1. This month I plan to reminisce, ramble and toss in some current events. The reader may have to infer what I did this month.
I was walking on the KRT today when a bicyclist approached. “Nick?” she said. It was Mary W., the best principal I know, for me, the school and the students. I haven’t seen her in 10 years. A memory. I was at Homer Lake collecting water samples for a lesson about micro organisms. Some one at school asked where I was. Mary said I was at Homer Lake collecting “orgasms.” Ha ha.
2. Today I answered a question posted in Quora. What does being the only boy in an all-girl school mean? It means it isn’t an all girl school. I worked most of my adult life in a job that was traditionally a “women’s job.” I was an elementary school teacher. My first hurdle to become an elementary teacher was passing a required course in “Music for Elementary Teachers.” I was the only male in the large class.
I was traumatized when Mr. Rose told me in sixth grade that I couldn’t be in mixed choir. He convinced me I couldn’t sing a note- actually I could sing three or four notes, they were just the wrong ones. After a couple of classes, I went to my academic advisor and asked what I could do, because if this was a required course I would have to drop out of school. Since you have read this far you know I did become an elementary teacher. The requirement was waived and I was allowed to take a new arts appreciation class. It was one of the most fun and useful classes I took. One assignment was to write a movie review. I reviewed a new movie, “Dr. Strangelove.”
My second hurdle was P.E. for elementary teachers. All females but me. It wouldn’t have been a problem, but I was married. (Now for 47 blissful years.) I did make it through the class, but it was hard to get through activities like the “caterpillar”. In the caterpillar the class made rows. You sat on the floor with your legs around the person in front of you and your arms on their shoulders. At “go” your caterpillar would oscillate the length of the gym in a race against the other caterpillars. If I was at the front of the line it wouldn’t have been so embarrassing. Oh my, can you picture that? I never used the activity.
Anyway, if you are single and interested in females enjoy your time there.
3. Today Georgia, Earl and I walked the Kickapoo Rail Trail today. I was reminder of walking along the trail with the girls when there was still a rail road tracks. We collected a small box full of trilobites, bivalves, crinoid columns, corals and one nice Petoskey Stone (a type of coral).
4. I went grocery store shopping today. I remember going to Sager’s grocery store in the fifties. It was a small corner store with a meat department and penny candy. There were lots of these kind of stores then. There was a flight of stairs going down in the back of the store. Dark and concrete. I always wanted to sneak down those dark steps but I was afraid of what might be down there.
5. I was making two toy jails today. One for Phoenix and one for LJ. They want a place to put their little action figures when the figures are bad. I remember when Dad made stilts for us. Big, bigger, and biggest. I got the big pair. We walked many a block on them. We thought we were cool and we were.
6.Today I made no-bake Reese’s peanut butter bars, a second jail, and chili. I remember South School chili with half a peanut butter sandwich was my favorite school lunch. When I taught at Sidney Grade School my favorite lunch was Mac and cheese, a cinnamon roll, apple sauce, and white milk on a yellow tray.
PS: Aunt Helen also made a great bowl of chili which I have never been able to recreate.
PPS: I thought this month I would post no pictures. I’ve changed my mind. I will add some at the end of the monthly blog. If interested, you can decide where they go.
7. Seventh day…I didn’t do anything today and I don’t remember anything. Now would be a good time to relax with a snack.
8. I just got back from a walk on the KRT. There were several people on the trail, all keeping their social distance. Two, yes TWO separate people on bicycles called out my name as they wizzes by. I have no idea who they were and I wouldn’t recognize them if I saw them again. I do have a clue though, one called me Nick and the other called me Mr. D. I remember in the fall of 1971 I was walking out of Murphy’s Bar. As I neared the door, the bartender said to me, wait they’re playing Peace Train. I stopped and listened. When it was over we smiled at each other and I left. I didn’t recognize the bartender and if I saw the bartender again I’m sure I wouldn’t recognize her.
9.OMG 9. Was due yesterday. Well, I guess it is too late now. That one snuck up on me and flew by too quickly. I remember this happened far too often in high school. I’d miss the due date then I’d miss the extended due date.
10. We had our third Zoom family reunion today. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but using Zoom during COVID-19 is pretty close. Our last family reunion was at Kate and Jim’s near Carbondale. We chose that date because it was during the great total eclipse. It was a wonderful weekend, but I miss my siblings.
11. It’s time to mow the lawn. I picked up sticks. The mower started right up, but threw a belt after a couple of minutes. I’m reminded of the time I was mowing the yard at the Cottage and Annex. I stopped to refill the mower and continued. The next time Dad went to mow he couldn’t start the mower. Dad was good at repairs and soon solved the problem. I had filled the tank with kerosine. It kept running for me because the engine was still very hot. When it cooled it wouldn’t start. As usual, other that asking me if I had used “that” can, Dad didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was... irritated?
12. Is it common for squirrels to attack rabbits? A rabbit was eating fallen birdseed. The squirrel saw the rabbit, chattered, ran toward it and into it then quickly ran away. The rabbit seemed surprised but didn’t run away. The squirrel ran up the tree the rabbit was under and dropped on the rabbit and ran away again. The rabbit moved under the red coffee can feeder. The squirrel went back up the tree, jumped to the feeder and hung by its back toes until it was above the rabbit and dropped on it again and ran back up the tree. Again the rabbit was more interested in eating the fallen seed than it was in the squirrel. And that was that. It didn’t remind me of anything, but I thought it was interesting.
14. “Everything and nothing to say.”
15. I control this journal, it doesn’t control me- well, as much as I control anything, which is likely nothing.
16. I was looking through old pictures today and one of the pictures reminded me of a conversation with Phoenix. I was babysitting. I thought Phoenix was in his room when I heard a knock at the front door. It was Phoenix. He had climbed out his window and wanted to tell me he was going to run away, but I didn’t need to worry because he was just going to hide in the garden.
17. Ants
Chapter 1. This is a really funny story. Your mom/grandma left a small bowl of trail mix in the dinning room, left over from from BINGO last night.
Chapter 2. Today(just now) I was in the dining room looking at the prizes won last night, thinking about how I could best pack them to mail.
Chapter 3. I turned the light off and went around the table and picked up the bowl of trail mix and took a couple of bites as I walked to the kitchen door.
To be continued...
Chapter 4. I walked in the kitchen. The light was on and shone brightly into the bowl. It was crawling with little black ants. They were pretty good.
Epilogue: I don’t know how many ants I ate. Each piece of trail mix had a swam of ants on them. They tasted fine- just like trail mix, but I must admit I did run the remainder down the garbage disposal.
The End
18. Teaser for “The Walk”
Chapter 1
I was walking with Earl on the KRT this morning. The sun was shining brightly. A flash of white caught my eye. I looked down and saw a beautiful bleached seashell or snail shell in the gravel.
Which reminds me of the rice with eyes.
19. I made an elephant ring toss for the boys. I recall the many games I made for the Sidney carnival, a big spinner, a putting game, a pinball shoot among others.
20. After lunch I was ready to go out a new belt on the mower, but first I needed to take a little nap. Tomorrow I plan to put a new belt on the mower. (Recalled “procrastinate” from an earlier post.)
21. I called the mower repair guy but he is backed up for a couple of days. I hope he is feeling better soon. Anyway, I fixed the mower. I plan to mow soon.
22. I mowed!
23. We played Zoom Bingo today. It reminded me of playing Zoom Bingo last week.
24. I couldn’t stand it any more. Georgia and I had to go visit the grandkids and our daughters. They are all as sweet and wonderful as I remember. They were so cute I thought they must be monkeys.
25. More rain, can’t complain.
26. Suzanne and Emma went on a walk with us on the KRT. I took pictures for Master Naturalist publicity committee.
27. Sarah brought us lasagna and lemonade.
28. Walked Earl. Painted a dandelion sign. Washed and changed the sheets.
29. Rain, let Earl out, let Earl in, take Earl to the vet for routine shots, take Earl to the groomer, pick up Earl, walk Earl in the rain. Let Earl out, let Earl in, seal a wooden yard sign, let Earl out, let Earl in. Said hello to Pete Abbe on FaceBook- memory Rob Blank & Dave Bartlett: RIP
30. Decorated our May Pole and sent a picture to the TV station. Tonight is BINGO night. Another useless activity. I remember Aunt Helen playing bingo in her retirement home. Prizes would include little handmade items, a quarter or a banana. She would save everything but the banana for the girls. Here is something from my notes: A friend wanted to give her mother, an Alzheimer patient, a set of silverware and ask her to sort it and roll it in a napkin so her mother would have something familiar and seemingly useful to do. The friend planned to thank her mom and then take the silverware, unroll it, mix it up and do it all again the next day. I don’t know how that turned out. I feel like I’m doing the same thing. Repeating useless and repetitive tasks every day and pretending the tasks are useful. I’ve been working on signs and wire bending everyday. I’m thinking about doing something different. I’m going to straighten all the wire I bent and use it for something useful. Same for the signs, repaint them and do something useful with the wood.
I was walking on the KRT today when a bicyclist approached. “Nick?” she said. It was Mary W., the best principal I know, for me, the school and the students. I haven’t seen her in 10 years. A memory. I was at Homer Lake collecting water samples for a lesson about micro organisms. Some one at school asked where I was. Mary said I was at Homer Lake collecting “orgasms.” Ha ha.
2. Today I answered a question posted in Quora. What does being the only boy in an all-girl school mean? It means it isn’t an all girl school. I worked most of my adult life in a job that was traditionally a “women’s job.” I was an elementary school teacher. My first hurdle to become an elementary teacher was passing a required course in “Music for Elementary Teachers.” I was the only male in the large class.
I was traumatized when Mr. Rose told me in sixth grade that I couldn’t be in mixed choir. He convinced me I couldn’t sing a note- actually I could sing three or four notes, they were just the wrong ones. After a couple of classes, I went to my academic advisor and asked what I could do, because if this was a required course I would have to drop out of school. Since you have read this far you know I did become an elementary teacher. The requirement was waived and I was allowed to take a new arts appreciation class. It was one of the most fun and useful classes I took. One assignment was to write a movie review. I reviewed a new movie, “Dr. Strangelove.”
My second hurdle was P.E. for elementary teachers. All females but me. It wouldn’t have been a problem, but I was married. (Now for 47 blissful years.) I did make it through the class, but it was hard to get through activities like the “caterpillar”. In the caterpillar the class made rows. You sat on the floor with your legs around the person in front of you and your arms on their shoulders. At “go” your caterpillar would oscillate the length of the gym in a race against the other caterpillars. If I was at the front of the line it wouldn’t have been so embarrassing. Oh my, can you picture that? I never used the activity.
Anyway, if you are single and interested in females enjoy your time there.
3. Today Georgia, Earl and I walked the Kickapoo Rail Trail today. I was reminder of walking along the trail with the girls when there was still a rail road tracks. We collected a small box full of trilobites, bivalves, crinoid columns, corals and one nice Petoskey Stone (a type of coral).
4. I went grocery store shopping today. I remember going to Sager’s grocery store in the fifties. It was a small corner store with a meat department and penny candy. There were lots of these kind of stores then. There was a flight of stairs going down in the back of the store. Dark and concrete. I always wanted to sneak down those dark steps but I was afraid of what might be down there.
5. I was making two toy jails today. One for Phoenix and one for LJ. They want a place to put their little action figures when the figures are bad. I remember when Dad made stilts for us. Big, bigger, and biggest. I got the big pair. We walked many a block on them. We thought we were cool and we were.
6.Today I made no-bake Reese’s peanut butter bars, a second jail, and chili. I remember South School chili with half a peanut butter sandwich was my favorite school lunch. When I taught at Sidney Grade School my favorite lunch was Mac and cheese, a cinnamon roll, apple sauce, and white milk on a yellow tray.
PS: Aunt Helen also made a great bowl of chili which I have never been able to recreate.
PPS: I thought this month I would post no pictures. I’ve changed my mind. I will add some at the end of the monthly blog. If interested, you can decide where they go.
7. Seventh day…I didn’t do anything today and I don’t remember anything. Now would be a good time to relax with a snack.
8. I just got back from a walk on the KRT. There were several people on the trail, all keeping their social distance. Two, yes TWO separate people on bicycles called out my name as they wizzes by. I have no idea who they were and I wouldn’t recognize them if I saw them again. I do have a clue though, one called me Nick and the other called me Mr. D. I remember in the fall of 1971 I was walking out of Murphy’s Bar. As I neared the door, the bartender said to me, wait they’re playing Peace Train. I stopped and listened. When it was over we smiled at each other and I left. I didn’t recognize the bartender and if I saw the bartender again I’m sure I wouldn’t recognize her.
9.OMG 9. Was due yesterday. Well, I guess it is too late now. That one snuck up on me and flew by too quickly. I remember this happened far too often in high school. I’d miss the due date then I’d miss the extended due date.
10. We had our third Zoom family reunion today. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but using Zoom during COVID-19 is pretty close. Our last family reunion was at Kate and Jim’s near Carbondale. We chose that date because it was during the great total eclipse. It was a wonderful weekend, but I miss my siblings.
11. It’s time to mow the lawn. I picked up sticks. The mower started right up, but threw a belt after a couple of minutes. I’m reminded of the time I was mowing the yard at the Cottage and Annex. I stopped to refill the mower and continued. The next time Dad went to mow he couldn’t start the mower. Dad was good at repairs and soon solved the problem. I had filled the tank with kerosine. It kept running for me because the engine was still very hot. When it cooled it wouldn’t start. As usual, other that asking me if I had used “that” can, Dad didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was... irritated?
12. Is it common for squirrels to attack rabbits? A rabbit was eating fallen birdseed. The squirrel saw the rabbit, chattered, ran toward it and into it then quickly ran away. The rabbit seemed surprised but didn’t run away. The squirrel ran up the tree the rabbit was under and dropped on the rabbit and ran away again. The rabbit moved under the red coffee can feeder. The squirrel went back up the tree, jumped to the feeder and hung by its back toes until it was above the rabbit and dropped on it again and ran back up the tree. Again the rabbit was more interested in eating the fallen seed than it was in the squirrel. And that was that. It didn’t remind me of anything, but I thought it was interesting.
14. “Everything and nothing to say.”
15. I control this journal, it doesn’t control me- well, as much as I control anything, which is likely nothing.
16. I was looking through old pictures today and one of the pictures reminded me of a conversation with Phoenix. I was babysitting. I thought Phoenix was in his room when I heard a knock at the front door. It was Phoenix. He had climbed out his window and wanted to tell me he was going to run away, but I didn’t need to worry because he was just going to hide in the garden.
17. Ants
Chapter 1. This is a really funny story. Your mom/grandma left a small bowl of trail mix in the dinning room, left over from from BINGO last night.
Chapter 2. Today(just now) I was in the dining room looking at the prizes won last night, thinking about how I could best pack them to mail.
Chapter 3. I turned the light off and went around the table and picked up the bowl of trail mix and took a couple of bites as I walked to the kitchen door.
To be continued...
Chapter 4. I walked in the kitchen. The light was on and shone brightly into the bowl. It was crawling with little black ants. They were pretty good.
Epilogue: I don’t know how many ants I ate. Each piece of trail mix had a swam of ants on them. They tasted fine- just like trail mix, but I must admit I did run the remainder down the garbage disposal.
The End
18. Teaser for “The Walk”
Chapter 1
I was walking with Earl on the KRT this morning. The sun was shining brightly. A flash of white caught my eye. I looked down and saw a beautiful bleached seashell or snail shell in the gravel.
Which reminds me of the rice with eyes.
19. I made an elephant ring toss for the boys. I recall the many games I made for the Sidney carnival, a big spinner, a putting game, a pinball shoot among others.
20. After lunch I was ready to go out a new belt on the mower, but first I needed to take a little nap. Tomorrow I plan to put a new belt on the mower. (Recalled “procrastinate” from an earlier post.)
21. I called the mower repair guy but he is backed up for a couple of days. I hope he is feeling better soon. Anyway, I fixed the mower. I plan to mow soon.
22. I mowed!
23. We played Zoom Bingo today. It reminded me of playing Zoom Bingo last week.
24. I couldn’t stand it any more. Georgia and I had to go visit the grandkids and our daughters. They are all as sweet and wonderful as I remember. They were so cute I thought they must be monkeys.
25. More rain, can’t complain.
26. Suzanne and Emma went on a walk with us on the KRT. I took pictures for Master Naturalist publicity committee.
27. Sarah brought us lasagna and lemonade.
28. Walked Earl. Painted a dandelion sign. Washed and changed the sheets.
29. Rain, let Earl out, let Earl in, take Earl to the vet for routine shots, take Earl to the groomer, pick up Earl, walk Earl in the rain. Let Earl out, let Earl in, seal a wooden yard sign, let Earl out, let Earl in. Said hello to Pete Abbe on FaceBook- memory Rob Blank & Dave Bartlett: RIP
30. Decorated our May Pole and sent a picture to the TV station. Tonight is BINGO night. Another useless activity. I remember Aunt Helen playing bingo in her retirement home. Prizes would include little handmade items, a quarter or a banana. She would save everything but the banana for the girls. Here is something from my notes: A friend wanted to give her mother, an Alzheimer patient, a set of silverware and ask her to sort it and roll it in a napkin so her mother would have something familiar and seemingly useful to do. The friend planned to thank her mom and then take the silverware, unroll it, mix it up and do it all again the next day. I don’t know how that turned out. I feel like I’m doing the same thing. Repeating useless and repetitive tasks every day and pretending the tasks are useful. I’ve been working on signs and wire bending everyday. I’m thinking about doing something different. I’m going to straighten all the wire I bent and use it for something useful. Same for the signs, repaint them and do something useful with the wood.