Sister Lynn's 69th Birthday Party on July 30, 2022 HURRAY OUR LYNNIE !!!

 

My Mammogram

 MARY T SACHS BREAST CENTER. Scott and I were pulling in. Yes, he drives me everywhere. My Nissan Sentra needs a new battery and he is not ready to get me one.

It should be a cinch to get the mammogram. Every two years my family doctor schedules me. I trust him so I do what he says.

I already know that I can't put the gown on correctly, so I ask the kind lady to help me. I removed my clothes and she wraps a warm - yes! - a warm coral colored gown around me. Whew! That was the worst part.

Other than my 'bad leg' which is getting slowly better. 

Then I sit and wait for my name to be called. Where were the magazines I was gonna read? Ah yes. Everything must be sanitized. Damn I could've read a book for half an hour instead of twiddle my thumbs.

Breast cancer? I was fairly certainly I didn't have it. Nursed my two babies. Avoided tobacco. Ate healthy foods with the right kind of 'fat' - and stopped eating delicious foods on account of my diabetes.

Waiting in the well lit waiting room, our names were called quickly.

I stood up and followed Jackie and Carrie into Room Two.

What? They didn't even ask 76 year old moi if I was pregnant?

I surrendered my breasts to the machine, which wheezed and snorted and twirled around like a ballerina.

Since I am short, the machine bent down.

I realized with a shock the pain was excruciating.

Yes, excruciating.

They knew. It will only be another minute. Now hold your breath.

Once they had to take two pictures to get my lymph nodes in.

Do you wanna rest, they would ask me.

Absolutely not!

Finally, finally it was over.

I staggered my way into the changing room and like a big girl figured out where to toss my coral colored gown.

Where would Scott be waiting?

There he was sitting in a well lit room, holding my back pack so no one would steal it.

Wow, that was fast, he said.

I walked as fast as a thoroughbred to his car and slid in, side saddle, as I always do.

It is pouring outside now - 7 05 pm and it is just what we need

 Just watched the PBS Evening News Hour with Judy Woodruff. Was waiting to take my AMY'S FROZEN MEAL out of the oven. 

Darn. The meal needs another half hour in there. Timer is set. 

Got my front door open and am watching the rain bubble up on the sidewalk up to my house and also in the street.

Had to turn on the lights in the living room. 

Am feeling unaccountably happy. We have a new baby in the family whose name is Eleonor.

Many famous ones. This family is politically active so she could be named after Eleonor Roosevelt. I also found a song called The Death of Eleonor Jane. Quite beautiful. 

Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYXr1R3OOi0.

Nah, that didn't work. 

We ordered meals from GIANT DIRECT which arrived around 6 pm.

I thanked Anthony who delivered the food to us in white plastic bags.

Those trucks are beautiful, I told him. They are really dirty up close, he said.

Wait till we get new ones, said Little Anthony and the Imperials. 

Photos of Diversity

Robin's nest at Scott's, fell out of tree

Neighbors have company

Blue hydrangea here since the day I moved in, 1990

Ah, feels so good to  re  l a x  !!!

Food at Nikki's 50th Birthday Party

Photos

Howdy, senor!

Sister Donna above 

He and I had a great discussion about rock music. 

Matching washers and dryers at the Roches

A very compact rest room

These lemon slices, with and w/o sugar were delicious!

Beautiful Melissa is below

B

Newspaper with SHE IS FIFTY

Oh no! Is this Jamie with whom we discussed rock stars including Getti who died? 

My secretariat at home sweet home.
 

Delicious Mint TEA - Plus Book Group for AGE OF MIRACLES

 

So I packed a very large cup with mint leaves from the garden near the front door. 

The leaves are from Robin Frankin from the Giant.

Added a spoon of COWBELL HONEY from Neighbor Patrick.

Then put a TV dinner in the oven with a crack on the door.

Timer set for one hour.

Man, that tea is gooood!

Time now for the PBS EVENING NEWS. 

THE AGE OF MIRACLES is one of the best books I've read in years.

There is a list of questions. I couldn't download em so I downloaded the questions from a library in Colorado Springs. 

Plus I spoke briefly, very briefly, to CC, who recognized my voice. 

Fighting a claim - Memories of Village Green Apartments

 

Hassles about paying a Labcorps bill.

They billed me 201.

This is b/c Medicare refused to pay my bill which was ordered by John Khoury, neurologist of Abington Hospital.

Just spoke to Vicky, secy to Khoury, who will contact MEDICARE, who refused to pay the claim, and tell them WHY this is medically necessary.

My diagnosis is MCI and sleep apnea.

This is what you must do when you file an APPEAL.

,,,

My helpers will be here this morning. I had plenty of time to do the above work.

MARYKATE will be here at 11:15. She is the mother of,,, a darling little girl.

MARISSA will be here at 2 30 pm. Her son is.... a darling little boy.

...

Akuba bushes with their mottled leaves

And yes I did have a cuppa java b/c I need to use my Mouth Breather to strengthen my lungs.

I turn into a man when I sleep.

Went out in the large backyard just now. 3 mushrooms out there plus two Bud Lights.

Threw the unopened beer cans in the Yellow Plastic Container.

Here is what the National Park Service says about mushrooms.

Mushrooms aren't really plants, they are types of fungi that have a "plantlike" form - with a stem and cap (they have cell walls as well). This is really just the "flower or fruit" of the mushroom - the reproductive part which disperses the spores. The larger portion of many fungi is underground, and can be acres in size! Mushrooms aren't plants because they don't make their own food (plants use photosynthesis to make food). The underground part of the fungus uses enzymes to "digest" other substances that it can use as food. Mushrooms and other fungi often grow in association with plants - perhaps attaching to the side of a tree, or growing out of a dead log as it decays. They are important in helping to "recycle" nutrients and break down dead plant materials.

WHEN I LIVED IN VILLAGE GREEN APARTMENTS I would walk with Mary Pasorini and she would gather mushrooms and keep them in an old margarine container.

She and Mom became friends. Mary taught Mom how to make Pizelles. Flat, crusty and tasty.

Mary and her sister, Angie, who had worked at Gimble's had a hard time getting along.

One of the best articles I ever wrote was about the barriers erected on the PA Turnpike. When Ellen and I went to Nik and Steve's party, we were back on the turnpike. 

Mailman is late, very very late, but HERE he is

 I had written a thank you card to Nikki and Steve Roche for the great party they hosted on Sunday night.

My letter, on Hummingbird stationery, sat awaiting the mailman for, oh, about 7 hours.

Then I saw a mail carrier pass by my door.

We all recognize the uniform.

Thank you Lamar for coming out at 7 30 pm.

I handed him the thank you note.

I have not opened THREE important messages which can wait till tomorrow.

Labcorps, something from my primary care doctor, Foxhall, and a packet of new greeting cards.

With all the foul-ups in the mail system, it is truly amazing that items get delivered correctly.

Agree?

For dinner I had delicious frozen wontons and then for my second dinner I ate a bed of salad upon which I had an egg and a tomato. The tomato remains the hottest of the dinner.

Ellen bought me my precious Kirkland Unsalted Nuts which are still stuck between my teeth. If I eat more, they will not get unstuck.

Commercials online everywhere.

Was watching Dick Cavett interview Katharine Hepburn, who claimed she had no talent but was simply born at the right time.

Photo please:

Nightie night!

 

REMEMEBERING MY HELPERS

 WHAT I FOUND WHEN I WAS CLEANING MY DESK

The desk is in the living room, a gift from Aunt Marion,

one of Gramma Lily's 11 siblings, Uncle Max had fled to Panama

and became a fireman, tired of his father's beatings

I mopped my brow with one of those moist towellets

at least 15 years old, and keys good lord, keys stuffed

inside a squeaky drawer that could not be thrown away

or used either

Two fine Nikon cameras 

A chipped custard cup of pale green

Meanwhile I'm commanding Alexa to play

Bon Jovi, Dion and the Belmonts, the

Easter Oratorio and creating a pile

on the carpet for all to be tossed into

the Yellow Plastic Bin though old and dark

rubber bands go into the trash container

I squish an ant in my fingers and refuse to think

of their social intelligence and The Ant Farm we had

as kids and that basin of Mom's where I collected

salamanders from the trickle on the crick

but they all escaped during the night

My voting card, colors rubbed off with time

What's that sound? A recording of the making

of Mustang Sally my sister Ellen is listening to

upstairs.

Ride Sally Ride!

Where's that big yellow moon?

It makes not a sound I can hear

but at Cape Canaveral they wore

earplugs and a few early astronauts

lost their lives, How I mourned for

Christa McAuliffe and poetated about her

and her big cumbersome gloves she burned

up in, like a regular Jeanne d'Arc played by

what's her name who killed herself

The manic depressives among us are tempted

but usually end up saving ourselves, I still

miss Roberto and Jimmy who did himself in

with aspirin, jes trying to make hisself feel better

Goodbye Moon, wrote Margaret Wise Brown

and she was. She was. Wise.   

....

EATING MY OMELET OUTSIDE ON THE LOUNGE CHAIR

Okay, so it was a little dry but who on this planet is perfect?

Read Ecclesiastes also known as Quoeleth, praise be his name,

Second in Command to God, a testy fellow, like an overseer at

Monticello. No choice what happened in those dim and unfancy

slave cabins, the howls, as Allen Ginsburg put it.

I like my instant coffee with a little Cowbell Honey. Like ,

Dad, Patrick has a garage door opener and everything disappears

when he pulls in.

Here comes boyfriend Scott walking around the block

Five minutes as he pulls out his pocket watch.

We live here. Each house a mansion. 

....

A sip of instant coffee will help me write. 

Ya know, I said to Kat, on the dot of 9:30 am,

I should learn all of your names... MaryKate,

Marissa, and you of course.

She said my memory was "awesome" and I choose to believe her.

I remembered six objects - length of rope, dunkin a tea bag, taking a

shower, a safety pin, a Tiffany lamp, and a digging spade.

Now that wasn't so hard was it now?

....

KAT wishes she had a compost heap, like me and Scott. 

Egg shells and watermelon rinds and avocados spread

all over the uneven terrain, like a bog in "Rebecca"

by Daphne du Maurier.

No little children around. Her daughter lives in Boston

they talk and they text. And the comfortable shoes she wears!

MARISSA is tiny. Occupational therapist who helps me organize. We found a zillion

passcodes, tho I can think of another: Hot Coffee.

Her son is Bowen. 

MARYKATE physical therapist helps me with my balance.

I totter (Audrey) but rarely fall. Watch me go early in the

morning, wearing shorts I bought at Dick's for a song

and a tank top with plunging neckline that reminds

me of Picasso in his harlequin period. GUERNICA flows

in Ukraine, Syria, Afrika, the Afghan and all wars.

God has never found time to stop!!!!

Eating outside for my Sunday Breakfast

WHAT I FOUND WHEN I WAS CLEANING MY DESK

The desk is in the living room, a gift from Aunt Marion,

one of Gramma Lily's 11 siblings, Uncle Max had fled to Panama

and became a fireman, tired of his father's beatings

I mopped my brow with one of those moist towellets

at least 15 years old, and keys good lord, keys stuffed

inside a squeaky drawer that could not be thrown away

or used either

Two fine Nikon cameras 

A chipped custard cup of pale green

Meanwhile I'm commanding Alexa to play

Bon Jovi, Dion and the Belmonts, the

Easter Oratorio and creating a pile

on the carpet for all to be tossed into

the Yellow Plastic Bin though old and dark

rubber bands go into the trash container

I squish an ant in my fingers and refuse to think

of their social intelligence and The Ant Farm we had

as kids and that basin of Mom's where I collected

salamanders from the trickle on the crick

but they all escaped during the night

My voting card, colors rubbed off with time

What's that sound? A recording of the making

of Mustang Sally my sister Ellen is listening to

upstairs.

Ride Sally Ride!

Where's that big yellow moon?

It makes not a sound I can hear

but at Cape Canaveral they wore

earplugs and a few early astronauts

lost their lives, How I mourned for

Christa McAuliffe and poetated about her

and her big cumbersome gloves she burned

up in, like a regular Jeanne d'Arc played by

what's her name who killed herself

The manic depressives among us are tempted

but usually end up saving ourselves, I still

miss Roberto and Jimmy who did himself in

with aspirin, jes trying to make hisself feel better

Goodbye Moon, wrote Margaret Wise Brown

and she was. She was. 

DAYLILLIES ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

 

Just woke up to Dr Daniel Aman and wife Tana. I love their white couch. 

Looked out my upstairs window searching for the moon.

There it was. Way off to the right. Quite a sight. It was yellow and looked to be a quarter moon. Thrilling!

Why does the Moon look red or yellow at times?

• The reason why the Moon takes on a reddish color during totality is a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering. It is the same mechanism responsible for causing colorful sunrises and sunsets, and for the sky to look blue.
• Dr Amen always has interesting things to say. Does he help me with my life? 
• No.
• The folks who do help me are my Fox Rehab nurses. Kat, MaryKate, and Marissa.
• They are brilliant is what folks say in the UK.
• I will read a little bit before falling asleep.
• Let's see: Clint Smith's SPREAD THE WORD; Karen Thompson Walker's AGE OF MIRACLES (large print).
• Wrote the true story DAYLILLIES ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD for B's group yesterday. Most folks liked it.
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

JUST LOOKED OUT UPSTAIRS WINDOW AND SAW THE MOON PEEKING OUT. 

Here is what WIKI says about the moon. 

 The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. At about one-quarter the diameter of Earth (comparable to the width of Australia),^[16] it is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System, the largest satellite in the Solar System relative to its major planet,^[f] and larger than any known dwarf planet. The Moon is a planetary-mass object that formed a differentiated rocky body, making it a satellite planet under the geophysical definitions of the term.^[17] It lacks any significant atmosphere, hydrosphere, or magnetic field. Its surface gravity is about one-sixth of Earth's (0.1654 g). Jupiter's moon Io is the only satellite in the Solar System known to have a higher surface gravity and density.

Orbiting Earth at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), or about 30 times Earth's diameter, its gravitational influence very slowly lengthens Earth's day and is the main driver of Earth's tides. The Moon's orbit around Earth has a sidereal period of 27.3 days. During each synodic period of 29.5 days, the amount of visible surface illuminated by the Sun varies from none up to 100%, resulting in lunar phases that form the basis for the months of a lunar calendar. The Moon is tidally locked to Earth, which means that the length of a full rotation of the Moon on its own axis causes its same side (the near side) to always face Earth, and the somewhat longer lunar day is the same as the synodic period. That said, 59% of the total lunar surface can be seen from Earth through shifts in perspective due to libration.

WHEN MY HELPER MARISSA was here yesterday, July 19, she helped me figure out the p/code to get on my blog. I have written it down. 

Let's see if I can find photos of the big ole moon. 

ALEXA, PLAY BARBER OF SEVILLE !

 Hello - can you read me?

Just figured out how to POST on me blog!

To be continued..... 

LETTER TO EDITOR

 "Keep focusing on learning during the summer," wrote Caroline Jones, a Miss Pennsylvania Volunteer. She is certainly right about that.

My opinion is "Keep reading your local newspaper. What a lot you will learn about the goings-on in your community - mine is Willow Grove -
and even what crimes are being committed.

Many folks choose to leave their cars in the driveway, never suspecting that the catalytic converter, when stolen, brings loads of
money as it is made from platinum. Who knew?

The Independence Blue Cross Foundation was generous enough to award grants to eligible nursing students at one thousand dollars apiece. What a help
that will be. Many of us, such as myself, remember the great care we received from these highly trained and compassionate men and women.

Ever heard of "kratom?" Believe it or not, it is an addictive substance taken from a tropical evergreen tree. By a nearly unanimous vote, the Pennsylvania House
banned it. Bill sponsor Rep. Tracy Pennycuick, a Montgomery County Republican told the committee how dangerous it is. Largely unregulated, some children - yes,
children - end up in the ER with seizures.

Parents, pay attention to what your children are doing. Years ago, a public service announcement said, "It's 10 pm. Do you know where your children are?"

Speaking of Republicans, a number have jumped party lines to endorse Josh Shapiro, the current attorney general, for governor. Shapiro had made a name for
himself by vigorously going after corruption, including pedophile clergy men and women.

Avoiding scams is important for seniors to read about. How can people be so naive, you will wonder. And yet, my sister saved me from buying something absolutely ridiculous. From a friend of mine!

Set aside a couple of hours, pour yourself some iced lemonade and read your local paper. What better way to be informed and to have something substantial to talk about.

St Dunstan's Feast

 

Double click to see the Feast that Sister Lynn brought over.

We cleared off the kitchen table and ate all these delicacies Lynn had made.

Lynn was speaking to SIRI who I had confused with Alexa, whose voice comes out of the WALL.

We drank instant coffee with the dessert which was a huge gallatine sparkling with fresh fruits.

I recorded all information in my diabetes notebook on kitchen table.

AND if I eat nuts for dessert, I will have the terrible feeling of nuts in my teeth.

What dyou think I will do? 

The Junkman is coming slowly up our street lookin to find more items to sell or whatever it is he does with his stuff

 A tippin over truck comes down our street

reminds me of the dust bowl 

three cents for my sewing machine with treadle

onward we proceed

sand blinding our eyes

creating pockets down our thin clothing

onward we go

sing, dammit, sing

and never give up until we are like Helen Keller

she made it and met the president of the United States

A lazy summer day and the junkman just passed by - could that be made into a poem?

 

I had the opportunity of a lifetime and I blew it.

Mary Kate was here. We did loads of exercises, ranging in difficulty but I did em all.

Told her - her daughter is Aubrey - that I wrote a terrific story but it was difficult when I began it last night as I was very tired and couldn't think straight.

Finished it this morning and I liked it a lot. Wrote it for my friend Margie who hasn't had a chance to read it yet.

When I went online to find THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF KELSEY AND NATHAN I could not find the damn thing.

AND not a soul has read it.

When Mary Kate arrived, I was in the middle of eating a frozen dinner. I felt I was caught with my pants down. How rude to be eating AMY'S THAI CURRY. 

She and I walked outside in the heat, which offered no refreshing breezes. I drank a glass of water first. Ellen is in charge of the water. 

Told her my former client from Bristol Bensalem called and we talked for 90 minutes.

JP.  Put him in my address book along with his DOB August 31, 1957, I think. He is now on Medicare, part A and B. 

His legs are swollen as he fell off his bike several times so he can't take Bucks County Transport since he can't make it up the steps and they refuse to help you.

He is Ukrainian, I remembered, and we talked about all the Ukrainian Jews. He thought he knew by our names if we are Jewish. Of course I'm a Deming by marriage and acccording to my ex, the name meant 'crook' but was changed. 

A tippin over truck comes down our street

reminds me of the dust bowl 

three cents for my sewing machine with treadle

Today will be a hot one - My helper KAT was here today for help with memory

 

Thank you Coach Iris for the lovely flowers which I sent you a decade ago. 

Am guessing they are from KREMP FLORIST right around the corner from me on Davisville Road.

You sure know how to take c/o flowers.

Altho we dislike using the AC it does come in handy on days like today.  

Today I had to remember FIVE OBJECTS. You visualize them. The hardest thing though is recreating a black and white pattern with orange and white squares.

TIME TO EXERCISE !!!

Did I tell you today is the day Daddy died? July 13, 1980. Lung cancer that metabolized to his brain. 

Dr Lutz was helping us. Lutz had only one eye. Thother was removed due to cancer. He was friends with our beloved Mrs Tamaccio. When she died, we listened to a piano concert she gave on DVD.

She was also my late brother David's piano teacher. 

Folks scurry around the block

 Indeed they do for soon it will begin to rain.

Here they come with their dogs.

The dogs echo their master's sense of urgency.

One last outing before the deluge.

I'm drinking green decaffeinated tea with Cowbell Honey in it.

And if I have the energy, I will write one of my K and N short stories.

I write them for Marmaluke, as I call her.

Just watched a show w Carol Burnett. Not one of her best but I was munching away.

Oh, someone unearthed the portulaca. I replanted them in a less conspicuous place, merging in with the hastas. 

Watered them numerous times. 

Including with my hot dog water.

Can that be Eduardo on the phone? 

More on the death of Ruth Pfeffer

 THIS IS WHAT I WROTE ON THE LEGACY SECTION OF RUTH PFEFFER'S OBIT.

A stillness fell on the meadow where we walked

Not a single cardinal, whippoorwill or tawny owl

trilled its melody

Birds have feelings too

Sharper often than ours

A huge turtle sunned itself on a rock

in the pond and the long-necked geese had flown off

to find succulent insects for their noonday meal

And you, good lady, a regular Emily or Whitman

will share your wisdom elsewhere 

you have been here forever

and will travel to unknown lands

beyond the high fluffy clouds. 

- Ruth Z. Deming

I had to go on goggle to get the correct spelling of whippoorwill. 

Ruth Pfeffer was born in 1941 and died 2022.

More about today's walk at the Y

 It was blisteringly hot but Scott and I were doing okay. I wore short shorts, my navy top with stars on it,  and comfortable shoes tho I should have worn soft cushiony sneakers to strike on the wide walking pavement. 

Also wore a darling gray broad brimmed hat with widenot chin strap that neighbor Bob had dropped off.

All was well during the walk until we neared the car.

Suddenly the heat struck! The greenery had disappeared and concrete became the walls. 

Why, we lamented, when we got in the car, why hadn't we brought WATER?

Of course we were close to home but hey we could have died.

Another disaster story to write.

...

I tied up in twine that thankfully was on a shelf in the kitchen the book IF IT DIE by Andre Gide. The book from another library was very detailed and often hard to understand but quite good.

Now I must figure out my next brilliant move.

Sitting outside in the shade.

Desiree Rumbaugh, yoga teacher, Sunday morning July 10, 2022

 

Desiree is what she calls a WISDOM WARRIOR. 

I watched her this morning on Channel 12, PBS. She mentioned that many women have not found what they are looking for.

For sure, that is me.

Just checked the trunk of my car, but no yoga mat. I confess to having used these mats to do artwork on.

Walked briskly around the block, the first one out of the gate.

Brushed my teeth but did not eat breakfast yet.

My front door is open, welcoming the sunshine and breath of the universe.

Glug glug glug. Yes I must take all my vitamins. 

Have the best day you possibly can!

PS Desiree mentioned she has had to welcome people to her life that she has lost.

We are so proud of Grace and Max

 

Watched a lot of this film online. Premise - how can a dumb blonde like YOU get in Harvard?

My granddaughter Grace will be in the play at Abington High School tomorrow night. I won't go fearing germs.

Dan and I talked about half an hour on the phone. My real estate taxes arrived. About 4 K. I do have the money but I've gotta sell some stocks. Plus pay my accountant's bill.

[EMCEE]
I know what you're thinking?
You wonder why I chose her
Out of all the ladies in the world
That's just a first impression?
What good's a first impression?
If you knew her like I do
It would change your point of view
If you could see her through my eyes
You wouldn't wonder at all
If you could see her through my eyes
I guarantee you would fall like I did
When we're in public together
I hear society groan
But if they could see her through my eyes
Maybe they'd leave us alone
How can I speak of her virtues?
I don't know where to begin:
She's clever, she's smart, she reads music
She doesn't smoke or drink gin like I do
Yet when we're walking together
They sneer if I'm holding her hand
But if they could see her through my eyes
Maybe they'd all understand

[They waltz]

I understand your objection
I grant you the problem's not small
But if you could see her through my eyes
She wouldn't look Jewish at all!

KALIE, why are you barking?

ELLEN AND I had a great dinner. Scallops over a bed of greens.

Picture picture. Didn't Mr Rogers say that?

Joel Grey. 

Born 1932 In Brooklyn.

My late parents Bernice and Harold made sure we saw Broadway musicals including CABARET, which I decided not to see. 

Not to worry. I have sung the Sally Bowles role while dancing in my living room. 

Liza Minelli at 76 years old. My guess is she was born in 1946. 

Good morning

 Kat was here this morning at 9:30 am. She is rarely late. I had been walking up Cowbell Road and told her I'd meet her at my house. Felt odd saying that. 

We did very strenuous memory exercises. She complimented me on how well I did. Two cards are offered, the size of doilies.

Find what object is repeated on one of them. 

Treble clef.

I made coffee in a cup with Mom and other Greenwold family on it.

Added Cowbell Honey. Thank you Patrick.

Worked on the Mouth Breather.

Four inhales, 12 exhales. Is that right?

Sister Donna is coming over now. She will pick up a few things that are hanging on my stand-alone coat tree.

My bad leg is doing very well.

No more pain medicine for me, 2 Tylenol. This is how you get addicted to Percodans and the like.

Not to mention caffeine. 

Am reading the new David Sidaris book, which has moments of hilarity and other moments of deep embarrassment.

Also THE AGE OF MIRACLES by Karen Thompson Walker, for our library book group is August, which is when Mom's birthday was.

August 8, 1922.

Gotta water the plants in my window sill now.

Cyclamen, a tough name to remember.

Mary Kate will be here at 3:15 pm.

Where shall we walk on this Fourth of July

 We strode around the perimeter of the Willow Grove YMCA, and no, the Y's as far as we know, are no longer religious. They did serve a great purpose though in the beginning, when young people and families were traveling.... by rail, carriage, a new car - Duesenberg? - and Black porters helped you on the trains.

Great movie about that by playwright August Wilson, who died when he was young.

Scott and I walked in the great heat. Only a few people were there. My head was sweating as was his. 

A colorful volleyball court was below us. 

I had two breakfasts since I get up so early. Sat outside in the front yard on Mike Kramer's heavy metal chairs.

Heavy metal? Guns and Roses? Nirvana? 

My surgeon Guy Lee listened to heavy metal when he operated. On my sciatic nerve.

Dr Lee is also in his own band. 

Gonna watch a video I got outa the library at Scott's now.

Will it be good?

Check with me later, my friends, check with me later. 

Before I left for walk I ate a second breakfast so I would not go low.

Did I ever tell you diabetes is a PITA ?

Happy Fourth of July

 Hold on, while I pour another cup of generic coffee from WEIS Market in Huntingdon Valley. AND I have so much to talk about.

Wonder what other markets get the same coffee, which I do like, heaping spoonful.

On my morning walk I met Lee, owner of the two enormous white dogs named Abby and Scarlet. She walks them at 6 am.

There was also a car in someone's drive from Ontario. When I goggled it I found out loads about this province / territory. Our Greenwold family had visited it. I think we also went to Detroit and visited  a foundry. 

Didn't we have a blast, kids?

Scott just came over to visit and told me to blog directly on my bloggin site.

Here I am. We will BBQ at 4 pm on his deck.

While walking, delivered Nancy's paper to her porch, without a whimper from Kalie.

I am wearing a very cute top I found in one of my dressers - the drawer that still has an issue of a Life mag with drug info. It is not worth a farthing.

Told Scott that I watched Robert Lustig, MD, last night on Ellen's TV where I sat in yoga position. Oh, he used the expression MCI - mild cognitive impairment - which I have been diagnosed with.

Fancy that - a well known expression - MCI. 

I also told Lee of the Dogs that I may be attending Grace's play tonight IF they can get Bubby a ticket. I would sure like that and also while Dan was on the phone - I called him about water in the rubber udder on the fridge - Max said he wanted to talk to me.

What a thrill!

We also learned from 60 minutes about the so called Havana Syndrome and other terrible dangers that can be targeted to enemies.

This calls for another drink of coffee to relieve my nerves since I rarely drink alcohol.

I wanna put the date that Ram, the man who alerted me that Russell Eisenman died, and left me money in his will. 

This is quite exciting but I am no longer excited. It will take quite a while before it is probated.

Always use a flattering photo of someone. When my friend Stephen Weinstein died, he told me the same thing. Miss you Stephano !!!

Did I tell you I am in touch with some of my old friends?

Remember JPK and Paul S. 

Called my sister Donna on the phone yesterday and she comforted me about things I could not remember. Like where I bought my birdbath out front.

Donna worked at Starbucks for many years and knows a thing or two about GREAT COFFEE.

They brew coffee for different seasons and holidays.

Should I sit outside and read?

"You figure it out, you're so smart!"

That was the end of a short story I had written. Twas about Charles Ives. A man of dissonance. 

One more thing. I got the cockamamy idea of reading or re-reading a Charles Dickens book.

It's a far far better thing I do.....

FOURTH OF JULY POEM

We live in a nation divided

it has always been so

Vietnam, abortion, gun control

Hang out your flags

Mine was made in China

but it still works well

A little girl told A. Lincoln

to grow a beard. He would look

more dignified.

He united his enemies.

Back in the day when the TV

was not on all night, I sat listening

to TAPS

And remembered when Dad was dying

by the dawn's early light

losing his battle with his killing disease,

that robbed him of his lungs and his brain.