A little stuff, maybe some nonsense if I can work up the energy

Well, I showered.

I suspect this will be my peak of accomplishment today. I need to get ready for work, but I’m bushed from the effort of shaving my legs. Thank God I can put off washing my hair for another day. Anyway, I’m taking a break on the couch before the arduous task of brushing my teeth.

It might actually be the death of me.

There have been some brief lovely moments (without people) this week. I meant to describe them to y’all, but they didn’t really fit anywhere. So I’m just going to word dump them here. As much as I can remember.

I did my usual early early (6 am early) every other week grocery trip Friday last. As I got beyond the tall trees of my street, I saw the most beautiful harvest moon setting. I love big round orange moons rising. I never thought the same conditions could create a setting one.

So of course the traffic light onto Broadway turned green as I approached. I should have turned left but I crossed Broadway to the next subdivision because that‘s where the moon was. But again there were tall trees. And, unlike my neighborhood, lots of bright streetlights. And the road turns a lot and I’d lose the moon completely.

I knew, even if I could get to a place with no houses or trees obscuring it and fewer lights it still wouldn't be a good pic. But I tried anyway.

Well, that didn’t work. Also, arrrrrgh, bright bright flash. Which is probably why the delay so we have this lively blur of my dashboard.

Take two. The very bright blob bottom left is someone’s porch light. The two small pale circles (left edge and top edge) are probably reflections/after images. Or splots on my driver’s window. The kind of soft glow dead middle — it almost looks like a (blurry) merrie olde iron street lamp from a Dickens novel — is the moon behind some bare branches (I think). Tres artistique, if you could really see it.

I cannot explain the dramatic grey diagonal. I did not take the pic through the sunroof. My car does not have a sun roof. I think my phone camera just rebelled. "Chick, just no. We both know this isn't going to work. Let's just go to Kroger and be done."

And the small yet perfect pale orange sphere bottom right is some sort of ghost harvest moon. Oh, and there's another ghost harvest moon bottom center. Huh. That’s what the real one looked like, but big and magical. You can see why I wound through a quiet sleeping neighborhood before dawn to follow it.

siiiiiiiiigh

(I think the ghost moons are actually street lamps, which as you cross from the original 1960’s ranch house neighborhood into the new development, you find, ironically, the street lamps are olde worlde iron lamps from Dickens.)

sh*t I really have to move. Check back later and I’ll tell you about the ducks.

Update

So about the ducks. Tuesday evening I was almost home when I met five ducklings. They were crossing the street from the culvert where their not-so-bright parents had made a nest. I'm not sure where they were headed. They weren't really opening traffic safety rules, but they were young and unsupervised so that's not really their fault.

Or they were unsupervised until I guess my car cut off Mama Duck and Papa Drake's line of sight of their offspring. I stopped at the four-way stop sign and watched the ducklings doing their jaywalk waddle. My path was straight, but I waited just to watch the ducklings as they headed south up the cross street. And the duck parents swooped across the hood of my car right in front of my windshield honking and honking and honking.

(These are not the same ducks from my previous make way for ducklings post.)

The ducklings went into quick-time speed-waddle, quacking back the duckling equivalent of, "Sheesh, mom and dad, we hear you. We're waddling as fast as we can. Do you see how short our legs are?!" The adult ducks landed in the cross street (small neighborhood street with no traffic at 8 pm) to keep an eye on things. The ducklings made it to the sidewalk. I drove home and immediately texted my niece because what teenager doesn't want a random text from her aunt about ducklings.

I didn't try to take pics -- mostly because there was another car at the intersection and the ducklings weren't really at a good camera angle -- but that's probably for the best.

I feel like there were other odds and ends like these, little snippets of life that often are the bright point of my day. I'll tack 'em on if I remember any more.