Bookends -- jcarolek

I've known them for several years now. They go together -- white haired, slim build, neatly dressed, and always cheerful. Their smiles and greetings routinely catch me off guard, jolting me into a happy mood and smiling in return.

As I watched them today, he leaning in to tell her something, she laughing in that genuine "you tickle my funny bone," laugh and patting his shoulder in gentle admonition of his humorous communication, it occurred to me I was looking at a

Comfortable Gray Rainy Days -- jcarolek

All weekend it was raining. The skies were gray and the temperatures too cold to enjoy the outdoors anyway. I was recuperating from surgery and thinking about how, in another time, I would have felt trapped, claustrophobic. And yet, this weekend I did not. We spent our time lazing around, eating delicious soup and bread, and just being comfortable.

Today was another work day, but since I am able to work from the house, it was more of the same...gray and chilly outdoors, warm and comfortable

Belated Birthday Greetings -- jcarolek

Yesterday we took a drive. The cold weather had finally surrendered to the promise of spring and exploration seemed inviting once again. I'd located some local properties that looked charming but forgotten and we set out to explore.

Our first stop was an old house, advertised as "needs TLC," which we both agreed was a gross understatement of reality. The house was built in 1890 and probably once had significant land associated with it. Today it stands on a little over an acre and the overgrowth is slowly reclaiming the structure, growing up through the cement steps at the back door and over the front porch entry. We parked the car, grabbed the camera, and set about the exploration.

Though the back door was unlocked,

A storyteller's impact -- jcarolek

Paul Harvey passed away this past week. When I heard the news, I was immediately taken back more than twenty years. I used to catch Paul Harvey's "the rest of the story" during my lunch break, or on my drive home from work. Most of the time I found these little nuggets interesting, made more so by his delivery, to be sure, but part of it was truly that he told stories about people and things about which I simply did not know... he educated, in just a short couple of minutes storytelling time.

The story which had the greatest impact on me was one he told about a young aspiring actress, a teenager, a dancer, a talented youngster who was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis. She was, in fact, bedridden with her affliction. She was so crippled she was unable to walk for a year. And she agreed to subject herself to an experimental treatment,

Little Boy Grown -- jcarolek

Today was a magical day for my nephew. He and his fiancee married in a lovely ceremony held in their favorite place....Walt Disney World. There was nothing Mickey Mouse about the ceremony. Well, OK, after the ceremony I did notice my nephew sporting a top hat with Mickey Mouse ears, but the ceremony itself was very traditional in format, though the vows this young couple exchanged were more their own and exchanged without prompting from the minister.
It was a well attended affair, considering none of the bride or groom's family is from the Orlando, FL area. We all traveled a fair distance to witness the event. I sat at the back with the video camera, capturing the soloists, the guy in the kilt playing the bagpipe, the friends and family in attendance, the groom and his groomsmen as they made their way down the aisle to the alter where they turned, awaiting the arrival of the bridesmaids and finally the bride, beautiful in her fairy tale wedding dress.

As I zoomed in on the young couple, I saw his smile,

Funny how memories are triggered -- jcarolek

I was just perusing the blogs, enjoying the passenger seat on my way down to my nephew's wedding in Orlando, FL. I caught the post encouraging all to join in and keep the soul train going, and I was immediately brought back to my youth... 15 years old, to be exact. We had no TV and I can honestly say that babysitting was my favorite part-time job... once the kids were asleep, I could turn on the TV (everyone else had one) and watch.

One job I had was babysitting six boys... all brothers

Water and Printers -- jcarolek

We finally have water back in the pond. September 6, 2006, in response to tropical storm Ernesto, the dam that contained the trickle of Cow Creek, that formed the more that 100 year old "mill pond," failed and the water, well about 70 acres out of her 78 acres, flushed out and left us with a marshy field.

The "Pond Association" on which I serve as secretary, spent the next two and a half years getting the dam rebuilt... a very expense and arduous task. There were times when I thought we'd never see water again. And I dreamed of the day I would be able to send out the announcement that we, once again, had water in the pond.

Well, today was the day. The water has been back for a few weeks now, but today was the day I had to mail out the announcement for the next General Membership Meeting, the highlight of which will be the rehashing of the pain and eventual triumph of getting that dam rebuilt.

No, idiot, that doesn't make any sense! -- jcarolek

"Stop!"
"OK, go"
"Stop!"
"What did he say?"
"I think he said, 'barrel'"
"No, idiot, that doesn't make any sense! I think he's saying, "baron", yeah play it again."
"SEE! 'baron!'"

It was through exercises such as this that we, my siblings and I, transcribed many, many songs in the '60's and early '70's. While one of us held the paper and pencil, another manned the record player. The others were the helpers...helping us determine the words the vocalist was singing. The scribe recorded the agreed upon translation. And so it was that we learned the words of the stories these singers were telling. Sure, in the earlier years, we were working with the records of our parents, Kingston Trio, Brothers Four, Peter, Paul and Mary, Burl Ives and such, but as we progressed to capturing the lyrics of OUR preferred bands, Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Cat Stevens, Jim Croce and such, well the words seemed a little harder to understand.

Sitting at the Headmistress's Table -- jcarolek

"Bangers and smash" was one of my favorite meals served in school when I lived in England.  A major fan of potatoes of any variety or preparation, I found the British school menu quite palatable.  I attended two schools in the three years I lived there, and the one thing they had in common was the school lunch fare. 

At ten years old, new in a "strange" land and worried I would give my country a black eye, should I misbehave, I was eager to blend in.  Within a couple of months, other students had stopped asking me if I was American, and had started asking me where I was from.  My American accent was being overrun by my interpretation of the local British

The Sewing Machine -- jcarolek

Perseverance. I learned perseverance from an old Singer sewing machine.

I believe I was in 9th grade the year my sister received a sewing machine for Christmas. I'm not sure whether she'd asked for it, or whether is was one of those gifts that Dad and Mom just decided was what we "really" would like, instead of the silly wish list items we'd documented in that annual ritual. Nevertheless, under the tree was a Kenmore sewing machine. As I recall, on the card, "Santa" had suggested that Jeannie might consider sharing her gift with her mother and younger sister (me).

Mom had an old Singer sewing machine...