Bali Hai

 I finally finished reading a book

    I know!  Took me 5 weeks, but I finished Tales of the South Pacific.

    I saw the movie South Pacific.  I was in the play South Pacific.  We recently saw the pay South Pacific.

    I figured it was time to read the book that inspired the play and movie.

    The book is actually a collection of stories.  Some of them are related, some not.  Characters drift in and out of stories, but the main character is the narrator.  (OK...explain, please.  character and narrator sound the same at the end but have divergent spellings.  Or maybe I am pronouncing narrator wrong.)

    I enjoyed the book.  But it was an eye opener.

    The racism that existed is kind of shocking.  Blacks in the service were relegated to roles like truck driver, cook, but not combat roles for the most part.  The book included a naval commander that did not want them to be in his company so he treated them harshly.

    Americans fell in love with Polynesian women, but could not marry them because the women  were not white.

    But it is also a story of bravery and sacrifice and there was a time toward the end that I did get a little misty-eyed because the final chapter is beautifully written.

    I sat on the porch reading today, and the hot temperature and the cool breeze were the same conditions the warriors faced, but I could go into air conditioning for a respite and they could only hope to find shade.

    If you are looking for a summer read, I highly recommend it.  The regular size print edition is 329 pages, heaven knows how big the large print edition is.  I got it through an inter-library loan from the Mt. Carroll library.  The edition I read was published in 1950....when I was just starting to walk.

    A baseball digression. 

    Cincinnati brought in a 31 year old rookie  relief pitcher in tonight's game.  He spent 7 years in the minor leagues and 2 years in independent league play

    I actually admired the guy and hope he does well.  He stuck with the sport for 9 years before finally getting to the majors.

    That is perseverance.

Peace an Love

        Especially Peace

toil, toil, toil

 I had a pretty busy day

    I spent the day actually doing stuff.

    I mowed earlier this week.  I t ry to mow once a week.  Sometimes that works, other times it does not.

    When I last mowed the yard looked pretty crappy.  

    So I mowed again today.

    Then I trimmed.

    Then I mowed between the garden beds with my trim mower.

    And I trimmed some more.

    Then I hooked up the sweeper and ran around the yard, sweeping up grass clippings.

    I am happy to say the yard looks pretty good.  

    But I am tired.  And I have 7 bags of grass clippings.

    It was the heat that has done me in.  Plus supper.  We had Mexican tonight and I enjoyed a margarita, which may explain any spelling mistakes and my tired state.

    But I feel good knowing I got a lot of little things done.

    Hopefully I can continue tomorrow.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

Smile!!

 I am haunted by pictures

    They appear like ghosts.....silently, surprisingly, suddenly.

    And I don't know what to do with them.

    I am not talking about the kajillion school pictures.  Or the vacation photos.  Or the countless photos of family.

    Well, I don't know what to do with those either.

    My brother Carl passed away a few years ago.  His wife, my sister in law Ruth, recently moved to Ohio to be closer to her children.

    I got a ton of pictures of my family from them.  

    There are pictures of my folks on their honeymoon, pictures of Carl and Dennis when they were babies and toddlers.  A few of me also.

    And there are pictures from Uncle Henry.  Great photos in black and white... but some of them are people I don't know.

    I don't want to throw them out.....but.

    One of these days I will go through them and try to sort them into keepers and tossers.

    That's just one more job on my list of things to accomplish. 

    And heaven knows, that list just keeps getting longer, not shorter.

    I just need to work on it all.

    Someday

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

four score

 Aha!!! click bait!!

    I am not saying anything about four score.  It was just a trick to get you to read this.

    Now that I have your attention, I  have a technical question,

    I have Bluetooth headphones I wear when mowing.

    Yesterday Jackie tried calling me several times and I did not get the calls.

    Neighbor Jackie had to come and get me, and wife Jackie yelled at me for not having the headphones' Bluetooth on.

    But I did.

    While mowing, I was listening to the Cub game.  From time to time, the audio stopped and I had silence.

    This happened several times.

    I went out to finish mowing today and told her to call me when she heard the mower running so we could check Bluetooth.

    I was listening to music and agin, the music stopped then started

    Here's what we found.

    The phone does not ring in my headphones like it has on all the times I have worn them while mowing. But whenever she calls, music and radio broadcasts stop.  It's just silence.

    Now when t he music stops, I know she is calling.

    But why?  The phone is not muted.  Bluetooth is connected.  I can listen to music.  I just don't get a ring tone in my ears.

    Huh.

    Anyway, finished mowing the yard and did the field today.  Golly it was hot!  

    I had suntan lotion on, but my arms are a little hot tonight.

    And because I was hot, I did not finish mowing between my planters or trimming around the yard.

    I will do that tomorrow.  Hopefully.

    And Emily did catch the baby robin that was in her basement.  She released it into the wild so it can fly another day.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

avalanche!!

 Got caught in an avalanche today

    I was in a store and saw a display of cherries from Washington.

    I wanted a closer look, so I picked up a carton.  The display was on a slight slant.

    The next thing I knew, cartons that were behind it came sliding forward.

    I caught 2, but 2 hit the ground, spilling cherries all over the floor.

    I picked them up, picked up the ones in the cooler, and put those 2 boxes off to the side, hoping someone would get the hint.

    And I didn't buy the cherries.

    Our Tuesday person did not come today, so I did not set the alarm.

    Jackie woke me up at 7 to use the bathroom, and after that she said she wanted to go back to bed until 9.

    So I set the alarm for 9:15.

    When it went off at 9:15, I got up and thought I hit snooze.  She was sound asleep.

    I figured another 10 or 15 minutes would not hurt.

    The net thing I know she is shaking me and saying, "The cuckoo hit 12.  It's noon!"

    Normally that would not be an issue.  But today Beth had a grooming appointment at 2.

    On a good day Jackie can be ready in 2 hours......which meant I would be late for the groomers.

    But she ran in full gear today and I left at 1:40 for the 20 minute drive.

    Of course, there was a train.  I had to head to the overpass and then cut back to the road I was on.  Last time that happened I went way out of my way because I sometimes don't think clearly.

    While Beth was at the groomers I went to Aldi, the bank, Walgreen's, Walmart, Starbucks, and got gas for the mower.  Pretty productive time.

    I also learned what was wrong with my yard sweeper......I had it set too low.  I raised it up tonight and it worked like a charm.  The manufacturer's website had a FAQ section and one of the questions dealt with the wheels not turning.  The first suggestion was to raise the brushes.  I did.  It worked.

    Funny thing....after 10 and I don't seem to be tired.

    Go figure.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

melt down

 I had a melt down today

    I called myself every name in the book, and some that people have probably never heard before.

    Why?

    Because I am me.  

    I got new glasses about 3 weeks ago.  I asked for the sunglasses that attach to the glasses because I don't like the glasses that turn dark in the sun.  

    We drove to DeKalb 2 weeks ago, I got Jackie out of the car, realized I was still wearing my sunglasses even though we were going inside, so I tossed them into the back seat.

    They disappeared.

    We had bags of clothing to take to Hope Chest, but they are not taking donations during the alley construction.  The sunglasses were on top of one of the bags.

    That was the last I saw of them.

    I took everything out of the car.  I looked under seats.  I looked in the seat wells.

    I took all the clothes out of the bags and shook them. 

    I looked in the glove box, the console, and the place where I should have put them.

    Nowhere.

    And I lost it.

    I lose stuff  too many times.  It is frustrating, aggravating, irritating

    I know, it's a pair of sunglasses.  Replace them and move on.  But they cost money, money I would not have to spend if I was not me.

    During my rant little Beth barfed on the carpet.  I cleaned it up and sat on the couch petting her because she must have thought I was yelling at her.  Our Jackie.  But I was yelling at me.

    Whatever.

    Tomorrow I will call and order new sunglasses.  It will cost me several coffees and ice cream cones.

    Emily came over to take a look and said, "Shit happens.  Get new ones."

    I will.  

    But I am just real tired of being me.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

Funday

 Today was a pretty nice day

    Friend Dan celebrated birthday number 80 and Jackie and I were on hand to wish him well on his next decade.

    It was nice to see so many of his friends and family too.  I sometimes feel like I know them really well, even if I only see them once or twice a decade.

    I managed to almost call everybody by their right name, although Don came out Dan twice. 

    I told Jackie I wanted to stop at Woodman's on the way home to pick up a couple of things we can't get in Rochelle.

    I was in the store about 5 minutes when she called and said, "Get out here quick!  Hurry!!"

    I knew the van windows were open, and my first thought was someone was trying to get in the car.

    But as soon as I hit the door I saw the problem:  It was poring!  I raced to the car (well, I think I raced is a relative term these days.) and rolled up the windows, then went back to shopping.

    I was only in the store about 10 minutes, and by then the rain and eased up and she was getting warm in the car.

    We had passed a Buena beef place on Riverside, and I said sometime I would like to try that.  Jackie suggested I get 2 sandwiches for supper, so I did.

    However, it is almost 9 and we are not hungry.  Go figure.  Me, not hungry?  

    Maybe it was the 2 scoop cone I had at Rainbow while waiting for the beef.

    Anyway, we have supper of tomorrow.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace