In Which Sergeant Major Pouncey McMouserton Climbs A Tree

October 23, 2014October 23, 2014 / Ally Bean / 14 Comments

The other morning I happened to notice that something unusual was going on in the woods behind our house.

I saw that the neighbor’s cat, who I call Sergeant Major Pouncey McMouserton, had climbed up a tree where he seemed to be stuck about 15 feet above ground. [He’s the tiny white dot that you can see in the middle of the photo above. Look closely.]

He was sitting on a branch up in the tree like he was the Cheshire Cat, except that he wasn’t smiling. At all.

Knowing that this was a wonderful blog post in the making, I grabbed my camera and snapped a few photos to document McMouserton’s process of getting unstuck.

He wasn’t panicky. He wasn’t howling. He wasn’t graceful.

But McMouserton was entertaining to watch as he slipped/tumbled/grabbed/backed down the tree and eventually plopped onto the leafy ground below.

Then with a scowl directed at me, he walked away from his adventure and vanished into the woods behind our house. [He’s that slight white smudge behind the leafy green forest undergrowth that you can see to the left of the almost leafless brown bush. Really, he was there. I swear.]

Pondering A Neighbor’s Nutty Behavior

October 17, 2014November 19, 2015 / Ally Bean / 29 Comments

You know how sometimes when you’re walking along a downtown city street and a person, who is nuttier than a fruitcake soaked in rum, starts shouting nonsensical things at you from the other side of the street?

Well, here’s my suburban equivalent of that city experience.

# # #

Woman on other side of street pointing at passersby as she shouts for no discernible reason.

{ Source: Folger Shakespeare Library Digital Image Collection }

# # #

I was sitting outside on our deck, mid-afternoon, reading a catalogue, enjoying the mild October weather.

When BAM-BAM-BAM the neighbor woman who lives behind us on the other side of the wooded ravine started clanking metal objects together. This went on for about a minute.

I was startled, of course, so I looked up from my reading to see what was going on that required this much noise. I saw nothing out of the ordinary.

So I went back to reading my catalogue.

# # #

Me outside my house heading toward the deck to enjoy a bit of fresh air.

{ Source: Folger Shakespeare Library Digital Image Collection }

# # #

But that was not the end it. About a minute after she stopped clanking metal objects together she yelled to no one in particular: “Don’t. Feed. The. Birds.”

Then I heard her stomp into her house and slam shut the sliding patio door, leaving me to ponder what the heck she was talking about and who she thought would hear her.

It also made me realize that I needed to thank my lucky stars that the nuttier-than-a-fruitcake suburban neighbor lives way over there on the other side of the ravine.

Far away from me. Forsooth.

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My nutty neighbor decreeing from afar that which we are to do henceforth.

{ Source: Folger Shakespeare Library Digital Image Collection }

# # #

When The Writing Is Not Easy Because You Care Too Much

September 18, 2014April 17, 2024 / Ally Bean / 22 Comments

“You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.”

~ Erin Morgenstern, Night Circus

• • •

Bloggers often talk about burnout, being unable to think of something to write about. But for me, this week, has been something different from that.

My brain has been in 5th gear all week, going way too fast.

I’ve thought of many things to say here– and even gone so far as to compose a few posts. In fact, I’ve written three lengthy ones that when completed I decided didn’t have the right subject matter or tone for this blog.

So I deleted them.

This has left me feeling mildly panicked about who I am and what to post here today. Odd isn’t it? Too much thinking, too much caring and I end up here today with nothing to say– as if I was burned out.

THE LESSON: Some weeks all roads lead to nothing. And that’s okay.

• • •

{ Source: Dilbert by Scott Adams }

Facebook Revisited: Like Leonard, I Proposed An Experiment

August 14, 2014August 29, 2018 / Ally Bean / 12 Comments

:: A few weeks ago I joined Facebook again. It had been about 5-6 years since I’d deleted my last account, so I was able to start fresh over there. I used a different email address even.

No particular incident precipitated my decision to get involved again. All I can say is that I was curious to see how people who I know are now using it, and how FB has changed over the years. Re-joining was a bit of an experiment to see if I fit in over there, or not.

:: After years of blogging, my immediate impression of Facebook is, quite simply, it’s cute. Scrolling through all the status updates from my new [old?] FB friends, I feel like I’ve gone back in time to when blogs were brand new and everyone had a blog, even if they didn’t know what to do with the blog.

So far all the FB status updates that I’ve seen have been a few sentences long– &/or involved a photo– &/or shared a link. They remind me of many early blog posts, before blogging became more focused + polished. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with these updates, but I find it difficult to know what to say about them.

:: In my first status update, I told FB to dazzle me. And well, while the people who I’ve connected with are delightful, the system as a whole leaves me in mind of The Big Bang Theory episode about Leonard and Leslie’s experimental date kiss.

Which is to say that like Leslie’s evaluation of Leonard’s kiss, I’m finding FB to have: “reasonable technique, no extraneous spittle, but feeling no arousal at all.” Meaning that it just might be that FB is not the place for me to shine. And that’s okay by me.