From the usual source*

Town Hall

*Buck's words, not mine

The real Memorial Day

It's another Monday holiday.
But it isn't because we remember.
So I'm just gonna re-post this from May 30, 2015.

Monday was Memorial Day, traditionally we remember fallen members of the Armed Forces.
My Dad (stepdad [for 48 years] - not the guy in the picture the other day) carried the tradition a little further.
He routinely, on May 30 of every year, visited the cemetery and place flowers on the graves of family members.
It wasn't too difficult.
His parents were immigrants and were buried side by side.
His first wife and young daughter are there, too.

That's not what this is about.
I spent the weekend reflecting upon those who passed during the last year.
You could conclude it hit pretty close to home.
Yeah!
In a number of ways.

• In June, a man I'd known since 2006, and felt like I known forever took the final journey. We spent a lot of time together as Lions, but also a true friends. He and his wife helped keep me company when GS had open heart surgery.
• August was another, greater, loss. That story's already been told on the very pages of this blog.
• The Exile in Portales, Buck Pennington, left in December. He and I shared a number of experiences. . .   except for actually ever meeting. We were, you might say, of an age.
• Just before the New Year a Navy buddy, since 1961, passed on. He was almost family, sitting in for me at my parents when I shipped out to Hawaii and he remained in SF.
• In late February a shipmate, who I'd also known since 1961, succumbed to lung cancer after a lengthy battle.
• Finally, another shipmate, though from different ships and different times, who I first met in 2002, finally wore out. The parts just stopped working after 90 years. The mind continued to function to the end. He never ceased to teach and to learn.

You might think I would be sad.
Nope, just reflective   . . .and maybe a little miffed that I didn't have more time with these folks.
I will remember them and any number of others who have gone on before, a daughter, my grandparents, Mom, Dad [both of them], my great grandmother, and a number of other relatives and friends from over the years.
I miss them, some more than others.

c'est la vie

Rembering

Recycling

Because I'm lazy [never claimed to be anything but].
This is from 2009. .

• Gustave Flaubert
  "The whole dream of democracy is to raise the proletarian to the level of stupidity attained by the bourgeois."

It probably loses something in the translation

Note: June 2
.

Friday cat

What we haven't talked about

Numbers . . .
Not just any numbers, but specific numbers.

98 and 77

. . . as in degrees.
That's the difference from Monday to Wednesday, with a 98 in between on Tuesday.
Not gonna get warmer again until Sunday.

no complaints here

Some days are like that

I missed another post.
Yesterday (Saturday, too) went by so fast it entirely slipped my mind.
Saturday was an exciting day.
Three of the four EG grandkids had events.
MB and I made it to two.

Then we couldn't get home because emergency vehicles had taken up enough of the street to make passage impossible.

Fortunately and thankfully none of said vehicles were ambulances, nor were they necessary.

The theory we heard is that one shouldn't charge batteries and leave the house.
The Red Cross has found accommodations for the residents.

Gonna stay busy.
Lots to do here yet and there are still a few trips north to be made in the coming weeks.
I would suppose it would help if a routine were to develop.
On the plus side, it is anything but boring. 

Today

For those who still serve.

Friday cat

My take on current events

A major change occurred since my last drive  up the road to Anderson.
The green foothills to the west of I-5 have become golden.

Here's hoping that human carelessness doesn't bring them into the next stage and fill the air with smoke.
All of the wild grasses, except in the few places where it's been mowed, are much higher than in the past couple of years.

Also, CalTrans has road repair well underway.
My return trip was a good half hour longer than usual because of lane closures.

any others raise blood pressure

Road trip!!!

To another dental visit today.
It took some preparation to even make this trip.
The Li'l Gem [even after 11 years I haven't come up with a permanent name for the Honda] was due for an oil change and tire rotation (maybe even overdue for the tire rotation).
It was definitely overdue for a wash.
(there's a definite advantage to having a vehicle that is about the same color as dust)

This trip is planned a little better than some of the others.
First off, I didn't have to get up a zero dark thirty to be there for a early morning appointment.
Second, there is no second, there was no planning.

live spontaneously

What?

Some time ago [years] I said I was gonna clean up the clutter around here.
Y'all that've been around awhile will recognized how far I have gotten.
It won't be happening any time soon.
MB and I are still in the throes [that word is used advisedly   . . . look it up] of combining, collating, and culling . . .

. . . plus, there's still more to be transported from the old homestead . . .

. . . once we make more space here.

Maybe then there will be time to write more interesting blog posts?

but, I doubt it

Snakes . . . they're everywhere

But if you want to see them you have to go here and here.
My take is they're good for the environment . . .   except maybe in Florida, where I hear they're being overrun with pythons.

the alligators are angry

Another untitled post

Equal time

Dogs are kinda up in arms.
They're not getting enough love on the blog [this blog].
That's not why Reiki is in the picture.

She is a puppy in training for Canine Companions for Independence.
That means she gets to go everywhere her trainer goes.
This week [...and on every other second and fourth Wednesday of the month] she gets to attend a Lions Club meeting.

"Will they ever shut up?"

Sometimes I feel just like her.

dogs are cool

Friday cat

Apologies

I saw the picture in yesterday's post on koobecaf.
What I forgot to do was post the caption.
It was something along the line of . . .

"Just because you can crochet it doesn't mean you should"

 I should have read it as just because you can post it doesn't mean you should.

at least it isn't a political commentary

Wordless Wednesday

because there are no words to describe this

Life on the edge

Happy birthday!

Sebastian at about a year

He does know how to relax.

Well . . . it's about time

There was a proof copy of this photo available online yesterday morning.

screen capture

MB posted it to koobecaf.
Some of you have seen it.

That meant, of course, there was no rush to publish it here.
No rush is a relative term.

source: photos by Antonio Santos

There were lots of questions, both at the event and when the post was made.
The answer is the shoelaces are new this year.

two weeks in a row
are a bit much, though

This space is reserved

I have seen the photo from the march at the banquet.
Now all that's needed is access and permission to use [it is how the guy makes his living after-all].

So I have another issue I will discuss, also having a remote resemblance to reserving space.

I used to complain constantly about Costco in Redding.
Well, not so much about Costco as about the customers and the situation in the parking lot.

I must now say the folks at Redding have it pretty darn good.

Everyone here wants to park at the front door and leave their shopping cart [buggy, trolley, whatever] wherever they empty it.
Seriously, folks will sit in their cars with the engine running while waiting for a space to open.
I doesn't seem to matter to them if anyone else wants to get around them.
I had to move  a cart yesterday to get into a space and then I had to move two to get out when I was finished shopping.

Inside the store is just as frustrating.
The store is much bigger than in Redding and there are larger aisles with a greater merchandise selection.
But folks here seem to have taken on the challenge of blocking aisles just like up north.
(The word oblivious comes to mind)

The capper was when I was walking out of the store with my purchases.
There were a lot of people exiting so there were two folks at the door checking items.
As I moved into the line, the clown behind me ran his cart right into my back.
Then, when I turned around, acted like I was at fault because I didn't run over the lady in front of me.

a world of me-firsters

I'm waiting patiently

There are no pictures of MB and I, yet, from the formal banquet on Saturday evening.
I didn't take any.
MB didn't take any.
The official photographer had camera issues.

He has them.
He just had some technical difficulties.
He was able to download all of his other shots.
Only the photos of the Governors March were affected by the glitch.
Hopefully we shall see them soon.

Someone did get a photo of the two of us relaxing much later in the evening.

 
Actually they were taking a picture of the dog enjoying his "Release!"
We just happened to be mostly in the frame [why yes, I am the only one who had shoe laces to match his vest and tie . . .   and white tennis shoes].
Some folks change clothes almost immediately after the banquet.
Others [she ans I] would rather party socialize than concern themselves about what to wear next.

color coordinated, we are

Little did we know

When yesterday's post went up MB and I were still scrambling to pack for departure before going to breakfast and the convention's final session.
We went to the convention primarily to socialize and have a little fun.

Friday at this convention is all about fun.
The themes of the convention was about motion pictures.
Because the presiding District Governor is of Indian descent, the theme was Bollywood to Hollywood.

Many of the participants went all in with fancy, well thought out costumes.
MB and I hadn't even thought about it.
Friday morning, while dressing to go help set up for the food fair, it occurred to her I had three tie-dye shirts with me [I'm all for casual any time . . .   make that every time].

Anyway, she borrowed the purple one.
I wore the orange.
Then JT, one of the ladies in her club, has headband things with pompoms on them that matched our colors.
The stage was set.
We wore the outfits for the rest of the day.

It was only on a whim we decided to enter the costume contest.
Then we were asked, "What music do you want?"

"HUH?"

 One has to think fast in such circumstances.
So without even thinking, I said, "What's that thing from Song of the South . . .   you know, Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah?"
. . .  and we were announced.

"Aaaagggh!"

The next thing I hear is MB singing "Skipitty Dooh Dah, Skipitty hay. Wonderful feeling, wonderful day..." and we are skipping and dancing down the center of the banquet room.

Yeah, it was fun.
Yeah, I'd do it again.

Fast forward to Sunday again . . .

Who'd-a-thunk has become a regular expression in our lexicon of favorites.