Beautiful weekend

We are in the middle of a beautiful weekend here in Middle Tennessee. Today was one of those oh-so-perfect days that to stay inside would have been woefully inappropriate.

Wife has traveled to Little Rock this weekend, so I am on my own. Every once in a while, that is a good thing. I am somewhat of an introvert -- I love people but they make me tired. I can cope very well with a couple of days of semi-isolation. It recharges my batteries.

Wife, on the other hand, is an extrovert and is energized by people. We compliment each other in that way. She keeps me busy and forces me, in a good way, to get out and do things when I might choose to do otherwise. And, at appropriate times, I bring her down to earth and force her to rest when she needs to.

It was pretty cool when I got up this morning -- about 45 degrees. I had thought of a morning run outside but opted, instead, for an indoor spin class at 7:15 a.m. It was a good way to start the day

Last night I had gone to Home Depot and purchased 15 bags of mulch. They are having a great sale -- two bucks a bag. We have a berm out in the front yard that could use some attention, so that is how I planned to spend a good part of the morning after spin class.

I got started about 9:45, after eating breakfast. My next-door-neighbor was also out in the yard so I talked with him for a while. We don't see much of each other during the winter months, so we always catch up once the weather is warmer and we're outside more.

By 11 a.m. I learned that 15 bags was about half as much as I needed. So it was back to Home Depot, where I learned why I had gone last night. It was crazy busy. The line to load mulch was out of control.

I left and decided to take my chances on another store a few miles south. Bingo. It was busy too, but their mulch bags were in a much less congested space, so it was much easier to load them and be on my way. Going to the other store was a good choice.

With 15 more bags loaded in my truck (and what would I ever do without that truck and what will I do when Older Son says he wants it back???), I was back in business. By mid-afternoon I was done.

I watched a little bit of the Masters golf tournament (I am not a golfer but I love the beauty of the golf course at Augusta, GA and appreciate the importance of the tournament), then visited a nearby craft brewery for some late-afternoon refreshment.

I am now trying to finish Edge of Eternity, an 1100-page book that is the third in the Century trilogy by Ken Follett. I will confess that I have not enjoyed it as much as the previous two and I am tired of it, but I must, of course, finish it. I'm down to the last 150 pages.

Wife will be home mid-day tomorrow and I will be glad to see her. I am rested and refreshed and reminded that I am much better with my better half.

For the birds (theoretically)

This is a sad picture. It's an empty birdfeeder.

It's empty because the squirrels in my yard take it over, to the detriment of the birds.

I thought I had the problem solved by hanging the feeder on a partial limb, hanging it (I thought) far enough down where squirrels would not be able to get to it.

But, alas, just a couple of days ago, after filling it up with fresh seed, I looked outside and there was a squirrel on top of the thing, literally tipping it over and pouring seed onto the ground where his fellow squirrels feasted below.

During the time I have had this birdfeeder I have fed deer (when I hung it on a hook too close to the ground) and squirrels, and on the rare occasion, birds.

I used to have nothing against squirrels but I now see them as obnoxious yard rodents that interrupt the otherwise tranquil life of wild animals in my yard.

Apparently the only option I now have is to get a feeder that is free-standing and doesn't hang in a tree, or try to find one of those that hangs from a tree limb but has a spinner concoction that sends a squirrels into circles of dizziness while allowing birds to feast peacefully.

I'm too stressed by if for now, but I'll be back. Can't let squirrels defeat me or the birds.

The best laid plans

I have some friends who, when sharing some spiritual truth, will sometimes say something along the lines of, "Oh God must have really laughed at me when I made those plans," going on to explain how something they had planned had gone differently than they had envisioned -- the lesson being that God orders our steps.

Although I'm not sure God laughs at us (maybe He does; I just don't have any certainty of it), last week when I closed out my blog post stating how we would be going to Dallas, implying we would  escape the wintery weather, He, being the all-knowing one He is, had to have known how things would ultimately turn out.

Which was much different than what we planned.

Wife and I set out last Thursday, one week ago today, at approximately noon, and arrived at Older Son and DIL's home in Dallas about 11 hours and 15 minutes later. Yes, it was a long drive, but Wife and I have always traveled well together and it was really quite pleasant.

We did find the weather more agreeable in Dallas. I enjoyed nice walks through Older Son's wonderful old neighborhood in shirt sleeves.

About mid-day Saturday, however, we began to hear weather reports saying things would turn nasty there in Dallas by Sunday. We were planning to leave Monday morning. We planned to stop by and see Wife's parents in Little Rock and have lunch with them, and then drive to Memphis to spend the night.

We listened attentively to the forecasts that became more ominous. Sunday morning I got up and ran -- in shorts, no less. When I got back to the house, Wife was looking at her phone, tsk-tsking about the weather. Rain would begin in the early afternoon and it would turn to ice overnight.

To summarize, we went to church, ate a quick lunch and hit the road in a driving rain about 1:30 p.m. We decided we did not want to risk getting stuck there.

We bypassed Little Rock, where it was beginning to snow, and headed east toward Memphis. We made it as far as Forrest City, Arkansas, about 70 miles west of Memphis. The snow was coming down steadily and our car thermometer told us it was 30 degrees outside, which was a good indication of why said snow was sticking to the ground and the road.

Wife called a nearby Hampton Inn and we got the last room. We left there about 10 Monday morning. Wife dropped me in Memphis so I could work in my office there part of this week, and drove home.

I arrived back here today. Nashville had more snow last night but today the temperature has finally risen above freezing and there has been significant melting. I talked to Older Son and he said it's still very cold in Dallas and they have hardly thawed out from the ice earlier this week.

Maybe God's laughing, maybe He's not.

But don't look for an announcement of any short-term plans here anytime soon.