Backwoods Boy

Freezing rain forecast tonight, the scourge of the Columbia River Gorge. The standard howling and cold east wind with an over-riding Pacific front. Less than a quarter inch, so it will just make the roads slick. I'll stay home tomorrow. Two years ago, we got two inches in one night. I lost almost all of the trees in my yard, and enough branches fell on my pickup that it was in the fix-it shop for a month. This is apparently our alternative to hurricanes and tornadoes. Going to bed now so I can ignore the weather. A good night to everyone.

🍆

Hmmm.... My body had a different reaction ...

Now let's take up the subject of fresh-cut Christmas trees, another wasteful cultural absurdity, in my not so humble opinion.

That makes a nine-hour time zone span between what I believe to be the most easterly (you) and the most westerly (me) participants in this group, a trivia item of no particular import, but I was curious.

Thanks a lot, Thorn. I did need an education. I appreciate your candor, and I appreciate everyone's willingness to educate me here.

I need an education and Google didn't help. Could you explain "binder"? A PM would be fine if preferable. Thanks!

I'm having a cup of tea too. I needed something to warm myself. There seems to be a difference in the thermometer and my perception at the moment

Interesting that we all go to bed at almost the same moment in time, from Norway to the U.S. west coast. I'll be up for another hour or so, I suppose, but I'll wish everyone a good night now.

Indeed. The fake Latin expression seems to exist in various forms. I had learned noli illegitimi carborundum. I used the other this morning because it seems to be the predecessor to the rest, and the literary reference seemed very appropriate for this community. 🙂

My best wishes on your academic challenges. It's especially problematic when you're trying to stay afloat financially at the same time. I'll share the mock-Latin advice that I just learned came from Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale: "Nolite te bastardes carborundum."

I relate to the "one class at a time" issue. I managed multiple classes when I was in college (both times), but I couldn't these days. "I don't multi-process" is something folks hear from me frequently these days.

A glass of wine with dinner helps the evening roll pleasantly into ... OMG it's morning already!

Your night candle is a beautiful tradition. I always smile when I see it. 🙂

Good morning, everyone! I was up at 4:00 (it's 5:00 now) and I'm wide awake and smiling. Having gone to bed at 8:00, I've had my eight hours. I'm going to be the cheery morning person who annoys everyone else. Seriously, I hope your Monday-Tuesday (that sounds like a religious celebration) improves.

That is an excellent article which I'm going to share with a number of friends, some of whom have abandoned social media, some of whom have not. I dumped Farcebook for the third time last summer. I never liked its invasive nature, but always went back like the junkie I was, mostly to "stay in touch", which was the same thing as an alcoholic saying, "just one more drink". The final blow was the revelation that Facebook is arguably the most corrupt media corporation in the world. That finished me off for sure. Then Google Plus, where I was already losing interest, decided it was going to pull the plug. I pulled the plug on them. With two G+ friends, I tried MeWe. While it is probably the most moral of the options, it was not working out at all. Then I was encouraged by a writer here to become more involved. So you know what my one and only social media connection is today? Yep. Gay Authors. As one of my fellow hikers said yesterday, "everyone needs community and needs to find ones that works for them". She was talking about the three-dimensional world, but it's also true online. So thanks to all of you with whom I've connected here. It's the right place for me. And I think I'll turn this into a status update. Thanks much @Mikiesboy .

Been up for an hour (6:00). Getting ready for a hike with some friends. Expected high around 40F. I'm planning to dress very warmly. 🙂

Per earlier topic: Baked Zucchini ZCasserole.docx

I went at 2:30 - they closed the event at 3:00. The place was nearly vacant. The special seasonal release is a chocolate oatmeal stout made with a huge pile of Snickers bars, I forget how many. I sampled and then bought a 4-pack of 16oz cans. They made a 20-barrel batch and nearly sold out just at this event. It was really quite good, but as you have guessed by now, I'm biased. A little sweet, but very tasty. Took a tour of the facility too. Interesting to learn more about how beer is made.

My depression is seasonal. If I stay away from holiday BS and get out hiking or doing trail maintenance frequently, I'm okay. I'm an introvert too. I find it interesting that you are an introvert and yet an actively performing artist. I would think that to be a particularly difficult combination.

I didn't buy a thing. It's the same old fecal matter every year. But at least I looked. I'll go to the beer tasting later. I drove by and the line was very long. From past experience, I know the inside of the production facility has very limited space. If they've put in more tanks, it would be even less. I went to a Christmas party there two years ago, and there was hardly space to stand, let alone move. The fire marshal would have deposited a brick, to sanitize the expression. After the discussions and the parts of your stories about social anxiety, I'm pretty sure I have a moderate level of the issue. I hate crowds, and the small-town crowds are no better than the city crowds. I'm gonna hang out in my house for most of the next month.

I'll do that. I need to make an online copy anyway - the cookbook is so marked up it is illegible. Right now, I'm headed out to the "buy local" holiday activities in town including local shops, a gift bazaar at the fairgrounds, and a beer tasting event at, you guessed it, the Backwoods Brewery production facility.

I still need to get that spiralizer, definitely by the time next summer rolls around. There's a joke around here that you can identify those who have no friends because they are buying zucchini in August. When I was a kid, my aunt had a cookbook dedicated to zucchini - 100 recipes I think. She used it so regularly that once, when we were having swiss chard, I asked her if they were zucchini leaves. The other zucchini recipe that I use regularly is a zucchini casserole that includes onions, Parmesan cheese, eggs, corn muffin mix, and a few herbs.

Yep Thanks! An excellent summary. The grated zucchini adds a delicate flavor that doesn't detract from the rest. It also provides a bit of color and a painless serving of vegetable. I make the pancake with corn muffin mix, a personal preference. I prefer patty pan squash to zucchini, an even more delicate flavor, but it is only available from local gardens in the summer. And that's a COFFEE mug in case anyone relates the label to an earlier conversation. 😉

I liked your Zen pic with the rocks, if votes are being taken. And now I'm going to go make a zucchini-huckleberry pancake for breakfast. 🙂