Saturday, November 3, 2018

AND NOW NOVEMBER



The days seem to be impatiently rushing towards the end of the year. October is now only a memory.

Halloween was mild and breezy - a balmy 69 degrees (that's Fahrenheit, for those of you in Oslo). My celebratory mood was minimal: I had pizza and a piece of Mississippi mud cake.

What's Mississippi mud cake? 

Heck if I know. It has chocolate and nuts in it. And probably simulated marshmallows. I bought it at the supermarket. My knowledge of exotic southern cuisine is minimal, at best.

What I really love is Mississippi Mud Beer. It's my favorite.
I used to drink it when I lived in Texas. I haven't seen it in Tennessee. I suppose Tennesseans consider it to be an evil concoction consumed by heathens.


The day after Halloween the weather suddenly turned cold, gloomy, and damp. Some of the lovely colored foliage is already withered and turning dire brown.

Yesterday (Friday) I needed to go to the bank and post office in town. It was extremely important and I couldn't avoid it.
It was a chilly 42 degrees - wet, misty, miserable. As I navigated the slick, winding mountain road I continuously cursed myself for living in a rural area. And I yearned for the good ol' days when I used to live three minutes from civilization.

I got back home quite early, since I didn't do any shopping. So I decided to take a quick walk in the wet woods. Mostly to snap a few photos of the remaining foliage.




My boots sank in the mud. And I got caught in a thorn bush. Don't know exactly how it happened, but suddenly two long thorny tentacles wrapped around my legs and I couldn't get lose. The thorns were so sharp that I was afraid to pull them.

As I was standing there, trapped in mud and thorns and wondering how the hell to get loose, I heard gun shots.
It's officially hunting season!

Gun shots always reverberate haphazardly through the forest and hills and it's difficult to tell exactly how close they really are. But these shots sounded uncomfortably nearby.

I finally managed to untangle the grasping thorny things with minimal damage to my hands (some blood, but not a lot). Then I hurried home, while praying that a myopic hunter wouldn't mistake my skinny ass for a whitetail deer.

The joy of living in the wilderness is almost unbearable.


23 comments:

  1. Love that last photograph. Had to smile about the thorny tentacles but not the idea of some gunman intruding on your space. You conjured up a picture that made me smile, in a friendly way you understand. My many trees are turning but they seem a bit slow in adapting true autumn colours.

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    1. There is (unfortunately) a lot of gunfire around here during hunting season. It always makes me slightly nervous when I walk in the woods. I only hope the hunters are sober and have keen eyesight....

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  2. What lovely pictures. You have inspired me to go out today and take some too. October did fly by. And alas, with Halloween over all the horror movies have stopped playing. It's a beautiful day here today, and our tress have really becoming stunning this week. As far as the eye can see....just all jewel tones. Mother Nature did good.

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    1. I'm always sad when October ends. As you said, all the horror movies vanish, along with the autumn decor. Oh well, Christmas is coming....
      Today was (finally) sunny again so I ventured outside and took a few more photos.

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  3. We have one of those Mississippi Mud bottles sitting on the shelf in our den. We bought a single bottle of it at the local booze store for my hubby to try, and we liked the bottle enough to keep it. The funny thing is, a few days later, we saw someone selling one of those empty bottles... for more than we'd paid for the FILLED bottle at the package goods store! (Needless to say, we didn't buy it...)

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    1. I initially bought that beer just because the bottle intrigued me - then I got hooked drinking it. I still have a few of those bottles around. If I ever knew they were selling (for big bucks) I would have saved all of them.

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  4. YIKES ... ouch! 'Never heard of either Mississippi Mud Pie or the beer, but I'm chuckling at the reference to 'simulated marshmallows.' Truth! Have you had Mississippi Pot Roast? Now THAT's some good eating!

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    1. I checked the Mud Cake recipe out on Google and it calls for marshmallows. The cake that I bought at the supermarket doesn't exactly seem to have real marshmallows - I'm not quite sure what's in it....

      Never heard of Mississippi pot roast but it sounds delicious.

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  5. Never heard of Mississippi Mud Beer, but I have heard of the cake. Never had it, though.

    When we lived out in farmland in Wisconsin for a few years we used to hear random gunshots in the dark. Illegal deer shining. Gunshots have a way of giving me the shivers whatever time of day I have heard them (a rarity in my life), but especially creepy in the black of night. Glad you got untangled and home safe!

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    1. The beer is dark, thick, and malty but smooth. I really like it.

      The gunfire is a common occurrence here this time of year. And it's always a cause for alarm, since I never know exactly where it is...or what they're aiming at. It usually inspires me to stay indoors.
      Those nasty thorn bushes were EVERYWHERE this year.

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  6. Hi Jon - yep, sadly October has come and gone already. November usually marks the beginning of winter around here with colder temps and snowfall. I like the look of that beer bottle - it has that vintage appearance. The last photograph is lovely.

    Have a pleasant weekend and check your email.

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    1. Autumn is much too brief and I'm definitely not looking forward to winter.
      Of course, winter is much more harsh up where you live - but it's still cold and extremely annoying here.
      I initially bought that beer solely because I liked the bottle. I haven't seen it since I moved to Tennessee, so I'm not sure if the bottle style has changed over the years.

      Helga, I just checked my email and didn't find anything (except dozens of ads from Zazzle).
      Hopefully you have my current email address (I've changed it so often).
      Here it is:
      jonvtenn@aol.com

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    2. I just checked again and got your email. The trivia is fascinating!

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    3. Thanks, Jon. I wasn't entirely sure if I had your address correct or not. Oh - there are some of those beer bottles listed on eBay. I checked since I like the bottle. The list prices are all over the place - between four to twenty -six dollars, plus hefty shipping costs. I'll pass.

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    4. Helga, I can't remember what I used to pay for a bottle of that beer, but I'm sure it was under four dollars. I certainly wouldn't pay much for an empty bottle.

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  7. Thank you for reminding me why I live in civilization, well DC is cilvilved if you stay our of politics.

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    1. Civilization definitely has its advantages!

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  8. Sometimes i wonder if certain brambly plants are really as unknowing as they make out, or if they are actually CONSCIOUS!!!! I got caught by one the other day which I swear just threw itself round my leg.

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  9. This thorny plant seemed to be from "The Little Shop of Horrors". It really did entwine itself around both my legs - and for a few uneasy moments I truly felt completely helpless!

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  10. First off, I'm a fan of anything that "has chocolate and nuts in it". The beer sounds a lot like Guinness Extra Stout --a longtime favorite. Photos are excellent, Jon. Sorry for the pain it caused you. Since it's Sunday, I'll leave you with a snippet from Acts,9:5 (if memory serves), God says, "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." --and I've always mentally added: Yeah, and there're a lot of them them out there. Take care, dear Jon. You mean a lot to me.

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    1. I appreciate the Biblical quote, Geo - and your apt addition to it (it was the first good laugh I had all day). Thanks for being there.

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  11. I told my John about the beer
    he looked for it online
    there was a place not far from here
    that sells it
    he went there
    they had 2 bottles left
    the guy said it's popular
    SPECIAL $3.99 each
    I enjoyed it

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    1. I'm glad you got to try it. I wish they sold it here in TN. They probably do, but not in my rural area. $3.99 is a reasonable price.

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