Five Simple Things (October 30)

 Hello.

Tomorrow is Halloween and we normally are getting ready to pick up a commercial cotton candy machine, and organizing our sugars, cones, bags, and Halloween décor to bring the trick-or-treaters in. We found that spinning cotton candy was a lot more fun and a lot cheaper for us. Halloween for the last six years have been us spinning cotton candy and getting a good arm workout in the process. But, with the Coronavirus pandemic and the wildfires here, we have decided to lay low this year and pass out candy. I stocked up on some organic suckers over the past two weeks and have plenty to give out. Hopefully, we get a few dozen trick-or-treaters this year, if not, we are going to be eating a lot of suckers the next few months. We are just in a weird place with everything in the world and I wouldn't blame anyone not wanting to go house to house and collect candy. We will definitely be wearing our masks the whole time, though. Here are five things this week. 

1. This Snail.

Slowly seeing more and more animals coming out of their hiding areas. For about a week there was a lot of random animals around the city; deer, a pack of coyotes, geese, birds of all kinds, a cougar, a lot of rabbits, raccoons, beavers, etc. They were running to escape the fire we were told. Then for about three months after seeing all of those it went quiet. No animals, not birds, nothing. We are starting to see them now more. I always feel sorry for animals during intense and stressful moments. They don't understand anything other than danger and try to run away from it. It makes me sad to think a lot of animals didn't make it to safety before the fire reached them. It's nice to hear the birds and see the other random animals out and about flourishing once again.

2. This Ride.

Skylar and I have been riding our bikes out to where Jeff works. It's about a 15 mile ride. Jeff put the bike rack on the back of his car and we end up loading our bikes up and driving back home. Hopefully, one of these days we'll be able to ride there and back, but for now, it's nice to just be able to do 15 miles and not feel like it's a struggle.

3. This History.

Found this interesting information on garden hermits and hedge witches. History is so great when it reveals hidden gems like this. Do you relate more the garden hermit or the hedge witch?

4. These Sunflowers.

We had to cut the beat up sunflowers this week and "save" them from just shriveling up and dying. A placed them in a large vase on the table and for now they will be pampered. It's unfortunately that we've had such a horrible summer this year, but at least they look nice for now.

5. These Prints.

While cleaning the windows of ash inside and outside from this past wildfires season I discovered these nose prints. I haven't cleaned this window since Meia died and those nose prints are hers. I teared up a bit, but it was nice to have a reminder of her in a random place. I miss her.

Yogi Surprise for October:

One last thing: Skylar and I started a podcast on true crime, serial killers/notable murders, hauntings, and ghostly occurrences. It's named Diablic Evil and we'd love for you to check it out. Our first episode aired on October 27 and is on H. H. Holmes. You can listen to episodes on most podcast platforms or from our website here, or our Anchor page here.

Positive affirmations this week:

Have a nice weekend.

Kurt Cobain Memorial Park-Aberdeen, Washington

It took me awhile to figure out what to say here, but I decided to just let the picture speak for themselves. We did find Kurt Cobain's boyhood home, but there's a family living there and it's been remodeled. We didn't feel right disturbing them, or even taking any pictures of it from the outside. Sitting under the bridge where Kurt Cobain wrote songs, played, and hung out with his friends before he became an icon was a surreal and somber experience. Nirvana is one of my favorite bands, but it's so heartbreaking to know that the singer, songwriter, and face behind the band was so sad and fighting with himself in his own head. Depression takes some of the best people from this world. I miss his words and thoughts on the world, especially now that I am in my 40s. I wish he was here still. Long live Kurt and his memory.

"One more special message to go, and then I'm done. Then I can go home..." Kurt Cobain

Five Simple Things (October 23)

 Hello.

This week we took a drive through the wildfire areas near Detroit, Oregon. It's devastating. Literally devastating. A few years ago we were thinking of buying a cabin in the Detroit area. We drove up to see if the cabin survived and it didn't make it. It was such a cute cabin, too. Every single cabin in the area is gone. It breaks my heart so much for those people, especially during the time we are in right now. We are finally seeing more and more blue skies here, but it's kind of bittersweet. We lost a few people in the fires here in Oregon and two people died less than 30 minutes from our house. They got trapped by the fire and tried to leave in a vehicle and didn't make it. I always think of the suffering. I hope they didn't suffer. Most of the wildfires are contained now, but it's still a bit smoky here, but not as bad as it was. Hopefully, we get a wet winter here this year so it will help extinguish the rest. A lot of people that were evacuated were able to return to their homes this week. And, people in burned areas were able to get to their homes and survey the damage. It's just awful here. It seems the moral of everyone is depressing. We've seen a lot this year here, but I have hopes that everything will be okay. Here are five things this week.

1. These Skies. 

Finally seeing more and more blue skies without the sun or clouds being blocked by wildfire smoke. This moment driving to Corvallis we were able to see the sun lighting up the sky and then the clouds broke through and a few sprinkles of rain came. It was almost like being given a drink of water after weeks of being thirsty. It was a nice and wonderful moment.

2. These Cabins.

I love horror and anything creepy and although this cabin/barn is currently not abandoned, or unoccupied I found them cool and almost horror-movie-like.

3. These Geese.

We've seen more Canadian Geese around the valley lately. We think they've been pushed out of other areas because of the wildfires, and have found refuge in the open fields here. This flock looked worn out, or tired in a way when we saw them. Hopefully, they are finding some peace through everything that has happened this wildfire season.

4. This Animation.

 

I took the picture of Eleven drinking the water from the glass and played around a bit with some Instagram animation. I love how it turned out. ☺

5. This Snail.

Skylar's snail habitat got a good clean out this week. The snails now are living their best life in a nice clean tank.

Positive affirmations this week: 

Have a nice weekend. 

Five Simple Things (October 16)

 Hello.

We realized this week that we didn't have a summer here in the Willamette Valley. With the Coronavirus pandemic and the wildfires, we completely missed out on a summer here. Everything is so weird this year and we are ready for 2020 to end. Hopefully, the next few month that are left in 2020 give us some positive aspects to end the year with. Since trick-or-treating has been canceled for a lot of people, we've decided to stay at home and just wait out the trick-or-treaters that dare the elements. I ordered some organic candy this year and are still waiting on that to arrive. We hung a few decorations, but it just seems weird this year. We plan on wearing our masks the entire time, hopefully others will respect that, as well. Here are five things this week.

1. This Puzzle.

We've been putting together a lot of random puzzles to pass the time through lockdown and through the pandemic. This puzzle is about our twentieth puzzle to put together, but it's been a fun challenge. 

2. This Sticker.

Definitely something I'd had on my car, too.

3. This Sticker.

I got out of my car and it startled me a bit. I've seen a few others since this one. 

4. This Player.

Been jamming out to our record collection this week. It's nice to hear some classics on vinyl.

5. This Bird.

 

This one-legged bird hangs out at Jeff's work. Every time we go there we look for it.

Positive affirmations this week: "Be patient. There is nothing you can't do. Don't think about it too much. It will come to you when you are not thinking intently about it." -Yoko Ono

Also, with the holiday season here, keep these things in mind when dealing with uncomfortable family situations.

Have a nice weekend.