party fime

 On Friday my granddaughter graduated.  Today she partied.  I thought it was a little unusual to hold her graduation open house on a Tuesday afternoon, but it was evidently that or wait til late July because of friends' scheduled parties.  But lots of people came so the time must have agreed with everyone. I, of course, sat and visited with the grown ups, but all the recent grads seemed to be having a great time.  I was told that early in the afternoon my granddaughter received a few texts from kids who couldn't come and started to panic, fearing that no one would show up.  Have you ever had that feeling "What if I give a party and no one comes?"  I imagine the only thing worse would be to wonder "What if I give a party and only my grandmas show up?"  We were both there but we stayed discretely on the sidelines.  Kudos to my daughter-in-law who planned the refreshments which were pretty thoroughly devoured. She served all the fixings for nachos, plus pop corn, cookies, brownies, candy and, for the serious few, fresh fruit salad.  Snarfing pretty much describes the eating style.  So that's it for high school graduations.  In two years we'll start the round of college graduations if all goes well.  

liver and onions

 My west coast brother told me that he had liver and onions yesterday and that reminded me of the last time I had liver and onions.  First let me tell you that I am not a fan of liver and onions but in 1960 we leaned how to cook liver and onions in home ec class, probably because liver is supposed to be really good for you.  So, in 1967, when I was teaching in upstate New York, I had a short term boyfriend who liked liver and onions and asked me to cook them for him.  So I did.  As I recall I cooked it according to my teacher's directions and it was delicious.  But not delicious enough to make me want to cook it again.  And I never did.  Lucky for me, the man I married in 1968 loved Mexican food and had absolutely no desire to ever eat liver and onions so I dropped that dish from my recipe repertoire.  And that's it, that's my whole history with liver and onions. 

who won?

 Today was the day of the big race, obviously the Indianapolis 500, which I forgot to watch, so I don't know who won and can't write about it.  Lucky for me today is also The End of the Middle Ages Day.  Evidently the Middle Ages came to an end (on this date?) 569 years ago.  That would seem to indicate that the Renaissance started in 1453ad.  If I remembered more from my Art History lectures, and I should because I was the instructor, I'm sure I could share some fascinating facts with you, but I can't so I won't.  On the other hand, thinking about my own 'middle ages' I do remember a little.  I was working, my children were growing up, grandchildren came along and my middle started to spread.  That is why they call it middle age spread.  But now I am beyond middle age, unless I live to be 144, and that would just be gross.  This face can't support that many more wrinkles.  Enough reminiscing.  I guess I'll check the news and see who won the race.  

Road trip...

 My west coast brother and his wife are currently on a road trip to Oregon, not for fun but to deal with some family inheritance issues.  He mentioned in his text to me today that they are enjoying 'Oregon sunshine' aka rain.  That reminded me of a very rainy road trip that my husband and I and our two pre-teens took one year.  We were traveling generally eastward after visiting my west coast brother, and experiencing very chilly, rainy blah weather.  After two dismal days my husband suggest that we turn south towards Las Vegas.  He had been there for a conference the year before and thought we would have fun.  I had reservations having formed a James Bond impression of what Las Vegas must be like.  I was so wrong.  From the slot machines in the laundry room at the KOA campground (yes, we were camping all the way) to the innocent games at Circus Circus it was all fun.  And it was warm and dry.  Which makes me think, I haven't been back to Las Vegas for several years.  Road trip any one?

Flip those tassels.

 This evening my youngest grandchild graduated from high school.  She was a student at Bishop Dwenger and their ceremony was at the Embassy.  She wasn't the Val or the Sal but she did graduate in the top 20 percent, won a long list of awards and had high enough grades to be excused from taking any final exams.  I'm so proud of her.  One of the things they do, that I really enjoy, is post a quote selected by each student on the huge screen at the back of the stage.  As each student walks across the stage, receiving a diploma and a yellow rose along the way, the big screen displays their picture and the quote they selected.  I really like this because, while all the students you don't care about are walking across the stage you can read their quotes, some of which are very funny and some quite profound.  It makes the time pass much faster.  I was surprised how many quotes this year were attributed to Kanye West.  I had no idea he was such a philosopher.  Mother Theresa and Maya Angelou were also quoted frequently.  But many of the students wrote their own quotes.  One of my favorites, being a tall woman myself, was something like "Go large or go home is easy for me because I am 6'3"."  I was pleased to see that the tall young lady walking across the stage was also wearing high heals.  You go girl.  But back to my granddaughter (who is only 5'7"), her quote was "When it rains, look for rainbows.  When it's dark, look for stars." by Anonymous.  I like that.  As I sat watching the ceremony, I was struck by the fact that 60 years ago this month I was experiencing my own high school graduation experience.  I've packed a lot of living into the last 60 years but it does seem to have gone by awfully fast.  

pass the fruit

 This is the time of year when more varieties of fresh fruit show up in the grocery store, and the farmers' market for that matter.  I realize that a lot of fruits get shipped in from other areas and even other countries but there are still a few season specific fruits.  Last week I found red cherries on the market for the first time in many months.  I do love cherries.  I've also noticed lots of strawberries in the store.  I'm not a fan of strawberries but they are a pretty sign of the times.  My choice to take to picnics, or any carry in, this time of year is my special blend fruit salad.  I stir together fresh pineapple for sweetness. I know that pineapples are not locally grown but they are so good.  I also use blackberries, red raspberries, blueberries, peaches, cherries, and, sometimes, green grapes.  Try it. It's a great blend.  Note, I do not use bananas, they turn brown, or apples, too tart, in my fruit salad and I never, never use marshmallows.  Marshmallows are not a fruit.  If you're wondering what brought on this musing about fruit, I was informed earlier this evening that I cannot bring fruit salad to an upcoming event because someone else is bringing a fruit tray.  I guess I'll have to bake the blueberry pie that's in my freezer.  Easier, but I bet my fruit salad would have been better.  Woops, that sounds a bit like sour grapes, doesn't it?

It's all good.

 Today is all about health and fitness.  In fact, it's National Senior Health and Fitness Day.  I did go to my twice a week seniors exercise class this afternoon so I figure I did my bit to celebrate.  It's also National Tap Dance Day.  I'm sure tap dancing is a great way to exercise, and there are probably seniors out there that tap dance, but I'm not one of them.  Dancing is right up there with singing and playing piano on my long list of things I don't do (at least not in public), as a mercy to the rest of the world.  But interestingly, today is also National Wine Day.  Perhaps the thought is that wine will make the exercise or the dancing more fun.  Or, if you drink enough, you won't care about health and fitness.  To help us celebrate this multi-event day, the management served up a wine and cheese party this afternoon.  Of course I had to attend; it would have been churlish not to.

I was almost tempted...

 .....but not really.  Earlier today, I heard a TV add that caught my attention,  It wasn't especially loud, but the speaker was so intense and spoke so fast that I had to listen.  Please note here that I usually tune out commercials because I'm concentrating on something else, like getting a snack.  There are a few commercials that I actually mute, but I digress.  As I listened I realized the the spokesman was urging me to buy a limited edition gold plated coin, a copy of what was evidently a very valuable coin many years ago.  The speaker did slip into his spiel that this coin was a copy with no monetary value, but he skimmed over that part pretty quickly.  But I did love his final pitch, you must order right now to "avoid disappointment and future regret."  Wow, that sounds like a heavy load to bear.  I did not order a coin from this limited edition and so far am not experiencing any regret.  I'll let you know if it hits me in the future.

What's in a name?

 According to today's entry on my Trivia calendar, the Spanish Flu, the 1918 pandemic of our grandparents' time, didn't begin in Spain.  It was called Spanish because, during WWI, Spain was one of the only European countries to remain neutral. Because of that, they didn't have a media blackout and could report freely on what was going on in their country.  So people learned about that pandemic from Spain, even though it was all over Europe and the Americas.  I thought that was interesting because of our own pandemic, which we seem to be learning to live with.  Now I'm learning about the 'newest' disease, Monkey Pox, which sounds nasty but not deadly, and not so easily transmitted.  Happily, those of us of a certain age are likely immune because we were given Small Pox vaccinations as a child.  Lucky us. One more thought about knowing about diseases.  The three contestants on Jeopardy this evening (all 30-something) didn't know the answer to the final Jeopardy question about post Polio complications.  I knew the answer because one of my bosses had post-polio problems.  Also, I knew the answer because Polio was a thing when I was a child.  Actually, I think it's really excellent that Polio is so much a thing of the past that our kids and grandkids don't know anything about it.  Of course, I didn't know anything about the Spanish Flu until it was talked about in the last few years.  I think I'm going to stop thinking about diseases now.  

Wait? What did I miss?

 I googled special days today because my west coast brother was driving to Oregon and didn't have time to do the research.  What I discovered, much to my amazement, is that May is Older Americans Month (not day, month!).  Why wasn't I told about this? Why aren't there ads on TV, banners hanging from the street lights, notices in the newspapers?  I definitely qualify as an older American.  Where are my flowers, cards, candy or other symbols of honor and celebration?  I mean, it's taken me a long time to become an older American, although it does seem to have happened much more quickly than I expected.  Meanwhile, while I'm getting over the lack of celebration of older Americans, I've discovered that today is "Buy a Musical Instrument Day."  Maybe all of us older Americans should form a marching band to draw attention to our special month.  A friend of mine had a drum set for sale at her garage sale this weekend.  I was tempted but decided that my neighbors upstairs and down might not appreciate it.  Unless, of course, they are older Americans, then they might want to join my band.

another review

 I saw the all music program "The Greatest Showman" at First Pres Theater this evening and it was excellent.  I was helping with concessions and an older gentleman came up to the counter and told us that he had worked at Radio City Music Hall for several years and never seen anything better than the show this evening.  High praise indeed.  This was the first show of the new season and the first directed by our new director.  It really was excellent.  There was a big staircase at the center of the stage, with singers coming up and down, a live orchestra, tap dancers, aerial acrobats suspended on long strips of cloth, lots of special effects lights, dancers, gymnasts and many talented singers.  I'm not sure where he got them all.  I know Fort Wayne is full of talent, but he seems to have found the best of the best.  I have never seen the First Pres stage so alive.  I think it's the beginning of a great new era.  Cheers and kudos.  

A great American tradition

Today is National Pizza Party Day, and while I'll admit that pizza is a great American tradition what I'm thinking about today it the ever popular garage sale.  Years ago, when my children were young, my next door neighbor and I had a garage sale every spring.  We sold toys and out grown baby clothes and all sorts of other odds and ends and we usually did very well.  Our main secret of success was the fact that my neighbor (the original Mrs. Clean) sold baby socks that were absolutely immaculate.  I don't know how she did it but her little socks looked like they had never been walked in.  Mine, not so much.  But that was then.  Today a friend and I went to another friend's garage sale.  How times have changed, or how we've aged.  This garage sale contained baskets, pottery, some adult clothes, Christmas decorations, books; you get the idea.  My friend bought a ceramic rooster for $2, which gives you some grasp of what was available.  I am happy to report that I didn't buy anything.  Now, if there had been any jigsaw puzzles I might have been tempted.  But now that I think about it, I have three jigsaw puzzles on my shelf that I haven't had time to work on since Christmas.  Hmmm, maybe I should have a garage sale.  

I'm so disappointed.

 I took a quick glance at my trivia calendar this morning and saw a question that said "How much of the land on earth is dessert?"  I got so excited, envisioning great areas of chocolate sauce or ice cream at the poles.  Even if they were thinking of fruit as dessert that would be fine.  I love blueberries and pineapple and lots of other delicious fruit.  Then I looked more closely and realized that they were talking about deserts, not desserts.  Probably more realistic but not nearly so delicious. 

In case you're wondering, the answer is about one fifth, which includes polar deserts.  Deserts are found on every continent on earth.  But now that I think about it, so are desserts. I bet more that one fifth of the earth is covered with dessert.  There's cocoa beans and sugar cane, and corn for corn syrup, and orchards and pineapple fields and bananas and sugar beets and wheat and rice for flour.  The list goes on and on.  Hooray for an earth covered in dessert.

Baseball blues...

 The Tincaps, our local professional baseball team, lost their game this evening 9-0.  I might not have noticed this, not being a huge sports fan, but earlier today a friend commented that the Tincaps are not off to a good start this year.  They evidently lost nine away games out of ten recently.  My friend made the comment that as soon as they get some good players, they trade them away, or actually move them on up in the league.  But isn't that the point?  According to Google, the Tincaps are a High A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.  Of course the Padres will be watching for new talent.  But this year's team will probably be staying right here.  I really do like baseball, especially when the pitcher gets into a nice rhythm.  When I was in sixth grade we got our first television set (a thirteen inch Zenith) and that meant that my father could watch baseball on Sunday afternoons.  My dad was a carpenter/contractor and worked many six day weeks.  Sunday was his only day to relax.  So of course my brothers and I helped him. We would all stretch out on the family room floor, sometimes with popcorn, and watch the game.  What fascinated me, besides the game, was that my father would lie down on the floor on his back, lock his hands behind his head, and hold his head up, no pillow or anything, for what seemed like the whole game.  I tried to copy him, of course, but never managed to hold the pose for more than a few minutes.  

it's addictive

 A fact from my trivia calendar - between 50 and 75 percent of cats have a reaction to catnip, a sensitivity probably passed on from cats to their kittens.  I believe this is true because I had two cats some years ago, one who loved catnip toys and one who was totally indifferent.  But my happiest catnip story happened with rabbits not cats.  This happened when we lived in Ohio on a property that included an acre of pasture.  The grass in the pasture was at least a foot tall.  Early one spring morning I looked out my kitchen window and saw a bunny bounce-a-thon.  At least 20 (I stopped counting) rabbits were jumping and leaping straight up and high into the air.  Probably only about four feet up, but that's pretty high for a rabbit.  They jumped and leaped and carried on for at least ten minutes.  Then they just settled down and disappeared into the tall grass.  I can only guess at the next step in their celebration but it was spring and love was in the air.  And evidently some catnip.  

Write on...

 Today is Biographer's Day and also National Mimosa Day.  I'm guessing they want us to celebrate the mixed drink, sparkling wine and orange juice, and not the tree, although it does have pretty blossoms. It occurs to me that if you set out to write a biography, sipping on a mimosa might get the creative juices flowing.  My west coast brother tells me that his cat is writing his (the cat's) autobiography "Today I Shall Nap."  I'm sure it will be fascinating but that's an autobiography of course.  I've considered writing biographies.  I've know lots of interesting people in my life.  Interesting to me, at least.  The problem is not everyone would want to read about my grandfather's years in the coal mines or my father's experiences in Brazil in WWII.  I had an older friend who remembered riding her horse to classes in a one room school house when she was very young, and racing horses with the boys.  And another older friend, many years ago, who started farming near Woodburn while she and her husband could still have furniture and other equipment delivered by canal boat.  Maybe I could take all those bits and pieces and weave them into a fascinating story, a sort of blended biography.  Hmmm, I may have invented a new literary form here, the "blenbio."  Or maybe I'll just go finish my mimosa.

therapy

 This afternoon two friends and I went to a play at the Civic Theater.  I thought it would be good therapy after having just finished being in a play myself.  It was that and so much more.  The play was a comedy called "Noises Off" and it was a humbling and hilarious experience.  We were laughing the whole time and a lot of the comedy was of the physical kind, running up and down long flights of stairs and in and out of doors.  Moving, moving, moving all the time.  I came away having enjoyed every minute of it, and also feeling very grateful the my part in my show involved one short flight of steps and being 'passed out' on a couch for a good part of the play.  Not as busy as today's play, but much less exhausting.  I do recommend "Noises Off" for anyone who wants a good laugh.  It's still on next week if you're interested. 

It's over.

 The play is over.  Tonight was the last performance and, while I will miss the laughs (it was really fun playing a drunk over-the-hill actress) I am not sorry to be finished.   I hate to admit it but I may be getting just a little bit too old for the theater.  Not, when I'm on stage, that part is pure fun, but the several trips up and down stairs to get to the dressing room just about did me in.  It must be a rule that stages and dressing rooms can't be on the same level.  Another interesting note, the dressing room (singular) at Arena Dinner theater is co-ed.  And with everyone changing clothes at the same time and mirrors lining three walls it's pretty hard not to catch a glimpse of something sometimes.  So I adapted and did what any good ostrich would do.  I closed my eyes and got in and out of my costume as quickly as I could, assuming that if I can't see you, you can't see me.  And lets be brutally honest here, I can't imagine any of the men in the cast wanting to ogle my 70 something body. Ah well.  

I didn't do it.

 Today is Blame Someone Else Day.  I didn't know we needed a special day for that.  It seems to be a national pastime.  I just about hit a young man on a scooter as I was leaving the theater parking lot this evening.  If I had hit him, I'm sure he would have blamed me, but he zipped right across in front of me as I was looking down the street to see if any cars were coming.  I'm glad those little electric scooters are fast.  But speaking of blaming someone else, I know President Biden's approval rating is not very high but will someone please explain to me why it is his fault that there is a shortage of baby formula right now?  I'm pretty sure the pesky law requiring that tainted food be recalled has been in place for many years.  Gasp!  Maybe it's a clever ploy to keep us from thinking about inflation and high gas prices. 

one more time

 I thought I was finished with my rant about junk mail but today I got something brand new in the 'send us money' category.  It was a plea to help save the Grand Canyon.  I didn't know the Grand Canyon was in trouble.  Don't get me wrong, I love the Grand Canyon.  I have visited it several times, walked on the glass sidewalk and even, most memorably, rode in a small plane through the Grand Canyon.  But I'm honestly not sure it should be saved.  Each year I hear of someone who has plunged to their death while taking a selfie at the edge.  Perhaps I should donate to building a big fence around the canyon to protect people.  Or maybe they should just fill it in and level it off.  You know, if it saves just one life.....

a great idea

 In response to yesterday's blog about being overwhelmed with junk mail, my west coast brother shared an idea he had toyed with many years ago.  He suggested that a person could heat their house with all that mail if you happen to have a wood burning stove.  He theorized that, if you just fill out and mail in all the little post cards that are stuck in magazines, the post office will deliver enough mail to heat your house.  Not a bad return for the cost of a few stamps.  It also works to make a donation to one national charity.  They will immediately sell your mailing information to every other charity in existence.  At least all those trees would be put to some good use.  I do find it somewhat ironic that, while every charity I can think of has my correct mailing address, recently I was sent a receipt by a township office, and it was sent to an address I haven't lived at for seven years.  Happily, the gentleman I sold the house to forwarded it to me.  

woops!

 I evidently forgot to blog last night, which is pretty rare, although I admit I was really tired.  I feel compelled now to go back and comment on yesterday's special day.  Yesterday was Lost Sock Memorial Day.  One of my favorite authors years ago was Erma Bombeck, and one of my all time favorite quotes of hers was "It's a sad truth that socks do not mate for life."  It must be true.  In our shared laundry room here, the most frequently left behind item of clothing is a sock.  There is a box in which we can deposit odd socks that we come across.  It's always full but there are no matching pairs.

But moving on, today's special day is National Clean Up Your Room Day.  Unlike socks, clutter seems to be always with me.  It's a good thing that I have company from time to time.  That's my clean up motivator.  I really like it though when one clean up can cover two sets of visitors.  For instance, tomorrow night I am hosting two members of a touring choir who will be performing at our church tomorrow evening.  Then on the weekend, two of my girlfriends will be visiting with me.  It occurs to me though that I would have a lot less to clean up if I could eliminate all of the "give me money" mail.  Every charity and life insurance company seems to have my address, and they obviously don't care how many trees they use up or how many times they send me stuff.  I have a few basic rules about giving my money away. 1. If they can send me money, they don't need mine. 2. If they can send me presents, they don't need my money.  I have enough return address labels to last me the rest of my life.  I do like the note pads though. Very handy for grocery lists and to-do lists.  All that junk mail fills up my recycle bin every week.  I wonder If I could just write 'refused' on the envelopes and drop them back in the outgoing mail? But that would probably just make more work for the mailman and it's not his fault.  When I was in high school, a mailman who delivered to our rural route got in trouble for dumping a bunch of junk mail in a ditch. He probably shouldn't have done that but I can certainly understand the impulse.  

Should I be worried?

 I just watched an interesting commercial on TV.  It was warning about all the nasty germs that can breed in your shower head overnight, based on a 'recent study.'  Interestingly, I saw a report on that germy situation a few months ago on a news program.  Supposedly, according to the commercial, when you turn on your shower, you are being bombarded with millions of germs.  Really?  I've been taking showers for sixty years now (since I went to college; we didn't have a shower in my childhood home, just a bathtub).  Anyway, in all those years, with many styles of shower heads, I have never been poisoned by my shower.  Do you suppose it's because I'm not standing in the shower when I turn it on?  I am a comfort loving individual who has no interest in being blasted by too hot or too cold water when I get in the shower.  I let it run a bit until I get the temperature adjusted to my liking, then get in the shower.  So I think I will take my chances and not rush out to buy a new super sanitary shower head.  If it happens that I die from shower germs you can put "They tried to warn her." on my tomb stone. 

camping??

 When our children were young, my husband and I packed them up and took them camping every summer.  Over the years we made it to all of the contiguous 48 states and parts of Canada.  But our camping was done in a converted VW bus with a number of conveniences.  These days I have a very good view of the Old Fort from my balcony, and what I see does not make me long to go camping.  During the year there are several historic encampments held there and on clear, nice days I like to walk over and see the battles and samples of life in pioneer times.  Yesterday was not such a day.  I felt nothing but sympathy for the people in their flimsy looking tents in the cold and the rain.  Today was better.  The sun came out and they shot off the cannons and generally appeared to be having a good time.  They probably could have used some of that rumfustian yesterday.

rum what?

 Here's the question from a recent page in my page a day trivia calendar.  What is a rumfustian?  Since I'm currently playing a drunk my thoughts first turned to liquor. Rum what?  And guess what? I was on the right track.  A rumfustian is a hot alcoholic drink that includes egg yolks, beer, wine, gin, sugar and spices.  As far as any one knows the word was first used in 1824.  Sounds to me like something someone made up out of leftovers and it may have given the drinker a rumfustian of a headache.  Alas, while I do have beer, wine and eggs, I don't have any gin, so I guess I won't be able to serve this delectable sounding concoction to my weekend visitors.  Next time I'm in a bar though, I might just ask for a rumfustian, just for fun.  Won't I be surprised when the bartender whips one up for me?  

drink up!

 Today is Cinco de Mayo and our apartment manager hosted a margarita party this afternoon.  Sadly, I couldn't partake because I had to be at the theater this evening to play a drunken, over the hill actress.  Kind of ironic that I had to stay sober to play drunk.  I was actually more concerned about driving drunk than acting drunk.  But I'm enjoying a different kind of high right now.  My son and granddaughter were at this performance and thought I was very funny, which of course was my goal.  It's good to hear anyone say nice things, but especially when it's family.  

happy birthday

 Today is May the 4th, otherwise known as Star Wars Day. May the 4th be with you.  But much more importantly, it's my youngest grandchild's birthday.  She turned 18 today and will graduate from high school in three weeks.  It's kind of funny how these two events are tangled together.  When my son, her father, was five years old, we took him to see the very first Star Wars movie.  Because my husband and I wanted to see it, of course.  We also took our three year old daughter but she was unimpressed and slept through the whole show.  Our five year old, though, was wide awake and quite literally on the edge of his seat through the whole movie.  I had as much fun watching him as watching the movie.  I credit that movie with the beginning of his love of all things space related and his career choices for the last many years.  Space Camp helped too.  But little did he know that 19 years ago his second daughter would be born on the day we Star Wars fans celebrate this amazing series.  I had a fun celebratory supper with their family this evening, and now I'm feeling the urge to watch Star Wars, Episode IV.

and again

 Another message from the west coast.  My brother tells me that today is Wordsmith Day and has challenged me to do some wordsmithing.  So here goes.  I could tell you that this morning, during a gushing rainfall, I went to my polling place, pushed all the right buttons and cast my ballot for the primary candidates of my choice.  Or I could just say I voted this morning.  How's that for wordsmithing?  And, by the way, I'm pretty sure that gushing rain this morning was another tidal wave from Lake Michigan.  I'm sure at least three small fish hit my windshield.  Or I could just say it was raining really hard this morning.  According to Google, to wordsmith means to improve the clarity and style of a written work.  But sometimes I think it's more fun to obfuscate, confuse and complicate, unless of course you're writing an instruction manual.  

another dubious day

 According to my west coast brother, today is Great Lakes Awareness Day and also Scurvy Awareness Day.  I eat plenty of oranges and other fresh fruit so I am not at all worried about Scurvy but I am wondering about the Great Lakes.  I think Lake Michigan is throwing water at us. During the winter we get lake effect snow.  Now I suspect we're getting lake effect rain.  Sometime tomorrow we are supposed to get another two inches of rain.  If it comes down as heavy and fast as it did Saturday night (like a tidal wave), I'm going to be watching to see if there are any fish in the deluge.  So beware the Great Lakes and also those little lakes all around town, especially those covering streets.  With all the potholes around town right now, if any one tries to drive through standing water concealing a big old pothole their car might sink and never been seen again.  You may think I'm exaggerating but I have seen some pretty impressive potholes in the last few weeks.  Be aware!

my excuse

 Happy May Day everyone.  I am so glad to be done with April.  I didn't blog last night because I was out late partying.  That's my story, and it's true, but not quite as exciting as it might sound.  Last night was the cast and crew party for the play I'm in right now.  The director hosted it at her house and it was fun, with lots of good food and pleasant conversation.  I discovered some interesting things.  For instance, the young lady who sits beside me in the dressing room is the girlfriend of a young man (well 30 something now) who I have known since he was a baby.  I had no idea.  I wonder if his mom knows?  But, the real reason that I and everyone else stayed so late at the party was that we were stuck while a gushing rain storm kept us waiting in the house until it seemed at all reasonable to leave.  Talk about drama, plenty of thunder and lightning.  Better sound effects than in the play.  It turns out I'm not the only person who doesn't like to drive in the rain in the dark.  Happily one of the other cast members had given me a ride to the party so I only had a short drive from the theater to home and by 1:30am the rain had eased up and there was little traffic. Any way, happy May everyone.