Rambling in November

Here at the old folks apartments they are replacing sidewalk squares with no great haste.  There are blank muddy spaces making walking assisted or not messy and difficult.  It seems to make no sense to me to do this work this late in the year with intermittent freezes which will deter the proper curing of the concrete.

Thanksgiving approaches and we are having a small quiet affair with none of the official trappings aside from the tasty squash casserole. For the most part the family is embroiled in one crisis or the next and will be wrapped up in that.  My brother in law John has had a major health crisis in a heart valve replacement.  On Saturday last, we weren't sure he would make it.  He has made a remarkable turnaround and expected to make a full recovery, a testament to a strong will and positive spirit and love of his family. 

John is a guy that is never at a loss for words.  His explanations are most complete and detailed.  His work cohort Harold has remarked that his comments on this health journey will go on and on, along with the humorous anecdotes on the experience.  We love and care for him and look forward to his telling of tales.

I finished my last yard cleanup yesterday.  I am now retiring from these endeavors as of now.  The 66 year old Jerry is a different guy than the nearly 70 year old version.  I don't have as much horsepower as before.  But we are going to the gym today to hopefully improve on that. 

I'm entering my holiday gloom period.  Viewing too much buy, buy, buy, and spend, spend, spend.  Oh lets give each other a 50K car for the holidays.  Lets load up our kids with piles of toys they will be bored of in a couple of days.  Maybe help someone for a change.  The biggest gift I recently received was a lady in our parking lot dragging a rolling suitcase, using a cane and carrying a parcel.  By luck alone I saw her in the night and was able to help her into the building.  She had come from the airport where they lost her walker and was stopped with exhaustion in the middle of our lot.  My gift was finding her.

all for now



 

An Indulgent day

Judy traveled to visit her family in the east this morning and aside from a small delivery to my daughter, I had a totally free day.  Secured a bagel and cream cheese on my way back and had General Tso's chicken for lunch (with leftovers for dinner).  Took Harry for a walk before the sun set with the temperatures falling. He enjoyed it but I was glad to get home.  Doing wash now which should be done before bed time. 

Was introduced to a remarkable series on Amazon Prime by my friend Janine.  Its called Modern Love based on essays in the New York Times. In between naps and after getting up to date with all the Colbert late shows, I started viewing the first episodes.  These are poignant stories that are touching and romantic at many levels with a varying cast of well known actors.  The tales are all based on the NYC setting.  The characters have a variety of pitfalls and rebounds and are not sappy or stupid.  I had to stop binging.

Romance, (not sex) can hit you like a ton of bricks.  Many of these characters are searching for redemption.  All the stories are not picture book endings, definitely worth a look.

Because I was home for most of the day,  I fell victim to the combat on The View with guest Donald Trump Jr.  They all screamed at him, he screamed back with many rants going at all times.  Quite frankly it gave a head ache and no one sounded very intelligent.  All ranting and no listening.  That seems to be the political stage at this point. 

Senator Amy Klobuchar was on Colbert and was quite thoughtful.  She doesn't have a snowballs chance but I was impressed by her insight.  She was well spoken and made good points.

Well that's it for today.  I have to get back to my wash and sitting with Harry.