Good news, bad news.

The bad news is time flies.  The good news is you’re the pilot.  ~ Baseball Pitcher Justin Verlander

The good news is that the recent cold weather has given me some beautiful sunsets to photograph.  (See left.) The bad news is it’s cold outside.

The bad news is that I fell yesterday and hurt my wrist.  The good news is that it isn’t broken.  The bad news is that it’s sprained and painful.  The good news is that I don’t need a cast.  The bad news is that I do need a carpal tunnel splint.  The good news is that I didn’t hurt anything else.  The bad news is that I feel like a clumsy oaf!

The bad news is that my glasses fell apart in my hands on Thursday night.  The good news is that I now have new ones with no scratches.  The bad news is that they weren’t in my budget.  The good news is that they were having a sale on Friday so I got a good deal.  The bad news is that I’m feeling somewhat unlucky lately.  The good news is that I’m an optimist; I’ll cast those negative thoughts out of my head.

The good news is that Lulu likes to lie on my lap and sleep.  The bad news is that Lulu wants to sleep on my lap all the time.  The good news is that I’m happy she likes me so much. The bad news is that I can’t get anything done.  The bad news is that if I don’t let her sit on me she gets into mischief.  She climbs among the electric wires behind the television.  She climbs on the bookshelf and deliberately knocks things off.  She gets under the end table and reaches up and tries to scratch my arm.  The good news is she has finally settled down and is sitting as close to me as she can get with her head resting on the side of my laptop.  Good cat, bad cat.

The bad news is that fifty people died in a hotel fire; the good  news is that we got exclusive footage. ~ News Anchor Jessica Savitch  (I can’t believe she actually said that on the air.)

Simultaneous sunset/moonrise.

I cry very easily.  It can be a movie, a phone conversation, a sunset — tears are words waiting to be written.         ~ Paulo Coelho

I walked the neighborhood this morning but the cool temperature called me out again this evening.  Here are photos of wonders and fun things I saw.

When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands… ~ Mahatma Gandhi

I rounded the corner after snapping a picture of the sunset.  Imagine my delight at seeing this view of the moonrise through a neighbor’s tree.

I had just photographed the moon and continued my walk when I heard a woman’s voice calling out, evidently to me, “Miss, Miss.”  She hurried up to me as I turned to her voice.  She was a short, elderly woman, and was apparently concerned that I might have taken a picture of what looked like a dead tree in her yard.  I wonder who she thought I was and why I would do that.  I introduced myself and explained that I was shooting the moon.  She told me her tree was not dead, that it was coming back.  I still don’t know her name but I’m happy for her tree.

At least one neighbor is ready for Halloween.  I can’t help thinking that the ghastly hands would make a greater impact if they didn’t put them out so far in advance.  Than again, I guess they don’t want to scare the bejeebies out of the little ones.

I will probably get stoned, or yelled at, or something horrible, for saying this, but I never have understood the football craze.  I love sports.  I just don’t particularly care for football.  It seems barbaric to me.  I think that statement puts me in a fairly small minority.  We have a very diverse neighborhood.  Many of my neighbors come from other parts of the US or from other countries.  I don’t imagine all of them pull for the local team, the Carolina Panthers, but one neighbor does .  This is the official Panther logo.

Home again.  I am always surprised at how rapidly the sun drops below the horizon, casting a sort of purple over the landscape.  It’s a quiet time, a gentle time, a gift.

There’s a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they’re absolutely free.  Don’t miss so many of them.    ~ Jo Walton

Sunrise, Sunset — Piano         Beautiful slide show.

Chasing the sunset.

When the weather is very hot I stay inside more than I like because I don’t tolerate high temperatures and humidity well.  Toward the end of the day I start to get antsy, even agitated.  When that happens I make up an errand of some sort and head out.  I trumped up a  need for a gadget at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  I was driving in a southwesterly direction when I realized I was staring at a magnificent sunset.  I took the shot above with my cell phone in the parking lot.  The store didn’t have the item I was seeking so I left the store fairly soon.  Wow!  The sunset was getting better.  I decided it would be even more beautiful over the lake in a nearby park so I hopped in my car and sped off.

Here’s what I saw when I got to the park.  I had to balump balump over the speed bumps in order to get there before the sun disappeared.  Whew!  Just made it.  I’ll probably need a new front-end alignment for my trouble and haste.

In addition to the fabulous sunset, some goofy geese posed for me at water’s edge.