more doors

Hood College is just down the street. It's a teenie tiny campus with absolutely no traffic. I usually head over there and tool around a bit before deciding in which direction to head next. They have a lovely gazebo smack dab in the middle of campus that is overgrown with ancient trumpet vine. Even on an extremely sunny day, it's almost dark in there. Jutting out from the side of the science building is a large plant conservatory. Beside the door is the most amazingly overgrown cactus. The sign on the door issued this warning though I saw no evidence of drink availability whatsoever. Lucky for me, I was not thirsty at the time.

lucky monkey

Saturday started out with me feeling completely gross. Actually, that started in the middle of the night and kept me up and it was a real pain in the ass. As a person who doesn't get sick much, it usually takes me a while to put 2 and 2 together so, I'm guessing that I haven't felt well for a couple of days and I'm just now figuring it out. Wah wah. The last time I had the actual flu was 1998. I'm serious. Not that this was the flu, mind you. Anyhoo, I got up really early and puttered around doing all sorts of hyper-focused things which is my modus operandi when attempting to avoid behaving like I'm sick (i.e doing nothing.)

The following things were accomplished by me at the crack of dawn: 1) cleaned kitchen, 2) created 9 envelopes of various sizes from a map of the world given to me by the Mighty Lee, 3) threw out copious amounts of previously filed papers that are now meaningless, 4) filled a garbage bag with stuff I can't believe that I still have. The phone rang around 9 am and, after hanging up, I fell asleep for three hours. Then I cleaned the tub and it's now fit to take a bath in. God, is it ever hot. Then, I took scissors to my old man pajama pants again and turned them into shorts.

Here is a marvelous comic book cover sent to me recently. It is amazing and funny needed to be posted for obvious reasons.

splendid view

March and I went way the heck up on Catoctin Mountain this afternoon to behold this amazing view. She drove and I had no freaking idea where she was taking me. Anyway, this spot is remote-ish with tons of lichen encrusted boulders, lush greenery, and no railing. One must sport blaze orange duds at various times to avoid being whacked and stacked by Nuge-worshippers, no doubt. It was semi-hazy but a splendid view nonetheless. We saw one lizard and one deer. A whole lot of sitting around was done by me today so now I will commence to take a super long, fast walk all around lucky town.

randomness

Festivities at the old mill let out early last night and so an evening bike ride around town was enjoyed by me. There were no particular events going on, just a whole lotta people playing in the park. This blog entry has no particular point, I just feel the need to post something at this juncture. Here is a picture that I took of a drawer yesterday. It is a drawer full of butterflies, as you can plainly see. Somewhere at the Naturalist Center there is a drawer full of fireflies but I have yet to find it. They elude me. Well, the dead ones anyway. The live ones are all over my lucky yard in the evenings and that is ~ nice.

lucky with a k

Today I'm off from work entirely and have no idea how to behave. So far, I've accomplished close to nothing but am having a fabulous time nonetheless. Earlier in the day, I rode my bike to the Goodwill to peruse their backpack selection (which is non-existent save for one small, plastic Winnie the Pooh item that simply won't do.) Golf bags they have. Luggage they have. Backpack season is over, apparently but I will improvise for the time being and like it. Earlier than that, I spent nearly two hours yakking on the phone which is strange and unusual as phone talkin' is not something I typically engage in other than to say, "I'm running a little late" or "no, you must have misdialed." This is officially the summer of new things.

Speaking of summer, it is a positively gorgeous evening and I have set up my little table and chairs out on the brick patio. I've got a cool breeze, no bugs, my laptop and a cold beer. Life does not get any better than this. Well, actually it does but this is as perfect as it gets ~ till some other day. This is a picture of my shadow taken by me on Christmas day.

monkey bars

I am a fan of the monkey bars. Today I took an early morning tour of town and found four monkey bars I was not previously aware of. Pictures were taken from the top of each. Then there's the stuff you just hang from: camera in one hand, hang from the other. All sorts of fun was had by me early in the morning.

wild and wonderful and lucky

Here is my favorite rock picture of the day! It features what appears to be an advancing army of trees marching down the rocks. These conifers are clearly on the move and bound to freak the shit out of one would-be emperor who is holed up in his castle, watching the prophecies zip past his eyes like so many pointy arrows! Seriously though, they're not really moving. They're just growing where they landed ~ making the best of a less than perfect situation, as it were. It probably would've been cooler to get planted in some loamy level spot, but still they look toward the sun and eventually their branches touch.

biking with bambi

Midweek on the C&O Canal is way different from the weekend in that it is completely deserted. Mine was the only car in the Point of Rocks parking lot. Less people means more wildlife so, to say it was deserted is not quite accurate. There were plenty of deer and snakes. And mosquitos. That reminds me to add insect repellent to my shopping list of stuff to keep in the imaginary bike bag that I don't have yet. This picture was taken a few yards from a spot called Calico Rocks that has a lovely camping spot and a trail that leads down to the Potomac. There is also a zydeco t-shirt left behind by a recent camper that is completely covered with spiders. It wasn't all that cool looking so I left it.

the doors

Holy crap, lucky town is being hit by a huge line of thunderstorms right about now and the sky is doing some wacky stuff. I don't know what this picture of doors has to do with it but, I just felt like posting this one now. Riders on the Storm, I suppose (har har.) Tomorrow is going to be a major bike riding day unless, of course, this particular brand of weather persists. If that's the case, then bike day becomes movie day. Today is a blank day containing shit storm through which I grope for the door to tomorrow.

flying colors

Behold the zombie fortress! Many a naysayer were torn asunder this day. Let that be a lesson to them! Ha! Anyhoo, kids made fun stuff and went away happy. Lots of fine folk visited the mill and viewed lovely artworks. The plucky little gift gallery did a land office business and no one got molested in the restroom. All in all, it was a successful though exhausting weekend. I took a short break this afternoon and sat on the steps outside a little creekside cafe and thought about stuff I would like to do...

night

As far as night time shooting goes, I'm not too thrilled about it. All the color goes away with the light and stuff looks less interesting. Also, the flash does boring things to otherwise cool and sparkly lighting. I'm sure there's a trick to it but I have yet to figure that out. Anyhoo, lucky town was full of revelers and diners and people on dates and what not. It's groovy to roam in and out of the crowd and follow the music on the street corners. Wish you were here.

joints jumpin'

The weather was lovely and everyone seemed to be having a grand ol' time. The mill was crazy busy with happy people doing stuff with their kids and the creek was lousy with paddle boats and canoes. I had the best catfish sandwich in the entire world for lunch and that totally made my day.

busy town

That there festival happens this weekend and lucky town will be streaming with people. It'll either be batshit crazy at the mill or not but, either way, I'm out at 5. Fun stuff goes on all night so pictures will be taken by me. I have willed the clouds to part so the weather will be lovely. Have a grand and glorious weekend...

lucky laundry

Friday is laundry day. Usually. Unless I run out of clean stuff before that time. I don't know how it goes in your town, but the folks who run the 4th St laundromat are super conscientious about keeping their machines in working order. They're forever checking the hotness quotient of the dryers and adding more quarters for you if your jeans take too long to cook. Plus, it's so clean, you could eat off the floor. Almost. Also, it's cute and they have an awesome clock. I can put in my lucky laundry and skeedaddle back home knowing no one is going to make off with my duds. Happy Laundry Day to you!

hello to you!

Here are my lucky sneakers that usually get me where I'm going. These ones are pretty good for walking and/or climbing ~ those being two of my favorite activities. Biking is a new thing for me as my awesome brother just gave me his seldom-ridden one. Taking pictures is also a fairly new thing and every day I learn more about my little camera. This blog is actually written to myself but you're welcome to stop by and visit and make yourself at home.