Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Another year has passed!

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2008

This was written awhile ago....but it's the anniversary!!

And the Yartseit Candle is lit once again dear Allen!
In Loving Memory!
Allen dear, I recall with the tenderest of thoughts our good life together....and the way it was!

As the Yartseit Candle burns down,,, The flame triggers millions of loving memories!

The candle in the kitchen flickers and dims!
Yes, I lost my partner...my mate....my best friend.
Feb. 28, l990.

I wish he could come back back for just a little while so we could tell him how much we miss him....and love him...but maybe he knows that.

For ten years , a decade, I have lived alone........but my husband is never far from my memories and thoughts....because we shared a life together...children together....although we lost our baby girl to Tay -Sachs disease.

We had 4l years together...most of them happy....some sadness....but that's what living is all about. He was a good kind person who cherished his family..

I look at his picture...and he's smiling at me.
I have the advantage of choosing any image.... making him any age on my dresser....so he's always smiling at me ... 29 years old....and we were newly married.....and our married life was just beginning.

This generation may look at him as controlling. Not me....he just cared so very much about everything I did and thought....and he took such a big interest in my life....and this I adored.....
He even liked to go food and clothes shopping with me....helping me 'pick out'.....and it was fun!
He helped me make decisions!

George Gershwin wrote a song about this..."Someone to Watch Over Me".....and how fortunate I was to find someone to do just that....to make me feel so special..

The Jewish religion has us remember our loved ones on the anniversary of their passing....so I follow tradition...because it's ritual........but I really believe in my heart that it should be lit on our loved ones 'birth date'....to life!.

So....on this solemn occasion.....Jeff and I recall with loving memories this very important person in our lives....who lived according to the Rules.

May Your Soul Rest In Peace Dear Allen....Amen!

And these touching words came from Jeff.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Mom

I REALLY liked your last webpage. I can't speak very eloquently about it, but it moved me deeply. Was it a "cathartic" experience for you at all?

And these wonderful words from Paul and Barbara,
Hi Aunt Hilda,

Its so hard to believe its been 10 years but when someone is always in your heart you don't think about time.You wrote a beautiful tribute to Uncle Allen and the life you shared together. He played such an important role in your life and Jeff's as well as ours. I wish Donna could have gotten to know him. It would have been so special. I loved how he took an interest in you and everyone and how he loved to make sure everyone was happy (like you). I still hear him each evening saying. H can I get you something? Waiting on you or anyone gave him such pleasure.....how happy he was to be in Florida....he was so kind.....thats why you stayed together....your kindness...your gentle way....how you loved children.....and all your love just lives on in Jeff and whether its a Yartseit candle we light once a year...its the fact that its not just once a year we think of him, but always...he is always in our heart.

Thank you for sharing your tribute.

love
bb and bo bo

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
And this from my sweet friend Elaine who very recently lost her beloeved hsband.

Dear Hilda, Thank you, thank you for sharing the most beautiful letters I have ever read. You certainly write with so much feeling, I felt as if I could have written your letter to my beloved Bill. I know you are truly a sentimental & compassionate person, and I admire you for being the "lady" you are. I feel fortunate to have met your wonderful Alan, & I know how much he must have loved & admired you too. Hilda dear, may you always remember the good times, good memories and happiness that you & Alan shared. I'm sure he was a Prince among men. Much love, Elaine

Thank you again for another wonderful piece of prose. What lovely beautiful memories you were left with to sustain you.
I hope you have not denied yourself the pleasures that you should enjoy, because your Allan would not approve of that. If you really thought about that, put him in
your place and would you want him to miss out on what is there for him to enjoy.

You have a lot of years ahead of you. Make a few adjustments and try to bring a new beginning into your life as a continuation of the good and happy life you had before.

Thank you for my new lesson. We are leaving right now to go the Morse Geriatric Home as a Volenteers. Will work on it later.
Dear Hilda, I want you to know that I expressed myself the way I did because I consider myself a good friend of yours.

nd from my dear friend Ethel....

That is just beautiful!!!
I'm sorry that Mert and Alan didn't know each other --- I think they
would have liked each other very much ---
I don't get lumps in my throat very often - but you did it, m'dear.
Thank you for sharing.
Glad to know ya... Love you...
ethel

And from my wonderful friends Ruth and Sy..who mean so very much to me!
rfs913@webtv.net (RuthandSyFagan) Date: Sun, Feb 20, 2000, 11:06pm To: hildag1@webtv.net (Hilda Gordon) Subject: Re: And the Yartseit Candle is lit once again!
I'm overwhelmed. What a beautiful tribute. No wonder the comediens didn't make you laugh.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 comment:

virginia said...: what a lovely tribute,,,,such deep and abiding love you have for him,,,,

this would be a better world if we all could have found what you and he had together

i regret that i never knew you as a couple so i could see what a good relationship really was

thank you for sharing this with me who (as you well know) has lost my faith in these kinds of things; February 19, 2008 at 10:11 AM

Original text

Contribute a better translation

Monday, May 19, 2014

Thursday, May 28, 2009

My first library was in a storeroom! written 5 years ago

We had to be very quiet...not speak a single word...or we would have been kicked out!

There were no paperbacks back then...only bound books and they were very precious.

My first document that I personally owned and was responsible for, was my library card. It was sacred. Nothing should happen to it! And if a book was overdue, I felt mortified...like I'd created a crime...all for 2 cents. The librarian took her job very seriously and, if asked, would refer you to a special section.

Besides getting a book for myself, my Mother wanted me to bring her back a novel. I recall asking for Edna Ferber....she's the lady who wrote the book that the musical Showboat was all about.

My Mother was an avid reader and during dinner she would present a book review to us letting us know what it was all about. How interested our little family of 4 was in her presentation. So, not only did we digest the best cooking in the world...and we had entertainment with it.

That was my Mother....and I adored her so much!

Now I go to a big library on Hagen Ranch Road...and what a myriad of books from which to choose....more authors than ever before in history. And most of them are very good...but we can't read everything so we must be select.

Ruth, my friend and next door neighbor, usually brings me back something that is just to my liking...no violence....no C.I.A. stuff...just lots of emotions.

Having a good book to read is such a great feeling.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Slots for the hopeful!

Tomorrow I'm going a'gambling!   Yep, High Point is sponsoring a casino trip and they've filled 2 full buses.   Cost of this trip is $3.00 and that includes lunch.

My problems are that I don't like to get up early in the morning.   Secondly, I don't understand the machines.

I think I'm too old!   Little critters running all over the screen and all kinds of crazy sounds with bells and whistles.....and I really don't know if I won anything.

Now I'm not a big sport...I play the 2 cent machine...but it sounds cheaper than it is because I play the maximum....so you use your money up fast.

Some people who live here aren't permitted to go ... cause they don't gamble and it costs the casino for the buses and the food.

At the beginning of the morning, I enjoy it...and then I get very very bored...and they don't furnish you a place to rest or sit because they wouldn't be making any money.

So...how much do I want to contribute to this day off the farm here?

It's funny...everyone tells you how much they won...never do I hear how much they lost.

But...I'm going to be a good sport....cause that's entertainment...Florida style!

Barnum once said there's one born every minute...count me in Mr. Barnum!

friends, my children, my nephews, grandnephews, and other people who have passed through my life.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

A cuppa

Hi...I feel really great...I had a response from Amber, Davi and Steve's daughter before I even wrote it. Just the icon! Now that's great writing...just the blank page.

What I was going to say is wha kind of tea to drink. Iced tea served to me in a restaurant tastes so much better than my own. Don't know why but it's the truth. Last year I was just drinking green tea because it's supposed to have all kinds of properties to build your immune system.

Tea was used for thousands of years .

RitzCarlton features their famous 'high tea'...which I have yet to partake.

When I was little I used to sing a song about Polly Put the Kettle On...and the kids today sing...I'm a Little Teapot...here is my Handle .. Here Is my spout.

THE STORY OF TEA

All tea comes from the same plant - Camellia sinensis - an evergreen, tropical plant with green, shiny pointed leaves that was originally indigenous only to China and India.

Tea drinking spread throughout Chinese culture. By the third century A.D. there were already many stories being told and written about tea and its benefit. The first book on tea, the Ch'a Ching, was written around 780 A.D. by Lu Yu, who had been raised by scholarly Buddhist monks in one of China's finest monasteries.

The three-volume book covered tea growing, processing, brewing, and drinking, as well as the history of famous early tea plantations, and contained many illustrations of tea making utensils.

Peter Stuyvesant in 1650 imported the first tea to colonists in America in the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam. By the time Britain acquired the small settlement in1664 and renamed it New York, the settlers there were already confirmed tea drinkers, consuming more tea than all of England put together.

TEXT-ALIGN: left">I hope they haven't put lead in tea because every day brings a new event about Chinese products. For all I know the keyboard I'm using to type this, may contain lots of lead. Who knows!!!!!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Frustrated...or is it me???

About ten years ago, hotels and motels came out with a new form of key. Plastic like a charge card and you insert it in the room you're renting.

Well..sounds good...but does it work...at least some of the time.   I swipe it in the hotel slot in the door...and nothing happens...except for a red light. Now I know that red lights mean trouble...so I instantly remove.

Now I try again turning the card in a different direction...same story.   I insert the card again and get a green light, but if you don't remove the card fast enough, it shuts off. And this ritual goes on and on!

Five minutes have passed by now and I feel stupid, plus .. I have to use the bathroom.

Finally another guest comes along and smiles at me.   I return the smile but I guess she can see utter disappointment in my face because she asks, can she help me.

I admit that I'm stuck outside my door. I can't get in.   She takes my card...does exactly what I did...and the door flies open.

She feels very accomplished and I feel like a real dud.   She probably told someone she helped an elderly lady get into her room and why is she traveling at all if she can't even us a cardkey.

Does this happen to other people too....or is it just me????

Please .. please.. give me my old key back...even a skeleton one will do.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Don't know what made me do it!

I was talking to my friend Virginia and she was telling me that she got in touch with some of her former schoolmates online...and how much she enjoyed their get-to-gethers and reminiscing.

Well, I can't do that because most of my peers are not on a computer. So I thought and thought who do I want to call. I finally picked a girl (woman) that I started school with and graduated with.

I went to my white pages on the computer and typed in New Kensington, Pa...and there was her number in front of my eyes.

I gave no thought about what we would talk about. She answered and I started the conversation with this is a voice from way out of your past.

This is Hilda Goldsmith....and she screamed...Hilda...how are you....and then we talked for an hour and a half.

We even recited poetry together that we had learned in 7th grade.

It was a wonderful visit....I think I made myself and her happy....and it was almost like the many years hadn't passed all that long ago.

We recalled our families...and how it all was...and that we did get a good education after all.

So...thanks Virginia.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Friday, April 13, 2012

Sloppy Broadcasting!

I've noticed lately that TV commercial breaks have become less than professional...and I don't know whether this is due to satellites, which is a miracle in itself.   We can watch as it's happening!   Who would have thought!

. The anchor person used to keep tabs of the time and know just how many seconds remaining  till it was time for a commercial break...or they'd kill a little time so that the break would be smooth.   The anchor person is not alone...there's someone who does a little windup with their hands.

I've noticed not so today!!   No..they cut off whoever's speaking in the middle of a sentence and then you see a big commercial,which makes you wonder all you missed.   But it probably wasn't all that much because it's all reality TV anyway.   Perhaps that's a more inexpensive way to produce shows.

Did the audience in real time see and hear what is going on and we were just 'cut off'.....and did we really miss something!

I think it's sloppy broadcasting that you don't need to be cognizant of the time....that the commercials will get in no matter what. What if there was a real emergency...but time to break. I know the answer.   Everything is routinely scheduled and automatic.

It appears to me that this has just happened since we now have digital TV...analog is gone!    Is our technology too technical for us, that it can control regular programming?

I think I want to go back to the old days when they announced we'll return after a brief message from our sponsor.

Friday, October 1, 2010

The stove that cooked with the gas turned off! My Chambers!

I believed them...so being newly married, I invited Allen's parents and sister for dinner.

I had purchased a special cut of roast that smells delicious and was supposed to be fork-tender.

Anyway after reading the instructions on my new stove...advising me to set the thermostat to 500 degrees for 15 minutes....then turning the stove off completely.

It never even occurred to me to check it...to open the oven door to take a peek. I believed!

So...3 hours later I invite everyone to sit down and Allen is so proud...entertaining for the first time.

It wasn't true...the roast was uncooked and cold. It never also occurred to me to write the Chambers Company a letter about what had happened.

Of course, the end of my story...we had to take everyone out to dinner..and my first experience was a failure. I never again did cook with the oven turned off.

The really great part of this Cadillac of a stove was the grill on the left. You just pumped up the handle...and and it made the most delicious lamb chops and hamburgers.

It also had a deep soup well at the rear right which I didn't use too often. I used my Presto pressure cooker instead.

Very heavy stove...400 pounds...and probably the most expensive thing we had in our home.

Rachel Rae still uses this stove for her 30 minute meals. Wonder if she cooks with the the heat turned off. Maybe one day I'll email and ask.

This stove also had removable handles to remove to protect little children.....and is considered a
collectible today.

When we moved to Florida I hated to say good bye to it...the end of my gas cooking.

Monday, July 26, 2010

I snapped this picture while we were Skyping...miraculous isn't it!

This is how I spend my Sunday mornings..or I should say, how Jeff and Donna share their Sunday mornings with me.

First we visit! I see these two dear faces, including Bandit, one of their beagles who always wants to hug them when we're visiting.

Then I tell them how I messed up the computer...and they never act impatient or irritated..they just go to my desktop and link on to Teamviewer...and then I sit back and watch them take over.

They said everything is fixable...even my printer...even though they're in Virginia and I'm in Florida.

I glance at the time and realize we've spent 2 hours or more together. We air-throw kisses to each other and say...bye...till next Sunday.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is a P.S. Now I also have another skyping partner. Little Shane....every week he shows off what he has learned to do....and I'm beside myself...I'm so thrilled.

I can't seem to get enough of him...my baby darling.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

I just can't get over it!

I'm sitting on the cusp of a birthday that will put me in the middle 80's...and I can't bear it...or believe it.

Always living in the present, all my events seemed to be frozen in time. Not being able to imagine Jeff or Paul being men.

Not to be able to acknowledge that I've been living without Allen for 20 long lonely years. Actually truth be told, I've been sequesered in the Peter Pan Syndrome....never wanting to grow up.

My Mother used to sing a song to me...Toyland...toyland...dear little girl and boy land...once you pass the borders, you can ne're return again.

I listened and believed in those lyrics...they came from my Mother's lips.

Well, I found out that life moves on...it's a constantly learning process...and if we refuse to move...we become stagnant.

Now my kids don't want that to happen...so they get me all this high tech stuff...and my friend Virginia just won't let me sit on my laurels...she insists that I keep my blog up to date.

So...I'm doing what is expected of me.

However, I now know that in my heart of hearts...I'm an old lady.

Somebody who also doesn't want to grow old says that today for some reason...we're 10 years younger that our chronical age.

Can that be????? Anyway...financially last year wasn't a very good year for me and a lot of others.

Fannie Mae tricked me....so did General Motors. Again I believed! I followed my greed and instinct...and it got me naught.

So now...I know that nothing is a sure thing....and we just have to roll with the times.

Speaking of which....Jerry Herman wrote a song....The Best of Times Is Now...and I do believe he is right....in fact, I know so. So..this is my wish!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Friday, September 11, 2009

Cutting back before a hurricane!

There was a big racket outside my bedroom window and I peeked out to see just what was going on.

It was a 'happening' all right. The 'tree clipper people' were right outside my window and they were cutting down a very huge branch of a very large tree in my backyard.

Now this wasn't just any branch. It was part of the tree...but almost as big as the tree trunk itself...and should there be torrential rains and wildly gusting winds, this could find its way right through my window.

It was so interesting to watch. They worked very hard and not a movement was wasted. They were in complete control of the situation.

Then I remembered my camera sitting on top of my desk...so this is what I got through the window. The black bar is part of my window and I captured it.

We pay high maintenance here...but it's well worth it. We're protected! In the meantime, I've stocked up on everything so that I could live a month without leaving.

I've been through one hurricane and I've learned. It's the darkness I despise most of all. When it was pitch black, I'd sing ....
'hello darkness my old friend...I've come to be with you again.

Then I'd go into a troubled sleep...but the very next morning...the sun was brightly shining...and all was right with the world.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

So very long ago

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Time Was!

With all the talk about the economy and jobs, it suddenly occurred to me that I actually never went looking for a job. Work came to me.

I'm not a very gutsy person so I guess I have to consider myself pretty lucky.

My sweet Mother whom I adored died when I was going on 16...and when I graduated from high school at 17, my father sent me to commercial college.

I was still reeling from my Mother's death.

This school received a phone call from our local radio station that they needed a continuity writer...so I was sent. WKPA was our 'Voice of the Valley'...and we signed off with the local sunset.

I was hired on the spot...and spots are what I had to write.

I was sooo green...didn't even know what a radio spot was. But I loved...adored this job.

I ended up being a girl Friday also...doing everything...selecting music...picking out classical music that I couldn't even pronounce....and selecting electrical transcriptions ...that we played on two large turntables.

A short while after that...tape players were used.

I loved my boss and all the announcers who worked there. They would gather everyday in my office to 'gossip'...and some days in order to get a commercial on the air, I needed to go to another office to write it.

I stayed on 9 years until I was 7 months pregnant.

My only other job after that was in our own toy store where Allen and I worked side by side...enjoying the children enjoying their toys.

And we knew that once they pass that child-spot in their lives, they could ne're return again.

I think about all this frequently because....this was my life! And good it w

Monday, April 14, 2014

I remember it well...do you?

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 pealings of naval oranges and I don't know what the other ingredients were...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....

Feeling God's Presence

Friday, August 2, 2013

Feeling the Presence of God

I'm inspired...just looking out my window!   There's choreography going on with all the leaves in my sight.   I have some mighty trees and they all have healthy, sturdy branches and boughs, festive with the greenest leaves...and when the wind blows, it's a sight to behold...they're all doing a dance...graceful as can be...and I never get tired just watching.

It makes me know that God is in charge and the performance outside my window proves it.

It's spring and even the newest green leaves have joined in, firmly attached, and it's like a big chorus where they all move.   No wall flowers on my tree!    They move in unison! And when the sun shines between the branches, that's an added bonus...it's in 'living color

They dance and if a bug is on a leaf, they get a real ride...just like going to Disney.   There are thousands of leaves just moving around right in front of my vision and I'm delighting in every one.

If I desire to open my window, I get sound!   The melody of the rustling of the leaves...so tranquil and sweet.     It makes me feel happy from within.

And when fall comes...we have mulch.

Shredded Leaves are natures favorite mulch. Shredded leaves can be used as mulch anywhere and have the added bonus of being free

Much better than dancing with the stars!   This is no competition...more like dancing with the sky!

These are living things and I treasure each leaf for the happiness and the natural air conditioning it brings. The birds also take pleasure in my tree...a resting place from their flight.   Even the squirrels scamper up and down the trunk....so much fun!

In Genesis in the Bible, the tree is one of the very first things that God created..and all through the ages our ancestors have seen what I'm writing about.

Dear Reader, you, too, can have a thrilling day...just look out your window!

So much excitement...and all for free! Take it all in!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Last night I had a 'gentlemen caller'

Yes, about 10 o'clock last night!   It wasn't a knock on my door...or the doorbell chimes...or even someone squeezing through my window...but, wait, yes it was...on my Windows 7.

This little guy came via Skype. I rushed over to my computer and was alerted that it was a video caller.

I pressed the magic button and there...in living color...sat my darling little Shane, now 13 months old.

He doesn't remember me, of course, but he was smiling, along with his mom and dad, Becky and Eric.

I was thrilled that they wanted to share their baby with me.   Eric read him books and Shane turned the pages and he was very interested, at least for the attention span of a baby.

I asked if he had ever tasted ice cream yet and they said he loves it.   So Becky went to the refrig and scooped out half a bowl for him and he opened his mouth eagerly waiting for the next swallow....like a little bird being fed.

Eric let him crawl to his bedroom and this little angel (devil) opened his chest of drawers and removed all the clothes...then he threw them all back.   All the while he kept looking at Eric waiting to see what his reaction would be.

Eric kept saying don't do that Shane...but he kept right on with this task and then he went to his crib and pulled out his quilt between the slabs.   He was very busy while keeping an eye on his dad...I'm not sure whether he wanted his father's approval or disapproval.

When Becky went to undress him for bed, he pulled his own shirt over his head.

Well, I was really impressed....and he understands most everything.

He got all excited when they said it was time to brush his teeth.    Becky put a little toothpaste on his brush and baby went to town...loved doing this...and then she offered him a cup of water.   He drank some...and then blew bubbles in the rest.

My big thrill of the evening was when Eric covered his face and played peek a boo....and my baby laughed a big hearty laugh.    I had never heard him laugh out loud before. It made me laugh out loud too.

I adore this child and feel so blessed to have him in my life...

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Oh NO

Reading about 'writer's block' is not the same as experiencing it.   I have a lot to say but am not sure I want to talk about it.

But, okay, here goes:   The high seas were beckoning to me about a month ago and two of my friends asked me to join them on a cruise.

Sounded delightful...get away from here for 5 days.    Now I know I'm getting older, but so is everyone that I know.   But I did take a cane with me because I have fallen a few times and so I assume I have a balance problem.

Before I left on this cruise, I worried about a fall....and it did come to pass.     I wasn't using my cane at that moment.`

One of the reasons l attribute it to was that I only had about 5 hours sleep that night.   Another reason is that I climbed 5 flights of stairs before it happened to me.

I'm not used to either one of these, so I assume I wasn't in the best of conditions.    Anyway, I did fall on my back and messed myself up....I broke a bone in my lower torso.

Now I'm wearing a brace, hoping that it will strengthen my spine and I won't walk bent over.

I am using my cane whenever I leave my home.   I don't want to tumble again.    All the people here worry about a fall.   Nobody pushes us over....we just fall.

When we were little children we fell all the time.   I recall all the scabs I always had on my knees and then was painted with iodine or mercurochrome by my father or my mother...but when you're old, you break your parts.

I'm very grateful that I didn't get hurt worse and didn't break anything more.

I consider myself lucky! This is Judy, my roommate, who helped pick me up, along with Estelle.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

My darling Husband Allen!

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2008

This was written awhile ago....but it's the anniversary!!

1 comment:

virginia said...: what a lovely tribute,,,,such deep and abiding love you have for him,,,,

this would be a better world if we all could have found what you and he had together

i regret that i never knew you as a couple so i could see what a good relationship really was

thank you for sharing this with me who (as you well know) has lost my faith in these kinds of things; February 19, 2008 at 10:11 AM

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Aftermath

The rains purified our air but left our cars saturated all the way down soaking the carpeting with layers of water.

If you walked on our street today, you would see car after car with open doors and trunk...and mats hanging on our fences.

We're trying to dry out. The insurance people tell us that it will cost $2,000 to remove the seats and dry the underparts.

Now my dilemma is my car is 14 years old. Should I fix what I have or should I lease a car.

I'm getting much older and probably won't be driving in a couple of years.

So...advice people....help me think??????

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Better than mounds of snow!

While the rest of our country is defrosting, we're de-flooding.   The friendly skies opened wide and torrential rains took the normal route of gravity and released itself into pouring rain that turned into a loud thunderstorm.

While all this was happening, I pulled the covers around me in my bed cocoon-fashion and drifted off to sleep.

Glancing out my window the following day, I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing.

A lake covering our entire cul-de-sac. I looked at my car and most of the tires were drenched in water.

My mind found it hard to take this all in. You could row a boat down our street.   A person could go swimming.    This could be Venice with gondolas.    Our sewer could not absorb all that water...this is Florida and we have to rely on other means.

Turning on my TV, the only programming being aired was about all the flooding and warnings to stay home.   People were using their digital cameras and sending them to the anchor people and this is the destruction that I saw.

When I used my bathroom, the water overflowed onto the floor waiting for me to sop it up.    Today the sun is shining brightly and there's a nice breeze.

The difference a day makes!

Not until early evening did I realize that our car floors were sopping wet with about 2 inches of water and the car door opener wouldn't respond.

However, I turned the engine on and lo and behold...it ran.

Today is another day and the guy who regularly cleans my car is outside now wet-vacuuming it and trying to dry it out.

I'm concerned now that it might have a mildew smell and that's almost impossible to get rid of.

It could always be worse!

THIS IS A COMMENT

Ron Troke shared your blog post on Google+

Wow Hilda....this is an amazing story....Mother NAture really is trying our patience this year. The storms are very where even in freezing Canada. I'm Sophie Doodle's Dad and so happy to meet you. Take care...stay dry!

Thursday, January 9, 2014

When in doubt...throw out!

ursday, 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.

I'm letting go.......

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Going to Virginia with Virginia

Thoughts from Hilda

These are my thoughts, during average days of my life. They're probably not of any interest to anyone other than my dear friends, my children, my nephews, grandnephews, and other people who have passed through my life.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Virginia visits my kids with me!

When Virginia and I boarded a plane to Washington D.C., Dulles Airport, my kids and V insisted I use a wheel chair...so it was waiting for me when we passed over our boarding passes...and from then on, I was being ushered while my poor friend had to practically run to keep up...and I felt so embarrassed.   I could not get used to this at all. I felt like I was in Atlantic City being wheeled by an elderly man in a rickshaw.

Then it's time for our security check...V wore socks so she wouldn't get germs from their floor...stupid me, I never thought of that...and besides I couldn't get through right away because I was buzzing. Yes, I had a metal lipstick tube in my pocket. I felt like an idiot

We arrived our usual 2 hours early and both of us started reading..but I think our attentions were on the people who were coming and going. No recession in this airport. The younger folks waiting all had computers and they were busily working.   Others were texting or having breakfast.

We finally went over to Checker's and Virginia said she just had to have their french fries. It was a different kind of meal than I would have eaten at that hour, but I ordered the same thing.   Oh were those ever delicious. I nibbled at every crumb...I was right to follow her lead. She said they're famous for that.   What do I know???

Bob and Arlene had taken us to the airport and schlepped our baggage out of their trunk of which I was very grateful.

Anyway, finally we boarded first because I had reserved a wheel chair and I feel like I'm cheating because I'm not really handicapped.

Right before we take off I glance over at Virginia and I notice that she's praying...and again I feel guilty, like I'm riding her shirttails...using her prayer to deliver me safely.

Her prayers were definitely answered because not only did we have a safe journey...but a very pleasant one with Jeff and Donna who met us in the airport with great big smiles and lots of hugs.

What better service...I ask you!

Sunday, January 5, 2014

My little house

Sunday, October 14, 2012

When my husband Allen and I looked at this B unit in a villa, we kind of fell in love with it.    There was a loft....for escape time.

Two bathrooms which seemed an enormous luxury...one bath and two showers.   The drawers all pulled out on rollers....a dishwasher and a garbage disposal.

And in the bathroom a special fan to eliminate any unpleasant aromas.

Now we had a nice hallway that led us to our master bedroom...but along those walls, Allen nailed pictures of our family and our lives.    When we were young...and as we grew older.

When we bought new furniture, we felt like we were on our second honeymoon, even to buying a wastebasket.    Everything was a thrill.

Allen hired a shelf maker for our bedroom closet to put up more rods.   Now I have to call someback to lower those rods...cause I simply can't reach them.

I loved our backyard look, a stable with horses...and I can hear them whinny and naaay...and it makes me feel good...like I'm not in a large city but near the farms.

Back to my hallway, there are pictures of my Mother and my Father not together, my Father was already married to Aunt Helen, my mom's sister My Mother died at 41 and my father waited 10 years to remarry, till both my sister and I got married.   They had a good long marriage.The people who I see when I stroll up and down my hallways are My cousin Henrietta and her husband Eddy.,my endearing Sister Elayne....and my dear Aunt Rose and my sister in law, and my mother and father in law. Paul and Barbara's wedding pictures...also Jeff and Donna.   Lots of Allen at all ages.   And, of course, pictures of my grandnephews Eric and Ryan when they were little.   Now they're both married and I must hang up pictures of their brides.

My family....

I've made some good friends here..and my biggiest pleasure is our swimming pool, which is also my social life. We all have one thing in common...we're all transports from another place and another time....so we've kind of become each other's extended family.

Everyone there is happy and splashing and splishing and making their arthritis feel better.

Lots of noodles are used too....very colorful.   This is our country club.

If anyone wants to visit me, I have a loft, if you can climb the stairs.   There's a queen bed, a dresser and a chair...and a radio.

To me...this is paradise and I'm very grateful that Allen brought me here.

======================================================

There's a ps to this story.   I have trouble climbing the steps to my loft, so that is reserved for my guests.

The newest little guest Shane slept in the living room in a fold and play bed .

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Just random thoughts

Do we have a gland that makes us feel enthusiastic?   I ask myself this because this part of me seems to be out of commission.

I felt bubbly a few weeks ago when baby Shane and his mother and father were here, and then it kind of did a disappearing act.

So...I gotta activate it...and I'll do it right now and here writing this blog.

I'm in my own little home, boss of my own domain.   I'm able to pay all my bills without fretting and saying oy vey.

I don't flinch in a restaurant when my friends order much more than me...I'm the one who argues that we have to split the bill.   And I'm always anxious to leave a nice tip.

After having read the book Nickel and Dimed, I learned much about living lean.   I'm not wealthy by any means...but I'm old and the years will probably run out before my money.

And should I run out, I'll just have to go to the poorhouse where Charles Dicken's wrote about.

I think what I really need is a 'pool fix'.   Haven't been swimming in a month because even in Florida we have seasons.

And I'm not complaining because the 'complaint department' is closed and locked up till the rest of the nation defrosts.

In 2 weeks I'm going on a 5 day cruise and maybe I just have to get away from the farm for awhile...talk to new people.   That I find enjoyable.

So...people...wherever you are....here I am!

Friday, January 3, 2014

Geography!

While half of our country is shivering, I have my fans spinning in my ceiling because I enjoy fresh air circulating. How fortunate I am living in Florida, a sub-tropical zone, where it's never really bitter.

I turn on the weather channel and broadcasters in different parts of our country are explaining in great detail how it's even going to get colder. They're dressed for really cold..cold..with knitted caps, scarves, and gloves.

Some of the newscasters like to look like they can brave this weather, so they come dressed just in an overcoat or jacket...but I just know they're shivering as they're speaking.

I have nothing in the world to complain about, no slush, no ice, no cold !

The sun is shining brightly, although it doesn't have a lot of strength, but just seeing it makes me happy.

I wish I could invite the world to join me here in Florida to get warm and drink some of the sweet juices from our honeybell oranges that last such a short time but does not diminish the flavor. It takes no effort to fill a glass with minimal effort, just a delicate squeeze and you drink it down.

I like to sip mine so that I can enjoy the flavor longer.

So you all come down now...you hear!

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2008

This was written awhile ago....but it's the anniversary!!

1 comment:

Translate

Original text

Monday, May 19, 2014

Thursday, May 28, 2009

My first library was in a storeroom! written 5 years ago

Friday, May 9, 2014

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Slots for the hopeful!

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

A cuppa

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Frustrated...or is it me???

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Don't know what made me do it!

Friday, May 2, 2014

Friday, April 13, 2012

Sloppy Broadcasting!

Friday, October 1, 2010

The stove that cooked with the gas turned off! My Chambers!

Monday, July 26, 2010

I snapped this picture while we were Skyping...miraculous isn't it!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

I just can't get over it!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Friday, September 11, 2009

Cutting back before a hurricane!

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Time Was!

Monday, April 14, 2014

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

I wonder if anyone else remembers..or am I too old?

Friday, August 2, 2013

Feeling the Presence of God

Friday, April 11, 2014

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2008

This was written awhile ago....but it's the anniversary!!

1 comment:

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Thursday, January 9, 2014

My old telephone directory!

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Friday, November 18, 2011

Virginia visits my kids with me!

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Friday, January 3, 2014

Translate