Lit-up Neighborhood & Santas

Morning all!

Ok, so this came to me mid-week. What came to mind is referred to as a; portmanteau, go ahead and look it up prior to reading further. For example, ‘motel’, the combination of ‘motor’ and ‘hotel’ is a portmanteau.

Using some of our newest, and pathetic, WOKE verbiage here are some examples of portmanteau and what the combined word should actually mean: Demisexual: being attracted to Bruce Willis’ ex-wife. Diversity: an urban area for divers. Intersex: keen on sex. Mansplain: large area of flatland owned by a male. Apostacy: attracted to anything dealing with mail. Pansexual: being attracted to metal cooking devices. Pronouns: being in favor of nouns. Or Transphobia: fear of crossing something. You get the idea.

My morning coffee is a routine and thus a habit. Consequently, my morning coffee habit is more of a ‘cofertine’ – the word combination of coffee + routine. There, portmanteau, your word of the day.

5K – Later this morning, 10 AM to be exact I’ll join in for a 5K. Over the past few years, I’ve come to enjoy late Fall event – the Mt. Adams “Egg Nog Jog”. It starts at the highest point on Mt. Adams and then loops around the side streets circling the ‘mount’. With a series of ups and downhills, it’s a fun time.

This past week did some timed practice walks. Luckily the weather has been great. In fact, I spotted a small handful of cars with their tops down, plus two folks on Vespas.

Since I couldn’t grab my camera quick enough this photo of the mural on the local scooter dealership (at the entry point to the Wasson Way Trail) will do to represent the real riders. Also, a lovely row of small houses from a new vantage point on a just completed extension of the trail.

WOKE awry – No idea whether you saw any of the Congressional questioning the Presidents of Harvard, Penn, or MIT.

There’s been an uproar following each of these folk to take a definitive stand on allowing actions complying with today’s WOKE and DEI acceptable pronouncements, which skewers any opposite views to their accepted views and allows for making Jewish students and faculty to be worried about their safety.

Net result? The President of Penn and the head of its Board both resigned. Harvard, which is listed as the worst University in acceptance/promotion of free speech had its Board stand 100% behind its President.

Considering this, I thought I’d attach this interview by Forbes of Alan Dershowitz – who’s a lifelong liberal Democrat, and who was a law professor at Harvard.

Luminaria – reappeared again last weekend as the neighborhood lit up. Wandering around our ‘hood last Sunday evening became the thing to do. A few houses had a fire pit going along with hot chocolate and s’mores.

While I did a bit of a solo walk. With her still not driving I then took Marcia in ‘her’ car and drove slowly all over the place.

Both of us were caught humming Judy Garland’s: Over the Rainbow

“Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh, why can’t I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can’t I?”

These photos I took from  the neighborhood web site since they’re substantially better than anything I shot.

A quote – “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” – Plato (born Athens, Greece 428/427 BC – died Athens Greece 348/347 BC)

Fun? – Apparently so, as last Saturday hundreds of Santas filled the streets of downtown and even flowed into Covington, KY during ‘Santacon’ 2023. This favorite local holiday tradition saw, apparently mostly inebriated, Santas flit from bar to bar. I wonder just how many were holding their hurting heads last Sunday morning wondering how much holiday cheer they spread drank.

White House’s 2023 aesthetically perfect Season’s Greetings –

If you’re in the ‘Nati head on over to Mt. Adams. There watch me huff and puff, claw and crawl, trying to make it up and around Eden Park’s Seasongood Pavilion. No laughter though!

May Peace prevail! Shalom. Dirk

BONUS POINTS:
Which one of these Washington DC Memorials contains a misspelling?
1) Jefferson Memorial
2) Albert Einstein Memorial
3) Iwo Jimo Memorial
4) US Navy Memorial
5) Lincoln Memorial
6) John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg Memorial
7) Vietnam Veterans Memorial