My Personal EKG So Jordan got me one of the more interesting presents that I've ever been given before. We'd had a lengthy conversation about how EKGs work, how to read them, and etc. As she is a medical professional and I am not, she was amused that I thought I knew how they worked. So she purchased me my very own EKG so that I could learn how they operate. I made a lengthy TikTok video series on teaching myself how to set everything up (mostly with the help of the internet) and was extremely amused about getting to see my own heart rhythm.

Wan Shan at the Pumpkin Patch Wan Shan had never actually been to a pumpkin patch before and as she happened to come into town a bit before Halloween, I suggested that we go to one. We got there a little too late to see some of the activities that they normally would have setup, but she definitely got to see a real pumpkin patch. As a bonus, she got to shoot an apple gun.

A Spider and a Wasp I had noticed a rather sizable that had made itself a giant web in the bamboo teepee I setup in my backyard. One night I came upon a giant wasp, managed to capture it, and as much as I'm terrified of spiders, I managed to feed it to the spider so it would grow healthy and strong.

Using my Slow Cooker After having had many conversations with Benny about using a slow cooker for preparing better meals, I finally got one and immediately took to preparing stews.

A Nice Afternoon on Iowa Ave On one of Jordan's days off, we spent a lovely afternoon together at the house, went for a stroll in Grove Park with the dogs, and had some cocktails on the roof before our fancy dinner. As it was late autumn, the colors were wonderfully vibrant.

Picking up Jordan for a Wedding This was a complicated and tiresome undertaking, but I managed to pull it off. Since Jordan works the nightshift, but because she was the maid of honor to one of her oldest friend's weddings, it occurred to me that she was going to have to drive from St. Louis to Kansas City, get ready for the wedding, and do so on no sleep. So I rented a place in Kansas City, woke up at 3am, drove to St. Louis to meet her at the end of her shift, and then drove back to Kansas City with her so that she could sleep on the mattress in the back of her new 4-Runner. Of course this required leaving my truck on an unknown street in St. Louis, but it seemed okay enough. It also meant that I was driving her 4-Runner for the next few days. It was about a 9-hour undertaking with about 700 miles of driving to boot, but it went off without a hitch.

Burning off the Giant Brush Piles After spending a few weeks clearing out a massive area of [mostly] scrub trees on Claire's new property, we had to do something with the enormous brush piles that had accumulated from the smaller branches. There were 5 giant piles and we managed to go through a few of them and set them entirely ablaze. We couldn't burn them where they had been set and so we had to drag them one at a time to the massive bonfire.

Ashleigh's Birthday with the Kids It happened to be one of Claire's friend's birthdays when I was visiting her in Asheville. So in her rather typical form, Claire made a wonderful dinner for them and invited them over to celebrate with us. Kitty made a rather unique key lime pie (which was evidently vegan as well).

Hanging out in Asheville Just a small collection of photos I have from the greater Asheville area. We spent the vast majority of my time there just hanging out at Claire's house, but did go to the art opening of one of her friend's the first week I was there.

Atti and Bobby in Asheville As Claire used to live in the studio behind my house, her dog, Bobby, and Atti have been doggy friends for years now. They hadn't seen each other in about two years and this time Atti was on Bob's territory. It took them a short while to remember one another, but then they were thick as thieves chasing each other around the forest.