Another mystery

Welp, never did figure out anything about 86 cent day. Kind of anticlimactic, really. I mean, so cool! But...NO resolution. Dammit. Ah well.

Today's crazy story came by email. The father of this fine family below sent me a Christmas card via email, complete with their portrait. In fact, he sent the photo twice!

I've gotten emails before that weren't intended for me--usually they're for a namesake who gave out the wrong email address. This one, though, is from a family who lives here in North Carolina, rather than, say, Maryland or West Dakota.

I'm pretty certain I've never met this family. However, a very large part of me is already embarrassed because surely this entire entry will end up being a giant foot-in-mouth moment.

After all, one time I ran into an old boyfriend and didn't know how I knew him. I've not been blessed with a great memory, it seems.

Anyhoo, here they are.

Let's play "Guess How These People Know Stew!"

Alright, SPILL!

Someone wonderfully kooky stopped by my house yesterday and left this for me.



I'd like at least a clue to the mystery, kthanks.

Please, Please, Please NO.

Do you think these could be, gulp, bed bug bites?

Lost

Hiked again today, first a couple of miles on my own, birding, and then another few miles with Suze. I'd never been to the quarry in the wintertime, and decided to check it out for waterfowl. The usually empty gully you need to cross to get to the quarry has turned into a creek. One that's too wide to jump over. Dammit.

I found my way across with the help of a couple of stepping stones, though. The sun's angle highlighted the water and pine trees, and it made the red clay soil just brilliant. No birds, though. Ah well. I crossed back over the stream and almost fell backwards into the water. On my ass. Hiking back to the parking lot, I considered how well I'd be able to survive in the woods for a day or so with what I had on me if I broke an ankle.

Inventory of what I was carrying/wearing:
Binoculars
Sibley's guide
Grinch Hands
Cashmere hat #1
Cashmere hat #2
Bandanna
Tank top
Bra
Base layer
Cashmere sweater
Jeans
Underwear
Wool/cotton socks
Hooded waterproof shell
LED keychain
Lighter
Cell phone*

What I didn't have:
Water
Food

Even taking the phone out of the equation (cause that makes it way too easy), I was pretty happy with what I came up with.

Observations of note:
I could use the Sibley's guide and a lighter to start a fire (sad, but worth it). There's a lot of dead wood.
The LED keychain is a wondrous thing.
I'm glad I have warm head coverings.
Wettish leaves would be a good smoke creator.
I know the SOS morse code. I think. Smoke signals. Cool.
I'd drink stream water, risking contaminants.
There's wild ginger, so I could chew on the roots.
Can I catch a squirrel? I don't have a knife. I wonder if I could gut it with my hands. Would it skin easily? Maybe I could just burn the fur off?
I bet if I had to, I could break my binoculars to get to the lens.

Yah. It was a fun hike.

*Which I lost later. And then found again. Whew.

Obsessive inaccuracy

I feel petty bringing this up, but there's nothing more annoying than when someone corrects you, and they're wrong. The commenter was referencing this post.

Soup Soup Soup

Ya know, sometimes I think the best recipes are ones that you just kind of end up making, with little forethought and less second-guessing.

I got some kale and napa cabbage at the market today. My body is telling me it needs greens, dammit. When I got home, I figured I'd make a white bean soup. There are no white beans in the pantry. Black beans? Maybe.

Chop chop chop up ~1/2 cup onion.
Mince mince mince a clove of garlic.
Dice dice dice a small stalk of celery.
Cut cut cut the kale ribs into tiny pieces.

Sautee it all in a small amount of oil.

Remember you have some smoked sausage in the freezer. Excellent. Slice slice slice it up and toss on the sauteed veggies. Hack hack hack up the rest of the kale, and add it in. Add some water. Stir in some higher-quality bouillon since you don't have stock. If you do have stock, use that instead, of course.

Taste. Needs spice. Hot pepper from freezer, aw yeah.

Huh. I wonder what apples would be like? Cube cube cube a Gala. Whomp it in, too.

Wait.

Wait.

Wait.

Taste.

No beans. None. Pure veggies, smoked sausage and broth. Hits the spot. Will be even better tomorrow, yes it will.

What to say?

Every day I have fewer things that beg me to write here. Indeed, it's not that my life is either so full or so empty that hinders things. I don't know what it could be. Ah well, no worries.

I've been tempted to write OLD WEST DURHAM in every post ever since I discovered that our wonderful and very nice neighborhood association president has an RSS alert set up for references to OLD WEST DURHAM. Hi John! Hilarious. To me at least. Sorry for the silly prank here, John. You know I love this neighborhood. LOVE.

I just did a 3-mile hike at the Eno. Bubba dragged me at a faster pace than I'm used to on unlevel terrain, so it took under an hour. I didn't bring binoculars, but I should have. I swear I saw a broad-winged hawk sitting on a line at the realty company I rent from. Buteos and accipiters aren't my strength, and the without a field guide to compare, I just noticed as much as I could. Red chest on sides and shortish tail lacking the stripes of a Cooper's, though there was one band on it. Problem is, broad-winged hawks aren't here this time of year. They've gone way south. So...I'd bet it was actually a Cooper's hawk after all. Maybe a juvenile?

Anyhoo, lots to do this weekend, both socially and obligationally.