Body
I walked. It was hot. Sometimes I had to walk in the middle of the day, and it sucked. To entertain myself, I took pictures of whatever I found interesting.
On Monday I took a picture of a lawn that refuses to die. For months these homeowners have had a black tarp weighted down with rocks and clay pipes on their lawn and, as you can see, sunlight and water is still getting in. You kill your lawn if you are planning to replace it with a grass of a different variety, and the way to do that around here is to suffocate it with a tarp that is impenetrable to light and water. What we have here, folks is a tarp fail. We’re going to do this when we’re ready to get rid of our splotchy St. Augustine/Fescue/Bluegrass mixture (no idea what the previous owners were thinking) and this house isn’t filling me with confidence.
A tennis ball torn in half and filled with water. It was a jacuzzi spa for fairies.
On the day I took the picture of the medicine bottle, I did not take the picture of the 7 condoms scattering all over the road in front of the same lawn and I deserve a round of applause for this because forget the medicine bottle, that’s what really had my attention on Wednesday. The condoms were unrolled but unused, so I think they were part of a prank or joke or something that involved a bachelorette party or teenaged boys. I’m sure you’re imagining me prodding them from a distance of mere inches with a blunt stick, but I was able to gather all the information I needed with a quick glance as I sidestepped them on my walk.
On Thursday I took a picture of a cool looking stick half submerged in a gutter full of sprinkler runoff, but I’m new to the app PicTapGo and lost my pictures. I didn’t realize this until hours later, so I took a picture of my shoes, socks, and pants where I left them at the end of my bed. I was not happy (understatement) but I learned a lesson and since then have double checked that every image I take on my walk saves to the camera roll.
I found a glove in the middle of the road waiting for me to give it a high-five. Creepy, but not as creepy as finding it’s mate 20 yards down the street.
Just when I thought I wasn’t going to find anything interesting on Saturday, I found Hi. And did you know manhole covers are made in India? I didn’t, though I’ve since been told Clay & Bailey of Kansas City, MO has produced them for the last 100 years and continues to do so. (Thanks, Amy!)
Mind
I’ve got nothing. What else is new? I suck at gratitude lists.
Spirit
Oh, I am so close to giving up on this component of my project, but I refuse to throw in the towel. Heather may not have provided me with motivation to start reading again, but she did make me laugh with this list of 38 Things Catholic Girls Love. If you are sensitive to a little Catholic ribbing, you may not want to read the list. Some people were offended. (“This has not been my experience as a Catholic!”) I thought it was hilarious, especially number 18. Because, come on.
Song of the Week
Radioactive — Imagine Dragons
Mikey fell in love with this song last year when he heard it on the History Channel. Now it’s on the radio all the time, which thrills him.
We overhauled our kitchen in the past few months, and one thing I wanted was a chalk board (against my husband’s vision for the update). I used the chalkboard paint and made a board adjacent to the cooktop on a side of the cabinet that looked boring and old. Then we decided to start a study of Proverbs. Each day, I put up a new proverb. These are short and fast and thought-provoking. And the book begins with a long speech about how important “wisdom” is in the life of man–and where it comes from. The proverbs serve as a little conversation starter frequently in our house.
Even our kids are reading them and occasionally comment about the one of the day. This made bible reading for us something different than the studies that we do conventionally.
I’m not into Instagram and picture apps and such, or I’d send you a photo.
The whole thing has made my chalkboard idea look genius.
Did you happen upon that creepy hand after the fairy spa? Perhaps it was a warning. I’ve heard fairies do not like to be disturbed when taking in the spa. Do proceed with caution . . .
And now I have an overwhelming desire to know where our manhole covers were made. Weird.
Woot woot! Yay Kansas City! Hahahaha, I had no idea manhole covers were made here. To be perfectly honest, I know less about the city I live in than the average tourist. I’m certain I’m not the only one. Other cities are always more intriguing than the normalness of your own. Thanks Amy, whoever you are, for sharing that bit of trivia with Jules!
And McD’s fish … EYUCK! … this Catholic kiddo wanted cheese pizza or mac & cheese. Hell, even a peanut butter sandwich (dusted with cinnamon of course). Anything but that nasty fish. I never understood how people could stand it.
So, living in KC and not having known this, I got curious and click on the Clay & Bailey link you provided. Got a good chuckle out of their logo. Then I google-mapped their address. I live 5 minutes from there, and pass right by it twice a month on my way to volunteer at Harvesters (on Topping off Leeds). There are quite a few industrial production type buildings in that area and I’ve often wondered what was made in them but never curious enough to remember to wonder when I was home and able to look it up. Now I know at least one of them handles metal castings!
Glad I could make you laugh! I thoroughly enjoyed it, myself. Love the picture from the walk with the glove, by the way.
Also, I got the Imagine Dragons album on iTunes. I like it. ;) Have a great week!
I thought the 38 Things link was funny. I may have to find the “Mary is my Homegirl” t-shirt for a friend.
Keep up the good work with the walking. I wish I could tell you how to stay motivated with the Bible reading, but I am floundering in that department. It’s hard with all of my kids home for the summer. Somehow, yelling “Be QUIET! I’m trying to study the BIBLE!” just doesn’t seem like a good idea.
My 11-year-old Lily LOOOVES that song, too. And the video is pretty amusing.
Your 2nd photo brings back a vivid memory of when I was about 4 or 5, and was utterly terrified when my grandpa showed me the innards of a bright yellow tennis ball. No clue why, but open tennis balls still kinda make me shiver.
Manhole covers were cast by several foundries in SoCal until the ’70s, when the SoCal AQMD made it impossible to continue due to strict air quality requirements,
Since then, manhole covers have been imported from Mexico, India, and Taiwan. You can still get them from Long Beach Iron Works…in business since 1913!
The textures and color palette of your photos from this week are so wonderful and rich. There is definitely a subtle similarity between them. Bummer that you lost the photos from Thursday but your solution is perfect. I too struggle with the Mind and Spirit portion and I find the two so intertwined. I signed up to take a watercolor class which starts tomorrow night. Hopefully this will fill my mind and spirit. Time will tell…Cheers!
Love the catholic list! Scapulars and mantillas….what a trip down memory lane. I’d add spiritual bouquets to complete the memory if catholic school in the early sixties.
I’m not Catholic, but that Buzzfeed list had me dying. As someone involved in the youth group mission trips (Presbyterian-I’d cheer, but we don’t do that) married to a Catholic family, 90% of it was relatable. And I wish I could have had a mantilla and not looked like a complete moron.
I was so surprised with that video! The song is on constant rotation but has such a nice little hook I am not quite sick of it. But the video was awesome, and my crush on Lou Diamond Phillips just keeps getting bigger. Speaking of, have you watched Longmire? From the commercials, I didn’t think I’d like it, but we watched it last season and loved it. So far this season, it’s the best thing on TV.
The characters, writing, acting and scenery are terrific, and the pacing is slow but deep, kinda like the main character.
I’m not sure what I love better, your pictures or your words!!