A Harbinger Of Spring: Hello Mr. Stink Bug

March 16, 2015May 6, 2021 / Ally Bean / 12 Comments

AN EXEMPLARY PHOTO:

AN ERUDITE POEM:

The itsy bitsy stink bug walked ‘cross the window sill,

down came the shade and made him take a spill.

Up came the shade and found him walking tall,

and the itsy bitsy stink bug was not fazed at all.

AN ELUCIDATORY PARAGRAPH:

We started spring cleaning over the weekend. Or, to be more accurate, we started Spring Let’s-Get-Rid-Of-All-This-Stuff-In-The-Basement-ing over the weekend. As we did so, a friendly, non-judgmental stink bug, who wanted nothing more than to continue to live on our window sill, regardless of the amount of junk in our basement, watched us. And then, without any qualms whatsoever, he posed for a photo.

Morning Calm Disturbed, Questions Raised

February 26, 2015February 26, 2015 / Ally Bean / 24 Comments

The Incident Described.

Me at 6:15 a.m. Ambient lighting on in kitchen. Coffee brewed. Mug in right hand. Sitting at kitchen counter. Left elbow on counter to provide support for head. Eyes closed. Thinking about a popular saying* and its applicability to the life of a writer.

Husband enters room. I mumble something akin to “good morning.” But husband, who is always too awake in the morning, decides to revert to his 8-year-old self, slobber on his finger, then put his finger up my nose. Leading to the following:

me wide awake;
me wiggling out of his reach;
me laughing; and
me wondering about something.

The Questions Raised.

After the above incident, the focus of our subsequent early morning conversation was on defining exactly what makes up a wet willy. Keeping in mind that this is a PG13 blog, I ask you:

What do you call a slobbery finger up the nose? A wet willy? Or something else entirely?

The Asterisk Explained.

The saying I was thinking about, taken from medicine, was: “when you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras.” In other words, go with the obvious diagnosis/explanation. Or as applied to this particular post, go with the most recent event in your life, even if it is devoid of profundity and seems a bit silly!

A Mid-Winter Walk Through A Remarkable Cemetery

February 17, 2015July 1, 2025 / Ally Bean / 13 Comments

On Sunday afternoon there was no snow around, so Zen-Den & I decided to go to Spring Grove Cemetery to see what it looked like in the weak winter light. [And yes, it’s the place where I got thrown off the Segway last fall.]

Spring Grove Cemetery, established in 1845, is one of five National Historic Landmark cemeteries in the USA. There are people buried there who were born in the 1700s as well as born last week.

The cemetery is a fascinating place that lends itself to going for a long healthy walk or, if you prefer, a casual ramble. It’s huge: 733 hilly acres, with 15 lakes and 44 miles of roadway. We wandered around on foot for about 2 hours.

No matter what time of year I’ve been to Spring Grove Cemetery, I’ve found something unique, inspiring and/or downright trippy to photograph. In my opinion, it’s worth the time and effort it takes to get there, if history, architecture and contemplation interest you.

A Sunday With Purple Zombies And Deceitful Politicians

January 26, 2015February 3, 2015 / Ally Bean / 18 Comments

This morning is the first time this month that it has looked like winter outside. There’s a dusting of white snow but it isn’t deep enough to cover the tops of the green grass blades.

I’m not surprised to see the snow this morning. All day yesterday the TV weather forecasters were babbling about Monday’s SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!

You know how they get.

So yesterday, while anticipating this snowy Monday morning, we decided to spend the day at home getting the bounce back in our pounce. Which is to say that we, two adults without children, played a board game and binge-watched a TV show.

# # #

We purchased our game on Saturday while shopping at an outlet mall. We wandered into a toy and game store where I found a board game version of RISK. Subtitled: THE GAME OF SUBURBAN DOMINATION. Further sub-titled: PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES.

How cute is that?

So we bought the game and decided to make it our Sunday goal to learn how to play one of the three games available within the box. We went with the easiest game in the box that I’d describe as a mixture of Chess, Jumanji, You Sunk My Battle Ship, Backgammon and Football. It’s not all that Risk-like, but oh is it entertaining to play!

# # #

In-between learning how to play (or in my case lose) our new game, we watched House of Cards [American version]. I am totally smitten with this show, that I’d ignored until a few weeks ago when Kevin Spacey won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a TV Drama.

Now, having watched 6 episodes of House of Cards, I’m fascinated by Francis and Claire. They are amazing sociopathic characters. I cannot imagine what deceitful, immoral, unethical, sneaky, conniving, manipulative, under-handed thing either of them will do next.

With a unpredictable plot line and a narrative arc like no other, this show is fun to watch; especially, if you happen to have had any experiences, unfortunate or otherwise, with people like Francis and Claire.

Just saying.

# # #

So what did you, my gentle readers, do this past weekend?

Were you productive? Were you healthful? Or, were you homebodies, like us, who played games and watched TV?

Spill the beans in the comments below.