Barnyard Symphony

 So our outside temps was 22 (F) when I threw back the sheets this morning and jumped out of bed.  Only one of those statements is true.  For the next 3 days our high will only climb into the low 30s (F), after that we should be sailing into temps where the daily high will be in the mid 40s (F).  This is winter, after all, and what would winter be in the Middle Atlantic States if we didn't have some cold days.

Well, yesterday was day one of the new year and no, I did not sit through 3 hours of commercials in order to say that I watched the Tournament of Roses Parade.  You seem, I am old enough to remember when you didn't have to sit through 3 minutes of commercials between oohing and ahing at the next float.  I'm even old enough to remember seeing those beautifully decorated floats on a black and white TV screen, with Betty White and Lorne Greene reading the commentary.  Don't worry, I'm not going to wax nostalgic.  I'll be the first to admit that color is so much better, and a decent flat screen TV will knock the socks off even one of the best tube TVs that were around.

And yesterday was traditional in that I cooked pork and sauerkraut.  For those who don't know, that is very traditional in Pennsylvania German households.  Did you see what I did their?  Pennsylvania German rather than Pennsylvania Deutsch.  Evidently there is still a lot of confusion out there among people who think we're Pennsylvania Dutch.

I also got a lot of writing done on a chapter called Barnyard Symphony.  Symphonies use many instruments, and while walking to the Blue Barn on the Old Mill Estate, get to hear many voices, each with a distinctive timbre and pitch.  Of course when they get to the barn they might find someone dancing to this song from 1980.  This is part of the way I balance the two stories, one in the present and one set 40 years ago.  Oh, Leah rocks.

And, as we all should have expected, Orangie's going to bring the chaos from the old year into the new one.  He can't stop himself.  I honestly believe he doesn't know how to live without the chaos.  He needs to keep the constant blustering around him in order to keep people talking about him.  When he gets a question he doesn't like, he simply lies.  I don't doubt that he is always asking if people are talking about him.  He needs to be the subject of every conversation.

One thing that came out was a comment he made about taking aspirin.  There was a time when doctors recommended that you take a baby aspirin a day.  They believed this was good for their heart.  However, that has changed.  The only people who take an aspirin a day are those who have already suffered a heart attack or a stroke.  For seniors, like Orangie, an aspirin a day might actually cause internal bleeding.  Is he truly taking 4 times the recommended dosage?  Probably not.  I suspect that his meds are highly regulated since the instant a blood vessel pops in his brain the Republican Party is over.

2023 - The Year the Republican Party goes Super Nova

Hello 2023.

My first load of laundry, sweat pants, is on spin dry in the new washer.  Nothing really changes, except for the last digit of the year.  Out with the 2 and in with the 3.  

Nothing changes.  Well, one thing did.  Because my neighbor died, I didn't have to listen to him shrieking Woo Hoo! as he set of a firework every 3 - 4 minutes.  Let me tell you, that gets annoying fast.  The neighborhood was quiet last night.  

There will be no traditional PA Dutch pork and sauerkraut today.  I work.  There is a pork loin in the crock pot just in case.  Normally they provide some sort of meal for those working, but we have new assistant managers and so far they've been dropping the ball.  This doesn't mean they're not going to order in pizza with ham and pineapple, I just want to be prepared.

And what's in store for 2023?  Sunshine and shadows.

Luckily, many of us are going to be on the bright side of the light.  Siding with Brian Tyler-Cohen, the Right side has already begun to implode.  Their Super Nova will begin after they seat George Santos, because he's going to be arrested.  Not only will fingers be pointed and threats will be made.  And then the indictments will begin to fall.  The MAGA cult will take to the streets in protest.  The only thing missing, at first, will be Kristi Noem and her flamethrower.  Don't worry, she and every other self-serving Republican in Congress will try and torch anything and everything connecting them to The Former Guy.

Sometimes, I almost think this whole thing has been pre-ordained, so sit back and enjoy the entertainment.  

Fresh start

I get to go back to work today.  The thrill of excitement is not rippling up and down my spine.  The next 2 months are going to be fairly slow.  It's a seasonal thing.
I did make pork and sauerkraut yesterday.  Traditional thing, you know?  It's supposed to be good luck which is a bit amusing. You see, there really is no such thing as luck, merely Probability.  This is a difficult conception for some, since they want to attribute events in their lives to either good luck, or bad luck.  Everything can be explained by mathematics.  Unfortunately, most of us don't like math.  I, personally, detest it.  I find the whole science illogical.  When I was in college I took a math course, I thought it would be easy credits.  Wrong.  I ended up taking it pass / fail, which meant I got credits but all I had to do was pass the damn thing.  Why did I have so much trouble?  My mind moves illogically.  I will be the first to admit that.  I should investigate, but I suspect this is a problem for people with a creative bent.
And, of course, yesterday being the first day of the New Year, I had to go for my first ride.  I use Rouvy training software.  And since it was the first day... of the New Year, the zeroed all of my last year's stats.

It's a little difficult to see, but they have given me a Fresh Start.
And since I've developed this interest in Scotland, I thought I'd ride through Mennock Pass.  Even though the ride is only 7.37 miles long, you climb over 1000 feet. 

And, as usual, there are dots on the map to indicate certain highlights.  In Greece it was deer running across the road.  On Mennock Pass it was a herd of sheep.  As I approached, one guy in particular chose to cross the road.

Unfortunately, he had already crossed the road by the time I grabbed my phone to take a pic.  Anyway, I now have stats for 2020.

As I said, a Fresh Start.