Good send off

We know this is late and I’m getting older. Just a matter of I overslept and didn’t realize how late it was until some chores were done. The wife is in her final resting place, so I guess I got too relaxed and slept like normal people. We thought the service, and everything went well.

My brother rode with me to the cemetery, and we had something happen we hadn’t seen before. A big brown praying mantis was on the side of the car and as we started moving and climbed up the drivers side window. Thought no more about until services there were finished and we left to go to a lunch we had catered.

When we got back to the car, the praying mantis was on top and giving us a look that said, ‘let’s cruise’. And when we got back to the mortuary for the lunch the critter was still on top of the car! One of the mortuary employees, who was in the vehicle in front of us, asked if we knew we had a praying mantis on the car the entire time.

Another interesting thing came at the end of services in the chapel. After the preacher had finished and sat down the song ‘Elvira’ came through the speakers and there was a mixture of giggles and gasps as the wife’s favorite song played to end the service.

We’d like to thank all the friends and family who showed up as it meant a lot to us. Enjoy our Tuesday as a well-rested me is going to

The dream

picture from Hemmings

I awoke from a dream so real this morning I could smell the cigarette
smoke and stale beer. In the dream three of us were bar hopping in a 1952 Willys Aero Ace as shown above. Among those of us in the Willys, and drinking, I was the only one still alive.

By that I mean my Mom, brother, and myself, decided to take a
totally trashed Willys that rode like it had three square wheels
and visit some dives with honkeytonk jukeboxes. Said bars even had
the jar of pickled boiled eggs sitting in front of the taps.

For some reason I was designated driver of the wayward Willys and
both the beer and peanuts tasted stale. We started at a skid row bar
where I made sure to get cigarettes out of the machine to ensure I
didn’t run out.

Then the dream got strange. At least to me it got stranger than
drinking with two dead relatives and driving a car none of us ever
had, but I digress. We ended up at a place that had the shortest bar
we’d ever seen. It was long enough for four bar stools and filled
up as soon as the three of us sat down.

The juke box was full of songs by Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline, Lefty
Frizzell, Hank Williams, and more. But this bar entered the Twilight
Zone when we noticed the ‘bottomless’ beer glasses. No matter how
long you sipped your beer the glass never got empty and the beer
stayed cold.

That’s when I woke up and realized it was just a dream. After all,
I haven’t had a beer since 1987! But it was good to spend time with
Mom and John again even if it wasn’t real.

Enjoy our Saturday. Now for more coffee and leftover pizza.
Comments are always welcome.

A few thoughts

Today we’ll say our final goodbyes to Dad. Not sure what to expect
but will find out. Do know there will be no more stories and a few
less laughs in the mornings. So thought I’d share a few here.

Dad was born on the farm near a town of about 50 people and an old
country doctor. In most cases this doctors’ idea of pain management
didn’t involve anesthesia. This doc would just hand you a leather
belt and tell you to bite down on it until he done.

Of course through the years we heard the story of how he had to walk
through snow six feet high, uphill both ways, to school. Sometimes
the distance or snow height varied but it was always uphill both
ways.

Besides breaking out with a few bars of ‘April Rain’ we’d hear tales
that started with his mother called him son because he was so bright.
And when discipline was needed he used an old leather strop. Young
folks may not get that one.

Dad was proud to be member of the church, the VFW, and the American Legion. Until later in life he didn’t talk about his time in the Navy during WW II, but then opened up to my brother and myself. We found out he was in Japan when the peace agreement was signed.

Our grandfather, Dad’s Dad, lived to be 94 and turned 18 in the late
1800s. Grandpa always said tractors were a fad and kept horses just
in case the tractor broke down.

Enjoy our Friday as it means the weekend is here. Now for some
coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Should be set

Yesterday we went out to the mortuary for final arrangements and as
usual I didn’t read the sign on the door. It said something like ‘You
must wear a mask to enter the building’, and I didn’t. As I looked
around everyone else had a mask on except me.

The only thing I could think of was that I bet they felt silly
wearing masks to such a small meeting. The owner running said meeting didn’t mention the fact I was mask less either. The meeting wasn’t take yet one thing was certain.

All the hub-bub about the virus is making things crazy. Churches now
limit the number of people who can attend a funeral mass and expect
social distancing! Lord love a duck! Can’t handle much more of that
kind of nonsense.

Due to the pandemic visitation will be at a church annex for an
hour before the funeral services in the church. Doesn’t seem right to
this old redneck but I guess we have to follow the rules.

Did find out the coroner said Dad didn’t suffer and death was
instantaneous. So now we wait until Friday for the services, we hope.
Still can’t see why a big blow out is out of the question but respect
the feelings of those who don’t agree.

Since we knew the owner of the funeral home talk got around to cars
and he asked if the wife and I still had our old cars. Think he was
surprised when we said no as he still has his Model T. Makes me wonder why time flies as a rule but when things like this happen it slows to a crawl.

Not asking for sympathy or condolences, just trying to explain the
‘new’ normal since the virus scare.

Enjoy our Wednesday. Now for more coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

We need rainy days too

Mid-morning yesterday got a call from brother and the hair on the
back of the neck was tingling before I even picked up the phone. Then
he asked “are you sitting down?”, and I knew. He went on to say Dad
had died. Yes, he was 95 yet still taken too soon.

The Antique Farmer is on a John Deere B in Heaven now and policing
the area for litter. So in his honor we’d like to share his favorite
poem/song. ‘April Rain’ is a poem written by Robert Loveman-

It isn’t raining rain to me,
It’s raining daffodils;
In every dimpled drop I see
Wild flowers on the hills.
The clouds of grey engulf the day
And overwhelm the town —
It isn’t raining rain to me,
It’s raining roses down.

It isn’t raining rain to me,
But fields of clover bloom
Where any buccaneering bee
May find a bed and room.
A health unto the happy,
A fig for him who frets —
It isn’t raining rain to me,
It’s raining violets.

Flower Rain is a song written by Edwin Schneider with words by
Robert Loveman published in 1908-

It is not raining rain to me,
it’s raining daffodils,
In ev’ry dimpled drop I see
Wild flowers on the hills.
The clouds of grey engulf the day
And overwhelm the town;
It is not raining rain to me,
It’s raining roses down.
It is not raining rain to me,
But fields of clover bloom,
Where any buccaneering bee
Can find a bed room.
It is not raining rain to me,
It’s raining daffodils,
In every dimpled drop I see
Wild flowers on the hills.
A health unto the happy
A fig for him who frets!
It is not raining rain to me,
it’s raining violets!

We’ll let him choose his favorite. I know the song is running through
may head and I’m smiling thinking about it.

What a visit!

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Went over to visit Dad yesterday a little apprehensive about how
he was doing. He was feeling a lot better and we were both smiling
when I left. While his short term memory is almost gone, he does
remember things that happened years ago.

He asked if a friend was still living who used to take a roll of
nickels to the Casino. When his roll of nickels was in the slot
machine he’d leave. The Casino wasn’t going to get all his money! And
he has passed away.

He asked about my old drinking buddy who would walk into a bar and shout “anybody in here Wanna fight?” If anyone said yes they’d step outside and get it on. Far as I know he moved out of state. We still remain friends even though I quit drinking in 1987.

Then he told the story of a neighbor in the old neighborhood. Lived
across the street from the folks and raised chickens for eggs. The
guy thought he’d pull a prank and put a live chicken on the enclosed
porch. When the neighbor came around later he was surprised the
chicken was gone.

When said neighbor asked what happened to the chicken, Dad said ‘we ate it’. Dad couldn’t believe the guy didn’t think he knew what to do with a chicken. Dad said, just wrung its neck, plucked it, and ate it. The Antique Farmer wasn’t an antique then, but it was known he did farm.

Then it was time to leave so we said our goodbyes as he sank back
in his recliner with a big smile on his face. Times like these will
be remembered until I’m gone.

Enjoy our Thursday as it’s the only one we get this week. Now I
need more coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

When it rains…

Went over to visit Dad yesterday and that started what turned out
to be a bad day. When Dad answered the door he said he didn’t feel so hot. Nothing new there, he says that every time I go over. So I made coffee while he had a donut and we sat down to chat.

Then he said ‘your sister wants to put me in assisted living’. I
asked him why, and like a small child, he hung his head and said
that he missed the toilet when he went in to pee. So I told him
that happens to best of us.

When I left he still said he didn’t feel so hot and I got a little
worried, He added that he didn’t want to go to a nursing home and I
assured him that wasn’t going to happen. So I called my brother to
get the facts.

Then when I got home my desktop decided to go FUBAR on me and
Windows 7 crashed again. After being up most the night the computer
is back up and when I can think straighter I may look into an
upgrade of the operating system.

So yesterday was not my favorite day this week. After the talk with
my brother, today is looking a lot better. Hopefully the computer
will work for a while again and Dads problems will get better. Of
course at 95 years old a lot can go wrong.

Sorry for delay in posting, but yesterday whooped my ass. Glad that
doesn’t happen very often.

Wishing everyone a great Thursday. Now I need more coffee to get
me through today.
Comments are always welcome.

On the sea again

Went over to visit Dad this morning and he was in a talking mood.
Usually it’s a good day if he talks in spurts of more than two
sylables. He talked so much he had to stop and catch his breath.
That doesn’t happen often.

He said his ship was in the port when the peace pact with Japan
was signed to end WW I. The ship all the dignitaries were on was
visible from the deck of his ship.

Then he went on about star shells being fired out of the big guns
and other things concerning the guns. And he mentioned he crossed
the Atlantic Ocean three times. Not sure how that worked as his
memory isn’t what it used to me, but he stuck with three times.

We talked about the 4th of July and how it has gotten so noisy
now and his neighbor sneaking outside to set off firecrackers
at odd hours. We were both in good spirits when I left and I was
smiling long after I got back home.

So I let my guard down, sat on the couch after my return, and
promptly nodded off. This heat just doesn’t agree with me anymore.
After an hour nap I woke up hungry and thought it a little early
for pizza.

So I had 2 cheeseburgers thinking it would be healthier than what
usually makes it to my stomach. I even had them on toasted wheat
bread instead of a bun. Can’t get much healthier than that. Not sure
how long I can keep eating healthy, but hear it’s good for us.

Enjoy the rest of our Wednesday. Now I need more coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Was going crazy, came back

Time to admit I’ve been sweating bullets this week as I ordered a
ring from a jeweler in New York, the wifes birthday is today, and it
wasn’t here yet. Until today. Since the wife likes rose gold thought
something made with that would be nice.

Found a ring that I thought she’d like and started messaging said
jeweler found out 18K rose gold is 75% gold, 22.25% copper, and
2.75% silver. It is sometimes called Russian Gold.

I was still in over my head but figured the copper must be what
gives the gold its reddish tint. At first sight, the one I picked
reminded me of an old Art Deco era DeLahaye. All swoops and swirls
that supposedly represented an eternal love knot.

Not taking into account what the Covid-19 has done to shipping I
ordered the ring in mid-June thinking that was plenty of time to
get here by today. I got lucky.

And that’s how this old fart from Iowa got the wife a gift. It
wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t scientific, and it sure didn’t make
much sense to me, but it’s done.

When I get the wife up for work tonight a ring box will be waiting
on the kitchen table next to her coffee. And off the chance she
doesn’t like it, driving to New York would be faster than mailing
it back.

So Happy Birthday Dear, hope you like the gift. Enjoy our Tuesday
as I’m sure we will. Now I need a lot of coffee and a cheeseburger.
Comments are always welcome.

A visit and more

Went over to visit Dad today and have to say I don’t like this
whole Covid-19 response. Why? On the way I stopped at the local
donut shop to get a half dozen assorted donuts that were $5.50
before the corona virus hit. Today they were $6.99!

I realize the donut shop had to close for a few months due to the
virus, but are they trying to make all the lost monies back at once?
May just be going to the big box grocery store and saving money.

Made Dad coffee and breakfast, gave him his medicine, then we sat
and talked for a while. He was in good spirits but said his knee
hurt. Of course he says that every time I go over and I remember he
is 95 years old. I could reach that age if time counted after I was
dead.

Yet the Antique Farmer keeps plugging along and claims to be
planning his next birthday party! Believe he has a good shot of
making it. The man just enjoys celebrations and holidays that much.

Just got back in from trimming the lawn and found out a neat fact.
The battery powered weed wacker runs out of juice at the same time
I do. Have the thank the wife again for the Father’s Day gift. Too
bad the battery powered mower doesn’t do the same.

On another note, by now we’ve all probably heard the noose non-
event in Bubba Wallaces’ garage yesterday. 14 or 15 FBI agents
looked the crime scene over and decided the ‘noose’ was part of a
door pull and not actually a noose.

Then came word from California that there were 5 nooses hanging in
a local park. Turns out these were also not ‘nooses’ but some
exercise equipment put up to work out with. And when these were
found to not be ‘nooses’ the Mayor didn’t let up anyway. How much
crazier do these people need to get before we, the people, put an
stop to them?

Enjoy our Wednesday as it looks to be a good one. Now for some
coffee and leftover pizza.
Comments are always welcome.