so delicious...

 My brother who lives on the west coast and I text each other every day.  Since there is a three hour time difference I usually receive his tests between noon and 1:00pm my time.  

I read his message after I got home from church and learned that today is "Eat Outside Day."  That worked out really well for me because I had decided to suggest to my spouse that we go out for an early dinner this afternoon.  We have been so good lately, eating healthy food like corn on the cob, fresh green beans, and, for me, cantaloupe and tomatoes, that I thought we deserved a decadent treat.  It seemed to me that eating at a restaurant counts as eating outside.  It was definitely outside our house.  He did not take much persuading.

My spouse was as ready as I was to eat someone else's cooking and so we went to Ziano's, a wonderful Italian restaurant where we enjoyed their excellent house salad and ricotta cheese stuffed pasta shells generously topped with their homemade garlic alfredo sauce.  It does not say on their menu how many calories are in this delightful dish, and honestly I really don't care.  Every once in a while you just have to walk on the wild side. 

Tomorrow evening we will have the few stuffed shells we brought home with us (two and a half each) with green beans leftover from the big batch we cooked two nights ago, easing ourselves back into healthy eating.  It's not good to rush into these things.

Yummy!

Today, once again according to my west coast brother who knows all, is "International Bacon Day" and also "National Toasted Marshmallow Day."  I'm not aware of any recipes that combine bacon and marshmallows but it wouldn't surprise me if there are some. 

Bacon is one of the most flexible foods I know of, pun intended.  It is an excellent accompaniment to scrambled eggs or pancakes or waffles or omelets.  At my grandson's recent wedding we had bacon wrapped dates as part of the buffet supper.  They were delicious. 

Yesterday evening my spouse and I had fresh green beans for supper.  We like to take advantage of fresh local produce when we can.  We cooked them with chopped onions, a chopped spicy yellow pepper, garlic salt and, of course, bacon bits.  So good.  I also love a good bacon, tomato and mayo sandwich (no lettuce).  One of our favorite local diners, Klemm's Candlelight Cafe, serves amazing bacon cheese burgers. I get mine with tomato and mayo, again no lettuce. 

Happily Klemm's closes at 2:00pm so I'm not tempted to make a late night run there.  But if I keep mentioning them I bet my spouse, who reads my blog, will take me there someday this coming week, for lunch - the aforementioned burger or brunch - a bacon and cheese omelet. Either way it's a win-win.

Just out of curiosity I Googled bacon marshmallow recipes.  Here's what I found: bacon wrapped marshmallows.  That's it.  I think I'll keep my bacon and marshmallows separate, thank you. Humm, hot chocolate with marshmallows might make a sweet bedtime snack. Good night.

Are we having fun yet?

 I and several of my friends and my spouse like to play computer/phone games published by the New York Times every day. 

We compare results on Wordle and Connections and I usually am competitive with everyone else.  So that's ok.  I do enjoy the games. They are part of my morning routine.  I used to enjoy doing the Mini crossword puzzle but they have recently put a lock on that, at least for us, and we will need to subscribe to play that any more.  We shall see.

On the other hand, NYT has introduced a new game called Pips. I thought I would really like this game because I enjoy Mexican Train and other domino games and the pieces in Pips look like little dominos. The goal of the game is to arrange several pieces on a grid provided in such a way as to satisfy established guidelines.  For example you may put a double five in place if two adjacent spaces are supposed to add up to10.  There are three levels that you can play every day Easy, Medium, and Hard, and each level is timed.  

My wonder spouse is doing very well at this game. I claim it's because he spent so much of his early career designing circuit boards.  Very occasionally I have bested him at the easy and medium levels, but never at the hard level.  He can usually solve the hard level in about 3 minutes while it takes my up to 25.  But I am stubborn, if not speedy and do eventually solve the puzzle.  And yes, I admit it, sometimes I turn to my wonder spouse for a little hint. 

I may be stubborn and proud but there comes a time when you just have to get on with life. 

not sure about this...

 Today, according to my west coast brother is "Crackers Over the Keyboard Day."  I'm not at all sure that this is something to be celebrated.  I do have a little compressed air gadget that I can use to blow dust off my laptop as needed but I never eat while I'm working on my computer.  I sometimes drink coffee or water but I keep it at a safe distance at the other end of my desk.

When my family was young fifty years ago and my first husband started bringing home towers and keyboards and screens in all manner if configurations and, eventually, laptops, it was a family rule "No eating at the computer!" I guess that early training has stuck with me.

It isn't only food though that can deposit debris on a keyboard.  I had a cat who assumed it was her right to stretch out on the keyboard whenever I started to type.  She left generous amounts of cat hair.  These days I don't have any pets so my laptop stays cleaner.  One of my friends has a cat with the same attitude as mine.  I know this because when we are attending Zoom meetings together her cat strolls across her keyboard at frequent intervals.  When he's walking and swishing his tail he pretty much covers the whole screen and is never in a rush to move on.

When cats behave like this they remind me of toddlers who demand attention whenever their parent is on the phone.  But I wonder if that's still true.  When my children were toddlers, fifty years ago the telephone was attached to the wall and infrequently used.  Now people seem to be on their phones one way or another so much of the time that toddlers may just think they're still getting plenty of attention.  Of course they may be so busy on their own phones or tablets that they don't even notice what mom or dad are doing. 

I'm just observing, not judging. 

one two three...

 Earlier today my west coast brother informed me that today is "Kiss Me Day."  My spouse and I immediately started celebrating. It's also "World Rock Paper Scissors Day."

I'm sure you're all familiar with this process for making decisions (or gambling?).  It's a great one to teach to squabbling siblings. Make a fist and shake it up and down three times, then extend your hand in one of three ways: flat for paper, fist closed for rock, two fingers extended in a horizontal V for scissors.  Rock breaks scissors, scissors cut paper, paper covers rock.  

Thinking about this game got me to wondering how old it is and where it came from.  Was it first papyrus, rock, dagger, or even older animal skin, spear, rock?  We know rocks have been around for a long long time.  Obviously I had to look this up.

As far as anyone has traced it back, the game originated in China as the hand game shoushiling during the Han Dynasty 206bc to 220ad. A venerable game indeed.  It eventually spread to Japan but didn't reach the US until the early 20th century.  

So now you know.  Go ahead, give it a try. 

new tricks???

 There is an old saying "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."  And I think it may be so, at least in my case.  

I and my spouse and some of my friends enjoy playing several of the New York Times free games on our phones.  We compare notes every day on 'Wordle' and 'Connections.'  

Some of us also do 'The Mini' and 'Strands.'  My spouse and I have a friendly competition on these and we're pretty evenly matched, although he does usually beat me on 'The Mini.'  I recommend all of these games.

Total game time per day is under ten minutes each lest you think we are frittering our whole day away playing brain games.

But now we have another game to play.  NYT has added 'Pips' to its game list.  It's an innocent looking little game played with domino shaped pieces which you need to slide into the correct spaces to fulfill the requirements of each game.  Each day you can progress from the easy to the medium to the hard levels.  

So far my wonder spouse has been zipping through all of the levels in about two minutes each.  I claim it's because of his EE background and all those circuit board layouts he used to work on.  

I on the other hand have a background in selling real estate, not at all the same thing.  But I shall persevere.  One of these days I'll get my total time for the three games under thirty minutes.  

not to brag.....

 I had my annual physical checkup today.  My spouse went with me because he likes my doctor and likes to hear first hand how I'm doing.  I haven't had any health issues this year so I wasn't anticipating any problems and, hooray, there weren't any.  My heart rate, blood pressure, BMI, and various other numbers all good, good, good!

The sweet young thing who asked all the preliminary questions kept saying that I sure don't look 80.  Wisely I think, I did not ask her how old she did think I looked.  I just smiled and said thank you.  Ever since one of the little boys I tutored told me that I looked "about a hundred" I do not ask that question. I was seventy at that time. 

We told my doctor that we are going to Egypt in November and he was very envious.  When we asked what vaccinations we might need he said that as long as we weren't camping out in the wild the RSV and flu shots should be sufficient.  We assured him that we will be staying in a five-star hotel and on a Viking cruise ship which made him even more envious.  

Thus reassured, his only additional advice was DO NOT eat any food from street vendors.  We had already figured that one out and told him so.  If I get a good picture of me on a camel I will send it to him.

last blog about the wedding...

 After a day of R&R (rest and reflection) I decided that there are a few more things I want to say about the wedding.  Indulge me, it may be a long time until the next one.

First, it was held at Emanuel Lutheran Church here in Fort Wayne.  It is a beautiful historic church, that has been lovingly and tastefully refurbished over the last few years.  More importantly, it is the bride's home church and has been her family's church for four generations. I learned that in conversation with the bride's grandmother. The minister conducted a very moving ceremony and obviously knew and liked the bride and groom. I think that makes such a difference.  It was a small families and close friends only wedding, about 35 people altogether.

After the wedding was over many pictures were taken.  It was a perfect day for outside pictures.  

Then we all headed to Biaggi's for the reception.  My wonder spouse and I paid for the reception as our gift.  The bride and her mother-in-law (my daughter) selected the menu, a nice buffet.  The bride's grandmother provided lovely bouquets for each of the tables as well as the flowers in the church and the bride's bouquet. It was all quite festive, but not over done.  

In fact, it was so 'underdone' that when it came time for us to pay the tab we were told that there was a problem. The private room we had reserved came with a $2,000 price tag (including food and drinks).  Toward the end of the evening our tab was only $1,400.  So I stood up, explained the problem to our guests, and told them that they could help by each taking home two bottles of wine.  They cheerfully agreed.  

I hope that, as they drink their wine at home over the next weeks, they will drink a toast to the newly weds.  Or better yet, say a prayer for their long and happy life together.  

 Obviously I couldn't take pictures during the ceremony, but I did get this shot of the interior of the church.  I'm sure you will agree that it was a lovely setting for the wedding ceremony.

It's official...

The reception at Biaggi's was our treat.

A gift we did not have to wrap.

Happy bride and groom.

The cake finally showed up half way through the reception.

 The vows were said, the rings exchanged and my grandson is a married man. The church was beautiful but I couldn't take pictures during the ceremony obviously.  We are all so happy about this wedding. 

wedding bells...

 My oldest grandchild, my only grandson, is getting married tomorrow and I am very pleased.  I'm also very relaxed.  Being the grandma of the groom is a piece of cake.  My wonder spouse and I are paying for the reception so there's not even a gift to wrap.  It's a small wedding so it won't break the bank.

Some years ago I was mother of the bride at my daughter's first wedding.  That involved a rather lavish church wedding, wedding dress, mother of the bride dress, bridesmaids' dresses, flowers, tuxedoes, sit down dinner reception, limousine, bubbles and so much more that needed to be coordinated.  It was not at all relaxing for me.

When my son got married the first time, we were living in Fort Wayne but the wedding took place in Huntsville, AL, the bride's home.  This was two months after my daughter's wedding.  On the plus side, since very few people there had seen it, my mother of the bride dress became my mother of the groom dress. We paid for the rehearsal dinner but otherwise had little to do at that wedding except show up.  The old adage - the mother of the groom should shut up and wear beige was almost fulfilled.  My dress was burgundy but otherwise....

So this evening, as I said, I am feeling very relaxed.  My spouse and I will go to this wedding tomorrow as spectators.  I love our soon to be granddaughter-in-law very much, and I hope everything goes very smoothly at the ceremony, but if there are glitches, it's not my problem.  I am going to enjoy this wedding.

celebrating the day

 Today, according to my west coast brother, is "National Senior Citizens Day."  My wonder spouse and I are definitely qualified to celebrate today and we have done so in true senior style.

First, this morning, I put fresh ground beans in our coffee maker, made sure there was water in it, and turned it on, as one of us does every morning. I probably should preface this by saying that this coffee maker, brought over from my apartment when we merged households, is at least 15 years old.  When I flipped the switch the green light came on as usual, but after a little while I realized that nothing else was happening.  No happy gurgling noises, no drip, drip, drip into the carafe, just stubborn silence.  

I presented the problem to my spouse when he came into the kitchen.  After checking the plug and flipping the switch a couple of times, he agreed with me that it was dead.  

But, since we both really like our morning coffee, he dug deep into the shelves of the pantry and unearthed his old coffee maker, very similar in style to mine.  After running some clear water through it to make sure it was working, he proceeded to make a good pot of coffee.  Of course, being an EE and loving a challenge, he decided, after breakfast, to see if he could fix my old coffee maker.  

Alas he was defeated in this attempt by one screw hole in the base of the appliance that did not have a typical screw in it.  None of his screwdrivers (and he has many) would work.  He then decided, wisely I think, that it made no sense to shop on line or in person for this very unique screwdriver, on the chance he might be able to fix the coffee maker.  So we just threw Mr. Coffee away.  Our children should be proud of us.  We didn't just put it on a shelf in the basement (would we ever do that?) we actually threw it away.

But that wasn't the end of our celebration of Senior Citizens Day.  In the afternoon we met with an agent at AAA to finalize plans for travel insurance for our May 2026 trip to Tokyo.  Now that's the way to celebrate being a Senior Citizen. Happily, they have very good coffee on Viking ships. 

more about food....

 My west coast brother informed me that today is 'National Bacon Lovers Day,' 'National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day,' 'National Hawaiian Pizza Day' and "National Lemonade Day.'  

I think that all sounds absolutely delicious but we didn't eat any of it. Instead we had corn on the cob from our favorite Amish market.  It was as delicious as anything listed above.  

We have learned a new way to cook (and not over cook) the corn from a lady who works at the market.  It has been working really well for us so I have decided to share her recipe.  

    Bring a large pan of water to a full rolling boil while shucking the     ears of corn.

    Put the corn in the water and cook it until the water returns to a        full rolling boil.  Then turn off the heat, lift the ears out of the             water with some good long-handled tongs and serve.  

    Apply lots of butter, salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy.  There is        no polite, elegant way to eat corn on the cob so don't watch each        other.  Just focus on your own plate.

    Don't forget to floss your teeth before you go to bed.  

I added that last line because that's what I'm going to do right now.  Good night everyone.

new beginnings....

This is the time of year that is traditionally full of back to school and other new beginnings, and it occurs to me that life within our family is no exception:

My spouse and I have just made a deposit on another cruise, details to follow as we get closer to the time.

My newly retired west coast brother spent today learning about the wonders of Medicare and supplemental insurance.

My son tells me he's going to have a new office at work as soon as they finish building it.

My daughter-in-law is starting another year of teaching high school French and Sociology.  

One of our grandsons is going off to his first year of college.

Another grandson is getting married this Saturday.  We will be meeting a lot of new in-laws.

His soon-to-be wife is expecting our first great grandchild.

Our youngest granddaughter is starting third grade, not one of the 'little kids' any more.

Yet another grandson will be getting his driver's license soon.

We're getting new carpet in the guest bedroom (that's only exciting to us).

School buses are back on the streets.

Wonderful sweet corn and huge locally grown cantaloupes were available at the Amish market today.  Delicious and good for us.

Isn't this a fine time of year?  It makes me smile just thinking about it all.  

Surprise!!

 Today, according to my west coast brother, is "Serendipity Day" which is ironic because when my west coast brother was born (he's ten years younger than I am) my mother called him her Serendipity (unexpected pleasure) baby.  She was 45 when he was born and certainly not expecting another child. In fact, not to be indelicate, she thought she was starting menopause and was pleased that she wasn't having hot flashes.  She decided that she probably should see her doctor to be sure everything was ok.  Surprise, surprise, surprise!!

That summer was actually full of surprises. Not all good.  About two weeks before my west coast brother was born my other brother, who was eight years old, fell off the merry-go-round (one of the old fashioned pump kind) in the park across from my Aunt Dorie's house, and broke his elbow.  The doctor who set it said fixing his elbow was like trying to balance marbles on a golf ball. He spent most of that long hot summer in a cast that wrapped around his upper body and kept his arm bent and elevated out in front of him.  It was a hot itchy summer for him.

I remember the day my west coast brother was born.  We were staying with my Aunt Dorie, playing outside with our cousin, when Aunt Dorie called out "Tommy Joe is here."  We thought she said "Tom and Joe are here." and some friends had come to play.

The rest of the summer was a bit of a blur.  I did learn to fold diapers, lots and lots of diapers.  Thankfully I only had to deal with the clean ones.

I am pleased to say that my west coast brother has turned out to be a real pleasure in so many ways.  Including these texts he sends me every day.  Happy Serendipity Day baby brother.

Revival...

 This morning my church, First Presbyterian in Fort Wayne if your interested, held our annual Church in the Park service at 11:00am followed by a carry-in lunch.  

Not to brag, but my fabulous fruit salad had completely disappeared before I got that far in the buffet line.  But that's not what I'm writing about this evening.  I want to focus on the sheer joy of the worship service itself.  

I have never been to a Tent Revival but that's what it made me think of. My father had told me about what tent revivals were like when he was a child.  Today we were not in a tent but in a covered pavilion in the park with open sides so it felt tent-like to me.  Happily there were ceiling fans which kept the temperature much more comfortable than it would have been in a tent on this very hot day.  While we did not have the traditional 'altar call' we did have everyone who was headed back to school come forward for the 'blessing of the backpacks.'

Adding to the joyous feeling of the worship experience was the excellent music provided by a jazz group including drums, keyboard, sax, trumpet and bass.  They were wonderful and the music was all familiar, at least to people of my age.  The prelude included "Blessed Assurance" and "Be Thou My Vision" and during the service we sang "Amazing Grace," "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing," "Precious Lord Take My Hand" and "Just a Closer Walk with Thee."  The title of the sermon, movingly delivered by our Korean Language minister was "Faith over Fear."

People were laughing and clapping during the service and the joy certainly spilled over into the lunch time.  

At heart I am a traditionalist, very comfortable worshiping in our sanctuary, so I am not suggesting that I would want to worship in a park every Sunday.  Except for the joyousness of course, that I can take on a regular basis.

heart throb...

 My west coast brother informed me that today is "True Love Forever Day."  When I first read that I thought "Oh, how nice.  I have had two true loves in my life."  But then I got to thinking and realized that true love goes way beyond romantic love, even if that love grows into a life-long relationship.  In fact it's that life-long love that may lead you to all the future great loves in your life.  

When my first child was born I remember thinking immediately that I loved him, but about two weeks later I was rocking him to sleep and this huge wave of love rolled over me.  I thought I had loved him before, but didn't really appreciate the depth of that love until the incident two weeks later.  

When my second child was born, I think the love came faster.  I don't remember an epiphany moment.  Perhaps the more you love, the easier it becomes.  It certainly becomes easier to spread it around.

Now I'm at a point in my life where I have two children, two children-in-law, four grandchildren and two almost grand-children-in-law and I love them all.

But I've been married to my second "true love" my wonder spouse a little over a year and a half now, and in that time I've grown to love his children and children-in-law and grand children also.  And yes, I really mean love, not just like. This spreading love is a wonderful thing.

And it's not just limited to families.  My mother was an excellent elementary school teacher.  I still have people tell me that she was their favorite teacher ever.  I asked her once what made her such a good teacher.  Her reply "I find something to love about every student."

So learn from her, find your opportunities and spread the love.  

yawn...

 There are lots of descriptions boredom.  I know you've heard some of them:  "That's as exciting as watching grass grow." (Although my son would tell you that he thinks it grows much too fast.)

Or "The big excitement in our little town is watching the only traffic light change colors."  Or watching paint dry or corn grow or timing ants as they walk along a sidewalk.  You get the idea.

Can you tell I grew up in the country where the nearest town didn't have any traffic lights at all?  But now I live in the second largest city in Indiana and I thought the quietness and boredom were behind me.

Until today that is.  This morning my wonder spouse woke up and  announced that it was time to drain, clean and refill our pool.  It seems that it hadn't been done for over five years.  This isn't as yucky as it sounds, it's an indoor pool and has always looked perfectly clear and clean to me.  

He had portable pumps to help with the draining (our dry grass is a little greener now) and with no water in the pool the cleaning was relatively easy.  My wonder spouse did the pool cleaning while I did laundry and went to the grocery store.  It kept me out of his way. 

Then came the filling.  It started about 2:00pm.  It's 9:50pm now and the filling is still going on.  Slowly, slowly the water level in the pool is rising.  It is like watching paint dry or ants crawl.  Fortunately, we don't need to watch it every minute, but it does need frequent checking. 

I think my spouse is hoping it will get deep enough soon that he can turn the heater on before we go to bed.  He will then turn off the water 'til morning.  I agree that turning on the heat is a fine idea.  He has assured me that by morning it won't feel any colder than Lake Michigan.  I believe I will just take a nice warm shower.  

potatoes...

Yesterday I blogged about German food or the lack thereof in this area.  Today I asked myself what exactly, if anything do I actually miss that I consider German food?  The answer that came to me was my Aunt Dorie's mashed potatoes.  I used to delight in watching her prepare them.  

I'm sure that in her youth she had learned to make them using a wire potato masher, but sometime in the 1950s she acquired an electric hand held mixer.

Her recipe was simple - peel and cut up medium to large white potatoes (at least one per person), boil them in salt water until they are tender.  If you can easily stick a fork in one they are done.  Drain the water and pour the potatoes into a large bowl.  Add lots of butter, at least a stick, cut up, and a little milk, salt and pepper to taste, and beat those potatoes into a creamy frothy mound of mashed (actually whipped) potatoes.  Put them in a serving bowl with a little more butter floating on top and bring them to the table still piping hot.

Now here's where it gets a little more complicated.  While these potatoes are fine with butter and/or gravy, the real feast is to cover them with homemade beef and noodles, or if you prefer, chicken and noodles. Unfortunately I don't have my Aunt Dorie's recipe for either of those. 

So there you have it.  My idea of good German food is mashed potatoes topped with noodles.  Not very sophisticated but oh, so delicious. 

restaurant review

 Fort Wayne is blessed with many excellent restaurants.  I think it's part of our German heritage.  Fort Wayne was originally settled by German Lutheran and German Catholic families.  Since that is my heritage I know that German's enjoy eating, and appreciate good food.  

Interestingly, as far as I know there are no real German restaurants in our city now.  In fact when I Googled German restaurants the results I got for Fort Wayne were Hall's Gas House (American), Dash In (their menu is soups and salads), JK O'Donnell's Irish Pub and Germanfest. Germanfest truly does have German food, hot dogs, brats, sauerkraut, hot potato salad, apple strudel and good dark beer, also Polka music and wiener dog races, but it is only open for four days each summer.   

All of this is to explain why, when I went to lunch with friends today we went to an Asian Fusion restaurant, Nawa.  I recommend it if you like Currie, Pad Tai, spring rolls and other Asian delights.  I had never eaten there before today, but I will be going back.  

As I said in the first paragraph, we are blessed with many excellent restaurants.  Being curious, I just Googled to see how many restaurants there are in Fort Wayne.  The answer - "There are 13,276 restaurants in the state of Indiana. Since Fort Wayne is Indiana's second largest city a substantial number are there." My wonder spouse and I have about a dozen favorite restaurants - Italian, Mexican, Thai, Chinese, American and others. We may need to expand our horizons.    

a great and tasty day...

 Today was another lake day for us.  This time at Marble Lake near Coldwater, Michigan where we spent the day with two of my spouse's cousins and their families.  

It was great fun with lots of good conversation, some insights into their childhood lives, a delicious lunch, some card games and a boat ride.  

As is traditional at family gatherings, everyone brought something to contribute to the festivities.  We had hamburgers or cheese burgers, corn on the cob, baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad, cookies and cakes - you get the idea.  

To top it all off my wonder spouse brought his annual offering, FUDGE.  But not just any fudge.  This is dark chocolate fudge (with and without nuts) made from his mother's old family recipe.  It is delicious and always well received.  

I'm not sure what would happen if we ever showed up without it.  They might not let us in.  I suppose that, as a devoted spouse, I should try to learn to make this fudge.  So far I am approaching this goal in small steps.  So far I have learned how to lick the bowl and the spatula.  Next will come 'cleaning out' the sauce pan.  The wonder chef still handles this chore himself.  A lot of hard work goes into making this fudge and I do appreciate his efforts.  I express my appreciation by willingly taste testing each batch.  I think it's important that I do my part. 

Ha ha ha...

 Today is "Presidential Joke Day." Yes, my newly retired west coast brother has come through again.  Now that he is retired he has more time for such frivolities.  Sadly, he didn't send me any jokes to go with this special day so I have had to find some myself.  Here we go:

Which US president got his job on line?  Abraham Linkedin.

Which of Washington's generals had the best sense of humor? General Laughfayette.

The CEO of IKEA was just elected president in Sweden.  He should have his cabinet together by the end of the week. 

Jokes on reddit are like US presidents.  You might see a new one every four years or so.

A man is on a street corner in Moscow yelling "The president is an idiot." Police surround him, handcuff him and march him off to prison saying "You know you're not allowed to insult our president."  He yells "No, no, I didn't mean Putin.  I meant the president of Ukraine." The police responded "Don't be silly, we know who the idiot is."

If you are really interested there are many, many more presidential jokes on line which you may peruse at your leisure.  I've had all the presidential nonsense I can take so I'm going to bed.  

Yawn....

 Once again my west coast brother has supplied me with a special day - two in fact.  Today is "Spoil Your Dog Day" and "National Lazy Day." Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest so Lazy Day seems appropriate.  I don't have any dogs now but in the early days of my first marriage we had two miniature dachshunds.  To say they were spoiled would be a massive understatement.  

They lived very good lives, traveling with us in our VW bus through most of the contiguous states and Canada, and lolling around the house the rest of the time.  Except of course when they were chasing squirrels or barking at the mailman. Our male dog, Remington, was tormented by a squirrel who loved to run along the top of the back yard fence, letting Remington get oh so close, then zipping up a tree and out of reach, chattering (laughing) all the while.

I asked my vet once if it was bad for my dog to lie around most of the time and then put on these sudden bursts of speed.  The vet said no, it's perfectly natural.  Dogs hearts are made for occasional sudden bursts of speed, and lots of lying around between times.  

That makes them the perfect pet to snuggle up with on Lazy Day.  In my experience dogs are always happy to lie beside you on the couch, in a recliner, or even in bed.  Especially if you scratch them behind the ears every once in a while.  Enjoy them if you have them.  

Read on...

 Today, according to my west coast brother, is "Book Lovers' Day."  This is certainly a day that I can embrace.  When I have a spare moment, or sometimes even if I don't, there is nothing I would rather do than curl up with a good book, usually a novel.  Except of course when I'm working on a jigsaw puzzle with my spouse. (Yes, we're at it again.)

As far back as I can remember I have loved reading books, to myself, to my younger brothers, to my students, to my children and to my grandchildren.  Someday soon maybe to my great grandchild!!  

I wasn't always perfect in my reading but I did read with enthusiasm.  When I was eight years old my mother overheard me reading a library book to my younger brother, and questioned why I was reading a book about a horrible mother and horrible father.  When I showed her the story, which was about a Chinese family, she explained to me that they were an honorable father and honorable mother.  That was the year I got my first glasses.  

My very favorite books as a young reader were the "Little House" series and my all time favorite book as an adult (which I first read in high school) was "A Town Like Alice" by Nevil Shute.  I highly recommend all of these.  Read, read, read.  I know I'm not the only book lover out there. 

Applause, applause!!!

 This evening we were treated to a very special event.  It was opening night of a play at Arena Dinner Theater, and not just any play.  This was the world premier of a new play, a raucous comedy, by Nancy Carlson Dodd called "Squatters' Rights."  Nancy is a very talented author who has written several plays in addition to a regular news paper column.  

She's also a good friend of ours, which made seeing the play even more special.

And, to make the evening even more memorable, my spouse's granddaughter played the ingenue lead and gave an excellent performance.

Unless you think we just liked the play because we knew people involved, I should tell you that it played to a full house and received a standing ovation which is something that never happens at Arena.  

I would urge you to go see the play but there are only two more performances and I'm pretty sure they are sold out.  So sorry.

I believe....

 Today, according to my west coast brother, who knows such things, is "National Sea Serpent Day."  Locally, the closest thing we have to a sea serpent is the "Beast of 'Busco." A legendary giant snapping turtle said to inhabit Fulk Lake near Churubusco, Indiana.  The first sighting of this beast was in 1948, and it was described as having a head as large as a child's and a body the size of a rowboat. You can Google more about it, and even see a video, or visit Churubusco during Turtle Days to learn more. The Turtle Days Festival is held in June so, if you start now, you have plenty of time to train your turtle for the 2026 races. 

But the Beast of 'Busco isn't really a sea serpent.  For that you will have to travel to Loch Ness in Scotland.  If you are incredibly lucky you might catch a glimpse of Nessie, aka the Loch Ness Monster.  There have been many "sightings" over the years.  The fact that there is a nearby Scotch Whiskey distillery may have been a contributing factor sometimes.  If you consume enough of the local Scotch you may be pretty sure you have spotted her.  Drink a little more and you won't even care.  But never, never, never claim not to believe in Nessie.  The locals will be mightily offended.  

As a bonus, if you gaze out over Lock Ness, even if you never see the monster, you will be rewarded with a fabulous view.  Can you tell that I love Scotland?

at the lake

 When people in northern Indiana speak about going to 'the lake' it can mean any one of a few hundred lakes in the northern Indiana, southern Michigan area.  Today, for us, it was a delightful day of fun and food with my spouse's family at Lake Wawasee.  We rode in the boat, ate at the Inn, enjoyed a delicious dessert back at their condo and engaged in some lively conversation about topics ranging from acceptance policies at a variety of colleges to Zambonis.  Did you know that you can buy a used one for only $20,000?

Possibly best of all, I received the picture I had requested of dinosaurs dancing through a field of sunflowers.  Since it's a pencil sketch I can't reproduce it well bu here it is along with a couple of other shots to prove we were there.  

Too tired to write more.  Thank you all for a fine fun day.

Old Blue

 As I was driving to church this evening I saw a car that was just like mine except for the color.  Now you may think "Big deal."  and if you're driving a Subaru or a Jeep you would be right not to be excited by the sighting.  However the car I drive is much more distinctive than that.  It is a Fiat 500L, and so was the car I spotted this evening. 

I have heard all the jokes, but let me assure you right now that FIAT does not stand for "Fix it again Tony."  At least not in my experience.  My trusty little Fiat is ten years old and it still takes me anywhere I want to go, with very decent gas milage.  It doesn't have heated seats or a heated steering wheel and I have to put a key in the ignition to start it, no fancy fob, but it starts every time. 

Of course, where I want to go is generally somewhere around town. It has never been on a cross country drive.  Today it was church for a committee meeting, tomorrow I will be meeting friends for lunch on The Deck.  You get the idea.  

I sometimes have a funny vision as I drive around town in my little car.  Do you remember the white haired grandma in the old Tweety Bird cartoons? She always drove a little black boxy car.  My car is blue not black, but otherwise I think I look a lot like that cartoon grandma.  I even have a yellow bird, not in a cage but in my back yard.  It comes to our feeder quite regularly.  Maybe it's a tweety finch?

On no....

 Say it isn't so.  My spouse and I have started another jigsaw puzzle.  Happily this one is only 1000 pieces.  My granddaughter, the recently graduated art major, gave me this as a Christmas gift in 2021 according to the note I had taped on the box, and asked me to send her a picture when I finished it.

Here's the picture. As you can see, it's a copy of a painting by Vincent van Gogh.  As you can also see, it has only two dominant colors.  I don't think this will be as challenging as the notorious 2000 piece puzzle but it will keep us busy for a while.  My granddaughter asked me to send a picture when it's finished and we will certainly do that.  Meanwhile it will keep us off the streets and out of trouble.

family ties...

 Today, according to my west coast brother, is "Sister's Day" and "American Family Day." I don't have any sisters but I do have an amazing west coast sister-in-law.  She has been making me feel at home whenever I have visited there over the last many years.  I told my brother once that I feel more at home at their house than anywhere else in the world except for the house my spouse and I share now.

When my spouse and I visited them last summer they made him feel just as welcome as they have always done for me.  They are, as well as being relatives, a great American family, worthy of celebrating.

And speaking of American families, which come in all shapes and sizes, my current spouse and I (a second marriage for each of us) have a wonderfully enlarged family now.  We're not exactly a blended family, because all of our children were married and had families of their own before we married in 2024.  But I think we are a wonderfully entangled family.  Because of our history as friends, my children and my spouses children have known each other since they were babies.  I have pictures to prove it.

At this point in our lives my spouse and I together have four children, four children-in-law, ten grandchildren (two of whom have significant others) and one great grandbaby on the way.  You knew I'd get that one in there.  

If that's not a fine American family, I don't know what is.  

they might have danced...

 My west coast brother, who retired yesterday after 50 years engineering work in the television industry, informed me that today is "Dinosaurs Day."  I think he might have taken it personally but I assured him that you're only as old as you feel, which means, at our age, that your "feels like age" can vary wildly from day to day.

He then informed me that today is also "National Sunflower Day."  This created an image in my mind of dinosaurs dancing in a field of sunflowers.  They were, after all, much too large to dance among the daisies. 

As it happens today is also our youngest granddaughter's birthday.  She is eight years old today.  As it also happens, she is quite a good artist and loves to draw dinosaurs.  We have one of her pictures hanging on our refrigerator.  

We will be visiting with her and her family next week and I think that I will ask her to draw a picture for me of dinosaurs dancing in a field of sunflowers.  If she does, I will post a picture of it on that day's blog.

Meanwhile my brother will be enjoying the carrot cake with maple cream cheese frosting that his wife made for him today.  He's beginning to really appreciate the benefits of retirement.

a cereal story...

 When we were young we ate a lot of shredded wheat at our house.  I think my father liked it and it was probably relatively inexpensive.  Which was good because my two brothers each grew up to be 6'6" tall and they did eat a lot.  My spouse teases me because I eat fast.  It was a lesson learned in childhood; necessary if I wanted to get my fair share.

The shredded wheat we ate came in large pieces, I guess I would describe them as pillow shaped loaves, each about 5 inches long and 2.5 inches across, 1 inch thick in the middle. Certainly not the mini wheats you can buy today.  In the winter mom would pour boiling water over the shredded wheat in our bowl, then drain it off and put milk and sugar on it.  It was a quick and easy warm breakfast.  

However my favorite memories of shredded wheat do not involve the food itself.  Instead it was the packaging that was fun.  Lots of children's cereals came with little plastic toys back then, until someone decided they were a choking hazard, which they probably were.  

Shredded wheat, on the other hand, was layered into boxes, I think four pieces to a layer, three layers in a box. Between the layers were flat pieces of balsa wood (later replaced with cardboard) which had airplane pieces that could be punched out along the perforations and assembled.  One piece would have a silhouette of the body of a plane and the other the wings, which could be slid through a slot in the body.  Then, wonder of wonders, you could throw those planes and they would glide through the air, usually for at least several feet.  Much more satisfying than folded paper airplanes.

Of course writing this made me curious about the origins of shredded wheat.  I discovered that Henry Perky, a vegetarian focused on healthy simple foods, was granted a patent for Shredded Wheat on August 1, 1893.  The patent covered the process of boiling, shredding and baking wheat into pillow-shaped biscuits.

So how appropriate is it that I'm writing this on August 1?  This should be "National Shredded Wheat Day" if it isn't already.  

I just checked and it's not.  Instead today is celebrated as "National Girlfriend Day."  Maybe you could at least give her a box of shredded wheat as a gift.