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Thoughts as Train Cars Visualization in Mindfulness Meditation
The Iowa Interstate Railroad train rumbles past our hotel a few times a day and it reminds me of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course I took 10 years ago. One of the exercises the instructor mentioned was the train visualization mindfulness exercise. I don’t know if I remember what our instructor actually said…
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Dirty Laundromania
Because we’re staying in a hotel waiting for our house to be built, we have to take a different approach with our laundry. There are laundry facilities at the hotel, but there aren’t many machines. Sena usually takes it to a place called Laundromania. The motto is “We Never Clothes.” I went with her the…
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Flora and Fauna Under the Hot Iowa Sun
The other day we walked the Terry Trueblood Trail (when do we not do that?) and saw interesting sights. I finally got a video clip of a goldfinch! And a male northern cardinal either sang to us or cussed us out. It was hard to tell. It was a scorcher out there. We started out…
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Art in the Parks So Far 2024
We were driving by the Terry Trueblood Trail on July 28th and Sena noticed there was a new sculpture. We’ve been on the lookout for the new Art in the Parks collection since the announcement in May. The anticipated opening date is August 7, 2024, but it looks like the artists are already getting started.…
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False Alarm
A few days ago, while we were eating breakfast in our hotel room, the fire alarms went off. We jumped up and got out of the room. Of course, the elevators were off and other people were filing down the stairs. It was slow going downstairs. Not everybody was fit as a fiddle and able…
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The Hotel Gets Busy Handing Out Faux Cufflinks!
Several days ago, a large wedding guest caravan arrived at the hotel. Fascinating group. The line of people checking in could have stretched outside beyond the front door. There was this guy who was there for the wedding, but arrived without cufflinks. So, he asked the front desk to help him out. They gave him…
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Cribbage Tournament at Iowa State Fair Again This Year!
The Iowa State Fair will again have the Cribbage Tournament this year! It’s on August 18 (the last day of the fair) from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m at the Oman Family Youth Inn. Registration begins at 10:00 a.m.
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Big Mo Pod Show “King of the Segway”
Hey, I managed to catch the Big Mo Blues Show on July 19, 2024 and then listened to the podcast the next day. Because our big Bose wave radio is packed away in storage as we wait for our house to be built, I had to use our little portable Sony Dream Machine in the…
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What Does a Dickcissel Sound Like?
We walked the Terry Trueblood Trail the other day and ran into a couple of other bird watchers. They said they’ve seen many birds called dickcissels on the trail. I couldn’t remember ever seeing or hearing a dickcissel. We have enough trouble catching a clear sight of goldfinches. Both birders said the name comes from…
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Earthquakes and Railroads and Magic Fingers, Oh My!
The hotel we’re staying in while our house is being built is very close to railroad tracks. We hear the whistle and then, we feel the train going by. No kidding, we can feel the rumble. It shakes the chairs, the sofa, the bed. The whole room shakes for as long as the train passes…
Go Retire Psychiatrist 