then will decide if the balls go up or not.
• Our television took a dump.  A dark vertical bar appeared along the left side of the screen.  Ordered a new one and were up and running by Friday with a new TV.
  
  Also on the tech front I lost an earbud during one of my walks.  It fell out on a noisy street when I couldn't hear the podcast I was trying to listen to so I didn't notice when it fell out of my ear.  Fortunately it was a cheap set of buds so not a great financial loss.  I ordered a new pair before I got back to my car.  I might have to experiment with the larger ear cushions.
• The Wife's Aunt and Uncle celebrated their sixty-fifth anniversary.  If the Wife and I make it to that one we will be nearly one hundred years old.
• Speaking about the Wife, she's been fighting a cold this week.  Hope she gets better soon.
• I walked twice this week for a total of 23.4 miles (37.7 km).  It was cold this week but I still worked up a sweat.  As I walk longer distances it's getting harder to plot interesting paths.  I try not to visit the same place very often and I try to do loops instead of doing there-and-back paths.  I'm also finding that walking along rural roads near the outskirts of the city is not interesting or desirable to me.  Unfortunately there is only one place I can do long enough trail hikes (Indian Cave state Park) but it's over an hour drive from where I live so not worth doing very often.
• This week I started watching "Arcane" on Netflix.  Really liking it.

Welcome to December and the Holiday Season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope all my American friends and family have a stomach stretching Thanksgiving.

It's during times like these that we need to remember the good things we have and be thankful for those who share their love, friendship, and support with us.

🍂 Happy Thanksgiving!!! 🦃

Weekly Ephemera #120

Not much happened this week which, frankly for once, feels nice.  A few highlights:

• We were invited to Thanksgiving Brunch at the Wife's niece's home today.  It was a nice departure from the major dinner on Thanksgiving Thursday.  We all had a great chat about 'things' and I came home with a new red dog hair coat - Thanks Ruby!!!
• I walked two times this week.  I would have done three but Monday was rainy and windy and I just stayed home and hunkered down.  The walks I did totaled 24.8 miles (39.9 km).  They were a nice meander around the downtown area of the city.  I was going to cross the pedestrian bridge and walk on the Iowa side but the bridge is being worked on as they add an extension.  Temperatures are finally feeling like fall but that won't last as colder winter temperatures are coming this coming week.
• In between the walks I watched some television.  The Wife and I watched the latest seasons of "The Great British Baking Show" and "Blown Away".  We enjoyed "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin" (⭐⭐⭐),  I watched "Star Trek: Prodigy" (⭐⭐⭐), the director's cuts of "Rebel Moon" parts one and two (⭐⭐), and "Madam Web" a Sony/Marvel movie (⭐½).

That was it for this week.  Have a good week everyone!

Happy Autumnal Equinox

Happy first day of Autumn to everyone in the northern hemisphere.  We missed being at Stonehenge during the equinox by around a week.  Not sure this is good or bad as people tend to congregate there during the equinoxes and solstices.  Instead we will be celebrating the start of the season with all the fans in Wrexham.

Happy First Day of Fall Everyone!

Weekly Ephemera #106

OᐧMᐧG.  Seriously?!?  What a freaking week.

• The insurance adjuster came by to evaluate the hail damage to our house.  After hearing what his report said, our roofer called the adjuster "an idiot!"  This coming week either our roofer will provide proof of additional damage, or I will ask our insurance agent for a visit from a different adjuster - this time our roofer will be on the roof with them.  I was hoping for an easy process but it doesn't seem like it's going to be that simple.  More to come.
• On Thursday we were leaving Omaha to visit family in Minnesota with a side trip to the "Dignity of Earth and Sky" statue in South Dakota.  This didn't start out well.  On the way out of the city a car on my right veered into my lane.  I responded by veering to my left to avoid a collision.  This resulted in our car being hit by a semi.  After a lot of spinning, cursing, and sheer panic the car came to a rest pointing nose in at the center median barrier,  We were not hurt (we would be sore the next day or two).  We were not hit by any other cars.  Our airbags didn't even go off - our car's nose scraped the barrier but didn't actually hit it head on.
  
  The asshole who swerved into our lane was never seen again.  The truck driver stopped and asked us if we were alright.  The back driver's side door was mangled and the wheel well scraped against the tire now.  Highway patrol stopped traffic so we could limp off the freeway into a parking lot where we called a tow truck.  The car was towed to a body shop.  We took an Uber back home, got in the Wife's car, and completed our trip as planned.
  
  When I filed my insurance claim over the phone and described the condition of the car, we were told it would very likely be considered totaled.  If this is confirmed then I'll be looking for a new car this week.
• Our visit to the "Dignity of Earth and Sky" statue was in the rain but we had enough of a break in the weather to get out of the car to get good pictures.  The statue is at a South Dakota visitor's center on a bluff overlooking the Missouri river.  The view from there, despite the rain, was amazing.  The rain precluded taking any good pictures of said view though.
  
  

  

  "Dignity of Earth and Sky"

  We followed the statue visit with a visit to the Atka Lakota Museum and Cultural Center in nearby Chamberlain.  The museum is located on the Saint Joseph's Indian School campus.  The museum covered Lakota history as well as school history.  Very interesting.  To support the museum and school we dropped some money in the gift shop.
  
  

  

  The inside of the school church.

  On the way out we visited the school Church.  The lights were off when we entered and the Wife started flicking switches on and off to see if she could get the lights on.  Turns out she was turning the confessional lights on and off.  We took some low light pictures before discovering the sign in the hall pointing out the button to light the church interior.  The 'picture' behind the altar is actually beadwork.
• In Minneapolis we had a good day visiting with family, watching a cousin's baseball game, and celebrating the seventieth birthday of the Matron of Honor and Best Man.  There were a lot of people, and dogs, at the party and despite being tired (and a bit sore from the accident) I recovered as the party went on and I enjoyed the people and conversation.
• Oh yeah ... Saturday was my Birthday too.  Whoopee.  With the house, Mom, and now the car I don't really feel like celebrating my new year.  I was hoping this weekend away would help me relax and relieve some of the stress I've been living with but I returned home with more on my shoulders.

Weekly Ephemera #105

I totally forgot about my weekly post this weekend.  I have to say that my brain has become a quagmire lately and I'm lucky if the right things bubble up at the right time for me to function.  It didn't help that the news exploded on Saturday.  Here is what happened last week:

• Last Monday a roofer stopped by to evaluate the hail damage.  Despite having hail resistant shingles, our roof had significant damage.  I filed a claim with our homeowner's insurance and an insurance adjuster will be here this week to inspect the damage.
• Thursday was our twenty-seventh wedding anniversary.  We celebrated by visiting an elder care attorney, setting up durable power of attorney for my Mom, and eating delicious burgers at Stella's Bar and Grill.  The elder care attorney is putting together options for how we can fund the services Mom needs to be happy and safe.  The follow up of this meeting is scheduled for next Monday.
  
  One benefit of all this is, when Mom's situation is all settled, we will know what we need to do to prepare for our future care.
• I walked three times this week for a total of 19 miles (30.6 km).  I was going to walk today (Monday) but it felt like 88℉ (31℃) at the time I normally would have started and it was just heading up from there.  The humidity is a bit stifling to say the least.  Fortunately temperatures are supposed to moderate after today.
• We caught up to the current episode of "Alone".  We are still catching up with "Alone: Australia" and discovered today that there is an "Alone: UK".   We should be totally caught up this week.
  
• At the end of this week the Wife and I are going to Minneapolis to celebrate birthdays.  I think I need the break from reality.  Next week's Ephemera post will likely be late as well.