nosey me

 I love checking Zillow for available properties

    We are not looking, but I enjoy seeing what other houses are going for.

    There is one in our subdivision listed for just a shade under 500,000$.  And there is one on Knoll Road    listed for just a tad under 900,000$.  Both are nice houses.  

    I would need 4 jobs to make payments, and they had better be high paying jobs!

    Took Beth for a short walk today.  Her do do looks normal, which is a great sign!

    I noticed a crispness to the air.  A harbinger of fall perhaps.   The breeze certainly was cool and I was even chilled in my sweatshirt.

    But tomorrow it should be 80 again.  And humid.  I want fall.

    I do have to get going on my outside chores.  I still have 3 to do from last week.  I just don't seem to be motivated.

    I bought some trees from a nursery last year.  Nice trees.  Good size.

    But one of the trees has a dead leader.  My plan was to take a branch and bend it up, then use tree wrap ti hold it in position. That way the new branch will be come the leader.  In theory.

    So I went to the hardware store and found some tree wrap.

    Went to the check out counter and it was $10!  I foolishly bought it.  I noticed it was made in China, which means there is a tariff on it.  I swear I have bought this stuff in the past and it ws no where near that price.

    When I got home, I thought about it and decided to take it back.  I will do that tomorrow.

    In its place I will use a panty hose.  They expand and I can't remember the last time Jackie wore some.

    Besides, they have to be cheaper than the wrap.  Right?

    Just hope it works.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

whew!

 This was a pretty busy day!

    I took part in a museum program.  I read a letter from John Jay arguing for a Constitution.  Friend Steve read a letter from Mr. Gerry opposing signing the Constitution.

    Writing back them was much more, how to say it?  They used big words and complex sentence structure.

    Sometimes I stumble when reading big words.  Like sanguine.  I think this is the first time in may life I had used it in a sentence.

    Digression.  I would give my fifth graders a spelling/language assignment where they had to use a spelling word in a sentence with correct capitalization and ending punctuation.  My sentence for sanguine would mimic some fifth graders.  I don't know how to use sanguine in a sentence.

    But I learned it is an adjective and is used to display optimism in a tense situation. 

    I also realized we will have a whole generation of people  who will not be able to read any of the letters or hand written manuscripts done before Covid.  Reading cursive is a lost art.  Writing cursive is lost art.

    Actually, my handwriting is terrible.

    A student came up to me after the first report cards of the year went home.  He said his dad thought I had a funny first name.

    I said it was pretty common.  The boy replied his dad had never met someone named Tenny.  that is when I realized my cursive r pretty much looked like an n.  Still does.

    After the museum thing, I watched a little of the Bears game.  When do Super Bowl tickets go on sale?

    Jackie and I also put together fruit kabobs for our neighborhood block party.

    I cut the fruit and she put it on the kabobs:  apple, banana, grapes, strawberry and cucumber.

    I also bought a yellow watermelon, but the pieces were too hard to stick on the kabobs.

    And yess, the melon is yellow on the inside!  I cut up pieces and put them in a platter but not a lot of people seemed adventurous 

    I saw an Eastender and asked where he lived and what his name was.  (I divide our street into Eastenders and Westenders.  We are Westenders.  It has nothing to do with a certain British drama series.)

    He said, "Same house I lived in last year when you asked.  And the year before.  And the year before when you asked me.  I think n ext year I will just put Terry on my name tag."

    It was a nice time.  I did know a lot of the people, and even met some new ones.  

    I just don't remember their names.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

and you are?

I went to a retirement party tyesterday

    Jackie opted not to go, which was lucky because the facility was pretty crowded and getting a wheel chair around would have been hard.

    Anyway, saw a lot of people I know.  A young man came over and said hello, and I asked him if he had been in the new Tilton School yet.  He looked at me like I was nuts. He said he had passed by it, but had not been in it.

    That's when I realized I was talking to the wrong name.  Let's say I thought it was Tim, but it was Bob.  As soon as he said no, I realized my error and called him Bob.  I was correct.

    A woman was serving appetizers.  I called her Susie several times.  After my third helping, I realized here name is not Susie.  I said, "I have been calling you Susie, but that is not your name, is it?

    She told me no, Susie was her boss.  She was Barbara.

    But the coup de grass came when a woman came into the room. 

    I said to her"Long time no see."  and I  chuckled. Then I said, "Jackie likes the shirts I bought."

    She had a puzzled look on her familiar face. Finally she asked, "Do you know who I am?"

    I admitted I did not.

    "Joanie Johnson," she said and I immediately smacked my forehead!  Of course!  I confused her with a person I bought some shirts for Jackie.from.  (That's a real awkward sentence, but I don't know how else to say it.)

    The only similarity is they both are short ladies with short light colored hair.  Facially they are not the same and I knew  this woman.  I had her kids in school!    At one point we were neighbors!!   

     Good grief.

    That explains why I can never find Waldo in those insidious books.  I can't distinguish faces. (Again, I know.  You have to look for Waldo's clothes, not his face.  Still can't do it.)

    Today we were at a place and I had to ask Jackie, 'Which one is Mona?  Whose Beth? Is that one Mary"?

    Of the 3, I was 1 for 3.  If Jackie had not been there, I would have called everyone by the wrong name.  Maybe I should just use the word friend instead of a name.

    That is certainly safer, though less adventurous. 

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

Cut the square night at the museum.....this 1931 Rolls Royce made it

I love hood ornaments and decorations on older cars.

This was a1951 Dodge Wayfarer  .....Note the man behind it wearing a black and red shirt, just like the car

And the pup is a stuffed animal

25 years

We all have our memories of 9/11

    The sheer horror of those images will be burned in our minds forever.

    I had stepped into the hall at Tilton and saw Miss Gates.  She told me a plane hit one of the twin towers in New York City.

    I grabbed the tv on the cart and plugged it in, keeping it out in the hallway while I tried to find a channel that I could see in those pre cable classroom days.

    What I saw looked like a scene from a disaster movie.  I had expected  small plane, not a huge jet.

    My kids asked what I was doing and I told them I was watching the news.

    Then the second plane hit.

    I left the tv on, but did not see the news about the other 2 planes until later.

    I told the kids what basically happened, and that when they got home today they should talk to their parents about what happened.

    At home, I watched the news reports, horrified, as bodies flew through the air. And with anger as the buildings collapsed.

    I called my cousin Bob because his son was working in NYC, but luckily he was not in the area of the towers.  I believe he could smell the smoke and also experienced the terror and confusion.

    It was the days that followed that were, well, odd.

    I remember kids looking up, as if to expect a plane barreling down toward the ground.

    We had a field trip to Brookfield Zoo that coming Friday.  One parent asked if I should cancel the trip in case Chicago was a target also

    I ensured her that we  were safe.  The zoo was quite a distance from downtown Chicago and at the first sign of any trouble, we would board the bus and return.

    She let her daughter go, but I know she worried the whole time.  

    I think we all did.

    And the stories I remember coming out: Passengers  texting loved ones and saying they were battling hijackers over control of the plane over Pennsylvania.   People carrying a handicapped woman down the stairs to safety.  A man singing to comfort people as they raced down the stairs. A person who ran late to work and ws not in the building.  I read a story today about a man and his wife who had tickets to the observation floor for that morning, but decided to go later. He still has the tickets.

    I also remember the feeling afterward.  The anger.  The confusion:  Why innocent people?  Why the towers?  Why?

    And eventually the hope.

    People in Greenland taking in thousands of passengers from grounded planes.  Opening their arms to complete strangers, doing their best to make them feel safe and comfortable.

    The feeling that we need to help each other,  No political debate.  No blaming.  No name calling.  A united stand for our country and our freedoms.

    Julia was offered the job in Switzerland in October.  I feared for her flying, but by the time she left  in February there had been changes in airport security

    The children in my class that day will be in the 36/37 age range today.

    I often wonder what they remember .   What do they tell their children about 9/11?

    And if they remember a time we all felt safer.

    Our world changed.  I don't think for the better.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace 

meh

 I just can't get going tonight

    I got up early to get Beth ready for her trip to the vet.  Emily took her, and Julia picked her up.  Jackie and I were getting haircuts, so I am glad the girls were able to step in for us.

    I don't understand all the medical terms for dogs, but Beth has a pretty severe condition.  She acts normal, seems normal, eats normal.......but has some "striations" on her stomach linings.  The ultra sound found that today.  The vet would like to do a biopsy, but can't because her albumen level is still below normal.

    He put her on a prednisone regime and we go back in 2 weeks for another blood draw.  He said,  based on what we know, it is a manageable condition. 

    After we picked her up from Julia's, we came home and I decided to mow our yard.   Finished at 5:30 and had to hustle to get to my museum meeting at 6.  I guess I just lost track of time while on the mower.

  We did have a visitor today.  I was in the kitchen when I saw movement on the patio.  I looked out and a huge hawk was sitting on the gutter!  I hope he was getting ground squirrels.  

     I am just sitting here.  It's about 9 and I have a load of laundry to do, a dishwasher to unload and then load with supper dishes.  I don't want to do any of it.

    It will all be there tomorrow.

    And so will I.  But I will also have to clean a bathroom!

    No rest for  the wicked, I guess.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

tour de farce

 I loved riding my bike

    I have not been on  it this year at all.  At least I don't remember being on it.

    I grew up in Chicago.  My dad sold the family car when I turned 15.  I. think he saw the future with me behind the wheel of the 51 Dodge we were driving in 1963.  It was old, but it was paid for and ran well.

    I think the only time we ever used it was going to Dewey Lake in Michigan.

    I got around by bike, foot, or bus.

    Bike to the zoo.  Bike to work.  Bike to friends' houses.  Bike to the lakefront.

    Ah....biking to the lake front.

    I had a really old Schwinn.  Thick frame, huge tires, it was like a truck. It was used by at least 4 people before I got it.  The first thing I did  was paint it black, then wrap tape around it in circles and painted it yellow.  It looked cool.  Black and yellow stripes.  The cat's meow.

    Somebody stole it.

    I was delivering papers.  I bought a new Schwinn with a basket on the front.  I biked to  the Coca Cola Bottling place on Ravenswood, biked to the store, biked to the Riverea Theater.

    Somebody stole it.

    And it was my fault.  Yes I chained and locked it.  To a parking meter.  The friendly officer I reported it to said that was a poor choice as the thief could just lift the bike over the parking meter.  

    So I bought a used 3 speed racing bike, with narrow tires.

    It was great!  

    I could ride like the wind.  Again, I was free to go anywhere I wanted to. And pedaling was easy with 3 speeds.

    One day I was down at Montrose Harbor.  There is a huge parking lot there and lots of times people take children or friends there to practice driving.

    I was just biking around when I saw my friend's car.  We were both dating the same girl, which put a little strain on the friendship.

    He was teaching her how to drive stick. 

    They saw me and I decided to show off my bike.

    I pedaled as fast as I cold toward a curb.  Now, I had jumped curbs before.  You pull up on the front wheel and the back wheel follows.

    I was inches from the curb when I pulled up on the front wheel.

    The bike also had hand brakes.  I pulled on the hand breaks. Why?  Because I was stupid.

    The bike did not lift, but came to an abrupt stop. 

    I went over the handle bar, wondering if I would ever have kids.  The pain was severe.

    I did what Bill Cosby suggested under those circumstanced:  I grabbed my head.

    They came over and took the bike off me, I may have still been pedaling  on my back with my feet up in the air.   then asked if I was ok.

    My now falsetto voice managed to creak out. "Hunky doory.  Just let me lay her a while."

    They could not give me a ride, because it was a small car.

    I said that was ok, I would just walk it off

    And I did.  Walked all the way home.

    It was a few days before I could ride again.  And sitting for long was uncomfortable.

    I did eventually have kids.

    And I never curb jumped again.  On purpose, anyway.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

home coming

A friend took her daughter shopping for a homecoming dress

    Boy did  that trigger a memory!!

    I was a freshman at Lake View High School.   Homecoming was approaching.  I had no idea what that was about.

    After being clued in, I thought it might be fun.

    So I asked a girl to the dance and festivities.

    Now, I don't do anything a normal person would do.  I have my own unique style.

    My folks had  ordered a pizza from Biasetti;s on Ashland and Irving.  I was sent to pick it up.  That was a big thing in our household because money always seemed tight.

   Now at  age 15, it should not be a problem for me to walk 3 blocks, get the pizza, pay for it, and come home.

    I was walking down Irving Park with the pizza when I saw Mary Jane.  She was also a freshman at Lake View.  We had a couple of classes, or maybe homeroom, together and I thought she was nice.  I think her parents owned a hardware store on Ashland but I am not sure about that.  Hell, I am not sure about anything that happened past yesterday!

    So we stopped in front of a hamburger joint called the Patio and talked.

    After a few minutes of chit chat, I shifted the pizza and worked up the courage to ask her.

    So I did.  But she said no, because her father would not allow her to date until she was 16.

    Then she looked at me and asked what I had in the box, which was tucked neatly under my left arm.

    I told her pizza from Biasetti's. 

    She said I should not carry a pizza like that and I responded that I always carried it like this, trying to make it seem like I was some kind of bon vivant.

    We parted ways.  I continued home.

    When I got there, I laid the pizza on the table and my dad opened it.

    All the pizza was crammed into one side of the box.  Plus it was cold.

    "What the hell?"  were the only words out of his mouth.

    I don't recall ever being sent for pizza again.

    And I never asked Mary Jane out when she turned 16.

    But it all came back to me when a friend said she took her daughter shopping for a homecoming dress.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace