Ma and Pa's Blog

It’s only November, and winter is settling in –

It was a lovely day, and the last of the warm fall Ohio days we’re gonna see for a while, if you can believe the weather forecasters. Anyway, Larry’s been obsessing over his computer again (Involving Netflix on Demand, TV/computer hookup, tweaking, crashes, endlessly pissing around with the damned thing– you get the picture) and I thought maybe we should take advantage of the weather outside instead of staying inside absorbing radiation from the computer screen, so I proposed a drive to Volant, PA. It’s a little town situated on a hill in western Pennsylvania that I’d passed thru a number of years ago and I always wanted to go back to check it out.

We had a nice drive, gorgeous scenery, and a peculiar lunch at The Iron Bridge Inn, then went on to Volant. Shops line the street, and most of them offered but one commodity: primitive country decor. It was fun noodling around and walking from store to store, but I gotta tell ya: I formed a new theory as to why the pictures and photos of pioneers and farmers look so grim. I’d always thought it was because of the grinding pressures of a hard life and hard work, but now I wonder if it was because they surrounded themelves with soul-sucking artwork and drab, drab color. Such grim Santas, grimacing snowmen, and solemn, elongated cats dressed in pinafores! And all of them in shades of maroon, dirty ivory and dusty pine. Sigh. Poor, poor country folk. Fortunately, we had plenty of sunshine to brighten our walking tour and Larry bought me a brightly-painted sign on clearance from the Halloween line: “The Witch is In”. It’s hanging on the front door. It’s ok. I embrace who I am. All in all, a fun day–and now we can watch for the expected snow this weekend! Oh, and also we can start preparing for the Thanksgiving festivities! Woohoo!

See Ben & Steph’s blog for more pics.

I love the view out our front door this time of year.

Great Fall View

To celebrate the presidential election results, I devoured the delicious chocolate donkey truffle presented to me by Stephanie and Benjamin. Now I can stop geezing about the election.

Today we celebrate the election of a new president (hopefully of our choosing, but a positive either way), and we celebrate not spending today in a vehicle.   The trip to Wisconsin was great, as were the various family gatherings while we were there.   Only the drive home was less than wonderful — mostly due to our impatience, variations in our blood sugar levels, and some other biological incompatibilities with our navigational coordinates (e.g. need toilet NOW).

The Wisconsin clan is thriving, and the next generation is amazing both for their energy and for how fast they’re growing.

We enjoyed hanging out at Kevin and Shelby’s and at Tom and Jeri’s and our visit to the Miller Brewery (all except that Italian brew).   I enjoyed touring the Harley-Davidson museum with Ben, Eric and Bob.    And we all agreed we had the best pizza ever in Cedarburg — not to mention the excellent chocolate truffles.

Thanks to all for putting up with us.

Here are some pics from our visit.