Brain Roam #1

This is my Brain Roam #1.
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Sometimes I sits and thinks.  Sometimes I just sits.
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When my daughter Christine comes to town, she says she wants to work.  She was here this past weekend / Thanksgiving holiday-type visit.  On this particular visit she wanted to work around the dock.  Keep in mind there is no water under the dock.  I haven't had the boat on the lake for almost 2 years.  The lake keeps going down and down and down.  As with most things that irritate me, I know this too shall pass.
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I told my wife that we should put the house up for sale the moment the water comes back up. Y'never know when it will go back down.  Now, do ya?  I do love living out here with space for the dogs to run around even with the "hampered" view of no water.  We still have ducks and deer and coyote howls in the distance.
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Christine and I climbed down on the shoreline and moved some big logs that had washed ashore.  I did this a while back too.  It is one of two things:  Either new logs have washed up when the water was being frisky - or - these were buried under the sand and came into view with recent rains.  I don't know.  
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Some of these logs were big trees.  We'd get one end off the ground, plant our gloved hands around the tree, and pull it down the shore to the neighbors shore line.  The logic is that these logs will wash onto his beach instead of mine IF THE WATER ever comes up again.  All went well for a while.  As we let one tree return to its native soil, I forgot to let go with the left hand.  It stretched my left arm in such a way that my left arm/elbow is in pain.  The pain is better; but, still not back up to norm.
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You'd think I would be old enough to know when to let go of a log.  We iced the elbow down after lunch.  I took 4000 Aleves.  Still I have pain.  It's not as bad as last Saturday.  I played my horn last night.  It hurt to hold the horn up.  If some kid had tried that excuse on me, Yelling I would do.
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Last night (Tuesday) the Corsicana Swing Orchestra  (we have a website now - you should go visit) had a rehearsal.  We are playing for the Cors. tree lighting ceremony downtown Friday at 5:30.   Christmas music, you might guess.   The group is going to be very short handed.  Many of the regular members have other obligations  -  worthy obligations, I should add.  The Gig pays Zero, which is okay.  I understand there will be free food about 5 pm.....probably hotdogs whick is my favorite Christmas Ceremony meal.  No Chili, I am sure.  Bread and meat and Mustard (I pray).  
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We have a couple of high school kids who have been playing with us lately.  They play okay; but, I really don't like kids being there.  I always feel like I have to be on my good behavior when they are around.  .  . set a good example and that sorta trashy thing.   The kids didn't make the practice last night.  Apparently there was confusion.  That happens when you use youngsters (I have never used the word Youngsters before in this setting - makes me feel old).
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I was changing two light bulbs today when it triggered a memory from my childhood.  Things were different then.  Many times when I would go out and play in the dirt - play cars and life - that sorta thing - when I would do this, I'd create a little town with roads.  You take a small stick and drag it broadside through the dirt like a road grader.   Grass yards rarely existed where we lived.   Rocks could be houses.  One year for Christmas my parents bought me a large metal gas station.  It had a parking area on the roof with a hand operated car elevator on the back.  I played with that forever.  
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An aside here.  We were visiting in Edmond, Ok that year - grandmother's house.  I never quite understood how Santa could find us when we traveled, but that gas station was in Edmond for the Santa Surprise bit.  I appreciated it.  It was a great present for me.  You may wonder what changing light bulbs has to do with this.  Or, you many not be wondering at all.  I'll tell you anyway.
One of my car playing toys would be an old light bulb.  Sometimes I would luck into one the size of a flood light.   You put the screw part into the ground, and voila!  you have a water tower for you town.
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Nowadays folks would be concerned with the danger of playing with glass or potential mercury poisoning.  Not back then.  Speaking of mercury poisoning, our father would bring home samples of mercury from the gas plant.  We would play with the mercury for a long time.  Mercury is fascinating to mess with as a kid - maybe as an adult too.  Poison?  nonsense.   Only if you are a tuna do you have this problem.  That is because they eat the mercury instead of just playing with it.  
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I can remember once in the 6th grade - I must have been a strange child - I explained to the entire class how mercury was mined.  I told them that a miner froze mercury in the ground.  Then, the miners could dig it out.  That made perfect sense to me.  Just the previous night, our Pop took us to the gas plant and showed us how they froze mercury with liquid oxygen.  Fascinating experiment (we didn't even wear goggles).  The 6th grade teacher just nodded and thanked me for passing that jewel on to the class.  I never thought this teacher had much compassion for us students.  Now that I look back, maybe she did.
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My 6th grade teacher is the ONLY elementary teacher whose name has stayed with me all these years.  I remember ZERO other teacher's names from elementary grades.  Mrs. Phagley.    It was pronounced  Fay- Glee.  Today students would be all over that name like a duck takes to water.
Let's close this Brain Roaming session for now.  Y'all take care.
I need another Aleve.
mtz