'tis the season..

 Here we are in mid November and it certainly is the season in our house to prepare for Thanksgiving (yummy) and Christmas.  It looks like we could have as many as 18 people at our house for Christmas dinner which makes me very happy.  But it also seems to be the season for scams.  A friend of mine very recently lost $2,000 in a scam and today I had a voice mail asking me to confirm a charge of $1,400 for some computer equipment which I certainly didn't authorize.  I deleted it of course, but that really is a very sneaky kind of scam because if you call the number they so conveniently provide to tell them it's a mistake, they will need all kinds of financial information from you before they can 'correct the error.'  Another type of seasonal scams is pleas for money for dubious charities.  Did you know that you can go on line and check out charitable organizations to see what percentage of the money you donate actually goes to help the people or animals you are intending to help, and what percent goes to staff salaries and promotional materials?  Take some time to check things out.  Please understand. I'm really not being a grinch.  It's the season to give and give generously, and I do.  Just make sure that the money you donate will really help someone, not just line some pockets.  Happy Holidays, Ho Ho Ho!!

in awe of the masters

 Yesterday evening and this evening my spouse and I watched a two part history of Leonardo da Vinci, aired on our local PBS station.  It was very well done and completely captivating.  While watching it though, I was reminded of two very different experiences I have had while viewing famous works of art in Italy.  On my first trip to Italy, about sixteen years ago, the friend I was traveling with had planned ahead and made reservations for us to see Leonardo's Last Supper.  You must have tickets well in advance to see this masterpiece.  Viewing it was a wonderful, peaceful experience.  Only a limited number of people at a time were allowed in to see it, and I think we were allowed to spend a half hour there.  It was an excellent experience.  

By contrast, during my most recent trip to Italy in 2023, with a very good tour group, we were taken to see Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling; another amazing work of art by an equally talented and renowned artist.  To see this masterpiece, our travel group of about 40 people was herded into a long corridor with several other groups.  We then proceeded to walk through what felt like five miles of chambers and corridors until we finally arrive at the chapel.  There we were allowed into the chapel in a group so large that it was literally "standing room only."  We were packed so tightly that we couldn't move around much at all.  We simply stood and craned our necks to see as much of the ceiling as we could see from our vantage point.  I can say I've seen the Sistine Chapel ceiling, but it certainly wasn't a satisfying experience.  Such a contrast.

Ring ring

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "National Princess Day" and "Pushbutton Phone Day." Now, I am not a princess.  I don't even own a tiara, although that would be elegant.  However I do think I'm qualified to celebrate today because once, long ago, I owned a princess phone and yes, it was a push button phone. Actually that's not entirely accurate.  Back in the day we didn't own our own phones but leased them through Bell Telephone or whoever happened to be the service provider in your area.  So I guess it would be more accurate to say I had the use of a princess phone.  I had this phone while I lived in my little, but so cute, attic apartment in Monticello, NY while I taught their.  It was the first chance I had ever had to choose my own phone.  I opted to go with the slim line, oh so modern looking, turquoise princess phone with the push button display in the receiver.  It was so cool.  Of course, it didn't take pictures or allow me to check my email or send texts or share my exciting life via Facebook or whatever, and I certainly couldn't slip it in my purse as I left my apartment, but it was excellent for making and receiving phone calls, local and long distance, and just so sleek and elegant.  1967 was a good year for telephones. 

Going bananas

 In the children's sermon at church today the pastor used a speckled brown banana to teach that you shouldn't judge bananas or people by how they look on the outside.  She peeled it and showed the kids that it was still good inside.  As she was summing up she mentioned that bananas are usually good and good for you, to which one little listener, who was obviously paying attention, responded "Not if you eat too many."  I'm not sure how today's littlt expert learned that lesson but his comment reminded me that my grandson learned the same lesson the hard way.  My grandson was three and his little sister was one. They and their mother were living with us temporarily after her divorce. My daughter and I were both working so my then husband, who was retired, became Daddy Day Care.  Early on during this arrangement, he labored under the assumption that if toddlers were off in another room being quiet, the were behaving themselves.  Ha ha ha ha ha.  One evening when I got home from work I was starting to put a fruit salad together for supper.  I reached for the large bunch of bananas that should have been on the kitchen counter.  I had just bought them the day before.  There should have been at least eight fhere.  When I asked where the bananas were, my husband didn't have a clue, but my little grandson took me by the hand and led me into his bedroom.  There, in the one foot space between the bed and the wall, was a large pile of banana peels. He and his little sister had had quite a feast.  Strangely enough, he didn't want bananas for a long time after that.  Happily, their papa learned to pay attention to what they were up to from then on.

That's my state...

 Today, according to one list, is National Indiana Day.  I can't figure out why it's today because Indiana became the 19th state on December 11, 1816. 12/11/1816?  And all my Googling has not explained it. It has repeated it several times over but not explained it. However, today is also National Fast Food Day, National Check Your Wipers Day and National Button Day.  Once I saw the whole list, it became obvious to me why it's National Indiana Day.  We Hoosiers definitely need working windshield wipers, especially from November through July or August.  And we're practically the home of fast food.  After all, Wendy's was founded here.  As for buttons, it seems that for a few years a small button factory on Willow Sreet (city unknown, although there is a Willow Street in Vincennes, Indiana) produced as many as. 3000 buttons a week from fresh water mussel shells. This was around 1846, somewhere along the Tippecanoe River, and yes, that's in Indiana.  You can Google much more history about buttons if you're really interested.  So whatever the reasons, happy Indiana Day, and get those wipers checked.

check this out...

 Today I received a reorder of checks in the mail.  In this order are 60 checks, which will probably last me through most of 2025.  I'm laughing a little at this because I can remember when checks came in boxes of 200 or so per box (in nice little tablets of 25 of course) and were ordered in batches of 400 to 800 at a time.  Everything was paid for by check (or cash of course).  These days utility bills, mortgages, credit card bills, car payments, taxes, whatever you may owe, can all be paid "on line."  You simply transfer money from your checking account to whichever bills you are paying.  Or, to make it even simpler, you can set up automatic payments and you don't have to lift a finger.  Sometimes I wonder if there is any real money there at all of if it's just numbers adding and subtracting as the weeks and months go by.  Of course, I'm in that lovely stage of my life, retirement, where money just shows up in my bank account every month.  When I was in college, so many years ago that BSU was still Ball State Teachers College (it became a  university in my senior year) we freshmen were required to take a class called Personal Finance where we were taught, among other things, the correct way to fill out a check, and the correct way to balance your checkbook.  When was the last time you balanced a check book?  Things have come so far that I don't even write a check for my church donations anymore.  It simply comes out of my savings account once a month.  It does make me a little self conscious in church when they pass the collection plate and I don't put anything in.  Of course, I'm not the only one.  I would guess that more than half of our congregation members are giving on line these days.  I sometimes wonder though how it looks to people live streaming the service.  They probably think "Wow, people in that church sure don't give very much."  Sometimes I wish that we had little signs on sticks saying something like "I give on line" that we could wave at the usher as he or she goes by. These would be similar to, but maybe smaller than, the old fashioned fans supplied by funeral homes for those hot summer Sundays before air conditioning.  They had a balsa wood handle and  a picture of Jesus on one side and an ad for the funeral home on the other.  If you remember those fans you are part of my generation for sure.  So if you actually are still writing checks for some things it's ok.  Why do you think I needed to order sixty more?

ELF

 Elf is off the shelf.  Do you remember the 2003 movie "Elf" starring Will Ferrell?  The Fort Wayne Philharmonic took it off the shelf, dusted it off, and presented it in concert this evening with their amazing orchestral accompaniment.  The story was every bit as good as the first time I saw it and the live music just added to the joy.  I was really pleased, but not surprised, to see many more children in the audience than at a typical performance. What a great way to introduce kids to the philharmonic.  If you ever get a chance to see a movie presented this way, take the opportunity to see it.  You may not get to see anything as special as the great spaghetti with maple syrup scene, but you will enjoy it.