Biff Rambles On About … Blog Training, a Spring in my Step, Wending through a Windy City, and Screwy Squirrels

I have been trying to get back onto the blogging train for over a week now.

It gets more difficult the longer it takes.  It is akin to jumping onto a train that has just started huffing out of the station.  At first it may not be difficult, but as time goes by and the train picks up speed, it can begin to look like a scene from a Buster Keaton movie.

At this point, I am just trying, like Buster, to hold on.  I’ll worry about actually getting onto the train later.

Spring has Sprang … Sprung … Sprangeded (?)

Spring is here in Dallas in body, if not in spirit.  She is delightful to look at, but you can tell her heart’s just not into it yet.  Looking at her through the window, she is all blossoms and buds and birds singing and green lawns.  But if you try to get close to her by going outside, she is still cold and aloof.

Frankly, she’s just not that into us yet.

Her winds still blow cold and her thoughts are elsewhere.

But that is okay.

Life is beautiful, whether it is decorated in snow, or illuminated with the light of spring.

The Windy City … but Not the One You’re Thinking Of

On Friday, I took off from work and my daughter and I drove into downtown Dallas for our annual springtime walk around the city.  As always, it was a joy to spend time with my her.  Now that she is grown and working and living on her own, our opportunities to spend time together have gotten far fewer and much more precious.  Unfortunately, they have to be scheduled now.  But such is life.

We started out the day at the Dallas Farmer’s Market, but it was virtually deserted owing to the early hour and the very, very cool temperatures.  But it was nice getting to walk around it without the usual throngs of people.  The only thing we bought was a bag of coffee beans from Noble Coyote Coffee, which has a little shop there in the DFM.  It is very good coffee and we both like it a lot.

Next we drove over to the Dallas Museum of Art.  This is something we always enjoy doing.  I did not take any pictures this year, but you can get a feel of the place by visiting one of my previous photo expeditions here.

And then, the part we really enjoy the most, we walked around downtown Dallas.  This year was very cool and there was a nearly-constant and very stout wind.  Still, it was very fun and we enjoyed it just as much as we always do.  Again, I did not get any pictures, but you can see some from a previous visit here.

We also had a fantastic Mexican lunch at the Iron Cactus.   The decor was very elegant, though the prices were quite reasonable.  We also got a table that looked out through the glass front of the restaurant and onto the street, so we got to do some excellent people-watching.  Since it was Friday, I had the fish tacos, which were absolutely phenomenal.  They were made from filets of blackened cod with very crunchy shreds of cabbage and a delightful sauce.  The service was excellent.

All in all, it was a fantastic day.  According to my daughter’s FitBit, we put in about 18,000 steps and climbed about 26 flights of stairs.  My steps-to-miles math isn’t very good, but I think we determined we walked something like 8 miles.  So I don’t feel too bad about the sumptuous lunch we had.

Genius Squirrel Stymies Authorities

Since it is spring, I have put out and filled up my bird feeders.  I always buy the kind that the squirrels find challenging to eat out of.  My main bird feeder is actually a double-decker one that has those cage-like cylinders with little ports in them for the birds to perch on and feed out of. It looks sort of like this, though mine has wire mesh rather than plastic cylinders.

Squirrels can use it too, but they have to hang by their tails from the branch above the bird feeder and pluck out sunflower seeds through the mesh or the ports.  It is a lot of work for them.

Unfortunately, the Einstein squirrel among them has figured out how to unscrew the bottom tier from the top tier, and so every morning I go outside and find the bottom tier laying on the ground and that bandits have made off with the contents.  It is very frustrating.

So now my engineering brain is busily working on ways to make it impossible for them to unscrew the tier.

Stay tuned to find out if I am smarter than a squirrel.

If you are a betting person, I recommend you lay your money on the squirrel.

The Dismount

Well, that is probably enough rambling for one day.  It is nearly 10:00 and I am still siting here in my “writing chair” in my pajamas.  My coffee cup is empty.  My bagel is gone.  My birdfeeder is on the ground.

Might as well get up, stretch, and go face this glorious new day that has been given us.

Enjoy!