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Posts Tagged ‘home’

A Good Place to Be

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on August 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Like many of you, we’re currently sitting in the middle of a days-long heat wave, and its effects are being felt. Not only is the air quality too soupy for much in the way of outdoor exercise, but everything is dry. Our issues are minor compared to the ones playing out in farmers’ fields all around us, and normally I wouldn’t worry about watering our lawn. I have little love for perfect lawns and mowing and all the other inputs the American lawn requires, including water. Lots and lots of water. 

But it’s not just a lawn. Because we don’t work at having a perfect suburban lawn, because we don’t worry about volunteer flowers and the odd weed, our lawn is actually pretty popular with the local wildlife.

The roster includes birds, squirrels (grey, black and red), more birds, bees, butterflies, an occasional skunk (which I don’t love but what am I going to do, go out and shoo him away? no thanks!), chipmunks, groundhogs and rabbits.

It’s that last critter that’s on my mind today. An adorable little rabbit has moved in under a bush. I see the faint trail she leaves moving between the bush and the cedar hedges. I see the little circle of matted grass inside a fountain of daisies. And I see her out in the early mornings looking for breakfast, which she finds at the edge of the bush in our yard, or in the pocket of native plants we have in the planter bed. And so I’m watering, at least a little.

I’m not worried about the lawn. I’m thinking about the food sources that keep Ms Bun and the rest of our animal neighbors happy and healthy. And so I was out early this morning watering her front doorstep, helping to make our corner of the world a good place to be.

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Photo by Nora Jane Long on Unsplash

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Of Course, Cuddles

Posted in Other, tagged , , , on February 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“I’m sorry,” the vet said, “but it looks like Chewie’s teeth are in pretty rough shape.”

Hang on, what? I mean, he had bad nutrition and little care before we got him, but he’s not that old.

“See this line of tartar, and the inflammation in his gums?”

I could indeed see that. That’s why we asked about a cleaning.

“We won’t know how bad it is until we get him under and take x-rays, but it’s possible we may need to remove some teeth.”

Ruh-ro. That sounded not great.

We made an appointment. The day arrived. Today is that day.

/cue dramatic montage of us packing up a cranky cat, delivering said cat, and distractedly working while waiting for word on the cat

The phone rings. 

“He’s fine.”

Phew.

“Only one tooth was very bad so we’ve removed it. He’ll need a couple of weeks with just wet food, pain management, and of course, cuddles.”

That we can do. 

And this, gentle reader, is my cat story for the day. Join me later for the inevitable followup, “Shameless Cat Exploits Injury to Extort Excessive Number of Treats from Family.”

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Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

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Saturday Night Remixed

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , , on February 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This one’s for my father, who introduced us to Saturday Night Live and to music.

Questlove’s Fantastic Video Mix of 50 Years of SNL Music

Oh this is just delightful: for the opening of his documentary film on the history of music on SNL he co-directed with Oz Rodriguez, Questlove produced what the NY Times calls “a high-speed, six-minute DJ mix of SNL music highlights”. So. Good.

There’s a link to the video in the article. It’s mostly blurred but the audio is still playable (you can watch the full video on Peacock if you have it; I don’t but the audio was still fun).

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Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

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Brought to You by Electrons

Posted in Other, tagged , , , on January 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

We’re having some electrical work done today, which means I’ll be in and out of the modern world. It also means that I will be spending a non-zero amount of time asking questions about power, and wishing my childhood had included a little more time with (Presidential Medal of Freedom awardee!) Bill Nye and his catchy explanations of science science science. 

Good news, it’s not too late!

Bill Nye The Science Guy – S01E18 – Electricity

And for those of you who just want the basics, i.e. how not to become a path to ground for the “opportunistic freeloader” that is electricity, check out this quick explainer:

THE BASICS OF ELECTRICITY

Stay safe, friends, and for those days when electrons fail you, keep your pencils sharp!

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Photo by Érik González Guerrero on Unsplash

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Honor the Dead, Cherish the Living

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , on May 27, 2024| 1 Comment »

On Memorial Day, we honor and remember.

What Is Memorial Day? A Brief History and Why It’s Celebrated.

The holiday grew out of the Civil War, as Americans — Northern, Southern, Black and white — struggled to honor the staggering numbers of dead soldiers, at least 2 percent of the U.S. population at the time. Several places lay claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. One of the earliest accounts comes from Boalsburg, Pa., where, in October 1864, three women are said to have placed flowers and wreaths on the graves of men who had died serving the Union during the Civil War.

Not too far away from my favorite ice cream store there lives a green metal tank. This aged weapon of war sits in pride of place outside the military museum in Boalsburg, and my brother and I used to climb it as kids. We absorbed the solemnity of that place and, as children do, converted it to joy. 

Today, may you do the same.

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Photo by Kamala Bright on Unsplash

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Another One Bites the Dust

Posted in Other, tagged , , , on September 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Before today, I couldn’t say that I had ever had a furnace condemned.

No longer.

In our ongoing saga of appliance fails, our seventeen-year old furnace has developed an unfixable crack. And now we wait until we can get a replacement.

I swear we’re not doing this on purpose.

What I do appreciate is that we discovered this problem before the snow starts. Because now our fireplace is on the fritz too.

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Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash

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Slowly, and Then Fast

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Canada is a global leader in many arenas: friendliness, humor, dishes featuring cheese, gravy and potatoes. 

Come fall, it also leads the way in terms of natural beauty.

The leaves on the maple across the street are beginning to turn. Thanks in part to my father falling in love with the Appalachian mountains on a job interview, I’ve watched this dance most of my life. First the green fades into yellows and orange and reds, slowly and then fast, until every vista is filtered through a rainbow-colored lens.

The change depends on a number of factors such as precipitation and temperature, but check out this map for a prediction:

2023 Fall Foliage Map & Nationwide Peak Leaf Forecast

More on the map and how it was made:

See When Brilliant Fall Foliage Will Peak With This Interactive Map

According to the map, fall foliage season began on September 4 and will end on November 20.

For comparison, here’s the Farmers’ Almanac weighing in on dates by state: Fall Leaves: America’s Top Destinations.

When will peak fall happen for you? Soon, the trees whisper. Soon.

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Photo by Nong on Unsplash

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An Interesting Find

Posted in Other, tagged , , , on August 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

You know how I’m always going on about how nice it is to not mow because duh, mowing is a drag, but also because it creates space for plants and insects we don’t usually see in your average suburban lawn? Well, the good news is that my backyard is busy. Not only do I have lemon verbena and apple mint and milkweed popping up from previous years’ seeds, along with aster and grapes and lamb’s quarters and sorrel and the like, yay, but I just met something new.

Meet the pigeon horntail, which is not a pigeon and not a dragon but is instead a giant insect native to these parts. I’ve never seen one before and I certainly didn’t expect to meet one while out refilling the bird bath.

Halfway into the yard a loud buzzing caught my attention. It sounded like a phone on vibrate, but no. It was instead a very large (and somewhat scary looking) wasp-like creature, about two inches long with a ginormous stinger-like protuberance (not a stinger, but I didn’t know it at the time). It appeared to be freshly born as the buzzing was from its sole moving wing. The second wing was still stuck to its body. I happened to have clear pitcher with me and popped it over top of the thing to get a photo, then looked it up. 

Pigeon Horntail (Tremex columba) · iNaturalist Canada

Let’s see:

— Tremex columba, species of wasp also known as the horntail wasp or wood wasp

— native to eastern and western North America (good, so I don’t have to kill it like a lantern fly or murder hornet)

— does not sting or bite (phew, seriously, that tail thingie is no joke)

All good. They like decaying wood so I’m guessing its parental figure was attracted by the stack of wood we acquired after trimming the trees.

I’m not a bug person but it was an interesting new find. I watched until it freed its second wing. And off it flew.

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Billmcmillan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Adventures in Baking

Posted in Food and..., tagged , , , , on August 17, 2023| 1 Comment »

I am trying something new today: cheesecake. I am sure that I have made a cheesecake at some point because my lizard brain remembers the pain of a hot water bath slopping up against my forearm, and the annoyance of a leaky springform pan. That said, I don’t remember many other details because I’ve been avoiding this kind of cake for years. 

But I had a special request. Mr Man wanted a cheesecake. And not just any cheesecake, he wanted it to be chocolate.

Ok, I said. I can do that. (Pretty sure I can do that.)

After much research and a number of modifications, I am doing it. 

If you are unfamiliar, cheesecake is typically a multi-day affair. It requires a bake and then a cool and then a chill, preferably overnight. If you’re in a hurry, you can try some of the no-bake variants out there, but they still tend to require significant time in the fridge.

Here’s the base recipe I’m using: Epic New York Cheesecake From BraveTart. (No water bath! My forearms are thanking me. And how did I not realize that there is no flour at all in cheesecake?)

Modifications are required because my pan isn’t quite the right size and the original formulation is for a lightly citrus-flavored version. For Mr Man’s chocolate extravaganza, I’m using some of the changes posted by GregLasky in the recipe comments, along with most of his ingredient list: Chocolate Cheesecake.

The bad thing about a recipe like this is that I have to wait before I know if it worked. The good thing about a recipe like this? I have a whole day to imagine how great it’s going to be. 

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If I’m lucky, my cheesecake will look something like this. Except not as dark chocolaty. Or as well plated. And what is that tasty-looking beverage? Photo by Allen Rad on Unsplash

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Lime Sublime

Posted in Food and..., Writing, tagged , , , , on August 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I’m on a day job vacation at the moment and I’d hoped to get to some actual writing today. Instead, we juiced limes. Lots and lots and lots of limes. Eight pounds of limes, in the end, which is what happens when one shops at Costco’s Business Center.

On the plus side, our Lime Freeze future is assured, and the Breville Citrus Press is still one of the best presents Mr Man has ever given me. Spendy and single-use, yes, but worth it.

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Photo by Victor Figueroa on Unsplash

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