Things that are better without 2.7 million other people living in your town.
The airport - it's a 15 minute drive and a 10 minute wait for luggage. And the long-term parking lot is a 3 minute walk to our one and only gate.
Winter driving - lots fewer cars which means lots fewer poor decisions with bad consequences. It still happens but not at the rate of several per minute.
We had occasion to use Chicago's toll-road system recently, so I signed up with Illinois I-pass system online when we got back home. They take a picture of your vehicle and license plate while you're on the tollway and bill you.
I fill out my vehicle make and model but the license plate number is a problem... I can't find the rodeo-cowboy key on my keyboard. I don't want them thinking we're hicks after all.
Some people show you love in the quietest of ways.
My wife is baking us banana-nut bread using my mom's recipe. I watched her prepare the ingredients from a picture of the original recipe card on her phone.
"How come you don't just transcribe the recipe into your recipe app?" I asked her.
"I like reading it in her handwriting" she said.
And now I'm in my study quietly sniffling into my coffee...
I know I'm not always the most observant about these things but at what point in our friendships did we transition from talking about our hobbies and passions to our organ health and upcoming medical tests?
Oh. good catch. I by no means meant to suggest that all of us care. No no no. It’s just that of those who DO care, I think a majority are older people with the least to lose, relatively speaking.
Time to put the decorations out. All I have to do is find where I put the box last year... I really should write my future self clues when I pack them away.
Also, Mrs. Miasma has hidden all the Halloween candy and when I ask about it she responds with "Keep it secret, keep it safe" and giggles.
I'll probably find both the candy and decorations sometime in November.
There's an asphalt foot path that completely encircles the Devil's Tower monument. We walked it this morning. 1.6 miles. When we got around the back side of the mountain, we never saw a landing pad, a Moog synthesizer, a color light panel or Richard Dreyfuss in a jumpsuit. I'm beginning to believe that Hollywood is complete bullshit.
Sitting in our hotel room in a Detroit suburb, recovering from a day spent at a local harvest festival and then a truly fine BBQ restaurant for dinner, I'm reflecting on a friendship that began in the Marine Corps forty-two years ago.
I've lost count of the laughs, the wise-cracks, and the years. 😢
Thanks m'Bruddah, you're a better friend than I could have ever asked for or imagined. Semper Fi.
doing my best to keep my memory active because we are being dumbed down to the max.
Started with memorising the phonetic alphabet, morse code, all 50 US states, my phone contacts (needs more work), international flags.
Disabled auto- complete in text messages and auto correct (which is why you see me editing my posts often, because as soon as I post I spot a grammatical error😬 )
What keeps your memory ticking over, regardless of age?
Don't travel through four states in one day if that also includes driving through Chicago and Gary Indiana during rush hour. Your sanity and inner peace is worth more than that.
Also we learned:
EVERY hour is rush hour in Chicago.
EVERY road is currently "under repair" and restricted to one lane in Chicago.
Moving two time zones to the right does NOT agree with my normal sleep pattern. Either that or I'm allergic to Notre Dame university (we're staying at a boutique hotel across the street from the campus.)