If a tree falls in the forest

Sunday's a great day to roam 'round reading reports from online news sources.  We don't pay any attention to basic news fare of war, disaster, etc.  We look for the offbeat stories.  We found a great one this morning about a giant sequoia that fell in a forest of, well...giant sequoias, of course.  Normally, when a tree falls in the forest there's no one around to watch, let alone record the event.  In this case, wouldn't you know there was the ubiquitous German tourist who...yep, you guessed it...just happened to capture a portion of the epic fall on video.  Click here for the Los Angeles Times article.  And click here for the Visalia , California, newspaper that has the video clip and a story about the Germans.  It's definitely an interesting way to start your Sunday morning.

Each Sunday we entertain ourselves by reading the advertising circulars that come chock-a-block wrapped in the fat morning newspaper.  This time of year, various retailers are already jockeying for position as the Christmas season looms.  Yes, there's only 55 days until Christmas.  Click here for the Christmas countdown clock.  Anyway, Toys R Us put out a BOOK in this morning's newspaper.  No kidding.  Luckily, it's not a hard cover edition but it's a pretty good-sized book.  Yikes.  Leafing through this compendium of toys left me shaking my head.  If you haven't checked out kids' toys lately, you're in for a real education.  Naturally, there's several pages of Barbie stuff.  The Barbie Charm School, a Barbie Princess castle, all the obligatory Barbie bobbles.  Surprisingly, though, there's even Barbie camping stuff, including a pop top camper.  How cute.

We're still trying to guess what that blue thing is.  Perhaps it's a slide out hot tub to relax in after the rigors of Charm School.  Meanwhile, RV camping has seeped into the M&M collector culture.  For only twenty-nine, ninety-five, you, too, can own Red and Yellow in their very own travel trailer.  M&M's are named for their colors, kind of like gangs, only different.  Anyway, Yellow is bummed out because he (or she) burned the steak on their outdoor grill.

Yesterday morning at the range was downright windy and cold.  We stayed out there for about two hours.  That's how long it took to process the paperwork to get Mike and Son Chance signed on as official members of the South East Idaho Practical Shooters Club.  Congratulations, Mike & Chance.  The pair easily had the best and most righteous costumes of anyone in attendance yesterday.  Very dapper pair, wouldn't you agree?  The Vosk Family sure is fun and we will miss them much this winter.

Susun had a proverbial big day.  She did get to go out last night and "danced her booties off," as she said upon her late night return.  Little Yonni spent the remainder of Saturday securing and insulating all the basement windows as well as repairing the compressor and preparing the various apparatus necessary to blow out the pipes tomorrow.  Our pace picks up the next couple of days, that's for sure.

As noted, yesterday was the last of this season's Farmers Market.  Below are three final photos of our cherished Saturday morning pastime.  Photo 1: Market Manager Stephanie G. shares a giggle with Susun.  Photo 2: The most creative Corn Maze we've ever seen!  Photo 3: Why grow winter squash when you can buy them this time of year for 25 cents a pound?  Talk about a bumper crop, eh?

Have a great day & Many Cheers, jp