I saw a Short on YT from someone that went to a farmer’s market and only bought from vendors with no lines, and this video he got a pizza that looked amazing. Now THAT is an awesome thing to do and I will be more conscious of doing that myself.

The guy talked about his menu and his pizzas, talking about how he learned to make authentic Neapolitan pizzas starting at 19 and he had been making pies for 15 years and has his own restaurant. He asked the customer what he wanted and the customer said to give him a suggestion and the guy went with it. The pizza looked fantastic and was complete with a made-on-the-spot crust.

It is really the opposite thinking of “Only the best places have the longest lines” – the usual way to measure a restaurant. Another thing I do is always ask what house special the place is know for and I order that unless it is something I won’t eat.

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As I said in the last post, I was making a trip to Springfield, MO today. I had to run a dog errand for Meghan or I would not have gone. But, while I was there I made it worthwhile.

So, I just got back from about 6 – 7 hours of driving. I got out of here about an hour later than I wanted to. I slept horribly last night – partially due to my knees hurting so bad after working hard yesterday. It is probably the worst they have ever hurt. Actually my whole body was sore but the knees were definitely the worst.

But, I accomplished what I needed to in Springfield. After I got my errand ran, I went back to Commercial Street – the coolest place in Springfield, MO. I have posted about this area in the last few years. Old buildings with new businesses, revitalizing the area in amazing ways. It is a place I could live if there were a market I could walk to, but I understand this area can be a bit sketchy at night. If you ever go to Springfield, MO Commercial street is the coolest part of town so go there for a Dutch breakfast at Van Gogh’s Eeterie. Route 66 is worth a drive too.

My destination was Chabom Tea & Spice for some rooibos tea and have a look around. It is another cool place and is a good-sized store with big jars of bulk teas and spices of every kind imaginable and then some. They have cool coffee and tea gear – cups, brew cups, funny cups, fancy cups…a great assortment of really nice stuff at good prices. They have ramen bowl & chopstick sets, chocolate…lots of stuff.

I found my rooibos but the price was something like $5.50 an ounce. I buy 3-4 ounces of loose tea at a time and have a cup every day. If it was a small purchase I woulda just got it but 3-4 ounces at that price is a big difference. I understand and there are probably not many places around Springfield like Chabom. I can get it here locally at Queen’s Pantry Teas for somewhere around $3.25 an ounce so I’m gonna do that. I like to look around that store as well since I can also get treats from the UK if I have a hankering for that. Unfortunately, there are not really many options for international foods around close to here.

I did go to Gilmore’s – the tea room next door. Yes, a real, old-school tea room…with a killer bakery. Real macarons (no, not macaroons), brownies, cheesecake bites, oozy gooey butter cake – which I ogled because it is, well, delicious though not health-food, but then decided on a more portable giant chocolate chip cookie. Okay…still not health-food but it was delicious and a snack to get me home.

I got home and went inside to clean out the ashes to start a fire in the stove. It was full and I could not build a fire without cleaning it – a daily thing when it is cold. I then went out to get some firewood and right next to my trailer was a dead bird. I did a double-take and was a little surprised because I have no cats. I think he flew into the side of my trailer and it was lights out; I guess he just did not see the bright white 10-foot-tall, 19-feet-long RV.

They hit the screens on the house windows sometimes. They are full-length screens and honestly that probably saves their lives; it is like a vertical trampoline so they just bounce off. Sometimes they just act like nothing happened and fly away, but I have seen some land on their feet and shake their heads like “WTH just happened?”.

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It certainly looks better with all of that scrap gone. I could tell right away when I got home that it made a huge difference. In the next few days I am gonna get the blower out and clear out the leaves from where the scrap piles were. That will help it look even better and I can clean up the bricks and blocks under the leaves. I will just stack the good ones up in case someone wants to use them. I will still have to make one more dump run with a trailer to get rid of a few big things. There is some metal left so I will get it all together and turn it in and make some extra cash.

I have been cutting off dead tree limbs and branches in the front yard for some firewood. They need to be cut and are close to the house. There was a huge log that has been lying on the ground for a few years. It was too big to cut so I thought, but yesterday I decided to try to cut it up. It was rotten about halfway through so it was no problem. I was able to salvage some wood so I cut off the good parts. and spit the blocks. The wood was home to some really large black beetles and with the cold they were movin’ kinda slow. the wood is so dry that it weighs nothing. I found it doesn’t burn very good either. At least the log is not in the yard anymore.

Unfortunately, with a drought happening and no rain forecast the next 10 days, I still have two piles of brush I cannot burn yet. At least the rest of the yard is looking alright with the scrap gone and working on these trees. I ordered another chain for the saw so when that gets here I can really get some stuff cut up.

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I really have to be very careful using a chainsaw since I live alone here. I cannot do some stupid shit I thought of that I probably woulda done in the past. It finally dawned on me that some things are dangerous; using a chainsaw on a tall ladder leaning against a tree, or a ladder standing up in the back of my truck – done it in the past but not too interested in getting hurt. I did cut one standing in the bed of my truck and that was no issue.

Funny thing, age. It happens before you know it. Sometimes I think about things in the past and get lost in it, smiling at the memories. Then, all of a sudden it occurs to me that that was 30 years ago. When did THAT happen? And when you start to have close friends depart this mortal coil it really starts to sink in.

Sorry…was getting all existential there for a moment…

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I am pretty tempted to get the trailer out but I did just winterize it so I have to wait until I sell the house or it warms up enough to not freeze. It is tempting though!

Even though I did not stop to see anything on these last trips, these two back-to-back really got me itching to get out on the road more so I need to find a few day trips to go on. I have been to so many places nearby (some more than a few times) that I have to go farther out to see some new stuff. I need to look at some maps and figure some places out to go to soon.

I don’t really want to do any hotels or even overnights really. I just need to go and see and do and eat things nowhere near me. Gas is reasonably cheap now so that will help save money. I usually pack my own snacks but if I get hungry and want a splurge meal I am going for it.

I will be working on that and we will see where I end up.

That is about it for now. See you next time.

Peace.

Shawn