Running, Amish Walmart, and Other Delights

So I have apparently let the blog go. And now I'm back to spew forth loads of random tid-bits for you to suffer through enjoy. First things first...running. Jeff and I alternate mornings to run, getting up about 5:30am. Being out so early I see a lot of interesting things. I have found money on several occasions, discovered more about the mysterious ways of bucket man* and have seen more ground hogs than I need to see in a lifetime. I even saw a groundhog about 15 feet up a tree!! So much for the fence around my garden. Maybe I'll hang up a sign stating 'Protected By Smith and Wesson.' Hey, if they can haul their garden-pillaging butts up a tree, you never know if they can read too! But I digress. I have also been buzzed by a bat (took years off my life!) and  encountered two good-sized snapping turtles, the most recent of which was spotted on Sunday morning. I promptly went home and rounded up the kids in their jammies to go see it. Fun times. And this morning I had a very strange encounter with a bird. I heard a bird fly past me, or so I thought. (I am TERRIBLE at hearing where sounds are coming from.) I didn't think anything of it until I saw my shadow ahead of me, complete with the shadow of a bird flying precipitously close to my head. I turned around and it dropped back a little. I kept running, but heard it again. This time I turned around and looked at it, and it flew away. I am pretty sure it mistook my messy curly morning ponytail for a nest. Ha!

*Bucket Man is an older guy who wanders around the neighborhood swinging an orange bucket from his hand. We have yet to figure out what bucket man does with his bucket.

And now, on to Amish Walmart. We went to Lancaster for a few days which turned out to be a not so relaxing mini-vacation. One of our neighbors helpfully informed me that we went on a family trip, not a vacation. There is a difference! Anyway, while we were there we visited a store called Goods. My friend Erin described it as Amish Walmart, and that it is. It is a splendid place where you can buy a vinyl table cloth, fishing waders and Carhartt overalls. You can buy a John Deere hat, or an Amish straw hat. You could buy some toys, and a gun, and fabric all in the same place! There is also an entire aisle of canning supplies. I realize I am probably one of a select few who actually find that exciting. They even have the newly reissued pint and a half size jars. Woo! Living large, I tell you. It is quite the place, and we came out of there with one of those big tin stars they hang on barns and a box of pellets. Amish suspenders not included.

P.S. I went running while we were there and it was the prettiest run ever. The beautiful green farms, the huge white barns, roosters crowing and complimentary eau de bovine. I saw an Amish couple out picking in their garden. The woman had a five gallon bucket she was using to pick peas, and I could only look on in a combination of sympathy and wonder. Sympathy because I know that peas have to be shelled, and wonder because she would probably have them shelled and canned by 9am. Oh, and Jeff found a plastic Power Ranger in a (possibly Amish) graveyard while on his run. Random!

And last but not least, I do believe I mentioned 'other delights' in my title so I must produce. Would you know that Saturday is a big day? THE big day? Yes, it is when Chicken Dinner will pass through the veil (of gravy) and onto our plates. I may or may not have put a little too much thought into the method of preparation for El Pollo Gordo. I mean, if I'm gonna raise a chicken it better be tasty! The preferred method will be grilling at the hand of the Chappy Chapster. Anything he grills tastes pretty much divine, so I am expecting no less from our accidental meat bird. No pressure Dad! :)