Life in Geezerville: 1/2 Year Edition

Can you believe 2024 is half over? I find that hard to believe. When my Auntie Ruthie turned 90 she said that the years sped by like lightning -- I'm not yet 90 but I have to agree with her, the years are speeding by at record speed.

When you were a child, do you remember wishing for your birthday to arrive? You were so happy when you reached 7 1/2--only six more months before you turned 8. Those 6 months went by ever so slowly--snail slow. Now, I'm guessing, you don't wish the days away, let alone wish the years away. If you are like me, you want to savor each moment of every day. You want to see your friends; go to your favorite restaurant; hug your honey. You don't want to see the days vanish at the speed of light.

I wish I had a magic cure for the speeding days, but I don't. But I do have a way to slow them down (a teeny bit). I do plan an adventure that is fun and exciting for the near future. That gives me something wonderful to look forward to. By having a plan, the days are not hum-drum or boring ... but  filled with just a little bit of electricity as something is coming. I know that something is coming, and I have to get ready for it. I have to plan what to do when "it" gets here. The days are filled with purpose. I get meaning put back into my day. I still do the chores that need to be done, but in the back of my mind, there's something brewing, and that's exciting.

To that end I have a 2 cruises planned in the next 6 months. One domestic and one international. One is on a river, the other is on the ocean. Both will be fun and different.That's all I'll say for now, as when the time comes, I'll post pictures of the cruises and write about the adventure.

I'm challenging you to come up with an adventure for the next half of the year. Get off your geezer duffs and plan something wonderful and exciting. It does not have to be a cruise--it can be getting a fun toy (such as golf cart or a razor or a new Lego build) or working on a special project or creating a road trip to some place different. It does not matter. What matters is having a plan--a purpose--a goal. When you work with a plan, time slows down a bit. Remember, we're all in this together. 

Life in Geezerville: Mom and Pop Diner Edition

There's a diner I know  where geezers rule. It's a mom and pop operation with 12 tables and 8 stools around the counter. Mom and Pop cook all the food, and the wait staff are family, (sons, daughters, grand kids, you know who I mean). This is a small town restaurant, with no aspirations to be the next McDonald's or Applebee's. It's just good home town food.

Everyday the clientele is about the same. Every morning a loyal group of LOM geezers arrive at opening and stay for a couple of hours. They are wearing their Army, Air Force, Navy or Marine ball caps as a badge. The caps say "We served" and Mom and Pop give them a discount.  The fellows come every morning for coffee and breakfast. They solve the problems of the world over a friendly cuppa.

They leave in time for the local lunch crowd to come in. These are not youngsters either but not geezers. They work in the area and they know Mom and Pop have the best lunches around. And, Mom's pie is fantastic.

By the time they go, it's time for the geezer couples to arrive. They come in time for the 4 PM special. From 4 to 6 PM, the diner includes free coffee and soda, for all meals.  That's a good deal. Everyday the couples change, but there's always a group of geezers who are eating their early dinner. They share tables if they run out of room, it's a family type place.

By 6:30 PM, the diner has now been open for 12 hours. Mom and Pop have put in a full day. They turn on the closed sign, and talk to their customers as they are finishing their meals. Everyone is out of the restaurant by 7 PM. If you want to stay later you can, but you'll have to deal with the cleaners--who are the great-grandkids of Mom and Pop. They clean the place from top to bottom and get it ready for the next day. 

Mom and Pop have developed a neighborhood diner that works for them and the neighborhood. They know their customers well...they also know the children and grand children of all their customers, and the customers know Mom and Pop and their kids too. Everyone knows the local gossip, the best stores, doctors, lawyers and chiefs. It's their own private Geezerville, all in a restaurant. What a place. 

These restaurants are a dying entity...so when you find one, support it with all your heart and soul. We need these places that are not connected to a big chain but to a neighborhood. We need places that know what the customers want and that's what they serve. There are no trendy items on the menu. This is not the place for a kale smoothie or burr ground coffee. At Mom and Pop diner USA you'll find a good cuppa coffee any time of the day and a good meal, morning, noon, and night. While this might not be your cuppa tea everyday of the week, it's a great place to enjoy some good food every now and then. (We like going once a week.) Remember, we're all in this together.

Life in Geezerville: Surgery Edition

 

We're old. We live in Geezerville. We have health problems. When we need help, we see doctors. Sometimes, we even go to the hospital...and sometimes we need surgery. These are all "givens" when you are a geezer from Geezerville. To that end, my guy had surgery today. 

He has had an open wound on his head for over a year. Before he could qualify for any surgery, he had endure several less drastic procedures. They could have worked but they did not. The last procedure ended in April and he finally qualified for the surgery that was done today.  

He had the surgery in SLC at a fantastic hospital, the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Before you get worried HE DOES NOT HAVE CANCER. Huntsman got him on the docket quickly, and has taken excellent care of him. When they said they would see him at 1 PM, they showed up on time. The doctors and nurses have given him great care. We could not have asked for anything better. Thank you Huntsman!

In the meantime we are in SLC enjoying the hospitality of our friends who live here. All day I've been texting our Geezerville friends and family about what is going on. The good wishes he is getting is fantastic. Thank you one and all for your encouragement, love, prayers and concern. He has been blessed by your kindness. You are what Geezerville is all about. Caring for your friends and neighbors. Thank you Geezerville for everything. Remember, we're all in this together.

Life in Geezerville: Solstice Edition

 

Picture courtesy of NPR

Summer officially begins today--well actually it began on June 20 --the earliest the solstice has arrived since George Washington was president. That's a long time ago. I have no idea how "they" figure out when the solstice will get here--but "they" know what they are doing. 

Solstices mark the beginning of summer or winter when there's either more light than dark or more dark than light. Equinoxes mark the beginning of spring and fall when there are equal amounts of light,  night or day. From the solstice, the days will get shorter and shorter until December 21ish...then they will get longer again. Given that, we are enjoying the long long days. The sun is getting up about 6:30 and not going down until 8:45 at this elevation. It's a treat to have all the daylight.

Do you remember as a kid, that no matter how light it was, at 8:30 all the moms on the block would call out "it's time to come in." All the kids reluctantly went inside as we could not defy our moms.  I never liked going to bed when it was light  outside. It did not seem right. I'm still like that...it's hard to go to bed with there is still daylight. It's a good thing I don't live in Juneau, or St. Petersburg where the days are extra long. In St. Petersburg they call it "white nights." One time in SP, we went to the ballet, and when we walked out of the theater at the end of the performance of Swan Lake, it was 11:30 PM and still daylight. What a treat.   

But I digress. The days are long and bright right now and I'm not a kid anymore. I don't have to go to bed when it's still daylight outside. I can go to bed whenever I want to. I hope you can too. Remember, we're all in this together.

Life in Geezerville: Summer Edition?

Summer is supposed to arrive on Friday. Today it snowed. It's the 18th of June and we are having freezing nights and snow. While the Rocky Mountains are getting snow, the right coast is getting record heat. Weather is crazy. Is it global warming? Is it climate change? I have no idea. I do know the weather is acting weird.

I'm not going to blame ozone or methane or car emissions for this crazy weather. The world has experienced crazy weather for millennia.  I'm just musing about snow in the middle of June in the Rocky Mountains.

In the 30-plus years we've spent summer in the mountains, I've kept track of the last day of snow in the spring, and the first day of snow in the fall. Up to yesterday, the last day has been June 15. Last night we had snow on June 17/18. Snow was still on the ground at noon. That's unusual. In addition, the first day for an autumn snowfall has been September the 21st (the day that autumn starts). This neck of the woods has a very short growing season between the snows. However, those 60 days are heavenly. We have some fantastic summers here and we might even get one this year. Remember, we're all in this together. 

Life in Geezerville: Father's Day Edition

Father's Day is tomorrow--a day to celebrate a very important member of the family. I was lucky to have a good daddy. I was his princess, his little girl, his honey dear. (Those were a few of the sweet names he called me but you don't need to know all of them.)

My dad was a not only a father, he was a teacher, a hard worker, a traveler and more. He taught me how to use all the tools in his toolbox. As a cabinet maker he had huge toolbox. He would pick up a screwdriver and tell me what it was and what it was used for and how to use it...then the next time he wanted a screwdriver I could tell him all about a screwdriver--or a hammer--or a pair of pliers. 

He taught me history. He loved history and taught me to love history too. When we visited anywhere, he told the stories of the people who lived there. The stories made history come alive for me. I always followed his model when I taught history to my students, as the stories were far more interesting than the dates.

He taught me a work ethic, albeit I did not know it at the time. Sometimes he worked 3 jobs. I knew that if I wanted something I had to earn it. He would say "You can't get nuthin for nuthin." You need to put in time, effort and skill. Based on that, I always tried my best as that was what my parents modeled all the time. It must have worked as I went to school--and went to school--and went to school--until I became a Professor. I believe that was one of my dad's happiest days. His little girl did well.

Along with everything else, he taught me the love of travel. He was very successful at that task, as I've traveled a lot. He did too. I remember road trips when I was a kid. To me, they were exciting and full of adventure. We were going to some place new, and I loved that. I believe my dad was more than a tiny bit jealous when the other DrC and I bought our first RV. He could hardly contain himself as he looked it over and thought about all the fun we were going to have.

On this day I remember my daddy. He wanted to live forever but sadly that did not happen. He did see the Millennium. He passed away in July of 2000. He is gone but not forgotten. Happy Father's Day Daddy. And, Happy Father's Day to all the other daddies out there too. Remember, we're all in this together.

Life in Geezerville: Coffee Edition

Before we went to IHOP for breakfast (which was quite good), my brother and I went for coffee at a B & B (that stands for Beans and Brew). The coffee at the B & B was quite complicated to order. First we had to decide upon size--anything from 8 ounces to 96 ounces. Then we had to decide on the roast: medium, dark Italian, French...Siberian (the barista rattled off a variety of roast types that I did not know existed so why not Siberian). Then came the decision as to the type of cream--and finally the type of sugar we needed. I said I wanted a cup of plain black coffee. My brother who "knows" more about coffee than I do, said I wanted medium roast, black coffee. That's what I got. It was very good. 

Fast forward to our breakfast at IHOP. I ordered another cup of coffee. We were served a cuppa hot black coffee (who knows what the roast type was) in an IHOP mug with an extra pot of coffee for fill-ups. It was perfect. I guess I have simple tastes when it comes to coffee. Shoot, I can't tell the difference between roast types, cream types and sugar types. It's pathetic. I thought both places served me a good cuppa coffee. Speciality coffee shops with professional baristas are for coffee lovers. I'm probably not a good advertisement for speciality coffee shops as I don't really care. All I want a regular cup of ordinary hot coffee and I'll be happy--end of discussion. Remember, we're all in this together.

Life in Geezerville: Big CIty Edition

(Not SLC, but Geezerville North)

We are in Salt Lake City tonight. SLC is a huge city...especially when Geezerville South is a small town of 20,000 souls and Geezerville North is a smaller town of 1700 souls. We are used to small towns and SLC is NOT a small town. It's moves ALL THE TIME. There's traffic that is speeding along at a gazillion miles an hour where we are used to traffic going 35 mph. Talk about being a square peg in a round hole.

Don't get me wrong, we are perfectly able to drive in traffic. When we go to Vegas or St. George we are driving in traffic...but SLC has CAPITAL T Traffic. It does not stop...it just keeps going and going and going. We are used to St. George...drive there all the time--no hassle. We don't like Vegas so we don't go there often, and when we do, we go to our destination, do our job and get out of town. In GN there are no "big" towns nearby. Idaho Falls is our major shopping location and it's not a big town. We also know our way around Idaho Falls, like we know our way around St. George and Vegas. We don't know our way around SLC. As you know, knowledge is power...and we have no knowledge of SLC.

After we found where we needed to go on the University of Utah campus, we asked SIRI to return us to our lodgings. SIRI  took us on a circuitous route by the Utah State House, no less, before directing us to I-15. At one point I said "SIRI this is stupid" and she replied saying I was not being nice to her. Once on the interstate, we knew where we were and made our way home. That was a good thing. 

Tomorrow, we'll have to wend our way back to UU, and make our 1 PM appointment.  At least we know where to go now. We don't know the specific building on campus but someone can direct us. Then when we are done, we are going to scamper out of SLC as fast as we can. We are going to return to our small, quiet, sleepy Geezerville and enjoy the slow. Remember, we're all in this together. 

Life in Geezerville: Fawn Edition

This morning I was treated to a rare sight...a brand new fawn. Mama came out of the forest as usual, but today she came out with a tiny addition..her fawn. The little fawn is less than two feet tall..and very shy. Still, there's a fawn hiding in the forest and now that I know it's  there, I will be looking for it from now on. BTW I took this picture from my screened porch...that's why it's not as clear as my other pictures.  Maybe tomorrow I will see the baby without the screens in the way. It's a good day to have a fawn in the forest.  On another note, a white bison was born in Yellowstone on June 4. The Lakota say a white bison with black eyes, nose and hooves is a sacred animal.  I have not seen the white bison baby yet, but I will try to find it later in the summer.

Picture courtesy of https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1o2iVt.img?w=534&h=356&m=6

Something Different

 I've been crocheting critters for a long time. Mostly they look like the critter I'm crocheting...until recently. I decided to crochet "things" that are not found in real life. Hence, I'm creating little aliens as my friend Miki calls them.

Here's my latest group of aliens...

If you would like an alien, let me know and I'll make one for you

Remembering D-Day

Courtesy of https://www.amicalolaemc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/D-Day.jpg

Today we commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1944. Thousands of brave men and women died for our way of life. Several years ago, we visited Normandy and experienced the rough terrain, the embedded battlements the Germans had built, the beaches, the mulberries... The ground is still scared and the remnants of the terrible machines of war are evident. That sacred ground is quiet and subdued now. The nearby cemeteries, with row after row of white crosses and 6-pointed stars tell the sad story of young men who sacrificed their lives. Please take a minute to remember those heroes.

Will we ever learn that war is hell? Will we ever learn to live with each other? When will we learn?

Life in Geezerville: Geezer Finger Edition

 

courtesy of https://www.classicandcollectorcars.com/vehicles/3396/1956-chevrolet-210-2-door-sedan

I've talked about "geezer finger" before, but I had to mention it at least one more time. This morning, my brother and I were trying to type a phrase into a search bar on our cellphones and had absolutely no success. He has wide fingers and failed. After a few attempts, he said "you do it." I have long-ish fingernails. You guessed it, failure again.

We were trying to find pictures of a car he owned a hundred years ago (I exaggerate only a little bit). It was a stripped down 1956 Chevrolet 210 Biscayne with 3-on-the-tree standard transmission and a really bad paint job. He typed that phrase but his geezer fingers said 1956 Ch3vr0let Biscahmr....my attempt was not much better1956 chevr9oet  Biscay e ... not good. 

The next thing we tried was dictation. By this time, we were laughing at the non-results of our efforts. Finally, one of us got the phrase out without a giggle and a ton of pictures showed up. We had success. Is dictation the answer?

All of us have looked at younger folks text. They make it look like a piece of cake. They are using their fingers and thumbs and successfully texting or searching, all while using the same tiny keyboard on the screen of a cellphone. There's no way my brother and I could do that. Our fingers are nimble. Both of us can type quit well. We have finger dexterity. So what is the difference? Is it practice? Youngsters text more than geezers. Is that why they do it better than we do? What it is that makes us folks in our "golden years" unable to text on a small on-screen keyboard? I know that my brother and I are not the only 2 geezers out there who cannot text worth a da**). The other DrC has the same problem...and so do a fair few of my geezer friends. We seem to be afflicted with "geezer finger." Why, oh why, is texting so difficult for geezers? 

If you can answer this question, please let me know. Please don't text me as I know how frustrating texting is. Remember, we're all in this together.