Slow Turkey

Thanksgiving Pies

Who'd thunk...

...that we'd be feeling sorry for Rudy?
     Maybe his mother never told him that folk story that ends with telling the person dying from snake venom:  "You knew it was a snake when you picked it up."

Dream---seemed so real

   I had before me a plate of mandarin orange slices.  I've always liked them, but there were too many, and I felt compelled to eat them, so I pushed them around on my plate, hoping they would disappear.

TROCHANTER---Word of the Day

  We all have them; trochanters are bony protrusions on the femur, the points where muscles of the thigh and hip attach. There are 2 trochanters, the greater trochanter and the lesser trochanter. These fractures account for about 50% of  hip fractures, are typically due to falling from standing height, and one of the risk factors is unsteady gait.  Early surgery can result in return to normalcy.  And in one recent case, the fracture was between the trochanters---Intertrochanteric Fracture.

Newly Obsolete Words

    The word "before" is no longer used by today's media, in print and on the internet. It has been replaced by "ahead of." Take note of those 2 word replacing one perfectly good word---you will see the substitution today if you take heed. Prepare for "It was the night ahead of Christmas..."

 Next utterances you don't hear anymore are partner words, word that express irritation or aggravation. The words are "darn" and "damn."  They used to be heard regularly, reflecting degrees of exasperation. They have pretty much disappeared from usage, being replaced by "friggin" and "f**kin."   The latter words roll off the tongue with much more ease.

Banana Blahs

  I keep trying. Buying bananas of different sizes, different stages of ripeness, different brands. I keep trying because I used to enjoy their flavor. But now it seems they are just tasteless pap.  I read a while ago that banana growers have been experimenting, trying to develop a banana that will grow fast and be hardy enough to endure the travails of shipping. Seems the result is a plastic banana.  So I don't think it's simply a matter of my declining sense of taste.
    There's always banana bread, of course. But come to think of it, does that really have  banana flavor either?

   

HVC 1956 Senior Trip

That's who...

   I've seen Peter Welch, Congressman from Vermont, at the investigations over the last few days. His face looked so familiar and I tried to think who he reminded me of, other than a typical Irishman, and today it came to me. Uncle Joe, who lived with us all through our childhood. The resemblance has to be all in memory though, because I don't think we have a single picture of him. I'll have to search the archives.

Day of Our Life

 " What do you remember as the best day of your life? " Typical answers are wedding day, birth of a child, moving into a new home, or even winning a lottery. Those are certainly memorable days, but what day in your entire life did you actually feel better than ever before, or since?
    I think the best day in  a person's life might seem unimportant at the time, as just another day until you look back on it. Every once in a while, I think back upon a day that might possibly have been the happiest day in our lives, speaking as a family.
 The time was Halloween night. The year was probably 1973. Dave and I and were trick or treating with our 2 young kids. We would have already stopped at Nana's house to show her and Helen and the girls the costumes, and had set out to cover the village, stopping at the Community Hall where the kids won costume prizes.But the best was yet to come.
   It was a perfect Halloween night. The weather was pleasant, with a warm breeze. We could see the dark early evening clouds looming above us, setting an eerie scene, especially if you're under the age of 7 or so.
    I waited on the sidewalk while Dave went to the house on the corner, which used to be McMahon's, with Marilyn and David who were collecting candy.There was a porch with several steps, and as they left the house, Dave picked up David, who was dressed as Batman, as was his choice at 3 years old. Dave held him in his arms, up over his head, and raced down the steps and continued on down the sidewalk and circled around and around the front yard out to the roadside. Dave was running  at top speed, and there was enough wind to cause Batman's cape, the cape Dorothy had made for him, to flow out against the wind, and the moonlight cast shadows through the darkness.
     After he was set back on the ground,  David said to me,  in all his childhood earnestness, then and in days later, that he really was flying that Halloween night, when Daddy held him up against the sky. I could only agree with him.
   I just came across a yellowed clipping of a poem that I had saved because of that memory. The scenario depicted was yet to unfold.  The poem was written by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate from 2004-2006.
                                     SPINNING
I hold my two-year old son
under his arms and start to twirl.
His feet sway away from me
and the day becomes a blur.
Everything I own is flying into space:
yard toys, sandbox, tools,
garage and house,
and, finally, the years of my life.
When we stop, my son is a grown man,
and I am very old. We stagger
back into each other's arms
one last time, two lost friends
remembering the good old days.


 

Straw Vote

I'm all for saving the oceans from plastics, but the idea of stainless steel straws makes my throat and the roof of my mouth say  Nooooo.

Worth it?

  What do Goat Yoga and Gender Reveals have in common?*
   * Add in the dog with the tail on its head.

Does Jordan even own a jacket?

Enter the Doctor

Dialog:
    Nurse to Patient: This will be your doctor. I've worked with him before. He's OK.
    Doctor, entering: I've just been reinstated. Well, not officially.
                 To Patient: Are you nervous?
   Patient:   Yes.
   Doctor to Patient: I am too. But don't worry about it. We'll figure something out."

The CMA's

  Every year I start out half-watching; the host-chat dialog seem so shallow and corny, and I don't recognize most of the singers.  Then inevitably I get drawn in with an unknown-to- me performer singing "I"ll Always Remember You Young." Since I spend most of my time now alone in memory-land, that is how I  remember those who are in my thoughts. Everybody appears in their youth.
       I see him skiing backwards, walking on his hands, leaping straight up over a broom someone held out for him, literally putting a lampshade on his head at a party in some club, dancing with a British exchange teacher with everyone else clearing the floor to watch them dance, driving way too fast too many times, driving a vintage Porsche with wires holding the floorboards in place, never needing sleep as long as there was something going on, and sleeping like a log if there wasn't.
      Then I see Willie Nelson taking the stage and trying to get through "The Rainbow Connection" without being able to breathe. I was afraid he would die right then.
     Thank heavens for Garth Brooks who appeared near the conclusion of the show with "Dive Bar," and kept me from wanting to kill myself.

There was the Quid. Where's the quo?

  Argument is that there is no wrongdoing because the attempt was thwarted, so no crime was committed. Tell that to all those guys in prison because they thought they were propositioning a young minor, but instead were talking to an adult agent of the police department. The perps never did get what they wanted. No harm was done, was it?

November 13, 2019 at 7:30 a.m.

And this was 3:00 P.M. today, 11-12-19

How cold was/ is it?

    Cold enough that the 3-day old  ice collection hasn't melted yet:I turned the pail with the frozen ice in it over 2 days ago, and it finally melted enough to slip out of the pail, so here is the molded ice. Maybe good until January thaw, if we have one.

Turkey Trauma

  When my darling kids were just that, darling, they took delight in small treasures. When I would be decorating the Christmas tree, they would spend hours playing with the small individual ornaments  their Kingston grandparents would give them each year. (I'll have to post a picture of those before said ornaments drift out of being.) 
   So it will come  as no surprise that I still have in the house this wax candle turkey, with an attached price tag of 59 Cents. Turkey probably is about 47 or 48  years old now. I don't remember buying it; Dave may have brought it home, as I didn't shop that much when the kids were really small. Turkey was a table decoration for a few weeks, and then on Thanksgiving Day, his wick was lit in honor of the day.
   "No, don't burn him!" came the horrified shouts. So here he is today.

First Snowfall

I looked out the window, in the early morning darkness,  and saw:  Yep, that's what the camera revealed;  my car was covered with snow. Now it's a coating of frozen icy snow.

Well, Somebody calls...

"Hello this is James from U.S. Auto Care. How are you? "   From where?  "How are you?  How are you?" 
  I gather if you don't disclose your condition, James hangs up.

Scam

   Kind of a different call, but one I've received several  times now.  Caller says my bank  account has already been charged $299, for some subscription service, and if I want to receive a refund, I'm to call the Resource Officer at given number. I don't know how they benefit, but I assume I'd have to give my bank acct. number. I'm not curious enough to check on it, but the caller does sound official. 

Star RX

   Cameron Mathieson is still commenting on his kidney surgery. The growth on his kidney was accidentally discovered (Synch).  Pathology said the growth was consistent with renal cell carcinoma (same wording).  He was referred for partial nephrectomy, a highly specialized surgery (same route).*  He underwent surgery using robotics (same technique).
  *Only difference was referral by the  surgeon from partial nephrectomy surgery to robotic cryo-ablation** surgeon. No big deal, Cameron, if you were candidate for that, though probably no one would be interested months later.
  **Interventional Radiology Percutaneous Renal Cryoablation

Where's Maybe?

Soetimes, I don't know where she is since she only responds when hungry.

Endless wave--Still they press on...

Despite the warnings and the threats...
11-9-19   More of the same. And there's no bait left in the trap, only the essence of peanut butter.

Harbinger 11-4-19 6:00 a.m.

She ain't alone...

When not thrilled with my company, she deliberately turns her back:

Failure to Recede

     Even though the ground is far from frozen, with temps in the 40's, the backwaters have not receded. Maybe we do "live in a swamp."
     The wind is still a'blowin' too. It never ceases to amaze that a broken-off dead branch can impale itself into the  ground, as in last pic.
      N.B.  Can't post pictures, don't know why. Some internet-age was down this morning, maybe storm-related.

Those Torrential Halloween Night Rains