Happy Easter, Hallelujah

Posted on 17/04/2022 by Grumpa Joe

God Bless America on this sunny but cold Easter morning. I fully intended to attend 7:30 mass this morning, and set my opportunity alarm to wake me at 6:15. It did the job, but instead Grumpa shut it off and talked himself ( 2 nano-seconds) into letting the snooze alarm give him ten minutes more. (HINT! The snooze doesn’t work if you turn off the alarm.) It was 7:15 when I opened my eyes again from a really wonderful sleep, I momentarily panicked. Not to worry I told myself, Catholics invented 9:00 o’clock mass for those who miss 7:30.

After not attending mass for two years because of the COVID-19 shut down, it was heartening to see so many families back to meet their yearly obligation. Actually, the obligation is to attend every Sunday, but many of us stretch that into twice a year, Christmas and Easter. On those two holidays Catholic churches swell with attendance. Most Sundays are well attended, but our fellow Christians do not fill every pew and spill over into the atrium like they do on the two holiest days of the Church calendar.

Nine o’clock is the children’s mass, and as I said, there were a lot of kids there. I sat in a pew behind a family, Grandma, Grandpa, Son, Daughter, in-laws and three kids between ages 18 months and four years. A little distracting, but nice because it reminded me of the days when wife Barbara and I had to corral three kids in that same age range. I remember once during mass, Barb was holding our youngest son Mike over her shoulder while he swilled a bottle of formula. When he finished, he did his best impression of Joe Montana by passing the bottle over the heads of several pews into the Sanctuary. This kid was great at sports, but never played football, even though he had a great throwing arm at eighteen months.

It is funny how seeing kids opens one’s mind to memories that have been locked up for fifty years. Someday, I will write a book full of those memories just so my kids can have a laugh about their own antics. In fact, that is such a great idea I will begin by logging the incidents the way I did for my childhood auto-biography titled Jun-e-or.

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Join My Little World

Posted on 11/07/2008 by Grumpa Joe

New Pond Looking NorthWest

New Pond Looking NorthWest

Happy Birthday Barb! Today Peggy and I went to mass at Saint Anthony’s. The mass was said for you. You would have been seventy years old today, and officially older than me. Remember when I’d joke about it, and tell the kids that you were older than me?  Remember when I used this three week period to refer to you as the “Old Battle Axe?”  Now that I think about it, it wasn’t very funny, was it?  I miss our birthdays together so much. Because we were born in the best part of the year, it made for some really fun celebrations. The celebrations are no more. They exist only in my mind.

After mass, we drove to Pets Mart to pick up some fish food. The goldies in the pond are beginning to respond to being fed. We bought two koi. Immediately, they became Peggy and Joe. We don’t know what sex they are, probably never will either. We’ll know if they are a pair if the pond over populates with little koi.

We came home, and I placed the plastic bag into the stream to equalize in temperature. I left it there for an hour. As I did this, the flash appeared again. This time I saw the landing. It is a frog. Freddie has been verified. Peggy was distraught to learn that there was a fish eating frog in the pond. She asked me to net him and put him back in the swamp. I gave her a lecture on nature and the importance of predators to keep balance. She ain’t buying it. This is going to be an interesting summer.

When I let Peggy and Joe out of the bag, the current of the stream carried them into the big pool. Immediately they got lost in the school of goldies. The koi are three inches long while the goldies are six. Eventually, they will grow larger than the goldies. They will be obvious because they are 80% white with a touch of gold and black too.

The pond and the fish have become a mjor source of enjoyment for us. I often sit at the table and watch the action in the yard. Fish jumping, birds flying in to feeders, the squirrels jumping on the patio furniture, and the rabbit eating my precious tender plants. Occasionally, the yard becomes totally empty, not a bird or squirrel in sight, then it appears, the hawk. He observes the yard from a perch high in a cottonwood tree. When he leaves, frustrated, the action begins all over again.

A few evenings ago, I was riding my bike home from a meeting in town. As I approached the bridge crossing the wetland (swamp), a red tail fox crossed the road in front of me. Another natural predator has joined the eco-system. I love it!

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Cherry Pie and the Kids

Posted on 15/06/2008 by Grumpa Joe

Grumpa Joe Looks at FlowerWhat a great weekend this has been for me! Yesterday, I had the honor of being with my three children and their families. We celebrated the birthday of my namesake grandson. All of his cousins and uncles were there from my side of the family. From his dad’s side he had his one aunt and his grandparents.

Today, Peggy and I ventured out to mass at Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church. Afterward, we visited the Frankfort Farmer’s Market. She bought a fresh cherry crumble pie. We were home only an hour when Peg’s grand daughter Shannon came by. It is her birthday, she is twenty seven. Our plan was to have a party for her, but her mom had to work and her sister was out of town. Instead, we accepted an invitation to eat lunch with my daughter and her family. We haven’t done that in quite some time. They took us to the Brazilian Steak House in Tinley Park. The food was good, and the wine was even better. Afterward we adjourned to our house for cherry pie and ice cream. Peg and I are so stuffed, we can’t move.

Later in the evening, son Mike came over with his three kids. We sat and chatted for over two hours. Its even more fun when the children are old enough to participate in the adult conversation. I showed Danny my cukaracha shirt. He wasn’t impressed, he still likes his shirt better.

Kids, I love you and cherish every moment we spend together.

This afternoon, Peggy called her son to wish him a happy father’s day. She reached him in a car on Interstate 65, eighty miles south of Indianapolis. He is on his way home from vintage drag races in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I spoke with Larry and got a first hand account of the day at the races.

It rained this afternoon, and that kept us in the house. Tonight, our Concerts on the Green begin with a SInatra Impersonator.  If it is not rained out, the program should be very good.

How much more could a father-grandfather ask for? I’m not sure my  heart can take any more excitement.

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