EarthMo 2023 - the Zombie apocalypse

Temps are in the thirties with a stiff wind that chills you more than the actual temp.  I went to the mall today and once again reflected on the dying nature of the creature.  I realize my life has paralleled the age of the Great Shopping Mall.  I was a child when they were first conceived of and am still alive as they slowly pass out of existence.  I remember when Merle Hay Mall was Merle Hay Plaza and the concept of a collection of stores all in once place was a consumer miracle.  I grew up on the "southside" of Des Moines, but a couple of times a month my mom and I would drive the 13 miles to go the more affluent west side and a shopping area called Merle Hay Plaza.  The long journey (to a kid) and the route we took remains a strong memory. My parents bowled in a bowling league at Plaza Lanes.  More memories.   Then they put a single roof over all those stores and changed the name from Merle Hay Plaza to Merle Hay Mall.  Merle Hay by ...

 202311270450   woke up at ten til 5.  this is a slight improvement compared to other times earlier this month when I was waking up around 2 and 3 am.  I feel pretty rested but woke up aware of an extremely dry tongue, the result of the dessication occurring in the room.  My temperature/humidity gauge reads 16% humidity but I am not sure how reliable it is.  I have begun to doubt its accuracy although it seemed to work well when I bought it. I woke up wondering about the score of the Iowa vs Drake women's basketball game that I reported on my blogger page.  I did a quick google search and found a score of 113 to 90.  That is what I reported in my blog.  But it seems I had seen a different score on a previous search so I am thinking of looking for further verification or just taking it off the blog page.  In those first few seconds of consciousness this morning, I also began to doubt the truth of a so called wrestling match between I...

It snowed yesterday!  The first day of snow in Iowa is always exciting to me.  I went to a basketball game at Drake, thankful for something interesting to do other than shop.  It wasn't black Friday but the Saturday afterward.  The first quarter the Drake women's bb team looked a little sluggish and just could not sink a basket.  Even the layups were off.  They didn't look anything like they did when they played Iowa.  I watched the highlights of that game on You-tube and the Drake women scored 90 points against the 5th ranked Hawkeyes, losing 90-113 (11/19/2023).  However, by the 4th quarter of the game I was watching in person, they rallied and looked a lot better.  Still, they lost to the Richmond Virginia Spiders 66 to 74.  I cannot believe a school would name one of their sports team The Spiders .         The big surprise, and treat, was seeing the snow coming down as I exited the the arena.  It was com...

 13 Nov 2023, coming on midnight Look, I had a brief hiatus.  Locked out of my g-mail account for three weeks or so.  Also lost my phone but now have both back.  Halloween come and gone and no decorations on any of the houses.  Quite amazing how things have changed since my childhood half a century ago.  Memories of my mother's decorated windows, trick or treating on a freezing October beggars night.  It still baffles me that that night was invariably cold and often rainy making it miserable for a kid wearing a costume that you didn't want to cover with a coat.   My cousin died three days ago, November 11, Saturday early morning I'm told.  This is her brother's birthday.  I didn't know it was the last time I would see her before she passed on, but on that day as we watched a Hallmark movie on her TV set, she told me about a house on Park Avenue quite dressed up for Halloween.   My landlord drove me out to see it and it lif...