Yo Ho Ho, and a Bottle of Rum / A Pirate’s Life for ME . . .
Nancy wrote a great story yesterday about the tree stump in her neighborhood that is frequently redecorated to fit every occasion. That reminded me of a similar story in my own neighborhood. This story is more recent in its development, but what it lacks in history, it makes up for in gaudy flamboyance.
This particular neighbor only lives three blocks away and I either bike or walk my dog past there almost every day. In early October, I started noticing a strange construction project going on in the front yard. As the days progressed, I could see it was a boat. Then it became a pirate ship. Then it was decorated with “skull & crossbones” flags and pirate skeletons.
I assumed it was an elaborate, but temporary, Halloween decoration. A few weeks later, the pirate ship and its crew had turkeys and pumpkins aboard for Thanksgiving. Another couple of weeks later, there were wreaths, lights, and a Christmas tree on board. Suddenly, I no longer felt weird for building snowmen in my yard.
I don’t think they’re going to tear down the ship anytime soon, so I have to wonder what they’ve got planned for Valentine’s Day and Easter.
The residential streets have been improving a little bit after three days of relatively mild weather. The pure snow and ice have diminished to only 75% snow and ice, plus a little slush and some water puddles. Luckily, now I can weave around those things to ride on bare pavement at least half the time.
I felt the urgency to ride today because we’re looking at another 4-6 inches of snow tonight. (Ah, life in Minnesota.)
The biggest highlight of my bike ride was the sighting of a red fox on a bike trail. To me, that was way cooler than a pirate ship.
gregblood
Hi. My name is Greg and I ride my bike a lot. That is to say, I ride my bike almost every day. I go on long rides and short rides. Sunny rides, cloudy rides, and rainy rides. I like commuting, errand-running, day-tripping, overnighting, and touring on my bike. I ride on city streets, highways, gravel, single track, and snow with equal enthusiasm. Sometimes I ride fast and sometimes I ride slow. I try to keep my feet on the pedals at stop lights and I do not dismount when I hop up on a curb. I have a roadie bike, a mountain bike and a touring bike. I try to accept any challenge a bike ride can throw at me without complaint. But I don't like bugs.
6 response to "Yo Ho Ho, and a Bottle of Rum / A Pirate’s Life for ME . . ."
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Wildlife photographer to add to your many skills, lovely photo.
The Pirates of Penzance have arrived in YOUR town!
Great fox photo!
Okay, you set off a series of synapses, resulting in two TV-related comments:
(1) At least, unlike Gibbs, that guy didn’t build the boat in his basement.
(2) Maybe that critter escaped from the Sanford and Son series.
I will slink away now.
Not sure about the Gibbs boat reference (NCIS?), but I do know the name of the guy who played Fred Sanford. I also got the cleverness of “slinking” away. Very fox-like.
I love it that you have the boat as a counterpart to my stump! It will be interesting to see how long in the year they keep it up and keep decorating it.
Ohhhh— the fox is quite the sighting.
Fox sighting! Wow!
That boat is really over the top. Love it, wouldn’t put it in my own yard, though. Wait, I don*t have a yard.