Idle Thoughts and Other Comments
Random ramblings from a curmudgeon spanning two millenia.
When Snowball and I moved back to her family’s homestead to take care of her mother, we had big plans for making it a place for all of the family members to visit and enjoy. Little did we know how much work was going to be involved.
Continue reading “Attack of the Killer Tomato Cages”
Last night, Snowball and her mom and I were having a nice, quiet Friday evening pizza dinner at the Homestead. We were enjoying our customary routine of guessing the puzzles on Wheel of Fortune and looking forward to watching baseball, Royals or Cubs, afterwards. Suddenly there was a knock that sounded just like someone at the front door except it was coming from the floor! Continue reading “Downstairs Neighbors”
I know many of you have been asking why I haven’t written anything lately. Well you know that old saying about life getting in the way? Life didn’t just get in the way, it took a hard left turn and then hit me in the face. Continue reading “Where Has The Curmudgeon Been?”
When I was growing up it was just assumed that anytime the telephone rang after 10 o’clock it was bad news – or if you were lucky it was just a drunk dialing a wrong number. But nobody had anything positive and important to say that couldn’t wait until tomorrow. Today however, its a 24-hour world and there a lot more methods of communication to worry about.
Take for example the strange text message I received from my adult daughter several months ago. It was around ten o’clock at night and all she asked was to verify my middle name. Of course at that time of night my mind went to the worst spot it could find and since I only had a text there was no way of telling her stress level. I pictured her filling out next-of-kin questions in a hospital form at the ER.
I replied that she had the name right and then asked what the hell was going on. She explained that she was filling out a passport application and went on to ask what years her mother and I were born.
My heart rate now returning to normal I responded with the birthday information and then jokingly asked if she was planning to leave the country because of the new presidential administration. But she explained that her family was going to Mexico for spring break. I told her that I already had my passport (which surprised her) and could I please go along. All I got back was a smiling emoticon. I get no respect from my off-spring.
This summer mother-of-Snowball built a sun room for her myriad of plants. During the process I snapped regular pictures from a camera I set up to watch the show. It was like a live feed of ‘This Old House’. We’ve all been very happy with the result. Also very happy just that the process is done. Continue reading “How to Build a Sun Room”
We have a saying here on the compound, it usually goes something like “I’m gonna need more popcorn.” It implies that there is something entertaining going on and a person is planning on just sitting and watching the event, eating snacks. Yesterday daughter-of-Snowball moved out and I ran out of popcorn. Continue reading “Moving Day”
The spring planting on the compound is pretty much done. We were lucky to have a late spring this year so we had a little extra time. There was an unfortunate hail storm one night a couple of weeks ago which did some natural pruning to the hostas and volunteer bleeding hearts. They seem to be coming back with the help of a week of sunny, cool days. Continue reading “The Garden Plants and Flowers”
The first and most used of the Let’s-Get-The-Family-Together holidays is over. In our case it was fairly painless as most of the family has moved to warmer climates. And they filled me with envy when I looked out the window and saw eight inches of ‘White Christmas’ covering everything Christmas Eve. But we still have enough family nearby to easily fill a living room.
I never complain too loudly about any family get-together because the house does get totally cleaned. I’ve never really understood the reason for house cleaning solely as part of a special occasion. It’s not like anyone would have a problem with our day-to-day lifestyle during a visit. We don’t dress up especially to visit family so I guess we dress up the house instead.
And another thing the bugs me about holidays is why it seems we need to use them as a reason to go see family. During the visit you can count on someone saying, “It’s been too long.” or “My how you’ve grown.” Jeez, people you only live five or ten miles away. It’s not like any one still has to hitch up the horses to the sleigh to get over here. Make a tradition of breaking tradition and visit on a regular basis.
The best part of this holiday being over is being able to watch TV and not seeing commercials with some car dealer forcing their kids to say “Have a Merry Christmas” in unison in an attempt to endear us enough to go in buy a car from them. “Hey Frank Ford, get your kids off my lawn!”
That’s only a partial list of why I’m glad the holidays are over. I’m sure I could complain some more but I try not to do that with my mouth full. So I’m gonna go now and have some more leftovers.
Its normal as we age to lose a certain amount of hearing. In my case its a given since I spent so many years in a broadcast studio with headphones that were turned up too loud. But there are a lot of pros and cons to consider before surrendering to the quintessential sign of old age – the hearing aid. Continue reading “To Hear or Not to Hear”
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