Dank & Dreary

I think "dank" is a very evocative word, don't you? I mean, even if you don't know exactly what it means the mere sound of it tells you. Dank. It means damp and cold, disagreeably damp and cold, according to my Oxford American Desk Dictionary And Thesaurus (2nd ed.). That is definitely how it is outside right now. Today I was hoping to make one more pass over the lawns with the bagger on the mower to mulch up the grass and leaves and then spread it over the garden to decay a bit over the winter and then be tilled in come spring to enrich the soil. Make homes for rats and moles, says Durwood, but I say we only have mice and voles, they're littler. Maybe the mice and voles will keep the two cats who frequent our backyard happy and well-fed? Durwood suggested buying cat food but I said no, besides he just wants to keep them here so that they eat the rodents anyway. I think that's why they're here in the first place. The orange one came to the birdbath last night and turned on the light. He/she looks nice and well-kept, even comes to the patio door to demand entry but we don't cave. The other cat is dark colored and has an attitude, it stalks and struts rather than trots like the orange one. Hmm, come to think of it I haven't seen any mice out there lately. Either they've moved indoors (god, I hope not) or have become cat food. Hopefully it's the second. Good cats, nice predators.

November 20--Iceland. The molten core of the planet is closest to the surface in Iceland. either that or the surface is thinnest or badly cracked because the volcanic and hydrothermal activity there is constant and widespread. Carole and Mac had won a trip to Iceland in a raffle at church. They'd bought one $5 ticket, certain that they had literally one chance in a thousand, and darned if they didn't pull out their number. Neither of them knew a thing about the island country so Mac got some books from the branch library in their neighborhood and their son Eddie did some online research. They had enjoyed the flight, their first, and their hotel was homey and not too modern. They found a couple restaurants within walking distance that had food that was tasty without being too fancy and where the staff spoke passable English. Since neither Carole nor Mac was very sophisticated they were happy with their working-class finds.

And I plan to see what else they're up to in tonight's writing. Sorry to leave you hanging with nothing happening. I need to get dressed and go to Sam's to get a couple things for Mom. She wants "a big jug of Tums or Rolaids and a box of those bitty frozen cream puff balls." She having "the girls" over for bridge today, after the Packer game of course, so the balls need to thaw a bit. Gotta run, I'm on the clock here. Have a... day.
--Barbara