day...wheee!!....140

This was a pretty darn good day

     I met two friends for a bike ride in town.  It started off well, but one had a meeting to go to and the other had exercised in the a.m. and was pretty worn out.
     But it was great for the first half hour, talking to actual people!
     I stopped for a coffee and across the street from the store a young woman was out with some kids.
     After about 5 minutes, she put the kids in a stroller and crossed the street towards me.
     "Mr. Dickow?" she asked.
     Turned out to be a former student.  We were talking about all sorts of things when she mentioned being out on a walk in the woods and coming across a small spring.
     She said she was going to make a reference to "Tuck Everlasting," but figured most adults would not know what she was talking about.
     She remembered me reading "Tuck Everlasting" to the class!  She loved the book, still does.
     If you have never read the book, I recommend  it.  I read it again shortly after my brother died, and it had a powerful effect on me.  Still does.
     Anyway, she asked me what my favorite books were and did not hesitate.  "Tuck Everlasting" and "The Great Gilly Hopkins."
     Reading children's literature is one of the things I do miss about teaching.  I could list 25 books that I liked, either as read alouds or to recommend to a student.
     One year I read "The Avion My Uncle Flew."  I told students to keep a notebook on French phrases, because the book would use a French word in the story, then explain the word, and in doing so integrated the language into the story.
     The last 4 pages of the book were entirely in French, and students who kept up with the translations could read it!  I invited French language students from the high school to come and read the ending.  We had a blast with students sharing laughter, and baguettes coated with chocolate.
     By the way, that was the only book I took from my classroom when I retired.  Now, I wonder where it is.
     Capped off the day by giving Jackie a tour of the yard on the golf cart and having a great meal from a local restaurant.
     Teca, you guys rock...everyone in the kitchen and all the servers were wearing masks.   Mentally, made me feel like my food was safe.
     Stay healthy.  Stay safe.  Mask it or casket.
Peace and Love


     Here's a look at my native garden plot.

day...... huh......139

I learned an amazing thing today

     Actually, I learned a couple of things, and they were not really amazing..
     First, this blog has 189,000 views over the 116 years I have been doing it.      That's a lot of reading about my mundane life.
     Second, people from all over the world visit the blog site.
     Now, I think it is mostly on accident.  The US and Switzerland I can understand, because Julia reads it.
     But his week a country that has never appeared in my list of where people are popped up.  Seychelles!   I will Google it later, but I believe this is an island chain off the coast of Africa that is in danger of being inundated by the ocean due to climate change.  Or not.
     Or maybe it is part of a tongue twister:  She sells sea shells in the Seychelles.
     Which reminds me of another tv commercial I hate.
     Guy is on a date and his shirt is no longer a round neck, bu a drooping neck.  A fabric softener might help.  The commercial calls it a U neck.  I wondered if it was unique to wear a u neck.  Then I wondered about a unique u neck wearing eunuch.  My mind then wandered to him playing a card game, a unique u neck wearing eunuch playing euchre.
     Then I realized, I said this several weeks ago  and am now just repeating myself.
     Anyway, other nations that showed up this week were Argentina and Portugal with 6, Austria, Germany, Italy, and the UK...all with 1.
     Sure wish I knew who the people were and why thy hit my page.
     I better quit before I start repeating myself.
     But I sure wish I knew who the people were and whey they hit my page.
     Stay safe.  Stay healthy.  Mask it or casket.
Peace and Love

day... dejá vu......132

Well, that did not work out well

     Jackie has another infection, I think that is number 4 for the year...maybe 5.
It makes her really tired.  Someone with MS who gets tired needs help.  So Emily and John came over tonight to help get her into bed.
     Please, this is not a poor Terry or poor Jackie post.  Just a matter of fact statement.
     That is what our life is.... a series of problems to overcome.
     We are no different than the couple facing  cancer, or Covid, or Alzheimers.....just two people struggling to make it through the day.  One foot in front of the other.
     Except sometimes it just saps the patience right out of you.  Sometimes the wrong foot is in front.  Sometimes the foot doesn't move.  Sometimes the frustration builds to the point of tears. 
     So, how was my day?
     Not the best.  Not the worst.  Frustrating, yes.  Tiring, yes. 
     But I do have my blessings:  my daughters, my son in law, my wife, my dog, my friends, fireflies that blink hello in the night and stars that twinkle and remind me I am a pretty small part of this world.
     It's also the kind of day that I wish I could find humor in, but I can't.  Except I was careful making salad and eating croutons tonight.
     Stay safe.  Stay healthy.  Mask it or casket.
Peace and Love

day......tasty....131

Sometimes I just have  to learn the hard way

     We had leftovers tonight....to be honest, it was not a great dining experience.
I made a salad.
     Romaine lettuce, tomato, cut up mandarin oranges, bacon bits, cucumber, carrots...topped off with some croutons.
     I made Jackie's, then mine and gave Jackie hers and put mine aside. 
     Next I made Corkie's supper. 
     I sliced up a carrot, mashed some green beans, added a fish oil tablet, and then stirred in her food.
     Now, Corki has a special diet food.  There are two types of chunks, small round ones and odly shaped larger ones that are a chicken product.  (I wrote the manufacturer and asked.)  Corki will eat the small chunks, but pile up the larger ones.  Eventually, she eats them.  I guess  when she gets hungry enough, they are ok to eat.
     There is a point to all this detail.
     After supper I was doing dishes and started to wipe off the area where I made the salads. 
      I found a couple of croutons, so I popped one into my mouth.
     It did not taste like a crouton.  It was salty.  And meaty.  I looked at the second crouton and it strongly resembled the chicken parts in Corkie's food.
     I don't know why she des not like the chunks, because I thought it tasted fairly good.
     As a side note, when I was young and dumb, I would go to my cousin Sally's house.  They had a dog.  One day I tried a Milk Bone.  I actually liked it and it became a regular treat for me at my cousin's until the day someone told me what went in them.
     Lesson learned:  Don't eat random items you find on your counter.
     Stay safe.  Stay healthy  Mask it or casket.
Peace and Love

day....nada.....130

Sometimes I just can't get into it

Tonight is one of those nights.  Just not in the mood.
I apologize.
Stay safe.  Stay healthy.
Peace and Love

day.....rain...129

We had a 10 percent chance of rain today

     It poured about 8 tonight.
     Buckets.  Wind.  Thunder.  Lightning.  Heavy rain.
     Hopefully it broke the heatwave.
     I always wonder about weathermen.  They are wrong so often, yet they are always watched.  I'd even guess they are some of the more beloved tv personalities.
     Remember George Carlin and the Hippy Dippy Weatherman?  He was funny.
     David Letterman started out as a weatherman.  I guess that worked out pretty good for him.
     Now I think weatherman is a term not to be used because there are women in the field.  Weather people?  Not all are meteorologists, so that doesn't work.
     Today the museum folk had a remembrance birthday party for a gent named Norm Skare.  His grand niece said it is pronounced Skar.....which means there are 3 pronunciations I have heard.  Skare Park, which is across the road from us, was named for him.  So I popped over to the park for a little while.
     It was hot, but there were a good turn out.  I  think people just want to get out and visit.
     I wore my mask and kept a safe distance from people most of the time, but sometimes you just end up next to someone.  Maybe we should all have curb feelers like the old cars used to have.
     If you are under 50 you may want to Google curb feelers.
     And a Cub win, chat with Julia, chat with friend John....all in all, a pretty good day.
     Stay healthy.  Stay safe.  Mask it or casket.
Peace and Love

day....ennui.....128

I admit it, I was bored today

     Busy, but bored.
     I did 3 loads of laundry, we blanched and froze 18 ears of corn, I went to the store for supper and I almost fell asleep during the Cubs game.
     I just can't get used to crowd noise without the crowd.  And at some points they put in computer graphic generated fans in the stands, which was pretty neat but at the same time weird looking.  At times, the first 20 rows were empty, but the stands were full behind those empty rows.
     My eyes closed a couple of times during the game...which the Cubs lost, so I did not miss much.
     It was too hot for me, although I did see a pack of bicyclists going down Skare Road.  Well, at least 4....which could be a pack.   They all looked young, thin, and had on the spandex outfits bike racers wear.
     I actually have a pair of spandex biking shorts.  I put them on once and Julia and Jackie forbid me to leave the house.  I think Julia was temporarily blinded.
     Although it is hot, we don't have a hurricane bearing down on us or an earthquake waiting to happen. 
     So, I guess life is pretty good.
     Stay safe.  Stay healthy.  Mask it or casket.
Peace and Love