Tomato
This is the kind of thing that drives Cris a bit crazy. She finally insisted that I photograph this thing today and that I get it off the counter. Otherwise I would have let it go for a few more days. / She has been a vegetarian since college (her first BA at UC Chico) and has always said the one thing she missed was bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches. This past summer I spent a great weekend with my college pal Seth Tibbott and bunch of my other Wittenberg friends. Seth was always a bit of a wild man and after he graduated he moved to the Northwest and started Turtle Island Foods, makers of the famous Tofurky. He still runs the company and when we were together he gave me some coupons. They make a tempeh product that resembles bacon and I picked up some to see how it was. Well, it is great, and Cris is thrilled to be able to have tempeh, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches. So when I make them, there is usually some left-over tomato. I left this one on the counter overnight and by the next morning it started growing hair!
Well, hair like things with tiny black balls on the ends. I am quite good in keeping a tidy kitchen, but once in a while I do leave things out. I have seen a lot in my cooking life, but never anything like this. It certainly isn’t mold, but what in the wide wide world of sports is it?
S C J U I L G F O W T
I was walking on the beach today at low tide and saw this piece of plant that had washed up sometime earlier in the day. A pretty perfect “S”, and I thought that it could be the start of a collection of naturally occurring letters. A few minutes later, I saw this “C”.
Well, I thought, another one for the collection. And then, this “J”.
I ended up walking about 5 miles on the beach, looking for letters.
This “U” is nice with the leaves still attached; sort of like the “S”.
I’m calling this one ↑ an “I”
Nice to have found an “L”. So useful at times.
It might be stretching it a bit to call the one above a “G”, but hey, it works for me.
No question though, this is a lovely “F”
This one came pretty close to being a “Q”, but an “O” is much more useful (although we did have a “U” to go with the “Q”).
This is just barely a “W”, and it even has a little flower attached.
And finally, this somewhat stylized “T”.
I am a pretty lame Scrabble player, but I try to do the Times crossword everyday. As I was walking back from the beach I thought it might be nice to see how many words could be made from these letters. S C J U I L G F O W T. It is a good mix of vowels and consonants. If you want to join in, post your words in the comments section.
I am wishing all of you a fantastic, productive, and peaceful 2015. Cheers, Jon
Olive at the Beach
Due to the wonderful generosity of my brother and sister-in-law, we are back at the beach in South Carolina. This is Olive’s first visit to the ocean.
She took to it like a champ. Full blast, right into the water and ran like the wind. Here she is during her first encounter with a horseshoe crab. Initially she was cautious, but after a minute she just barked at it until we lured her away with biscuits. She is really becoming a great dog.
Willard Suitcases / Josephine S
A few days ago I started getting a great deal of email from people who had seen the project somewhere online. I am not really sure of the source, but am always pleased to hear from folks. I think I tracked down the article, but it did have some really glaring errors, and attributed some things to me that I never would have said. I hesitate to post a link, as it is one of those conglomeration sites with some tacky ads and links.
But the good part is that I am hearing from some wonderful people who are sharing their stories with me. I really appreciate it, and am grateful that the project is reaching new viewers.
Flowering Plant
As you can tell from the title of this post, I am clueless about the names of plants that we have.
And our method for taking care of them is quite simple; inside in the winter with not too much watering, outside in the summer to let nature take its course.
At the end of last winter this plant was showing no signs of life. We put it outside anyway and it came back with a vengeance. It is now flowering like a champ.
Kalamazoo Asylum for the Insane
After my fantastic visit to Wittenberg University I drove up to Kalamazoo, Michigan to visit my great friend Ken Schaefer. We were taking a tour of Western Michigan University, where he works, and I looked to the south and saw this. Amazing. The State Hospital has an interesting history, and dates back to the earliest of New York State’s asylums. The only building that remains from the original Kirkbride plan buildings is the water tower, and it is huge.
Driving back home tomorrow. It is about 14 hours and I might break it up back in Erie. We’ll see.
Heritage Center of Clark County
This ⇧ model (made out of corn kernels) is of the building in my previous post. It is displayed at the Heritage Center of Clark County. Incredible Richardsonian Romanesque architecture which houses one of the most interesting local museums that I have ever seen. Really, go check it out if you are ever in this part of Ohio.
So much of downtown Springfield is gone by way of the wrecking ball, which is really sad to me. But the Heritage Center has a fantastic recreation of downtown streets as the were decades ago. When I first came to Wittenberg, my friends and I used to stop in to Sons bar for a beer or two.
Off to the Wescott House now. I can’t wait to see it.
Springfield, Ohio
Much of the time when I stay in hotels, I get crap views out the window. This is a bit of an exception. The black streaks in the sky are crows, which came out in droves as the sun was going down. (Is that what a shitload of crows would be called? A drove? Hold on, I’ll look it up. Oh dear, it is a “murder” of crows.). There were hundreds of them, all making quite a ruckus. AND, when I was walking around town before dark, I heard what I was sure was a very loud hawk. It turns out it is a recording (!) of a very loud hawk, probably in an attempt to scare off the crows. What a world.
Hallway 2
I made it to Springfield. Off for a beer and then to work on my presentations.
Hallway / Suitcases
I am in a motel in Erie, PA on my way to Wittenberg University where I will be spending the next few days talking to faculty and students about the suitcase project. I am really excited about this and owe a debt of thanks to my friend Peter Wray for reconnecting me to Witt.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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