Today I called the teacher that I had from Dec 1939 to May 1946 when I graduated from 8th grade.Her name is Lucy Monahan Hartley. She had graduated from High School the previous May and taught all 8 grades in the typical one-room red brick schoolhouse. She will be 90 years old this coming Jan 18 and sounded as lively as I remember her. We had about 20 minutes of talk and reminiscing about those long past days. I took the opportunity to tell her how important the education I got from her had been all my life. It's amazing how easily memories from 70 years ago come back, especially when they are so pleasant. Thanks Miss Lucy ,and may you have many more years of joy!

Well, the parade has come and gone! I tried to type something last night but the words just didn' t come.It"s easier now as I look at the pictures. It was a blast! The only people I recognized outside of our crowd were Mayor Jamie Cater, Police chief Smith, City councilman Dave Hetzel and of course ,Tyron Spearman, all of whom found me.
David worked past 2AM Saturday to put lights on my cart. It was in the 40's with a good breeze so it was "cool". I was so proud of our gang and I hope the little ones have good memories of it all. Maybe we can do it all again next year?? And, maybe I can
"see " it then.

Country life

This has been a wild week here on the ranch.. Tibo? the dog got ahold of something that caused internal bleding. We miss him, Thursday, my little barred hen hatched 4 chicks- all doing well. Friday morning I was sitting on the porch waiting to go to the pool and watching "Big daddy" rooster strut around the yard as thogh he owned it all. He went out of sight toward the trash can. Suddenly he let out a terrified shreik . I turned and saw him going toward the pen-not running , not walking ,not flying AS FAST AS HE COULD MOVE!, followed closely by who else but the black tomcat. Since there was no refuge at the chicken pen, Rooster turned toward the barn, still followed by Tomcat. When they reached the driveway ,Cat stopped and sat there as though nothing had happened
while Big Daddy kept going till he had a safe space to hide . Need I say that I almost hurt myself laughing?!! Ah, the joys of living at the Compound.

The Word

Those who are familiar with the wall in front of my desk will know how highly I value the word "Simplify" !!! Why should we complicate our lives with worry over the minutest details of everything? Life is too short for that. Simplify and enjoy.

Childhood??
I have sometimes been accused of actions which may border on childishness. In reply, may I repeat an often spoken idea that I am in my third childhood! First was the normal age 0-10, second was when I returned to school at age 40 with a bunch of "kids". The third era began when I passed age 70 and was told that nobody payed any attention to crazy old men
The fact that I wander around the compound with my crooked walking stick , accompanied by a black cat-I talk to the animals, cats, dogs , chickens and various other characters (I miss the cows)-I have my imaginary dog(Ralph) that only small children can see-am I crazy ?
Who cares? I enjoy life every day and hope to live long enough to dance at all my great-grand daughters weddings..Crazy?, I hope so!!

Never say never

For many years I have maintained that I did not want any pets., that the only thing I need to feed on a regular basis is a wife.
Guess What!! My day starts when I open the door to get my paper. Kitty greets me with a hearty "Meow" and climbs to the shelf where his dish is located. After a bite or two, Kitty walks me to the street to pick up the paper.
I havent been able to teach him how to "fetch" yet, He is also King of the barn, showing up any time I make noise to disturb his solitude.
On the way back from the street, the big white rooster sounds off , reminding me that they haven't been fed or let out into the big pen. Off I go to satisfy that demand. Of course , they do give 3-5 eggs each day.
Then, Shelley will show up on my porch at any time of day, expecting to receive a dog biscuit which he thinks is due just because he occasionally barks at the UPS truck or the meter reader when they are only doing their job.
If I didn't enjoy their company, I wouldn't do these things but maybe I,m getting soft in the head in my old age. You guess?? I never said "never"

Dull-boring lonesome- Not around here!
Today was a typical day around here. First, a trip to the gym and pool for Eileen and me. Next, check on the chickens-a friendly fox got five, including the big Barred rooster. Then a trip to Wally-World(Wal-Mart) while Nancy took G-M0m to the foot Dr. Oh, by the way, calls from Carol and Tabi along the way. Then work on the chicken pen to keep out foxes and hawks G-Mom came out on the porch and enjoyed a 70 degree Winter day so we spent a couple of hours watching traffic, great grandchildren , dogs ,etc. Donald came up with a load of firewood from where the city was cutting down a tree. Fixed dinner(clean out leftovers) . Washed dishes , now I'm ready for bed, tomorrow is another dull , lonesome day. I thank God every day for all my blessings.