Karmic-Dragonfly

I do like Halloween. I think it's just a pleasant spooky-fun holiday. I never do much -- usually a friend comes over and we have wine and wait for the 1 or maybe 2 trick or treaters. But I still like putting up decorations.

Each year, I take a 'family portrait' w/ the 'girls' -- the ghosts I put outside.

I always look forward to when the days will start to get longer again!

Happy Halloween! I think my mask made the 1 set of trick or treaters uncomfortable tonight, lol :). Of course I was wearing a shirt when they arrived, lol.

As usual, a friend came over for wine as we played music and waited to see if we would have any visitors for candy.

Lawd that Halloween decoration in the basement is spooky AF

I went downstairs to the basement around 3AM to change smoke detector batteries ... as one does ... and I turn around and see this 😧

As per my normal routine, I went down to the river for Christmas Day. It was a beautiful day, and there were very few people around -- actually nobody was on the Pipeline Walkway with me. It was really nice!

I've had a lot of unexpected doorbell rings this Christmas season!

--Tonight, a disheveled woman carrying a small bag and what looked like a pill bottle rang the bell. I happened to be sitting in the living room, which is easily visible from the door, so it was hard to ignore her, lol. I answered the door, and she said that she just wanted to wish me a Merry Christmas, that Christ was coming soon, and that she lived in the neighborhood. I responded with a Merry Christmas and thank you, and she left.

--The other afternoon, a woman rang the doorbell to ask about where I got my Christmas lights because she said her mom liked them.

--Last evening, a realtor in the neighborhood stopped by to deliver a calendar and business cards.

--Then there was the doorbell ring last week 1 evening, which I ignored because I was wrapping Christmas presents.

Before the disheveled woman arrived, I had been feeling a bit lonesome tonight, partly because I have been sick the past couple days, and because I didn't host my Christmas party again this year, and also because some friends' get togethers have been postponed.

Last weekend, just like last year, I did what call my "Santa Run", where I delivered gifts to my family. Here's a picture that 1 of my sisters took. I think I look kinda cute, lol.


I made my version of my grandmother's sweet potato pies for them --


One of my sisters AND her significant other were sick with a "cold"...which I automatically regarded as totally sus. Why was I suspicious? Because they have not been vaxxed...and nearly ALL of his family have had COVID. Because of her cold, we met masked on her screened-in back porch, masked, and sitting probably 4.5 feet apart. I did hug her on the way out.

Fast forward from when I saw my sisters on Saturday, then hosted the board games group on Sunday, was in a foul mood on Monday at work...and then on Tuesday I started to feel "bad."

Uh-oh! My first thought went to my sister's "cold", and I wondered if it were COVID. Because of the upcoming holiday, there are currently no drive through testing appointments available until next week, and there are no at home testing kits in the stores -- at least in the 4 or 5 drugstores I checked.

I thought it might be just a head cold, but I wasn't sure. Luckily, some friends had an extra test at home, which I used to confirm that I was negative. And my sister was also tested with a negative result.


That made me feel better -- just a head cold, and I didn't pass anything to my games group friends!


Today, I spent making flight, hotel and rental car plans for an upcoming trip in April. I'm joining that instructor for another nighttime photo workshop.

Because this is another beginner class, I don't expect to necessarily learn anything in particular, but whenever he goes to an area that I have never been to, I join him. In this case, I'll be going to the Utah Badlands, an area I have never been to. The Bisti Badlands in New Mexico (a previous workshop location) is one of my favorite spots, and I expect I'll enjoy the rock formations in Utah as well.

And I'll be able to see stars again -- you can barely see any in an urban environment, so it's always a treat to be in a dark sky area.


Pensive mood tonight.

Even with all the trauma of COVID-19 and the US political system in the past few years...I can still say I'm thankful for many things.

Although I won't see the family for T'giving this year, I have talked to them all today, and my sisters and I keep in touch via text and phone calls pretty often.

I am headed to a 'Friendsgiving' this evening...and I just pulled a cauliflower au gratin out of the oven. I'll take this with me as well a few bottles of wine :)


I put the tree up early this year as I decided NOT to have my Christmas party again this year. I have a couple of family members who are not vaccinated, and as I watch surges happening in Europe, I want to wait another year before I resume the party. So just like last year, instead of a real tree I put up the artificial one.


All in all, I'm doing ok.

I put the 'girls' out for Halloween yesterday.

This video is difficult to see - this was after dark, and I used a filter that made it extra dark.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/621580178