Cribbage Cave

Playing cribbage in the cave

"Capture as many happy moments as you can." was a saying of Dr. James Miles. Dad pretty much lived his life according to this philosophy. Here is one happy moment that I captured: Kit and I playing cribbage in our cave (our living room in the garage). Note the acorns, which are used to remember what street we're on, in the game. Even during winter months, a few small heaters make our insulated garage a comfortable place (especially since we have real furniture out there).

Last Ball

Our Dad was a fine pool player. He even had a chance to be Willie Mosconi's victim during a demonstration at the local pool hall. From Dad, I learned the value of a good safety (not leaving the incoming player a decent shot). When dementia started to creep in, it became increasingly difficult for him to remember if he had stripes or solids when playing 8-ball. Out of necessity, I made up a new game which dispensed with having to remember anything. We called it "Last Ball". Whoever pockets the last ball, wins the game. Even tho Dad is now playing pool in heaven, I still enjoy playing Last Ball with my wife. It can make wonderful use of any remaining balls left on the table after playing 8-ball on a pay table. Simply rack up all remaining balls and play a game of Last Ball. Whoever makes the last ball wins the game.

Snow Flakey

This 6-sided snowflake was created at this website. You can cut, preview, cut some more, and then save and/or send snowflakes to your scissor's content. There is also a gallery of 20 million flakes to look through. Tis true, no two flakes are the same.

Your Vehicle Was Toad

My workplace recently had to start enforcing towing un-permitted vehicles from the parking lot. We've heard of a few cars that were toad. Hopefully, my car will never get toad. Apparently, it's quite the hassle getting them back, after being taken over by big government.

Generations of Laze

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Title: Generations of Laze
Date Written: September 26, 2009.
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Johnnny, Line 2: Kit, and so on and so forth.}

Title: Generations of Laze

Do some cooking for friends, unless
You need to go to church and confess
Bad vibes in your life bringing you down
Weighing so heavily like a beaded bridal gown
Get back to the basics and set up your camp
The stars twinkle lightly, the ground cool & damp
Our tent feels like home except for one thing
This emu we found with a wounded wing
Flight's not an option after generations of laze
A species grounded in its evolutional phase
Emu is king of the jungle except for one chap
But Simba is usually taking a nap
Have fun while you can write an add-on poem
Use your young legs and let them go roam
Keep climbing & rhyming exercising your legs & your brain
"I'm lucky to be" should be your refrain
We'll rehearse every verse dealing with something bad
And google diseases that we've never had
Focus on each day as if it's the end of your life
Because it might be, so embrace the strife.

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Title: Generations of Laze
Date Written: September 26, 2009.
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Johnnny, Line 2: Kit, and so on and so forth.}

Roundabout

Do you ever feel like you're going in circles, and that you repeatedly continue going over the same ground, without making much headway? (If you drive NASCAR, that's definitely the case.) This sign in our neighborhood warns of a "roundabout" intersection, where nobody really knows who has the right-of-way. It's lucky we have this sign (from all four directions) so drivers don't go straight through and take out the flowers that have been planted in the middle.

Trick or Treat

We don't have a dog but a lot of people (in our neighborhood) do. So, the other day I purchased one box of Our Family Dog Biscuits (Multi-Flavor) to have on-hand for our passers-by. As Kit perused the box, she mentioned that the INGREDIENTS section included some interesting sounding items:

Wheat Flour (good start)
Wheat Middlings (never heard of these)
Meat and Bone Meal
Animal Fat (what animals?)
Dried Cheese Product (who doesn't love it?)
Liver Meal (but, of course)
Poultry By-Product Meal (which means what!?)
Dried Beet Pulp (my personal favorite)
Dried Milk
Bacon Fat
Wheat Germ Meal (sounds healthy)
Dried Molasses

These treats look like a veritable cornucopia of nutrition, all packed into handy little biscuit snacks. Now when our neighbor dogs stop by, I know exactly why they are so interested in what's in my pockets.

Check Mate

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Title: Check Mate
Date Written: September 4, 2009.
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Kit, Line 2: Johnnny, and so on and so forth.}

Seven thousand crickets chirped like
Concert fans encore hopeful for
Another chance at the big knockout
Punch your neighbor and kiss your enemies
Until your dry lips whisper "Checkmate"
Take a break, sip some agua fria with Maria
Stoke a giant blaze in the chimenea
Fire is our friend into the dark in the park
Where fireflies light forbidden routes
Follow the fog through the torquoise night
To the place where the bees bring their treasure
Hivey hovey to the Hexagon Queen's court
Sipping our tea, you resemble the sea
Salt to a fault and sugar with honey
Brine of the Gods, our souls marinate
Seasoning spirits with herbs that stop by
Under the cover of a periwinkle sinking sky
Pack up your woolens and bring in the sheep
As the hills roll away and hunker back down
Let's hide in a log with a frog from uptown
You breathe in the smog, I'll deal with the crime
Bottom line is we deal the cards that play
The knight or the bishop...which should I take?
You took my rook - a regrettable mistake.

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Title: Check Mate
Date Written: September 4, 2009.
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Kit, Line 2: Johnnny, and so on and so forth.}

Cariflower

When you're walking around, with a Canon A540, looking for an interesting picture waiting to be taken, it's hard to pass up reflections.

If you were thinking

that these front yard flowers

are reflecting

in the passenger-side rear window

of a 1989 Honda Civic Hatchback

you would have been correct.

I could have just said

that the back of my car

was full of fresh flowers

but that would have been

misleading.

Caption Contest

Our next in a series of Caption Contest photos comes to us from taking a picture off the television set in the garage.

Please post a comment with your caption ideas for this photo!

Legal Aliens

I recently had the pleasure of coming upon some aliens who had just landed.
Curiously, I did not feel any fear of abduction, just a calm sense of perhaps trying to have a dialogue with them, to gain some mutual understanding. They did agree to pose for a photo-op before we got started...

We agreed to take turns asking each other questions!

They first asked if they could speak to Our Leader, to which I said "Do you mean Hillary Clinton?", to which they retorted: "No, Tom Cruise!"

It was now my turn to ax, so I decided to throw them a two-part question: 1. "Why are you here?" and 2. "How long are you staying?"

Their answer was: "We are here to help Warm Your Planet", and "We are leaving because your Dear Leader has imposed a new UFO Tax, which is Driving us Out of Orbit!"

The Legal Aliens then surprised me with their next question: "Why didn't Adam Lambert win Season 8 of American Idol?" (Maybe you can help me out with a response here!)

My next two-parter: 1."What have you found to be the healthiest substance in the universe?" and, 2. "What do you use as your currency?"

Their answer to both parts: "Heineken."

Johnny Convention

Have you ever thought how much fun it would be to have a convention of people who all had your same name? You certainly would not have to wear any name tags. At a convention of Johnnys, you would find:

Johnny The Talk Show Host

Johnny The Environmentalist
Johnny The Musician

Johnny The Actor

Johnny The Adventurer (Johnny Quest)

Johnny The SuperHero

Legumes

July 2009 Photo Caption Contest!

Post a comment with your caption ideas for this photo!

Reflections

If you were going to start collecting something, what would it be? What's that one thing that might get you to scout out garage sales? I recently decided to act on a previous decision to start a collection of mirrors. Mirrors are very Zen. They reflect whatever is before them, without changing their nature. The first addition to My Mirror Collection is not the mirror pictured, but rather a different mirror, but a mirror nonetheless. It cost $5 but it's worth more than that to me. Every adventure begins with a first step.

Catchy

June 2009 Photo Caption Contest

Post a comment with your caption ideas for this photo.

Room Snacks

While travelling, we often find ourselves in a hotel room with only a TV remote control and a coffee pot. Today's Travel Tip is to bring your own Room Snacks to make your home away from home more homey.

Here we see a nice variety representing most of the four major snack groups. Notice the clever use of the Aerobies as serving plates. I like to snack, but expecially if I'm at all nervous. Obviously, in this picture taken in Detroit Lakes, I was quite nervous.

Brain Storm

March '09 Photo Caption Contest!

Post a comment with your winning caption for this photo!

Simple Delight

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Title: Simple Delight.
Date Written: February 10, 2007.
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Kit, Line 2: Johnnny, and so on and so forth.}

Title: Simple Delight.

The cheese melted quickly, like
Warming glaciers wet in the sun
Blinding, I was a deer in the headlights
Can't see between the lines on your face
Like old lace, they embrace your fast pace
Hug my brain to shock some ideas out
From beneath the cobwebs' sticky grip
Kiss the spider woman as she spins me
I am a package in her cluttered warehouse
Box me up, don't bring us down around
Bonfires in backyards where leaves flutter
Picture yourself on a path leading to
Chinese wisdom and peacepipes shared
Amongst strangers in the night, no fright
Just a simple delight, like knowing you're right
No regrets in the end. Balance your life
On a solid gold scale, dipping and teetering
What's the point, if we can't have a little fun.

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Title: Simple Delight.
Date Written: February 10, 2007
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Kit, Line 2: Johnnny, and so on and so forth.}

Budget Inn Express

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Title: Budget Inn Express
Date Written: November, 2006.
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Johnnny, Line 2: Kitz, and so on and so forth.}

I knew when we checked in
I'd be glad to check out again
Quite frankly, after a long drive
The car tried to steer away from that dive
After a couple beers or more
Our expectations flew right out the door
Expedia.com didn't show a picture of this place
So Johnnny felt like he had egg on his face
Wait for the pending busload of bums
To pick over the remaining slums
Room 149
It wasn't divine
Til Morgan showed up with his rums.

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Title: Budget Inn Express
(Grand Forks, North Dakota)
Date Written: November, 2006.
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Johnnny, Line 2: Kitz, and so on and so forth.}

Christmas Interruptis

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Title: Christmas Interruptis.
Date Written: December 2, 2006.
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Kit, Line 2: Johnnny, and so on and so forth.}

Title: Christmas Interruptis.

Wandering aimlessly, lost in a field
I couldn't remember if your letter was sealed
A wave of emotion surged through my torso
The King wanted less, but the Queen thought more-so
Mockingbirds sang to the light in the east
While turkeys were roasting, for the big feast
Abruptly aborted, the plan was not hatched
Christmas Interruptis, the ball was not catched
The Queen, in a rage, ate a platefull of cheese
While mice in the den put on the squeeze
Chaos did erupt, like volcanoes on crack
Yearning and burning, I'll give it a smack
Intensely deficient, we searched endlessly
Using some scotch and some gin, and mixing blendlessly
The edges came loose, the seams pulled away
My clothes don't fit me, too much sorbet
"Hey man, take a left, there's a cop on the right"
So, stay out of jail, and to all, a good night!

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Title: Christmas Interruptis.
Date Written: December 2, 2006.
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Kit, Line 2: Johnnny, and so on and so forth.}