Ten things for the second to last Saturday in October, 2016 in These titles mean nothing.

I first typed the title as the final Saturday in October but then had to check the date and so have a whole week of reprieve. It feels good to gain a week of life that easily. I’m sitting on the deck in sunlight filtered through the rapidly losing leaves of the maples. The walnuts lost their leaves a few days ago. I’m wearing by BC First Nations sweatshirt. I didn’t wear it much last year. I kind of forgot its existence, but this year I’ve worn it a couple times to semi-formal events. I found in its pocket the receipt from last years Upper Living apartment tour that we took in LaCrosse. I took a bunch of photos and intended to write about the apartments but now the photos are lost in the little blue Acer and time has moved on.

If I don’t get started on my ten things I won’t even get them done. So here goes.....

1. I’m still working. We were guaranteed the rest of October which of course is one more week (and a day to be precise). We were also told that the test we took for employability had to be taken over again because of timing errors in the first one. I’m confused but then the test itself confused me. I’m not sure I will take it again. It wasn’t that much fun the first time.

2. Weather has improved in that it has stopped raining. We’ve had some cold weather and some warm weather. Today is warm. Jim has finished all his custom beans and is starting his own today. The beans were on the new big bottom at Joana’s and they flooded. Beans are a delicate crop and they do not stand up (literally) to flooding as well as corn does. He says he has a mess. He has been advised to combine them diagonally across the rows and he says he will try but he isn’t sure if will work.

3. He made a radio ad for a state legislative candidate this week. It’s on the local radio station that we do not listen to. I tuned that station in on the car today and heard a lot of miserable country music but no political ads. The Dems are having a fund raiser dinner tomorrow night and we plan to attend. It’s at the Old Rossville Store which is close and also has good food. It will be good to see the old crew and the new ones too.

4. I went to town today and did a bunch of stuff. (Bunch of stuff is what I call errands. Somehow I never got that word stuffed into my vocabulary. There is no hope now.) Since I am in full disclosure mode, I’ll tell you what I did. In order - took cans to can place, took sacks of newspapers/mail/etc to the recycling place, got Joana’s furnace a new filter at the hardware store, took library books back, bought the Bluick a tank of gas and myself a chicken salad croissant and a pumpkin spice cappuccino, and bought some groceries. btw we got the Bluick unlocked by a pro and in so doing discovered the spare key we had made at moderate expense and effort only started the engine and did not unlock the doors. So now we have the door key on anther vehicle’s key ring. Let’s see if that helps us next time.

5. Ten is a long ways from five.

6. It’s really a pretty day. I have an artistic display on the bottom of an upturned five gallon cream can. It consists of a quartz-y rock, a broken clay flower pot, three bottle caps and several dry leaves. If I had a camera with me I’d take its picture. It’s being lit to advantage by the lowish afternoon sun southwestern part of the sky.

1. (really 7) I hear cows mooing. And crows cawing. And a sharp hum that’s probably tinitus. I also hear Gracie walking through the crisp leaves. I hear a calf’s reply to the cow. I hear engine noises on and off in the distance.

2. (really 8) The squirrel hunters showed up bearing gifts of honey and jam. There were three of them and they got within one squirrel of their limits. They like our woods because it’s hilly and has trees. They are from a flat part of Iowa that doesn’t have trees and squirrels. They do have coyotes though. They hunt them in the winter with quite a bit of success.

3. (really 9) I read a bit of Christopher Hitchen’s memoir Hitch-22. I am reading a novel called The Love of Stones by Tobias Hill. I mentioned that last week. Oh well. I have not read much more. I took back to the library Gloria Steinem’s travel memoir and recommended it to a truck driver who was returning his haul of books. He said he’d try it.

4. (really 10) I had a message this morning that made me happy. It’s funny how a few words can change things. Life is so full of little meaningless things that signify irrationally. We sail on moods and news that can be bad or good.

Last updated October 22, 2016