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.

Sometimes You Have To Give It Up For Winter’s Beauty

February 6, 2015February 6, 2015 / Ally Bean / 14 Comments

Living in the midwest it’s easy to forget that not all winter days are gloomy. The gray becomes ubiquitous.

So seeing sunshine and blue skies and shimmery snow out my window yesterday made me smile all day. I could even ignore the 14ºF temperature outside.

While it’s true that I enjoy summer’s showy colors, a February landscape dressed in neutrals is appealing, too. It makes me feel grounded.

I believe that sometimes you’ve got to remember to stop and enjoy what is, especially when you live somewhere where a pretty winter day is a rarity. Yesterday, grateful am I.

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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

Mild Winter Weather Distracts Sincere Blogger From Her To-Do List

January 21, 2015August 29, 2018 / Ally Bean / 21 Comments

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I HAD PLANS for this week. Big plans. I was going to be all about updating this blog. Making it prettier. Revising my pages. Getting back into the blogging groove.

Admirable goals.

BUT WE’VE HAD unseasonably warm winter weather this week. I’m talking snow-free days in the 50s with lots of sunshine.

This is unheard of around here.

AND I’VE FOUND it impossible to sit still in our home office staring at a computer screen when I can be outside… in January… wearing a lightweight jacket… and goofing off wherever I want to be.

I’m sure that you understand.

SO I’VE DECIDED that instead of missing out on what is right before my nose, I’m going to put my To-Do List in my desk drawer where it can rest until I get back to it. Which will be next week, presumably, when winter, inevitably, returns.