Copious Free Time

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There was a fox in our back yard the other day. I ran for the camera and took pictures, then watched it as it scratched, looked around, sniffed here and there, and did other thrilling fox activities. Then Matty, the neighbor dog, ran up, barking. I thought for a second she might go through the invisible fence again, but it stopped her. It was enough for the fox, which ran off in a direction I couldn't be certain of. Matty then looked satisfied, turned away and kicked a couple back paws worth of dirt in its general direction. Later that day, or maybe the next, Sarah and I were driving somewhere and it ran across the road in front of us. A couple of our neighbors also saw it.

Thursday night, I helped Sarah make a scrapbook of the China trip. She chose about 90 photos from a set of 350 that I'd made, and I used InDesign to lay them out on eight pages. She did one of the pages mostly by herself with me giving instructions. I think she could learn the basics of the layout program pretty quickly. Friends who are interested in the scrapbook, be aware that the PDF is only about 2.5MB.

Now we're up in New Jersey, with Cathy's family. Yesterday Sarah and I went along as Cathy's sister Mary took her dog, Rags, for a walk on a railroad trail somewhere not too far from Budd Lake. At three miles, it's the closest thing to exercise I've done on this trip. As we approached the parking lot, a dozen or so shots were heard somewhere over a hill. Rags was not thrilled. Some folks at the parking lot were unhappy because one of their dogs had bolted from the vehicle and was now running down the road. We allowed that Sarah's theory about the dog being scared by the shots was a good one. We were going in the same direction and drove slowly behind the car that was tracking the dog and looking for a chance to get it back in the car. Some brilliant soul a couple of cars back figured we were all driving too slow and had the notion that he could fix everything by honking his horn.

Today we were out for an errand and managed to swing by White Castle. The one near here is the only one I ever get to visit any more, and I always look forward to it. This time I didn't have a regular slider but had a fish slider, a bacon slider, and a jalapeño cheese slider. So hot, so fresh, so tasty. I'm hoping we can get in one more slider run as we depart for home in the morning. If all they serve in the a.m. is breakfast items, well, that wouldn't be so bad either. (And yes, I am aware that some people may not like White Castle. I am unperturbed by this.)
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This year, Sarah designed the pumpkin and (with my supervision) did most of the carving and seed removal. Here we are after the triumphant conclusion.

She also got four strikes in two games when we went bowling.
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Every year since... I guess some time in the 90s... I've taken pleasure in reprinting this song. Think of it as being animated by Rankin-Bass, with character designs by MAD artist Paul Coker, Jr. Settle back with some hot chocolate and sing along!

Freddy the Snowman

Freddy the Snowman,
In his scarf of red and green,
Didn't look too spry, but my oh my!
What a stone-cold death machine!

Freddy the Snowman
Got most everyone but me
With his eyes of coal and his evil soul
On his chilly killing spree.

There must have been a curse upon
That rusty kitchen knife:
When Suzy put it in his hand,
The snowman took her life!
(Ow!)

Freddy the Snowman
Was a child molester too,
And I heard him say, being dragged away,
"I'll be back, next year, for you!"

(Hackity hack hack, hackity hack hack,
Hacking hard and deep!
Stabbity stab stab, stabbity stab stab,
Kills you in your sleep!)
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