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A Fish Called Death

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As I have written before, I have a pond in my backyard. I have quite a few fish swimming in that pond. Right now those fish are getting ready for winter. I'm sad to see it happen, but it's time to lower the water level, clean the ponds of all the leaves that have fallen in, put the heater in the pond, and place netting over the pond to protect it for the winter. I don't want to do it, and actually I'm not, the guy who maintains my pond does, but it IS time. The nights are getting cold and the fish need to be kept warm.    After the tragedy of the winter of2024-25, we had 10 or so goldfish put in the pond. They were small fish. Over a year later, they have grown and even (sort of) developed personalities. Now there are at least 36 in the pond. (It's hard to keep track of them all. As a matter of fact I'm sure I'm NOT keeping track of them all.)    There are some that are very distinct. And those that are I have named. For example there is Different. We n...
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October Means Change?

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  Seasonally, October is definitely a time of change.  The leaves change color.  (And this year the colors have been absolutely gorgeous.)  The temperature changes.  (I'm not too thrilled with the drop below 40, but...).  The air and the smells in the air change.  But maybe there's more to it than that?  Just this week I noticed a "Coming Soon" sign from a real estate agent on the front lawn on the house next door.  The house that was once my family home for over 40 years.  The house that was officially sold at the end of October 7 years ago. And if I recall correctly (and this was a long time ago), we moved to that house (when I was only 6) in October.  I could be wrong; after all that is a LONG time ago, but it seems to me that it was then when we moved approximately 1/2 miles from the house that I lived in with my parents from birth to 6 to this slightly larger house right next door to my grandparents. While I'm sure the ho...
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No Party?

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 Since we moved to the Poconos, we've only had 2 strangers come to our door.  Back in NJ we get a lot of people knocking on our door, trying to solicit us for one thing or another.  Have a new roof put on our home.  (Yes, we probably should, but I'm not having it done by a stranger who came to my door.)  Sign a petition.  (But I'm not giving you a donation.)  Learning about Jesus.  (I'm happy where I worship.)  You get the idea. In the Poconos we are on a private drive, so we really don't get that.  (Having people use our driveway as their own private jug handle or speedway...well, that's another story.)  I kind of like that. Last year was the first time two ladies came to our front door that I did not know.  They actually knew the previous owner, or at least they knew his name and political affiliation.  That's why they came to the door.  We informed them that the previous owners had moved and that we were still regi...
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Messy Drawers

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(Note:  NOT my closet...just a random photos from the internet)  I am NOT a slob, but I'm not neat.  I don't dust or vacuum as much as I should.   I don't make my bed.  (I DO straighten it every morning, but I don't "officially" go in and "make" it.  I can never get it right, which is why while I will do the laundry, it's my husband makes the bed when the sheets come out of the dryer.)  My mother would be appalled.  She was incredibly tidy. (Except when it came to the basement of the house which she basically ignored which is why when my parents moved, my husband and I had a heck of a project.)   Perhaps the neatness "gene" skipped a generation.  My son is very neat and always has been.  He makes his bed every morning.  Of course he does leave glasses (often half full of water) around the house when he is home.  And his art studio (formerly my sun parlor) is very much in disarray.  (But isn't that an artis...
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Random Thoughts for Mid-Week/ Mid-October

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I was out walking this morning and the following things just popped in my head. So I thought I'd share. It’s just the randomness of my brain bubbling over again. The weather this year is completely wacky. Every single Sunday for the past 3 weeks we’ve had rain. (Including this past Sunday when my son came to visit us in the Poconos.  We were supposed to go see the train arrive at the historic depot in our town.  It’s a big deal with music, food, vendors, the museum is open…you get it.  And guess what?  Due to the torrential rainfall it was cancelled.  Ugh!)  This week we're not supposed to have rain not on Sunday but we ARE  supposed to have rain on Saturday. I don't take that as a win. I noticed when I looked at our rain gauge outside on Monday that we had nearly five inches. Of course one inch in that was from the previous week but still.. Of course  this is October and it has been cool during the days. As I noted we've turned the heat on. For a...
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Wet Sunday/Dry Monday

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  For the third (or is it the fourth?) Sunday in a row, we had rain.  And make no mistake, this Sunday's rain wasn't just rain...it was RAIN. While I am tired of Sunday rainstorms, this week I was particularly upset because our son was coming up to visit us for his 4 day fall "break."  He wasn't coming on Saturday (as I had hoped which was actually a gorgeous day), but Sunday morning.  This was the first time he was driving to our house in the Poconos and being the overly nervous mother, I said several prayers in church that morning and then watched (via app) as he made his way.  (Thankfully with no issues) However because of the rain we/he couldn't do some of the things we had hoped.  (Like enjoy our backyard.)  We did, as a family, go to several antique stores where I find a couple of books that I was looking for.  (I'm a collector of the original Nancy Drew series, but also have Dana Girls, Cherry Ames, Connie Blair and Judy Bolton.  The l...
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The Least Favorite Chore

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Does anyone have the most favorite chore? Chores are not supposed to be fun, they're meant to be done. I suppose if I was going to say what my most favorite chore was it would be laundry. I don't mind throwing stuff into the washing machine, hanging it up to dry or throwing it in the dryer, and then folding it up and putting it away. Although I confess that my folding skills sometimes turn more into throw it in the drawer skill.   I'm pretty sure that my least favorite chore is also my husband's least favorite. It is cleaning the toilet. It's gross. It's disgusting. It's not fun.    I often think that the two of us try to wait each other out. We noticed that the bowl is getting a little dirty but neither one of us wants to deal with it. So who will go in and do it? Who will hold out the longest? Usually it's me that gives in first. And it's something I really hate to do.    Several years ago for Christmas I requested a gift that seems a little ...
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