Things I Have Seen

  My Strange Life Improves with Age New Ipswich Historical Society

 Throwback Thursday Six years ago on this day we celebrated Thanksgiving at my son's house. I like it when the days in the current year line up with a previous year.  It makes it possible to recycle an older calendar. Puzzled My sister worked on a maddeningly difficult puzzle. I didn't even bother. Oyster Shells? Imagine that someone thought it was good idea to use oyster shells in the brewing process. Maybe they had so many of them they needed to find a purpose. A gimmick always helps for these micro-breweries. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Parade big balloons used to be a standard when I was a kid and there were only three television channels. We watched it for  about ten minutes before becoming comatose with  the advertising. It seems that Christmas is just around the corner. Our "go-to" movie for Thanksgiving now is "The Godfather" because it is all about eating.

 On this day - November 23, 2018 I learned that "squirrel proof" only referred to the Gray Squirrel variety. The smaller Red Squirrel had no problem climbing through the barrier.

 I signed up for Twitter 14 years ago. It used to fun to read "Pearls from Myrna" and some of the funny responses to the tweets from TFG.  But now it is frankly a hellscape and not worth the effort, Before I deactivated my account, I downloaded an archive of my earlier interactions. Reading through those made me realize that this used to be fun. Not anymore. I'm not sure what Musk intends to do with it, but spouting conspiracy theories is probably not a winning strategy. My time in Twitter - Nov 13, 2018 to Nov 1, 2022  

 On this day - November 1, 2018 I care for two Night-blooming Cereus cactus plants. They produce large blossoms in September which are something to see. This cactus spends the summer outside on the deck, but it cannot survive the winter. One chore I dread is bringing it inside. It is heavy and it is armed with sharp spines. Over the years, I worked out a strategy. I wrap it with several blankets and wear a heavy coat as I lift it onto a dolly to roll into the dining room.  However there is an issue. Each year it gets bigger, heavier and top-heavy. On November 1st, 2018, it lurched toward me a stabbed me in the forehead. A spine was embedded. When I pulled it out, this was the result. The last four years have been relatively safe. I did get attacked this summer which led to a case of cellulitis on my hand, but no more stabbings. I've removed the top of the cactus so it will be less top-heavy. I can root the cuttings to make additional plants. I'll be glad to give them away,