Time for another Pot Pouring (Potpourri)

 Coming to the end of October.  Temperatures have started down.  I've been able to go outside and do some stuff without sweating to death.  Of course, today we have 85% humidity.  What do they say?  It's not the heat, it's the humidity.  How true.

1.)  I bought my wife some gum yesterday at the store.  It's been a while.  She loves gum.  Use to be it was only Double Bubble.  Now it seems to be Extra Spearmint.  She loves gum.  I don't.  I don't like to chew it; I don't like to watch others chew.  My nickname is not Chewy.  

2.)  Now I use to chew gum.  Thought I was cool chewing with my lips apart just a bit.  Tried not to make smacking noises - just look cool.  Over time I evolved into Dentine gum:  tastes good, small pieces.  About 1974 or 75 I was chomping away and bit the inside of my gums just one too many times.  That was it.  I put the gum away and haven't chewed since.  Wish I could remember the exact day and time.  I know all of my readers would relish that bit of info.

3.)  Couple days ago, I was opening the front door to start the day.  Often, we'll leave it open with a dog cushion close so the dogs can watch the traffic - and bark - and be fussed at for barking.  Sadie was resting on her couch excited with the prospect of looking out.  Something fell off the cushion onto the middle of the hallway.   It was a dead rat!  Sadie had been out in the back yard after the big rain - she was soaked - and killed another rat.  Bless her heart.  She had to carry it into the house and gently place it on the cushion.   She didn't argue MUCH when I picked it up by the tail and relocated same in a trash bag.   No blood.  Just a dead rat.

4.)  Why yes, it did rain.  1:24" on Friday  and 1.15 on Saturday.  We've not seen rain in over a month.

5.) I've been spending the last couple of days placing blow-up Halloween things in the front yard.  It tires me out.  The bending and so forth - hard on an old man.  We've got to get ready for Friday night.  I think we have as much as 10 sacks of candy ready.  Never before have I lived in a neighborhood with so many trick or treaters.  Steady stream.  Last year the first show up at 6:15.  We were back inside by 8:30 or so. 8 bags of candy last year.  My daughter doesn't have a brain.  She let some grab a handful - and others she overloaded the child.  I tried to tell her this was not out job - to feed the world.  She doesn't believe.

6.) Had a flashback today.  Watching TV when an adv. came on with little girl jumping rope.  I remarked that I never could jump rope.  That's not entirely true.  If I had the rope in my hand, I'd be okay.  But, get between 2 people twirling it blindly.  Not a prayer.  Jump 2 ropes at the same time?? Ya gotta be kidding.  Not a prayer.

So right now I am gonna admit something else.  I surely hope it doesn't destroy anyone's vision of me as a child.  I could not jump rope.   Playing Jacks was out of the question.  The boys shot marbles.  I'd do that  until they started playing "keepers."  Too cheap, that's me.  Keep my marbles for myself.  Hop scotch was a bit too much as were the monkey bars.  Who can swing around on those things?  Not to mention hanging upside down by your legs.  No way!   Had a PE class where they made us do somersaults and the like.  Somersaults scare me to death.  Cheerleaders do all those twirling around things.  Not for me.  I had a trumpet.  I could do musical gymnastics.  Luckily none of my PE classes had a rope hanging from the the ceiling to climb.  I would have failed PE.

I remember PE in the 7th grade - Levelland jhs...required attendance.  The coach handed out basketballs. We went out back on a paved area with a goal and played horse - daily.  When we weren't playing, we'd sit in the shade and repeat dirty jokes - or at least we thought they were dirty.   Yes, I'd always lose at Horse.  As winter approached - as it does in the Panhandle - we stayed inside.  The coaches thought dodge ball was the game of the future - and they tried to teach rassilin' - not wrestling as is done many places.  There were no rules.  Grab and roll around the floor.  No structure - no results - just killing time.  I wonder why I hated PE?

Didja know that when you play basketball - and you have the ball - that the other team tries to jerk it out of your hand and knock you down?  I learned that in 7th grade.  Whar's my horn?

7.) I'll end with this.  The on-off button on my computer is broken.  Oh, it still works.  But it has fallen down inside the computer.  I have to use a long blade to reach down in computer and turn the machine on.  It's A Miracle.    More later.  I try to write more later.  Things get in the way.  Right now, it is 5 o'clock.  It is dog feeding time.  If you think for one moment that I can put that off, you're wrong.  No proof reading of this missive.  Correct the misprints for yourself.

MMtz

 

OCT. 7TH

 So, I'm practically 85 yrs old.  That makes me born in 1940 before the big war #2.   My parents were born in 1910 - both.  Mom near Kaw City, Oklahoma (now under the Kaw lake) and my father in Temple, Okla.  I suppose both had good young lives.  They never said.  I never asked.  After they were gone, I inherited a big box which included stuff from their senior years in high school - that would have been 1928.   

Apparently, in them thar days, seniors created a scrapbook of their senior year - these were pre-printed scrapbooks to be completed.  Not surprising, my mother did hers beautifully.  What is surprising is that my father completed his too.  I enjoyed reading through them and would never discard.  That makes them nearly 100 years old.  I fear that none of my children, much less my grandchildren,  will be interested in them; and, eventually, they will be discarded in the trash.  A shame really....

My mom's father was the local barber.  How good?  Back in those days, I think they used a bowl to trim hair.  Shaving was extra.  Who knows if he dealt in leaches.  He had an old, used barber chair in his backyard that we could play on.  You could get real dizzy twirling around and around (with help) on the chair.  It's a wonder we never were maimed.   

My father's father worked for the city of Temple, Oklahoma.  I understand he invented something that went into their water system that made everything better.  Water system in the early 1900s - that's a think-it-through.  Anyway, as a reward he received free water for the rest of his life - which was fairly long.  They lived out in the country most of the time by the creek which fed water into Temple.  He ran the equipment.   [I use to think this was spelled  "equiptment" until a fellow teacher in Sudan, TX corrected me one time - forever greatful / grateful / grrrreeeatfully   I  wuz/am. ]

I might mention that my grandfather had a taste for the beer.  He made his own forever and drank it with gusto.  Yes, that would have taken him through the prohibition era.  I have no real proof that he ever sold it...rumors abound.   At least 2 of my uncles on that side enjoyed way too much alcohol.  Always figured it was an inherited trait.  My own father never touched the stuff.  I find that interesting.  Even when my mom would bring some into the house - or - we were visiting other relatives, he never messed with it.  I saw too many drunks in my day. I was always afraid to even taste the booze.  You never crave what you never have had.

More on this subject later.  Today is my father's birthday.  He would have been 115 years old - I think.  He was known to my grandchildren as  Mr. Grandpop.  We were trying to decide on a grandfatherly name back in 1962; &, he proclaimed,  "Mr."  So it was with all of his future grands.  

I ended up being a  "Papa."  The Mister never seemed to work for me.

and to conclude this one-sided conversation conclusively  -- 

Today I ordered my 2026 calendars from Calendars.com.  They have a 30% discount today with the Code  THISISBIG.  I do like to order the calendars early; then, it is over.  Ready for next year.  Not that you asked:   I get a dachshund engagement calendar for the kitchen cabinet - really helps me remember not to forget what I seem to not be able to remember.  Then I get one of those daily, tear-off dachshund calendars.  365 different doxies to smile at.  We use to get an Owl calendar for my wife.  But, things are different now, and owls have slipped back into silence.   I have added a Basset wall calendar for my live-in daughter.  I believe it makes things a bit better around here.   30% off - not a bad deal.

Love ya, later

m