Random 5 for January 13 – Pond, class reunions, malls, sneakers, birthdays

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Majestic heron at my pond looking for sushi. The picture was taken through a glass door. Please excuse the clarity.

Visitors – This heron has been visiting my pond lately. I caught him twice swimming like a duck in my tiny pond. We had words and I haven’t seen him since. He is ginormous. Sure hope I still have fish!

Yikes! – I received an STD (that’s save the date) post card from my high school reunion committee. The number of years is astronomical. I have seen very few of these people since high school. On the one hand I am curious but on the other hand, they are strangers. My bestie died a few years back. I never maintained a close relationship with anyone else. What to do, what to do…

Mall fatigue – The beloved husband took me on a field trip to a large mall about an hour away to celebrate my birthday. I’ve been there several times but not recently. There are a lot (A LOT) of stores with huge inventories. There are much better selections than I can get locally. It was total overload. I felt like I was in a mouse maze trying to find the few stores I wanted to visit. I missed the Lilly Pulitzer store with its colorful clothing but found everything else. We had an enjoyable lunch and got home at a reasonable hour (for retired folks!). I purchased a small blue vase but I did a lot of feeling and fondling (of clothing not people). Perhaps I’ve outgrown this phase. (Oops, I just heard my mother turn over in her grave! She was convinced I would never grow up.)

Shoes – No, I didn’t buy shoes at the mall but in recent months, I’ve found a brand that works for my fallen arches. The fit is better than more popular brands. An interesting color combo came into my internet feed. One look and I bought them. Basic black with tasteful dabs of hot pinks, purple and turquoise. They were calling my name.

Birthdays – Mine is tomorrow. My condolences to anyone else who has a January birthday. It’s cold, people are broke and no one wants to go out to celebrate. A few years back, I started celebrating my half birthday in June. Much, much better.

So how was your week?

 

 

 

85 thoughts on “Random 5 for January 13 – Pond, class reunions, malls, sneakers, birthdays”

  2. A day late – but still, Happy Birthday. My younger nephew celebrated his birthday the day before yesterday, and my uncle has his 94th next week.
    And what would you say to those who, like my youngest niece, celebrate theirs on Decemberf 25th (which was also the birthday of my maternal grandfather)?

    The heron is beautiful.

    I have never been to a class reunion and have lost contact with all my classmates save one. Do I care? Not a bit. Didn’t like most of them then and I see no reason to try to contact them now.

    And I love the trainers (the sports shoes, in British English)…

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    • Some people like holiday birthdays but most don’t at least that I know. Despite cold weather (at least it didn’t snow) I had a good day! I doubt very much that I’ll go to the reunion. I didn’t make lasting friends from high school except for my friend who died.

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  3. Happy Birthday, Kate. I kind of agree with you about a January birthday. Our anniversary is in January and we rarely do much to celebrate. Travel seems impossible to me. But I hope you do something to celebrate. And I really like your shoes. I need better walking shoes, so I think I am going to check on this brand. I like the look! Let us know what you decide about the reunion. 🙂

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  5. That heron is huge and rules not just the pond but your whole backyard! They are so majestic looking. I don’t know about your fish because that heron sure does look well fed. I’ve not been to any of my high school reunions – the biggest and splashiest one was the 40th year reunion back in 2013. They had a Facebook group site for it and I didn’t know half the people that were in the group. The men would be easier since they had their same name – the woman I was clueless for most unless they used their maiden name along with married name. We had 613 in our graduating class, so difficult to know them all personally. I do keep in touch with just a handful of them, probably 8 at most. My cat friend Carol just celebrated her 63rd birthday on January 11th – no family members remembered it and she was not only incredulous but very hurt. My late mom’s birthday was on Valentine’s Day and mine was exactly two months later so we took every August 14th off as a personal day to celebrate our birthdays – we knew we could get out in the weather with no worries about snow or ice (for either of us – we get snow/ice in mid April too and the restaurants would not be crowded with diners either.

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  7. Happy Birthday! Party on.
    (and thanks for the shoe hint – will check those out)
    We looked at ponds over the weekend – with waterfalls….which will probably come to nothing –
    You have a big grey visitor! Those are so cool – we have one who resides in the little inlet of the lake/wetlands and see him everyday….that one is a very successful fisherman…..

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  8. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Miss Kate. You are among the best people I know who have birthdays in January & February (Mom, MIL, bestie and more). If I was there, I’d come party with you, January or not. 😉

    I can’t get over that you have such huge herons where you live. I never saw them growing up (Chicago), but they were everywhere when I lived in Florida.

    Haha. STD. That was funny. I know what you mean. I didn’t even really care for my high school much, but I’d be curious about my fellow alumni, too. Good luck.

    I LOVE those gym shoes. I want a pair. I’ve had trouble with plantar’s fasciitis on-and-off. They might work for that.

    Have a wonderful and warm birthday.

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  14. Happy birthday! Mine was yesterday 🙂 Which mall did you go to? Interested to hear what decision you make on your reunion. I haven’t been to one of mine yet, and doubt that I will. It is so expensive to travel back to PA from here, and honestly, I didn’t go to any of them when we still lived there. I get plenty of contact on Facebook 🙂
    Also, love your sneakers! They are YOU!

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  16. Reunion STD Tips: Go . . . make them jealous . . . you’re sure to be the youngest looking (and most funnest) attendee in the room!

    Wear a button that says, “Cat Woman” ~> it will be a great conversation starter.

    Wear your new trainers so you can dance the night away with comfy feet!

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  17. The heron looks majestic.

    I think we should have a contest to see what birthdays are the worst. Mine is three days before Christmas. People are already broke by then, and they still have mandatory parties to attend. I wouldn’t trade for a summer birthday, though. Can you imagine celebrating by having a heat stroke?

    Happy birthday six hours from now.

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  18. My weekend was not nearly as productive as I planned. But I did get more done than I usually do, so – I guess it’s a good thing.
    I was doing some work in excel for my job and I discovered that in order to escape it, I was happy to get up and do some chores around the apartment. It turns out I just need a bit of tedium to get me moving into vacuuming. 🙂

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  21. Love the shoes Kate! My shopping phase has left me. I’m even tempted to order my groceries online and have them delivered.
    A creek runs along the fence line in our back yard. It’s a haven for blue herons and turtles. We have one blue heron that visits in our back yard. We see him often roaming the streets in the neighborhood. I can’t imagine what he’s looking for…
    Hope you have a great birthday! ~Elle

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  23. At our age, I like the idea of two annual celebrations. {snorf} Sending oodles of poodles of birthday wishes.

    As for the HS reunion, I made the mistake of attending mine even when I knew full well I didn’t like most of them back then and 50 years didn’t change that fact. All was not lost, I was able to visit my parents that weekend but I can’t imagine doing it ever again (I still don’t like them!).The curiosity factor was a dismal fail.

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  25. Happy birthday for tomorrow Kate.
    Love the trainers. Will look out for them over here as I shall be needing a new pair shortly.
    The heron is majestic. We had two on the marina and it was fascinating to see them fish…… stock still for ages then smack into the water and voila, lunch. Hope you still have yours.

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    • I have shelves and and bridges built into the pond so the fish winter under those. I can see a glimmer of at least one but for the most part I can’t see them until the water warms and come to the surface. I have a lot of fish so the loss of one or two won’t make a difference. Circle of life and all that.

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  26. Good Morning!
    Why do I think your bday is in February? Well, Happy and Healthy one even a day early! I think your Heron has been visiting many ponds in the area. He has tormented another friend with a pond on a regular basis. They put some kind of netting around the pond. Whatever they did, saved lives! (both the fish and the heron) We are pretty sure we found his nest. It is in Trexler park.
    LOVE your new sneakers. Wear them in good health.

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    • I have a lot of hiding places built into my pond for the fish and tadpoles so they aren’t “sitting ducks.” I’m reluctant to put netting on the pond as another animal or bird can get caught in it. I’ve had the pond for almost 9 years and it hasn’t been fished out yet so I’m hopeful. It’s a very beautiful heron. If my pond was bigger, I would chase him at all.

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  27. Happy Birthday! I love the picture of the heron. My mother woke me up early one morning in rural Virginia once to show me a heron fishing in the neighbor’s pond. Thanks for reminder of that memory.

    But sorry about your fish.

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  29. Happy Birthday, Kate! I know the feeling about a January birthday. I have similar ones about March. In Ontario, it’s still horribly winter and come March break when my birthday is, everyone I knew would disappear (and still does) to warmer climes. I really like your idea of a half-birthday. I may need to borrow it come September 🙂

    I wondered why you needed to have words with the heron …. until you mentioned fish. Oops. If they’re all missing, at least you’ll know why. Poor heron probably couldn’t believe his luck!

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    • There used to be several “residential” ponds in my neighborhood but the neighbors took them out. There is one other one but it doesn’t have fish. We are the only game in town although there is a stream and a fish hatchery less than 5 minutes away as the heron flies! 🙂

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