I have been busy around the house here lately, getting out some more Fall/Halloween “stuff”…I posted a portrait of a goulish young woman in a previous blog…Here is what she looks like as you pass her by….
…walking from left to right, she changes…OK, I know…I am one sick puppy, but you don’t get this stuff on just anyone’s front porch, right??? Not only that, but look who else greets you as you go up our front steps…
…I have ALWAYS wanted a Gargoyle..Yep, ALWAYS!! I’ll bet most of you have no idea how these beasties got started…and leave it to me to have researched it….
“Gargoyles originated somewhere between the 11th and the 13th Centuries. They served two purposes - to scare off evil, and to divert rainwater. Many have open mouths because they also functioned downspouts to divert rainwater from foundations. As a result, many of the early Gargoyles also had rather long necks. The word "Gargoyle" originates from the old French word "Gargouille" meaning "Throat" but which also fairly well describes the gurgling sound of water coming through the downspout.”
Photograph:Gargoyles sit on top of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France.
“The Catholic Church originally used Gargoyles as a visual reminder to their Pagan converts, many of whom were illiterate. They were something of a "sermon in stone", or a warning of sorts to teach the people how to behave in a non-written way. They are now pretty much ornamental and assume many different forms.
Most gargoyles are grotesque, but stone carvers in the past also honored relatives and friends by carving their faces into them. As they evolved, they morphed into often very elaborate statuary.”
I have named my Gargoyle Snarl….( I may have just lost a few followers with this one, but I never claimed to be a “normal” person
Speaking of the harvest season, I now OBVIOUSLY have waaaaay too much time on my hands…One can only do so much mowing….
Hey, I am pretty good at handling the ol’ John Deere….When I tried to start it in our garage, I flooded it, and it backfired..I nearly wet myself and called Dennis whining…He told me to try it again…I did…and ….I just have to say it, “Nothing runs like a Deere”…I even trimmed with our push mower AND swept off the sidewalk…I AM WOMAN HEAR ME ROAR!!…
Sometimes Dennis leaves before he has time to take his morning walk with me…I use this time to strike out on my own in different directions. A few days ago, I walked up through our fairgrounds campground (a field with water and elec) and I climbed over the wire fence to get into the fairgrounds behind the grandstand….There is only one gate open year round at the Sandwich Fairgrounds, but ya gotta walk out on the edge of town to get to it. I prefer to break some rules and climb the fence than walk all the way around it…
I was rewarded this time by one of the harness racers warming up on our track…
I have also gotten very good at my campfire starting technique…I learned from the best, after all….
As you can see, McGyver gets a little carried away with the size of his campfire wood…I consider this a small tree
I tend to stick to a smaller campfire, not wanting the Sandwich Fire Dept at our house anytime soon…and on MY watch…
I have a few well placed decorations on our deck…
Those 2 beady little eyes belong to my latest garage sale find..the Tree Ent..Right is a better view…Now if I can just teach that darned owl to stay off his head!!
My fountain is turned over and now is the base for my chimaera candle..HEY!! I THINK THAT DARN SNEAKY SNARL SNUCK OUT HERE! He’s trying to get into the picture! Actually I think I will call him “Sneaky Snarl” from now on.
Well, it’s about 2:30PM here at the Cave Dwellings…I’m not sure what time McGyver will roll in tonight..Last night, when I took the above photos, he came in about 8PM…. This will mean I have some “deck time” to myself again, and I can play MY music really loud (Arrowsmith and Kiss come to mind)…Maybe Snarl will ask me to dance???
“Through humor, you can soften some
of the worst blows that life delivers.
And once you find laughter,
no matter how painful your situation might be,
you can survive it.”
~Bill Cosby
Right pic is Kitt Peak, AZ and the world’s largest solar telescope…We drove to the top of the 7000 ft. peak to visit and tour this observatory..and took our Cougar with us. (not one of our smarter decisions). I nearly wet myself as we drove up those steep grades with no guardrails…and coming DOWN that mountain with the Cougar pushing us around those twists and turns….well….a harrowing experience. Even McGyver was silent the whole way down, and I was making our my will.
. The photo on the right was taken there also, and the middle photo is a stop sign on a gravel side road near the park…Those paper plates had names of towns with arrows on and how many miles it was….I know we were about 40 miles from Wenden. There was also a little place at that sign crossroad called the Wayward Inn …It was a beer/wine bar, gas station, grocery store, RV park, pool hall…A crotchety, crusty 74 year old guy named Walt (who had spent waaay too much time in the desert) owned it…He kept their milk out back in a huge freezer run by a couple HUGE generators…I actually got Walt to smile…once…his face almost cracked.
. From what we are now told, Nogales is one of the most dangerous places to cross now.….I’m sure those border towns are suffering from the dip in tourism, which is all that keeps them going….
!! Usually on the last day of any of our trips, McGyver has to pull into the truck, kicking and screaming “NOOOOOOO….I WANT TO STAY LONGER!!!!” I haven’t changed in 9 years of camping…except that now I can be bribed with the promise of a campfire and glass of wine at home.
