Catching Up!

October is almost here!

I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.
                                                            Anne of Green Gables 

Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.                                      

                                                           Carol Bishop Hipps 
 
Oh how we love pumpkin season. You did know this gourdish squash has its own season, right? Winter, Spring, Summer, Pumpkin . . . . .We anxiously anticipate it every year.
                                                            Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer 
 
 
Then summer fades and passes, and October comes. We'll smell smoke then, and feel an unexpected sharpness, a thrill of nervousness, swift elation, a sense of sadness and departure.
                                                               Thomas Wolfe 
 
Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!
 
Robert Louis Stevenson 

How about a little Autumn mood music? HERE.
 
October 5 is World Cardmaking Day It’s the first Saturday in October each year.

Here's you October Bucket List:

Take a drive to see the colored leaves 

Plant some bulbs for spring flowers 

Buy a new autumn scented candle 

Attend a fall festival 

Make a new hot beverage recipe – cider, spice, or cranberry 

Go for a walk in the crisp, cool air 

Make pumpkin muffins or bread 

Make chili and cornbread 

Watch an autumn Hallmark movie 

Buy a new cozy sweater 

Treat yourself with a new tea 

Clean out the garage 

Buy some Halloween candy - for yourself. 

Put your autumn wreath on your door.

If you're a true Patriot, read and watch the following: 

 Proud to be a Missourian. Click Here.  

My observations:

The president of the USA is in charge of foreign affairs. When asked if she'd been to the border, Kamala Harris replied, "And I haven't been to Europe." Can you imagine a president who hasn't even been to Europe? I'll bet she couldn't find France on a map if the names weren't showing. Then in the debate, she said that she'd flown all over the world, talking to dignitaries. How did she miss Europe?

CNN is showing Jessica Leeds, saying that Trump groped her in her seat on an airplane. It was back in the 1979's. She's been quiet all these years, but only comes forward when it's time for the election? She didn't report it; she doesn't know where the airplane left from or where it was headed, she didn't report it to the airlines, she didn't report it to the police, she has no witnesses. Hmmmm.........

Have you seen any of the internet talk about Kamala wearing Nova H1 earbuds during the debate? One article said that, "Oh, no, they were part of the Tiffany Hardware Collection." I checked Tiffany's collection, all 128 items, and I didn't see the earrings. Perhaps they made earrings from the Nova H1 just for her? We'll never know. At least we did get some sort of apology from ABC for the bias in the debate.

I was cleaning up my computer and ran across this:

Men, like nations, think they're eternal. What man in his 20s or 30s doesn't believe, at least subconsciously, that he'll live forever? In the springtime of youth, an endless summer beckons. As you pass 70, it's harder to hide from reality.

Nations also have seasons: Imagine a Roman of the 2nd century contemplating an empire that stretched from Britain to the Near East, thinking: This will endure forever. Forever was about 500 years, give or take. France was pivotal in the 17th and 18th centuries; now the land of Charles Martel is on its way to becoming part of the Muslim ummah.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the sun never set on the British Empire; now Albion exists in a perpetual twilight. Its 95-year-old sovereign is a fitting symbol for a nation in terminal decline.

In the 1980s, Japan seemed poised to buy the world. Business schools taught Japanese management techniques. Today, its birth rate is so low and its population aging so rapidly that an industry has sprung up to remove the remains of elderly Japanese who die alone.

I was born in 1949, almost at the midpoint of the 20th century, the American century. America's prestige and influence were never greater. Thanks to the Greatest Generation, we won a World War fought throughout most of Europe, Asia and the Pacific. We reduced Germany to rubble and put the rising sun to bed. It set the stage for almost half a century of unprecedented prosperity. We stopped the spread of communism in Europe and Asia and fought international terrorism. We rebuilt our enemies and lavished foreign aid on much of the world. We built skyscrapers and rockets to the moon. We conquered Polio and now COVID. We explored the mysteries of the Universe and the wonders of DNA, the blueprint of life. But where is the glory that once was Rome? America has moved from a relatively free economy to socialism, which has worked so well NOWHERE in the world. We've gone from a republican government guided by a constitution to a regime of revolving elites. We have less freedom with each passing year. Like a signpost to the coming reign of terror, the cancel culture is everywhere. We've traded the American Revolution for the Cultural Revolution.

The pathetic creature in the White House is an empty vessel filled by his handlers. At the G-7 Summit, "Dr. Jill" had to lead him like a child. In 1961, when we were young and vigorous, our leader was too. Now a feeble nation is technically led by the oldest man to ever serve in the presidency. We can't defend our borders, our history (including monuments to past greatness) or our streets. Our cities have become anarchist playgrounds. We are a nation of dependents, mendicants, and misplaced charity. Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.

The president of the United States can't even quote the beginning of the Declaration of Independence ("You know, The Thing") correctly. Ivy League graduates routinely fail history tests that 5th graders could pass a generation ago. Crime rates soar and we blame the 2nd Amendment and slash police budgets. Our culture is certifiably insane. Men who think they're women. People who fight racism by seeking to convince members of one race that they're inherently evil, and others that they are perpetual victims. A psychiatrist lecturing at Yale said she fantasizes about "unloading a revolver into the head of any white person". We slaughter the unborn in the name of freedom, while our birth rate dips lower year by year. Our national debt is so high that we can no longer even pretend that we will repay it one day. It's a $30-trillion monument to our improvidence and refusal to confront reality. Our "entertainment" is sadistic, nihilistic and as enduring as a candy bar wrapper thrown in the trash. Our music is noise that spans the spectrum from annoying to repulsive.

Patriotism is called insurrection, treason celebrated, and perversion sanctified. A man in blue gets less respect than a man in a dress. We're asking soldiers to fight for a nation our leaders no longer believe in. How meekly most of us submitted to Fauci-ism (the regime of face masks, lock downs and hand sanitizers) shows the impending death of the American spirit.

How do nations slip from greatness to obscurity? Fighting endless wars they can't or won't win. Massive debt far beyond their ability to repay. Refusing to guard their borders, allowing the nation to be inundated by an alien horde. Surrendering control of their cities to mob rule. Allowing indoctrination of the young. Moving from a republican form of government to an oligarchy. Losing national identity. Indulging indolence. Abandoning faith and family, the bulwarks of social order.

In America, every one of these symptoms is pronounced, indicating an advanced stage of the disease. Even if the cause seems hopeless, do we not have an obligation to those who sacrificed so much to give us what we had?

I'm surrounded by ghosts urging me on: the Union soldiers who held Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg, the battered bastards of Bastogne, those who served in the cold hell of Korea, the guys who went to the jungles of Southeast Asia and came home to be reviled or neglected. This is the nation that took in my immigrant grandparents, whose uniform my father and most of my uncles wore in the Second World War. I don't want to imagine a world without America, even though it becomes increasingly likely. During Britain's darkest hour, when its professional army was trapped at Dunkirk and a German invasion seemed imminent, Churchill reminded his countrymen, "Nations that go down fighting rise again, and those that surrender tamely are finished." The same might be said of causes. If we let America slip through our fingers, if we lose without a fight, what will posterity say of us? While the prognosis is far from good, only God knows if America's day in the sun is over.

 

https://ronaldyatesbooks.com/2021/06/is-the-american-empire-finished-how-nations-slip-from-greatness-to-oblivion/

 Remember my closet reorganization? I neglected to tell you that I had help.

Kathy and I went to Habaneros (near the south Sams where Famous Dave's used to be), and it was just so-so.

She had a vegetarian burrito

And I had my usual carnitas. The usual pico de gallo was missing, and I asked for corn tortillas and got flour. Won't be going there again. And it's still noisy.

We also went to Baker Creek Seeds in Mansfield

They have plants I've never seen. I think these are goji berries.

These are the blossoms which make purple tea. If you add lemon juice, the tea turns blue. They also come in white.

I didn't bother finding the name of this plant, because I think it looks like a mistake.

The restaurant is strictly vegan, so I had only a garden salad which was heavenly, and ice cream made with guava and oat milk. The sauce is blueberry, and the flower is the one which makes purple tea. When we left, I hauled out my ham sandwich.

 

I bought some seeds before we had lunch, but the salad was so good made from fresh ingredients grown from heirloom seeds, that I picked up a catalog and I'll probably buy more before spring. I made the mistake of buying a pack of orange winter squash because it was so pretty, and then discovered that each squash weighs 15 lbs.  Check out Baker Creek HERE.  Right now they're giving out the 2024 big catalogs free (normally around $15), or you can get an abbreviated version free by just asking. The big catalog is really BIG, beautiful photography and some recipes. You can order the small catalog online.

 

These are the seeds I bought. This is the picture in the catalog - NOT the picture on the seed package. They looked to be about the size of a mango on the package.

You need to go to Top of the Rock. The golf cart ride through the canyon was fun, but the museum is outstanding. You can go on the grounds and visit the shops and restaurants and pay only $10 for entrance, but if you want to see the museum and do the golf carts, the combined ticket is $43. If you want to see only the museum, you pay $12. The welcome center (where you buy tickets if you haven't purchased them online) is separate from the museum,  Arnie's Barn restaurant, and general store. You can take the free shuttle from the welcome center or drive yourself. If you drive yourself, it's valet parking only, and it costs $20.

Golf cart photos. The line across some is not a camera malfunction - it's the bar across the windshield.

There are lights throughout the ride, because they offer a night ride.

Some trees are wrapped

Outlining animals

Resembling water

There are pools and waterfalls

Rock formations

Table rocks - and now we know where Tablerock Lake got its name.

There are bridges

Carvings in the rails

Even a cave with a drive-by bar where you can get a soft drink or a beer.

Ending with a giant bison

And a view of the lake and the work in progress to add lodging and extend the golf cart tour.

Arnie's Barn is really Arnie's barn. Arnold Palmer's barn was dismantled in Pennsylvania and reconstructed (with upgrades) at Top of the Rock. It houses the museum, the gift shop, and a Mexican restaurant with a bar.

The food was just okay, but beautifully presented and the service was excellent. If you go, tell them you want to sit in Paul's section. A little pricey.

A message from Johnny

The museum is mostly American Indian artifacts, with other bits of history added.

Like these early animals.

Look at the size of this guy compared to a man.

Here is a tiny sample of what you can see.

I couldn't finish the museum - too tired. It's huge. I just walked through the last 25 percent, and it was Civil War and other things I'd love to have seen, but my feet were hurting. Another trip in my future.

That's all, folks! I'll do a blog post here and there, but I need to work on neglected tasks right now.

WORK ON THE OCTOBER BUCKET LIST

EAT YOUR APPLES

AND LEAFY GREENS

STAY HYDRATED

TEA COUNTS

YOU CAN DO THIS!

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE