Susan's Scribblings the Blog

Monthly Archives: January 2026

• It’s Superb

  Posted at 6:51 pm by kayewer, on January 31, 2026

  The Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots (again?) will face off a week from tomorrow in what I jokingly call the Stupor Bowl, but which some people refer to as the “Big Game” or the “Superb Owl” Party. Amazing what moving a letter B from the start of one word to the end of another can do to dance around title copyrights.

  A match of two winning divisional NFL football teams to declare an annual overall champion will kick off in Santa Clara, California for an evening of tackles, men spouting statistics, Bad Bunny trying for the 19th time since 2007 to be the musical guest to top Prince’s halftime show, and corporate advertisements at eight million dollars per 30-second commercial trying to be the topic at every bar and home party in the nation.

  Last year, the Philadelphia Eagles won the championship. It was an exciting game for me, and I normally don’t watch football. Being from within eyesight of the capital of American independence (happy 250th to us this year), of course I sing the fight song and have an official jersey (bought when they won in 2018 to commemorate the victory). Some things you just can’t not bother doing, and when your local team makes the final two, even if you’ve gained a few ounces since you had the shirt made, you hold your breath and squeeze it on.

  Football is one of the American “four horsemen” of the sports apocalypse (the other three being baseball, hockey and basketball). Sports were never my thing, and gym class in school was torture because of it. We played a variety of sports, and in one sixth grade class we tried a casual version of football. I somehow got the ball and ran for a touchdown. To the wrong goalpost.

  The jersey is just fashion, folks.

  Anyway, the intensity with which this frozen final stand of the pro season can’t be denied. The grocery stores are already assembling pyramids of snacks, decking out meat sections teaming with ribs and chicken multi-packs and shuffling around pallets of sports drinks and colas from both of the beverage big two (and if you don’t know them, shame on you). Over the next week leading up to the big broadcast, speculation will be which company ads will be the most popular. Budweiser is a big contender each year with their beautiful Clydesdales often appearing. Occasionally a surprise guest ad will pop up, but the trend these days has been to stick to what people expect and then surprise them with something unexpected. I hear a recent embarrassment on a Coldplay concert Jumbotron may be spoofed in one commercial.

  Will I be watching the whole thing this year? No. Last year was enough to last until next time the Eagles go up to, um, bat?

  A friend and I check in on the scores occasionally when it’s not the Eagles playing. We snack and watch other programming we’ve grown accustomed to viewing when we get together. We let the guys work it out for themselves, and we buy what we normally do, without the influence of advertisers.

  The Pats have an advantage, having won an armload of these matches. If last year’s trend holds, the Seahawks may come out the winners this time. Come Monday, every sports network will buzz with the events of the evening before, and the Monday morning quarterbacks will have their time to cheer or gripe about what went right or wrong. The store pyramids will have been depleted, the hype over like a deflated balloon, and sports fans will turn their eyes toward basketball until baseball returns.

  Have I said much of interest here? Maybe not. However, after last week’s post, I’m relieved to say that the worst of the deadly storm system is in the past, and the near permafrost conditions left behind will be around for weeks and unlikely to be melted or dug out. I look forward to Monday, February 2, when a groundhog will hopefully predict an early spring.

  Spring. Baseball. I’m not a sports person, but I’ll take both right about now.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged baseball, football, nfl, sports, writing

• The Cold Hard Truth

  Posted at 6:19 pm by kayewer, on January 24, 2026

  As I’m posting this, a large portion of the United States is about to experience an extreme weather event. Temperatures are expected to drop to well below freezing and stay there for the next eight days. On Sunday (January 25), snow and sleet will move across many states and affect millions of residents. I wonder why the anticipation of bad weather has not been made less scary by now, when we could have been fixing things before they become concerns.

  Our world, for all its modern technology, has not turned within to make life safer, choosing the development of AI over basic ecology to protect the planet we use that AI upon. Right now, millions of us are holding devices in our hands and hoping we can keep them charged without the power going out. I’m using mine to post this, so I’m equally guilty, but my purpose in calling attention to this is twofold.

  First, our electric supply system has gone solar in many places, but we still rely on above-ground power lines connecting power to homes and which can be affected by extreme temperatures and high winds, not to mention rain, ice and snow. In summer, power outages mean the inconveniences of excessive heat in some areas of the country, but in winter those outages place lives at risk. This means not only residents freezing in their homes, but repair crews who are tasked with climbing poles in dangerous conditions to restore power.

  So, we have people at home with no power, heart and breathing conditions compromised, women and small children turning into ice pops, and men and women slipping on poles yards above an uncompromising icy wasteland trying to save them and not endanger themselves. Those residents who try home remedies such as heaters, fireplaces or generators may succumb to fume poisoning. Carbon monoxide indoors in winter is as silent a killer as low temperatures.

  It’s uncertain whether the mysterious disappearance of our trash into the oceans is partly to blame for our extreme weather, but it may well be contributing to it. We are so fast to cast anything aside without a care about what happens to it afterward; I suspect we are paying off disposal companies to “make it go away” and then turning a blind eye to what they do with it. I have had nightmares about people in 2069 seeing trash from 1999 appearing in the tides as the sea gives up its unwanted waste. We aren’t burning it, and places such as India are living among piles of e-debris nobody wants to salvage. We’re a throwaway race of humans in a world which can’t accept what we are discarding in such huge quantities. The seas grow warmer, and nature fights back with extreme cold. It’s a paradox that is making our seasons challenges to our existence.

  If we don’t corral these discrepancies, our winters and summers will become worse. If Disney can have all their power works underground, we can certainly come up with a way to preserve 24/7 power for the rest of us. If we can make trash, we should also be able to unmake it. A philosophy in Frank Herbert’s Dune mentioned that whoever can destroy something has control over it. Why would we make plastics nobody wants to process once it’s used and instead toss them into landfills or feed them to our marine life? These extremes in weather may mean that our planet is fighting back, so our best defense is to give it no reason to.

  But that is a bigger question that needs a much larger answer than this short blog post.

  So, what was the second reason?

  This event, as I said before, may change lives. I don’t know what will happen during this next week. There is an actual probability of catastrophe. People may die this coming week. Your best bet is to stay where you are. Don’t drive in icy conditions and need somebody else to come after you. Layer up. Hunker down and hope for the best. That’s what I will be doing.

  Here’s hoping for the best in the worst possible conditions.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged nature, snow, travel, weather, winter

• One Glove

  Posted at 6:22 pm by kayewer, on January 17, 2026

  Today was another adventure in life for me. I was at a late movie the night before and got out of bed almost past the morning as a result. So much for getting morning chores done. Still, I managed to do a lot in the two hours and change left to me before I needed to board a train for the city to see a play.

  While I was going through my Saturday morning routine, Mother Nature threw some snow our way, and the lawns and sidewalks were dusted with white. Fortunately, it was dry enough that freezing was not an issue, and the windshield of my car easily cleaned off with just my wipers.

  When I reached the train station, I caught a glimpse of a glove on the floor, but I thought nothing of it, as the rush of people coming and going would make it difficult to determine its current state. Perhaps its owner was nearby. I made my way through the turnstile and took the escalator to the platform to await the early train.

  A crowd had already begun to swarm about the enclosed station, and I happened to be standing near two older women and a man who were engaged in conversation. One of the ladies put on her right glove but searched her pocket in vain for its mate.

  The play I was going to see was about Sherlock Holmes, so the coincidence of this drama in front of me was not to be denied. I spoke up and said that I had spotted a glove on the floor downstairs. The gentleman was prepared to go check it out, but the lady waved the idea away. This is part of our stubborn and occasionally silly nature to chalk up such a small loss to karma and do nothing.

  I couldn’t do nothing.

  The journey back downstairs did not involve an escalator, but I can always use some exercise and didn’t mind the sprint. I looked for the glove, but it had been removed, so I glanced around and found it was sitting on the bench near its original location, and what appeared to be a bundled-up fellow with jacket strings dangling and their head down, was settled in next to it. I called out, “Excuse me, sir?”

  The “sir” raised their head. It was a younger woman festooned with hair extensions which cascaded over her thick jacket. When I asked, she brought the glove over, and with my face certain to be flushed with shame, I apologized for not guessing I was addressing a woman. She graciously waved it off.

  Thank goodness that sometimes waving something off pays off in more ways than one. I was emotionally in hell inside. Sir, indeed.

  I returned what turned out to indeed be the lady’s missing glove mate to her, and she was amazed that I would be kind enough to do it. I didn’t see how the fellow reacted, but we engaged in conversation until the train arrived. We were headed to the same show, which turned out to be a hilarious play with six cast members acting out multiple roles and pulling it off marvelously.

  As for me, I took extra care to make sure my gloves were accounted for in my pockets, and I’m glad the lady did not need to go without hand protection in chilly weather. The lady who brought the glove to me may well be considering her future choice of attire to avoid being mistaken for somebody else.

  And by the time the event was over, the snow had almost entirely melted.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged good-deeds, sherlock-holmes, walnut-street-theater, lost-and-found

• Not a Tusk

  Posted at 3:31 pm by kayewer, on January 10, 2026

  I made a resolution to offer some lighthearted or neutral posts during this year, because we are already overwhelmed with negativity in the world. This is the first of those attempts.

  I will issue a warning that intimate anatomy is a central part of this story, so discretion is advised. Having said that, I hope adults will see that this subject matter is educational as well as funny.

  The city of Camden is known as a center of poverty and crime in New Jersey. It’s situated across the Delaware River from Philadelphia and began as a soup pot of immigrants working at the shipyards as well as Campbell Soup and RCA Victor in the early 20th century. The RCA company is famous for its depiction of the dog Nipper, listening to a gramophone. Known as “His Master’s Voice,” the art graces the former workplace converted to living space in the form of a stained glass window. The address is known as the Nipper Building. Today’s population is still diverse, but a mixture of earnings classes, and the biggest workplace is now the hospital, which grew from one brick building to a massive campus near the waterfront.

  In 2025 crime generally decreased in Camden, including a summer devoid of shootings, but a recent event has made early 2026 headlines for a reason worth at least a partial grin.

  A popular cheesesteak and dive bar restaurant, Donkey’s Place, received Anthony Bourdain’s blessing as making the best Philly meat sandwiches in the state. As with many watering holes, Donkey’s displays conversation pieces, one of which is what is known in the medical community as a baculum; what we know as a bone in many mammals which supports, um, a certain male body part. This was formerly the prized bone of a male walrus, likely measuring some two feet long. Considering the bulk of the average walrus or his potential partner, it makes sense that such a wonder of creation has to be somewhat lengthy to function as it should.

  A patron was eating in the restaurant, used a credit card, and at some point asked to see the item. While the bartender’s back was turned, security cameras captured the patron walking out with it. So they have an idea of the person’s identity and have said they don’t want to press charges, only to have the item returned to them.

  The news made Stephen Colbert’s late night show, not to mention a slew of other news media, sporting “Beloved Walrus (is Mightier than the Sword) Stolen,” and similar headlines, along with the camera footage. This was news in the first week of January.

  That somebody would hoist such a thing makes us wonder what they intend to do with it. It’s not worth much, if you ask me. It’s a quirky bar item which has a tradition behind it, while the undeserving owner of it now has nothing but the anticipation of bad karma for committing petty theft.

  The word has gone out, and the owners and patrons who have seen the item on display for decades are looking forward to its return. So am I.

  I don’t know how such things can be tracked, but if you know something, now is the time to speak up. It may be a minor issue in the grandeur of life itself, but the many small things can add up to bigger disappointments later.

  If news develops, I will certainly follow up. For now, the bar is missing a prized item. We got a giggle (as did Colbert’s audience and the world watching), and the quest continues. For now.

  I hope there is a good outcome for the bar. Sometimes a place means more than just its purpose, but its reputation and community presence. That is what is missing without the return of a missing walrus part. With luck, the person will have a change of heart, like the Grinch, and it will grow a size.

  And if you anticipated a joke there, you’re forgiven.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged camden, donkeys-place, new-jersey

• False Start

  Posted at 3:46 pm by kayewer, on January 3, 2026

  I don’t know what happened to 2026, but it got off on the wrong foot if you ask me. In my region, we awoke to a January 1 surprise. I went to bed early since I had made no plans to celebrate (and no food in the house with which to do so), and I woke up to a coating of snow on the ground containing a mix of sleet. This meant I spent part of the morning scraping, shoveling, sweeping and chopping to clear the sidewalks and my car.

  Fortunately this chilly start to the year didn’t put a damper on the Philadelphia tradition of marching the Mummers along Broad Street, but it did affect the competitive portion for the string bands. They performed without their large props due to high winds. The committee responsible for the judging and awarding of prizes for the best of the bands are working out when and how to reschedule the event so they can receive the accolades they deserve.

  The string bands march last in the outdoor portion of the parade, and their elaborate performances are the highlight of the entire day. Leave it to Mother Nature to start the New Year with a long-winded weather event. It’s prudent to postpone; however, the leader of each band carries a large backpiece which, if picked up by a heavy wind, could blow him to Pittsburgh, and they still marched wearing them. The other performers, who sport smaller backings, could be bowled over by high gusts, so safety first makes sense for the staged episodes (they bring everything with them to perform at designated spots throughout the parade route). There were no reports of flying Mummer sightings.

  On Friday I had to work, so I promptly signed in and began doing reports for the end of the month and year, followed by customer feedback. We have an online form which asks for the basics, but of the dozens of incoming notices I received, practically none of them were filled out properly. I blame the lingering effects of reveling on Wednesday evening, but also wonder if people are just unable to perform such simple tasks anymore.

  When I went out to run errands today, you wouldn’t even know there had been December holidays. I stopped by a mall for a few essentials and found that Christmas had been dismantled, and much of the winter gear was on clearance with swimwear on the racks. I decided not to buy clearance sweaters, since I already have a decent supply, as well as enough to get me through spring and summer.

  The local patisserie was quiet, and I didn’t need to wait in line. However, they ran out of tongs for the usual “grab and go” ritual. I skipped going to the supermarket as this is the first weekend of the month and the benefit check cart brigades fill every store all weekend long. If you’ve never caught the spectacle, it’s a comedy of confusion as a car filled with shoppers descend and grab carts to fill to overflowing with a month’s worth of food at once. It’s not as if the stores close down, but more that the money needs to be put in the proper place right away so the family can at least eat for 31 days. Thank goodness for February and a shorter month to stretch that benefit a bit more.

  My last stops were the bird food store and my favorite bath needs place for supplies. The birds get yummy seeds, and I get cleansers and moisturizers. Luckily I still have funds left, as it was my payday as well yesterday.

  The overall impression was that we’re all exhausted from December, and returning to what we call normal on Monday won’t be easy or pleasant. But we now have 356 days before the next Christmas madness, which will fall on a Friday, as will the New Year 2027. The best we can do is soldier on and look forward to other milestones such as the start of Daylight Saving on March 8, the end of winter on March 20 (spring equinox), and Memorial Day, which is 142 days away on May 25.

  Are you blown away?

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged life, music

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