House painting

Last spring we decided it was time to paint the house. The cracked, peeling old paint was showing its age. Time for a big decision - what color to use? Shall we be bold - take a risk - go for a deep blue or a dark green? How about a sandy tan to go with the limestone? What about the red door? Are we ready for changes?

Such decisions. It was all summer before the painters came.
And carefully matched the old color exactly.

We like that color.
We'll take our risks elsewhere.

Still sweet...

August 26, 1969.It's still sweet.

Old Friends

The Librarians Emeritus Group recently gathered for food and conversation.We had a lot to catch up on. "Why don't we do this more often", we said, as we always do.

Since we retired, we're all so busy that it's hard to find a time to get together.

Cute...corn?

I know: you think cute, you think puppies. Or kittens. You don't think vegetables. But here's Granddad's little garden of cute vegetables.Granddad had great plans for it. He stuffed it full of seeds and plants - sweet potatoes and pumpkins, radishes and peppers, tomatoes and corn. Corn? In that tiny space? It may look puny, but just see what he's harvesting...cute little vegetables. Note the teeny tiny eggplant.And this ear of corn - why, that's the BIG one.
Most of them were this size.

Now aren't they cute?

Toby moves

Come on in

and see Toby's new digs."It's modest, but it's home," says Toby.
"It's just me and my guy" says Toby. "No dogs."
He's got his guy wrapped around his paw.We all wish Toby (and his personal attendant) all the best in their new home.

The attraction of quackery

Yes, this is my new magnetic bracelet. It came with a tag that carefully said "Believed to have healthful benefits".

What's that? You don't think it will cure my ills? Why Cleopatra herself wore one, don't you know, to keep her beauty ageless.

Yes, and Queen Elizabeth I was treated with magnet therapy by her personal physician. (and no, I'm not considering lead or arsenic as beauty aids)

In the 18th century good old Franz Mesmer used magnets as well as mesmerizing for therapy. I read on one website:

"Mozart was so enthusiastic about Mesmer's therapeutic successes that he referred to the beneficial effect of magnets in his opera "Cosi fan Tutti". (Despina sings: "This is the magnet, the Mesmeric stone that originated in Germany and became so famous in France.")."
I have every expectation of being more energetic and less sore.
How can it possibly fail?

After eating Chinese in honor of the Olympics

I'm keeping my eyes open.

Adrift

Just bobbing along...

The coming fall has taken a different shape. The class I was planning to teach has been cancelled. Only two people had registered for it, not enough to make a class. So I'm pulling my head out of thoughts of assignments and readings and lectures and feeling a bit disoriented. What next?

Can it really be over?

Oh Summer, do you have to go? You put away the summer things.
Your bags are packed.
We've left the pool.
And all the travellers are gone.

We've said goodbye...
Goodbye, goodbye.
But it's still warm. Your flowers are still blooming. How can you leave?
How can it be time to go back to school? Oh Summer, we will miss you so!

We go rocking and rolling on

Our adventures began in Cleveland where the GPS took us right to the shore of Lake Erie

and to the fabulous
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. You can't take pictures inside the museum, but you can easily spend a whole day there listening to music, watching movies, and studying the fantastic exhibits. When we told friends where we were going, Penny said "It's a spiritual experience." Of course, this is the person who has a bust of Elvis in front of her cottage. After immersing ourselves in Rock and Roll, we went back to the 60's at Cleveland's Coventry neighborhood, with its tie-dyed street signs. We admired the artwork on the street
We even sat on it.There were interesting little shopsjust like the 60's...

We had a cell-phone consultation with the Bloomingtonaut about where to eat - based on her college experience. Amazingly enough the place she recommended was still in business

and the falafel's were still delicious!

Hello, Cousin

It's so good to see my cousin again (and the beach).
We begin by provisioning our visit
with fresh produce
picked this morning on a Northern Ohio farm.
Then it's time to set off for adventures!

Talking and talking and talking

Jane Austen wrote:

"My idea of good company ... is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company. "Such good company we've had this summer! Conversation flowed constantly on topics both serious
and silly,
sparked by something we'd read

or by something we'd seen. We chatted outdoors and indoors. "“It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much.” -Yogi Berra

While I can't actually remember any of the deep thoughts and striking insights we shared, I must agree with Samuel Johnson: "The happiest conversation is that of which nothing is distinctly remembered but a general effect of pleasing impression. "

Indeed the entire summer has had "a general effect of pleasing impression."

Musing on melons

Everybody loves watermelon.

We love it cold and crisp on hot days.

But in Indiana in the late summer, nothing beats a ripe sweet local sugar melon.



Oh yum!