BEST HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS 2020

The votes are in and have been tallied up, and I am proud to present the winners of the 2020 Best Halloween Decorations in the Ridgewood (and adjoining) estate:

BEST INFLATABLE

MOST ORIGINAL DECORATION

(the UFO even rises a little; I guess Mulder was right; there are actually EBEs).

BEST SCARECROW

(I guess that's at least a creative use of your mask once you're done with it)

BEST GOOSE IN COSTUME

RUNNER-UP

SCARIEST PUMPKIN

BEST GHOST

BEST NIGHT DISPLAY

MOST REALISTIC LOOKING SPIDER

(yes, they really are that big in Australia : )

BEST USE OF A SPIDER(S)

RUNNER-UP

(notice the cat's eyes in the windows)

SCARIEST DISPLAY (3-WAY TIE)

(makes  me think of the dementors in "Harry Potter")

(it's those eyes and the placement above that kind of takes you by surprise)

(only scary if you're the little ghost in the witch's hat, but still counts)

SO MANY SKELETONS & SO MANY "INTERESTING" POSITIONS:

GO BUCKS!!!

er, no comment.

just chillaxing with my pepes...

Best Skeleton Scarecrows

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

HUESTON WOODS STATE PARK & LODGE

Last weekend my husband and I took a drive out to the countryside in Preble County where we had booked an overnight stay at the lodge at Hueston Woods located inside the state park. Geographically, Hueston Woods State Park is located about a two hour drive slightly southwest of Columbus and is near the city of Oxford and Miami University. Neither of us had ever heard of Hueston Woods previously, but came across it in a gift basket promotion for Darby H.S. My husband looked it up on a map and asked if I would be interested in going there for the weekend to check out the autumn color. In spite of being slightly hesitant because of the ongoing concern with Covid, I said yes figuring it might be worth it just for the change of scenery.

We left about mid-morning and stopped off briefly in Springfield to pick up some sandwiches for the road at one of our favorite restaurants, Café Mundo. I got behind the wheel to do a rare bit of freeway driving into the countryside - very reminiscent of traveling over all the lonely freeways in Arizona. I saw enough cornfields (and way too many Trump Pence signs) to satisfy me for a lifetime. After only two hours (but felt like more) and lots of left and right turns up and down various twisting little hills, we arrived. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see a truly vintage A-frame style lodge in front of me, though not surprised to see it surrounded by scaffolding in places where it was undergoing repairs. I read that A-framed buildings were at the height of their popularity in the 1950s-1970s. This lodge opened in 1967, and other than a few updates here and there, it still maintained a lot of that rustic charm. My husband commented, “It was nice in a run-down sort of way.”

We weren’t the only ones arriving for the weekend. Apparently a wedding was scheduled for later in the afternoon, so guests were slowly streaming in. We saw an arch decorated in pink ribbon along with several dozen rows of chairs situated out back near the lake. We both agreed they had a decent enough day for an October outside wedding as no rain was forecast, and it was at least partly sunny and about 60 degrees with a light breeze. Still, I’m glad we chose to get married inside and during the summertime.

After checking in we ate our picnic lunch at one of the tables out back near the fenced-in pool area (which was, of course, covered and closed for the season), then we went upstairs to drop off our overnight bags and change into hiking shoes before heading over to the lake. 

Like when we traveled to Hocking Hills in 2005, we had just missed the peak color, but we still enjoyed the experience of getting away, and it was fun swishing through all the fallen leaves (none of which we were responsible for picking up).

Our first stop was a walk over to the covered bridge which is currently sitting over a dry river bed (it’s been a pretty dry summer and fall so far). Not surprising, this was a popular tourist destination and we had to be patient and wait our turn before getting too close to take a few pictures. We probably spent more time stepping over the rocks and exploring the dry river bed. Honestly, not the most impressive covered bridge we’ve ever seen (and we’ve probably seen at least two dozen), but as it was nearby and I’m a fan of crossing things off a list, it was worth seeing and certainly killed a little time.

https://visithw.com/park-destinations/covered-bridge/

After leaving there we drove closer to the lake and hiked a trail partially around the lake visiting various oddities here and there like the old sugar house (where maple syrup was once made),

a blind on the beach probably used for fishing or bird watching,

and the dog beach (yes, they actually have a designated section of the beach just for dogs), though no dogs were currently using it.

Considering the weather and the current pandemic, we saw about the expected amount of families and other tourists also hiking the trails and enjoying the beach and other local amenities. To accommodate social distancing since so few of us were wearing masks outside (we didn’t), we often had to step aside to let our fellow travelers pass, but everyone was gracious about it. Back at the hotel, in spite of there being a wedding and a parking lot full of cars, the hotel itself was somewhat quiet. The largest crowd of people seemed to be in the restaurant, so we assume everyone else was either in their rooms or possibly in the cabins.

We were grateful for the option to order a take-out dinner from the restaurant since reservations were required and seating limited, and we didn’t feel comfortable eating in anyway. Failing that we saw a flyer from a local pizza place in Oxford that apparently delivers to the hotel, so that would have been Plan B. 

I quite liked the lodge in all its vintage charm and it would definitely be a fun place to bring kids because of the two pools and arcade located on the premises. Plus, I assume all rooms had a VCR/dvd combo so there’s always that option for entertainment if you remember to bring one from home (had I known that ahead of time I definitely would have thrown a dvd or two into my bag).

For the adults there’s ski-ball and a small bar inside the hotel. We saw a couple taking turns playing ski-ball. I told my husband half the fun of playing is watching the machine spit out lots of tickets that you collect to trade in for worthless crap, but it’s still fun playing and choosing stuff afterwards.

We did partake of adult beverages and wandered upstairs to sit in a pair of rocking chairs that looked out on the lake (though it was too dark to see much by that point). Since the hotel was pretty quiet, there were only a few other tourists in the nearby vicinity, but still well distanced from where we sat.

We ran out of time and good weather to try our hand at disc golf as they have a 27 hole course near their regular golf course. Of course there’s plenty to do around the lake including hiking, biking, fishing, boating, etc. 

Sunday morning we drove into the nearby town of Oxford, home to Miami University, and definitely very much a college town (which reminded me a little of Painesville, up north near where I’m from). We bought coffees and a couple pan au chocolates (which confused the cashier as he asked, ‘do you mean those chocolate croissants?’), and took them to enjoy outside at Martin Luther King Jr park in the square. Just glad we ate fast because no sooner were we done than it began to rain, so we quickly headed back to our car and hit the road for home.

For more info click on these links:

https://www.huestonwoodslodge.com/

https://ohiodnr.gov/wps/portal/gov/odnr/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/hueston-woods-state-park

 

 

Haiku anyone?

Last weekend I had a Haiku class via Zoom (offered through Upper Arlington Parks & Recreation). Here’s the description:

Haiku How-To

October 10 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm EDT

Taught by Jennifer Hambrick

ONLINE CLASS

Maybe you remember writing three-line haiku in grade school and counting each line’s syllables – 5-7-5 – on your fingers. This workshop is your chance to learn the real way to write poems in this ancient, profound and relaxing genre.

Poet Jennifer Hambrick is widely published and has won numerous international awards. Explore the fundamentals of haiku aesthetics and craft, and take your first steps on the haiku path. Bring paper, pencil and imagination.

Incidentally, this is the same class I have signed up for twice previously and it's gotten cancelled both times due to lack of enrollment. The instructor is one of the DJs for WOSU classical 101 FM, so I had heard her on the radio many times, but until now had never met/seen her, so that was cool. Anyway, there were eight of us, which was the cut-off number apparently, so I guess I'm glad I signed up since I was a bit reluctant to bother due to it falling through twice before.  

She conducted the class using Power Point slides and I quickly scribbled down notes from them. We spent most of the time analyzing some poems like dissecting a sentence for its parts. I hadn't realized Haiku poems contain a fragment and a phrase (two usually). Unlike some of Haiku's cousin genres like Senyru and Tanka, Haiku is pretty informal and not strict about enforcing the 5-7-5 rule in the interest of not squashing the creative spirit. Hence, if you have a thought to convey be it in three lines or even one or two, there's a lot of creative leeway. When we were writing our own Haiku, I didn't even think about the amount of syllables. Instead, I tried to phrase my thought in the proper format.

Here's the poem I wrote and had feedback on:

Red and gold leaves
Swirling in tiny whirlwinds
The end is near.

She said tiny is unnecessary, and suggested a less dramatic third line (along the lines of show, don't tell)

Here's my revised edition:

Red and gold leaves
Swirling in whirlwinds
The park is empty at dusk.

Since Jennifer didn't have any plans immediately after class she said it was okay if any of us wanted to stay later. Most of us did, and she quickly went through the rest of her slides and gave us a list of book recommendations and discussed the possibility of future classes. I was thinking it might be interesting to explore some of the other similar genres to Haiku, but not sure I'm that bothered. I'm still not sure whether or not I would attend any future Haiku workshops, though I definitely plan on writing more Haiku, possibly using some of my photographs as inspiration.

A Tribute to John Lennon (who would have been 80 years old today)

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You, you may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will be as one…..

These infamous lyrics were written in 1971 when I was just a toddler, but they’re still as relevant today as they were then, especially in light of how divided the country has become. For those of you from another planet, these are the lyrics to the iconic John Lennon song, “Imagine.” The reason I am writing about this today is in honor of the man behind those lyrics whose life sadly ended all too soon (at 40 years old) when he was murdered December 8, 1980.

Though I was only 10 and not very knowledgeable about music, I remember hearing about it on the news and understanding that this was someone very important judging from the public response. It was only as I matured into my teens that I started to have some clue just how special he and the Fab Four were and how much of a part they would play in my life.

My exposure to the music of the Beatles is thanks to my dad for always tuning in to 105.7, the oldies station that played classic rock of the 50s all the way up to Motown and hits of the 70s. I probably remember hearing “Yesterday” more than any other song by the Beatles, but it’s difficult to remember since my childhood was so long ago.

Fast forward to my twenties when I fell in love with and married a Brit and moved across the pond with him. On one of our many adventures, in 2002 we were lucky enough to see Paul McCartney in concert as part of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebration. I remember dancing under the stars to “All You Need is Love” and “Hey Jude.” I digress, as I was saying I’m a fan of John.

There’s a particularly poignant moment in an episode of “Quantum Leap” where Sam leaps back home and is telling his little sister, Katie, about the future and lets slip that the Beatles eventually split up, which prompts the question by Katie, “What’s John gonna do? He’s my favorite.” Sam hesitates telling her, and is persuaded by Al not to, and instead ends up playing “Imagine” for her while strumming a guitar. Of course she cries and I think everyone else did too (I think you even see Al tearing up a little). Okay, so I’m a sucker for sentiment. 

 

I've even seen John's report card, several times actually as it's on display at the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. That's probably the best memento of John that they have.

In 2008 I had a dream come true when I got to go on an actual Magical Mystery Tour when we visited Liverpool. We saw all the relevant Beatles landmarks (sans Abbey Road though) including the legendary Cavern Club and even saw Paul’s childhood house (from the outside). 

 

Earlier that year we had been to NYC where the tragedy occurred and saw the Dakotas where Yoko Ono still lives and the "Imagine" memorial in Central Park.

In 2009 we saw “Nowhere Boy” which is “A chronicle of John Lennon's first years, focused mainly in his adolescence and his relationship with his stern aunt Mimi, who raised him, and his absentee mother Julia, who re-entered his life at a crucial moment in his young life.” (IMDB https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1266029/?ref_=ttmi_tt).

Tonight we’re going to tune in to a PBS special highlighting the John Lennon – Plastic Ono band which is all about John’s first post-Beatles album. Speaking of post-Beatles, I heard a BBC interview with John where he said there was no point in the Beatles ever getting back together because they all had different plans of what they wanted to do, and many had already put out their own solo albums. So I guess you can’t really blame Yoko Ono for the Beatles splitting up as many tend to do.

I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend an excellent movie about the Beatles’ music and its place in pop culture. It’s called “Yesterday” and came out in 2019. There’s even a brief appearance by a mystery guest that’s worth sitting through the movie until the end.

In conclusion, rest in peace John. Thank you for giving me so much joy and pleasure from your music.

More Exciting Facts about Coffee...

Although I am far from being a caffeine addict, it’s definitely my favorite morning beverage. Not only is it adulting at its finest, it’s also as much an art form as my other favorite adult beverage – wine.

A couple weeks ago my husband and I watched a documentary about the annual Barista Competition (yes, that really is a thing, who knew?) that determines who goes on to compete in the international version (which is a whole other documentary).

In the competition, contestants get 15 minutes in which to make the judges three different coffee drinks (espresso, cappuccino, and a signature drink) while simultaneously explaining what’s so special about them, like what the judges should smell or taste. I was fascinated by the idea of a signature drink they have to come up with.

My favorite involved a chemistry set that distilled the bitterness out of coffee so when served it was clear and had a whole different flavor. My husband, who has a BS in Chemistry wasn’t as awed by this as I was, since apparently the hardest part is just connecting all those tubes and bottles, which was the downfall for Truman Severson when the bits and pieces didn’t want to cooperate. I heard he retired (from competing) after that competition. One of the other contestants made his own ice cream for the Affogato he served. Sometimes the contestants get quite exotic as you can see.

By the way, Affogato is definitely my favorite summer beverage dessert. My version is to brew a cup of Hot Buttered Rum flavored coffee and pour it over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It can be served either hot or cold and goes down a treat. It couldn’t be simpler and tastes quite lovely. 

A few days after we saw the documentary I attended a Lunch ‘n Learn (online) one afternoon that was hosted by Trish Rothgeb from Wrecking Ball Coffee in SF, USA. By the way, San Fran is a great town for coffee, though I barely scratched the surface when I was there with my uncle (who lives in one of the outer suburbs) since he doesn’t go in for flavored coffee like I do (no Frappuccinos for me though). However, we did pop into a coffee shop near a post office where I tried an interesting rose-water flavored latte made with Illy coffee. My uncle (a devoted fan of Peets) declined my offer to try a sip.

Anyway, I digress, Trish is very passionate about coffee and that definitely came through in her presentation. It was, hands down, the best Lunch ‘n Learn presentation I’ve ever attended that didn’t make me mind the long afternoon afterwards.

Like many of us, she didn’t end up pursuing what she studied in college, which was art. She said she gravitated to coffee, because coffee never gets boring.

She showed us a picture of the 5’5” coffee plant she had growing in the corner of her living room. She said a friend had given it to her seven years ago and it was finally mature enough to be producing fruit, so she decided to roast the beans (or cherries as they’re called in the coffee business) to make her own (cup of) coffee. If I thought a coffee plant could survive my cat and an Ohio winter, I would totally be on board with that idea. Of course you also have to be quite patient as you wait years and years for it to mature. She told us it wouldn’t take that long in the coffee growing regions of the world, only about three to five years on average.

She educated us on the various coffee-growing countries and said coffee grows particularly well in the regions near the equator, not surprising. We learned which countries’ coffees rank higher (they get entered in various competitions) and how they differ from country to country.

I also learned countries like Costa Rica (Panama, Belize, and even Hawaii) have been damaged by so much tourism that the size of their coffee fields has shrunk. However, agritourism is still encouraged.

Trish showed us a photo of some of her students practicing cupping in a room lit only by a red light. She explained red helps disguise the colors of the coffee that the students are learning to differentiate by taste rather than by sight. I had seen cupping done in barista documentaries, but had never seen it done under a red light, so that was an interesting teaching/learning technique.

Cupping is the process of slurping coffee so it reaches all the areas of your palate in order to get the fullest taste of a sample of coffee. I had wondered whether the coffee was still hot while you did that, but my husband reminded me coffee cools down rather quickly when poured into a small cup, so it definitely wouldn’t burn you doing that.

I learned a little bit of technical jargon like Short or Long, which refers to the amount of water in a coffee. Trish showed us various charts we could use to learn about all the subtleties of coffee, which helps you learn and improve your enjoyment of coffee.

Someone asked how it is that coffee beans are supposed to cleanse your palate, so-to-speak when sniffing lots of aromatic items, like candles, for instance.* She said the coffee beans bring every other smell to your nose acting as a cleanser. Trish said she was skeptical of this and suggested instead smelling the back of your hand, which has the same effect since you can’t smell your own body scent.

*I once worked at Yankee Candle and sometimes people would ask for the small jar of coffee beans we kept behind the counter for such situations.

This weekend my experiment with coffee was to make a Bulletproof coffee, which was one of the recipes I received during my 10 day Sugar Detox I recently did through work.

I was warned that it might be an acquired taste being that it tastes buttery and all, and it most definitely did, but I was pleasantly surprised and appreciated it for the novel value if nothing else. I think next time I would maybe add a little less (1 TBSP) butter and perhaps a tiny bit of something else that's creamy (like milk or yogurt) with a dash of cinnamon on top.