I Lost, I Miss, I Will, I Must

Posted on 25/09/2011 by Grumpa Joe
A Canada Goose flying at Burnaby Lake Regional...

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Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

Sometime during this past summer I lost the drive, the will, the dreams, the fantasies of living. I must recover all of it. How? With hard work, and relentless determination. With endless lists of goals, to do’s, and dreams. If I don’t, I’ll just fade away and melt into the couch while playing solitaire and listening to reality shows.

I miss the walks while shuffling my feet through piles of crinkly leaves. I miss the sights, sounds, and scents of the fresh cool air of autumn. I miss the unscheduled jaunts through the countryside burning gas, just to visit places I’ve seen so many times before. I miss driving a hundred miles to Jasper-Pulaski to spy on the Sand Hill Cranes in migration, or to the Horicon Marsh to wonder at the amazing Canada geese congregating by the thousands in preparation for their long journey south. I miss the colors of trees changing before their winter sleep. I miss hiking the horse trails of Palos. I miss writing about experiences that so affect my psyche.

I will begin the rebirth by making a list of all the things I miss so much. I will schedule regular early morning walks during the sun rise. I will pray. I will meditate. I will refresh my mind with novels. I will talk with friends. I will work my lists, and flood my mind with positive affirmations. I will chronicle the transformation.

I will. No, I must succeed, or I am Freddie the Leaf gone to fade into the earth.

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A Revolutionary Car Design Era

Posted on 20/08/2011 by Grumpa Joe
the character Fonzie from the sitcom Happy Day...

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Ford revolutionized car design in the nineteen forty-nine era. The forty nines were amazingly streamlined and beautiful. The stodgy look of the earlier designs lost favor to smooth flowing lines. The Mercury Division of Ford  hit a home run with its body style. The nineteen forty-nine through fifty-two Mercury is a favorite among hot rodders around the world. When chopped, Frenched,  and smoothed beyond its original flowing lines, the car transforms into fluid motion.

In the sit-com Happy Days the character Fonzi reminds me of a friend from my old neighborhood. The kids nick named him Dago. Dago’s  jet black hair swept back into a duck’s tail. He wore a black leather jacket and engineer boots decorated with chrome carpet tacks.  Dago became the inspiration for “The Fonz.” Dago drove a nineteen forty-nine Mercury coupé, jet black; what a car, what a character.

Recently, I had occasion to visit with Dago during a meeting of the kids from my old neighborhood in Burnside. His real name is Bob, and he is still a vibrant character with very black hair, and the same panache he had as a teen. This one is for you Bob.

My collection of Mercury’s from 1949-1952

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Share the Sacrifice, Drive an Electric Puddle Jumper

Posted on 17/08/2011 by Grumpa Joe

President Obama never ceases to amaze me with his forward thinking visions of himself. Since entering office in January 2009, he has had thirty-one months to figure out how to create jobs. He finally struck upon a job he is totally capable of handling; maybe. After January 2013, he can place himself into a nice yellow school bus to chauffeur underweight kids, saved from obesity by his darling wife Michelle, to school. His three state Magical Misery Bus Tour gives him ample opportunity to train for a new place in the private sector.

I foresee some new stimulus coming. His new buses nicknamed Stagecoach when he is aboard will need a retrofitted C5A to carry them from state to state or from country to country along with the companion twenty-four vehicles that carry his entourage. That is one big airplane order, but he will squeeze it into the military budget. Why will he need the C5A to carry Stagecoach? Simple, the thing burns too much fuel and wastes too much of his valuable golf playing time to ride it across country to give his tired old campaign speeches under the guise of “listening to out of work voters” in arena’s stacked with people who are  probably paid with food stamps to attend.

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I Love Cruise Night With Lots of 32’s and 34’s

Posted on 11/08/2011 by Grumpa Joe

There is something about nineteen thirty-two and thirty-four vintage Ford hot rods that turns me on. It must be related to the fact that those were the most predominant cars of my childhood. My dad never owned a Ford of that vintage but some of my neighbors did. Back then very few neighbors owned a car.

Maybe it is because as a lad of ten, I watched a seventeen year old kid who lived at the alley end of the block build a thirty-four three window coupé into a hot rod. He even took it to Bonneville and had a brass plaque proclaiming his ninety-three mph run. What ever it is, these cars turn me on. There is nothing more beautiful than a hot thirty-four coupé or a deuce sportster.

Here is a collection of the finest cars that visit Frankfort’s Cruise Night.

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Happy Father’s Day

Posted on 19/06/2011 by Grumpa Joe

Share with me!

Attack Cobra for Grumpa Joe's Garden by Benjamin age seven

This card is very inventive. The cobra pops out when the card is opened. Ben is also the lad who sorrowfully asked Grumpa Joe not to harm the Wabbit. He has seen the error of his ways, however, by offering a carniverous reptile to help reduce the Wabbit population.

Love from Grumpa Joe's Oldest- notice the Wabbit lurking in the corner waiting for the Lobelia to bloom.

Love from Grumpa Joe's artist Jenna Rose age seven

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