The Bermuda Triangle of Central WV

What can prompt me to end months of blog silence? This story about a special collection of roadside memorials.

If you don't know my history with roadside memorials, nevermind.

Hmmmm, what to get the animal who has everything...

If my pets complain about not getting anything for Christmas, I'm going to pull out this list of "Santa Treats."


(FYI...This was the first line of list of about 8 businesses, most of which were groomers, kennels, etc. But you can guess which one caught my eye.)

This Just In: Tiki torch fluid is NOT apple juice

There's a Darwin joke in here somewhere: Drinking tiki torch fluid is not advised

It's good to know, however, that gnawing on "glow products" will likely only result in only "irritation or burning in the mouth."

Glow necklace...OM NOM NOM...

If only all humans could be this resourceful

OK, think about humans who throw up their hands and have no clue what to do when faced with adversity.

Well, here's a mallard duck that has them beat.

BTW, I used to have pet ducks, and while they did all have their own personalities and did do some cute things, I have to confess that none of them ever did anything nearly this bright.

Raccoon guts, whiplash -- what kind of welcome home is this?

If you're easily grossed out, quit reading now.

So, I was out of state on vacation for over a week and traveled about 2,500 miles across 5 states without incident.

Literally seconds after crossing the state line in Wheeling, a semi in the passing lane just ahead of me ran over a very dead, bloated raccoon, spraying guts all over my windshield and the front of the car. My reaction? "Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww, nooooooooooooooooooooooo!" And of course I hit the wipers immediately.

Ah, and the smell. Let's just say it was memorable.

I searched for an exit with a car wash, but found none. We quickly figured out we could put the AC on recirculate and reduce the odor, so we decided to wait it out till Washington, PA, where I remembered seeing a car wash.

Now, if this ever happens to you, don't wait to wash it off. It was over 90 degrees that day, so by the time we reached Washington, the green stuff was baked on. The car wash got a lot of it off, but there's still some there and I haven't yet gotten the courage to go scrub it off.

As if that wasn't enough excitement, the very next day I was sitting in traffic and got in my first-ever fender bender. Thank goodness it did no damage to either car (so probably it doesn't even qualify as a fender bender). The guy behind me in the line of traffic hit the back of my car when the light turned green. It just gave me a good jolt. No lasting effects besides some neck stiffness that day, and honestly that could have been a result of stress and not from the actual impact.

So, yeah, I'm glad to be home, but geesh -- I'm getting kind of afraid to leave the house.

Just Add Water for Civil War!

"Drop Capsule In Warm Water And Watch Civil War Appear"

But good news: instant civil war is non-toxic!

(spotted in gift shop during recent trip to TN)