A collage of images from yesterday, when I watched the Inauguration with about 700 other people from the town and the campus where I work.

And when the event was coming to end, I could swear I heard people actually singing the National Anthem. I don’t think I have ever heard that here before. Certainly not in the last few years.

I am actually thinking of buying an American flag to hang outside of my house. For the first time ever.

It’s beginning to look like a brand new world. Uh-huh.

It might now be 9 weeks til spring, but this is the view that awaits me each winter morning from my side of the bed.

Just makes you wanna jump up outta bed and start the day, doesn’t it?

Two outdoor thermometers at my house, at 7 a.m. on 1/16/09

There are days when I wonder why I live in the Midwest.

-sigh-

Today was definitely one of them.

After suffering through the recent VP debates, imagine the huge giggle I got when, on the outbound Blue Line train to Wonderland (-!-) in Boston, I saw this sign.

An appropriate sign for this blog, as well as the buzzword frenzy that surrounds us during the election season.

Oh, and if you don’t know how to be a maverick, click here … apparently the MBTA is glad to help.

These gynormous crutches suddenly appeared in the town square the other morning.

The tree seems happy and comfortable with its new support system. The passer-by …seems puzzled.

I am truly outbound for the next few posts…travelling by car from Ohio to New England and then back again. Who knows what I will find to post here next…Stay tuned.

I have to drive out of town to find an ATM machine for our bank when I need to make a deposit (thank you Patriot Act for making it impossible to make deposits over $100 in ATMs other than your own in O-hi-o). Nevertheless, it’s a lovely drive out of town and through the farmland.

Along the way there is this deserted gas station, surrounded by cornfields. Talk about time, and the price of gas, standing still. Further down the road is an active station …complete with digital readout…that makes it easier to keep up with the rising price of fuel. When I looked at these images side by side, I gasped.

(Note: Yeah, I cheated. I took two pictures in the same day. AND I used the Gimp to put one picture inside of another. Helllloooo….rules are made to be broken, are they not?)

I love my children…some days more than others. This morning I was not lovin’ my 16 year old because he was soooo sloooow getting up and out the door…. and he missed the bus…and I had to drive him to school. School is in a town outside of ours, so once again I was outbound bound, camera in hand.

For some people in Ohio, lawns are more than something to be mowed: they are art installations. Nothing says “patriot” to me better than a sawmill blade painted like the American (And Proud Of It) Flag. As I stopped to snap the picture, I realized that this lawn is like the last page in Highlights magazine…remember? Can you find the following items hidden in this picture? ( note: click on the image to enlarge it…if you dare!)

birdfeeders, pots, flags, a random wagon, a windmill, whiskey barrels, (the ubiquitous) pink plastic flamingos,illuminated glass blocks, ceramic doo-dads (for lack of a better term)

Out of view of the camera are the cement (pronounced see-ment ) lawn geese that have costumes that match the season (one down the road from here has a goose with a gun, cuz it’s goose hunting season now I guess).

I am almost certain there is nothing quite like this on the outbound journey in ‘Frisco… but I perhaps I may be pleasantly surprised.

In another part of the country, waaaay far away from the hustle and bustle of San Fran, sits O-hi-o, aka the Heartland.

There are no subways here in this wee college town of 8,000 people (when/if we all show up). You get to where you need to go by bike or car or feet. And when you leave the “city” limits… oh my. Nothing but soy and corn and wheat for miles.

So here is my contribution, a counterbalance to the cosmopolitan and the bright lights and the big city. This sign sits on the outskirts of town, visible in your rear view mirror as you head outbound.

Ah Shelvy. She’s our go-to gal here in Ford Country for all of those questions about heavy duty trucks: how much of a payload can my Ford F-150 shoulder? How will I know if I need to move up to  Super-Duty? Shelvy can use terms like “hemi” and “trailering” and “power folded heated signal mirrors with puddle lamps” without a twitch. When I think massive 5.4 Litre V8 engines and mega-torque pick-up trucks…I always think Shelvy.

Wouldn’t you?

And did you know she’s selling?

Pity that she also appears to be, er, radioactive as well.