Day 54-SIP-Talk To Me

Posted on 11/05/2020 by Grumpa Joe

Today, the thought occurred to me what will I title my posts after COVID-19 is dead? Then the opposite thought came to mind, what if COVID-19 is never gone? Will I still be using a day count to express the stay in place era? All of this is me trying to avoid the future. Why do we fear the future? Because we don’t know what it holds. I was trained to list my greatest fear and below that form two columns. In the first list all the things that can happen to me if the fear is realized. In the second column answer what is the worst thing that can happen to you if that fear comes to pass? The idea, is that if we analyze our fears they won’t be as scary as they were when we didn’t know what the outcome could be. In the case of COVID-19 the worst thing I fear is death. What is the worst thing that can happen if I die? What can be worse than dying of COVID-19, dying of old age. Dying is dying and it is something I have to accept whether I like it or not. At my age dying is imminent. I don’t spend my days thinking about dying, so why would I be afraid of dying from COVID-19? As my mother always told me, you have to die from something.

Yesterday, Mother’s Day frittered away in total waste. The only great activity I managed was a Zoom meeting with all of my kids and grandkids. Surprise, surprise all of them appeared before me except one who is in an essential job and had to work. Poor kid, he is a chef in a nursing home and well, we old folks love to eat.

This was the first time I used the Zoom service with my clan. It was nice to gather and all talk at once and try to make something out of the conversation, then everyone realizes that we are just making noise and then we all stop simultaneously, and then there is deathly silence. Eventually, one of us would reinitiate a conversation and the whole thing got cooking once again. In the beginning my second grand daughter was not there, she was sleeping since she works nights at her hospital. Later she joined us as she prepped for work. She is also an essential worker, a nurse. Her mother the same, but she had a day off, her father the same, but he is now working from his house. My oldest son is also considered essential since he is an engineer in a company that makes laboratory equipment to analyze stuff. He has to go into the factory everyday.

One of the funniest parts of the meeting was the show the dogs put on. Once a family sat on a couch they were joined by pets who felt they were being left out. Number three grandson gave us a cello concert and was accompanied by the bellow of his pet beagle. We all laughed. The beagle continued to howl until the concert ended.

We lasted this way for 90 minutes and then I decided it was time to call it quits, but not before getting agreement from all that this will be a good thing to do again on a regular basis. I will set up the meetings and send the notices with the links to join.

My son-in-law sent me a text with a picture of my daughter and grand daughter placing a rose on the grave of my first wife. Nice, I thought, even I don’t do that. Every time I go to the cemetery to visit the girls I ask myself just what do I accomplish by coming here? I visit, I trim the grass around her stone, I pray, and I speak to her as if we were sitting together at home. I have a habit of talking to her every day as if we were side by side. In fact, I do that daily with both wives. Sometimes, we talk individually, and sometimes we are a trio. Weird? I don’t need the cemetery to make that happen. I make it happen where the hell ever I happen to be when the conversation begins. The thing I hate the most about these talks is that I am the only one speaking. In life these ladies were quite loquacious. I had so many years of it that I have become accustomed to hearing a woman speaking to me and now that I am alone the silence often drives me nuts.

I have to end this now because it is time to talk with Barb and Peg.

‘If you can hear me, Larry Gligstein, please send a text to 555-703-7193

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Happy Mother’s Day Girls

Posted on 11/05/2014 by Grumpa Joe

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Andy Rooney’s thoughts on women over forty, Do you agree with him?:

“As I grow in age, I value women who are over forty most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

A woman over forty will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, “What are you thinking?” She doesn’t care what you think.
If a woman over forty doesn’t want to watch the game, she doesn’t sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And, it’s usually something more interesting.
A woman over forty knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of forty give a hoot what you might think about her or what she’s doing.
Women over forty are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won’t hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.
Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it’s like to be unappreciated.
A woman over forty has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because she doesn’t trust the guy with other women.

Women over forty couldn’t care less if you’re attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won’t betray her.
Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over forty. They always know.
A woman over forty looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not true of younger women. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over forty is far sexier than her younger counterpart.
Older women are forthright and honest. They’ll tell you right off if you are a jerk, if you are acting like one! You don’t ever have to wonder where you stand with her.
Yes, we praise women over forty for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it’s not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman of forty-plus, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some twenty-two-year-old waitress.
Ladies, I apologize.
For all those men who say, “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free,” here’s an update for you. Now 80 percent of women are against marriage, why? Because women realize it’s not worth buying an entire pig, just to get a little sausage.”

 

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Baby Bugs Takes Out the Lobelia

Posted on 09/06/2011 by Grumpa Joe

Fictional characters on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Image via Wikipedia

On Mother’s Day Grumpa Joe’s grandkids spotted a big fat wabbit building a nest under the dwarf pine tree. Grumpa Joe’s grandson Ben looked into his eyes and asked him not to harm the bunny. As tempting as it is to trap the little ba____d, Grumpa can not do it. A promise to a grandson is like a marriage oath. It is not taken lightly.

About two weeks after the wabbit spotting, Grumpa Joe spent a day pulling weeds. He yanked a big one from the base of the dwarf pine. A furry little creäture with long ears jumped out of a small hole, and ran for his life.

Since then, Baby Bugs hops around the garden to different places, always chomping on some greenery. This week, however, Baby Bugs found the Lobelia flowers. His ancestors took out the Lobelia last year in a blatant act of terrorism not seen before in the garden. Is it a wabbit thing, or does Lobelia taste like chicken’?

Today, Grumpa Joe spent a couple of hours building a new wabbit barrier that will be more effective than the 2010 experiment.

The 2011 Monet Vision will not become reality without a streak of royal blue accenting the pond. If this barrier fails, Grumpa will use more drastic measures to convince Baby Bugs to leave the yard.

“Don’t worry Ben, Grumpa won’t hurt him, . . . YET.”

Lobelia, a Basic Color in the 2011 Monet Vision is a favorite of Wabbits

The New Wabbit Barrier Dome

Eighteen Feet of Royal Blue Lobelia Highlights the Pond

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Filed under: Garden, Gardening, Pond, Wabbit Wars | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Happy Mother’s Day

Posted on 09/05/2010 by Grumpa Joe

Here is a piece of wisdom sent to me by a good friend. Have a happy Mother’s Day.

 

WHAT I OWE MY MOTHER: 


1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
‘If you’re going to kill each other, do it outside. I 
just finished cleaning.’ 2. My mother taught me RELIGION .
‘You better pray that this will come out of the carpet.’

 
3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL 
‘If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!’

 
4. My mother taught me LOGIC .
‘ Because I said so, that’s why.’

 
5.My mother taught me MORE LOGIC .
‘If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, 
you’re not going to the store with me.’ 

 
6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
‘Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident.’ 

 
7. My mother taught me IRONY.
‘Keep crying, and I’ll give you something to cry 
about.’

 
8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
‘Shut your mouth and eat your supper.’ 

 
9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM .
‘Will you look at that dirt on the back of your 
neck!’

 
10. My mother taught me about STAMINA 
‘You’ll sit there until all that SOUP is gone.’

 
11. My mother taught me about WEATHER ..
‘This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.’

 
12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY 
‘If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times. Don’t exaggerate!’

 
13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE .
‘I brought you into this world, and I can take you 
out.’ 

 
14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION.
‘Stop acting like your father!’

 
15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
‘There are millions of less fortunate children in 
this world who don’t have wonderful parents like you do..’ 

 
16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
‘Just wait until we get home.’

 
17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING .
‘You are going to get it when you get home!’

 
18. 
My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
‘If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they are going 
to get stuck that way.’

 
19. My mother taught me ESP .
‘Put your sweater on; don’t you think I know when you are cold?’

 
20. My mother taught me HUMOUR .
‘When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me..’

 
21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN 
ADULT .
‘If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow 
up.’ 

 
22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
‘You’re just like your father.’

 
23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
‘Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?’ 

 
24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
‘When you get to be my age, you’ll understand.’

 
25. And my favorite: 
My mother taught me about JUSTICE
‘One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out 
just like you ‘

Number 25 is my all time favorite. My kids did all turn out just like me, and I couldn’t be prouder.
 

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