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🇺🇦✏️✒️📚📔🌜dreamer 🌕 thinker 🌕 aspirant📱📷🚴‍♀️🏕🍄🌻

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Howie the Big Bull, Valparaiso, Indiana

In addition to Orville Redenbacher, I found Howie the Big Bull in Valparaiso, Indiana. He’s in front of Kelsey’s Steakhouse. According to Roadside America.

The statue started as mascot for Howard and Sons Quality Meats, made a newsworthy move to a new location in 1991, and again in 2014 . . . If you choose to eat, for des[s]ert you can also eat Howie in the form of a chocolate cake shaped like a cow.

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Howie the Big Bull, Valparaiso, Indiana, August 15, 2020
February 20, 2023 by dlschirf Posted in Adventure, Blog, Oddities Tagged Indiana, photo Reply

“I’d rather be slowly consumed by moss”

The question is, “than _____”?

(From the other bumper stickers, this is an outdoorsy person/family.)

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February 19, 2023 by dlschirf Posted in Blog, Chicago Tagged bumper sticker, Chicago, Hyde Park Reply

Jaws (vs. Hodge)

Apologies to Universal Pictures, but when I saw how this photo turned out, I had to do it.

Hodge-Jaws
February 12, 2023 by dlschirf Posted in Blog, Life Tagged cattitude, Hodge, photo Reply

“Kind youth” from “The White Snake” (fairy tale)

words and images Posted on February 11, 2023 by dlschirfFebruary 11, 2023

The horse may not have thought him a “kind youth.”

Then the kind youth dismounted, drew his sword, and killing his horse left it there as food for the young ravens. They hopped up, satisfied their hunger, and piped: 'We'll remember, and reward you!'

Lang, Andrew. The Fairy Books - Complete Series (Illustrated Edition): 400+ Tales in One Edition . Musaicum Books. Kindle Edition.
Posted in Blog, Books and literature, Quotations | Tagged fairy tale, quotation | Leave a reply

Singin’ in the rain mural, Ann Arbor, Michigan

I discovered this Roadside America attraction in June 2021. I was going to look for it, but it happened to be on the way from the Ann Arbor bus drop-off area to Kerrytown. Amusingly, while most of my trips to Ann Arbor have featured great weather, this one was exceptionally rainy. I even got caught in a Gene Kelly-style downpour, minus the hat, suit, and dancing.

Roadside America attraction
Singin’ in the Rain
February 4, 2023 by dlschirf Posted in Adventure, Blog, Oddities Tagged Ann Arbor, Michigan, photo, travel Reply

Orville Redenbacher, Valparaiso, Indiana

When out and about, if I remember I’ll check the Roadside America app (or Atlas Obscura) to see if there are any local oddities like Muffler Men. I found out there’s an unusual statue of Orville Redenbacher, the popcorn king and agricultural scientist, in Valparaiso, Indiana. This was taken August 15, 2020, when he was one of the people you could sit this close to unmasked.

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Orville Redenbacher in Valparaiso, Indiana
February 4, 2023 by dlschirf Posted in Adventure, Blog, Oddities Tagged Indiana, photo, travel Reply

Review: Miss Scarlet and the Duke

words and images Posted on February 3, 2023 by dlschirfFebruary 5, 2023

Moonlighting but with better settings, costumes, accents, and plots.

Posted in Blog, Entertainment | Tagged TV | Leave a reply

Dan Ryan Woods aqueducts, this time with water

May 8, 2022

When I first visited the Dan Ryan Woods aqueducts in autumn, they were dry, so I wanted to go back in spring when there was more likely to be water. According to the Forest Preserves of Cook County, “The limestone aqueducts at Dan Ryan Woods were constructed by the CCC to prevent water from washing away soil on the steep ridges. Visitors can still walk alongside the aqueducts as they wind their way through the woods south of 87th St.” The aqueducts are one of my favorite things in Chicago.

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January 31, 2023 by dlschirf Posted in Adventure, Blog, Photography Tagged Chicago, Forest Preserves of Cook County, history, photo 2 Replies

Future of artificial limbs (prosthetics)

If these men were alive now, wouldn’t they be amazed by today’s prosthetics?

16 Apr 1973, Mon The Buffalo News (Buffalo, New York) Newspapers.com

January 28, 2023 by dlschirf Posted in Blog Tagged clippings, New York, news, nostalgia Reply

Hodge (2001 – 2013)

These are from a previous post in which photos of already questionable quality were resized. Some of the originals are lost, but I hope I can find at least a few. Hodge was a character who thought he was a lion to my antelope.

Hodge tribute
Hodge tribute
106 photos
Don't make me get up
You smell funny
Good morning, Sunshine
Passed out
You weren't thinking of lying here, were you?
Caterpillar friend
Toe beans
Cat and caterpillar
Was it necessary to rouse me?
Every home has a remote hog
I am working; I am keeping the pillows warm
Closeup
I'm looking for the Tahitian women
If looks could kill — ZAP!
Thoughtful nap
Nap
Morning nap
I'm not ashamed
Napping position 647
You didn't want to get into the kitchen, did you?
Hodge has a head cold and found a cozy spot
The last thing Diane saw before the end
What aspect of MY BED don’t you get?
Contemplative Hodge
Eyes wide shut
P1270255
Evil is hard work
Sharpening his claws with his teeth
In bed
Window guard
What a dream
Taking a rest from peeing on the carpet
What's going on in the world above?
My head . . .
Family portrait
Are you disturbing me?
Peekaboo
My blankie
Three minutes in the life of Hodge, minute 1
Meaty thigh
Better the caterpillar than me
Three minutes in the life of Hodge, minute 2
Three minutes in the life of Hodge, minute 3
Another long, hard day on the job
The afternoon nap
Foot warmer; he has my foot pinned down for the count
Peaceful coexistence is possible at naptime
Peek-a-boo
My job is to hold down the floor, which I do well
Roused
Notice my nose and pads color coordinate
With me and my bad shoulder as backstop
Stretch
Just Photoshop X where the eyes would be
Like my monkey face?
Little do I know I'm about to be boarded
I've found my purpose in life
Closeup
I don't care about your torn meniscus
The Amazing Feline Pretzel
Enough with the photos
Loafing
The devil assumes a fetal position
Comfy
Break out the insulin
Relax
Not as sweet as he looks
The paparazzi
The better to bite you with
Family portrait
Back from a week at the animal clinic, er, spa
Foot warmer 2
Lord of all 700 square feet he surveys
Don't disturb me; I'm channeling Blofeld
Don't just stand there; get me a bigger bed
Cat yoga
Yawn
Keeping at arm's length
Hodge succumbs to gravity
Woe is me
Vigilantly guarding the hind legs
Himself
Relaxed
Pose
You can’t seriously think I’m going to move
Look, ma, no head
Don't take off my legs and tail
Oh, the temptation to knock him off
Flexing paw
The end to a long, brutal day of napping
Meaty thigh
View from the sofa
You can't see me now
You talking to me?
Hodge stars in Taxi Driver
Who, me nip? Snap.
Trust
Big furry shrimp
Not my head again!
Foot warmer, or I'm not allowed to go anywhere
Stretch
Have you been telling lies about me on Facebook again?
I'm not dead yet!
Yes?
One-eyed Hodge
A little more to the left
January 27, 2023 by dlschirf Posted in Blog, Life Tagged cattitude, Hodge, life, photo Reply

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Copyright © 1996–2023 Diane Schirf. Photographs and writing mine unless noted.
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