Dead Christmas Tree

 My neighbor and her husband were so busy, they just put lights on the front of their tree this year. No one walks around between the Christmas tree and the wall anyway.

When their granddaughter visited, she was eager to help finish decorating the front of the tree, the only place where everyone could see the decorations anyway. Good plan!

The next day, everyone went to work and school, everything going smoother because they anticipated Christmas cheer in the joy of going home to a cheerfully decorated tree.

No one expected to see what was in their house when they opened their door.

The Christmas tree died from front-heaviness. 

What do you think?

Shouldn't they just roll it over? I mean, it was already decorated.

What Kind Of Store Is This?

With Christmas coming, consumer spending, and money being shelled out for things people might not need or even want, I was actually stopped still by this sign I saw in a retail store.

 I mean, honestly, what retail store in its right mind encourages shoppers to spend less money?

Is it a trick?

Is it some kind of reverse psychology?

Are they trying to make shoppers think that all the stuff in their store is high quality, thus matching high standards?

Or do they really care about helping people save money?

Maybe they just don't want to process a lot of returns.

What do you think? Is it a store with a real heart? Or is it subtly messing with shopper's minds?

And Merry Christmas! This reminds me of the family tradition we adopted with our three youngest sons (since we didn't think of it with our three older ones.) We told them that Jesus got three gifts, and it's a celebration of Jesus's birthday, so each of them would get three gifts.

Wow. Simple, focused on the reason for the season, and no more counting gifts or tallying costs.

Now there's a sign I'd put up in my store!

"3 Gift Christmas. Happy birthday, Jesus."

Besides the Bathroom...

When Carolyn and I were on the road, I stopped for gas and she went into the gas station to use the bathroom.

After I filled the car, I went into the gas station, too, and found Carolyn, not using the bathroom, but PLAYING BASKETBALL!

It was clearly worth the wait.

Do you like playing basketball?

Not a Black Cat

Black cats are all the rage at Halloween.

We used to have a black cat named Slick, who sat in his heated water dish on the porch in his last few weeks leading to his 18th birthday because he was a cold old cat. Then he suddenly disappeared when he turned 18. 

We looked for his body for days, in every place we could think of, but we never found him.

Spooky!

One of our current cats is not black, as you can see in the picture, but this part-Siamese has her own spooky story.

She's not right in the head.

Our son Brian and his girlfriend (at the time) found tiny Sage Kitten in a gutter before her eyes were even opened. They fed Sage with an eye dropper and saved her life.

But something affected her brain. We think it may have been her too-young separation from her cat mom, but it could be something else. 

Sage lets you pet her, but may suddenly bite or scratch with seemingly no provocation. She'll easily roll on her back and bare her belly, but growls fiercely and unsheathes her claws, aimed at you, if you touch it. She likes to sleep in weird positions. If we don't put her out in a timely manner at night, she'll hide, then early in the dark morning crawl up on Bob's stomach and bat his face with her paws until he wakes up.

Then he puts her out.

In spite of her white fur and innocent blue eyes, she makes a perfect Halloween cat.

Do you like cats?

Do you like Halloween?

Spooky Cup Holder

Look what happens when a sole person drives a vehicle on a highway ALONE!

YES! That's a spiderweb, and YES, it's in a car cupholder!

This driver doesn't store drinks in the cupholder of the passenger door. WHY WOULD HE?

(Would you?)

Spiders would.

Do you regularly wash and dust YOUR car cupholders?

Ever See A Squash Tree?

My uncle is a gardener extraordinaire. (Or is that gardenaire extraordinaire?) Whatever you want to call it, Uncle Paul Hansen has a lovely, abundant garden that sometimes produces more than he knows what to do with, bordered by very happy fruit trees

Look at this one for example, high up in the branches, do you see an abundance of round red fruit?

Do you also see a long yellow fruit hanging from the branches?

Hold on...not a fruit...what IS that thing on a bottom branch?

Do you want to take a closer look?

There you go. It's a butternut squash growing in a tree. Call the Guinness Book of World Records! Or else just follow the squash vine that trails into the garden just out of the photo frame. 

This is obviously a brave squash, a traveling squash, unafraid of heights, potential bungee-jumping, or neighbors who are not like itself.

Do you consider yourself a squash or an apple?

Surprise in the Princess Cart

Carolyn likes to ride in the princess (kid seat) carts at WalMart, but one day there was something different in the handle well behind her.

What was that? A warped cucumber?

It looks kind of squishy. Is it an overripe avocado?

Oh, uh, is that a real green living thing?

Ah! ALLIGATOR! Squishy rubber alligator that we left in the cart to surprise the next user.

Would you leave an alligator in the cart?

Or would you give it a home?

Carolyn at the Prom

It was a little bit rainy on prom night, so Carolyn borrowed a bit of Mary Poppins Magic.

Her football player escort led her into the school where two more football players waited to take a prom picture with her!

She's good at all kinds of dancing, even the Conga Line!

(I can't help wondering if ALL high school girls wear high top sneakers to prom these days.)

Now for some 3-D dancing by Miss Carolyn Ruth Anderson!

She danced every dance, not even veering toward the cookie table. What joy, what passion, what a good weight loss strategy!

(Not that she needs to lose weight.)

Do you like to dance?

What do you like to do for exercise?

A Helpful Nail

My son had a nail in his tire, but said he wasn't going to take it out.

(Can you see it?)

This seemed counterproductive to me. Nails don't belong in tires. Nails punch holes in tires. Holes in tires let air out.

But my son said that his tire pressure was steady. The nail was actually plugging its own hole, successfully trapping the air inside the tire.

In spite of his assurances that all was well in Inflated Tire Land, I had the urge to grab that nail and pull it out because it just doesn't belong there!

His plan is to keep close track of his tire pressure, and then have the problem taken care of the next time he takes his vehicle in for routine service.

What would you do? Leave the nail in for awhile? Or pull it out now and get the tire fixed?

Fun Farmer's Market!

If you were driving down Highway 18 and saw this smiling guy dancing with a giant sunflower on the side of the road at a Saturday Farmer's Market, what would you do?

Since I am a fan of smiling and dancing, I pulled over. It was an extra bonus that I also saw a "sweet corn for sale" sign, even though it wasn't at sunflower dancer Brenden Whitelaw's booth. Among other yummy looking plants, he offered exotic cucumbers, fancy zucchini, and Scottish kale, which I wish I'd tasted while I was there.

Coming up, not this weekend because of the St. George Ironman competition, which tends to close roads, are lemongrass, dill, kohlrabi, White Spice Carrots (what?!) and, of all things, Cosmic Purple Carrots!

Brenden also sells colorful corn, perfect for fall decorations or eating, and he promised larger ears to come! 

So if you're in the market for entertainment, good conversation, and fresh vegetables that you aren't likely to find at a grocery store, then stop by the junction of Highway 18 and the turnoff to Pine Valley, (which is roughly the center of the town of Central, Utah) on Saturday.

For even more fun, there are other booths there, too, such as easy-to-talk-to Dale in his genuine cowboy hat, offering his homemade flutes and unique one-of-a-kind Western decorations for sale.

You're sure to find something fun and interesting there, so stop by if you can!

Have you ever been to a Farmer's Market?

Odd Role Model

I saw this picture at a thrift store. I don't know what that golden colored figure is. What are the children lined up behind it doing?

 They appear to be mimicking the figure's pose.

But why?

Is it seen as the epitome of behavior in their place of learning?

Is it their teacher?

Is it an alien?

I think those children need to take their own poses.

Have you ever followed someone/thing that you later questioned?

A Most Unique Garden

 One day I was walking with my grandchildren in Ephraim, Utah when I chanced upon a most surprising garden.

If you'd like a closer look, scroll down.

Even the "stems" and "leaves" were unusual.

Here's a closer look at the creativity of putting dishes together to make this surprising garden.

The garden even had a final polite word for me.

It thanked me for stopping!

Would you like to build a dish garden?

Don't Let Me Tell You!

Some people care what other people think of them. Others don't. At least they don't seem to, but I've actually heard people say they don't care what others think of them.

Whether you do or not, I had to laugh at this sign I saw in a store.

When it comes down to nitty gritty feelings, we humans actually do not have to believe what others say about us.

WE DON'T?

No, we don't.

Back when they lived at home, if one of my boys told me someone called them a name, I would usually reply, "You have a blue face."

When my son looked confused, I insisted, "You have a blue face. Go look in the mirror."

Sometimes they did, sometimes not, but they challenged my statement. So I'd say, "Just because I say you have a blue face doesn't make it true. So you don't have to believe whatever people say about you, do you?"

Even though that was a couple of decades ago, the same thing applies today to everybody. You don't have to believe what people say about you unless you want to!

What amazing freedom of thought you possess.

Have you let other people tell you how you should feel?

Do you still? ;o)

Flower Boy

 There's a song by the Cowsills with the lyrics, "I love the flower girl" that I've liked listening to for years, but I never met a real flower girl, or even anyone in the Cowsills. (Click their name or lyrics to hear the song.)

Well, interestingly enough, I found a flower boy!

He said he likes to make his job fun. That's great advice, and it's easy to see at least one way he achieves that goal. I think someone should write a song about him, something about the flower boy with the flower hat.

Do you find fun in your job?

Ice Acrobats

It seemed like a regular restaurant when we went in, that is, until my grandson drank his drink and the ice in his cup defied gravity.

Maybe it was magic, maybe it was physics, or maybe they were acrobatic ice cubes that pressed against the sides of the glass like some people spread out their limbs in a doorway and stick there.

Whatever it was, it was an unusual sight.

What unusual sight have you seen?

Cheese Boorger

Do you remember learning how to spell?

I remember some of it, and none of it made much sense. The English language has so many exceptions to rules that perhaps the rules should be thrown out altogether.

I mean, who DECIDES that "gh" is pronounced with an "f" sound, an "oo," or is completely silent?

 So it's no wonder that the person who wrote their favorite dish and posted it on the 5 Guys Burgers and Fries bulletin board failed to follow the dictionary guidelines.

It must have made sense to the hungry author, but it looks like something else to me, so whoever wrote this can keep it all to themselves.

Do you like boorgers?

Youngest Son = So Much Fun!

Happy July birthday to our youngest and 6th son, Michael (on the right, admiring big brother Jeff, alias second son's, beard.)

 And, yes, it seems the lack of sisters has spurred our boys on to become fairly good cooks. Besides that,, we had a tradition (with the older ones anyway) of them taking turns cooking a family meal every Saturday.

The boys also had to start doing their own laundry after I found that their version of cleaning their room was to stuff all their clothes, dirty or clean, in the laundry basket, but that's another blog.

Even though as the youngest Michael got picked on, he also grew up fast, and learned how to get along with many ages and types of people.

Hey, he's a fungi...or is that fun guy?

(GROAN JOKE!)

No matter how big they get, our sons will always be my much-loved baby boys.

(And there's no question about that!)

Cancer Free Fandango!

Last year I declared that when I was pronounced cancer free, I'd be so happy I'd dance the Fandango!

At the end of June, the oncologist declared that my cells were normal, and Bob said, "That's the only normal thing about her."

Then I jumped up from my seat and threw confetti in the air.

Doctor Tudor said, "In 41 years of practice, that's the first time anyone's thrown confetti here."

Bob offered to sweep it up, but the nurse said no, she didn't want him to, because she was going to show it to her coworkers.

I think I should have thrown more...
😁

I looked up Fandango dance moves, but couldn't pull anything together that didn't look awkward, so I consulted my nearly-10-year-old granddaughter Kimbree for choreography help. (She makes a cameo appearance at the end.)

 She can do the moves much better than I, but encouraged me to, "Move your hips, Grammy! Swing your arms!" Since I'm the cancer survivor, here's my Funky Chicken style FAN-dango! 

(Watch for it at the end!)

I enlisted my 13-year-old grandson Landon as cameraman, and here's what we came up with!

I'm so happy to be granted a few more years on this vacation we call life, and I'm so glad you're vacationing with me.

Love you!

Summer Day Unique Seat

While walking around a nice neighborhood in Logan, I noticed a most unexpected sight outside a high-class home.

Do you see it? 

There it is! A bench with a breathtaking view made out of a bathtub!

Would you like to sit in a bathtub to watch the sunset?