Happy New Year!

Homemade Wine made 13 years ago.

Como Zoo Today

Vegetable with Chicken Soup

It is Winter

Christmas Eve Duck

Bowling Shirt

My son likes to go bowling, so I bought him a bowling shirt. He's modeling it in the second photo.

Pancakes & Bacon

Moody Bleu

That street, to the corpse's tomb.
Watch night fade from light to gloom.
Backpacking people go back to the tent.
Working all day to pay off the rent.
Wrestlers wrestle two as if one.
Lone wolf howls for loss and has won.
New Moon picks up and shines for the Sun.
High school seniors want to have fun.
Hot-hearted actor is on tonight.
Improves the mood and moves stage right.
Gray is red and snow is white.
But we decide what evil to fight.
And which is a delusion.

2 Colors

Resemblance

  We were in the TV studio when I noticed the man. Everyone noticed, but they tried not to be noticed by him. He was frustrated. Something wasn’t working and he was growing angry. I thought maybe I could help. Afterall, I have considerable experience working in TV.
  I approached and asked if I could help. Maybe it was a mistake. He was larger than me. Shaved head. He was younger, lean, and muscular. As he invaded my personal space, I could smell soap. He was clean. His eyes were brown, and showed an Asian heritage. I guessed he was an Asian/Caucasian mix.
  I backed up a step and regained my personal space. But again, he closed it. He seemed confident, menacing, completely unafraid. I, on the other hand, was experiencing fear. But it was compartmentalized. It was controlled. Fighting was not a good option. I’m too old for that crap. But still, I worked through a mental checklist that included options for inflicting physical harm if that became the last resort.
  He listened, but he still moved into my space. I asked him to backup, then I insisted, then I implied a threat. It was about this time that I finally woke up.
  I remembered every detail about his face… his look. I felt so sure he was real. I don’t appreciate fighting for the entertainment of others, so I don’t know who the MMA fighters are. But I searched my phone for his likeness. There were many faces but none was his. I abandoned my search.
  I turned around and then I saw him! Same shaped head. Same guy? No, he was older. He had a graying beard. The eyes were different. He didn’t appear to be Asian, but otherwise the resemblance was rather striking! After looking at him carefully, I turned away from the mirror and began to reflect on this recent event.
  My family, being half Asian, this dream should not be a surprise. Especially after all the time I had spent with my Hmong family during three funerals within the last six months. I had made many new friends, and one person seemed uneasy about that, and had acted out with mock violence at one point. Maybe that was the source of the animosity in the dream?
  I also remembered the first novel I had written, “He Who Goes First.” It had all started with a waking dream; a vision that came on sudden and vivid—as if it was the memory of another man. Perhaps it was. It sure felt like that was true. And it had culminated in that first novel, and the life of a man who lived hundreds of years ago in another time and another land. He was a horseman, a soldier, a father, a husband and a Mongol.
  What is time and space? Is it always linear? Is there a shared human consciousness? Do our souls have the ability to return and live again after our bodies die? If so, can they enter “time” at any given point, past, present or future?
  This was my morning. This was my life. This is where my mind goes sometimes. I think it’s why I like being alone in the wilderness. Any piece of wilderness that is handy will do. When the constraints of time and modern life and responsibilities can be shed like old antlers for a brief few moments… when I can think of infinite possibilities…
  There is so much more to it than we think we know. Maybe I have even found my next novel. Be well. Imagine the infinite possibilities. Love and honor are all we are allowed to take with us when we leave this life. But what after that?

  -Kevin J. Curtis
  20221220

Fried Potatoes, Zucchini and Thin Pork Chops

Christmas Prayer

Dear God,
Help me through the passive aggressiveness of the holiday season. For they know not what they do. And please look out for those whose depression is amplified during this time of the year.
Amen.

Vikings 11-3

Kirk Cousins

Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins takes the field!

Half Turkey & Microwaved Squash

The Snowday

Vikings Addition?

The Vikings front office, is hinting at an adding CuTRis to the roster before the playoffs...

Bread from my Inventing Shed

Banana/Mandarin Orange with Walnuts, Raisins, Semisweet Chocolate Pieces and Cloves Bread

Lions Predicted to Beat Vikings?

Bathroom Christmas Tree

My wife has been decorating for Christmas. So she put a small tree in the bathroom, but it didn't have any ornaments on it. I quickly took care of it for her! You're welcome!

A Salt and Battery

Is this Christmas?

As one of my childhood friends recently wrote eloquently about how Christmas has changed in light of losing loved ones, it made me think more about the changes I've seen. For long I have been dismayed by the fact that Christmas has become commercialized, and parents have taught their children to expect lots of fancy presents. Not only from themselves, but from the aunts and uncles. And some of these children, are now adults going to college. Even those who insist on praying before Christmas dinner, seem to advocate the orgy of ripping presents open and piling them up behind themselves without a single thought about where those presents came from. I've also noticed, how small families have been pushed aside, because they are an inconvenience for the parties and doings of larger ones. Occasionally a voice will ask for some changes, but there is always a self-absorbed mean person to put them back in their place. This is not what Christmas is.

This season, my Christmas wish is that people start treating others with kindness. My wish is that people stop slinging hate! My wish is that we can agree to disagree, and we can empathize with those less fortunate. I don't care about presents. All I want for Christmas, is some special time with friends and family that isn't dominated by other people's greed and self-interest. Christmas is better than that. In my memory, people used to be better than that. Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but it seems that our society is hell bent on putting each other down if we don't agree and follow the mob.

Happy Holidays to all, and Merry Christmas. -KJC

Elections, Trump & the US Legal System

Fried Salmon

Spaghetti

One Pot Chicken Dinner

The Vikings Win Again!

The Vikings win again! I give that totally to the defense. Kirk Cousins sucks. He's the highest paid player in the NFL, and has the mobility of a fence post. What you say? He scrambled for a first down? OK... if he does that 3 times per game I might change my mind.

Your Facebook Privacy

FB is about to change your privacy. But you can stop them with this easy trick. Post this message on your wall. Then slap yourself in the head three times while doing a dance and singing Mary Had a Little Lamb. Then drink a beer while slapping yourself on the buttocks briskly. Make sure to do this soon, because time runs out at midnight!

Apocalypse Winter

Winter... shit. I'm still only in winter. Everytime I think I'm going to wake up back in the summer. When I was outside, after my first summer it was worse. I'd wake up and there'd be warm. I'd hardly said a word to my snowblower until I said yes to a fresh tank of gas. When I was here all I wanted to be was there. When I was there all I could think about was getting back into the winter. I've been here for a month now. Waiting for the snow. Getting colder. Every minute I wait in the house, I get weaker. And every minute Santa drives his sleigh he gets stronger. Each time I looked around the wind would get a little windier... Not everyone gets everything he wants. I wanted a holiday, and for my sins they gave me one. Brought it up to me like room service. It was a real choice holiday, and when it was over, I'd probably want another...

A Christmas Book Tradition

Yesterday, a box of my son's 2022 Christmas (present) books arrived. I thought he might let me off-the-hook this year, but when I asked back in October, he said that he wanted (another) one. So, instead of trying to figure out what to buy him, I just have to figure out what to write and publish for him. In the end, after seeing the proof, I upgraded to a heavier paper which worked rather well with the full color photos. I kept the price the same though. I did that by taking it out of my royalties. So as usual, even on the remote chance anybody will buy any, I will get virtually nothing from the sale. I went with Barnes & Noble again, as Amazon keeps adding new rules and charges more. Happy Holidays, and remember the gift of reading. -KJC

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/legend-of-the-golden-chicken-nugget-kevin-curtis/1142676134

Taco Night

Jim's Retiring

My big brother Jim is retiring today. He spent the last 25 years of his career at the MSP Airport, keeping the big trucks and machines running. During bad weather, like the snow storm we just had that dumped 8 inches of snow on the airport, Jim would get called in to live there for the duration of the weather event. This is how he finished his career there. Somehow that seems fitting. Congratulations on your retirement Jim.

Living with a Bear

It wasn't easy living with a bear. The bear didn't talk. It brought things home and stuck them in the way. It would eat certain carefully stocked items until they were completely gone. Sometimes it would take the freshest things first, and leave the older things to get even older. On other days, the bear would bring home huge quantities of fresh food and expired cans of food. It would stash them here and there in the way and then leave them and never use them or look at them again until they started rotting and he had to throw them out. The bear lived like it was by itself. It was constantly moving his things around so that he couldn't find them anymore. He would try to talk to the bear, but often it wouldn't even look at him. He got pretty angry with the bear at times. Like if he just bought eggs and they were very expensive and the bear ate them all up in one sitting, and never replaced them. The bear made messes, and he was always cleaning them up. But even though he got angry with the bear, sometimes at night he noticed the bear was crying. That's when he felt bad for the bear. Then, he would reach over and put an arm on the bear and tell it that things were okay, and problems always seem worse at night. Because even though it's hard to live with a bear, it's even harder to be angry with a sad bear.

Politics in a Duck Shell

The Duck Senate began a lengthy, partisan argument about whether to fly south or remain in the north for the winter. It lasted four days and included three filibusters that quacked on all night. This photo shows them just hours before they stuck to the ice in a blizzard and froze to death.

1st Flower of the Season

Thanksgiving II, The Sequel

Thanksgiving 2022

As we celebrate Thanksgiving 2022, there are things to be thankful for and things to remember. My family will be getting together in larger numbers than we have for two years. My wife’s family is missing grandpa (dad) and grandma (mom), and has chosen to wait for Christmas to get together.

Not that it is over yet, but we’ve been through a pandemic. Life has changed since 2019. Some family and friends have passed. Those of us who are left may feel older. There were so many struggles—and some of them continue. We all seem to know someone who left us during the pandemic. Some of us lost our jobs, me included.

But there were some positives. We’re more conscious of masking and staying home if sick. Some of us have new jobs, me included. And now, we ease back into the holidays, still wary of COVID-19, influenza and RSV.

Amidst the daily news of shootings, high prices, wars, partisan politics, shortages and those who keep instigating racial discord, we continue on. We celebrate an American tradition that is over 400 years old. As hard as life can be, there are always things to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving.
-KJC

Vegetable Pasta Party Salad

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of our resident turkeys. The flock likes our neighborhood. Happy Thanksgiving!

Winter Broccoli

I decided to finally pick that broccoli out in the garden.

The Creek