A few days ago I saw a headline that there was a stealth fighter that was missing and they couldn’t find it. Maybe it is just doing its job – being stealthy.

Someone sent me this picture the other day and I thought it was something good to pass along. It made me think about my travels and experiences, both big and small. The thing is, it is so easy to find someplace new; it doesn’t have to be a foreign country, or even another state or city. Sometimes it is as easy and as close as your own neighborhood. You don’t have to go very far at all and you can usually find something new to you – a different bus route, a back road, a new trail, a neat house in your area. One thing I have found in my n neighborhood is one hose has a little “lending library” in their front yard. It is a wooden shelf in a 1′ X 2′ wooden box with a window in the front and the library selections on display. It is such a neat experience to see the things you see. You never know until you go!

With all the traffic on the roadways this weekend I chose to stay home out of the madness. It was already getting crazy on Friday. I went out for a brief run to the store yesterday morning and its was pretty busy then. I got out for a walk earlier this morning and will go on another later.

I grilled up some corn on the cob Friday and today I grilled up some bratwursts. I have not had any of those in quite some time so I decided to treat myself. I usually avoid the brats because of the fat content but I’ve been watching that close enough that an occasional splurge won’t hurt.

While out I stopped at my favorite local bakery and grabbed some plain croissants. No, not that garbage at the grocery stores. Real ones. I had one with some prosciutto and a slice of smoked Gouda cheese for breakfast. It was delicious.

Yesterday I cooked and froze some meals for the next few weeks. It was a crappy, rainy day so it was a good day to do that and some other inside stuff. Today is warm, sunny and beautiful so I am getting outside as much as possible (watching my sun exposure, of course), trying to get some grass mowed as its dries out. It’s getting ahead of me a little so I have to get after it later today or tomorrow when it is much drier. I need to cook up some more meals to freeze so that will be part of my supper plans. I think tomorrow will be pork chops on the grill with mashed potatoes.

As I type this I am sitting at my dining table, looking out the window over one of my flower boxes. I happened to see a bee hovering around earlier, making the rounds. I saw it land on one of the flowers and it was a bee I had not seen before. It was a gold bumblebee with just very few, and very faint, black stripes. I have worked on bee surveys for wildlife biologists before and I never saw one like this during the survey.

The first crop of radishes in my garden are done so I will either plant another round of them, or I will try something new in the space. I don’t know what that would be – maybe a cauliflower. Other things in there are still looking good and growing nicely.

My cherry trees has fruit that is starting to turn red but they need to grow more. I have no idea if they are sweet or sour cherries but I will find out in a month or so. The plums are popping out on the branches already. I had put in tree spikes for fruit trees around all of them and I think that may have helped them take off.

I am pondering getting more ink at the local tattoo parlor. I have been thinking about it for a while but it’s hard to come up with ideas for something unique, yet personal, to put on your body forever (plus I have had other, more pressing, priorities). I have two ideas for now but I think I am going to have to talk to the artist about some other ideas.

Well it looks like I am going to be adding someone to the family:

Yep. An Aussie puppy.

After about eight years of having no pets I gave in finally. I say “I gave in” because I have been holding out on getting any pet. Meghan thought I needed a dog for a long time and this is one from her dog’s litter. She said that she thought it would be a perfect fit with me – not a maniac like his dad certainly is so he is mellow. I have not had a pet for this long because of my constant travels for work and most, if not all, of the places I have lived would not allow them anyhoo. I was really back and forth on it for several reasons but I finally thought how nice it would be to have a dog to poop in my yard.

Guess I need to think of a name…

That’s it for now.