I Ain't Afraid of No Daleks

I was sitting here, thinking about all the things I no longer have in my life, that once were so comforting, so familiar.

Take sounds, for instance: the brash horn of a diesel locomotive in the middle of the night, the village school bus grinding its way up the steep hill every weekday morning and afternoon, the clicking of the radiator on the floor alongside my bed, on a cold winter night. The squeak of linoleum as mum puttered about the kitchen, the roar of the wind in the two large hackberry trees in our front yard, the distant clanking from the steel mill about a quarter-mile down the tracks, the screeching of a hawk as it wheels in the morning sky, the patter of rain on the roof, the village fire siren letting us all know that it's six O'clock every night, the clanking of dishes as supper is prepared, the murmur of the television late at night through the closed bedroom door, the crickets songs wafting through the door screen on a hot summer night.

W

Twice now, I've been sent an e-greeting by an unknown sender. When I go to the website to pick it up, they say it doesn't exist! Then, when I choose to click on the link, a get a notice that it's in an attached file...doesn't sound quite right to me, so I dumped both of them in my junk box.

If you are sending me an e-greeting, please let me know, otherwise, I'm going to assume that this may be some sort of virus or other harmful type of e-mail, and will trash it. PLEASE: Never send me an e-card without first letting me know who it's from, or chances are it will be binned.

I can't afford to take a chance and have my computer totally messed up--it cannot be replaced. Ever.

Someone just wrote me and demanded that I cease doing David Tennant captions--especially cracks about his hair and clothing, and that I should apologize, as well. Okay then, I'll stop--until the 4th November, and I apologize for David Tennant having sometimes odd tastes in attire and really, really mussy hair.

So, in place of a DT caption, I bring you...(drum roll please)..animal captions!

"If I tilt my head a little more to the left, I think I can get in the football game!"

"It's no longer politically correct to eat mice, so I just use them for a party hat."

After Polly died, Phil found that her stiff little corpse made an excellent bottle opener.

Here we see an exclusive pic of Scots actor David Tennant, praying that he can become enough of a geek, to ward off the hoards of fan-girls, whom he fears may one day rip off his clothes and snog him to death. The actor was overheard to say, "That may be every red-blooded Scotsman's dream, but I'm a Londoner, now. I'm too delicate for that."

That would be me, I reckon--on ice anyway.

It being November, a co-worker brought up the subject of snow--or rather, the lack thereof. We were both shaking our heads in wonder at the fact that so many of the trees here are still GREEN! Okay, it's November in northeastern New York state--the trees are supposed to be very dark orange, brown or maroon--or completely bare of leaves...they are NOT supposed to be green! The only green we should be seeing at this time of year, is pine needles and a bit of grass. This is really bizarre.

We were talking about all the ice storms we had last winter, due to the unusually warm temperatures for the first half of the season, and hoping this year won't be a repeat--gosh, I am sooo-bad on ice! Hate it. I hate walking on ice, almost as much as I hate George W. Bush--and that's really saying something!

Then we talked about winter activities, and I was asked if I'd ever been skiing. No.

I did walk down a ski slope in winter once--well, had no choice, did I? I rode the chair lift up to the top, for the view--not realizing that you HAD to get off, once you got there. Fortunately, the slope was packed powder, so I didn't have to wade through the stuff.

I did actually sign up for free lessons once, in my mid-20's...but mum put her foot down and was quite adamant that I not do it. In hind sight, I guess she was quite right, too, knowing my track record for injuries.

Blimey! I even got a sprained ankle snowshoeing once! Okay, well, let's be fair, I was walking down a steep embankment, and there was ice hidden under the snow, that made me slip.

But, pretty much the only ice that I will go near, is that in my cold drinks.

...we could be as easily amused as our pets.

This morning, Boots followed me into the loo, and sat on the sink while I--well, did what comes natural, and then I flushed. Well, wasn't Boots just fascinated by the process? He leaned over the bowl, ears perked forward, raptly watching the water swish around the white porcelain--then, after it gurgled itself out, he looked up at me, with a wondrous expression on his big ol' ginger and white cat-face, his big gold eyes opened wide, as if to say, "That was soooo-neat! Do it again, ma!"

...nose hair, apparently, he keeps it well-trimmed.

Hope you all had a nice day.

Tonight I was thinking about all the hobbies I used to do--gosh, I used to have fun, when I was younger. I used to do all sorts of hobbies, depending on my cash outlay and the whim of the moment:

Antique bottle collecting
antique saddles and equine collectables
model trains
1/64th scale miniatures (in this case a model riding stable/horse farm and later, a town.
also:
model horses
silk flower arranging
wood carving
leather craft (mostly belts and western bolo ties)
old books
writing (poetry/plays/fan fiction)
general antiques
local history
cooking
gardening
theater

Mind, some things I was kind of good at, and some things rather rubbish--and some things I pursued diligently, with a passion--and some things were just a casual interest of the moment-- but I enjoyed them all, just the same, and I miss them a great deal.

Some things I still do, when I can--obviously still writing a little, and I still have quite a few model horses--even bought a new one (a miniature model), last spring, on sale. I have several horse-related antiques, still--not the big collection I used to have, though--just a 200 year old horse bit, a semi-collectable cowboy bit from the 50's, a 1920's western pony bridle, and a fancy early 20th C. fox hunter's riding crop. Meh--not much of a collection, ey? I used to have, at one time, half a dozen antique saddles, and tons of little odds and ends--one item dating back to the 14th century. Had to sell most of it off, though--to my bitter regret. Next to Dr Who and writing, antique saddles and stuff like that, are sort of a passion , with me...I'm sort of an expert, I suppose--well, used to be, anyway.

I really miss having something to occupy my time and share with others who share my interest. It makes the long hours fly, when you are intent on something.