Monday Musings...

Welcome to another fun (?) filled week on Planet Hell...I mean EARTH.
It looks like we might eek out one more DRY day (before another rain event comes our way).
We didn't get AS much rainfall as was expected, but it still managed to crest all the local rivers (really big creeks we'd call 'em back in Philly, where we have a REAL river - the DELAWARE) close to flood stage. We did get frost overnight into this morning...all that damn global warming, no doubt.
Our Hoosierland forecast for today bring us partly cloudy skies, temps around 58 degrees and mild breezes. Clouds will increase by late in the day. We're not expected to top 70 all week...now to ME, that is Springtime weather!

And as such, let's take this opportunity to all get that morning drink poured and parked close by, as we see what else has been going on elsewhere...
*** First off of the sandbag pile is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
MAY 8 -
---It's National Coconut Cream Pie Day

(what is there not to like about that?)
---It's National Have A Coke Day

(it's all about marketing, folks, and we're not talking about the white POWDER kind)
---It's National Student Nurse Day

(I can't remember EVER getting a cute one whenever I was in hospital)
---It's National Women's Checkup Day

(better to be safe...than sorry)
*** Next, we bring you the account of our wonderful (?) weekend...
Wifey and I headed out to grocery, and that was marvelously uneventful...didn't even cost as much as usual (we stock up and plan ahead...good habit to get into).

On the way back, we stopped at Broadview Nursery to get our next round of plants.
Got some nice ones and spent around $50 bucks (that included some chili pepper plants and fennel, too).

We got home, put all the stuff away, and then...decided to try that comic shop along the 2000 block of S. Calhoun.

We parked around the corner (all spaces in front were taken, naturally), and there's NO meter parking there ever. Nice part of town.
It's not a bad place as comic stores go (I worked in one part-time in Philly - got paid in store credit...Brian was a great guy), but, this place is a little "heavy" on the DC side w/ collectibles. I was looking for Marvel stuff or Doctor Who...not much at all, but the graphic novel and book section is HUGE and well-stocked. I could have easily blown a c-note JUST on Captain America books, and still have missed some.
And yes, we DID get the freebies...got a couple more, in fact (Wifey and I each got the limit - 4), and I bought some comic bags and backing boards (a necessity when storing special issues). We spent less than $20 there.
As we got in the car, Wifey said "...Your phone is calling me"...
...W-T-H...???

Certainly a LOT LESS enjoyable, anyway.

I checked my phone, only to find I had a vacant spot on my belt where the phone formerly WAS when we left the house earlier. WHO has my phone? It was in a holster, on a bloody BELT CLIP for God's sake.
This is a hoot...turns out Broadview Nursery called Wifey's number (my emergency number on the phone), and said they FOUND it on the ground there (didn't even feel it slip off the damn belt).
So, BACK we went to Broadview, where I thanked the man there and shook his hand, telling him "I wish we had a LOT more honest people like you in the world...it would a much better place". I think there was a mutual good from that...we both came out better from the experience.

Edvard Munch might approve of this...

Now...a couple days prior, Wifey called me from the Verizon store, saying HER phone was missing (I thought schoolkids stole it...they do that crap). Well, she gets ANOTHER phone, has her original one deactivated and comes home.
She was visibly (and understandably) UPSET...can't say's I blamed her.
As I was getting her lunch bag out of her other tote, I came across something (else) that I had to show her...
It was HER PHONE...and she said she looked there several times. Found it in less than a minute.
I told here she's got to watch out for those space-born cosmic anomalies that swallow a random item and then deposit it back someplace else.
(kinda like a roving mini-black hole - when you're a Time Lord, you need to know this stuff...heh)
Anyway, we're TWO FOR TWO as far as lost phones that were FOUND last week.

Suffice it to say, we're NOT going to make this a competition...NOR a habit.
*** Next up, time to see what's going on at "Kitten Corner"...

Well it USED to be "my" chair...

The kids were pretty good all weekend, in spite of having to watch another cat at the patio door.
I think it's good they get used to that at their age, because they don't spend ALL day there, but go about their usual routines. Not to mention that none of the cats are confrontational.

I mean, there is always a nap to take...or a comfy window perch to rest upon, isn't there?
*** Next, I think we need to give "Midnight" his own spot here, so we'll start calling this henceforth: "The Tales of Midnight"
(sounds like a Spillane detective novel...lol)

Good food, great prices, nice ambiance - 4 stars!

He has warmed up to us and is now here every day, for most ALL the day. The birds get short spells where they can feed.
He is definitely a male, and definitely not neutered (yet).
He also loves to rub against you and will follow you around.

Hey, you lookin' at ME?

Wow, that sounds all a bit familiar, doesn't it? Like Deja Vu all over again.
And, it would appear we are his main source of grub (for the time being, anyway).
That's fine by us. We're not going broke feeding him.
*** Last back to the levee...a home is always what YOU make of it.

Not lacking in ours.

It can be a house, or an apartment...but whatever the case, if you're just living there, and take nothing else away from it and do nothing to preserve or enhance the place, it never becomes a home.
Now, I say that because our young cats (Violet and Gallifrey) have a HOME, and they have helped shape it that way, as did our previous cats, Penny and Rassie.
And, Wifey and I have worked to make this house a home as well.
So, what's the real difference, you might ask?
Well, a home is part of you and you of it. There's a form of symbiosis that take place over time, where you become a part of the house, most noticeably, the part that maintains it, and becomes a steward of what you been permitted to have.
It's the people (and yes, the pets) that make a home more than the four walls and ceilings of any structure.

These morons don't even do THAT...

When I see what many who move into our area bring with them, you can tell that it's for a "short-haul" and not setting down roots. And when they leave, the amount of trash left out for pickup is astounding. it's like people tossed out THAT part of their lives while in that house (or apartment).
Being somewhat "nomadic" isn't all it's cracked up to be. I know, because my folks rented houses (and one apartment) before dad bought "our" house (nice mortgage) when I was in high school. But you can still make where you live a HOME simply by the people inside.
We did that, and did the same when we owned a house.
The down side of moving, is making friends and then leaving them...and also leaving the familiar surroundings and dealing with places that seem "foreign" all over again...it's quite the challenge.

Today, people don't seem as bothered, and take much of it in stride.
Still, there needs to be some sense of "permanence"...of stability...somewhere.
It's like trying to paint a picture on a rolling ship at sea...it can get tedious at best.
It all comes down to our foundations in life...and, as Biblically-explained...fertile ground is best.
Rocky ground is a waste of time, and sandy ground won't keep a structure standing.
But being rooted with a foundation in fertile, firm soil is not only good for plants and crops and buildings...but people as well.
(we call our "ground" by many names...morality, ethics, honesty, wisdom...you get the picture)
Always check your (personal) foundation to make sure it's not eroding underfoot.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.