I think sometimes I'm making myself crazy. I try to crawl out of my little space here at High Point and enter other people's lives.
I picture them on airplanes going all over the world...whether for business or for sheer pleasure on seeing our world. That's what most people I think would do if they had a lot of money, along with good health, and a partner to go with. We are not meant to be solitary beings.
I didn't imagine that my husband would not be alive at 69...I thought we had years to explore our country...but fate had other plans.
I imagine my kids at work...each one pulling their weight and contributing to what they're being reimbursed for.
I picture Jeff taking the 2 dogs out twice a day for their walk...and Donna preparing dinner.
I particularly think of my little Shane whom I absolutely adore...I see him about once a week on Skype...and he really is very entertaining. He just learned to crawl and he's into everything. I saw him show love...he was hugging his daddy and giving him cheek kisses. This is worth the whole world to me.
Everybody is sooo busy and that's good too. Everyday I turn on the news and there's always an alert of some sort that we have to be mindful of.
When I'm in our pool...I forget everything...and just splish and slash....and that's what retirement is all about.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Nobody ever thinks about this I bet!
Slang words that bother me. For instance, we hear a lot about psychologists....but they're called shrinks.
Police officers are referred to as cops and that upsets me too.
Are we becoming too blasé about important occupations. When I hear our president referred to as just Obama...it irritates me. He deserves more.
Now let's take a lowly job...a janitor is referred to as a building supervisor.
A garbage man is called a sanitation worker. I'm glad that teachers are still teachers in education.
The word 'nerd' also bothers me. Sounds like a despicable person...but it's really someone who is very up on technology.
A stripper in a bar gets the title...exotic dancer.
A lot of the media today I have to refer to as 'sleeze' because they go on and on about someone's misfortunes. They'll interview someone in the family who has just lost a loved one...and ask what they're feeling. These people are still in shock and disbelief and don't need the media breathing on them.
Anyway, we had a toy store...so we were still a merchant. Glad that the dollar stores didn't exist then.
Police officers are referred to as cops and that upsets me too.
Are we becoming too blasé about important occupations. When I hear our president referred to as just Obama...it irritates me. He deserves more.
Now let's take a lowly job...a janitor is referred to as a building supervisor.
A garbage man is called a sanitation worker. I'm glad that teachers are still teachers in education.
The word 'nerd' also bothers me. Sounds like a despicable person...but it's really someone who is very up on technology.
A stripper in a bar gets the title...exotic dancer.
A lot of the media today I have to refer to as 'sleeze' because they go on and on about someone's misfortunes. They'll interview someone in the family who has just lost a loved one...and ask what they're feeling. These people are still in shock and disbelief and don't need the media breathing on them.
Anyway, we had a toy store...so we were still a merchant. Glad that the dollar stores didn't exist then.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
I had the Most Fun Tonight!
It was just going to be another boring rainy night. I had just finished my book and was watching 'Dancing with the Stars' on Tv and practically falling asleep...when I heard my computer summoning me.
Yep, it was a Skypes call. I rushed across my bedroom, about 7 steps, put on my headphones, anxious to know who wanted to talk and see me.
Well...pleasure of pleasure, it was my darling 6 week old Shane...bright eyed and all dressed up in his jammies.
What a sweet face...and he was making sounds and he actually smiled at me.
I wouldn't take a million in exchange for this loving event. Thank you so much, Becky and Eric dears for letting me share little Shane with you.
When you stood under the chupa 2 years ago, I envisioned a carbon copy of the sweet soul I saw tonight.
I'm so proud of you ... and baby makes 3.
Yep, it was a Skypes call. I rushed across my bedroom, about 7 steps, put on my headphones, anxious to know who wanted to talk and see me.
Well...pleasure of pleasure, it was my darling 6 week old Shane...bright eyed and all dressed up in his jammies.
What a sweet face...and he was making sounds and he actually smiled at me.
I wouldn't take a million in exchange for this loving event. Thank you so much, Becky and Eric dears for letting me share little Shane with you.
When you stood under the chupa 2 years ago, I envisioned a carbon copy of the sweet soul I saw tonight.
I'm so proud of you ... and baby makes 3.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
And what do you want to be when you grow up...a terrorist? Please God..NO
While many people were exercising their bodies and their minds to participate in the Boston Marathon....there was another person with an evil heart preparing to explode and end the lives of the athletes at the finish line, with a bomb...sole reason to kill.
While the athletes were 'making ready' to increase their strength to run this 26 mile marathon....another person was 'getting ready' to construct his bomb....for one purpose only...to kill!
The runners were praying their legs wouldn't cramp...or they wouldn't get dizzy.or get too dehydrated.....they just wanted to be able to put one foot in front of another in a running position to be able to achieve their goal. And we were very proud of everyone who participated.
I just can't imagine anyone running this distance...yet people came from all over the world to participate in this event.
The opposite spectrum, I wonder if the evil terrorist was salivating as he built his bomb. His parents gave birth to a monster....and I wonder if they're aware of his evil act.
I heard today of a father who turned his son in when he discovered what was going on in his own home. He called the authorities...and this wasn't an easy task.
The world isn't a safe place because we have no idea what's coming next...but we know this was not a God-driven crime.
I truly pray that the authorities find this culprit and he gets the punishment he deserves. If not...God will judge him.
Just a very evil deed!
While the athletes were 'making ready' to increase their strength to run this 26 mile marathon....another person was 'getting ready' to construct his bomb....for one purpose only...to kill!
The runners were praying their legs wouldn't cramp...or they wouldn't get dizzy.or get too dehydrated.....they just wanted to be able to put one foot in front of another in a running position to be able to achieve their goal. And we were very proud of everyone who participated.
I just can't imagine anyone running this distance...yet people came from all over the world to participate in this event.
The opposite spectrum, I wonder if the evil terrorist was salivating as he built his bomb. His parents gave birth to a monster....and I wonder if they're aware of his evil act.
I heard today of a father who turned his son in when he discovered what was going on in his own home. He called the authorities...and this wasn't an easy task.
The world isn't a safe place because we have no idea what's coming next...but we know this was not a God-driven crime.
I truly pray that the authorities find this culprit and he gets the punishment he deserves. If not...God will judge him.
Just a very evil deed!
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Saturday, November 24, 2007
The Written Word!
We are so fortunate. When I go to the library, it's like a magnificent buffet...so many books just to entertain me and also to make me a little smarter.
I just got to thinking about books because when I was very young, my first enrollment was in our free public library. Also my son's first connection with the outer world was his library card.
When I pick up a book, I hold it reverenly in my hands. I look to see how heavy it is...how many pages...and then I wonder about the author. Did the author think long and hard about the storyline...or just sit down and begin writing. Did he spend much time searching for the perfect verb or adjective to give the sentence the punch desired. Was it put there for shock value.
So much to wonder about and what a thrill it is to open the flap and read a little bit about the story. If it's a thriller, I immediately return it to its shelf.
After I've finished reading and digesting a good book, I love to discuss it with someone...I like to lie in bed or in the bathtub and think about it some more...such enjoyment.
The earliest dated printed book known is the "Diamond Sutra", printed in China in 868 CE. However, it is suspected that book printing may have occurred long before this date.
In 1041, movable clay type was first invented in China. Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith and businessman from the mining town of Mainz in southern Germany, borrowed money to invent a technology that changed the world of printing. Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press with replaceable/moveable wooden or metal letters in 1436 (completed by 1440). This method of printing can be credited not only for a revolution in the production of books, but also for fostering rapid development in the sciences, arts and religion through the transmission of texts.
So..thank God for the printing press. The Egyptians used hierglyphics which is still preserved in the pyramids today.
I believe this is the greatest time in history for upcoming authors.
First of all...they can do all their research on the internet which really lightens their load. Now, all they have to do is weave a delightful storyline around it...and there you have a novel.
I make is sound so simplistic. Who am I kidding!! And I'm also grateful for paperbacks...so much easier to hold.
I just got to thinking about books because when I was very young, my first enrollment was in our free public library. Also my son's first connection with the outer world was his library card.
When I pick up a book, I hold it reverenly in my hands. I look to see how heavy it is...how many pages...and then I wonder about the author. Did the author think long and hard about the storyline...or just sit down and begin writing. Did he spend much time searching for the perfect verb or adjective to give the sentence the punch desired. Was it put there for shock value.
So much to wonder about and what a thrill it is to open the flap and read a little bit about the story. If it's a thriller, I immediately return it to its shelf.
After I've finished reading and digesting a good book, I love to discuss it with someone...I like to lie in bed or in the bathtub and think about it some more...such enjoyment.
The earliest dated printed book known is the "Diamond Sutra", printed in China in 868 CE. However, it is suspected that book printing may have occurred long before this date.
In 1041, movable clay type was first invented in China. Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith and businessman from the mining town of Mainz in southern Germany, borrowed money to invent a technology that changed the world of printing. Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press with replaceable/moveable wooden or metal letters in 1436 (completed by 1440). This method of printing can be credited not only for a revolution in the production of books, but also for fostering rapid development in the sciences, arts and religion through the transmission of texts.
So..thank God for the printing press. The Egyptians used hierglyphics which is still preserved in the pyramids today.
I believe this is the greatest time in history for upcoming authors.
First of all...they can do all their research on the internet which really lightens their load. Now, all they have to do is weave a delightful storyline around it...and there you have a novel.
I make is sound so simplistic. Who am I kidding!! And I'm also grateful for paperbacks...so much easier to hold.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Friday, December 3, 2010
The chicken or the egg...or the lyricist or composer !!!!!
It's always bothered me about music. I love to hear songs sung...with poetic lyrics. Now country music tells a complete story in so much detail that I don't enjoy listening.
But...let's take "Over the Rainbow"...the lyrics we all know were written by Yip Harburg. His name will not go down in musical history...but the melody and words certainly will.....and the music of course was composed by Harold Arlen, a familiar name for many compositions.
When Jeff was in third grade, he was in a piano musical recital...and that was his song. Of course, his father and I thought he was sensational.
It all started a year before. We had placed an ad in our local Valley Daily News in the classifieds...wanted cheap piano for beginner.
Somebody 3 streets away read our need because she phoned within an hour after the paper was delivered.
She had in her basement an old upright player piano with bench..asking price $10.00. How fantastic for us. We hired a mover and he had a problem getting this through our front door.
The guy said to us...how about us sliding it into your garage, then into your basement.
No way was our son going to practice in a cold damp cellar. So our front doorway was goughed getting it in.
Allen painted it the same color as our living room...and padded the bench with foam rubber so that little Jeff's tush would be comfortable.
Then we hired a blind piano tuner and he removed the player guts which were all rotted...another $25.00.
The piano teacher came to the house weekly to give Jeff , Schaum lessons....simplified but to this mother's ears sounded like Carnegie Music Hall. I even took the phone off the hook so that he wouldn't be interrupted.
But back to lyricists Tim Rile wrote the words for Evita. We all know about Andrew Lloyd Webber....but not a thing about Tim.
Charles Hart wrote the lyrics for Phantom of the Opera.....another unknown .
So....I'm trying to figure out if the lyrics are as important as the music.!!!!!!!!! I kinda believe that the words are more important.
But anyway...Jeff's recital was a complete success...his family made up the audience!
But...let's take "Over the Rainbow"...the lyrics we all know were written by Yip Harburg. His name will not go down in musical history...but the melody and words certainly will.....and the music of course was composed by Harold Arlen, a familiar name for many compositions.
When Jeff was in third grade, he was in a piano musical recital...and that was his song. Of course, his father and I thought he was sensational.
It all started a year before. We had placed an ad in our local Valley Daily News in the classifieds...wanted cheap piano for beginner.
Somebody 3 streets away read our need because she phoned within an hour after the paper was delivered.
She had in her basement an old upright player piano with bench..asking price $10.00. How fantastic for us. We hired a mover and he had a problem getting this through our front door.
The guy said to us...how about us sliding it into your garage, then into your basement.
No way was our son going to practice in a cold damp cellar. So our front doorway was goughed getting it in.
Allen painted it the same color as our living room...and padded the bench with foam rubber so that little Jeff's tush would be comfortable.
Then we hired a blind piano tuner and he removed the player guts which were all rotted...another $25.00.
The piano teacher came to the house weekly to give Jeff , Schaum lessons....simplified but to this mother's ears sounded like Carnegie Music Hall. I even took the phone off the hook so that he wouldn't be interrupted.
But back to lyricists Tim Rile wrote the words for Evita. We all know about Andrew Lloyd Webber....but not a thing about Tim.
Charles Hart wrote the lyrics for Phantom of the Opera.....another unknown .
So....I'm trying to figure out if the lyrics are as important as the music.!!!!!!!!! I kinda believe that the words are more important.
But anyway...Jeff's recital was a complete success...his family made up the audience!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Thursday, July 17, 2008
My old telephone directory!
One of the last things I packed when we moved to Florida was the telephone book. I might need it!
Well, it's been 20 years now and my life has changed a lot and so has the info in the phone book. Two decades of decayed and yellowed pages of the people I once had daily interchange with.
Now it's a phone call and Christmas cards...and as the years melt into one another...it seems like light years away.
I believe I have grown in ways since we left. In other ways we were important people in our town especially to little boys and girls who wanted toys.
I don't need this book any longer. I can get all this information on my computer in a second.........anybody's number and address.
Progress has intervened and I just love it.
Why am I having qualms about ditching it. It's one of the last things I have left from New Kensington, Pa. other than my memories.
After my father moved to Florida, he would go over all the businesses in the downtown area...and he recalled them all. I didn't realize it then, but it was a memory test of his.
Now I find myself doing exactly the same thing....just thinking and remembering. It wasn't all that beautiful or great...but it was where I grew up...my childhood....my young married life.
Now I'm donating it to solid waste management...maybe it can be recyled into more paper...maybe it can enter this century.
Well, it's been 20 years now and my life has changed a lot and so has the info in the phone book. Two decades of decayed and yellowed pages of the people I once had daily interchange with.
Now it's a phone call and Christmas cards...and as the years melt into one another...it seems like light years away.
I believe I have grown in ways since we left. In other ways we were important people in our town especially to little boys and girls who wanted toys.
I don't need this book any longer. I can get all this information on my computer in a second.........anybody's number and address.
Progress has intervened and I just love it.
Why am I having qualms about ditching it. It's one of the last things I have left from New Kensington, Pa. other than my memories.
After my father moved to Florida, he would go over all the businesses in the downtown area...and he recalled them all. I didn't realize it then, but it was a memory test of his.
Now I find myself doing exactly the same thing....just thinking and remembering. It wasn't all that beautiful or great...but it was where I grew up...my childhood....my young married life.
Now I'm donating it to solid waste management...maybe it can be recyled into more paper...maybe it can enter this century.
Friday, April 5, 2013
A Pause In The Day!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
I wonder if anyone else remembers..or am I too old?
Thoughts drift in and out of my mind at no
particular time of the day. These musings just appear.
Like for instance...the little slot that used to be on bathroom medicine cabinets for men to drop their razor blades in. Wonder what happened when it all filled up.
Did anybody's Mother make 'orange candy' out of the peelings ...but I loved it.
We used to take a clove of garlic and rub it on a piece of toasted rye bread...and so delicious.
We used to take our tablets or notebooks and drop ink on it and create Roarch Tests and see if we could identify what it appeared to be.
We didn't use a kazoo to make music...took a comb with a piece of tissue paper or toilet paper...and if it didn't tickle your lips to much...compose our own beautiful music.
I wonder if anyone had to wear 'snuggies' on cold days...tops and bottoms...embarrassing but oh so warm and cozy.
Just thoughts and more thoughts. My Sister Elayne and I changed our dresses when we came home from school and put on playclothes.
I wore her hand-me-downs since she was 3 years older.
We used to lie on our stomachs with the radio on to do our homework. It was such a natural position for us.
I can still smell the musty smell on trains from the upholstered seats.
Comfortable...but smelly! I can still see the conductor with his gold buttons on his vest and jacket.
Wonder why they always made men's suits with vests. Most men never wore them.
What makes these thoughts clutter my brain at this time in my life...I haven't the faintest....
Like for instance...the little slot that used to be on bathroom medicine cabinets for men to drop their razor blades in. Wonder what happened when it all filled up.
Did anybody's Mother make 'orange candy' out of the peelings ...but I loved it.
We used to take a clove of garlic and rub it on a piece of toasted rye bread...and so delicious.
We used to take our tablets or notebooks and drop ink on it and create Roarch Tests and see if we could identify what it appeared to be.
We didn't use a kazoo to make music...took a comb with a piece of tissue paper or toilet paper...and if it didn't tickle your lips to much...compose our own beautiful music.
I wonder if anyone had to wear 'snuggies' on cold days...tops and bottoms...embarrassing but oh so warm and cozy.
Just thoughts and more thoughts. My Sister Elayne and I changed our dresses when we came home from school and put on playclothes.
I wore her hand-me-downs since she was 3 years older.
We used to lie on our stomachs with the radio on to do our homework. It was such a natural position for us.
I can still smell the musty smell on trains from the upholstered seats.
Comfortable...but smelly! I can still see the conductor with his gold buttons on his vest and jacket.
Wonder why they always made men's suits with vests. Most men never wore them.
What makes these thoughts clutter my brain at this time in my life...I haven't the faintest....
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Licking the batter!!!!
As long as there have been mixers, and even before, with hand beaters, children took great pleasure in licking the beater.
I also enjoyed it when Jeff licked the beaters because I knew it was good. He would stand waiting for it to be done...so he could lick.
Now..today...do children still do this. We're told uncooked eggs can cause salmonella poisoning.
Did the scientists that watch over us take that away from our children today...the delight of licking the beaters.
I did it when I was a child...and I can just see the pleasure on my Mother's face. She gave one beater to me and one to my sister.
No one ever got sick from this tongue exercise!
What a pleasurable memory!
The tree in my backyard!
Musings on a dreary day in hurricane season! She sits just like a guest in her own home!
Should be cleaning or straightening up drawers or doing paperwork,
Doing busy stuff.
She can't make up her own mind whether she's just disorganized or plain old-fashioned lazy!
In a portion of her huge bedroom, that also serves as her den, a recliner awaits her elderly body, like an eager loving mother, with both arms extended, inviting her to recline, rock or sit.
She has choices! Once this decision is made.., read a book, turn on tv or fool around with her computer... .another option is open to her... just looking out the window and viewing what the wind gusts are doing to her world. She is drawn to the latter..
Her windows, three glass panes that could bear a washing , reveal a very large tree, probably in the neighborhood Joyce Kilmer had in mind, when he wrote his famous poem, turned song.
Although she lives in High Point, Florida now the day seems 'northerly'... bearing no usual sunshine The branches lush with leaves, but ready to let go, shed green and brown flakes snowlike, reminding her of another time and another place, blowing without direction around her sky.
The wind has taken on a life of its own now shaking all this majesty to the waiting green sandy earth below. blanketing a patch for the crawling red ants to settle, tiny salamanders bearing resemblence to huge dinosaurs of a zillion years ago when the world was young, and all the other critters that travel about. Each busy with whatever naure intended.
The only thing standing staunch and straight is the tree trunk itself, letting the branches know that it's in total control. The weatherbeaten bark showing the wear and tear of its enviroment `is displaying imperfections of algae and age In its imperfections-- there is beauty.
For the 19 years of watching this window scene, never once has she stepped foot to venture out in her backyard. And even though her spiritual philosopy is to "live and let live", she is deadly afraid of ants, snakes and wasps.
During all this activity, the birds sense change and they also flutter here and there, sometimes landing on the window sill where they peck at their own reflection. Her specially- treated windows only reveal what is happening outside.
Inside not a critter can spy on her.
As she still watches all this drama
unfold, she glimses a furry squirrel scurrying up and down the tree, defying all the laws of gravity.
A wristwatch glance makes her aware that she has spent three quarters of an hour, just "looking". And while all this entertainment has been taken place she realizes that she has been "thinking".
The thoughts have run so randomly that it's hard confirming what she was even day dreaming about. Was it the past! Was it the future...or just being, in the here and now.
It doesn't matter al all . Fact is she's found contentment within herself.
She thanks G-d for her Abundance and knows that she has been blessed in life.
At this particular moment...all is well!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This was written a few years ago. Today, however, Cornelius and Joseph came with their cart and a big long tree trimmer and cut off the branch facing my bedroom window...so if we should get a hurricane...it won't come crashing against my window.
The board acted very promptly when I made known about the branch..that was almost like an offspring of the tree.
-----------------------------------
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Monday, September 24, 2007
The old carpet beater!
It was a family affair! A carpet was put over the clothes line and all the members of the family, little ones too, took turns beating the rug.
This was when I was a young child. I wonder how many people remember this. Then wall to wall carpeting came into style and rugbeating was an art of the past.
Also just plain hardwood floors were fashionable. Tiling hadn't been a thing of beauty then. It was reserved only for kitchens and bathrooms..and it was called linoleum.
What a long way we've come. When I was first married a guy came to the door selling Electrolux sweepers. I said I had only bare hardwood floors. He came in and ran his wand up and down my drapes...and into the speaker of my stereo system...and the junk that came out made me buy it. When my husband Allen came home, he thought I was crazy for buying a carpet sweeper without any carpets.
Maybe that's when I got the nickname 'dingbat'...long before Archie Bunker used it.
Anyway...housekeeping is a breeze today...especially in Florida!
3 comments:
another good memory from my childhood..My mom had hardwood floors and we had a "winter" carpet
and a "summer" carpet. In the Spring she would roll out the summer carpet, take the winter one
outside and give us (it looked like
a tennis racquet) to beat it..This
released all my frustrations. You
are so right, we only had tile in our bathroom, linoleum or congoleum on the kitchen floor. It
was pretty easy to take care off
though, I remember dusting with a mop on the hardwood floors for my
mom. Oh and the "ice" box the small
refrigerator that had to be defrosted constantly, what a pain
that was. but you know I was just
thinking about that the other day,
and I realized there wasn't much
to freeze, maybe the occasional
pint of ice cream. Everything was
brought fresh, produce, your meat
from the local butcher, we had a
milkman deliver the milk. ahh those were the days...I love the
milk from the milkman, cream on the
top and my mom would make fresh
whipped cream with it. Nice memories. Thanks for helping me
remember