Yeti of Bourbon

 

Yeti of bourbon

La Gloria Cubana happy hour

Traeger smoke in wind

Fishing Opener

 Fishing Opener

Walleye flotilla on reefs

Rainbow of good luck

Linda’s Blue Bayou

 Harvest moon glow

Fishing boats marina bound

Linda’s Blue Bayou

Charlie Brown’s Kite

Spring sky kite flying

Baby shark doo doo da doo

Charlie Brown’s lost kite

 

Every Grocery Cart

My grocery cart

Squeaky wobbly front wheel

Clean up aisle seven

Every shopping cart 

In this grocery store

            Wheels that wobble

               Wheels that squeak

An olive jar

High up on the shelf

       Met it’s match

               With Newton’s gravity

Favorite Products

Brass Zippo lighter

La Gloria Cubana

Galactic Face Slap

Outdoor Poetry

 48 degrees

A beer a cigar a book of poems

Chickadees serenade 

Dragonfly Siesta

Morning visitor

A dragonfly’s siesta

Outdoor coffee mate

 

Ursa Karhu

Little bear chases

Big bear circling each night

Satellites streak through 

Birthday Snow

Trees begin to bud

Rain turns temperature drops

April birthday snow

 

Parisian Pondyachts

Little toy boats

Sailing Luxembourg Gardens

Children skippers

 

Catching sunfish

Pink cotton candy sky

Raindrops pattering calm lake

Catching sunfish

 

Little Round Tables

Little round tables

Cold beer red wine olive tray

Man selling roses

 

Bald Eagles Calling

Deafening silence

Pine boughs whispering

Eagles calling

 

Campfire

 Orange embers glowing

Flames tickling pine smoke rising

Chili in the pot

World Poetry Day 

Night’s Darkness

Night’s silent darkness

Heavens reveal twinkling stars

Aurora shimmers

 

Charlotte’s Home

Silky web black hole

Tree stump cavity netting

Charlotte’s summer home

 

Angel Aurora

Aurora floating high

Shimmering neon colors

Angel in the sky

 

MN Vikings Haiku

Pre season trading

Superbowl contenders

Rodgers in purple

 

Images borrowed from the googles

Metro Abbesses

Screeching Metro train

Bounding tunnels of blackness

Lone man serenade

Bear Hop

Ursa Minor brew

Ice cold and refreshing beer

India Pale Ale

Distant sky blue horizon

Lake Superior cage view

 

The Old Dock

Old sun weathered dock

Memories of summers past

Crippling wind and waves

 

Eagles to Soar

 Rising mist signals damp chill air

Lake gently caressing granite shore

Cedar and pine scents wafting winds share

Sun’s rising warmth beacons Eagles to soar

Gunmetal Flight

 Low gunmetal clouds

Blanketing the horizon

Gull taking late flight

Cribbage

 There’s a fifteen two

Fifteen four a pair makes six

Now I have you skunked

Morning Coffee

 Morning mist rising

Kettle over open fire

Mayfly in mug

Retirement Walkabout

 

 

It’s been two months and two weeks since I retired from the cube farm.  Thus far it’s been quite awesome.  I have my lawn mowed before noon.  I shop with my fellow whiteheads for groceries.  Odd to see so many non whitehead club members shopping on our time.  Everything is at a slower less harried pace.  The cashier at Cub chats with each customer as though we’ve all known each other for years.  

I’ve formulated new schedules and noticed some things.  Rather than waking up at 6 am each morning; I’m now embracing the day between 7 and 8 am.  My new daily routine is going on walkabouts each morning between 8:30 and 9 am.  Afterwards, coffee out on the deck basking in the shade of the table umbrella.

Interesting to see other people have similar schedules.  I expected to see more whiteheads out and about.  But so far its a 50/50 mix of white/blue rinse heads and 20-50 something’s.  Are they working or hardly working and slacking off while “working” from home?   

I came across yet another construction site along my 5 mile walk this morning.  The crew were napping.  I thought about using the construction equipment.  But the crew is not around to operate the crane to get me up off the ground.

One of the coyotes at the Mill Pond seems to be sleeping late into the morning.  They’re easy to sneak up on, they can’t get away, they have no legs.  They too are slacking off on their duties to keep the hoard of geese away from contributing tons of goose poop all over the park.  

By 10 am the Rotten Ronny McDonny’s  drive thru is lined up with 11 cars waiting to order McSlop.  From Ronny McDonnys past LifeTime Fitness I see all kinds of Rotten Ronny’s wrappers, cups and bags adorning the gutters and boulevard.  A testament of the Ronny McDonny patrons.

Walking across the pedestrian bridge over 169, I pass Elm Creek Brewery, I could go for a beer this time of morning.  Sadly, they open at noon.  Ahead from the bridge I hear the young screams and laughter from Kindercare.  From the bridge, you look down into their outdoor compound. It’s a riot of kidlets running around, riding tricycles into each other.  Theres a splash pad, one kidlet is wearing a plastic sand bucket asa helmet.  Another sprays the adult Kindercare warden.  It’s complete pandemonium and chaos that makes me smile.  

Caribou Coffee has weak iced tea.  Just Love Coffee has better iced tea.  And their sandwiches are made with waffle bread!  Both are busy with a mix of generations.  Some working, some visiting, some meeting discussing business.

Heading into Target to pick up some items, I hear a police siren heading north on 169.  As the sirened squad car heads north, from the woodlot south of Target near the dental office, there’s a chorus of coyotes howling in unison with the squad car.  To add more irony, I spot a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner in the parking lot.  I hurry into Target in fear of an Acme Anvil falling on me.

The remaining half mile from Target to home is uneventful and alone.  Except for the mail truck delivering mail and a man walking his  Rottweiler.  The Rottie is big and muscular.  Clenched in it’s jaws is his “stick”, a four foot long tree branch the diameter of Folgers 3 pound coffee can.  I say, “thats quite the stick he found!”   He replied he would not leave without it.  What a good dog.

 I look forward to tomorrow’s walkabout. 

Mistress Day?

 

Years ago when I worked second shift, coworker Jerry and I would stop by for lunch before our 2:00 shift.  Always a good time.  One such lunch outing we decided to splurge on ribeyes and dined at Jaxx Cafe in NE Minneapolis.  

We sat eating our ribeye and spuds.  When we noticed we were the only peeps dressed in blue jeans and work shirts.  We also noticed all the other tables were couples dressed up in their finest artire, suits and skirts.  

Thats when it hit Jerry.  He laughed and said to me, “do you know what day it is?  Its February 13th, Mistress Day!”  Sheesh, the day before Valentines Day.  I looked around and sure enough, some of the suits were older men while the skirted females were younger.

We laughed and caused a scene.  I then asked Jerry, “who is the mistess in our situation?”

Hope you all had a great Valentines Day and/ or Mistress Day.  🤣

A New Path

I watched kids walking to the bus stop as I drove by on my way to work.  I got to thinking; those kids do not comprehend their next 40 years of listening to corporate managers and CEOs drone on about maximizing profitability, mission statements and virtue signaling.  

To be young, carefree and innocent again and not bear witness to all that corporate nonsense.  Then I thought, sheesh, this coming May will mark my 40th anniversary graduating from high school.  I can still remember that last year of exuberant excitement to graduate and choose my life’s path.  And leaving high school with no comprehension of the reality that lies ahead.

Much the same way I now feel of leaving the corporate world for a small taste of freedom on this new life path.  More time to learn and explore a more suitable path.  A path less rigidly defined.

However, I will still be working; my new full time career as house husband.  I better start honing my skills as trophy husband, now.

 

Monday morning blues

Weekly stress and anxiety

Recycle repeat

Family Snowman

Today we said our goodbyes to Aunt Ellen.  Her funeral was in Carlton, MN; just under a two hour drive from home.  We reminisced, we cried, we laughed, we ate, and we came together as a family. 

There were no hiccups on the drive north on Interstate 35.  We passed Terry driving Aunt Alma as they took an exit to the rest area.  My sister drove my folks and Aunt Mary.  Karen and my Pop kept texting to report on our travel progress stating we were ten miles behind them.  I sure wish he had warned me of the highway patrols in the center median of I35.  Thankfully, there were no speeding tickets.  Though that would have added hilarity to the day in honor of Aunt Ellen.  We, or I should say I, set the left lane pace with three vehicles keeping pace behind me.  In the center median a few short miles south of our highway 210 exit, I noticed the familiar maroon and white patrol car facing towards the southbound lanes.  Our eyes meet as we flew by him.  Thats when I noted my speed set at eleven over posted.  

Whats funny about this you may be thinking?  Well, Aunt Ellen’s hobby was listening to the Carlton County police scanner.  And about twenty years ago, I ended up being gifted a speeding ticket for ten miles per hour over the posted speed limit.  As we sat there on the highway, my cousin Colleen was laughing stating, “yep, mom is listening to this right now.”  Sure enough, not only did my Aunt Ellen hear of my speeding ticket adventure on the Carlton County police scanner, so did my folks and probably the rest of our relatives.  Aunt Ellen no doubt had a laugh about this close call up there in heaven.  

One time about the same era, Karen and I stopped in to visit Ellen and Lloyd.  We knocked on their door.  The TV was on, but nobody answered.  Perhaps they didn’t hear our knock.  We stepped in; nobody home.  So we left to get something to eat at the truck stop. We met Ellen and Lloyd telling them we stopped by.  Aunt Ellen said if we were hungry, we should have just taken something out of the fridge.  Thats the way it was with family hospitality.  Family was the center.  

It was a joy to see this inflatable snowman by Aunt Ellen’s casket.  You see, this snowman was set in the upper corner of our Grandparent’s farm house.  Its been there since the mid 1960’s where their house was the center of the family.  Everyone simply dropped in to visit.  Food was somehow always involved.  We all stayed at the farm house for weddings in the area.  The living room floor was littered with sleeping bags where many of us cousins slept.  The snowman kept us company watching over us.  None of us could remember a time the snowman wasn’t there.  Amazingly, it never deflated.  Its still the original air Grandpa blew into it.  When Grandma and Grandpa passed on, Aunt Ellen inherited the snowman keeping the tradition of a family gathering place.  It was good to see my family and reminisce our shared memories. 

Dormant Canoes

Dormant canoes

Peaceably resting lakeside

White blankets of snow

Morning Soar

 

Rising mist signals damp chill in air.

Lake gently caressing granite shore.

Cedar and Pine aromas wafting winds share.

Sun’s rising warmth beacons Eagles to soar.