Hither and thither

While checking out favorite sites, opening e-mails, and other times just plain cruising the net, I came across a few things I thought you might either enjoy or get a pretty good-sized laugh out of. Let's start with the Astronomy Picture of the Day.


Isn't that neat? This shot of a lunar halo was captured very early last Sunday morning in France. For a detailed explanation, go here.


For all of you Maxine lovers ...

(from Jennie) A husband is someone who, after taking the trash out, gives the impression that he just cleaned the whole house.

(from Dianna, a bridge friend) I'd consider hormone replacement therapy, but I've got a bunch of other things that need to be replaced first.

The second one reminds me of something I read very recently. Supposedly, in this country, more money is spent annually on breast enhancements and Viagra than on Alzheimer's research. As a consequence, it is theorized that by the year 2040 there will be many thousands of women with big boobies and men with high expectations, but few will be able to remember what to do with either of them!


Thinking of my friends in the frozen north ...

Steven has taken to searching for the least little bit of color outdoors to help assuage his color-deprived eyes, and he's found a speck or two here and there ... in a billboard, in the base of a tree where the snow has melted away enough to provide a tiny glimpse of decaying (but still somewhat golden-hued) fall leaves. Tammy has decided to spend a few days with her girls indoors, working with color. Just the other day she included a home video of their experiment with food coloring, milk, and liquid dish soap. You can find it here. I was fascinated by it!

Then, Jennie told me of a magnificent set of photos from Michigan, several of which were from the Pictured Rocks and Munising area, where I grew up. You can spend a bunch of time savoring these for yourselves, as you so choose.

I'm going to show you two. This first one ...


shows ice on Chapel Beach. And yes, that's Lake Superior. Brrr!

This second is titled, "Winter Trail".


Rrvit! That's not a "trail", peoples, that's a road!!

What happens if you meet another vehicle coming the other direction? Well, if the 'trail' isn't wide enough at that point, one or tuther backs up until it is, and then each - very carefully, and hopefully you've remembered to attach your chains (either that, or you have four-wheel drive capabilities) - moves to the side allowing only enough room in the middle to pass by the other without leaving side mirrors dangling in the snow. Ah yes, I remember it well!


I found myself absolutely mesmerized by these photographs, and followed many other of the links provided on this site, thinking all the while that I would do a post of my own today on Munising, the Pictured Rocks, Lake Superior, the Upper Peninsula, or the Keweenaw Peninsula - all of which titillated my imaginative memory banks!

Instead, I kept digging further and further, until - all of a sudden - up popped a name that resoundingly resonated (no doubt a terrible redundancy, but I like it!). The name came with an e-mail address - albeit one that was three years old - and so I sent an inquiry, identifying myself, not really expecting to hear any sort of response (much less a positive one) back.

Long story short, I did get a response back - and yes, it was positive. It's a small world, isn't it? More later!