Y I Didn't Post About X

I did not write an ABC Wednesday post for the letter X. I started to, I really did, but I didn't finish. I was too distracted by Xmas and all the trimmings and trappings. I was struggling with a bad case of ADD or OCD or XYZ or something like that, and that is Y I did not post for X.

So, anyway, I was hoping if I told you Y I didn't do the X post, that perhaps I could get away with skimping on Y too...

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The Letter X

I've debated over whether or not to publish this particular post.... Oh, well, here goes.... Plug your nose!

X is for eXcrement, which i would not typically be my first choice for a fun game like ABC Wednesday, but my small, and usually very sweet, grandson provided the perfect opportunity this morning, and since I was struggling to come up with a word for the letter X, I'm taking my chances. Please be kind with comments.

I think perhaps the most scary messes associated with childhood come with hideous smells, gagging, and utter repulsion, but, for the sake of love (and threat of a long jail sentence), we somehow manage to find a way to clean up the mess and go on. We even manage to kiss those sweet faces once again, after being treated with lots of soap and several days time...

My dear daughter found her precious child covered in... um, well,... excrement... this morning. (No, that is NOT chocolate!) I hardly know whether to laugh, or feel terribly sorry for her predicament. I'm absolutely certain she is grateful today for her bathtub, a washing machine, and plenty of soap. Come to think of it, she's probably also thankful for his crib. At least the mess was contained.

I must admit, although my own children never tested me in quite this way, I did have a rather unpleasant experience with this kind of mess a little less than a year ago. One of those not so nice "Babysitter Tests". Ah yes! The wonder of being a child! (And I thought poop floating in the bathwater was disgusting... )

That's about all the eXcitement I can stand for one day.


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X is for eXtraodinary

X is for eXtraodinary.

It has been an emotional week in our corner of the world. It's kind of hard to play the ABC game without thinking of the extraordinary men and women who put their lives on the line to serve us each and every day. They include policemen, firemen, and first responders of every kind. I am ashamed to admit that I have too often forgotten to be thankful for all they do and risk every day in every community around the globe.

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X and Y

X marks the spot and in this case it looks like a Y. :)

I did not post last week because My Darling and I were gone away to the Finger Lakes. On our way there I was wondering how I could cover two letters for this week's post. I needn't have worried. If you take a good look at this map of the eleven Finger Lakes (Waneta and Lamoka are not "Finger Lakes"), you can easily tell which one we visited. Keuka ("Q-ka") Lake is the only one with two branches and is often referred to as the "Crooked Lake". We stayed in a wonderful Bed and Breakfast about halfway down the western branch of the lake.

We did a lot of driving, a little bit of shopping, some fishing, and a little "tasting" too. One afternoon we drove down the middle of the "Y" where we found a lovely little stone chapel. This picture looks out from the chapel terrace over the east branch to the far eastern shore. The entire lake shore is dotted with restaurants and cottages, with an occasional park (or college) where one can get down close to the water.

The Finger Lakes is known for it's wines and the western slopes are dotted with vineyards and wineries. I read there are 119 wineries here. Wine tastings draw tourists from everywhere who come to enjoy the scenery and some local wines. I learned that Riesling is a favorite and many of the grapes now grown are very similar to European grapes rather than the Concord grapes of my childhood. Not being a wine connoisseur, I can not give an honest opinion, except to say that I think white grapes make better wine than red grapes.

We were blessed to visit the co-Coolest Small Town in America in our journeys. Hammondsport is located at the southern-most tip of Keuka Lake. It has some cute little shops, a very nice beach park, and a hometown ice cream shop, the "Cooked Lake Ice Cream Parlor", that I loved. We ate there twice, but didn't get ice cream. I think we must have driven around Keuka Lake at least half a dozen times last week as I was actually starting to know my way around! Of all the little towns, Hammaondsport is my favorite Keuka Lake town. I have to agree, it's pretty cool.

I got my first fishing license in Penn Yan and, with some help from James, caught a few small fish. We did our best fishing off a friend's dock on Waneta Lake, but they were all small. Maybe if we'd had a boat we could have hooked one big enough to save for dinner. There is still time for that, I guess, especially since the Finger Lakes aren't going anywhere anytime soon. (Besides, we have Lake Ontario...)

I will be savoring this vacation for a long time to come. I absolutely loved having a week with my husband all to myself, and nothing pressing for my attention. The great thing is that summer is just beginning. I am hoping to get back to the hills again before September. Maybe another trip or two to an antique shop, a stop in a pottery studio, and a hike through the glen at the end of Seneca Lake. I can always hope, can't I?

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X is for eXcitement

X is for eXcitement.

Filling seven to ten Christmas stockings is a big job, so my husband and I have relegated that responsibility to our now grown children. They fill each other's stockings by purchasing one or two small gifts for each. Ben livened things up this year by depositing a scorpion sucker into each red sock. That's a little too exciting for me. (And Jim thought Moose Poop was fun...)

I must say, though scorpion suckers may not be my weakness, there are far too many tasty treats around here that do call my name. I am in serious need of some eXercise, but really I feel more like taking a long nap. :)

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X is for eXtra

X is for eXtra; eXtra hot!

For several years now I have attempted to grow chile peppers. (See "P is for Pepper") Though the tags always say they will grow long and thick, they have typically ended up short and skinny, not near big enough to roast on the grill like I hoped, and hotter than hot! Maybe I have finally gotten the good ones this year. So far I see only two peppers which is a rather slim crop, but they look to be a better size and I am hopeful that others will appear as the summer progresses.

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ABC Wednesday- Letter X

X is for Xerox, "The Document Company."

It might not sound very exciting to you, and truthfully, I am not all that thrilled, but Xerox does start with "X" and since it is a local company, it fits well into my ABC theme. In my search for information I came across the saying "unduplicated success" which I am sure is their own play on being the manufacturer of copy machines.

I set out this morning with camera in tow and, on my way to pick up milk, took a very short detour down Salt Rd. to get my own picture of the Xerox Webster campus.

When I was a small girl in the 1970's most of my friends had a parent or two who worked at Xerox. It was the place that generated most traffic and likely brought in the most tax revenue. My dad did not work for Xerox but my Aunt Margie did and she used to save the "test papers" which could only be run through a copy machine once back then. We had a great supply of drawing paper.

I looked up the company's history and was surprised to find very little mention of the campus in Webster which must cover several hundred acres. Whatever the reason, Xerox employees now days are much more worried about getting a pink slip than those of my childhood ever were. The company is on shut-down this week and it looked like a ghost town.

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