Lesson 735: Starts and Finishes

 Hello, Readers.

I'm glad you found your way to the Lamp Post

to start your weekend

and finish out the work week.

We have spent the last two days in a much welcomed melt.

That means it's time to pull out this kind of boot.

We start out the winter in tall boots

and finish it with the rubber duckies for the slush.

I love footwear!

I really want this shoe--

it's fur lined and everything,

but frankly,

I'm afraid of my fashionista sister.

The snow drifts must melt!

Every day after school, 

when the long shadows come,

I take the dogs out for a walk.

The "walk" amounts to a treacherous tromp through the yard.

Hip high drifts leave me with snow down my boots

and soggy socks.

Tired dogs seek out their late afternoon sunny spots

I found some creative inspiration from the cat tails found 

across the street.

I was thinking of calling them dog tails.

That was enough to spark an idea for my next Fun Thing

that I will begin as soon as I finish up my extra schooling.

I will be completing the coursework for an English as a Second Language

certificate in a few weeks.

I've been working on the six course series since last January.

As soon as I'm done,

the pups and I are heading out to the nearby trails.

Tails on Trails has a nice ring to it.

I already told Ellen to start thinking of shirt ideas.

I have to find a map of the walking trails in the Erie County area,

and beyond.  If you know of a good one, let Eloise know.

We went off the beaten path last Saturday

and headed out to a rescheduled basketball game in Warren.

Sam's been having a great season despite having an uncertain start.

The 9th grade team had to be cut,

and he and his friends had to play JV this year.

As the season finishes.

we are all thankful Sam had the opportunity for the challenge.

Thanks, Wendy for this capture.

We ate at the Forester Restaurant with friends.

Highly recommend!

Longmire started with a seafood pasta,

but finished with my chicken wing burger 

because he liked it better.

I finally finished the children's novel I started a few weeks ago.

It was very good--Amari is a good role model for kids.

Doesn't my poor finger look naked without my ring?

My finger never returned to normal size after the night

it swelled to the size of a sausage.

My old ring no longer fit.

It was a Mother's Day gift from my children

when Ellen was in 4th grade.

I found a similar one!

My hand sighed in relief as it, too, 

felt unbalanced without it.

Nature has a way of balancing itself--

the starts and end of the days even out the scale of sky beauty.

Here are sky shots I collected from facebook friends.

I was so busy this morning I barely had time to look up.

How did I miss this sky?

Writing a paper at 4:30 in the morning

can do that to a person, I guess.

Today I realized my life was getting way out of balance.

As excited as I was to begin the coursework,

I'm even more excited to finish it.

Time to move onto other things I enjoy.'

Maybe you can meet up with our tails 

on the trails very soon.

More details to come.

Have a great weekend!

Eloise