Bearded Wonder

Norm was at the checkout just behind us. Quite frankly, he had a marvellous beard. Sue was so entranced that I thought that I would have to intervene before she invited him home for dinner. I feared that she would ask what night I might be out. ;)

While I think my beard is acceptable, by no means do random strangers stop me to express their approbation. Mind you, Sue's approval of my first beard when I was a tender 19-year-old was certainly positive reinforcement for continued porting of same.

At coffee with the boys this week.

That ↑ is about as long as I can grow my beard before it goes all gnarly. I did try to grow it more during COVID, employing special shampoo and  conditioner and ointment or whatever, but it just wouldn't work.

But Norm's beard is special. He can grow it without it beginning to run rampant.

Caturday 87: Ongoing Pawprints

After a light overnight snow, I stopped to take this photo before exiting the garage to head over to the kids on Christmas Morning.

Note the direct registering where the back foot
 lands in the same spot as the front foot

We are into our third decade in this place, and cats have been taking this same route for the duration as far as I can determine. They walk past the garage, up our little walk, and across the front of our house. I can clearly see this pattern on winter days like this, and I have been out on our enclosed porch in warmer weather while they have crossed by. I greet them, often startling the poor things.

While I say "cats," I presume it is only one cat at a time, but in over 20 years, it has had to be multiple cats in some sort of succession. The pawprints remain the same while the cats go marching on into the mists of time, and I find this satisfying in some way.

Scrounging for Photos

I have always posted plenteous photos on this silly, little channel. In autumn it is easy because colour is everywhere. But winter ain't so easy. While there are bright days and/or fresh snowy days, there are a many other days when the skies are grey and the snow is not exactly as "deep and crisp and even" as they were for Good King Wenceslas. But we do our best, and sometimes we can cobble together a post after a few days.

When we begin to cross the trail bridge over the river, we pass some vegetation while we are still over land. One day, I spotted some pretty, frosted leaves by the railing.

On another dull day, I took a couple of minimalist photos in the neighbourhood park.

This ↓ is the main bridge on main street with town hall just behind me.

And then there is Sue and her daily challenges that sometimes supply me with blog fodder. Yesterday, she was prompted to photograph something red through a window. As you know, I wear a red winter coat, and I have a red chapeau as well, so I became the subject. She shot through the front door wreath of me holding a shovel. Out of several attempts, I chose this one to post although she settled on a different variation here for her post.

We went downtown to look for other photo ops. There were several attempts here and there through various windows of various stores, but this one from town hall was the best of the lot although the wreathe photo did win the day.

I looked tiny in the ↑ photo, so I played with embiggening myself. The process replaced the balustrade (is that the word?) behind me as well, but I had to try.

I don't know what other photos I will have to share in the next little while, for we seem to be entering a typical, dull January Thaw period.

Have You Ever Played These Games?

Have You Ever Played Crokinole? Google must not have played because it doesn't recognize the name in spellcheck and won't even search for it directly. However, opening a search window separately did take me to this page, so it is not completely unknown

I have played the game; in fact, I have a photo of Sue and Shauna on the floor by the crokinole board one Christmas at my parents' house  —  in 1974, I think.

I don't know what happened to that board, but I wish we still had it. They are not inexpensive, but it would be a fun game at family get-togethers, or at least I think it would.

I would have last played it in the late 70s or early 80s. A couple from the church had a number of couples over for a crokinole evening. Each man played a game with each woman for a partner although I am not sure if we played with our own spouses.

At evening's end, it was calculated that I had the worst results amongst the men. I remember saying, "I couldn't find a good partner, and I played with all of them."

So that was it. I last played crokinole more than 40 years ago, but I remember it being a fun game and have been thinking about quite a lot as a possible family activity. It would be great to have a board again, but the price is an obstacle, and it wouldn't get much use.

Have you played? Do you still have a board?

We were, quite surprisingly, able to play another ancient game on Christmas Eve: Tiddly Winks.

Tiddlywinks is a fun game played on a soft felt mat where players use small, flat discs called "winks" and aim to flick them into a target called a "pot". The objective is to get your winks into the pot to score points. It is a Victorian children's game that involves launching these disks from a flat surface into the pot, similar to beer pong.

According to the quote, above, it is an old game, more of my dad's generation than mine. I believe it because I never played it much, but when I did play with my dad, he was clearly more skilled than I.

We couldn’t find the game, or at least not inexpensively, in town, but, of course, Amazon had it for a reasonable price. I ordered it but then saw that it would not arrive until January. However, there it was in or mailbox about a week later, all of the way from Germany if you please. 

I will now thrill you with a very brief Tiddly Winks clip from Christmas Eve. 

Not So Glory-ous

I step into the shower and hear Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

While puttering in the kitchen, O Come All Ye Faithful is playing.

I sit at the computer, as I am now doing, and I listen to It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.

I have recently heard Gloria in Excelsis Deo and one or two other carols that I cannot remember at this moment. Oh wait! One was Once in Royal David’s City. The non-carol, Onward Christian Soldiers, occasionally sounds its trumpets, as it were.

Sometimes I report the music to Sue, but she can't hear it, for these are my earworms, and they are playing constantly — incessantly. This doubtless indicates that my grip on sanity is slipping, and if that is not the case, it soon will be because the music is beginning to drive me crazy.

But wait! There's more!

This music is playing over top of or in harmony with my normal tinnitus. I have experienced tinnitus for a long time: something like a motor running constantly in the background. I cannot control this regular, typical tinnitus, but at least I don't always notice it.

But now with the overlaying earworm(s), it is harder to ignore.

The music drones on in the same frequency range as the normal tinnitus. Unfortunately, whatever the tune of the moment, it is more or less the same few bars that seem to repeat over and over and over again, ad nauseum.

Sometimes, however, the song changes. Last evening I informed Sue from time to time of my current song. At that point, they seemed to be shuffling fairly frequently. Usually, however, the same bits keep on repeating themselves. 

To some extent, if I concentrate, I can change the tune. I am doing it right now: from Hark to Faithful. Unfortunately, I cannot stop the music entirely. If I concentrate hard enough, I can stop it for seconds and just hear the raging tinnitus. Of course, I can't cease the usual tinnitus — ever!

Having said that, I just noticed that the tune has just now transposed from O Come All Ye Faithful to Once in Royal David's City. Don't ask me how or why.

First thing in the morning, I may enjoy some respite from the music and just hear the normal tinnitus sound. It's a welcome but temporary relief, for the music soon recommences its incessant droning.

When I go to bed, I am having to play a podcast in my almost deaf ears to try to override the music or at least take what passes for my mind away from it.

This is my life. When Christmas is finally over, it is my hope that this will abate, but I fear that is faint hope indeed.

One thing I should make clear is that if my mind becomes fully engaged in something or other, I don't hear either the music or the normal tinnitus. I assume that it is still playing but that my mind is being shifted to tv or just an absorbing task. Even now, writing this, when I become totally involved in thoughts and crafting words, I tend not to hear it, but the second that my mind is less engaged with the task at hand, the sounds resume noticeably. Then, it becomes like the tree in the forest question: If a tree falls in the forest but no one hears it, does it make a noise?

=========================

It is now Wednesday, January 07. What I wrote about ear worms, above, more than a week ago, remains the case — constantly, Oddly enough, once Christmas passed, my brain didn’t play the carols so much anymore. This morning, I am Standing on the Promises, over and over and over again. Apparently, this will be my life from now until the end — an atheist constantly playing church hymns.

==========================

For a lighter touch, just after finishing, I just came across this in FB. The caption read: Gloria …. in Excel Sheets.

The Snow Queen on Display

On September 23, I posted about Sue’s latest crochet project: a Snow Queen afghan  Three months later, on December 23, she was done, just in time for both winter and Christmas. 

Soon, she shall embark on a new throw: Tulips & Blossoms. The wool has been ordered although it hasn't arrived yet.

The link to the previous Snow Queen afghan post also shows previous projects if this interests you.

Lighthearted Monday

Except for gender this ⬇️ about daywear and nightwear is pretty much me: track pants and tee for both. For daytime, I add underwear and almost always a sweater or hoodie, at least in winter – well, underwear in all seasons.

The rest require no further comment. Enjoy your day, assuming that I am not actually ruining it for you with my attempt at humour. I know that my funnybone is not necessarily on everyone’s wavelength.  😇😎😉

I got an email the other day telling me how to read maps backwards Turns out it was just spam