Season shift

That's it. I'm calling this fall. Even though the garden doesn't agree. And it's supposed to be 70 degrees on Thursday.


Go Vikings. I'd add an exclamation point, but it's hard to do when they're 1-4.

That's tomatoes, zucchini, carrots and beets. And gourds, for some reason.



Welcome to the (tomato) jungle.



That photo doesn't quite do it justice. There are probably -- no exaggeration -- 40-plus green tomatoes on those plants. And with the weather we're having, I don't think we'll lose them to frost.



What a beauty.

I have a confession: I pulled the zucchini plants -- with a few blossoms still attached. Honestly, I just can't eat another zucchini. I picked two today. There's still a six-pounder in our kitchen waiting to end up in a cake or some other dish that transforms healthy food into a butter-and-chocolate monstrosity.



That poor little lavender plant in the lower right corner hasn't seen sunlight since July, when the zucchini went bonkers and grew 10 feet in a week. But it smelled like lavender when I pulled away the squash vines today.

Get this -- I had a strawberry from the garden today. I didn't think to take a photo, but the strawberry plant is thriving. Especially in the last three weeks. I know it's an ever-bearing variety, but still. It's strawberries. It's October.

:::

Billings' first dog park opened over the weekend. We took Chowder.



That's what she did the whole time, when she wasn't busy peeing on her own tail. She was so afraid of the other (all very nice) dogs.

Even these guys.



Staying a safe distance from everybody else:



Total panic.



:::

As much as Chowder failed at the dog park, we succeed at the Friends of the Library book sale.



All that = $12. That's a lot of new books there!

I found a great Amish quilt book too. Not patterns, just photographs of a collection. Tons of inspiration.





And this book. Totally impractical, but awesome. And only $1.







We had the kind of day on Saturday that makes me like Billings. We ate at a killer restaurant we've been meaning to try for months. We made out like bandits at the book sale. We went to a party at the brewery. All that happened within blocks of our apartment. We basically did Democrat-liberal-hippie things in this very cowboy town. If we keep having Saturdays like that, my opinion of this place might turn a corner. I also had three cupcakes that day, which played an important factor in my happiness.

:::

I finished up this wonky piano keys quilt during the Saturday rainstorm. It's made with 1930s reproduction fabric. I started this top months ago, and then it just sat around while I worked on more time-sensitive projects.



At first I was pretty "meh" about this quilt, but once it was bound I had a total change of heart. I finished it while we were watching Fargo on the couch and it went into insta-use. That's why it's so wrinkly in the photo.



:::

I got a start on my next project, but I don't have any good photos to share yet. And I won't for a while because I'm off to Seattle on Thursday!

Being outside in Billings isn't scary

I took Chowder on a strange walk this morning. We diverted from our normal route.

Chowder is the kind of dog that thrives on routine. Everyone should always leave for and return from work at the same time. Dinner is at 6:30 p.m. And walks always follow the same route.

So today, when we turned left instead of going straight, her whole world briefly fell apart. At first, she just stayed the course, not registering that I was going a different direction and calling out "Hey. Dog. This way." It was rough.

The first 10 intersections were a disaster. Are we going to cross the street? Turn right? Hang a left? She wouldn't start walking until I took a few steps and proved that, yes, the street wasn't going to fall out from under us.

But she survived.

I'm a creature of habit, too. She's so familiar with our route because we travel some version of it every day. I think that's because when I've got both dogs or I'm running Tom, the part of my brain that negotiates street crossings, uneven sidewalks and the like runs on autopilot. My active senses are used up worrying "will Tom notice that cat under the car?" and "how drunk is that guy swerving down the alley?"

But today I was on a mission. When I was driving over to the West End to meet Tim for lunch on Tuesday, I saw a sign at a motel. It said something like "if ppl arenT suppozed to drinkndrive, How cum bars have parkin LOTS?!!!!"

I did my best here to represent the whack spelling and feel of the sign, but it doesn't do justice to the real thing. So I wanted to take a photo. Hence the change in walking routes.

Turns out my memory blows and I we never found the sign. I swear it was on First Avenue North. And it might be, but farther west than we got today. Oh well. There's always tomorrow.

But I got some other photos. First, we met the God of Tires.



Then we found one of the few industries that's probably worse off than newspapers.



We saw a cool ghost sign.





And a not-so-old sign, but I like the i.



And a pretty crappy basketball hoop.



A funny sticker.


(The crossed-out part at the bottom had a message about safe sex, which the sticker owner did not agree with.)

Some brewery byproducts.



And the standard Chowder-in-front-of-a-wall shot.



So our route was weird and different. Much like walking in general is weird and different for most of Billings.

That sounds snippy and judgmental. And it is. But it's also true. And it was a pretty nice transition to something that's been bothering me since we moved here.

I sat down after dinner tonight and did a little math. On weekdays, I average seven miles of walking and running in and around downtown Billings. Today I walked Chowder four miles and ran Tom three. Before midnight, I'll walk to and from work three times.

In all those miles, I didn't see another person out walking or running for fitness. Not a one. I usually don't.

I can't remember the last time I saw another runner. And I'm not just throwing that statement out as an illustrative point. I honestly cannot remember the last time I encountered another person out on a run.

I work odd hours, so I know there must be people doing their thing when I'm at my office. But I run during what's lunch hour for normal folks, and it's through downtown and residential areas. You think there'd be someone else out doing the same.

It's not that I don't see other people. There are folks walking to restaurants, their cars, offices. And there are plenty homeless with no place to go.

In Butte, I ran Tom with a special collar that made it easier to pull him away from other dogs. Because we always ran into other people out with their mutts. But here, he wears a harness because we so rarely cross paths with other dogs and their owners.

I heard a story on NPR this week about Lexington, Ky., being named the most sedentary U.S. city by Men's Health magazine. So I found the list, and ... look where Billings is.

No. 74. On a list where 100 is the worst. It's us and a bunch of Deep Southers and the Midwest. Which confirms my argument that Billings isn't really Montana. But that's a different topic.

Anyway, my point is this: Please, Billings, go outside. It's not scary. If Chowder can do it, so can you.