SO LONG ELLEN ROSENBERG - Long term insurance got her into one of the best places around here

 Earlier today I wrote my sister Donna.

I NEVER EVER fall, I said.

Except I did fall yesterday.

Was coming downstairs, the light was dim, and I missed a step!

I fell on my left ankle and left thigh.

YOW YOW YOW

Very bad pain.

The ankle was swollen.

Later that night, I got a bag of frozen blueberries from the fridge and left it on my elevated foot in bed.

I also rode my stationary bike, later, at the same speed as usual while watching TV in my bedroom.

When I was in third grade and we lived on Glenmore Road, I jumped down nine steps and landed on my feet.

Dad drove me to the ER where we waited for hours. Ended up with a cast on my leg.

Anything else, Ruthie?

Thanks for asking.

Watched a great Netflix film earlier called THE DIG, about an archeological find in the UK. This was at the time when Hitler was invading Poland and war was declared.

A wonderful love story made its way through there. 

Also watched THE VANISHING about a screwed up couple who drive their RV to Maine or somewhere like dat and the woman has a revolver and uses it.

I loved the film but mes amies and family did not. 

My friend Ellen Rosenberg asked me What Russian classic dyou think I'm reading.

Not Anna Karenina I said.

Yes!

And she didn't die when she landed on the train tracks, she quipped.

Vronsky was the name of her soldier lover. She's reading it for her book club. 

On Monday - where, goddamit, is a tissue to blow my schnozzle? - Ellen is moving into Brandywine at Dresher assisted living.

That's where Ada's mom used to live, and live she did for 110 years.

Also told told I LOVE Chekhov's stories esp Lady with a Lapdog.

Ellen has read it.

THIS BEAN SOUP is delicious. Split peas, can of Great Northern Beans, onions, mushrooms, tiny pieces of chopped celery and Brown Rice.

It needed salt, so at first I put in too much, then for my third bowl I got it right.

This is either Taco Bell or Paul's Run where Freda and Bernie live.

I call them every other day.

"Enjoying your life?" I asked Bernie when he answered after the 12th ring.

They were eating lunch. 

From the Net.

Can you imagination the great introductory music for the PBS Evening News Hour?

Broke my ankle

POEM FOR CICELY TYSON

 

They be weeping and moaning under the Full Moon tonight in the Carib island of Nevis where she were born.

After Daddy went away, she were raised by a strict and miserable woman who stomped on her soul.

Waiting with the patience of Job, movies became her partner. She dressed with elegance, long formal

gloves, furs to wrap round her lithesome body, and all them films so many so many, Miss Jane Pittman,

Sounder, The Gin Game, a play with full bellied James Earl Jones - his boom of a voice, her voice a pianissimo, a delicate orchid in a hot house.

We weep as never before. What's that you said in an interview? 

Struggle - Pride - and Dignity.

You claimed our world. 

Photo from NY Times. 

Look what my friend Marcy Found - Poem on Pandemic

 

96 years old. 

Brava! Brava! Rest, gentle lady, rest/

...

Marcy, thanks so much for finding the link for Burdick's Newsstand.

View Burdick's Newsstand here. 

Quelle heure et il?

It's 3:35 pm and I just finished watching an excellent film called THE VANISHING !!!

Absolutely shocking. 

A real nail biter. 

Everything was explained at the end. 

As you can see, I'm still reeling from the film.

Reminded me, but only a bit, of THE SHINING.

Let's see if I can find a photo, but scuse me a moment while I pour myself another cuppa instant coffee.

I haven't heard of anyone in the film. Didna matter.

POEM 

How can I be bored with the pandemic swirling around?

It's like being on Noah's Ark except you get mail, can

talk on the phone, stand in the doorway and watch the

world operate, switch Netflix and YouTube on and off

so many terrible films but when you find a good one

it's an ace in the hole.

 THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE TIMES CHRONICLE ON JANUARY 27, 2021.

Am sending it to many people. Thanks for reading.

By Ruth Z. Deming of Willow Grove, PA   

The word “iconic” is certainly overused. But not where Burdick’s News Stand is concerned. Nearly everyone around here is familiar with this imposing store on the corner of Byberry and South York Road.

Why, then, is Burdick’s closing its doors?

“We’re too old,” said Carl Hollis, 85. His wife Sandra is 80.

The store opened in 1950. Do the math and you’ll find it is 71 years old.

Once it was run by a real Burdick, Carl’s father-in-law – Francis.

Armed back then with my Polaroid camera, I took a photo of Francis – with a full head of white hair - standing in front of Herr’s Potato Chips, Snyder’s Pretzels and packs of beef jerky. The smell of brewing coffee was as fragrant as Chanel No. 5, one of the few things they do not carry.

Several years ago, I wanted to eat a bowl of ice cream. Immediately. I knew where to go.

I sat at a counter seat at Burdick’s and ordered a cup of vanilla ice cream, served in a fluted glass, with chocolate syrup on top.

Looking around, I saw a cooler filled with cans of soda. And heard customers popping them open.

Customers would wander in and stay awhile. The magazine section was very popular. They’d carry their purchases to the cash register and schmooze with Carl or Sandy, as if they were best friends.

And they were.

I brought home some free cigar boxes. Those made in Cuba cost money. Forget it, even though my late father served in Guantanamo Bay during the Second World War.

“I haven’t had time to think about what we’ll do in our retirement years,” said Hollis. He is relieved they sold the building but have no idea what the new owners will put in its place.

Hollis, whose folks hail from New England, has had many operations over the years. They read like a list of movies on Netflix.

Since Burdick’s is closed, where might we go for magazines, newspapers like The Wall Street Journal, Intelligencer, Daily Race Form, New York Times, and New York Post?

Or paperback books?

Hollis names similar stores that have closed down. He has been in touch with most of them. The store in Doylestown, for example, has closed.

“The woman passed away,” he said.   

“We sell a lot of candy,” said Hollis. “Kids love candy.”

Standing in front of the cash register, an assortment of candies and cough drops tempt the customer.

Reed’s root beer hard candy, or Mounds Bars, or Smith Brother’s Cough drops.

When I paid for my ice cream, I paid cash, less than $3 and told him to keep the change.

He handed me the change.

“How have you avoided getting the coronavirus,” I asked.

“Lucky, I guess,” he said.

He and every employee and customers wear masks. Industrial masks.

Years ago, the Inquirer was delivered by a white van from Burdick’s.

Thump, it would go on the driveway across the street from me. Today, some “thief in the night,” drops it off across the street.

What is the definition of a happy person?

To fulfill your dreams? To sit on your porch and listen to the sound of the birds? Or to think of all of the people – literally thousands – whom you have served and made happy. 

HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY - JANUARY 27

Today, January 27, is HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY.

From the Penguin/Random House Library: On January 27th, take a moment to reflect and remember the over six million Jews who died at the hands of Nazi Germany. Below are memoirs and stories by those who acted with resilience and strength and whose lives and family’s lives were forever changed by the atrocities of the Second World War.

...

I wanted to post the recommended books to read but it simply wouldn't work. I did request one of them from my library. 

...

Got up quite early today, before the sun rose. Instead of my usual Reading in Bed - am currently focusing on WELL BEHAVED INDIAN WOMEN, loads of palaver, too much for me, really, but I put on my shoes and made a couple of eggs with sauteed onions and mushroom and took em all out to the Compost Heap wearing a hat and gardening gloves.

Was so cold and worried about the virus I didn't stay out to call COME AND GET IT !

Last night I was looking thru kitchen window and saw male and female deer leaping through the little woods beyond my house, undoubtedly trying to find food in these 30-degree weather.

Yes I do watch Bill Henley, white haired with a big smile on Channel 10 in the morning.

I learn a lot. There are new tests - too expensive to buy now - where you can test for Covid. 

Hold on. Lemme see if the mailman is coming.

Can't see tho I shall leave my storm door open.

Andersen, doors and windows. THE WORST !!!!

...

Oh, just thought of someone to send a card to. Margie. She never reads my blog. Does anyone?

This photo is of my Aunt Selma, doing well at 104. Her son/law Jack Fogel posted it on Facebook. 

My mother was mad at Jack and if she were still alive, would she forgive him?

...

And yes our people died in the Holocaust. Just ask Gramma Green who believed in God but like everyone else couldn't figure out 

why why why

Does he know?

Does he listen to our pleas?

Does he remain nonchalant?

...

 

Say hello to Caroline Hardaker, a famous poet in the UK.

As my thousands of readers know - actually - 4/1000s - I am having trouble with me blog so bear with me as my friend Felicia H Kelly might say when the two of us worked together at the now defunct Record on Easton Road. 

You'll never believe what I did.

Came downstairs and made myself a couple of eggs, after sauteeing onions, which are ever so good!

AND I added ground-up pepper and am not having a sneezing or coughing reaction, thank the Lord.

Bought the pepper mill ages ago at the Giant.

This morning I submitted THE ANGUISH OF PRESIDENT TRUMP to a lit mag I've never tried before.

No way can I remember the name.

But the worst loss of name is when we had a program on drug abuse at the community room at the Giant and I can't remember the speaker's name.

His office is across the street from the Willow Grove Post Office on Easton Road.

I can picture him. Big guy - I used to see him alla time at the Salad Bar at Giant - Ruth, he'd say, this is all I'm eating for the entire day - he ran a bunch of recovery centers in Florida.

Terry Livorsi. Look him up online. 

Les Oefs actually filled me up. 

In a book I'm reading now, the author said she much prefers being outdoors!

What an epiphany for me.

Same here. That's why I eat outside even on very very cold days, tho I do migrate indoors.

Pic from the Internet. Here in my living room I have THREE vases of dried hydrangea, my niece Melissa's favorite flowers.

Mom had some nice ones in front of her house.

LACE HYDRANGEAS. 

Spectaculous!!!

Okay, I'll be moseying along upstairs. Y'all have a good day now, ya hear?

 

Larry King, dead at 87.

Once the darling of Talk Show Hosts.

Died of old man diseases, series of strokes, had been treated for Covid.

But I - RZD - am still alive and made it through the night with my cough. 

Just filled my colorful pill box on the floor in the living room.

You should see all the dust!!!

What's for breakfast?

Will check the Internet, ie, God.v

 ALERT - Winter Snowstorm 

Winter Storm Possible In Eastern PA Early Next Week

Some winter weather is possible early next week in the Philadelphia region. Here's the latest forecast and timing:

• Kara Seymour, Patch Staff

Posted Fri, Jan 22, 2021 at 10:44 am ET

Some winter weather is possible early next week in the Philadelphia region. (Jenna Fisher/Patch)

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Some winter weather is possible early next week in the Philadelphia region.

Forecasters are currently watching a system that could bring accumulating snow to the region Monday night into Tuesday morning.

The National Weather Service has issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for the system, saying a wintry mix mostly of snow and sleet is possible late Monday into Tuesday. That agency has not issued accumulation predictions, but The Weather Channel is forecasting 3 to 5 inches for the Philadelphia region.

Forecasters with The Weather Channel say it's still too early to know specifics about the storm's track and timing.

AccuWeather also said there are several scenarios that could pan out depending on conditions closer to the time of the storm's arrival.

...

Last night I watched a documentary about hurricanes in the Bahamas. Terrible! So when you say, Something terrible has happened, think again.... that was terrible. Babies, little tiny babies or toddlers, DEAD.

...

I have the sniffles and am hoping it doesn't lead to Covid-19. Doubtful. Am waiting to hear from Dr Foxhall.

Scott told me to add a raw onion to my Cappuccino, which I have done. AND I gargled with salt water, which he also suggested. Ada said she always does dat but now with such little contact with people, it's not necessary.

...

Scott said that last night he heard CAYENNE barking! A new development in the dog's life.

I joked and said, What if the bark sounded like Bill Adams himself!

...

Will pay my Comcast bill shortly. THE PRICE WENT UP! 

And there goes Dante's mail truck. He took my many letters and postcards. 

Was unable to add a pic of a mail truck.

...

For my memoir, I made a list of all the people and/or events I want to write about.

Sarah, Dan, Ethan, Bill Cardinale, Simon Baniewicz, Kidney Transplant, Art Projects, 

ALERT:  Hank Aaron died at age 86. A great man bites the dust. 

POEM

With Trump gone, much fear and despair has disappeared

Yet will the sense of anguish he wrought, ever disappear?

Corrupt to the core, a bully, a liar, may he disappear 

From the earth and the planets and the stars.

...

Legacy.com remembers Burton Wasserman. We both wrote for Art Matters.

January 20, 2021

What a kind and loving man. I met Burt when we both worked for Art Matters magazine. We visited a few artists together like Robinson Fredenthal and Sam Maitan. I had the pleasure of hearing him interview these artists and then read the results in Art Matters. Condolences to his family and friends. I also loved his geometric-style paintings.

Ruth Deming

Friend

HELLO AND GOODBYES

 

Happy Birthday BETTY WHITE. 

99 years old.

Some of the perks she said are She can stay up as late as she wants and eat whatever she wants.

She met the love of her life ALLEN LUDDEN on the program PASSWORD. 

FROM THE TOP is just about over.

This sweet faced man used to run it. Say hello or goodbye to Christopher O'Reilly. 

LET THE MUSIC MAKE YOU FREE

Who are these exotic looking people?

The woman is Kamala Harris, our soon to be Vice President.

Below is Queen Elizabeth II in New Delhi during a 1961 visit to Lady Irwin College, where Ms. Gopalan received a degree in home science. She would change her name to Kamala Harris. 

Credit...Central Press Photo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Harris was intent on coming to America where she could pursue her education.

A student of science, she was teased by her family about learning home ec and the ability to set a nice table.

For lunch I ate a huge salad and took it outside to eat.

George was a glossy monthly magazine centered on the theme of politics-as-lifestyle founded by John F. Kennedy Jr. and Michael J. Berman with publisher Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in New York City in September 1995. Its tagline was "Not Just Politics As Usual." It was published from 1995 to 2001.

I was almost blown away by the cold but finished it outside. Could not wait to get inside where Mahler's Second Symphony - THE RESURRECTION - is playing on WRTI FM.

Am listening to it now, wearing a warm hat and my leopard spotted shirt - Grrrr!- I bought years ago at Walmart, made by GEORGE, once owned by JFK's son.

The sweater sat obediently in a drawer marked SWEATERS.

Am going to do nothing now but listen to the soprano whose last name is CONNOLLY. 

• Dame Sarah Patricia Connolly DBE (born 13 June 1963) is an English mezzo-soprano. Although best known for her baroque and classical roles, Connolly has a wide-ranging repertoire which has included works by Wagner as well as various 20th-century composers. with trepidation I approach:  Madame are YOU the one with the beautiful voice at Verizon Hall, I believe? 
  
  There was one other soprano, since our narrator just spoke. Greg Whiteside. 
• I stood up when it was over - from 2014 - and listened as various sections were introduced like brass, strings and percussion.
• 
  
• Oh Mrs Kultti, my former piano teacher, would have loved it !!!

Mommy and Daddy come alive in this photo

 

Have you ever met Mommy and Daddy?

Thanks to my sister Donna for sending it along.

Just woke up from my long nap in The Reading Room. 

Y a w n  !!!

I miss them terribly. While Mommy was decompensating over the past several months, we used to meet on Sundays in her huge house.

How I looked forward to those times.

Am gonna grab a snack - how about Mommy's sweet and sour meatballs - or her spaghetti pie with Campbell's Soup - while I search for a poem I'd written about Daddy.

Hurray for mural of the late queer artist Gloria Casarez

 

Now THIS IS talent. What, say you, YOU could draw this? Gimme a break. 

Gloria Casarez tribute appears near whitewashed mural

From Billy Penn: 

Last month a developer painted over a mural honoring local LGBTQ icon Gloria Casarez. This week, a queer street artist put up a new one just 50 feet away. Tiff Urquhart's larger-than-life wheatpaste depicts the civil rights leader’s face in warm jewel tones on a corner of the Franklin Inn Club. 

The club president told Billy Penn she wasn't sure how long it would be allowed to remain, but Mural Arts executive director Jane Golden was thrilled. Urquhart rushed to get the new work up quickly, saying of Casarez, "“She just needed something in her memory right away.”

PLUS Countdown till President Joseph Biden Jr is sworn in as president.

Our dictator will make it as difficult as possible.

If this were a third world country - and much of our nation IS - he would be locked up for many a year  and only a few of his cronies would be able to visit.

Can't you hear their high heels clicking on the concrete floor? 

CONTROVERSY and the hopeful disappearance of DJT Jr

View controversial photos of Kamala Harris, published by NY Times.

Jackie Kennedy wore her pill box hats and designer gowns. Was she controversial? Of course!

Gosh, 2 very heavy packages just arrived on my doorstep.

SCOOOTTTT !

IT'S THE LIBRARY !!! Scott will assemble at his house.

At last, I'll recognize my dream of being a librarian.

Remember, I did study for my MLS - Master of Library Science - when I lived in Austin, TX.

Shall we see if the library is still there?

Mass shooting took place in clock tower in 1963. 

Read more here. 

Hey, it's 5:30 already.

Time for the Mickey Mouse Club!!!

From Smithsonian magazine

SEEN FROM MY BACK YARD

 You may hear the strains of Rudolf Serkin emanating from MY READING ROOM. 

Some of his many recordings of BRAHMS.

Johannes, as we know, is one of the three Bs - Brahms, Beethoven, Bartok, and Irving Berlin.

In a previous blog, I kid you not, there were photos of a male and female buck.

What I was unable to capture with my Nikon was a multi-colored fox. 

Returning for a moment to Brahms, since I've been up there listening, some of his passages are THE MOST SUBLIME I have ever heard. 

MR FOX MAKES A RARE APPEARANCE

Crossing at the end of my huge back yard

he traverses toward Scott's yard next door

Victuals for him or her are spread across

the frosty grass.

Spread your V-shaped face and gobble up

before someone comes

egg shells, asparagus toughies, fragrant lemons

all for the little vixens as they grow into

mature and vicious hunters.

. 

Since I didn't write a short story yesterday am working on one now AND MORE, MUCH MUCH MORE

 Was up very early and reported to my READING ROOM, where I read on red checkered hide-a-bed the intriguing book IF YOU LIVED HERE YOU'D KNOW WHAT I MEAN. 

Listened to Rudolf Serkin play on Ethan's stereo. Cradled my delicious peppermint tea in hand and just gloried in the brand new day.

Did I tell you how much I'm enjoying Martin Scorsese presenting Fran Liebowitz?

Fran is currently 70. Read about her here on Wiki. 

We sure hope Ruthie still remembers how to do links. Not cuff links. Alexander Calder's son I believe made cuff links for Fran.

Scuse me. Wanna go upstairs and work on my short story ARLENE COMES TO VISIT. 

What a glorious day to be rejected

 Guessing games.

Guess who I talked to for all of 13 seconds just now.

Yes! My grandson Max Atticus Deming.

I asked him what his sister's name was and he correctly answered GRACE. 

Dan said, Prepare to be rejected, Mom.

I guess that's what a door slamming meant.

I am making split pea soup like Mom used to make.

Everything's in the slow cooker. 

peas, chopped celery, chopped onions, garlic. Oops forgot the salt. 

I'd told Max of a delicious snack made of celery filled with peanut butter.

Or cream cheese or chopped liver.

Hmm. I wonder why Grace takes such a dislike toward me.

Am taking a break from my writers' group and emailed Beatrix about it.

Just don't feel like inventing something though I do have some good ideas I wrote down last night. 

What shall I do now?

Read?

Nay.

I shall .... fill in the blank, Dear Reader. Surely you know me by now.

I may walk around da block. 

Winter in - Cleveland, Vermont, Harris County, and here in Willow Grove PA

 

Pelosi says the House will move to impeach Trump if he doesn’t resign ‘immediately.’

Am working on my memoirs. All is going okay.

To take a break I walked around the block. 

FIGURES !!!!

I scuffed my new brown Clark's shoes.

Tried to remove the scuff with soap.

It did not work.

Am listening to music on my stereo. Refuse to listen to one more word about our bullying, autocratic president.

Received a phone call today from a woman named Marissa who has been trying to reach me for a week or so.

THE FOOL left a message saying Private Phone Call. Had she left her name we could have settled the matter. She wants to know about New Directions Support Group.

Okay back upstairs I go to work on memoirs. I am leaving humorous comments to make it more ME.

Am drinking powdered coffee made in Israel called ELITE and flavored with:

grenades?

IEDs?

bullet shells?

Real maple syrup. 

And cinnamon which poured out uncontrollably, which may be the word of the week.

Yes, I am a Jew and I am tired of all this fighting and the refusal to give Palestine its own territory.

Frank Lllloyd Right Synagogue on York Road.

Nancy Pelosi and friends are gonna attempt to remove hizzoner from office.

I AM WITH YOU! 

I AM WITH YOU!

What will they think about my scuffed shoes?   

Beautiful houses from Montco County PA

 

Shhh, I just broke into this house. Please join me in this bed and we'll get to know one another.

If you voted for Tr*mp, forget it.

Oops. This is what happens when you press down too hard.

Hey I sure hope Jack n Jill didn't fall down the well or well have to invent a Stephen King story.

Luckily this house has been abandoned. I'll go inside and raid the fridge and hopefully find some GIRL SCOUT cookies. 

What are YOUR favorite, dear Reader,

CHocolate Mint. The second story I got published in the newspaper was about Girl Scout Cookies which appeared in THE EVENING BULLETIN. The editor congratulated me and then in a twist of fate the goddamn newspaper folded. 

HELP, I;m falling, falling, falling.

Kerbang. 

Ever see such a long back porch?

Was gonna buy the house but now I've changed my mind.

THE PAJAMA GAME

 

Photo from the NY Times.

The proceedings ground to a halt as the Capitol building was placed on lockdown, with senators and members of the House locked inside their chambers. Read the latest. Our dictator must be on Cloud 9 as the lockdown continues. When Dad was dying of lung cancer that metastasized to his brain when he was 58, we tried to ease his journey toward oblivion.  Hold on while I grab a pretzel. There was no good music on the radio so somehow we thought of playing musicals on the stereo. Last night I listened to the entire PAJAMA GAME starring Doris Day and John Raitt. I've rarely been so happy. Bob Fosse was the choreographer. Hey there, you with the stars in your eyes. The great CAROL HANEY was one of the dancers. HERNANDO'S HIDEAWAY. Dear Wiki - and yes I donated 5 bucks to you - WHY WAS I SO HAPPY LISTENING TO THIS MUSIC? For my memoirs I contacted Bill Klineman to ask what he remembered about Dad and also Mom. Also contacted a friend of mine who will never get it done. Hey if you don't mind I'm gonna walk a bit down the street in my NEW BALANCE SNEAKS, and think about my late friend George Schuler. George was born in 1924. He and his wife Elinor traveled all over the world including African safaries. After she passed, he met someone new and traveled to OREGON, I believe, to meet her family. Out I go in my warm hat and warm coat and shoes that make me fly.

While reading upstairs in my Reading Room, I heard a thump - Poem: Look at the girl fly down the street

 Sure enough when I came downstairs I found a package from Flaherty's. Had spoken to Krista yesterday about what shoes to order.

New Balance sneakers are now snug on my feet. 

Opened the pkg with my box cutter and nearly cut myself. 

Handsome, aren't they?

I've always said SHOES ARE MY FAVORITE PART OF MY BODY.

George, I thought, you'd be so proud of me if you could see my sneakers.

George and wife Elinor lived on the bottom of Cowbell Road until they moved to the Old Ladies' Home as he called it, Ann's Choice.

Gone and missed terribly!!!

Can you hold on a moment while I write a poem.

Holy cow. WRTI FM is playing Carmina Burana, which Dad brought home years ago. What a great cantata with profane words.

Just ran over to Scott's in my sneaks and carrying the brown Clark's. 

I am inordinately happy!

Am reading the novel MASTER CLASS by Christina Dalcher.

and another color green book

THINGS YOU WOULD KNOW IF YOU GREW UP AROUND HERE by Nancy Wayson Dinan

LOOK AT THE GIRL FLY DOWN THE STREET

They'd never know I'm no longer young

These aren't Keds or PF Flyers

But New Balance which have what at first looked like

a Nazi symbol but after careful consideration 

an N for Newman, a family name, and I run

a marathon down Cowbell Road, dogs barking

at my approach, go Ruthie go. Oh, George I

miss you so, but in absentia I know you

are proud of me. 

THANK YOU SISTER LYNNIE !!!!

 BTW, it took me half an hour to clean the slo cooker. 

Then I emptied my Tall Kitchen Bag in the yellow plastic dumpster. 

I’m dreaming of a slice of lemon cake.png

Sent from my iPhone