Earthworm

After I started my volunteer stint at the library it began to pour.  Little chance of anyone braving the deluge to come in tonight.  I first finished my usual tasks.  Then went looking for The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak.  Someone from another library was asking for our copy and we couldn't find it.  It should have been in the fiction section under "SHA" but it wasn't there.  I checked our records to see what the book cover looked like:  light blue background w/ a design on the front.  Should be easy to spot.  In case someone had put it in the wrong area I checked the Western Large Print, the Large Print, and the New Releases sections.  Nope.  Went back to the Fiction section and went through all of the books whose author's last name began w/ 'S'.  Nope.  Could be in Non-Fiction but that would mean checking each book.  Well, nothing else to do at the moment.  When I got to the Dewey Decimal System 300's (Anthropology) I found it.  Actually it wasn't shelved there as much as displayed: standing upright on a shelf.   Interesting spot for it.  

The rain stopped about the time I drove home and I immediately took Whip out for our nightly constitutional.  I saw earthworms for the first time this year.  I always find it interesting that 11,000 years ago  there were no earthworms here.   The area had been glaciated multiple times throughout the Pleistocene.   I like to imagine that, once things began to warm up, earthworms very slowly migrated from the south up to the Northwoods  but more probably they were all brought in by settlers either accidently or on purpose.  About a half hour after Whip and I got back, rain, thunder, and lightning started up again.  Radar shows it will probably go on all night.

Peony

First day this year that I hung laundry out on the clothes line.  Usually, as soon as the snow has melted enough, I'm hanging out clothes.  Over the winter I bought a new clothes dryer and have been happy to just throw things in there.  This first time out I didn't follow any of my rules.  I didn't check the wind direction and just hung towels, pillow cases, and cleaning cloths on the line closest to the house.  Wind was out of the south so those long items blew into the  jeans and t-shirts I hung on the second strand.  I didn't angle the clothes to catch the wind so it would blow through them either.  It will be sunny and warm all day so everything will dry even if I didn't hang things perfectly.  The furthest line I hung socks and underwear.  I never hang 'unmentionables' on the outside strand in view of the roadway.  Of course, to see them from the road you'd have to have binoculars.

Took Whip to the vet for her shots.  At the office I wrangled Whip onto the scales first.  She weighed in at 63 lbs.   Then the tech came out and, right there in the waiting room, administered the shots.  The assistant did at one point say I was Whip's "mother".  I corrected her immediately, "I'm not this dog's mother."  The assistant laughed.  It reminded me that I also hated when the insurance adjuster for my windshield kept referring to me as "Mrs. Mayer".  I didn't correct him since both the windshield company rep and I were having difficulty enough just  understanding him.  Come to think of it  I also get ticked when nurses, checkouts, clerks, etc. call me "Honey".  It might fly in the southern part of the U.S. but in the Northwoods it sounds condescending.   Maybe I'm becoming a crabby crone?  Nah...

 

American Tree Sparrow

Normally, it's garbage day but, as I said, Waste Management wrote a letter last month stating they would no longer pick up garbage in this area after April 20.   Then they picked up our bins on April 13th.  Neighbor Anita said there is a local start-up company that would do garbage pickup.  Have them beginning in May.

Amazon's AI assistant is named Rufus.  It's been insinuating itself into my on-line searches.  I noticed that Rufus offered to tell me "what my order history says about me."  Was pretty sure this would be like the newspaper horoscopes and fortune cookie slips: vague and vapid.  According to Rufus I'm orderly, health-conscious, and thoughtful of others.   Actually none of those are my strong suits.   Rufus's assessment capability needs more tweaking.

Felt something on my neck - yes - it's the first tick on me for the season.  I got out the last Nexgard chewable and fed it to Whip.  If I have a tick, she has a tick.  Called the vet's office and got an appointment for her annual Lyme's shot.  This area is Lyme's Disease Central.  I'll also pick up more Nexgard - just wish there was a chewable tick repellant for people too.

Ramp

 

Back to being cold here again.  Last night it froze and will again tonight.  I considered covering up the peonies that are poking out of the ground.  It would keep them from freezing but it's also forecast to be windy.   If the covering gets caught by the wind, it could break the new stems.  Decided not to cover.  Out in the woods the ramp plants have emerged and I've never seen them affected by frost.  The ground has warmed up (road bans went off on Friday) and it's heat should protect short newly emerging plants.  At least that's my plan.

Dark Sky

 

The last of our lovely days of warmer weather.  By afternoon sometime a storm was forecast to usher in much colder temps.  After breakfast I could already see deep blue clouds on the horizon.  Something about incoming bad weather makes me want to make sure everything is ready and I can hunker down at home.  First I went to the UPS drop off location to return something to Amazon.  There was a waiting line mostly because only one person was behind the desk and none of her gadgets - including her printer- seemed to be working.  I don't mind waiting but the lady in front of me kept swaying - like a metronome - from one leg to the other.  It became annoying.  Figured I could easily beat her senseless - she was incredibly thin - and that thought kept me calm until it was my turn and I could leave.    I mailed a bill, cashed some checks, returned a book and the picture I'd borrowed from the library, filled gas containers for Jormungandr and Svaldilfari.  I was on a roll so I called up Waller's Glass Company about getting my car windshield replaced.  The process is more complicated than it was when I did it in the last century.  Also more costly - over $400.  The lady I spoke to said it would be easier if I could come to their store to submit a claim.  I bopped over and she called the insurance company's claim department on her phone.  They had questions for her.  Questions for me. Questions for her again and then said the claim was submitted.  My policy has a zero deductible for this.  My appointment is in two weeks.   Another difference from when I last had my windshield replaced - this time it will take three hours to complete.  Picked up lunch and got home well before the storm hit.  Tonight I thought I might google anger management techniques - just for grins.

Hepatica flower along w/ leaves of spring beauty, cut-leaf toothwort, and trout lily

 

The library had put up a white-board and this year I've taken to using part of the time during my volunteer stint to write funny/witty sayings on it.   Librarian Trevor reminded the volunteers that 30 years ago April was designated 'Poetry Month'.  I've taken to writing poems (or portions of them) on the white board instead.   Last week it was a kid-friendly poem about an elephant that snored.  Tonight I wrote part of Louis Carroll's The Jabberwocky.  Thought next week I'd go w/ Lord Byron's She Walks in Beauty and maybe end up the month w/ something from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.   I print everything on the white board because there are many kids/adults that can no longer read cursive since it isn't taught anymore.   Reminded me that my parents and grandparents would  quote poems I assume they learned while in school.  Don't know if memorizing poetry was dropped as part of a school's curriculum too   Afterall, your phone can retrieve any piece of literature desired.  Still, there is that connection of heart and mind created by the ability to quote from memory.

Red Maple in bloom

I didn't know the word pareidolia  until it became the theme for our next GNO Christmas gift.   I do remember reading a few articles before that postulating that the tendency for the human brain to see patterns is a survival strategy so it's possible I had come across it.   I have been thinking about  'pareidolia' lately trying to figure out an appropriate gift and suddenly I'm hearing the word often.   Yesterday, I perked up when some guest on a TV talk show mentioned pareidolia.  Today's Words With Friends word search game's subject was pareidolia.  Tonight I was listening to Dan Brown's latest audio book and - you guessed it - the characters talked about pareidolia.  Friend Nancy said she also  had just seen the word in a Facebook post.   No, it's not that BIG BROTHER is listening in on our conversations and causing this to happen (at least I don't think so - ha).   It's most likely the Baader-Meinhof phenomena or 'frequency illusion'.    A new word or object can cause us to have selective attention.  For example, someone is considering buying a red car.   Their brain will prioritize and 'flag' any red car encounter.   Therefore, every subsequent red car seems confirmation that there are a lot of red cars - reinforcing the perception of frequency even though there are no more red cars than usual.    There are some fascinating examples of  the Baader-Meinhof  phenomena in our history (even the name has a story behind it).   Cool stuff but doesn't get me any closer to a pareidolia Christmas gift.

By the way, I've posted about the Baader-Meinhof phenomena before.  Interestingly enough in conjunction w/ a GNO Christmas gift idea.

Whip on Bifrost

I haven't received my tax refund yet (mailed it in February).   Wasn't all that concerned but the U.S. mail being unreliable I began to wonder if my tax returns had made it to the IRS.  Got on-line and the system verified that it had received it and the refund was ready.  However, the IRS wanted me to give them my banking account routing number so they could direct deposit it.  If I'd wanted it direct deposited I would have given them that info when I sent in the return.  The on-line website said I should receive a form informing me I needed to give them the banking info and I had 30 days after that to get them the info.   I called the IRS hotline.  Wasn't a bad wait time and I asked the rep what happens if I don't give the IRS my banking account.  "After you receive the form they will hold your refund for an additional 30 days before sending you the physical check."   I repeated back to her that if I did nothing the IRS would eventually send me the check.   She answered in the affirmative.  This is not a shining example of government working for it's people.

I received a letter last month that Waste Management would no longer be picking up garbage in this area and April 20th would be the last pickup day.   Thought that was strange.  A week later I got an e-mail stating if I really wanted them to pick up my garbage they would but I had to let them know by April 10th.  At the election the gossip was that the WM area manager (located in a different part of the state) was upset that our town wouldn't allow them to run their heavy trucks on town roads during the spring road bans and proclaimed pick up in our area was 'unprofitable'.    After the letter was sent out stating they wouldn't pick up our garbage, someone pointed out that our town was the most profitable since the landfill is right on the line between the Town of Stubbs and our town.  The Town of Stubbs where the landfill is located had negotiated w/ the landfill that their residents could drop off garbage free of charge.  The nearest village has their own garbage pickup service.  Therefore, our town is the most profitable one for garbage pickup since they use less gas and time servicing an area so close.  That's when the e-mail was sent.  I wanted to see how this all played out so I hadn't responded.  Monday is my usual pickup day and they picked up my garbage and the bin.  I could call and ask why they picked up my bin a week early but if the gossip is true, Waste Management has issues.  Let sleeping dogs lie.

Late last week a big semi passed me, kicked up a pebble that hit my windshield.  A pretty long crack is growing from that ping.  Time for a new windshield.  I haven't had to get a new windshield since Big City days.  Called my insurance and they gave me the name of two companies they recommended and said I just give them my insurance info - no deductible for windshields.  Life is good.

Tag Alder

Excerpts from the Sheriff's report:

12:38 a.m. - Clinic stating they had a young girl there that had jumped out of a moving vehicle at 60 m/p/h.  Clinic asked for the number for the on-call DHHS worker.

7:46 a.m. - Complainant said a note was left on her vehicle regarding learning to park and the person's IQ.  Reporting party is having issues with the neighbor that she feels threatened by and she wants this documented.

10:43 a.m. - Reporting party states they were on a phone call with someone they have used as a spiritual advisor.  During the phone call the person of interest told them they are shooting cats on their farm.  Reporting party googled to confirm this is animal cruelty and called 911.  Reporting party did not have an address, only that it is across from an Amish farm.  Dispatch sent information to animal control.

11:18 a.m. - Reporting party believes they lost a black duffel bag with clothes and a gun in it on County Road D.

2:03 p.m. - Reporting party stated items they picked up from an estranged ex smell of bleach and had bleach spots on them.  They are unsure if the ex was aware of this.  Reporting party told this is not a law enforcement issue and to ask their ex about it.

3:46 p.m. - People cleaning out a residence believe they found explosives.  Neighboring county bomb squad was called.  Family allowed to continue cleaning during 2.5 hour wait for bomb squad to arrive.  Bomb Squad seized two training hand grenades, two used fuses, and four 30mm rounds.

4:44 p.m. - Bank staff reported to officer that male came in and attempted to cash a check that was regularly mailed to the bank.  Staff could not cash the check because he recently closed all accounts with them.  Male in question yelled, threw a pen onto the counter, and went outside and began to urinate on the sidewalk.  Staff saw this and yelled at him.  One staff member said she did see his penis.  

7:45 p.m. - Crash detection.  EMS and Fire called out.  Vehicle determined to be unoccupied with multiple firearms inside.  Driver drove off curve south of Murphy Flowage and went 300 yards through the woods.  He fled the scene.  His father showed up and collected the weapons and other valuable items.  Open intoxicants clearly visible in the vehicle.  Citations for open intoxicants and failure to report an accident to be mailed.

7:53 p.m. - Officer waved down by individual who stated a 30-lb propane cylinder was stolen out of the back of his truck at Walmart.  Officer in contact with Walmart employees looked at surveillance footage but unable to find complainant's truck in the lot at the time described.

9:30 p.m. - Caller reports he was riding his scooter and got clothes-lined by a hanging wire coming off a telephone pole.  Depty reports it was a ground wire.  He wrapped it around the pole.

Northern Flicker

Had a library volunteer's meeting.  Librarian Trevor used it to talk about interlibrary loans.  Our library is part of a consortium of over 50 libraries.  Most patron requests for books can be handled within our grouping.  Interlibrary loans are either a book that a library might own  because it is a local author or was donated to us.  It could also be an older book where few copies remain on the shelves.  Of course then there are book clubs that require multiple copies of a book at the same time for their monthly selection.  Requests from outside the consortium are noted and need to be handled differently in order to get the book to the requestor in a timely manner.  Trevor had a video explaining the process and a handout.  We don't get many of these requests - maybe one every two weeks.   I rarely see them so when I do I  pull out the manual and follow the steps in the 'interlibrary loan' section step by step.  Nice to see this overview but keep the manual up-to-date

Last night a series of warm weather days was ushered in by a wonderful thunder and lightening display.  It's been months since I heard rain on the roof.  By the time church let out this morning it was a balmy 60 degrees.  I could hear the siren song of frogs croaking from the fens.    Whip and I took off to see what we could discover.   I found more species of birds that have migrated back and the tag alders are blooming.  Whip found the leg of a deer.  It will be a warm wet week - perfect to jump start Spring.  Of course, next weekend it will be cold enough for snow again.  Changeable weather I guess is also a sign of Spring.

Minimalist Decorating

 

I sent off an e-mail to my House Rep and got his automated response this morning.   When sending an e-mail through the federal system, the form requires a prefix to your name (i.e. Mr., Mrs., Sister, Doctor, Honorable, etc.).  Over the years I've tried out many prefixes (after all, I am a Sister to my siblings and attempt to be Honorable in all of my dealings).  Lately though I've settled on the 'Ms.' prefix.  Smiled today when I realized the responses from this rep  refer to me as 'Miss'.  I haven't tried 'Mr.' but  I'll use that for awhile.  I'd estimate that half of the time, my rep's response has nothing to do w/ the topic I wrote about.  Pretty sure that neither he nor any other being actually reads it.  At least I'll get a laugh if his automated response will be to "Mr. Susan Mayer".

Mourning Doves are getting frisky.  Well the males are.  So far the females are having none of it.   The frost is out of the ground - at least the Town Chairman said he tested a number of roads and none were 'squishy'.  Might be my imagination but there is even a faint red haze over parts of the forest.  The red maple are thinking about blooming.

Sister Connie and Brother-in-law Dan are having their home remodeled.  This picture was taken by Connie to show they are ready for the workmen.   While their house is torn up they will be living in their attached apartment.  Good thing the weather is getting nicer and they can both go outside.  Compulsory togetherness might become too much of a good thing.

Going through the Change

Monday had been prep day for Tuesday's Election Day.  Wednesday would be filled with post-election activities.  It took a little to get to sleep last night but stayed zonked out until Whip started licking the hand I had exposed over the side of the bed - two minutes before my alarm went off.  (I don't think she's figured out how to read a clock yet.)  My legs still ached because of walking on concrete floors yesterday but the constitutional got most of the kinks out.   I had offered to deliver the election paperwork.   The school and county courthouse don't open until 8.    Plenty of time for breakfast.   Our town clerk likes to make sure her poll workers are comfortable so she stocks the refrigerator at the town hall w/ all sorts of snacks before an election.   I prefer bland food and water on election day but as we were packing up last night I snagged a yogurt, chocolate milk, and muffin for this morning's repast.  I don't usually drive directly past the school so it hadn't registered w/ me that, when they began a new construction project at the end of March, access points might change.    A mesh metal fence and  mounds of earth blocked the visitors parking and entrance.  I found the last parking spot by the nearest door (once the grade school entrance when I attended school).  The voice on the other end of the door's intercom asked me to use door E8 and said it was "around back by the cafeteria".   It's been over 50 years since I graduated from here and I don't know where the cafeteria is now.  Of course this might be a test to see how well they had trained me.  Each door was numbered and proceeded by letters "W" or "N".  Obviously cardinal directions.  That meant 'around back' was going completely around the building.  I found the door and after ringing a couple of times it unlocked.   The school has become a rabbit warren of rooms and corridors but fortunately there were "Office This Way' signs pinned up at intersections.  A very nice secretary introduced herself and said she hadn't received election materials before so I gave her our items and explained they needed to copy the poll book I'd brought if they wanted a copy.  She dutifully did that and I followed the signs backward out of the building.  Then drove to the county seat.   The clerk from the  Town of Thornapple and I arrived at the same time.  I motioned for her to go ahead - more out of curiosity than politeness.  Thornapple eschews using the voting tabulator claiming it's 'not accurate'.   I wanted to overhear her conversation w/ County Clerk Connie as they went through the paperwork.  It was interesting.  When it was my turn I got an 'atta-boy' from Connie for having everything in order.   Texted Chief Inspector Andy and Town Clerk Chris that the election material was delivered.  Once I got back home sent off an e-mail to both of them w/ a spreadsheet of the hours worked by each poll worker so payment could be OK'd by the Town Board at this Thursday's meeting.  Down to the Town Hall this afternoon to put things back in order for that board meeting.  I stowed away the tabulator, plexiglass guards, and voting booths.  Moved the remaining tables and chairs into a useable (though unconventional) configuration.  Picked up any remaining detritus.  Yesterday took more out of me than I thought since I totally forgot I had a Zoom meeting w/ friends today.    The last meeting I blew off was in 2010.  I'll faithfully write down  meetings from now on - or what's a white-board for?

Dark-eyed Junco

Non-partisan election today.  For us that meant school board, county board rep, and state judges.  As I said, I double checked w/ the state elections board and we would have to hand-count write-in's for the school board and county board rep since no one was running for those offices.  The day began slow enough that we finished counting all of the absentee ballots by the time the first live voter arrived.  After that we had voters coming in all through the day - but never had line of more than three people so everyone was pretty happy.  Well, except for the guy who had moved with in the town.  He was in the poll book and had a valid photo ID so we let him vote but then had him fill out a new registration for his current address.  He kept mumbling things w/ 'crap' and 'bogus' thrown in but I never heard them clearly.  Instead I thanked him profusely for doing the extra paperwork and offered him a cookie.  A lady walked in but when she realized she couldn't just vote a party line left w/o voting at all.     After the polls closed we first counted all of the ballots. Good: the number of ballots equaled the number of voters who signed the poll book that equaled the counter on the tabulator machine. Then we started tallying all of the write-ins.  That took 2 hours so we didn't get out of the town hall until 10 tonight.  Andy and I had already decided not to put everything away nor clean up.  We were too brain dead and all of that I can accomplish tomorrow.    The town clerk called in the tally counts to the county offices but the paperwork won't be delivered until tomorrow   Best thing is for all of us is to get home and get some sleep.  Smiling and being pleasant all day is exhausting.

Ice Covered Lily Stem

Had my last early morning visit to the cardiologist (at least for awhile) earlier this week.  She let me know our next steps and then was telling a story about some of her patients that go through a couple of pots of coffee in the morning and then bottles of caffeinated soft drinks in the afternoon.  I told her I was rethinking the latte I planned on picking up after this visit and she laughed and said a coffee in the morning wasn't going to be a problem. Whew - that's a relief.

Yesterday I got my hair cut (or rather 'all of them cut' as my German grandfather would correct).  The beautician was concerned she had let her husband take care of taxes this year and he'd gone to an accounting company to have it done.  "That should mean it was done correctly.  Right?" she fretted.  They'd already received the state refund.  She'd just gotten a notice from the IRS about the federal refund but it wasn't for the correct amount nor was it their ID number.  Reminded me that I had received my state refund but was still waiting on the federal.  Hadn't planned on worrying about it until June.  Could start early I guess.

The latest storm started during the night and, this far north, was suppose to be snow.  Instead it's sleet. Ground is warm enough that the constitutional was crunchy but not slippery.  Whip, who doesn't like her head getting wet, was not happy but dutifully went out w/ me.  When we turned to go back home, though, she raced ahead, opened the front door, and waited for me in the foyer.  Maybe I shouldn't have taught her how to open the door on her own.