Sunday Potpourri No. 5

Today's post comes with the Standard Sunday Disclaimer: "The post title is using the term 'potpourri' in the second of the two senses listed here. The post may also be rather short, although not necessarily so."

Some Days...

 ...just feel like this, you know?

"Loneliness" by Hans Thoma

Things That Make Me Happy: Bric-a-Brac Edition

Most days, I'd be able to employ one of my sure-fire (at least for me) cures for depression: 
a visit here...

"We'd love to be able to help, but you know we're closed on Sundays."

Yeah, I know...

When they're open, I can always cheer myself up by finding something cool for my classroom...

...like this (it is actually hanging in the "guitar room"
in my apartment at the moment)...

...and for my home, like this (which currently hangs just above the light switch in my bedroom).

They always have SO much cool stuff...if I ever win the Powerball drawing, it will be...

A Fool and His Money...

Back when I was in high school (1968-1971), if you had told me and my friends that a day would come when people would actually buy water in plastic bottles, we'd have laughed in your face. And if you had further suggested that people would pay more for that water than they pay for gasoline, we'd have thought you had lost your mind. But these days, people cheerfully fork over $2 or more for a single liter of bottled water, and don't even bat an eye...

 

This one is my personal favorite, because I love the bottle design. Unfortunately, I can only find it when I'm traveling. I was in Birmingham, Alabama the first time I ever saw the brand, but since then I have found it in other parts of the country. Just not here in southwest Iowa (at least not that I have seen)...

Wild Kingdom Bed & Breakfast Update

Part of the fun of having the bird feeder and bird bath on my patio is learning about the different kinds of birds who live in my neighborhood. At first, I just figured all the small birds who visited were sparrows. I had no idea how many different kinds of birds are common to this area, but now that I've started paying closer attention, it's clear that several varieties of birds are regular customers. Here are a couple of types I have recently been able to identify...

"More thistle, please."

This is a Common Redpoll...

"Fewer grackles would also be nice."

...and this is a Pine Siskin.

"If you ask me, I think they're spoiled and demanding and noisy and messy."

Which is why I don't ask you...

Until Next Time...

In Stephen King's The Stand, when Mother Abigail sends Glen, Stu, Larry, and Ralph to Las Vegas to confront Randall Flagg, she tells them that one of them will "fall by the way" before reaching their destination, but she can't tell them which one of them will be the one to fall. On days like today, I feel like I'm the one who has fallen short of where I was supposed to wind up...

Don't worry, though, no spoilers here if you haven't seen the movie. Today's send-off is just another bit of W.G. Snuffy Walden's evocative, haunting score. Enjoy...