Monday Stuff on the Way to Other Stuff: Saw A Bear!

We've had the neighborhood bear, otherwise known as 'Ralph,' visit the trailer before. (The Brick saw him.) Neighbors at the Collins house had a bear show up regularly on their trail cam, and another neighbor had his beehive trashed. (I'm guessing our two big dogs, plus a 5-foot chainlink fence around the yard, kept Mr. Bruin from visiting us.) But alas, I never saw one...until today. Coming home from church, a nice-sized brown bear, kind of chubby, ran across the street in front of us. Maybe it was Ralph.

    Well, it's not Bigfoot -- but I'll take it.

I don't think Ruby would agree to this.

     The trees are juuuuuust starting to show bits of color. Tell that to the weather, though...we have hot days, punctuated by these horrendous rainstorms. It may be September, but it's not quite acting like it yet. The gas stations certainly know it's Labor Day weekend -- gas prices shot up to more than $4/gallon. 

The rainstorm - finished with us, headed to Castle Rock

Hunting season is on the cusp of starting here -- for archery and black powder. The Brick, however, has to wait until mid-October. Meanwhile, I continue to trudge along, workwise. And we have yet another trip this week to go look at houses and land.

Maybe I need some of this.

Meanwhile:

Thrifty Mom has a new handy-to-use journal for sale! Go here for more.  (It is much more than that, actually.)

Let's see if I can get this straight. Dr. Fauci acknowledges that surveys have shown facemasks weren't effective in limiting access to Covid. But he still wants us to wear them, Because that shows we're taking things seriously? Or... ?  I didn't quite understand this. See if you do.

Another case of stolen valor.

A woman and her friend -- actually eaten (briefly) by a whale! And here's the video to prove it:

This lady deserves to keep her home!  Josephine Wright is fighting back against developers trying to force her to sell. 

How Michelle Obama wore a vintage dress...and affected fashion trends for years to come. Also:

Princess Diana's 'one black sheep' sweater -- and the message it was sending. (Maybe...this is a bit  harder for me to believe. Then again, I always thought this was a silly-looking sweater. See what you think.)

Another great dance short:

Ten historical battles that movies got wrong -- everything from Thermopolis to the Battle of the Bulge.

An 1881 shipwreck, the schooner Trinidad, has been found deep in Lake Michigan.

'Green' vehicle and energy companies aren't doing so good right now. 

Jimmy Buffet died. This cheerful singer had Colorado ties...

Where did they go?  The shop teacher whose enormous breasts have suddenly disappeared.  (He/she insisted that they were natural.)

We can now smell the balm that Egyptians used for mummifying. According to scientists, it's actually quite fragrant, and uses ingredients the Egyptians must have traded for, including larch tree resin and dammar, a resin found in trees in Malaysia.

Candidates for a Photo of the Year contest -- they're great, too.

Stupid things people say all the time, getting old... and love in the mantis world.

A customer is insulted by an extra charge on the bill for "A--hole"...until he realizes it's for the cocktail he drank! The cocktail is a mixture of gin, 20-year tawny, lime juice, honey, peach bitters, egg white, brown sugar drizzle and coupe. I'm guessing the restaurant is THRILLED by all the free publicity.

A famous artist painting -- bought for $4 at a thrift shop? Yup.  I am a huge fan of N.C. Wyeth...what a find.

'Modern day phrases' -- by Shakespeare.

An interesting look at handkerchief design history. One of my favorite subjects.

Strange coincidences.  'God things,' we would say.

A 4,000-year-old bowl of noodles...and other stories behind the world's favorite foods.

Ten things misunderstood about popular American foods.  Ricotta isn't a standard ingredient in true Italian lasagna???

So -- trumpet all about reparations, because after all, you're doing it out of concern for The People. Then get paid thousands of dollars to teach a class on it. Hmmm...

Are President Biden's personal stories always truthful?  Not exactly.

"But throughout his career… Biden’s propensity to exaggerate or embellish tales about his life led to doubts about his truthfulness."

An 1828 West Point time capsule was opened, and the crowd thought it was a dud. Turns out there were coins hidden in the dust at the bottom...

A family finds their missing dog -- when they visit an adoption event.

An elevator plunge no one saw coming.  Luckily it was only three or four floors. (I fight this fear whenever I step into one.)

Missing Link Bigfoot Bars -- not making this one up!

Recipes from famous people.  include Laura's gingerbread if it's not mentioned -- its not

Protestors' tactics to hold up Burning Man participants didn't work so well in Nevada. (Why were they protesting private jets by holding up trucks, vans and busses?)

Has the Loch Ness Monster reappeared?   Maybe...

Stories about ancient statues.

An extremely funny riff on Beyonce's "Single Ladies" video:

And here's a version where you can see the legs, too. (Important in this video)

The Husband Store -- the Brick picked this one out for me!

No, this family did NOT have to pay $80,000 to get their loved one's body back.  Fox News apologized for publicizing the "facts." (Other news outlets did too, Fox. Hopefully they'll also apologize.)

Have a good week.  Rest up... then get lots of work done.