Sunday morning’s sunrise temp began not with a seven or a six, but with a five. It was delightfully chilly.
I had to throw on an extra layer over my t-shirt. I can’t remember the last time I did that.
If someone told me that most people rarely clean their coffeemakers, it wouldn’t surprise me — we humans tend to be lazy about maintaining our stuff. The real head-scratcher is that so many folks don’t even know how.
I do it once a month. It’s ridiculously simple — run a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar through the brew cycle three times, followed by another cycle of plain water.
This is what my cleaning potion looked like after the third brew yesterday morning:
That’s four weeks of coffee residue and limescale. And here’s the result of a plain-water flush afterward:
For the record, I run the same batch of cleaning solution through my coffeemaker three times.
Sure, I could make three fresh pots of vinegar water. I also could clean and de-scale my coffeemaker more often. Both would be a waste of time and vinegar, not to mention a tad neurotic.
This is my way. It works.
Driving to Flippin for curbside pickup every other Sunday morning is part of my rhythm now. This time, I brought Miss Smudge along for the ride.
A few seconds after we turned north onto the subdivision road, a doe crossed in front of us, followed by her fawn. They disappeared into the woods before I could snap a photo to share with y’all.
There’s a place along that road, farther up, where I always slow way down. I’d estimate that half of my wildlife sightings have happened in that spot, which is 350 yards down The Mountain from the cabin.
Yesterday didn’t disappoint.
I counted a dozen juvenile wild turkeys (they’re getting big now), chaperoned by two adult birds.
I waited ’til they’d all crossed before easing the truck forward. Just then, on the fringe of the pasture next to my neighbors’ house, I saw a small herd of whitetails.
From that vantage point I could see nine, including a pair of rambunctious young bucks. None of them bolted — they don’t feel threatened there.
Beyond the deer, at the edge of the woods behind the house, was yet another rafter of turkeys. They were too far away for me to photograph, but I’d put their number close to that of the group that crossed the road. Clearly, the turkey population is booming ’round here this year.
Smudge watched it all intently and, to my amazement, quietly.
We stopped at Casey’s before heading to Walmart. For the first time in months, my Heeler behaved “in public” like the happy and confident dog I raised her to be — she stayed up on the seat while I went inside, watching people and vehicles come and go.
Same at Walmart, until the curbside-pickup attendant opened the rear door of the truck. Smudge retreated to the floor until he was gone, then hopped right back onto the seat.
Major progress. Good girl.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable