Okay, so Minnesota has a reputation as America's deep freeze. But last night the northerly town of Hallock saw a dip to -8F (-22C), fercryinoutloud. C'mon, it's only Nov. 7, already.

My real sympathies are with the Canadians.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

I swatted two mosquitoes the last week of October. In Maryland. I don't think I'd ever seen one after the first week of October, and that's rare. This is after getting bit in early March. We still haven't had a frost, although after digging a bit, it looks like this is more like every 20 years than a 200-year occurrence. I almost got by not wearing long pants till November (Oct 31 was the first day), which would have been a first.

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Charlie
Whorfin Woods
One cat short of crazy.

I hate you.

The thing is, last year on the corresponding day I wrote the above post, it was over 70F (21C)! Now we're averaging ten degrees colder than normal. Argh. There's no such thing as summer or winter clothing any more. You just wear what you need to, regardless of what they're calling "seasons" these days.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

-14 C (7 deg F) with snow on the ground this morning. Coldest it's been in early November for the past 10 years. And we're not the ones getting the worst of it: We've got bright sunshine and no snow squalls.

It's all a hoax invented by China. Isn't it?

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My brain hurts

All hoaxes are imported from China these days. They can do it so much cheaper.

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And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')

C.S. Lewis

The seasons are a hoax? Boy, are the Japanese going to get their undies in a bunch when they find out.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

It's all a scam started by Vivaldi years ago so he could stretch out the length of his compositions. The underlying theme in all four movements of "The Seasons" similar to Elgar's "Variations on an Original Theme" (Enigma) is a common children's taunting song from the early 1700's which roughly translates to "the cat's in the bag".

dave boling

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I teleported home one night
With Ron and Sid and Meg.
Ron stole Meggie's heart away
And I got Sidney's leg.
-- Douglas Adams

'Bundinn er bátlaus maðu'.

Here It Comes

(A Farce in Too Many Parts)


Oh, the winter-y season ain't so very pleasin'
Descending on poor Minnesota;
It makes me all itchy and snappy and b*tchy
To feel this seasonal coda.
What I need is travel before I unravel,
But alas my moolah is lacking;
So foregoing the airport I shall instead resort
To international-esque snacking:
I'll dine upon mussels as if I were in Brussels
In case I am feeling all phlegmish;
It'll keep up my humor, but true is the rumor
That my chocolates must be M&M-ish.
To make up for that, I'll put on my hat
And trudge through the drifts to the grocer
To bring home packaged ramen (who cares if it's common?)
And envision the shrines of Kyōto, sir.
How I dream of Tomsk, Dzerzhinsky and Omsk,
Their babushkas suspicious and staring -
Sure, they also have snow, but to Russia I go
Whenever I have pickled herring.
"How lame!" you may say, "How sad and outré
Are these ersatz imperegrinations!"
Ersatz they may be, but my state of mo-ney
Allows only for hallucinations.
So: It's on to the isles of Caribbean smiles
Where sun and surf wash away tension;
Why, for that there is rum (and of course there's not some
Of that other stuff best not to mention).
'Tis a far cry from Gloucester, but the best I can muster
Is fish and chips. Guess that is that.
But one silver lining when I am so dining
Is, you know that so is the cat.
Et la France! Quelle allure. The beacon, for sure,
Of culture without any ketchup.
But by kitchenly moxie, my travels-by-proxy
Must be by pain perdu (look it up).

It's a most humble station when imagination
Must stand in for travel with food at its core,
But stand in it must when wallets go bust
Where the down-filled wield shovel and coughing snowblower.
I'll do as I can when it's travel I crave
In the Land of the Freeze and the Loony Bin of the Brave.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

I just read that out loud to Deb. She gave me what I took to be a grateful look.

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"Only connect!"

https://youtu.be/ezbWVysJAOY
https://tapm.bandcamp.com/

When it ended, no doubt.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

Well, yes, naturally. I think it was the fantastic denouement.

_________________
"Only connect!"

https://youtu.be/ezbWVysJAOY
https://tapm.bandcamp.com/

Of course. I too have a grateful look when they stop beating me.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

Anyway, I'm now treating her to track after track from early Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers.

_________________
"Only connect!"

https://youtu.be/ezbWVysJAOY
https://tapm.bandcamp.com/

Sadist.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano