A Late November Sunrise...

 

...a week before Thanksgiving...and in spite of the current - and constant - political turmoil swirling around us, we have much for which to be thankful.

The Apostle Paul said "having food and raiment, let us be therewith content." (I Timothy 6:8).

Note he didn't even include shelter in his abbreviated list!

Be honest...could you be content if the sum total of your earthly possessions consisted of the clothes you wore and your daily bread?

No home, no car, no cell phone, no big screen TV, no <insert favorite vice here> ?

Well not to worry...by God's grace most of us have far more than just food and clothing.

And while I certainly do not take those for granted, above all I'm thankful for loved ones...the people who bring joy and kindness and happiness into my daily life.

Karen and I plan to gather with a few of them this coming Thursday to break bread and share some laughter and love for a few hours.

I hope you do, too.

But speaking of political turmoil, the election drama continues...

ah, the good ol' days...

...and like most folks I really only want a couple of things:

1) count EVERY legal and legitimate vote  -and-

2) count ONLY legal and legitimate votes.

In other words, if there's Fraud, expose it; where there's Truth, reveal it; and let Justice be done, whatever that may mean.

That's it.

By doing so my faith in our electoral process will be restored.

Doesn't sound like too much to ask, but the more I learn, the more cynical I become.

Our journey through all 13 seasons of Heartland has finally come to a sad end...

...and I have to admit I'm truly going to miss our visits to Jack Bartlett's ranch up in Hudson, Canada.

What we raced through in a few weeks took up 13 years of their lives.

The actor on the far right is Chris Potter who plays "Tim" in the series...he was 47 when it began and is 60 now.

"Amy" (Amber Marshall, 3rd from the right) was 19 when Heartland began; she's 32 now.

There's a real sense where folks who watched from the beginning grew along with the cast as they experienced life on the Heartland Ranch.

Makes me think Toby Keith got it right when he sang "I shoulda been a cowboy...shoulda learned to rope and ride..."

And hey, as a native Texan I at least had a shot at it back in the day.

But in the good news department, Amazon Prime just picked up the 6th season of our favorite Danish TV series...

...and most of the cast is back, with the notable exceptions of Fie (Rosalinde Mynster) and Morten (Morten Enevoldsen).

Definitely going to miss them.

But thankfully Herr Weyse (Jens Jacob Tychsen) is still on board...

...and still treating the other guests to his piano playing and singing (in English, no less) of American jazz classics.

The story has jumped ahead a few years to 1939, when Germany was cranking up its war machine...

...and their beloved Denmark is only a year away from being invaded by their aggressive neighbor to the south.

More drama right around the corner, and so far the 1st 2 shows of season 6 have been peppered with ominous historical references (e.g., kristallnacht).

So...our nightly routine of sitting on our backsides while staring at the TV screen for a couple of hours remains intact...for now...

A quick trip through the parting shots department...

Larry's up at his cottage for deer season enjoying the sunrise over the lake

the Holland Kerstmarkt is back

Thanksgiving wreaths adorning our courtyard 

saw Mr. Tiny Frog perched on the remains of an hibiscus the other night...

...along with 2 of his friends on the patio / fence.

new pic of lake michigan for the tv room

As America hangs in the balance, I wrap up this edition of the Atomic Monster Cafe with a heartfelt plea from God's Word:

later, mcm fans...

Here's How We Survived...

 ...election night...and the days following...with an assist from the Canadian TV series Heartland...

...and our fancy schmancy portable fireplace.

Hope you survived as well, because it's starting to look like America did not.

Heard from Mandy at The Retro Revival, and apparently our Philco V-handle has been sandblasted and is ready for primer:

Nice to get some good news.

In the unmitigated hilarity department, I was the not so happy recipient of a...

A couple I know is going through divorce and for reasons I won't go into here, I've been called to testify.

Imagine my unrestrained joy at the prospect of standing in the middle of their marital pissing match...

Oh, if only people could act like adults now and then.

But speaking of divorce...

...I don't normally waste valuable time on big tech nonsense like fakebook, nor do I usually talk politics on this blog...but Karen saw this post and apropos recent events I include it here:

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists, et al:

We have stuck together since the late 1950s for the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize I want a divorce.

I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course.

Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let's just end it on friendly terms.

We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

Here is our separation agreement:

Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by land mass, each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement.

After that, the rest should be easy!

Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets, since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.

--We don't like redistributive taxes, so you can keep them.

--You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU.

--Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA, and the military.

--We'll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and the coal mines, and you can go with wind, solar, and bio-diesel.

--You can keep Oprah, Whoopi, Bill Maher, Michael Moore and AOC. You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move them and their egos.

--We'll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Chick-Fil-A.

--You can have your beloved lifelong welfare frauds, drug addicts and illegal aliens.

--We'll keep Kristi Noem, Tucker Carlson and Bibles and give you Cuomo, NBC and Hollywood.

--You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll support Israel while retaining the right to hammer places that threaten us.

--You can have BLM and Antifa; we'll keep the Heritage Foundation and the Hoover Institution.

--When our allies are under assault, we'll help provide them security; when our way of life is threatened, we'll defend it.

--You're welcome to bootlick every foreign power you can find and kowtow to every whiner who screams about micro-aggressions.

--We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.

--You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, political correctness, woke ideology and Shirley McLaine. You can also have the UN., but we will no longer be paying the bill.

--We'll keep the SUVs, pickup trucks, and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Volt and Leaf you can find.

--You can give everyone health care if you can find any practicing doctors.

--We'll keep "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "The National Anthem."

--I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine," "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing," "Kum Baya," or "We Are the World."

--We'll practice trickle-down economics and you can continue to give trickle-up poverty your best shot.

--Since they so often offend you, we'll keep our history, our name, and our flag.

In the spirit of friendly parting, think about who's going to need whose help 15 years from now.

Sincerely,

John J. Wall

Law Student and an American

P.S. Also, please take George Clooney, Ted Turner, Sean Penn, Martin Short, Charlie Sheen, Barbra Streisand, and (Hanoi) Jane Fonda with you.

P.P.S. You won't have to press 1 for English when you call our country.

And here we go 'round the horn...

a local oil change place provided a much needed laugh this week

one of our fire bushes in glorious bloom

trying to de-stress...

...while this was happening in NV, AZ, GA, WI, PA and MI...

these two chaps...

...were keeping a wary eye on this guy.

look who flew in to our bonus room for a visit

our japanese maple providing a pop of color

dismayed but not discouraged by recent events

These are dark days.

When free and fair elections are compromised by willful corruption, the foundation of our constitutional republic - the ability of the people to choose their leaders - is destroyed.

Our Declaration of Independence states it thus:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."

Intentionally ignoring the consent of the governed was the primary cause of the Revolutionary War.

The original colonists did not want to break from England; they simply wanted to be heard, to have a legitimate say in how they were governed.

When that basic element of government was denied them, they rebelled.

In the days and weeks ahead we will see if there is a legal remedy to reverse the obvious corruption occurring in several states, where denying certified poll watchers access while stuffing the ballot box to guarantee an outcome has replaced transparent counting of legitimate votes.

Referring to the United States of America, Lincoln told Congress in 1862 they would either "nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth".

Time will tell which of those diametrically opposed choices we've made.

later, mcm fans...

I Done Did...

...the dirty deed...and my only regret is I didn't have a chain saw as I removed the two trees marring Dean Bryant Vollendorf's clean, sweeping lines along the front wall.

Here's his original design...

...and here's our front wall when we moved in...

...besides all the overgrown bushes, it looks like some kind of giant green spider perched up there, with a tree to the right that blocks DBV's metal artwork.

But after some work with my shears and handy buck saw, here's the new view along our front wall...

...shrubs trimmed, big green spider removed and metal artwork revealed.

DBV passed on 12 years ago, so I like to think he's smiling down at us for restoring his original vision of clean lines for this home.

So...why did we wait 'til our 4th summer here to do this?

A couple of reasons...one was just a matter of priorities...there was so much that needed to be fixed / replaced, from flooring in the entire home to a complete kitchen remodel to basic plumbing repairs to total roof replacement...etc etc etc

And perhaps equally important, without actually knowing the pedigree of this home, we had only our suspicions and suppositions to go on.

Finding out who the architect was and seeing the original design on paper has given us a certainty about what we should be doing and how we should proceed.

Ergo, no more trees interrupting the clean lines of the front wall...

...and an uncluttered view of the metal artwork.

Progress.

It was a perfect fall day for hickory golf...

...somewhere, I assume...but sadly, not here...

...no, 'round these parts it was cold, wet and gloomy, so no pleasant stroll through the countryside this week.

This is distressing since the weekends I have left to chase that little white gutta percha around the links with my hickories are rapidly disappearing...

...hoping for better weather next week.

Karen and I are late to the party, but we've been watching Heartland...

...a Canadian TV series that has recently been renewed for its 14th season.

We're currently working our way through season 2, so we've got a ways to go.

I think we're enjoying it so much because it's pretty much a mirror image of the life we live...

...y'know, up in rural Canada on a ranch, surrounded by horses and cattle and rodeos and...

...yeah, ok, that's not it.

I guess we like it because it's well acted with believable characters and clean dialog and it's not intrusively "woke" or politically motivated...it's just life...a very different life than we live...

...but still...it feels authentic and genuine and I don't have to brace myself for the usual bizarre nonsense that permeates most of the trash being spewed from Hollywood.

Amazon Prime has the first 9 seasons, so we're good for awhile.

At the moment it's a very pleasant break from the toxic environment currently permeating American culture.

Highly recommended.

Some random sights from here and there...

my temporary command center at Oval Beach on our recent anniversary

I spy a beautiful woman

coming in for a landing

the squirrels are always amused at the cats' serious but hopeless attempts to catch them

at the weary willie convention

October moon and Mars on the left

I've been sitting here wracking the neural network that passes for my brain, trying to think of something witty to say as I push you out the back door so we here at the Atomic Monster Cafe can get back to all the important stuff we have to do...

...and I finally thought of something...

later, mcm fans...