Monday Musings.

I do wish there was more truth in labeling.  Squash.  I was lulled into a false sense of ease when approaching my buttercup squash.  After wrestling like a crazed sumo with the thing, a more apt name would have been "Alligator Squash" or "Rhino Squash".   Somehow (hahahahaha, snort) I ended up with a bushel of winter squash.  After giving away another half bushel.  I just. can't. help. myself.  It was all I could do to keep my hand from picking up the phone, reading that my favorite winter vegetable stand was closing for the season and had BUSHELS of pie pumpkins for FREE.  But I did sit on my hands until the hysteria passed.  I mean, really.  I had thought about climbing Mount Big Bertha this weekend, but the closest I'll be getting is to continue giving her the google-eyes as I pass by in the cold storage room (aka guest room).  I have mustard to make.  (Colonel Mustard in the Dining Room with a Rope!)

People who think dogs are two dimensional are so limited.  If you spend more than ten minutes with a dog, his/her personality is bound to shine through.  My boy, Scrappy, has an amazing amount of personality - when he wants me to give him something, or come over and hug his noggin, he gives me the big Moo-Moo eyes.  I can feel them on me, even with my back towards him.  And of course, I do whatever he wants.  Lovey is guileless - what you see is what you get.  She wears her emotions on her face, her backside and those ears!  Of course, the Pepperoni is a whole nuther thing.  He is 4 pounds drama and 4 pounds manipulation.

I was roused out of a sound sleep (and a very nice dream, thanks a lot) by the pre-attack cry of an owl.  If you've never heard one, count yourself lucky.  I lay there, in the dark, with my heart pounding.  What must it feel like to be some unlucky small creature, not hearing the danger gliding above you, then, WHAM!  I bet that scream will freeze any prey to the spot.  Guess that's the idea.  All that was left of whatever became dinner was a bit of coarse fur on the deck.

I am having a heck of a time this year, getting into the holiday spirit.  It might be the combination of unseasonably warm weather during the day, followed by tree-cracking cold at night (perfect combination for sap gathering if it were spring.  Which it ain't.)  Or it could be a severe case of the grumps brought on by too much Christmas noise too soon - pre-Halloween, for natssake.  It is probably all of these things, plus something I can't quite put my finger on.  As I get older, I get a longing for a simple celebration of it all.  It's almost, dare I say, a longing for a Hallmark holiday.  This is odd, because I haven't ever had one and I am not the type of person to like sappy stuff.

(Sensitive Souls Alert - proceed with caution if you have good hygiene sensitivities - coughcoughmamapeacoughcough) As I was happily munching away on my from-home lunch recently, my coworker stuck his head around the corner of my office door (I am inconveniently close to the office kitchen and everyone seems to need to tarry around my door - sometimes bringing germs - while their coffee brews) and asked me about my salad.  I had just picked it that morning - December! - and I carefully identified all the greens:  tatsoi, arugula, mustard, kale - and the homemade pomegranate molasses vinaigrette.  I also noticed:  cat hair, dog hair, which I left out of the narrative.  That made me wonder about just how much foreign, non-food matter I ingest in a week.  I shiver to think.  Then, again, I could consider it a free source of fiber...