So here we are, on 9/11. Which has apparently become a meme with younger generations.
I'm not angry TBH. It isn't necessarily that they're trying to be disrespectful; and this is how humans tend to cope with things in time. We use humor. It truthfully isn't any different from Pearl Harbor memes. It was a horrible day, and not one I'd care to relive, but it's in the past. We can remember the dead and still appreciate the joy these lives had on our own.
In other news.... it's nearly mid-September. Which means the fall, spooky, Halloweeny stuff is out on shelves. I was prepared for this; in fact I'd been checking out the stuff as they were starting to put it out mid-August with the back-to-school stuff. What I was NOT prepared for was going into Yellow Star and seeing THIS.
Yes, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. That is Santa Claus and some other Christmas goodies.
I love the holiday season. People show you who they really are--they are either all kind and goodwill-towards-men and Merry Christmas and all that jazz. Or they're the tired, grumpy scrooges and grinches that just need an excuse to be an AH in the check-out line. There seems to be no in-between.
But even I had to say, "Come on folks, it's SEPTEMBER!" Still, I looked at what was out so far. I'm curious and nosy and that's all there is to it.
My unease at the earliness was somewhat tempered, however, when I got to the front of the store. There, where the imitation Asian fast food place had been, and had been shuttered for a long time for various reasons..... the boarded up entrance was gone and was replaced by a grate. They're putting something else in there, I thought. Would it be a hair stylist, to go with the manicure place next door? Perhaps one of those pseudo-arcades with the rigged video games and claw machines. What could it be? And then I saw the sign.
"COMING SOON: A&W
FIRST 50 CUSTOMERS EACH DAY OPENING WEEK RECEIVES A FREE MUG"
You have got to be shitting me. An A&W? Hell. Yes. Give me my root beer float. Been missing that, the only A&W near by was in Rapid, and folks tell me it wasn't worth going to. So if I didn't spend ENOUGH time there, now I'm gonna be practically living there.
It's kind of like when you check in on someone you haven't checked in on in a while to find they're keepin on keepin on and you're happy they're doing okay, even if you aren't talking any more.
Another sign that fall is progressing (even though it doesn't feel like it) is that the wildlife is on the move. Tons of wild turkey along roadsides and here in the parking lot at work. I actually saw a herd of elk a couple weeks ago; told a former coworker whose son was hunting for them. And of course there's the deer. There's always a lot of deer around here, but the past few weeks they've been OUT. Keep your eyes peeled when out driving. They're not great when you hit them when your car.
And of course there's the hot peppers. The cayenne plant started producing first and have been making mounds of peppers all summer, I need to start a second string to dry them out as the one I already have on the fridge is already full. The jalapenos have also done well; Not really big by pepper standards but they're crispy (I made Pico de Gallo the other night, everyone loved it!). Finally the ones on my habanero plant started ripening up. They are S P I C Y 🔥
Finally, there is the whole subject of school. Two classes along with their assorted labs and I am OUT, baby! Can't wait, although I wish people would quit asking what my plans are after graduating... I have no clue, my focus has been on just getting through and this will continue til I walk across the stage.
That's it for the moment! Catch you on the flip side!
Aye,
Kraneia
