Farther Along - The Grascals

Good times are a-rollin' . . .

Look at the photos from the bottom up. First - the parachute and rigging before he packed it. Second - take off. Third - return. Fourth - reassembled.

Spent a leisurely Sunday reading and appreciating the gorgeous weather. Late in the afternoon we went to visit friends in Oneco and after wine and snacks we were off for dinner. Didn't get home until 9:30. Nice time. A neat glass of Lemoncello, some chocolates and good conversation. Wonderful way to spend a Sunday.

As Puppy's Pop was flying and I was getting in my 2.1 miles Oneco Grampa and grandson stopped in. After the flying and walking the 7 year old showed me the parachute he has rigged up for his "drag" bike. Oh what fun. He took it apart to show us the design, packed it and drove off so he could come flying back and release the chute. Too perfect. What a treat. This young guy is so knowledgeable about all things vehicular and speedy.

We left for a pleasant ride to Sturbridge, MA. I wasn't able to get the flying twirly thingamajigs but I did find some Aeroprops that fly really well and, of course, the ubiquitous balsa gliders. Also picked up a volleyball set. With all the other stuff we've got from years gone by we should be all set. On the way home we had a delicious lunch at Java Jive on 169 in Woodstock. I love a place that is so small you can watch the cook prepare your food!

Just came in from playing horseshoes. When Grampa and I play he has to give me a 23 point handicap. How awful is that? I have about a 3% average. Gross but still fun. I haven't really played in a couple of years so I'm trying to get back in the 6% range : )

Quote: No man is free who is not master of himself. __Epictetus

The Good Life . . .

Puppy's Pop took this photo of the Rose of Sharon that had almost been destroyed in the Spring by the deer. It's a beautiful blossom. Thank you younger brother and wifey!

Kiddo and I spent our last summer vacation day at the Mashentucket-Pequot Museum. This was completely his idea and after we got there I knew why he wanted to go back. He loves elevators. Where ever we go he wants to use the elevators and I always insist we walk up and down the stairs but at the museum the only way up to the top of the tower, about 22 stories, I think, is the elevator and he gets to run it if we go early enough and there is no one else around! So we started out up in the tower all by ourselves. He was in heaven, almost literally. I'm not over fond of elevators but he's an excellent driver and guide. We also made a tour of the museum proper before we paid out last summer visit to his favorite restaurant, Pizza Palace in Groton. Spent the rest of the day racing weird cars down the driveway.

Kiddo started school Thursday so I also went to Sacred Heart to help out with lunches. His opinion of school, " First Grade is awesome!" We went to Richoni's after school and even though he had eaten his entire lunch he ate chicken again before we headed home. Great start to the new year. Saturday he left with his family for Cape Cod and Grampa and I went to Coventry, RI for the final horseshoe get together. He and his partner won $70 for 4th place for the year and then they also came in 4th at the play offs. Wonderful food and friends. We had an excellent day. The weather has been perfect for almost 5 days now. Even the night sky is beautiful with Jupiter rising before the Moon in the East.

Don't want to dwell on a dreary subject but I will say that I've finally perked up after dragging butt for quite some time. It seems that my thyroid has been acting up for about a year and my new lady, Jessica, has figured it out. I've started taking a mild dose of Synthroid each morning and I feel at least 20 years younger. That's a good thing. I had been feeling like a 100 and now I feel like 47! Way cool.

Almost time for Mass and then have to prepare my list for next Sunday's Tournament. Only have to pick up some odds and ends and clean the garage. That should do it. We're going to Sturbridge tomorrow to see if we can find some flying twirly thingamajigs for me and the kids.

Quote: Wishes run over in loquacious impotence; will presses on with laconic energy. __Lavater

More good rain . . .

As you can see the Tamarack on the right is quite sickly. The photos show the bare branches and the needles that have almost completely denuded the poor thing.

Spent a goodly part of the morning taking photos of the tamaracks. One of them is dropping needles like crazy and this is only supposed to happen in the Fall. This is the second year and because of all the rain and wind in the last few days the ground is covered with needles that we are tracking all over the house. We have a couple of people interested in taking down the trees but I'm not sure we should go with a cousin or friend who is not insured. These are big trees and both are leaning and I surmise that these trees don't have a huge root system. Just a tiny bit scary. We'll see what happens. I hate to have them taken down because they feel like part of the family but they also shade the roof too much besides the fact that one of them is seemingly dying. I'll have to keep bugging Puppy's Pop and see what and when we're going to do something.

Went shopping at Big Y and bumped into a friend I haven't seen in a few years. She and I taught at NFA together and both left to have our first babies. Eventually she ended up teaching in Brooklyn while I went to Killingly. Her daughter Amy went to AHS with our son and is a science teacher in Dartmouth,MA. We talked for so long that my shopping trip lasted almost 2 hours! But it was nice to see her. She's trying to recruit me for the Learning After 65 program at Quinebaug. I'm really not into guest lecturers but someday after Kiddo doesn't need me anymore I may audit some college classes or even take them for credit. I shouldn't be surprised about how little I know but you'd think that when you're pushing seventy you'd know a lot. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I haven't done my one hour of walking in the house in ages. Today will be a good day to catch up on my audio book!

Quote: There appears to exist a greater desire to live long than to live well! Measure by man's desires, he cannot live long enough; measure by his good deeds,and he has not lived long enough; measure by his evil deeds, and he has lived too long. __Zimmermann

Much needed rain . . .

Elmendorf Air Base really is out there somewhere!

For the second very rainy, windy cool day in a row it hasn't been too bad. Managed to see Carolyn, my favorite PA who is leaving the Walk In at the end of September. She agreed with my new lady Jessica at the new Plainfield Backus Medical Center and so I'm pretty happy to have found someone that Carolyn likes. She is going to be working in the ER nights so she has more time with her kids. She has two young ones and a third on the way. Very nice lady. I wish her well. But I will miss her. She has a very mild personality where as Jessica is rather vociferous and doesn't take any guff. At least she's close to home and has been an APRN for a number of years and has a very good reputation.

On top of that I actually felt like cleaning today. House almost sparkles. Even Puppy's Pop got into the swing of things and made himself another work bench, this time in the basement. He's getting lots of exercise just going up and down the two flights of dangerous stairs. Since we've been using the dehumidifier it's quite comfortable. Certainly not great looking but still bright and dry.

I've got to lose 5 to 10 pounds so I'll be going back to counting calories and cutting out sweets and carbohydrates. Problem is I tend to not really figure out the calories, I just guesstimate. But if I just stop my bedtime snack I can probably lose a few pounds in no time. But . . . I love my bedtime routine. Pooh : (

Time to think about supper. Pepper steak, I think, with rice. I'll finish up the tasty white jasmine rice before I go the brown rice gig.

Quote: Joy, temperance, and repose, slam the door on the doctor's nose. __Ben Franklin

Flying in the rain . . . Getting soaking wet . . .

This is most amazing. Here I sit in the Dodge Ram writing on the iPad while outside grown men are flying their control line planes in a soaking rain. The rain isn't supposed to let up either and they are out there blissfully unaware that they should be inside not out playing in the rain. Grampa had a good first flight and I lucked out because his friend Damian, a very nice Irishman from the Boston area is taking my place. I thanked him profusely for coming to the Contest here in Lee, MA today. He and his wife and 2 young boys just got back from the Philippines and stopped in Hawaii for a breather. They had a wonderful trip. He's a very engaging young man.

I must admit that there are few people I absolutely despise and one of them came from Bristol for this contest. He's the same imbecile who was at the contest in Texas last year. He is the grubbiest individual I've ever met and a cry baby to boot. Never even flew in Texas and I'm betting he has some excuse for not flying today with the rest of the "real men." As I write the rain is coming down harder and harder but it looks as if they'll be getting in their second flights soon.

We left home at 7am for the 120 mile trip. I was certain the weather would make them postpone the contest and we'd be able to take in the Norman Rockwell Museum which is about 7 miles from here. I always underestimate the male compulsion to pretend to be having a good time. Right now the wind is blowing things around so that just adds to the festivities. I'll continue this story in a bit. Time to watch the fun since Puppy's Pop moved the truck so I could have a front row seat!

The contestants decided not to take anymore flights so they all were judged on one flight. Puppy's Pop won first place in intermediate and was told he should move on up! That's so funny because he really just started intermediate. We'll be packing up soon and will definitely stop for food.

Bad weather . . . good day . . .

There is a rainbow in the middle of the photo. I believe that Elmendorf Air Force base is behind the rainbow!

Crazy weather. Did get some rain but not enough to help the garden and the poor rivers only enough to make it muggier than the devil. Took a ride to Richoni's for lunch. I know I'm prejudiced but I really enjoy going there. Michael makes a fantastic Margarita and daughter makes the best BLT's. That's all I need to keep me happy. We took a ride to Stonington Borough after lunch because I needed a Quimper Faience fix. To my chagrin the store no longer exists. I guess it closed in 2006. I've gone such a long time without a fix that they had to close shop. I can get what I want on line but it's just not the same as browsing in the beautiful atelier. That feels like another life ago. I'm guessing that the last time I went I was with Angie. How I do miss her.

After we got home I dug out the crates of old bottles Grampa and I had finagled out of the ground near the big rock. I finally cleaned up about 30 of them. Pretty neat stuff. I love the little ones, especially if they're blue. It's such a chore to clean them because I have nothing small enough to get inside many of them since the openings are long and narrow. But with old shaved down tooth brushes, pipe cleaners, bottle brushes and Q-tips I didn't do too badly. I still have another batch to clean but the bottles are fairly large in comparison to today's batch. I keep wanting to get back to eBay but I haven't put my mind to it yet. Maybe I'll do something with a lot of our old junk this winter; a good pastime besides my puzzles, hooked rug that I've been working on for over 5 years and it's small :( , and my reading. I'm finally reading James Joyce's The Dubliners on the iPad. Gutenberg Press has all of the old books for free as ebooks. Pretty cool.

Bring Kiddo to the Children's Museum in Niantic tomorrow where we'll meet his Monday and Tuesday summer camp buddies. Can't believe that he starts school next Thursday, August 26th. Seems inhumane. But I'll go and start my lunch duties as I did last year. I am looking forward to seeing some of the ladies I worked with at his school. We've corresponded a bit by email and it'll be nice to be with them again.

Quote: At sixty a man has passed most of the reefs and whirlpools. Excepting only death, he has no enemies left to meet. . . . That man has awakened to a new youth . . . Ergo, he is young. ___George Luks