Only Because I Have To...

...here's the most accurate...and most popular summary of Commie Mamdani's takeover of the world's financial epicenter.

As much as I'd love to skip the politics, you just can't ignore an earthquake.

Think of it...a 34 year old anti-semite from Uganda who's never held a real job in his life and with no relevant experience was just elected mayor of one of the world's most populous and important cities.

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Chief cheerleaders in the Commie's large group of stupid people are a couple of similarly unqualified Mensa rejects:

AOC...

according to this famed meteorologist, we only have 6 years left before <the end of the world>; she hopes to spend them in a socialist utopia.

...and nursing home escapee Bernie Sanders:

according to Larry David, Bernie only has one pair of underwear

Defying both logic and the imagination, this perfectly illustrates the danger of granting idiots the right to vote.

It is exactly as the old saw opines: people who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.

And history is littered with examples of failed socialist countries: the USSR, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea.

Soon we'll be able to add New York City to the growing list of economies sacrificed on the altar of socialist ideology.

The Post sold out immediately, and sellers put up signs saying "No NY Post Papers" in their storefront windows to stem the steady stream of frustrated searchers.

You can still get them on ebay, however:

...proof that in spite of the communist takeover of New York, capitalism is still alive and well.

For now, anyway.

Thanks to brain dead New Yorkers sealing their doom through exuberant youthful nescience, business is booming...elsewhere, that is:

Real estate brokers in Florida, Texas and Tennessee report being swamped with inquiries from panicked New Yorkers.

Consequently, Florida governor Ron DeSantis says they're going to build a wall to keep out incognizant liberals fleeing the predictable results of their lifelong political choices.

Governor Abbott of Texas says they'll slap NY refugees with 100% tariffs.

Governor Bill Lee from Tennessee adopted a <more welcoming stance>, reminding desperate New Yorkers that Tennessee is "open for business".

They're all in agreement, however...if you come to our state, check your liberal politics at the door.

You can pick them up on your way out if you leave, but don't bring your callow political claptrap with you.

It's time to rewrite Sinatra's signature song:

"I want to get away from it, New York, New York!"

Recently had new tile installed in our master bathroom by #4 son and one of my grandsons.

It went from this:

To this:

The best part is not just the new tile, though we love the look...rather it's that the floor is now heated.

Karen is thrilled since it was always freezing in the winter, and no wonder: turns out the old tile was installed directly on a cement slab...no backer board or anything beneath it...just cold, hard cement.

It's toasty now, and just before the snow flies.

Here's to Chris and Isaac who did a great job...

...thank you, gentlemen!

We have this little sign in our coffee nook:

And the sign says true:

...which leads us to the less popular 2nd verse of that little ditty:

"Every hour waking

Will now be spent raking!"

And so we did yesterday...got out the mower and mulched the backyard, then manned the rakes and cleaned up the front:

That's all well and good, but for all the work we did - and I've got the aching back to prove it - here's the problem:

Considering the overall task, we barely made a dent.  Most of the leaves will come down in the 2nd half of November.

But my greens are looking pretty good today...

Think I'll bundle up - it's 33° this morning - forget about what's still ahead...

...and walk a round or three on Ryan's Hickory Golf Course.

On Halloween, one of our trick-or-treaters greeted us with "Merry Christmas!"

His dad looked at us and shrugged, then told his son, "You mean 'trick or treat', right?"

I joined in with, "Don't rush it!  Thanksgiving is next."

"Nope," the little costumed rebel insisted, "Merry Christmas!"

And that's pretty much the prevailing attitude, isn't it?

Thanksgiving is little more than a speed bump on the holiday highway, a brief pit stop between Halloween and Christmas.

Given the strident political atmosphere of the last few years, you can almost understand people's desire to just skip it.

Who wants to risk a big family get together tinged with the threat of nasty ideological conflict?

I know I'd welcome Karen's TDS riddled brothers with the same enthusiasm I have for an abscessed tooth or a bout of the puking flu.

But putting the potential for a strife of tongues aside, it's worth remembering God calls us to be truly thankful:

"15  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful."

    - Colossians 3:15

"16  Rejoice evermore.

"17  Pray without ceasing.

"18  In everything give thanks:  for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

    - I Thessalonians 5:16-18

later, mcm fans...

Last Round Of The Season...

...is officially in the rearview now. 

Not happy about that, but at least it went ok.

Decided to play my McIntyre gutta perchas...

course was still soft from the recent rains

...something I haven't done in a long time since they seriously <underperform "real" gutties> from the late 1800's.

Do love the sound they make when you hit them, however...a sort of wooden "thwack" that's really quite satisfying.

And their reduced distance works ok for this par 3 course.

For both featheries and gutties, I lengthen the holes by playing most of them as dogleg par 4's, hitting around / away from the water hazards where I can, instead of over them.

It was a beautiful, sunny, late fall day when I tallied ho to the Links At Rolling Meadows for one last round.

my 2nd shot on the 1st hole, hitting into a 25 mph headwind.  you can see the sand traps were still pulling double duty as water hazards.

#6 tee.  hit well from the tees and fairways today, though inconsistent on the greens as usual.

my birdie putt on #7...

...and (surprisingly) where I left it for a par tap in.

Since I play bogey or better wins the hole, double bogey or worse loses, notched a 4 and 3 win as I walked off the 6th green.

Not my best round but have definitely done worse.

Just wait til next year...

You know what comes next...

...and it was a pleasant weather evening for all 107 of our trick-or-treaters...high 40's and calm.

We raised the Jolly Roger to let them know we were open for business...

...applied the finishing touches to our costumes...

the beautiful Lady of the Manor...

...at her station, ready to pass out treats...

...and Gramp N. Stein, just ready to pass out.  proof that while time may be a great healer, it's a lousy beautician.

...made sure the greeters were on duty...

careful, she bites

Big Frank: tall, green, formerly deceased

...and everyone was in their place...

...then welcomed the hungry hordes:

our neighbors...the lady in the dress makes all their costumes each year

Happy to report a good time was had by all the ghouls and goblins that graced our Walk Of Fear™, and their parents seemed happy, too.

Thankfully we got most of the cleanup done last night since it's raining this morning.

Still have to remove batteries and store things away, but All Hallows is done and dusted for another year.

Next Stop:

Yikes.

Somehow or other we've quite suddenly and without adequate warning arrived at November.

As if that's not bad enough, it's also time change weekend, when we voluntarily plunge ourselves into wintry darkness by chopping an hour of daylight out of our days.

What the heck were we thinking?

For us northerners who exult in the long sunny days of summer, the cold and dark of the next few months promises to be challenging.

But the months ahead don't have to be spiritually cold and dark, as we have this promise from God's Word:

12  Then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

    - John 8:12

take heart, mcm fans...

Well, It Happened...

our bedroom fireplace

...heating season has arrived. 

It took awhile, with a summer resurgence followed by some meteorological dithering - hey, it's warm!  nope, scratch that - it's cold! - but now it seems late October weather has settled in for good.

Ergo, all three fireplaces are operational once again.

the bonus room fireplace, keeping Sir Kitschalot toasty...

...and ol' faithful warming the cockles of our hearts (along with other body parts and the rest of the living room).

Good thing, too, because the power company informed us of a planned overnight power outage on the time change weekend, from 11 pm until 7 am.

That means the furnace won't run and with temps dipping into the high 30's / low 40's at night, we're thankful we'll be able to keep the home fires burning.

And of course we'll have our emergency backup plan in place...

...just in case they don't have the juice turned on by 7 am.

I like warm fires on cold mornings, but wish this was March heading into April instead of October into November.

Heavy sigh.

Speaking of the end of October, we're less than a week away from All Hallows E'en:

In spite of the spooky pic, we shan't be leaning into the graveyard theme on the big night.

We'll opt for a lighter vibe as we have ever since I handed a treat bag to a little tyke and he told me earnestly, "I decided this year I wouldn't be scared".

Karen and I agreed the very last thing we want is to scare kids away, so Vintage Halloween (jack-o-lanterns, black cats, full moons) -

- that's the look we're going for each year.

To be fair, some low key, non-threatening spookification is ok, even desirable.

Most kids like being scared just a little bit - y'know, the kind of "there's he is!" fright you feel when the monster finally appears on screen...

...not the "crazed lunatic with a chainsaw who's trying to kill me!" garbage - or worse - that we see everywhere today.

Given its roots, I understand why there are Christians who have a problem with Halloween.

I went to Bible college with a man who escaped a Satanic cult and trusted Christ as his savior.

Based on his personal experiences, he'd never celebrate Halloween.

For most people, however, it's just a day for kids to dress up, ring doorbells and get candy.

They're excited for the fun and adventure, and you know what?

Parents are going to take their kids trick or treating whether we participate or not.

So we decided, why not use it as an opportunity to spread some fun, enjoyment, and the Gospel?

We strive to make their brief time at our place memorable for all the right reasons.

Elsa and that frozen snowman guy, Ooloo...uh, I mean OOgly...eh, Oddball?  Whatever.

When they leave, we want them to have a treat bag in their hands, a smile on their face and the good news of Jesus Christ in their hearts.

And maybe just a slightly elevated heart rate.

Happy Hallows.

After a summer and early fall of serious drought conditions, the heavens have suddenly opened - and remained open - for an extended period of steady rain, much of it lake effect.

Over the last several days we've gotten more than twice the rainfall of June and July combined.

We definitely need the rain, but it has put the kibosh on my end of season golf plans.

The deluge finally relented, so I ventured forth on Saturday.

It was too wet for featheries so made a slight change to my playset...

l to r: long spoon (20*), short spoon (25*), lofting iron, putter

I wanted to swing my W. Dunn spoon (far left), made by club maker Kelly Leonard from Canada.

Typically don't hit quite as long with that one, but love the feel of the club and when I swing it correctly, they're high, straight shots that are really quite enjoyable.

Took me a few holes to get warmed up, but my scrambling skills were in good working order and I ended up winning the first 2 holes.

#3 tee - a slight fade on this narrow fairway resulted in a lost ball in the brush.  I did find 3 balls in my hunt, none of them mine.

Got in trouble on #3, righted the ship on #4, then stumbled again on #5.

thanks to the recent deluge we have a new, unplanned water hazard in the middle of the fairway on #6 (which happily I avoided)

Thankfully after that I found the groove and won out the rest of the way.

the sandtraps now double as water hazards; managed to avoid them, too

decent tee shot on #7 left me with a reasonable lofting iron shot to the green...

...which I pushed to the far side of the green, but chipped close enough to the hole to save par and win the match, 3 and 2.

It was sunny and mid 40's, just the way I like it.

Hoping to get 1, maybe 2 more outings before this season's in the books.

<insert muffled weeping sounds here>

And finally...it's that blessed time again when we all embrace mass hysteria and storm the exits...

don't blame me...all I said was, "free pumpkin spice lattes for the first 50 customers!"

But first, let's 23 Skidoo...

Some spectacular October sunrise pics, courtesy of Larry from his cottage "up north":

no editing involved, that's the actual mirror effect of the smooth as glass lake

rising mist on the water

...followed by some amazing sunset pics:

love the fire in the sky...

...and waving farewell with a little <nachtmusik>:

Switching gears now...

a recent study revealed 1 in 6 pregnant women in Michigan smoke pot.  in a related study it was discovered that 16.67% of pregnant women in Michigan are morons.

not a great pic, but that's a black squirrel branch surfing while munching red berries

staging area in the bonus room...Karen informed me the heady days of "Occupy Living Room" are over

the stars in their dressing room, practicing for their "one night only" performance

I'm amazed by Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12.

That's the Bible prophecy that tells in remarkable detail about the Servant of the LORD - the ministry and sacrifice of Christ, hundreds of years before it happened.

Verse 12 is the astounding summary:

"12  Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He hath poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

    - Isaiah 53:12

Written 700 years before His advent.

later, mcm fans...