A While Back

This is a circular cut from a tree that was cut down in our back yard since we moved here in 2007.

It reminds us of the blind date we had sixty-seven years ago. It was a picnic which Lee's mother fixed for us with fried chicken.

Ever since that date, he has been in my thoughts every day. 

I think it's the same for him.

Ceiling Fan Woes

In our middle bedroom which I guess you could  call the guest room, we have a tiny little ceiling fan. It is really cute. I went in to turn on the light so we could see the area when the new O2 machine was delivered.

No light. I pulled on the chain for the fan. No fan. So of course I tried the light pull again. The glass globe fell off, hit the bed, the carpeted floor and bounced off the bed leg and broke.

So now we have no "globe" in there or in the computer room. It seems the one in the computer room doesn't want to stay in place either.

The naked light bulbs remind me of pictures from the depression with bare light bulbs in a room.

I try not to look up at them.

More on Miss Smith

I turned on Smerconish at 8:00 CDT this Saturday morning (CNN) He had the story about Kate Smith with this follow-up.

A transcript (no audio is available) of a radio program from 1945 has been found with a long section of Miss Kate Smith commenting on tolerance and the need for hatred to be taken away from our society. It was very moving. This was right after WWII had ended and reminds me of Frank Sinatra singing "The House We Live In" which can be found on YouTube.

In the words of a black man who was beaten in California after a traffic stop, "Can't we all just get along?'

And later:  Sunday morning, April 28th, CBS Sunday Morning program stated that the New York Yankees had played the recording of God Bless America by Miss Smith during the seventh inning stretch. They have stopped doing this now. They also mentioned many other singers who sang songs similar to the ones mentioned before. George M. Cohan, Al Jolsen and others that I do not remember.

It was a different time - not a "good old days" time but different.

You can't change what happened but you can learn from it.

Non-Political

I hope no one thinks this offering is political. I don't mean it in that way.

The way I want this to be viewed is just STUPID.

When I was a kid, we listened to Kate Smith on the radio. She had a wonderful voice. She was even in a few movies. She introduced the song, God Bless America.

She was inspiring and I admired her success. She showed that people could do well without being a typical model figure. (She and my mom were quite similar in build.)

This item has not received much notice in the news or maybe I have missed it on the tv media. I did see it on the internet. Because she sang two songs in the early thirties that mentioned black people as "darkies," they have wrapped her statue at the Flyers stadium in cloth and are considering removing it altogether. I understand the Flyers played a recording of her singing before the game or at the half. They have also stopped that tribute.

I do not agree with removing our history.

What will they remove next?

Really?

This month started out with six dates marked on the calendar with various doctor appointments. With one canceled and three added that makes eight.

Luckily we live close by but this is ridiculous. None scheduled in May and only one in June.

I hope that remains the case.

Another Challenge

Backing out of the drive, the garage door didn't go all the way down. I was on the way to a doctor's appointment so we didn't have time to mess with it.

When we came home it was still half way up - or half way down. I managed to lean over enough to get inside so I could unlock the front door. We tried to call a company who had worked on the door before. No answering machine or notice that the number is out of order. Just a fast busy signal that has a name in the telephone business but I can't remember what it is. It might be called a "reorder."

I called our neighbor and she told me who had installed her new garage door. We called them and they were out here within an hour! Another hour and it was fixed! I love it when you get good service.  It was a little over one hundred dollars but that's not bad for same day service.

Quiet

It's too quiet in here.

The dogs are missing the company but not as much as we are!  We had such a great time seeing two great nephews, a great niece, a niece, a sister and a brother! I'm glad I married someone with relatives. None of those classifications appeared on my side of the family.  Being an only child does that. (How I hate that term - it's usually preceded by the word "spoiled."). I got plenty of whoopins when I deserved them. And plenty of love too.

They are now on the road west with a stop in Dodge City planned.  We know that between western Kansas and eastern Colorado there is not much to see but the Rockies will make up for it.

Safe trip for all and come back again!

The complete group with black Jack who is getting grey like the rest of some of us.