Reminiscing

The Umbrella Tree Incident

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In honor of Michelle , who recently paid tribute to me on her blog, and who became my bff exactly 32 years ago this coming weekend…   I share with you the Umbrella Tree Incident – complete with illustration for your viewing pleasure.

It happened September 9th, 1976.  Michelle’s home had several umbrella trees in front.  With Halloween approaching, we got the bright idea that it would be fun to hide ourselves in the trees and scare trick-or-treaters as they passed by.   Being practical (though silly) girls, we decided to try it out beforehand to work out any kinks.  Michelle climbed into the tree, we laughed, and I helped her down.

Then it was my turn.  All went well until I tried to climb down.

It wasn’t until I was part way out that I realized my waist-long hair had gotten tangled in the branches!  I needed both hands to support myself and was completely stuck, legs dangling helplessly from the tree.

The Umbrella Tree IncidentThis is how I imagine that it looked….. I actually drew a picture like this in my journal at the time. 

I needed Michelle to support my legs so I could free my arms to untangle my hair.  She is quite short, and as she held my legs my butt was right in her face, which we both found extremely funny.  She was laughing so hard she wet her pants. 

That made me laugh even harder, and I proceeded to fart right in her face.   Of course, she burst into bigger laughter  – and dropped my legs, sending me into pain and panic – but both of us laughing hysterically at the same time.  

Gaining her composure, and urged by my pleading, she came back and held my legs again, my butt resting on her chest now…. both of us still laughing….  so much so that that I wet MY pants all over her shirt.    Laughing and crying I finally got out of that damn tree with only a few scrapes.

Michelle went in and changed her clothes – and we then walked to my house so I could.  And as we approached my lawn, Brad Tomsic was in the driveway wanting to ask me to a dance (my parents said “no” – because I wasn’t 16.  I hated that rule.)  I’m sure he was befuddled as I hurriedly backed away and into the house to change clothes.

Needless to say, the trick-or-treaters were spared that year.

In the Garden

Frog Alert

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Tiny FrogNews flash!   A bright green frog has been spotted in my garden!!!   🙂

Hopping between the gerbera daisy and delphinium, back toward the trellis, he was too quick into hiding for me to grab the camera.   He appeared to be a larger version of this cute frog I caught at my old apt.  

I will name him Floyd.

Reviews/Recommendations, Whatever

Summer Addictions

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At various times I find I just can’t get enough of a certain food.  Sometimes it’s beef stew or grilled cheese sandwiches (usually in winter).  Others times it may be a particular candy bar.  In summers past, it has often been watermelon.  I LOVE watermelon but this year I’ve been very disappointed in the crop.  After one good melon, the rest have been tasteless or dry 🙁    

Newman’s Own Virgin LimeadeHappily, I stumbled upon a suitable replacement for my 2007 summer food addiction.  I present to you, Newman’s Own Virgin Limeade.    Refreshing and delicious.  And even better when on sale for 2 for $3.00 at Central Market.   The lemonade is good too, but I am partial to the limeade.  It’s actually as good as my home-made version, and a heck of a lot more convenient.   Try some today 🙂

What are your summer food addictions?

In the Garden

Flowers Make Me Happy

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So you’ll probably be hearing about my little garden a lot if you visit my site very often.  I purchased a ground floor condo last year, and have spent the summer completely ignoring the bylaws which restricts my area of ownership to my patio.  I’ve always felt that rules were more like ‘guidelines.’   Fortunately, my neighbors like it.

Here is how the back yard area looked when I moved in. 

It has taken all summer, because rather than dirt, I discoverd the beds filled with rather large rocks, but several months and bags of compost/topsoil later, I have a lovely garden off my patio – complete with a waterfountain.  It makes me happy.

My garden

For more photos of my garden and pre-movein condo (before I painted the whole thing), click here. 

Whatever

Necessary Evils

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  • Alarm Clocks. 
    I avoid using mine whenever possible. 
  • Housekeeping.  
    Unless you’re my friend Michelle who actually ENJOYS cleaning her bathroom.   
  • Cell phones.
    Can you imagine your life without one now???
  • Semi-Annual Fundraising on the local NPR stations.  
    But I pay my membership every year because I’m an NPR junkie.  It’s the best source for in-depth, reliable, non-partisan news.  And entertaining to boot.  I have discovered some of my favorite musical artists via NPR interviews.  Only radio station I listen to in the car.
  • Bras.   
    Need I explain?
  • Tweezers.
    I used to need them for eyebrows.  Now I need them for chin hairs.
  • Cars and airplanes.
    Sam, when are you going to invent a transporter beam so I can instantly de/rematerialize wherever I want to go?

What would be on your lists?

Whatever

Die, Spider, Die!

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I consider myself a compassionate and peaceful person.  Opposed to wars (including the one in Iraq), completely unappreciative of “pretend” graphic violence in movies or WWE.   Not a big fan of hunting for sport (as opposed to hunting for food – and even that makes me feel sad for the animal).  Live and let live I say.   I scoop up those giant slugs that like to devour my plants, and toss them over the fench into the field, hoping (in denial) they won’t find their way back to me (I admit I have resorted to some slug pellets at times).  I don’t like to kill bugs or even spiders – usually preferring the “catch and release” method of removing them from my home, or an occasional flush down the toilet (giving them a fighting chance if they can swim and hold their breath : )  

Die, hobo spider, dieNot so with hobo spiders.  They are very poisonous and I kill them, though a bit reluctantly.  I surprised myself this week, however, when I realized I was actually taking pleasure in watching this very large hobo spider die.  I sprayed him with Grant’s Ant & Spider Killer as he was crawling on my patio screen.   He fell to the ground and ran/hobbled out to the patio, spinning himself in circles for 10 minutes as I stood over him gleefully saying “die, spider die… “     

I bought some sticky traps and have captured 2 very large, 2 medium, and 2 small hobo spiders in the past week.   This, in addition to the 2 that I flushed and three that I sprayed.  

I think it’s time to get a cat.

Whatever

What’s in a name?

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So, this is the first post on my new blog.  You may be wondering why I chose the name “Silence of the Clams” for a blog…  since this is not a site about seafood, or the sea (though I do have a fondness for tropical fish).   The more interesting (or not) question is why I am blogging at all.  It’s a relatively short story, but chances are I’ll babble on and make it much longer than needs be. 

Basically, I’m a computer nerd.  I come from a family of computer nerds, or geeks, or whatever you want to call us.  Oh, we’re all pretty darn cool – not the typical nerd you may think of when you picture one.   But nearly all of us make our livings with a computer one way or another:

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