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Maze Walker

~ because sometimes I feel the need to express…

Maze Walker

Category Archives: Personal Musings

Contributing to the NeighborHood

20 Saturday Oct 2018

Posted by t - That's Me in Art, Craft, Memories, Outdoor accents, Personal Musings, Seasons, Thinks, Uncategorized

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Tags

Harley-Davidson, sounds, Sounds I love, Sounds people love, sounds that make you smile, Sounds you love, Wind chimes, Windchimes

Value for the senses. Audio. Sound. Such as Corinthian Bells, by QMT Windchimes.  A business in the USA that has mastered a niche in audio excellence.

When neighbors tell you they like days they can open their windows and listen to your wind chimes hum, or they love walking by and hearing the chimes sing.

Note:  The main purpose of the video is to hear the tone or otherwise audio value. This business has mastered attending to detail.  Listen. Apologies for the wind distorted mic audio throughout.

 

They have nice songs in gentle breezes, too.

Making fond memories. That makes me smile.

Sounds that make people smile.

Others.

Ocean waves.

Here’s a cool little tidbit I just stumbled upon regarding ocean waves: https://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/ocean-sounds/

Back to task. Other sounds that triggers a fondness.

Crackling wood in a fire.

Ohhhh, a Harley-Davidson.

For those who would like to venture further down the Harley path on this mazewalk…
I found this:

What gives a Harley-Davidson motorcycle its distinctive sound?

 

But, what I wanted to do is ask you…

What are some of your favorite sounds?

What other businesses are excellent in a niche sound?

#Commerce #Community

 

aaaACHOOOO! | A little bit funny. A little bit snot.

01 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by t - That's Me in 80s, Alexa, Music, Musing, Musings, Personal Musings

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Alexa, sneezing, snot

I’d just gone to bed for the night.

Lights out.

Eyes closed.

My head resting upon 2 pillows.

Me: “Alexa, start 80’s Letters.”

That’s a game on Echo where you take turns naming off music groups/artists who ranked in the top 40s. No, I’m not very good.

Alexa: “Blah, blah, blah,… Letter U.”

Me: “aaaaaaaAAAAAAAACHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

Alexa: “Sorry, I didn’t get that. Please try again and speak more clearly.”

[I thought I was getting over this cold. The sneeze came out of nowhere. Why does my hairline feel….. wet?]

I reach up to my forehead. Fingers tentatively search, touching…

[Ewwwwwwwww. Gross.]

Slimmy goo.

There’s a big glob of snot plastered to my bangs.

[How did THAT happen!!!?]

I am getting up to get a tissue.

To get the snot ball out of my hair.

The box is across the room.

[How DID that happen? Could it actually ricochet off my hand?]

Don’t judge. I tried to get my arm there but the sneeze happened too fast.

Alexa: “If you don’t answer in a few more seconds the game will end.”

I’m walking over to the tissue box, knowing I want to say “U2” but I feel the telling sting, eyes watering, then….

Me: “aaaaaaaAAAAAAAACHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

Alexa: “I’m sorry. Please be patient with me. I’m still learning. It sounded like you said A-ha. A-ha starts with the letter A. I’m looking for the letter U.”

I wiped the glob of snot out of my hair as well as one can possible wipe snot out of hair with the tissue. Hey, I’d be taking a shower in the morning, anyway.

As I continue to sneeze, and sneeze, and sneeze some more.

I never did get to say “U2”.

Alexa got fed up and timed out.

Me: “aaaaaaaAAAAAAAACHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

aaaaaaaaCHOOOO

80s Big Hair Alternative

02 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by t - That's Me in Art, Craft, Memories, Music, Personal Musings, Pictures, summer, Uncategorized

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Tags

80s, Beastie Boys, Big Hair, Good Times, Road Trip, Spirals, Sunroof, Violent Femmes

Maze Walking

Photo Group Theme of the Week – Spirals

Spirals.

Spirals.

Oh, Spiiirals!

Rummage through vanity.

Wow! I forgot I had so many.

Flashback to Late 80s…

When you had to create big hair by way of a tall ponytail because even though your hair was long, it was….

thin,

and baby fine,

and straight-ish.
Hey Daddio!  So glad you had connections to a Spring Maker. Thanks!!!

Summer Road Trip from hometown Collinsville, Illinois (#justeastofthegatewaytothewest) up to Door County, Wisconsin with my “Little Sister” Barbi.

Family and Fun.

Driving my 1990 Red Geo PRISM, 5-speed, hatchback.

A tower — 6+ inches in color coordinated ponytail holders.

Ponytail sticking through the opening of the sunroof.
Beastie Boys and Violent Femmes cycling in the cassette player.

Suntea

Tollways

Road Construction

Good Times

Any memories or thoughts spurred? Maze Walk with me. Share in comments below.

 

Hot Toddy with Rosemary in a Mason Jar

01 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by t - That's Me in Art, Craft, Food, Herbs, Holiday Celebrations, Memories, Personal Musings, Photos, Uncategorized, winter

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Tags

Bourbon, Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger, Hot Toddy, Lemon Zest, Mason Jar, New Year's Eve, Rosemary

Last Night was New Year’s Eve.

I decided to make a Hot Toddy.

I grew up making it with Honey, Lemon Juice, Whiskey / Bourbon and Hot Water.

I didn’t grow up knowing what the best Bourbon is.

I’m sure it makes a difference.

While recently in Seattle having a very special Family Gathering, I was introduced to a yummy Hot Toddy.

That one included a Cinnamon Stick and Whole Cloves.

As I said, it was yummy, and it was crafted by my “Little Sister” Barbi‘s beau as I was also introduced to him for the first time.

It was also made with Tequila at my sister’s suggestion, but that is not of matter here.

It is New Year’s Eve and my son just went out in the single digit cold to meet some friends.

So I decide I’m going to make a Hot Toddy for myself.

I scraped some crystallized honey from the bottle. It isn’t that old, but where it resides on the kitchen counter can get pretty chilly when it is so cold outside.

You should feel the air when I open the kitchen cabinets along the outer wall when it’s cold outside.

But I digress.

Honey.

Water boiling.

Bourbon

I have a few cinnamon sticks but they are part of the decor in a very cool shaped bottle so I stoop to the powdered cinnamon I have in the cabinet.

I have also run out of Whole Cloves so Ground Cloves it is.

I do have some dried lemon zest, grated by my son during another culinary journey.

Note: I am not a foodie by any means. No. No culinary genius. I wish I was.

Because… Yum.

Add the hot water.

I’m missing the visual of the floating Cinnamon Stick.

Hmmmm. Rosemary.

Boots on. Scarf, over head, covering ears. Scissors. Flashlight.

Remember, it’s dark out.

Find the Rosemary and snip a sprig.

Snip another after quick consideration.

I didn’t want to have to bundle back up to get more.

Snip a couple sprigs of Thyme as I am walking back to get inside. (See one of my very first blogs, that happens to be about Thyme, here.)

Sprig of Rosemary in the jar.

I opted not to use the “thyme” this “time” in the Hot Toddy but instead use it for something else, though a few leaflets did drop into my drink.

The powdery spice and the semi congealed honey are settled at the bottom, slightly stirred by Rosemary sprig recently submerged which results in looking more like a specimen jar from a swamp or otherwise murky waters. hahaha

Hot Toddy w Rosemary on Cutting Board 01b

It tasted pretty darn good, though.

And then my son returns home, shivering and with painfully cold hands requiring a hot chocolate to warm both inside and out.

I just recently learned that what we call hot chocolate in the states is not truly hot chocolate.

I checked on Hot Toddy with Rosemary today.

I found this Yummy Recipe via Instructables.

Hot Toddy Recipe

It includes Ginger.

I’m out of Ginger.

Add to Shopping List:  Ginger Root.

Look further into Instructables. Looks promising.

Prompt: Write about something slow

24 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by t - That's Me in Personal Musings, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

reading, slow, storyteller, Writing

I read slow. Always have. It doesn’t matter what speed reading course taken or any other helpful advice anyone thinks they have. I read slow. Slow. Like a children’s story read at bedtime, or the stories heard on the radios of old. In fact, that is precisely how my mind takes in the written word. It does not just see the words, but hears…, if only in my mind. I stumble upon words I cannot make out in sound, slowing things up even further. But don’t get me wrong, I love to read, even though I will only skim the surface of the books I desire to explore in my lifetime. I read slow. Every pause. Every breath. Every perceived point of hesitation, or accentuation, tone and depth. My mind is a storyteller, with cast accompaniment. You do not rush the storyteller. To have the tongue of an auctioneer read a ghost story by the light of a campfire does not suffice. To the delight of my son as I bring the written words to his ears, I read slow.

What comes to mind when you think about something slow?  Feel free to share in the comments.

Gallery

A Foggy January Morn’

02 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by t - That's Me in Personal Musings, Photo, Photos, Pictures, Seasons, Trees, Uncategorized, winter

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canadian geese, cypress, cypress knees, cypress roots, Fog, ice, Lake, Stumps, Water Edge, Woodland Park

This gallery contains 6 photos.

I know that winter has basically just started, but I’m still waiting to see all that snow predicted in the …

Continue reading →

One December Morning

27 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by t - That's Me in Personal Musings, Uncategorized

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Black Bear, Dream, Fox, Possum

The bear saunters out the front door as we stand somewhat confused in my living room as to why a bear was in my house in the first place. Moments later, your dog goes out the front door and my cat darts back in through the nearly closed passage. We try to regain an air of normalcy, though soon the notion occurs we don’t know where your dog was headed and we go check. Once more astonished, we see the dog curled on the porch, comfortably napping with his back against the furry black mass of bear also slumbering on the front porch. Thinking the dog curled up next to the already sleeping bear and not realizing the potential danger once the bear awakens, we both earnestly yet quietly try to wake your dog without disturbing the bear.

Your dog does awaken, but only at the start of the bear’s stirring. My heart beats faster. In continued amazed wonder, I see a tall red fox with long slender legs walking up to the porch, it’s fur wet as if it had been caught in the rain, though the day’s sky was blue. Following was a grown possum, with several young ones, too big to ride upon its tail or back, trailing behind.

A scuffle quickly ensued between them; the bear, the fox and the possums. Chaos on the porch, your dog may have been in the mix, but I am uncertain as the next thing I notice is the railing completely gone on one side of my porch, and then I see the bear carrying it in its mouth out into the middle of my yard, using it to push back the challengers.

Wondering about my porch and how I will manage to get it repaired, I suddenly can see, as the bear is succeeding in its clever use of the porch railing, that it wears upon its head a hat, and further has on a scarf, vest and pants.

As the fox and possums dash off in defeat, the bear strolls back towards the side of the house. Though unsure of the response, my heart is still racing and you are dumbfounded as I take a couple steps onto my porch towards the direction of the bear, and say, “I would really appreciate my porch being repaired.”

The bear turns its head towards me and then stands up to full height and says, “Yes, I would agree I should take care of that. I would appreciate it though, if you leave the burrow dug under the porch.”

____
I have dreams but maybe 2-3 times a year, at least of which I have any recall. That is what I woke to this morning. I don’t know who “you” are. I never see you. I only know you are there as ‘we’ see certain things and that the dog, something like a dark brown Setter, was yours and not mine.

Image

Today in Life’s Journey

04 Friday Nov 2016

Tags

Daughter, Fog, Go Navy, Horseshoe Lake Animal Hospital, Knights of Columbus, Navy, November Thanks, Southern Illinois

November 4, 2016

Grabbing a bag, I step out to the front porch and begin to gather the several newspaper rolls accumulated.

“If anyone has any newspaper to spare, our hospital needs it! We are completely out. Thank you!”

That was the message I read last night on a post by a local animal hospital I follow on Facebook. I tell myself this must why I had been putting off placing those papers in the recycle bin these past few weeks.

Panning the neighborhood, I notice heavy dew on the car windows and dampness on the ground. The sun was beginning its assent of the day.  I confirm I have enough time to take the papers to the animal hospital before the graduation ceremony, as I didn’t want them to go without, first thing in the morning.  It dawns on me that it’s somewhat a coincidence that I am running this errand to help the business and its people that just so happens to be the place my daughter worked through the majority of her high school years – since late July of 2014. My daughter called me when she had gotten the job.  I was so very excited for her, and we agreed on a date when I would take her out to celebrate her success later that week. But before the moment arrived, our life paths diverged.

As I am heading out the door this morning, I pause, feeling I should go grab my camera, just in case.  Though I squeegeed the windows and outside mirrors on the car, foggy condensation filmed once more before I ever left my driveway.  The Interstate route I had planned to take seemed an unwise choice with the current construction causing merging havoc even under normal visual conditions. I therefore took an alternate route.

I’m sure there were many passing in cars and school buses, wondering about the woman standing near the side of the road with a camera.

november-4-2016-equipment-sunrise-color-and-fog

Below the roadway fog hung low and converged over the Southern Illinois farmer’s field that butted against the Knights of Columbus parking lot on one side and a Rural Route and an Interstate on two others.  This moment seems to imprint – identifying where I am on this planet, on the morning my daughter is to graduate.

Navy Boot Camp.  My daughter graduated Navy Boot Camp today.  I’m not certain exactly how the weather felt, north of Chicago because I wasn’t there. That is not how our connective life’s journey has it at the moment.

chicago-vs-southern-illinois

But I am thankful that she was able to join the Navy. It’s a good division of the Service for her.  And I am thankful that I have a cousin (dear to me) who was able to help my daughter get started down that path.  I am thankful that my son, her brother, was able to go to the ceremony and be there for her on this noteworthy occasion.

I am also thankful that I was able to watch the ceremony via live-stream and share that moment with my parents, her grandparents, even as they live halfway across the country from me.

division-354-shelbys-group

Where is she going next?  I couldn’t tell you.  That is not a part of the connective life’s journey between us at this time. But for right now, I cheer for my baby girl from where we each stand, and I find ways to be thankful for that.

Posted by t - That's Me | Filed under Memories, Personal Musings, Photo, Seasons, Uncategorized

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Losing Lester

10 Saturday Sep 2016

Posted by t - That's Me in Personal Musings

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

death, family, life, Life and Death Contrast

lester-on-the-combine

Many are not sad to see him gone. Lester, a cousin whose life moments shared left imprints of warm and cherished memories for me those of my immediate family came recently to the end of his journey here on Earth. I know that he was not even close to being a perfect man. None of us, I feel, can claim to have been the best example of a human being, and I heard from others hints of this man’s less than desirable salty, harsh and otherwise negative traits. I do not doubt that that was very likely true. And I am saddened and pained that others whom I love and care for have had to endure and manage life entangled with the darkness of this man.

Towards me there was always kindness, smiles and laughter. I could see a gleam is his eyes that was truly a tell of the fiery nature within yet somehow it managed to enhance the gift of light he shared with me and my immediate family. Yes, there was a charm about him.

Now reflecting on my own life’s journey, it was a similar charm that caught me off guard with the man who is my Ex-husband and the father of my children. And believe me when I tell you I have been in the deep dark shadows in life’s journey with this man and continue to be entangled as my children are still connective threads. Threads from his end used like that of a puppet master.

I know what it is like to have others whom I care about and love, continue to feel warm affection towards that man, to include another cousin who considers him to be the man’s man of a brother he never had. And yes, my children. My children know and have seen the beast of the man that is their father, but they are, too, charmed by the moments of kindness, smiles and laughter, and many times will transform their own natural inclinations to retain or regain that light from him and keep the beast at bay.

Others, like that other cousin of mine, have only had the warm and cherished kind of moments with him – my Ex. I accept that, because I can understand it, but it still hurts. As I am sure it hurts my other family and friends that I hold such fond memories of the man now recently departed.

Did you hear the BOOM?!!

27 Wednesday Apr 2016

Posted by t - That's Me in Personal Musings, Uncategorized

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Tags

City Officials are Baffled, Collinsville, Collinsville IL, Conspiracy Theories, Mysterious Booms, Police are Baffled, Source not found

This (“off the mark” – by Mark Parisi) just came across my network feed and seeing it immediately caused me to think, after all the current scuttlebutt with the “mysterious booms” in my home town, and subsequent theories being tossed about and, well

BANG. BOOM.
It’s a theory. Just sayin’.

#collinsvilleboom #didyouheartheboom #boomtown

(I modified, replacing “BANG” with BOOM” prior to posting.) — with “off the mark” comic by Mark Parisi and #offthemark

off the mark - BANG BOOM - Collinsville BOOM

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