tomatoes

Rain...albeit short lived for today.  We really needed it.  Lawns are still so cooked that they will not come alive until next season. 

Personally, i need more balancing exercises.  On uneven surfaces I am unsteady and unsure.  If it's flat, I am fine.

Tomatoes are prolific and ripening.  Tried some different varieties this year in that I have located a better growing spot.  Flavors are still tomatoey but slightly stronger.

It's  a quiet Sunday and we are not moving too fast Harry is lounging on the sofa, contented.  I am munching on a bagel and cream cheese.  We will visit Shannon in the afternoon.  

Trying to deal wth my addiction to screens

and devices.  I doom scroll like a teenager, only pausing for a moment on each image and reading the headlines of each entry, then moving on over and over and over ultimately wasting hours of time gaining no satisfaction for my efforts.  

We have this cat Simon that shuttles between the two floors.  He is friendly to me in the morning when I am tying my shoes.  It is his focus to escape into the attached garage, always at the door ready to run out.  Today taking out the trash, I closed the door but left I ajar.  Out he pushed an under the vehicle in its spot.  I am not crawling under the car.  What he really wants is to climb onto the platform that was in the house.  He ripped it up and made an ongoing mess.  He was perched op there and did not want to leave.  Claws and teeth out,  he was not to be extricated.  Grabbed some gloves and fought him off his position; an exciting morning.

 

Transition

This has been a period of transition.  First, we were gifted a car by my lovely sister and her husband.  Our dentist lost his youngest son. I cannot get over how much that family's life has been altered.  We went to a lovely party in the neighborhood last Saturday. Yesterday we went to a celebration for a good friend from Oxford Towers given by the hospice organization in his behalf.  He is not dying, but slipping physically and mentally.  This was a proclamation of his humanity echoed by his family and friends in the yard of his daughter.  Judy and I with Mike and Bill along with his hospice team were present.  It was a warm, sunny day and truly quite pleasant.  Finally, we learned that our old friend Calvin Edwards also from Oxford passed on suddenly.  He was always of good humor and loved by many of the residents.  Changes can be difficult to handle.

Going to a HS graduation party for you great nephew Jack today,  Haven't seen this part of the family in a while.  I remember he and his older brothers when they were little boys.  His mom Kelly is my god daughter and his dad Scott is the guy that missed his Batchelor party to take Judy to the hospital when I was car jacked.  It was a tough day. That evening, Kelly's dad died. 

I can't stand talking about or even thinking about politics at this point, so disillusioned by the whole process.  The bashing ads in the media are mundane and boring and non stop.  Sick of it.

Sorry a little rambling today

 

Memorable week

 

We had a memorable week.  There was a death to be mourned, a gathering of friends and a visit with Shannon.  I cannot escape the thoughts that still resonate with me.  A man I know well lost a son, a best buddy and confidant.  This guy had a pretty good life from my estimation, loving family, grandchildren and pretty good health.  To see him weeping and crushed surrounded by his family and friends is uncharacteristic of his usual calm and engaging manner.  To have your youngest taken from you is such a bitter surprise.  My thoughts of him still stay.

I am reminded that life is a series of fleeting moments and tomorrows are not guaranteed.  This family will be forever changed but will carry on.  

Our wonderful neighbors threw their annual summer bash this year with a live band, lots of food and friendship.  I am so pleased to be invited.  Brought cookies and was told they were asked about.  Shannon came and had marvelous time will the eats and the music

Christopher, one of her housemates had a birthday party too.  We attended at the home of his mother.  Again more good eats and company.  I got to interact with folks and have a great time.  

Today having coffee with Rose and Janine at Mother Handsome.  It's been awhile.  Lots of catching up to do.  

Saw an inspiring film on Netflix last night.  From 2024, called Ordinary Angels. This is a true story  taking place in Louisville.  Worth a watch.  

(Judy and Shannon at Christopher's party)

Harry has eaten

Harry has eaten.  It's before 7 o'clock.  It's a very cool morning.  My tomatoes are still green but turning slowly some other color.  I am growing impatient about it.   Judy is going with Shannon for her official wheelchair fitting this morning. More meetings will be required.  I am going to breakfast with my cronies at The Avenue.  Harry has noticed me from the couch.  He is getting old and fearful in his age like someone suffering from dementia.     Buzzing summer flies send him into a panic and into his crate.  The slightest animal sound enrage him into a barking tirade. 

We went to a birthday party for Christopher, one of Shannon's housemates.  He is turning 38.  The event was held at his mother's house which is quite near us about 10 minutes away.  He is a nice young man, but a little bossy.  Dear Anthony is like his older brother.  They fight and argue like brothers do.  It's a lovely home, in a sprawling ranch style with a kidney shaped pool in the back.  Food was good and the company was good.  Anthony brought Shannon and David who ate up a storm.

It's the next day and a cool morning.  Being old with lots of time on my hands, I have tine to contemplate the world around me.  Much of that time I spend thinking about where  do I belong.  Where do I fit?  Through many generations society has separated us into groups, some based on age, ethnicity, on racial backgrounds, on sexual preferences.  These groupings don't often cross paths except in the workplace.  We rarely reveal our true selves.  There are conversations that are not held because everyone is too uncomfortable.  Revealing the truth has historic pains that are kept hidden.  Can we be friends without being truthful?  I do ponder that question.

new bridge

So we have a new bridge between Canada and the United States.  It's being named after a legendary Hockey player from Ottawa Ontario that made his name in Detroit playing for the Red Wings.  its a fitting name for an international bridge between our two countries that have had friendly and compatible relations for about 100 years.  We have always gotten along, Detroiters going to Windsor ON and vice versa.  We travel to their more cosmopolitan cities like Toronto to eat the food and see the sights.  Judy and I did our honeymoon trip there.  It's fitting that an international bridge should be named after an international guy playing a sport both countries embrace, at least in this region.

On the eve of its opening, our dear leader is imposing 50 percent tariffs on Canadian goods stating that their trade policies treat our country unfairly.  The owner and operator of the competing bridge, the Ambassador,  contributed handsomely to this administration's last campaign.  The new span will cost them revenue. 

In my younger days, I worked for his dad Matty at Central Transport and was around when the purchase was made. Matt Moroun, the current company president was a toddler wandering around the office when I worked there.  It was the seventies.  Hair was long and music was loud.  We had closeted gay men in our department that became my close friends.  

I hope this edifice opens as planned later this month. The region needs this crossing for ease of trade

Slightly cooler today.  Off for a walk and Trader Joes for supplies. 

Clyde Ohio

Thanks to the kindness of my sister and her husband John, we took delivery of a vehicle yesterday.  I am still trying to wrap my head around the enormity of this act.  

This is us on the front approach of their home in Clyde, OH, John's boyhood home.  This little town is the sister city to Fremont OH which is the home of Rutherford B. Hayes the 19th president of the US in the post Reconstruction phase of history.  The impact of this gift is overwhelming.  It gives us back our freedom which was really altered by the loss of the other car.  

So we go to these little towns in the sunshine and the calmness of the outdoors. It smells good. People are friendly. There are no sirens blaring up and down the streets.  Everybody knows everyone else.  Generations intertwine.  You buy the corn from this stand rather than the other because the soil is better on one side of the road.  They have these large. onions called candy onions.  The prices for the produce might be a little higher than at Meijers, but these folks need to make a living.  Their hands planted and harvested the crops and put them in the boxes.  

It's a place where you can understand that folks come back to.  Offspring go off to college, make a living and return.

Son Jonathan did an ad for Grand Rapids Community College promoting work in the trades, his being HVAC.  A pretty snappy photo I think.  Got the surprise this this morning.  He has his mother's good looks.

try this again

Out walking before the heat comes in today, listening to the Beach Boys and thinking of my mis spent youth.  We all wanted to be on the sunny sands and to be attractive to girls with long flowing blonde hair.  Before sunscreen, we were all working on our tans in backyards listening to Fun,Fun, Fun and She Loves You on our transistor radios.  Music of our day reminds us we were young once and had aspirations.  The music still sounds good.  Every generation I think  has a similar experience.

We lost Joyce a few days ago. She is seated second from the left. A woman with NYC origins, as tough as nails, never holding back on her opinions.  She was Judy's favorite sparing partner.  Neither would shy away, each always ready to throw it back in each others face and then laugh like hell.  Joyce loved Harry our dog and he loved her. We all lived together at Oxford Towers for about 3 years. 

Bea from somewhere in Mass, was cut from the same cloth, not suffering fools kindly.  98 lbs. soaking wet supported by a fancy walker, she and Joyce were full of routines, always looking put together.  She left us a couple of months back,  reaching 97.

Heat is building up for the day moving to almost 100 degrees.  Us old people need to stay hydrated and drink even when not thirsty.  

Do your best to stay cool today.