"Received without contents"

I think the postal service has a sense of humor and here's why.

A bit of background: Have you ever received a piece of mail in a ziploc baggie? One supplied by the postal service with a small label attached and three choices given for why you're receiving your mail in such a disorganized way? The choices are "received unsealed", "received damaged," and "received without contents."

I don't very often receive such mail and when I do I rarely find it humorous, but this week's offering took the cake.

I received the BACK page of a catalog. That's it. The part that had my name and address. Attached to it was the familiar little label with two boxes checked, the damaged one and the without contents one. Oh, it was very damaged, this thin little piece of paper, and sure enough! There weren't any contents!

I'm tempted to put it in an envelope, seal it very well, and send it back to the catalog company. Surely they want to know this? But then, at the very bottom of the page I did receive is the notice to Please Recycle.

But then, the post office has already done that for me.

The real Bond girl

We saw Skyfall over the weekend, the new Bond movie, and if you haven't seen it, don't read on. Here there be spoilers.

We really loved the movie's homage to the Bond film legacy and its re-start of such by giving us a background view of the Moneypenny relationship. Quite clever. Sensed what was coming maybe 10 seconds before it came and enjoyed it the more for the quick guess.

The new "Bond girl", Berenice Mariohe, is a beauty and undoubtedly worthy of the name and her place in the line, but after seeing Skyfall, I think the honor of being this movie's Bond girl goes to Dame Judi Dench. She's the one Bond is closest to; she's the one he grieves. She has far more screen time than Ms. Mariohe, whose time really does seem a bit compressed, although when she's there, well, she's there.

So, I nominate Judi Dench for the latest Bond girl accolades. What do you think of that?

It's a pecan time of year

Lore has it that every third year should be an outstanding pecan crop. Given our severe summers/winters over the last four or five years, we've not really had one. But this year, they're ba-ack!

I spent over an hour this afternoon sitting in the grass or gravel scooping up mid-size pecans. Over 14 pounds. I'll add these to the 24 already picked "on the halves" for me by local gentlemen.

And there are more out there. As if taunting me, the tree would rustle and drop pecans where I'd just picked! I'd hear them hit the driveway or pile of leaves and think: Can't you drop them where I am, not where I've been?

Then I'd remember the squirrel in the backyard several years ago who took exception to a table of mah-jongg players on the patio. The little rascal dropped pecans on their heads!

I guess I could have a sore head instead of tired knees.