WINDY SKIES OVER THE VALLEY
No doubt about it!! This is the longest & worst wind storm we have ever had to endure. Although the satellite dish is still standing we have no television signal which tells me the dish has shifted in the high winds. All 3 legs are spiked into the ground plus a heavy water jug is suspended underneath the tri-pod to add extra weight. Despite that I expect the tri-pod to be flattened at any time. I was jolted awake at 2 a.m. by a series of particularly heavy wind gusts that shuddered the whole coach. It's 3 a.m. right now & the motorhome is rocking back & forth like a small boat upon a storm tossed sea. Can seasickness be far away!!!!
Never did go back to bed so worked away at organizing my Picasa Web Albums until sunrise. Gonna be a loooooong tired day now:((
I was really surprised at not having an error message come up while publishing Live Writer Monday night. I'm slightly optimistic the problem may be fixed. The key words there are.....'slightly optimistic.' Don't want to get my hopes up & have them dashed by an 'Error-400' message again!! Kelly informed me it wasn't the internet she used to 'fix' the problem but the solution was right in our own computer all the time. Something to do with program files. I’ll have to get her to explain it to me. (as if it would do any good)
And a big welcome to new followers Rod & Connie from ROUND THE CAMPFIRE. Nice to have you onboard & hope the ride doesn't get too boring for you.
It's the end of the day now & because of my lack of sleep it turned out to be a very draggy day. Rained most of the morning so I stayed in & continued to work on my Picasa Web Album stuff. Kelly was off to Yoga. The winds finally diminished around noon & we put the slides out again. It has been pretty crowded in here with 12 paws, 3 wagging tails, & 4 humanoid feet stumbling around. Our Star Choice satellite somehow survived the winds assault intact but with all the twisting & bending we had no television this morning. Took a bit of wiggling & re-aligning this afternoon but we snagged the satellite & all is well in Televisionville once more.
PLEASE MAKE THOSE BIG BAD WINDS GO AWAY MOM:((
Enjoyed reading some more of 'me 'n Henry' to-day & came across a paragraph that I really connected with. Walter Swan the author is talking about his graduation from the eighth grade. (Quote)"This was the last year I ever went to school & the teachers really tried to teach me something, but I tried not to learn just as hard."(Un-quote) That line sure brought back memories for me & I understood exactly how Walter Swan felt about that. He goes on to say, (Quote)"We were kind of poor & things were really bad about now & this really bothered my Mother. My shoes were all worn out & my clothes were not much better. My shirt had been washed so many times that it was more white looking than it was blue. My pants had so many patches on them that they looked like a quilt made into a pair of britches. But they were going to have to do. There just wasn't any money to buy new ones." (Un-quote)
After reading that paragraph I kind of slipped into a quiet reflective mood for the rest of the day remembering my early childhood which was similar to Walter's but not as harsh. Our parents did the best they could back in those days with what they knew & what they had. When he talks about the Outhouse I remember that well. Heating water on a coal/wood stove for washing, once a week baths, bringing in water from a pump outside, coal oil lamps for when the electricity went off, no television, wind up clocks, buckled galoshes on cold winter feet , a hand crank phone on the wall, bedpans, wooden sided refrigerator where you put a big block of ice in the top part, no such thing as a supermarket & fish was pedaled on Fridays from a man pushing a wagon around my little home town of Tavistock Ontario, Canada. Knives could be sharpened the same way & milk was delivered by a horse drawn wagon. A big old wooden floor model radio was the main source of entertainment in our house & my Mother, my Grandfather, my Uncle Fred, & me, would gather around it Sunday night's for 'Our Miss Brooks, The Great Gildersleeve, Amos & Andy, & many other great old time radio shows. Arthur Godfrey in the mornings, Gunsmoke & Gangbusters on Saturday nights. We had a crank up Victrola with old 78 RPM records which I would constantly listen to. My Mother could play piano by ear & it was always a great treat to listen to her. I would sit on the piano bench beside her and she would play my favorite, Greensleeves. Our house always had music in it & I'm very grateful for that to-day. Whether it was the radio, the Victrola, or an old record player years later, there was always music in the house. To this very day I still surround myself with music.
And, as I sit here to-night typing this, listening to my music, I feel very sad after reading & reflecting on Walter Swan's memories of his life because in many ways it connects with my own. I know this is Tuesday but it just feels like a Sunday night to me & I'd like nothing better right now than to just go back & turn on that big old floor model radio, tune in Fibber M'Gee & Molly, gather round in the living room with my Mother, my Grandfather, & my Uncle Fred to listen & laugh once again to a simple humor that is all but gone now. A way of life, a way of family, a way of remembering. Some day's there are just too many old memories to think about.............................
GROANER'S CORNER:(( How many politicians does it take to change a lightbulb ?
Two. One to change it, and another one to change it back again.
BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.
Those old memories for me was thursday nights and "The lone Ranger" and sitting as still as a mouse hoping mom or dad didnt notice the time so could stay up later to listen to "inner sanctum"
ReplyDeletethe hermit
Nothing wrong with thinking back to where we came from. It was also a time when the family would go up to Moncton, NB for a 10 day vacation with my Uncle's family. The house was NOT locked and we never worried if something would be missing when we got home. Kids went out to play baseball or go fishing in the summer and no one was ever kidnapped. The old Philco radio had an AM band and 3 shortwave bands and I can also remember The Shadow.
ReplyDeleteMan!You bring back the memories.The old radio days were a big part of my life also.
ReplyDeleteThere is still a radio show on the weekends that features the old shows.I've found it on several stations that are picked up in Arizona.
I've spend many a winter night on the desert listening to all the old shows.Also there's a website that gives many but thats a bit of a megabyte burner.
" a simple humor that is all but gone now. A way of life, a way of family, a way of remembering."
ReplyDeleteThis certainly strikes home with me. Looking toward our future adventure of fulltiming and ridding ourselves of the current hustle and bustle in our life, I'm in hopes of returning to that mind set.
Thanks for the welcome, we really enjoy reading your blog and look forward to seeing your beautiful photographs.
-Connie
I have much the same old memories except I remember not having a refrigerator. Everything was kept in the cellar. We didn't have money for clothes either but my mother was a seamstress so she often remade old clothes and if we were lucky we got some new material to make a dress to start school each year. I too remember the outhouse, the chamber pot, hanging my clothes by the oven door of the wood stove to warm them up before I put them on, my father sleeping on the couch to keep the woodfires burning all night. Since we lived on a farm we always had food to eat so we were better off than lots of folks.
ReplyDeleteI remember my cousin who lived in town thinking that milk came from horses since it was the horse that brought it to her door. As farm kids we really laughed at that one!
Yes, those old radio shows --- we particularly remember Fibber McGee and his closet! Those sound effects guys had fun with that one. The old radio shows were much better than TV, because your imagination got a chance to make your own pictures of what was happening, and eveybody's picture was different, so you could talk about it. Inner Sanctum's creaking door was always a good sound. Great memories, thank you.
ReplyDeleteWell, first I'm glad your LW problem seems to have been resolved and you can post your albums again. I remember all those old radio shows too, but the one I remember the most was Foster Hewitt's Hockey Night in Canada and his famous opening "Hello Canada, and hockey fans in the United States and Newfoundland"!
ReplyDelete