Playing in the dirt! Love the springtime.
My tiny little daffodils are blooming.
Good luck, Rae. Anything that will alleviate back pain is a good thing
indeed! (I dunno about a Cadillac, but I could use a barstool with a seat
belt!)
What George said, Rae.
I smiled at myself when I sat down in my computer chair and tried to buckle up.
letty is prepared for a rough ride with her computer
i smiled when i went out into the garden this morning and saw dozens of daffodils in bloom - they bravely survived the snowstorm we had the previous weekend - i'll give them a dose of fertilezer as a treat for being so good !
hbg
I met Cycloptichorn and his girlfriend in Berkeley yesterday. The venue was a microbrewery/pizzeria/former horse stall that my two hosts had chosen, and that I enjoyed in every way. I smiled a lot that evening.
Out on the bicycle to make photos again, went up north this time, just for two-three hours or so. Didnt get very far, too many interesting things, but I did make it up into the Angyalfold neighbourhood after all at least. Had tried to go there two or three times before, but since I always only go at the last moment and am distracted by things on the way all too easily, I'd run out of either film or daylight before I'd really get there.
Was curious because it was once (or sorta kinda still is) a notorious neighbourhood, along with Jozsefvaros and Csepel - it used to mean something when you'd say you were from Angyalfold, upstanding citizens would sort of warn not to go there. They fought like lions there in '56 too, apparently.
But now most all I got to see in between the communist-era highrise blocks, which once were actually a step up compared to the dilapitated older houses, were leafy streets that had lots of semi-rural old buildings but mixed them up with new condos going up fast and furious on every second corner. With the exception of one street near the railways, where kids ran the street pavements, an old man with a weathered face leaned out of a window, and glances into courtyards revealed Old World but colourful throwbacks to the Hungary of pictures from before the war. (Hungarians probably dont appreciate it when you say that Roma streets remind you of how they used to be.)
Anyway, all that aside. I ran out of film and stood leaning on my bike on a leafy crossroads, scribbling the names of the two streets on a piece of paper, and a heavily-set boy on a worn-out Csepel race bike rode up to me. What was I doing? (Taking pictures.) Would I take a picture of him? (No, I ran out.) Did I live here? (No, I live all the way down in the 7th, near downtown). Come on!, he gestured, lets go for a ride. (Nah, I cant, I have to get back to town, am going to the movies with a girl.) OK, then lets ride that direction together!
Kid was 14 years old, no, 13, but almost 14. Lived "on that street there, the grey building". Did he go to school? Yeah, but not often!, he boasted. Tsk. Now here!, he gestured, and waved to his friends who were calling out to him as we crossed a main throughway and bumped up the pavement on the other side, with me in his trail distinctly like a prestigious prize of some sort. Upped his street cred. Then, as we crossed through some red lights but he also politely asked a couple ahead of us to let us pass ("Elnezest! Elnezest!"), it was his turn again. "Repper vagy?", he asked expectantly. I laughed out loud, no, I'm not a rapper.. That left him nonplussed. He gestured at my pants, shirt, beanie - so, he tried again, "rokker vagy?". Ha!, no I'm not a rocker either..
Hey, at least I can still impress 13-year olds :wink:
Hey Rae, long time no see! Good luck with the job!
Also, went to the movies with Cs, and as we lined up for a pretzel then settled down she handed me a bag - no, here, try this, I made these myself! Cookies.
Movie we saw was Stranger than Fiction. When afterwards she realised that "I made you cookies" we collapsed in laughter. Umm, oops.
Damn, see, I want a girl like that! (I mean, the one in the movie :wink: )
Yes, Maggie Gyllenhaal is impressive, isn't she? She was great in Stranger Than Fiction. Did you see Secretary?
I've talked about this before but I get a kick out of it everytime it happens...
Went to a Deaf event. Lots of fun, lots of chatting. One guy looked familiar, I squinted at him. He squinted at me -- I looked familiar to him too. We established we lived in L.A. at the same time, though we didn't figure out exactly how we knew each other. He shrugged and said "Well hey, nice to see you again!" and gave me a hug. (Deaf culture: if you speak to someone for 5 minutes and then meet him or her again 10 years later, you give 'em a hug when you see 'em...)
Took my Mom out to lunch. She looooooves going out to eat.
But since the week before Christmas she's been first in the hospital and then
in a nursing home. Finally the weather's gotten reasonable enough and she
seemed up to it. Tranferring her from the wheelchair to my car and back is
a much bigger challenge than before because she has so little leg strength.
On the other hand she doesn't weigh much any more, so we managed. The
grandkids joined us as well. She had a baked scrod with crabmeat stuffing
and enjoyed every bite.
Mother doesn't want to go out very often - she doesn't want a weehlchair, since "she isn't ill".
I cook her meals daily. Yesterday, we had - like on most Sundays in the saison - aspergus.
It was a lovely warm day again - sunshine and warm like in summertime since two weeks by now.
The fun fair in my native is beginning this week - a time, my parents usually drove away for a couple of days.
This might have 'infected' her thoughts:"Walter, what do we have pay for this hotel here?" she asked me after the meal.
[I have to admit that a few years ago a would have gone mad after such - now I can look at it with a smile :wink: ]
Jillian has learned that Daddy is a 6 foot 5 carnival ride.
One of her favorite things is to ride on his shoulders because her back can touch the ceiling.
When that interest wears down, she starts to bounce on his back, in a sense... telling daddy to run.
This time.. he didnt run.. he JUMPED...
From the look on her face, it was the most terrifying, FUN surprise she has had in a long time..
Walter Hinteler wrote:Mother doesn't want to go out very often - she doesn't want a weehlchair, since "she isn't ill".
I cook her meals daily. Yesterday, we had - like on most Sundays in the saison - aspergus.
It was a lovely warm day again - sunshine and warm like in summertime since two weeks by now.
The fun fair in my native is beginning this week - a time, my parents usually drove away for a couple of days.
This might have 'infected' her thoughts:"Walter, what do we have pay for this hotel here?" she asked me after the meal.
[I have to admit that a few years ago a would have gone mad after such - now I can look at it with a smile :wink: ]
I know the feeling, Walter.
Mom was complaining about getting so tired and uncomfortable that she
had to return to bed after lunch. "They say the sickness does that to
me," she said. "But I don't know what sickness they're talking about."
"Mom," I reminded her, "you have a lung cancer."
"Oh. That."
walter wrote :
Quote:Mother doesn't want to go out very often - she doesn't want a weehlchair, since "she isn't ill".
I cook her meals daily. Yesterday, we had - like on most Sundays in the saison - aspergus.
It was a lovely warm day again - sunshine and warm like in summertime since two weeks by now.
The fun fair in my native is beginning this week - a time, my parents usually drove away for a couple of days.
This might have 'infected' her thoughts:"Walter, what do we have pay for this hotel here?" she asked me after the meal.
[I have to admit that a few years ago a would have gone mad after such - now I can look at it with a smile ]
walter : i can understand just a little bit of your situation .
i may have written about this before (oh , oh - i can't remember
- i'll just laugh it off ) .
a very dear friend of ours had to go into a seniors' home when she couldn't handle things any more - onset of alzheimer's .
she had authorized her children to sell her home .
when we'd visit with her , she'd often say : "i think i'm ready to go back to the house now ! " .
we didn't think we could really make her undertsand that she had asked that the house be sold - so we lied .
if it was winter , we'd say : " pretty cold for moving right now , why not wait for spring ? "
in the summer we'd say : "very hot right now , why not wait for fall ? " .
she would always agree immediately and say : "yes , it's so nice here ; i think i'll wait " .
we sometimes wonder if she was playing a game with us and perhaps knew that her house had been sold ???
she had always beeen a very kind and cheerful person and remained that way throughout her life !
hbg
btw she grew up in bad zwischenahn/oldenburg and married a scottish born canadian soldier after the war - quite an interesting couple - i learned to appreciate a nice scotch from him - NO ICE !!!
Have you ever been reading and listening to the radio at the same time and the same word appears to your eye and ear at the same instant? It happened to me again this afternoon when I was reading a post while listening to NPR about a Congressman who got out of the hospital. The word was "wheelchair." It is always a bit creepy.
Moving right along, I drive through the UVA area twice a day. A lot of big old trees and a lot of young squirrels and a busy Main Street. More than a few squirrels get smushed on the asphalt. But there are telephone wires and electrical wires crossing the street overhead. The smart squirrels figure out that that is the way to cross Main Street.
The smart squirrels, and then their followers...
