Some folks go for the long run, but some are just downright speed demons! Those kids at White Rock Coffee must enjoy the caffeinated beverages they sell, because they don't mess around when they get an order. Monday I clicked for coffee, and Wednesday there was a box from them rubber-banded to my mailbox. 
Animals with brains of a squirrel can be pretty darned tricky. I brought out the bird feeder to lure the pretty birds to our east window, and it worked until the squirrels discovered the tasty seeds, which they could enjoy by leaping onto the bracket, then hanging upside down with their faces in the bird food. I began by banging the window to scare them away, but that only worked briefly. Those sunflower seeds were just too tasty. So I got out the shepherd's hook and hung the bird feeder on it, but it was still too close and the squirrels could leap from the bracket to the feeder. I took the bracket down and moved the hook yet further away, and that's where things stand. It should be higher.
The wife spent a chunk yesterday babysitting and got the boxed reward you see here, in addition to the pleasure of a young person's company. Inside are a pair of double chocolate cookies (untouched as of this writing) and some homemade marshmallows, something I've never tasted. The young person's parents stopped at the Queen City Bakery in Sioux Falls and brought us what we expect to be quite a delight. 
We had a visitor last night seeking some filling for that plastic pumpkin. She's looking good in her costume, but probably not yet ready for wolves. No matter. She's got good folks looking out for her.
What a lark! What a plunge! For so it had always seemed to her, when, with a little squeak of the hinges, which she could hear now, she had burst open the French windows and plunged at Bourton into the open air. How fresh, how calm, stiller than this of course, the air was in the early morning; like the flap of a wave; the kiss of a wave; chill and sharp and yet (for a girl of eighteen as she then was) solemn, feeling as she did, standing there at the open window, that something awful was about to happen; looking at the flowers, at the trees with the smoke winding off them and the rooks rising, falling; standing and looking until Peter Walsh said, “Musing among the vegetables?”—was that it?—“I prefer men to cauliflowers”—was that it?It's probably just as well that we didn't have to listen to her read it aloud in the stuffy, stilted voice revealed in the story, "Recordings Capture Writer's Voices Off the Page," but check out Vladimir Nabokov and the others. You can hear her and other authors reading their material aloud or just extemporising in some rare audio recordings just released by the BBC. From NPR, on All Things Considered, October 23.
Ten million dollars each in Philadelphia, six million in Denver, two or six million in Tampa. Sure, you've got to report spending like that. But check it out, on the New York Times website identifying spending on ads by the rivals for the presidency, there are some odd stats. What is that little dot down at the edge of the California-Arizona border? It's campaign spending on a small scale. What do you get for 21 bucks when you're trying to win the White House? Three pieces of pie and coffee? Maybe Obama and Joe sit down with some swing voter that has folks in the Yuma-El Centro region in the palm of her hand. Campaign picks up the tab, a little something for the waitress, and you tick off the receipts in your Excel spreadsheet. See those red dots in McCain's California campaign? All told they might tally up to over $5,000 that the GOP has spent luring the minds and hearts of California's citizenry. Looks like the Dems spent even less there. Just a little quirk that caught my eye.
My older brother Joe is cast as the father in the funny play "Father of the Bride," to be performed in Columbus, Georgia, and opened last night. His own daughter got married this summer, so he's got that to work with. Spencer Tracy played the lead role in the original movie version from 1950, and Steve Martin played it in the 1998 film version of the story. It's playing at the Springer Opera House through November 1. 
Game players have often noticed the ads that whip by as they drive their cars or walk down the streets in virtual cities. Note the image at left that shows the presidential candidate Barack Obama vying for those virtual voters. It's from Electronic Arts, the game Burnout Paradise. Thanks to the Juneau Register for the image.
Aches and pains notwithstanding, it's always a good feeling to have the cathedral on Summit behind you and only a little downhill with the cheering crowds lining the last quarter mile.
Madison Arbor Care arrived on campus Thursday morning and amputated the top half of a diseased elm tree, even grinding down the stump and sweeping the sawdust off the street before they left, leaving only a small hole in the ground, a big hole in the sky, and a system of roots underground that now have nothing to do. 
Michael Moore's giving his newest film away, allowing fans to download "Slacker Uprising" for free. Check it out here: http://slackeruprising.com/.
Coming back from the Cities last week, I picked up a six-pack of root beer at an apple stand, all six different. We tried these two for supper last night, a Boylan's natural type and The Original Bulldog. The wife liked the latter for the lable and the flavor, a fairly traditional sweet variety. Mine was less sweet, richer, and very tasty. Four more to go! 
I don't know when cotton-picking time in Texas occurs, but here it's about time to latch on to apples and do what you do with this beautiful fruit. One of my favorites is apple crisp, which we enjoyed yesterday as we celebrated the new Moose house out on Lake Madison. Walter's not a lot of help in the peeling part of the process, but as always, he's got an eye out for anything amiss. 
Sue Larsen in town has sent me a pair of photos of our house. Judging from the size of the trees and other details, I'm guessing they are from the 70's. The big bush on the corner of the porch is gone, and the tree at the end of the sidewalk is much larger, but the back porch appears to already have been built. Cool! Thanks, Sue.
Some people care enough to send the very best. Others, well, they look for opportunities to economize. Still, it's the thought that counts, right?
The Olympic spirit, derived from the international back-slapping in the various events, can inspire even those of us doomed to suffer through tape delays and commercials as NBC offers up events in piecemeal fashion. That is, given an opportunity. Students from Tamagawa University in Japan are currently studying English at Dakota State University, and they put on a little "Japan Night" for their teachers and hosts. Yours truly got a chance to show his chopstick talents, but my heat included a nimble-fingered blond gal that went on to win the championship. Still, I got a package of what the Japanese call candy. Check it out. Some of the hard candies tasted a lot like cinnamon treats, but these guys are notorious for offering up what looks like sugary treats, only to disappoint with something that tastes like candy without the sweet. Bite into one and it's like losing your grip on a spin from the high bar. But one of these was actually a piece of chocolate. Real chocolate. But things aren't always what they seem. The item in the lower center, for example, seems to be a kind of fish jerky, like a pork rind with fish flavor, rolled flat. And, although the dessert at the event was ice cream, the Japanese have their own ideas about how to top it: How's about some green tea powder? No? Some sweet bean paste? Okay, then . . . well . . . Soy powder? No? Black honey? Okay! Now you're talking.
The biggest surprise for me? The beauty of Sandpoint, on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille, a town I thought was going to be a dusty, windy, backwoods western village that would explain why some of my ancestors left there years ago. To the contrary, it was a hip, attractive, tidy town full of tourists and upscale shops, some happening night-spots, where the highlight was a little brewery featuring Truck Mills, who we heard playing as we walked by. When we went in, we saw it was a saz he was playing, and things got better as more musicians came to join him as he moved to a guitar, including a bassist, another guitar player, a harmonica player, and finally a trumpeter! It was a real treat.
