and the rain came

 I almost got the yard mowed today

    Before I mowed I finished digging out around the last two trees.  I discovered our magnolia tree, or bush, not sure, had some "volunteers" growing along with it.  I think they were mulberries...so I cut them out.

    Then I trimmed.  I find it easier to trim first, then mow.

    I started to mow, finished about half the yard and the lightning came.  So I quit.

    I ended up on the porch, listening to the rain.

    For some reason, it took me back to Dewey Lake and my aunt's and uncle's cottages.

    They had two on the lake.  One cottage was theirs, the second cottage was one they sometimes rented, but my family always stayed in it during the summer.

    Our cottage was about 20 foot square, with a dining area added on the back and an screened in porch wrapped around the front of the house, like an L.  The kids slept on old army cots on the porch.  The cots were steel with wire springs and 4 inch mattresses ..... the most comfortable beds I have ever been in.

    There were roll-up canvass shades on the porch  that we could put up at night to catch the breeze or pull down during the day to block the sun.  The porch was not big, just enough for the cots, a couple of chairs and a table.

    I must have been 8 or 9.  We were up there and there was a huge wasp nest hanging on Uncle Jim's cottage.  It was the size of a football and very active.

    Uncle Jim was going to knock it down and douse it with gasoline, some time.  Until then, we had to dodge the wasps every time we went out the back door or went to get oars for the rowboat.

    My brother Dennis was in charge of me while the adults went someplace.  He wanted those wasps gone because he was tired of swatting them away.

    He devised a plan.  He was going to take an oar and knock the nest down, then run like hell.  Uncle Jim would then have no excuse for  not dousing the nest with gas.

    Dennis went over the plan with me completely.  I was to stay safely in the house when he poked the nest.  My only job was to make sure all the doors and windows were locked.

    I sat and watched him pick up an oar, cautiously approach the nest, raise the oar up and then ...Whomp!   Down came the nest.  Out came the wasps. I watch Dennis as he racesdto the back door and tried to open it.

    But he couldn't.  I locked it.

He was yelling for me to unlock the door.  So I ran to the back door and unlocked it..... but no Dennis.

    Suddenly I hear yelling from the front door!  "Unlock the damn door!"

    So I raced to the front and let him in.

    He was furious.   But I rememded him he told me to lock the doors and windows.

    "How was I supposed to get in with the doors locked?" he bellowed.

    I had no answer.

    I think that was the day I started taking things the wrong way.  He really didn't want the doors locked, just shut. 

    I have had a problem with literal interpretation ever since.

Peace and Love

crappers, Batman

 I have spent two restless nights

    I was up at 3 playing solitaire.  I could have talked to Julia, because it was 9 there and she was up.

    I have gone to bed at about 11:30, but can't sleep.  

    At least I was up in time to wish Emily a happy birthday!

    Emily was born in what was then Rockford Memorial Hospital.  Funny, John now works there.

    Anyway, she was supposed to be a July 4 baby, but Jackie is never on time.  So she arrived July 13.  That happened to be Jackie's dad's birthday too.

    So there we are, going to Rockford for the good doctor to induce labor.

    I was in the room when they finally decided to take her to delivery.  The nurse looked at me and asked if I was coming to watch.  I said no, I was going for coffee!  I then told her that I have a tendency to pass out at the sight of bodily fluids and I did not want to end up on the floor while our baby was being born.

    When we came home, Julia started crying because we would not let her carry or hold Emily.  Once we got in the house, we got Julia in a chair, and gave her Emily to hold.  One of my favorite pictures of all time is Julia holding a newborn Emily, and tears are coming down Julia's face.

    It was not too long after getting her home that we had a bit of a problem.

    Jackie started bleeding.  A lot.  I called the doctor, he told us to come to the emergency room ASAP and he would meet us there.

    At the time, it was US 51...a 2 lane road leading to Rockford.  No divided highway, no railroad overpass, just a road often blocked by trains.

    Julia sat in the back seat holding Emily. Or maybe Julia sat next to Jackie, I can't remember.

    But I do remember driving along and a voice coming from the back of the car, a tiny voice asking, "Is Mommy going to die?"  She asked a couple of times.  I said no, she was just bleeding and it would be all right.

    My brother lived in Rockford and he and my sister in law came to the hospital to pick up our girls.

    It was quite a scary night.

    But I digress.  

Happy birthday to Emily.  We are so glad you joined us.

Peace and Love

diggin it

 I am almost finished mulching trees

    Now that may seem exciting, but it is a challenge.

    Three of the trees I have done needed larger circles so I could mow around them.

    There are a few ways to do the circles. 

    I can attach a loop to the tree, tie some string on, and then tie spray paint onto the string, moving it around the tree an d creating a circle that is pretty, well, even.

    I could lay out a hose or similar tubing, make sure it is round, and then spray the ground, again creating a circle that is pretty round.

    Then there is the way I do it.  I take a shovel and cut out what I think is a circle.  After I pull out the grass, I even out the circle.

    For example, the circle on the house side was a little off.  So I evened it.  But then the circle on the neighbor's side was a little too small, so I evened it to match the house side, thereby throwing off the garden side circle.  After cutting the circle several times, I noticed I was now in the neighbor's yard and the circle around my tree resembled a mobieus strip.

    Well, not quite.  But unless someone goes out into the yard and inspects my circles, they are good enough for me.  They may be a little uneven, but hell, I am a little uneven.

    To cap off tonight, I am posting a short video....hopefully.

Peace and Love

far out

I often wonder what a space trip would be like 

    I think I read somewhere that I could go on a space flight for about $250,000.  To be honest, if I had that much money to spend, I would not go on a space flight.

    Then I read where Jeff Bezos has 100 billion bucks.  He actually is one of 3 men in the US with over 100 billion.  Billion!

   What does someone do with all that money?

    I know, it is not all in cash but companies, property, investments.  But still.

    He could spend a million a day and would not even notice it.  Imagine that!

    Oh well, his money is his problem.

    I would not go on a a space flight.  I don't like roller coasters, things that go fast, or things that have a potential to explode in a shower of sparks and debris.

    Don't get me wrong, it would be fun to be weightless and watch things float around.  Fun until I had to pee or, well, you know.  

    I sometimes have that  feeling of weightlessness when I get a touch of vertigo.  Not saying it is the same, but there are some similar sensations.

    I wish the space travelers a good journey...no matter who they are.  It certainly would be the experience of a lifetime, even for a nonmillionaire fraidy cat like me.

    Here's a trivia question somewhat related to my ramblings.   Anyone remember John Beresford Tipton?  I always wanted to meet him when I was a youngster.

    Stay grounded, my friends.

    Stay healthy too.

Peace and Love

hot dog!!

 Today was Hot Dog Day in Rochelle

    This is a newspaper promotion in which participants pay  a fee and get hot dogs and buns to give away.  Free.  No cost.

    Most places also sell pop, water, chips, and cookies.  It is a way to make a little money, especially the museum. 

    In the past some people have asked for 5 or 6, telling us they wanted to have some for supper and lunch tomorrow.  I don't believe that happened to day.

    I was down there today for a couple of hours, which was a gamble because it involved leaving Jackie alone.  I think I am about 7 minutes from home at the museum, so if it is a non emeregency I can get there fairly quickly.

    But she did ok on her own today.

    I helped, but I was a pretty minor cog in the operation.

    I love the hot dogs.  They are from Hormel, but I don't think they are available in stores.  They are big and crunchy, the kind I like.  Plus, they have a great taste.

    The last hour or so was in a light drizzle, which made clean up and take down a little challenging.  

    By the time I got home it was a steady drizzle, and I sat on the porch for a while with my sweatshirt on and the hood pulled up over my head.  I was chilly.

    I then tackled one of my most feared tasks.....cleaning the dining room light.  It was very dusty.

    The light hangs on three hooks, and I can never manipulate the hooks to get the light back up correctly.  Tonight it went fairly smoothly, I only swore once and only dropped some of the rings two or three times.

    But the glass is intact and the light clean.  That's all that counts.

    Hope all your lights are clean....stay healthy and happy.

Peace and Love

Friday

Not much to say today 

    Some days are like that.  Sometimes life hits you hard, sometimes soft, sometimes it just pats you on the head.

    Not sure what it did today.

    Suffice it to say, I mowed and trimmed, made fish for supper, picked up my hearing aids and ended the daylight hours with a mojito on the patio.

    One funny thing, that is pretty standard with me.

    Our church is putting together a new website.  I was asked to look it over and give my opinion.

    Last night I looked over the website, listed some areas I thought could be improved, and e mailed my suggestions to the rest of the committee.

    Turns out I looked at our current web site.  So I had to e mail everyone and tell them never mind.

    Somes even I don't get me.

Peace and Love

Ripped

 I guess we were pretty tired last night

    We went to bed after the Cubs' game. That would have been before 11.  I got up at 7 to take out recycling and went back to bed.

    We got up at 10:30!

    And I had to wake Jackie!!

    I know I don't sleep very soundly, but I was in bed for almost 12 hours!  Yes, I get up a couple of times because that is what I am do without a prostate.....but I always go  back to sleep!

    Why am I using so may exclamations?!?

    And the dreams......oh my gosh.

    In one my dishwasher was full of thistle seed that I feed the birds.  I had to clean it out wtih a teaspoon.  In another the window screens were full of something that had to be dug out with a toothpick.

    And there was one really weird one involving a woman whom I may or may not know  who may, or may not, be crazy or a witch and may have cast a spell on me turning me into something that I don't remember.  Or she bought me coffee.  Not sure.

    If I went to a dream interpreter, I do believe they would quite their chosen field and become grave robbers.  

    In any case, it is only a little after 9 and I can't keep my eyes open right now.  I am hot, then cold.  Neither one for very long, either.

    I tried to replace the cones in my hearing aids today and ended up taking them to DeKalb for the good doctor to do for me.  She is the one who showed me multiple times how to do that simple task, and finished up our lesson by saying, "Just bring them in."

    I am going to set up a time to meet with her and have her show me AGAIN how to do the switch, but this time I will video her on my phone so that I can maybe do this on my own.

    While there I happened to stop at Target to look for deoderant for Jackie.  No, she does not smell, but she is running low and will need some soon.  I have looked in three different stores for what she wants, but no one has it.  Weird, huh?

    Target had a special.  Spend $50, get a $15 gift card.  So.....guess who bought More toilet paper and paper towels?

    I think I have a problem.

Peace and Love and good health