julia and wally

Julia was a member of my church.

She came to this town to be with her daughter, who was fighting cancer. Daughter did not make it, but Julia stayed. She met Wally and they married and seemed to have a good marriage.

A week or so ago Julie, who was in her late 80's went to the hospital and didn't walk out.

There was a small service. I did not attend, I was going to, but then I got time confused. One of Julia's daughters I new a long time ago. She had at least one son.

After the service Wally went with the daughter to Tennessee while the son put himself to the task of closing up the house. The church was called and a lot of church people put in a lot of time getting things repurposed. Son rented a medium sized U Haul and loaded it carefully. A big dumpster took the remaining.

I hauled a few loads of furniture to storage, until they could be given to people in need.

And Wally had gone with what he could carry. His tools and his fishing gear and what was left of his life was taken apart and repurposed.

I liked Wally. I will miss him. I cannot imagine one leaving the last of their dear possessions without a mental battle. I am told that some day, if I should be so unlucky to live so long, all of my possessions will fit inside a drawer in a nursing home.

As I go through my tools, I ask: “Will I ever use this again?” frequently the answer is NO. I don't know how much life I have left, but there is a whole list of things I am not going to do again.

Same for Wally, I fear.

When my step dad laid out the subdivision where I live, he wanted it so a kid could pull a kite on a string and be able to ride his/her bicycle through the streets without any over head power or telephone lines.
Ours is an area of inexpensive homes, and having all the utility lines underground was not common.
It makes for a nice clean view though.

tarnished

Asia people are healthier than Americans.

When they live in Asia they live longer have fewer diseases.

But it only takes a generation or two after coming to America, and eating american food before they are as healthy/unhealthy as the rest of us.

That seems to be true of companies as well.

Toyota seems to have fallen into the same category and trap.

It is a good company, producing a good product. But the sterling reputation has been tarnished, badly.

They will survive and continue to make fine automobiles, I have no doubt. Ford and Firestone faced a somewhat similar (maybe worse) firestorm. Ford is doing pretty well now.

Firestone, however, disappeared with a buyout from a Japanese tire company.

As with so much that is in the news now, I am not sure what to do with this information? I am not buying a new car and I don't own one that is being recalled, but I find no joy in any of this.

There is not a lot of joy around right now.

tick tick

Tick tock.

I am literally waiting for paint to dry.

Oil base paint with cool weather and high humidity means it dries very very slowly.

So I wait and watch.

Ever watched paint dry? It is exciting.

Or not.

clint

Clint Eastwood. Midnight.

I should have gone to bed, but those spaghetti westerns that Eastwood are classics in a disturbing way, and I was hooked.

I had not seen this one, so I sat here and watched until pretty late – or early!

Clint is a bounty hunter that often leaves a room full of dead men, and does it with remarkable speed. He unwillingly teams with an equally principled bounty hunter against a bunch of bank robbers.

We did not get TV here in Idaho until the mid 50's and then the shows were trucked in and shown. The news was a day or two late.

There were a lot of westerns, cheap, predictable, but with a certain level of morality.

It was easy to tell who was who. The good guys were handsomer, taller, stood straighter and had prettier girl friends or wives. And they all wore white hats (Ok the movies were in black and white, so maybe they weren't really white).

Clint is a really bad guy who causes a lot more problems than he solves, but he does it in such a “manly” way. The bank robbers are all bad, of course, but little worry is placed on the bystanders.

It is this moral ambiguity that makes the movie both intriguing and frightening.

In so many ways this seems to reflect our world, and maybe mine too.

I think this man is part or my heritage on my mothers side.
WIth a title like that and a mustache like that. he had to be important, and family
That is enough for me!

Dr. Kellogg

When I was in high school, our choir had made a trip to Eastern Oregon

After our concert we were assigned homes to stay for the night.

The couple was old. He was probably in his 80's. The woman looked a generation younger (I have no idea of the age difference, if there even was any). I was puzzled when she said that she and the Doctor would be sleeping in their bedroom. She did not say, but I later learned that she was his wife!

But before we went to bed the Doctor talked to us a bit. I had no idea who he was then, but he was wise and full of the kind of advice that a good teacher/doctor would give.


As a young man he had been president of the small bible college I would later attend. He was listed as a professor of Mathematics in another college, and my memory is that he had a PhD in that field as well.

While president of the college, he took classes so he could attend Medical College.

His motives certainly wasn't money. Doctors did not make a lot of money in those days. It had to be service or betterment or something.

There is so much I do not know about this very bright man, but for a brief moment he came into my life and made sense.

Only now do I wish I had paid more attention.

Through the years I have known several Doctor Kellogg's. Good men all, and all some how related to the guy who made corn flakes a long time ago

Scottie's Castle, Death Valley.
A huge project that took a lot of time and a lot of money.
Never was finished.
Hmm.

what, again?

Yesterday was Dick's birthday.

He is a good friend who has had unlimited courage and craftsmanship. Some years ago he began a building project that will take him well over a decade to complete.

Dick began after he retired.

I am working on my teardrop trailer and I suspect I'll spend all of next month or more on it. And I think that is a big project?

Hats off to you, Dick my friend.

Which got me thinking. . . of course. . .

We were watching Kris Kristofferson on Austin City Limits. I looked up his bio. He is a year older than I and has a daughter the same age as Emily.

Talk about courage! Of course, having a bit of cash might make that easier, I don't know.

Sometimes what we view as courage is the result of something we just do because it needs to be done. My dealing with Miriam and her AD fits in that category. It may have a tinge of courage in there somewhere at some time, but it was not the kind I volunteered for.

So far it has taken less courage than bravado.

But I noticed that every time one of my grandkids has a birthday, pretty soon I have one too, and I keep loosing old friends to the grim guy with the scythe.

Life is short, eat your desert.