clocked by a dachshund

Nick's been obsesssed with me since coming home from visiting my folks. Not that it's anything new for him to follow me around, but he's REALLY interested in everything I do and everywhere I go. He's just waiting for a lap to fall asleep in. I love his enthusiasm and sincerity. He's so uninhibited.

the most sincere use of the word blessed

It was a good Thanksgiving. Of course I was my usual sentimental self and missed a lot of people and times, but when I was in the here and now--it was all quite sweet. I ate a lot of my mom's excellent food, watched a parade on TV, watched MSU basketball, and went for a gorgeous 1.7 mile walk around my parents' sub-division. We walked past people playing football, a couple orange groves, a guy walking his dog, and some kids playing really loud Jamaican dancehall from a parked car. It was all so perfect and a nice cap to an excellent week spent with my folks. I have so much thanks to give.

putting the gobble back in thanksgiving

I've been a vegetarian for over ten years now, and every Thanksgiving I have people ask me what I eat, since I don't eat turkey. Well here you go: Tofurky, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, some rice casserole thing, and a salad. All courtesy of my mom. Veggies are easy to please, and I would have been just as happy with only a salad, but she took care of me in a big way. God bless her.

Kalkaska Florida

Twenty years ago, my parents, grandparents, brother and I went to Disney World for one of those big, special, Thanksgiving family vacations. Being Jon, I'm all nostalgic about it this holiday, and as a curiosity, my folks and I went for a walk through the trails at Fort Wilderness to see the campgrounds where we stayed in 1988. It made me even more nostalgic, only for the upper part of Michigan's lower peninsula, thanks to the pines and ferns. I'm thinking it's time to get back to Kalkaska. The walk was beautiful, I got chills seeing things I'd long forgotten, and I'm thankful my folks were up for the adventure.

blue is beautiful

One cannot visit my folks without being taken to Disney World. Or, at least, it's rare. We made a day of it yesterday, then went to a dinosaur-themed restaurant where we ate in an ice cave. It gave everything a beautiful blue tint. Very Disney.

'it's really snowing. wow.'

So, it's winter. I went out for a cup of coffee a few short hours ago and it was slightly chilly, to the degree that I wore a sweater and light jacket. Now there's snow EVERYWHERE and I'm freezing in a sweater and heavy parka. I don't know how much snow we're supposed to get, but it's dumping down with no indication of easing up. Ho hum.

detroit is the new hollywood thanks to granholm

On my way to lunch today, I saw a film crew setting up around the corner from my building. My coworker thought they were just street vendors selling grills, but it turned out she was wrong. I think this is supposed to be a Rob Schneider film set in New Orleans. Greektown, Detroit is not New Orleans. How curious.

woke up to winter

I took Nick outside last night and there was a faint snowfall. I told a bunch of people, as it was the first snow of the year, but I had no proof. Well, this morning it was unavoidable. Snow was all over the ground, windshields had to be cleaned, and there were accidents all over the roads. I went to the river to get coffee on my lunch break, and was trapped in snow and hail on the walk back to my office. Sometime overnight it became winter.

let your love shine down

Yesterday was a really beautiful day. I woke up and got to the polls when they opened, spent two hours between standing in line and voting, came home to a wonderful dachshund and increasingly spring-like sunny weather, got two venti gingersnap soy lattes, went record shopping where I snagged The Jam and Fontella Bass, had lunch with Randy, took Nicky for a car ride to Selby's, went to dinner for beers while watching the exit polls with Nevada and Kelly, and came home to Obama winning the presidential election as well as Peters and Schauer winning their campaigns. Whew! Somewhere after getting lunch with Randy, I was upstairs watching the sun set through the upstairs window, and I got pretentious. The window was filthy, but the sunshine came in anyhow and made the filth look hopeful. It was a beautiful moment. This is the best I could do to capture that. I love the United States of
America, and I love democracy. They're both beautiful things.

yesvember

I took Nicky to the groomer this morning, and when we came out, I noticed this stencil painted on the ground next to my car door. I'm not sure what it's all about, but the fellow in the stencil looks smart. So does Nick, for that matter. And did you see the MSU game-winning 48 yard field goal we kicked with only 17 seconds left on the clock? Nice. That combined with the warm, sunny weather, a trip to the coffee shop with my Fred Perry and MacBook, and a dachshund that smells like vanilla, makes for an excellent first day of November.