§ This and that...Here and There....

Driving home from McDonald's [I go there for their new apple fritters!!] and dropping off mail in the drop box, I took some photos of trees along our street. A few times I've mentioned that "Autumn" comes late in our neck of the woods...meaning the few trees around town that actually get the beautiful fall foliage is usually near the new year; in winter. But, we've had several mornings in the high thirties so the trees are a bit ahead of schedule, season-wise. I'll share the pretties, and then along with those, share a few other eclectic pictures. Most images were taken with cellphone, so not that good of quality or clarity, but you'll get the gist of it all.

I like the contrast of the yellow against the gray stone exterior!

I like seeing this tree each year against the slate red shingles. Too me, it's just pretty.

Isaiah - He found Tahoe's [kitty now across the rainbow bridge] obsession of my Santa Afghan. I whispered to him [yes, Ann, I talk to him] that that afghan is sacred only to our late pretty kitty. It didn't phase 'im a bit!! And the other with the leopard skin is Isaiah at the back door to the garage. He thought he'd be able to sneak out there for the night by using leopard camouflage - now that didn't work either!

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My blood pressure meds and heart rhythm meds prescription has been cut in half. But I was on the lowest dosage possible to begin with. Half of the lowest dosage is impossible without cutting them. And the sharpest knife I have won't work diddly squat on the tiny tablets. To the pharmacy I go. And lo and behold they have what I was thinking someone should invent! LOL Have you ever seen these? They're a god-send.

...pretty danged nifty! Nifty? Did I just say that? That must age me into the flower child era, right? One Rx is 90 tablets, and the other is 60! That's a lotta cuttin'. Now, if I can just figure out how to keep them from jamming behind the cutter, I'll be a happy pill pusher ... ummmm, chopper-upper!!

 

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Some Humor?  How 'bout this one?




A woman goes into a pharmacy and asks for cyanide. The pharmacist is shocked and said "What do you need cyanide for?"
"I plan to poison my husband", she tells him.
"I’m sorry, but there’s absolutely no way I can give you cyanide for that" the pharmacist says angrily.
The woman reaches into her purse and takes out a hidden camera photo of her own husband sleeping with the pharmacist's wife.
"Sorry, I didn’t realize you had a prescription"!
......
My grandpa left to pick up his prescription across town. About 10 minutes later I saw a wrong way driver on the news. I got worried since my grandpa had to take that route to get to the pharmacy and called quickly to warn him.
Me: "Grandpa be careful on I-94 there's a man driving in the wrong direction."
Grandpa: "It's not just one! There are hundreds of them!"

§ Change of Season...part II

About 1/4 of the way into the sanctuary along the main path, a white tailed deer surprised me! Of all the years I've been going there, this is a first I've ever seen here. It took me by surprise so much, I was still startled while snapping the shutter and the outcome is blurry. And she took off all too soon to get a 2nd chance.

Here are more images along the walk. Breathe deep, enjoy the silence of the early morning hour...

After I walked the entire path to the river, I circled around the larger of the two ponds and then headed back to the car. I took a side trip to another park in Calallen, Texas. Just a driving trip mostly. I did get out of the car to see the birds at the feeding station and drip system. All in all, I sighted a hawk, several green jays, cardinals, titmouses [the plural can be both titmice or titmouses - from online:  "The plural form of titmouse is titmouses"], ground doves, mockingbirds, widgeons on the large lake, woodpeckers [golden fronted and downy]. I was hoping to see deer, but no go this time around. I then headed home....I had made veggie lasagna for dinner before I left and it was in the 'fridge ready to heat up [I make it very early in the day, not cooking the noodles beforehand...the sauce softens the noodles as it 'marinates' in the 'fridge under a foil wrapping]. When I got home, I made an apple pie for dessert. To round off the meal, a tossed salad and garlic bread.

If you missed Part One...click here

§ A Change of Season in South Texas....

In the township of Corpus Christi, the trees that line the streets and decorate the yards are mostly palm or live oak. These two are evergreen.  On the city properties very few have trees that go dormant with the change of seasons. Yes, we do have seasons in the South, but a whole different scenario than up north. Rarely does it snow. We, in nearly two decades of residing here, have had only two snow storms. They last a few hours and when the sun comes out for the day...the snow is gone in the blink of an eye. But, if I want to go see the color changes, I know just where to go after a cold snap. A couple weeks ago, we had temperatures drop into the high 20s in the northern tier of the city and low to mid 30s in my neck of the woods...WOODS...I drive to Pollywog Ponds. It's a wildlife sanctuary that is heavily wooded with deciduous trees...trees that have leaves that change colors in the season and drop for winter. Well, your winter in the north is our autumn. On the recent quiet Sunday, foggy and misty, I figured there would be very little bird activity so, instead, I drove to see the trees before all the leaves were shed. And sure 'nough, I saw lots of color changes.  As I tallied my daily step count, it was beautiful!!!

...more to come in another post.