h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Imagine our surprise yesterday afternoon, when as we were sitting in the Living Room talking, we glanced out the front window to see a figure which looked not at all unlike ..... dare I say it? Are you sitting down? I hope you are - you are at a computer, so hopefully you are sitting down....

What we saw, it is still so clear in my mind... it was something I'd never seen before in real life... never!

Shocking it was.....


It was the...... oh, I guess I should simply go ahead and say it.... you're all old enough to handle this...... if you're not, you should just stop reading now....


Ok, this is what it was....




Well, this is what it looked like, anyway........






It looked like The Grim Reaper!!!! Right outside our living room window! Walking! Purposefully! Right in front of *our* house!!!



Told you it was scary!!







Ok, here's what really happened:

We'd had a lot of rain the day before, and I do mean a LOT of rain.... the basement had started leaking, yet again. So we mopped up and tried to figure out where it was coming in *this* time. Which meant going outside and looking at the area around the house, and up in the gutters and places like that. Well, the gutters were cleaned, and yet, we couldn't help but notice that there was a gangly bush that had grown up higher than the gutters, and that there was a large spot behind that bush where the mulch had washed away from the house. This indicated that perhaps the wind and rain had bent the branches of the bush down into the gutter preventing the rain from draining properly. So hubby decided to trim the bush back.

Meanwhile, Amy and I were sitting in the Living room talking, when we looked out the front window and saw hubby dressed in a hooded sweatshirt, and carrying the long pole tree trimmer with him to trim that bush back to a safer height.... the pole tree trimmer with the curved saw blade attached to the end.. grim reaper!!!!!

Ok, it wasn't the least bit scary..... we both burst out ing, and when I was able to contain myself enough, I grabbed the camera and took a picture of him in his grim reaper outfit, but alas, he didn't know why we were laughing, so it didn't come out that great... but I think if I crop it right, and print it in B&W, it will look close enough....

WILL WE GET TO SEE IT THEN?

(Doh, that was a rather feeble Death impression, nevermind)

Funny picture...

but not nearly as funny as the sight of him walking along dragging that pole.....

This is Mr Death. He's a reaper.

Still laughing about it.... the mental picture.....

Funny funny... and in that picture he looks kinda pale and stuff too so it enhances the effect...

you know my nickname at work is the Grim Reaper

No, didn't know that..... Why do they call you that, pray tell?

Do you have a grim reaper outfit?

I wear a lot of black (at the moment everything I am wearing is black)

Why? you depressed?

Everyone looks good in black

(it also makes choosing an outfit easy )

Hmmm........I'd like to look good...

*starts planning all black wardrobe*....

I"ll have to go to the amish dry goods stores to find black fabric to make stuff, theyr'e the only ones who seem to have lots of it...

*giggles*

Actually, it gets entirely too hot here in the summer to wear black - the color absorbs heat like crazy....I don't know how the Amish stand it - they still observe long periods of mourning wearing all black for months and months on end...... and as large as their extende families are, they're always in mourning for somebody it seems....

blacks not too bad in the sun, as long as its baggy & well ventilated

Um.... perhaps you've never experienced temperatures in the upper 90's F (35+C) with humidity hovering around 98%... No amount of looseness and ventilation helps when the air is that thick and hot, because the thick, soupy air doesn't move - that's part of the problem.... It feels horrible out in the sun when it's like that, and that's when you're wearing light colors! It can be hard to even breathe when it's like that...

<--- yes, that's about what I feel like when it gets like that here!

sounds like London in August without the pollution

Oh, no..... we've got pollution, too. Probably not the amount London has, but you can tell when the air gets stagnant in that weather, and we have "ozone action days" when it's dangerous to do anything strenuous outdoors... From what I understand, if you fly into the little Lancaster airport, as you approach Lancaster, you can see a yellow haze over the whole area, at least in 3H weather (hazy, hot, and humid). That's pretty bad for an area that has a reputation as being rural - more cows and amish than cars...

Well, that's the reputation, anyway - in truth, the county is all too quickly becoming a suburb of Philadelphia, because as expensive as it is to live here, it's nothing compared to the immediate Philly area, so people are willing to commute, just to have a bigger house for the equivalent money.