My luck

The day started with a whisper of good things to come, then
came crashing down when reality hit. I awoke with the usual
grin on my face and headed to the kitchen to relate my latest
dream to the wife.

I told her I had a strange dream and she replied “what’s
new?” So I began: I was hired to paint faces on the ballons
for a big parade. She stated they did not paint the faces on
the balloons and I countered with the fact that we did in my
dream so let me continue.

I then said I had to paint a face on the biggest balloon,
Hermie the legless octopus. She laughed and mentioned I had
mispronounced “legless”. It came out something like legel
less. Since I was trying to get to the point of the dream I
told her my bad enunciation was due to having to sell my
ballet slippers as a young lad.

Starting anew I told her the part that had made me wake up
with a start. All balloon face painters were told there was as
much free coffee as we could drink. Yet when I went to get
some I was told they only had Hazelnut flavored and lattes. Oh
the humanity.

I had toiled countless hours to get Hermie’s facial expression
prefect and no just plain old black coffee! Other volunteers
seemed happy with the hot beverage choices and would not go on
strike with me. So if you ever hear a rumor that I am painting
faces on parade balloons and can’t be reached, don’t believe
it.

Althouh after several cups of plain old black coffee I can
see where some may think I over-reacted. I just won’t be
tricked again.

Enjoy the last day of November, the birth date of Mark Twain.
And remember when we go to sleep tonight we’ll wake up in
December.
Comments are always welcome.

The more I learn…

This post will not begin with “It was a dark and stormy
night”. I just got up early this morning to catch the sunrise
that wasn’t there yet. Turned out the sky looked more
dramatic before the sunrise anyway.

I had to remind myself it is November 29th while the birds
were singing and the temps were in the low 40s that early. The
grass is still green and many of the trees still have leaves
on them this late in the year.

Not complaining, just wondering what’s going to happen when
winter officially gets here. You may have noticed I add
pictures of the church steeple 3 blocks away quite often.

It is the Sacred Heart cathedral and the building that blocks
the lower part of the spire is the Sacred Heart Catholic
School. I was baptized and had my confirmation in this church
and attended the school.

This came up when I went over to Dad’s today as I mentioned
the “nunnery” was torn down. He quickly corrected me and said
it was a convent. Regardless of what it was, it is no longer
there. But what he said next took me by surprise.

The school is going to be torn down because it has three
floors and isn’t handicap accessible. Since the nuns are
gone there is nobody to teach the classes anyway. He added
that the building was used occasionally for receptions and
banquets.

I guess if I live long enough I could have fun confusing
someone and point to the parking lot where this school used
to be and say I used to go to school there. Things sure will
look different around here.

Have a great Tuesday. We’re down to three working days before
the partying begins.
Comments are always welcome.

The rose and the stars

Through the frosty nights and the just finished rainy day the
old rose bush is still holding up. We have had temperatures
down in the 20s lately and heavy rain today, yet it still
proudly blossoms. We’re going to enjoy it until it gives up
the year and await next years’ bloom.

As mentioned it rained, thunderstorms and hail were
forecast, central and northeast Iowa got tornadoes and it
was supposed to continue late into the night. Imagine my
surprise when I went to start the car so the wife could go to
work and saw stars above instead of clouds.

There were so many stars in the sky the trees hardly had room
to breathe. The Heavens looked decorated for Christmas mixed
with the tree branches.

Even where there were no trees the sky shined with all the
stars that Heaven could hold. If felt like God was telling us
this was gift for putting up with the nasty weather. Pictures
don’t do it justice, but here are a few more to help you
visualize the sight.

I’m still smiling, but have to go in search of a pizza that
has my name on it. Enjoy the rest of our Monday as it means we
now only have four working days left this week.
Comments are always welcome.

Lonely river

We missed history in the making yesterday and we’re ok with
that. We have had a paddlewheel riverboat casino on our
riverfront for around 25 years and yesterday it departed for
Memphis.

At the exact time the boat left our riverfront we were
sitting down to a belated Thanksgiving meal with the wife’s
family. One other thing that stopped me from getting pictures
of the event was the fact that there were too many delays for
my patient quota.

Said riverboat was supposed to leave at 2 pm on Friday, which
was pushed back to 8 pm, which was pushed back to some time
Saturday awaiting a Coast Guard inspection. So we watched it
on the TV news. We’d insert a picture here but as we didn’t
see it leaving we didn’t get one.

The boat is called the Treble Clef and was purchased by
Memphis Riverboats whose owner stated it would be used for an
entertainment venue. Plans for the boat in Memphis are private
parties, concerts, and other such events.

Since I don’t gamble I don’t know alot about gambling boats.
When the whole thing started over 25 years ago gaming boats
had to cruise before the gambling could start, and there were
bet limits and sticter rules. That changed to the boat could
be docked while gambling occured and then the bet limit was
lifted.

In June of this year the $100 million Rhytm City Casino went
land based and the boat was history waiting to happen. So now
on our little portion of the east coast of Iowa, Davenport has
no gambling boat on the riverfront.

And even though I don’t gamble I’ll miss it. You just don’t
get to see that many sternwheelers anymore here. But the meal
was great and I got some butterscotch pie with whipped cream
so I don’t feel bad about missing the last chance to take a
look.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and we hope it’s been a good
one.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

A friend shared the following with us and it put a grin on
our faces so we’ll share it with you.

A Catholic Priest, a Baptist Preacher and a Rabbi all served as Chaplains to the students of Northern Michigan University at Marquette in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They would get together two or three times a week for coffee and to talk shop.
One day, someone made the comment that preaching to people isn’t really all that hard, a real challenge would be to preach to a bear. One thing led to another, and they decided to do an experiment. They would all go out into the woods, find a bear, preach to it, and attempt to convert it to their religion. Seven days later, they all came together to discuss their experiences.

Father Flannery, who had his arm in a sling, was on crutches, and had various bandages on his body and limbs, went first. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I went into the woods to find me a bear. And when I found him, I began to read to him from the Catechism. Well, that bear wanted nothing to do with me and began to slap me around. So I quickly grabbed my holy water, sprinkled him and, Holy Mary Mother of God, he became as gentle as a lamb. The Bishop is coming out next week to give him first communion and confirmation.’

Reverend Billy Bob, the Baptist, spoke next. He was in a wheelchair, had one arm and both legs in casts, and had an IV drip. In his best fire-and-brimstone oratory, he exclaimed, ‘WELL, brothers, you KNOW that we Baptists don’t sprinkle! I went out and I FOUND me a bear. And then I began to read to my bear from God’s HOLY WORD! But that bear wanted nothing to do with me. So I took HOLD of him and we began to wrestle. We wrestled down one hill, UP another and DOWN another until we came to a creek. So I quickly DUNKED him and BAPTIZED his hairy soul. And just like you said, he became as gentle as a lamb. We spent the rest of the day praising Jesus. Hallelujah!

The Priest and the Reverend both looked down at the Rabbi, who was lying in a hospital bed. He was in a body cast and traction with IVs and monitors running in and out of him. He was in really bad shape. The Rabbi looked up and said: “Looking back on it, circumcision may not have been the best way to start.

Quick note

As the sun sets on another day here on the east coast of Iowa
we are relaxing until life smacks us with the next thing on
the list. I can now honestly say that if I don’t see another
turkey until next November I’d be fine. I also had my green
olive quota for the year.

The weather here today was in the mid-fifties until time got
closer to sundown. The blue sky, including the clouds, was a
welcome break from the last few days. Some were wondering if
we’d even see the sun again before June.

Colors in the sky get strange the closer one gets to sun
down and at times even look almost artistic. How can you see
sights like this and not believe in God?

Since we’re in for a few more warm days I’ll have to eat
twice as much to get my strength up. I’m that committed to
getting things down that I will make this sacrifice. And if
things don’t get done as I hope I can blame it on overeating.

We will do a Sunday snicker a little later today. Enjoy the
rest of your Saturday.
Comments are always welcome.

A short recap

We survived another Thanksgiving while only a few pictures
got taken. I almost made it out the door before the cameras
came out but had to wait for the woman who follows me around.
At least it was a group shot.

The sky on our portion of the east coast of Iowa has been a
grey that most would call depressing, yet bracing. Tomorrow
sunshine is promised by those who predict the weather, and we
hope they’re right.

Tomorrow we will have turkey and all the trimmings with some
of the wifes family and that should mean enough turkey to
last until next Thanksgiving. We don’t know how black Friday
went today because we don’t participate in that riot. It makes
no sense to me to get up early, stand in line for hours in the
cold, and perhaps buy something marked down to what it should
cost.

Soon Christmas will be here and holidays of other religions,
but we still say Christmas because we’re Christians. We are
still debating putting up the tree, but will put the string of
musical lights that play a passing resemblence to Christmas
carols and a small glass nativity set.

And we hope everyone is doing great today and lost weight
after the feast. Until next time, keep the shiny side up this
winter, keep warm if it’s cold where you’re at, or cool if
it’s hot. We’ll get back to regular posting soon.
Comments are always welcome.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing all a Happy Thanksgiving and hoping you can be with
friends and family. If you’re travelling, be careful, if not
stay safe.

We are thankful for all those in our lives, for those who
give up their Thanksgiving so we may be safe and healthy, and
those in the Military who cannot make it home for the holiday.
We are thankful for those we have known who are longer with
us as we feast on this holiday for we thought enough of them
to mourn their passing, remember their life, and miss them
daily. We are blessed.

Enjoy, and if have traditions please keep them up. Be nice to
your enemies as it keeps them confused, and my your cares be
none.
Comments are always welcome.

Stuck

We’re going to touch on two things that have stuck in our
craw and hope you bear with us. The first is the fact that on
this day in 1963, president John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
When news broke the country cried and was glued to their TVs
to get the latest news.

Schools were dismissed when the news was confirmed and people
gathered in disbelief. Many of us think that he was the last
American Democrat president. By that we mean he thought the
people run the government, higher taxes were not the answer for
prosperity, and he supported the 2nd Amendment.

And the second thing you ask? The Dakota Access Pipeline
protest. Since we hardly ever follow the drive-by media and
their take on things we have our own thoughts. American
Indians are protesting said pipeline that would destroy their
burial grounds and the pipeline would run beneath their water
drinking water source, Lake Oahe.

Having heard both sides of the argument we stand with the
Indians and here’s why. Those who say the pipeline doesn’t run
through the reservation so there are no “sacred grounds” are
like a peg leg pirate tightrope walker. It’s possible, but not
believable. Many forget this entire country once belonged to the
Indians until our ancestors forced them onto reservations.
One would imagine there are Indian burial grounds all over.

What we did hear from the media is the protestors are violent
and force was necessary. Yes there are some burned out cars on
the road, but yet we wonder this. If state and federal law
enforcement are on one side of the road why do they have to
fire rubber bullets while aiming for head shots and spray them
with water cannons in frigid temperatures?

Several people, including a 13 year old girl were shot in the
face, 167 people had suffered injuries, seven had to be
hospitalized, a tribal elder went into cardiac arrest, and one
woman may lose her arm because of a percussion grenade.

Drive by media keeps saying that not all the protestors are
of Indian descent and miss the point. While it is true these
people are joining the Standing Rock Sioux, media doesn’t
mention the fact that the new arrivals are veterans, patriots,
and other like minded people who don’t like peoples’ rights
trampled on.

Yet those mad that Trump won and Black Lives Matter block
roads, beat Trump voters, and loot with little consequence. If
these rioters were treated like the North Dakota protestors
are being treated we wonder how those protesters would react.

Links are supplied for those who need to check everything on
the internet and this post may be slightly biased, but I am
an American who is part Indian.
Comments are always welcome.

Based on a true story

The wife and I have been having a discussion for some time
and neither of us would back down on where we stood on the
issue. After what seems like years of having this same
debate I decided to set her straight today.

While the wife has the right to be wrong, a guy can only take
so much. Since I’ve been letting my face hair grow out the
wife doesn’t hesitate to tell me I am going grey and look like
I just got out of prison. Of course she also tells me my
driver’s license picture looks like a mug shot.

I can’t help the last part because I was born with this face,
but as to the former I totally disagree. Old hot rodders don’t
do grey, we do chrome. And since chrome used to make our cars
look classier it couldn’t hurt my face. I’ll be shaving later.

This is due to the fact that just as I remember cars that
looked good with the chrome left on, some looked better with
the chrome removed. Since it got cold out anyway I have
decided to pursue another avenue to improve my looks. I’m just
going to buy a balaclava.

Enjoy our Monday, it’s the last one before Thanksgiving. The
good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, we’ll all make it
through the holiday unscathed.
Comments are always welcome.