While the Cat's Away
Posted at 5:35 AM on October 12, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(21 Comments)
The mice played!
More about that in a moment, but first - here's a late addtion to today's post - a chance to win a pair of tickets to see John McCutcheon at the Cedar Cultural Center this Saturday night, October 17th! It's simple.
Enter here.
Obey the rules.
We'll close off entries at 1pm on Tuesday.
Good luck!
Thanks to Mike Pengra and Julia Schrenkler and all the busy bloggers who kept things rolling during my vacation - Elinor, Donna, Barbara in Robbinsdale, Mike In Albert Lea, That Guy In The Hat and Barb in Blackhoof, along with everyone who chipped in with comments. Unlike the classroom teacher who doesn't want "the same old hands", I was delighted to see familiar names along with some brand new ones as I spent an enjoyable and somewhat alarming Sunday evening reviewing what went on while I was busy not being here.
Here's some of what I discovered:
Elopement. Belly dancing. Table dancing.
An inexplicable rash of impulsive weddings, including ceremonies at Disney World, the Renaissance Festival, in the woods, a cabin, a public park.
Intense sibling rivalry. Made-up deaths. Thrown blocks. A flaming dress stuffed in a bucket. Somebody brought an air rifle to bed to shoot bears out of the chimney.
There was radical talk of punks, pink hair and power tools.
The fountain of youth was discovered. On water skis. On horseback. On the ground immediately after being on horseback. In a pail of sidewalk chalk, and in numerous exotic locations around the world.
As if that wasn't enough strange behavior, people proposed seminars in loud whistling, noodle making, mechanical bull riding, Taiko drumming, playing the ocarina and catching a fly with chopsticks.
And in case you're looking for a name for your new band, how about:
What a group. In my selfish universe, it is a revelation that you continue to exist even when I'm not paying attention - like the sudden discovery that your parents (or your children) have vivid and humorous lives, even when you're not around.
Or especially when you're not around.
Have you ever returned (to a home, a job, a school) to find that others were having too much fun in your absence?
Comments (21)
I once managed a bookstore, and I suspect that the employees had a pretty good time in my absence, but they were good at hiding the evidence, so I can't offer any proof. Though there was that blue frosting on the microfiche that one time.
I enjoyed all our guest bloggers and thank each and everyone of them for their witty, creative and thoughtful contributions. Still, it’s good to have you back, Dale! I’m glad to see you’re obeying Tim’s directive.
so very glad to have you back, Dale - the blog community wouldn't have stayed together if you hadn't built a very sound base for us. thanks for coming back.
i'm having trouble with streaming today (mostly buffering in any app i try, so may be our computer - bummer!)
the goats don't wait until i'm gone to have too much fun. they are not oppressed by my ideas of how things should go. so they don't have to celebrate when i'm not there.
good Monday morning, All!
Welcome back, Dale!
This relates to the blog entry but doesn't really answer your question.... Anyway, my sister used to teach Kindergarten many years ago. One of her students was studying the structure of her desk before he asked her if she slept under it at night. He'd had a glimmering of the revelation that she continued to exist even when he wasn't paying attention, though still as his teacher, of course.
I want to share with the blog community that I ran my first marathon in Ashland, Wisconsin on Saturday. The people who volunteered and spent their day standing in freezing temperatures to cheer the runners on were fantastic, offering a smile and words of encouragement to each runner who passed on the soft, wet, and difficult trail. I fell short by 13 minutes of qualifying for Boston. Maybe at Grandma's in June!
Happy Monday, all!
wow, Elinor! sounds like you did wonderfully, despite the difficult conditions. congratulations!
still can't get any music so i guess i'll go out to milk the Girls. i wonder if they think about where i am when i'm not there??? and whay am i not there all of the time?
do the horses get into trouble or foolery when you're not around, Cynthia and other horse owners??
I used to work with a woman who often had unusual excuses shen she arrived late to the office. She had horses, and typically the horses would have gotten out of the pasture and knocked down a fence at the neighboring sheep farm, so she had to help the neighbor round up the straying sheep.
The other people in the office had to just say they got stuck in traffic.
So, in answer to your question, Barb, yes, I think that qualifies as both trouble & tomfoolery.
Welcome back, Dale and WOHOO, Elinor! It makes for a nice start to a snowy (!) October Monday to read good news and catch up with warm and friendly folks via the RH blog.
Our neighbors found out that their kids had too much fun in their absence when the police came to their door the next day. Apparently the kids cleaned up the mess from their party and threw it into the dumpster of a local bank. When an employee went out to toss in some waste, she noticed various bottles and cans that one wouldn't ordinarily find in a bank's trash. Then it became some poor soul's job to sift through that garbage for any identifying evidence. And what should they find but one of the bank's envelopes with our neighbor's address on it. Busted!
Dale and Mike, isn't there a song about some cops busting into a party, with the singer lamenting that it might be someone's job to take responsibility for the situation but 'It's not me - oh no!" Think Jasper can find it?
Wecome back, Dale.
We had fun, while you were gone, but for some reason we didn't get any visits or notes from captin Billy.
When I did substitute teaching the kids would have too much fun while I was still there. Their favorite trick was to tell me that their teacher always lets them out of class early. I did figure out that they were usually not telling me the truth, but on some days I would have been glad to let them go early.
My wife had more fun than usual harvesting vegetables from the garden when I was away on a trip, but this was a good thing. I always tell my wife that the dancing girls come to visit me when she is away, but of course this is only a joke, right?
I always wonder how much fun the cats had while we are gone, especially when you discover some items have been re-arranged.
I noticed you played "Easter Island Head" earlier, will catch it on the replay. Coincidentally, the Astronomy Picture of the Day has a picture including one of the heads contemplating the stars...
Easter Island Astro Picture of the Day
Dale, welcome back, glad to have helped keep the party going. I, too, was happy to see some blog contributions from some new folks. It was fun to hear from Julia from MPR as well. I thought it interesting that a common theme in several of the daily blogs was to find confirmation that it's OK to be radical, to have had conflict with your siblings, and to refuse to grow up.
missed you Dale
the snow is lovely, i don't have to drive to work in it any more so the hassle factor is gone
congrats on the marathon, i used to run til i blew my knee so i know how hard it is
It’s great to have you back, Dale, and I hope you had a wonderful break. It was also fun to read all of the guest bloggers over the past week. Each of them brought an entertaining topic to the table, and I enjoyed reading the different perspectives on all kinds of issues.
Today’s earworm is that old classic: "I’m Dreaming of a White Columbus Day."
Thanks so much for the Elvis song. Who doesn't LOVE Elvis? :-)
I, a great lover of bagpipes, find bag pipes before 8am somewhat frightening.
Cngradulations, Elinor, on doing so well in your first marathon. My brother is well into his 60s and is still running in marathons. He was able to qualify for the Boston Marthon and run in it because he is one of the fastest runners in his age class in the the races he runs.
Welcome back, Chief. I'm now back online as well. Was busy having fun helping out with a comic book convention at the Fairgrounds since last Thursday. Been on a dead run since early last Thursday morning. But being able to hang out with the artists makes all the work worthwhile. They are such a cool bunch!
Is there really such a thing as 'fun overload?' I'm not shocked or surprised if I happen upon a situation where people are having fun in my absence. I tend to try being a 'fun catalyst' (would that be the technical definition of an 'entertainer?') but if 'fun' is going well without my intervention, I'm happy to just sit back and enjoy it. I think we all know that trying too hard can easily upset the delicate balance of fun. It's actually a very interesting psychological phenomenon. I wish I could speak more knowledgeably but I think it's fascinating that 'fun' is such a universal thing...different as it may be between cultures and even species of animals. Makes you wonder what's 'fun' for plants. Do they whisper each other jokes on the wind? "Did you hear the one about the birch, the elm, and the sycaamore...?"
Greetings! Welcome back, Dale! Thanks to guest bloggers for their wonderful work, and Congratulations Elinor! That's a huge achievement.
I don't get a chance to go anywhere much, but when I do I'm usually surprised my husband and boys are able to function without me waking them up, feeding them and keeping them on track.
Of course, the boys are happy about the snow!
Thanks, all, for all the warm words!
Jim, my mother is a huge inspiration to me. She is in her sixties and still running events, even though she recently survived breast cancer and had to endure what chemotherapy does to a body. She isn't fast anymore, but she is still running! I hope to be able to gain speed again like your brother. He is certainly an inspiration!
Yep, good to hear your voice this morning, Dale, in the sound waves and the blog. It was fun to wing it on our own for a bit, but there's a good solid feeling to know "dad's" back.
I remember leaving son Joel home while we left for a weekend when he was 17. The house was SPOTLESS including the kitchen, and of course this meant special attention had been paid to cleaning up after the party. Can't recall the exact detail that busted him...
When I taught kdgn, I too had a little boy once who looked around and then asked "Where do you sleep?" Thanks for that memory, Elinor, and "way to go" in the marathon.
Elinor, I admire those who have built the endurance to run a marathon, congratulations. One of my wife’s co-workers also does marathon running. In my physical activity, waterskiing, it requires ‘only’ bursts of endurance lasting a few minutes at a time. When we build a pyramid, it takes less than 5 minutes starting at the dock, to finish by hopefully skiing with your climbing partner back to shore.
Keep forgetting to mention it, but Saturday night was a great show, Dale. I LOVE Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, the music and the conversation.
Horses indeed usually get into some kind of trouble if I'm gone...only if I'm gone, it feels like.
Welcome back, Dale...checking in here on the re-broadcast. I can't figure out why I don't have time in the morning anymore...do teens suck time out of the air?
I'm very late in posting today...we were adopted by a gently-used basset hound over the weekend, and so the morning routine was a little off today. And bassets - regardless of the hang-dog look and the laid back demeanor - are definitely fond of finding fun when you're not there. The new basset is already up to the same tricks as his predecessor and has been busy finding inventive ways to have fun, create art, have a party, etc. with the kitchen trash. Not nearly as sneaky as teenagers and parties...there is clear evidence when the hound is discovered.
And Elinor - I am very impressed with the endurance an patience it takes to run marathons. Wow. You go girl!
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