Beware The Ides Of March...

...it could <ruin your whole day>.  

Hopefully you avoided traitorous acquaintances and instead experienced a pleasant early spring morning...

...that you appreciated and used wisely:

Yeah; like that.

I've actually walked several rounds on Ryan's course this past week and it's been quite pleasant after a long winter layoff.

Haven't put any of the flags or signs in place yet - we've still a ways to go before Old Man Winter is chased back into his hole - but won't be too long now.

I mentioned to a friend from work that I recently earned 49 cents of commission because someone in Australia read my Time Slip Island novella...

...on the Amazon Kindle Unlimited program.

A rare occurrence, this was an exciting moment in my life as you might imagine; it meant I could throw away 5 bottles...

...I otherwise would have had to return for deposit.

Don't know about you, but that's the kind of freedom in life for which I'm searching:

To believe in what can be (i.e., throwing pointless stuff away)...

...unburdened by has beens (i.e., so I don't have to deal with them).

I just might run for president some day.

As we approach St. Patrick's Day I've noticed a growing infestation of Irish Gnomes:

he actually bit my hand as I tried to answer the phone...

...and they seem to have a natural camouflage...

...allowing them to blend in with their surroundings.

not positive how they got here but I can see it's time to round up the usual suspect and question her closely re: recent Aldi purchases.

I say we 23 Skidoo quick-a-minute before things get even more out of hand than they are already:

speaking of natural camouflage...

...meet Screech the owl, a resident of Larry's folks' tree.

Kitty lounging in the courtyard

Karen found that fountain, now gracing the courtyard, for $15 at an estate sale

the recent "Blood Moon"...picture taken by a friend of Larry's using her cellphone through her telescope

Saw a T-shirt the other day that opined "Inside every Old Man is a Young Buck wondering what the heck happened".

This is a true sentiment and one that should give us pause.

Moses wrote in Psalm 90..."the days of our years are three score and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off and we fly away".

70 or 80 is about what we get before we shuffle off this mortal coil.

It can be tough to quantify that in an impactful way, so think of this:

If you take your 80 years and put it in terms of one day of consciousness - when you rise at 6 am and fall into bed at midnight - then every 13.5 minutes of your conscious day is 1 year of your life on earth.

I'm 68 as I write this, so for me it's 9:20 pm.  The clock will only tick for another 2 hours and 40 minutes, and then my day is done.

My son Ryan's day ended abruptly at 3 pm; he didn't get those last 9 hours.

On the other hand, Karen's grandmother hung around til 4:30 am the next morning; she had 4 and half more hours than normal.

What time is it for you?

Of course we don't really know; only God knows that.

But we do know how we're to spend the time He's granted us here on earth:

later, mcm fans...