The Weekly Column – “Where Did Summer Go?”

The View From My Room – Year Six– #52

            On the calendar, summer is still a few weeks from ending.  However, for all intents and purposes, summer ends this weekend.  We’re already in the final weekend of the State Fair, September is peeking in the front windows, and the stores have a rush of parents picking up last-minute school supplies so their kids are ready on Tuesday.  Here we go again.

Was summer everything you wanted it to be? If you like warm temps with lots of humidity, you should be elated with the three months that have just passed.  As I grow older, I am not a fan of humidity. I’ve always said “Give me winter. It’s easier and more fun getting toasty than it is trying to cool down and feel less yucky.”  Yes, I’ve always said that.  You can quote me.

Is that to say I want it to be winter?  No, I do not.  At least not yet, but there were a few days when the air was just right, and the temps were absolutely delightful.  I have a brother who loves the summer heat and all that comes with it. He’s five years older, and he’s not bothered by feeling sticky.  He can have it.  Give me the chill of an autumn night!

Weather aside, my summer was a good one.  I am not a fan of traveling, beyond going from Minnesota to Wisconsin to visit my siblings.  I am content to stay around the area and make my fun or find some in various locations with friends.  My summer began on a positive note when I traveled to Milwaukee that final weekend in June to see my friends with whom I worked when we were Resident Assistants at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.  It was a special weekend for me and I’ve thought about it often since it ended. People are important to me and history with people matters.  That Saturday and Sunday in June was simply the best.

Shortly thereafter, the Fourth of July arrived, and I was excited to once again announce the Apple Valley parade.  We managed to get in 38 of 100 units before the police basically kicked us off the streets for fear the lightning was going to harm someone.  I have to admit that was not a great day in my summer.  After all these years, we finally got rained out and so did my spirits. Sigh.

On the heels of that, however, came the Drum Corps International (DCI) competition at TCF Stadium in Minneapolis four days later.  A former colleague asked me to join him in a suite, courtesy of Schmitt Music. He is well aware of my affinity for marching band performances, and DCI goes to the next level of marching bands. It was a grand Saturday night! It’s my favorite annual event of the summer, and I would have missed it this year if not for the invite.

Next on my calendar was the Leprechaun Days parade in late July, including calling Bingo an hour or so after the parade ended. Both are always summer highlights of mine, and this year they were just as enjoyable as always.  That evening, I stopped in to check out the Class of 1988 reunion and saw faces I hadn’t seen since graduation on that night in June of 1988. More special memories with people, once again, with whom I had history.

Up next was a trip to the Motherland (Wisconsin), for a visit with some siblings and relatives and a long-awaited trip to the county fair.  I finally had a chance to finally connect with my now 2-year-old great nephew.  The actual visit began two days earlier with yet another suite experience, this time in Lambeau Field.  Of all my suite experiences, this one reigns supreme. All ten of us were blown away.  The four-day visit flew by, and on the fifth day, I returned to a happy Willsters.

Sprinkled throughout the summer life continued with my writing group meeting every other week, movie matinees, trips to the casino with another friend, monthly meeting with retired colleagues and friends from RHS, and lunches (usually) with former students of mine.  One of them is responsible for my summer goal being reached and that was to clean up my garage.  It was screaming for attention for too many years.  My former student came to its rescue.  I also managed to begin the summer with the creation of a new patio in the back of my townhome.  I’ve used it a lot on beautiful summer mornings.  I take my coffee and book out there while Willy sits inside, only imagining how wonderful it would be to be human sitting in the other chair.  Hehe.

So begins fall.  Chillier temps, the smell of burning wood in the air, shortened days (sigh); all a prelude to the holiday season of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  May the colors be slow to develop and brilliant as the sun.  Until then, Happy Labor Day and bring on the education!

Nightly Reflections -Wednesday, August 29th, 2018

A day of sunshine.  AB. SO. LUTE. LY. AWESOME!  I let it warm up a bit this morning before finally returning to the patio with the coffee and the book.  But it was very nice to do so.  Two days with no air conditioning.  May it continue into May.  Ya, ya, I know.  But I’ll take each and every day where a long sleeve is more appropriate than a short sleeve.  So there.

Willy and I are in the midst of a fight.  I was gone much of the afternoon and when I got home, he was, as you might guess, starving, so I immediately fed him and then moved out on to the patio with a bag of carrots and some crackers as I didn’t have lunch today.  Willy eventually came in once he was done with his second of three feedings and stood by the screen door and meowed pitifully.  Not sure at the time if he was saying “Let me come out” or “You are so dead.”  I told him to go lie down and do what he does after eating, which is clean.  And, he did.  I wasn’t on the patio long before deciding to go back in and sit with him in the recliner cuz I figured it was what he wanted as he’s used to doing it once a day, some time in the afternoon.  So, we’re sitting in the recliner (it’s nearly 6) and I’m holding him as he had crawled up on my left shoulder area, and I put my right hand under his back legs and my right hand sorta cradles the rest of him so he can curl up on my chest and sleep.  Which he attempted to do.  All of a sudden, he bit the area below my left thumb and went jumping off the chair.  He didn’t break the skin, but he made an intense enemy of his provider, and he knew it.  He hung out near me but not too near.  Finally, he walked into the den.  I went and dumped the final batch of food into his dish without saying anything and of course, he heard me doing it and came out cautiously to see what I was doing.  He ate and then, rather than settle in next to me on the couch, he decided to use the top of the couch tonight.  As my mom would have said, “We’re on the outs.”  😛  Tonight’s pic shows him in his self-imposed time-out spot.  You can see he’s thinking about his behavior.  Yep, it’s a quiet night in Willy’s, er, uh, I mean CHUCK’S house!

Tonight, I am referencing last night’s Reflection.  Since I couldn’t post any links to videos from the performances I thought were outstanding on America’s Got Talent, and since the results show just finished, I can tell you and show you now.  The three performances I mentioned last night were all voted in to perform at the semi-finals next.  I’m not surprised as when America votes in this show, I usually agree with their votes.  So, few words tonight.  But three videos for you to enjoy.  I’d suggest at top volume.  Plan to be wowed.  (now that I’ve written that, I still can’t find David Emmett’s performance from last night but AGT performances are there if you’re interested).

Tomorrow night is column night.  A review of summer.  Friday night I’ll be back, probably some time during the Badger football game kicking off the season!  Go Badgers!

G’Night!

Nightly Reflections – Tuesday, August 28th, 2018

Good evening and welcome to your sneak peek of fall.  I am a big fan of today’s temps.  Take away the rain and give me this all of September and October, throwing in sunshine from time to time to keep me from losing my mind.

How went your day?  The sunshine is coming now.  The next two days should be prime days for those people heading to the fair or for those simply wanting two nice days to be outside.  It was a little bit of a long day for me as I’ve been tired all day.  My buddy came over last night late and we stayed up and watched TV until … well, too late.  Not so much for me but for him.  How the hell he manages to get through a work day after being up so late is beyond me.  Granted, he’s younger than I am but not that much.  Because of his late stay, I didn’t crawl out of bed til nearly 8.  And Willy was a sweetheart for not bugging me til almost then as well.  The weather also didn’t help my energy level.  But I managed to get myself out of the house at one point to pick up a few items.

Last week, I started on a mission to find a DVD of On Golden Pond.  I don’t understand why it’s so difficult to find a retail copy, but even Amazon was sketchy in its inventory.  I actually went through them and ordered a copy that, at the time, looked odd on the cover, but I put that thought in the attic cuz I figured it was nothing.  I paid less than $15 for it.  It said it would be nearly a month before I’d get it.  And yet, it said it shipped three weeks before I finally did get it.  Where the hell was it coming from?  Well, when it got here two weeks ago, I can tell you it was likely not an American DVD.  None of my devices would play it.  I’d insert the DVD into whatever I had and it kept coming up with the message, “Can’t Be Read” or something similar.  Ok.  Threw it.  Began my hunt again and realized I could order it through Barnes and Noble.  So, I ordered it last Thursday and it arrived at the Burnsville store yesterday from the warehouse.  $25 later and it’s in the house now.  My history with this film is, and I may have shared this with you a year ago, I saw it in Rice Lake one weekend with several of my students.  I was student teaching at the time.  Rice Lake had an old theater that was perfect for movie watching.  I was very moved by the film that I would see multiple times over my lifetime.  It’s been years since I’ve watched it, however.  And there are films I throw in at bedtime only between Memorial Day and Labor Day.  This will be one of those.  Kathleen Hepburn and Henry Fonda open their cabin at the beginning of the movie and they’re closing it up by the end cuz summer is over.  I plan to watch it before Monday.  And likely cry.  The music moves me.  And when I first saw the movie, I was years away from being one of the Thayers.  Now, I’m closer than ever.  And I think about that when I think of that film.  It’s such a sweet movie.  I look forward to seeing it again before next week.

Speaking of emotions, I just finished another night with America’s Got Talent.  This night may be the toughest competition going into tomorrow night’s results.  I wish I could post any link here from the live show tonight, but it’s just too soon.  They’ll be posted by bedtime, however.  You need to check out three videos.  David Emmett, who is a young opera singer who was eliminated only to be brought back in the wild card bracket.  His performance tonight is beyond brilliant.  Zurcaroh, a dance team that blew everyone out of the theater tonight.  You have to see this performance to believe it.  I’d pay good money to sit through a show of theirs.  Finally, Michael Ketterer, a singer who I wrote about weeks ago.  He is the father of six kids and he has taken on children through adoption that were living unbelievably hellish lives.  God would be proud of his creation in Michael.  The man is simply goodness personified.  He can also sing well.  And his performance tonight was quite moving, especially knowing his back story with his wife and the six kids.  Simon was asked to respond to his performance first and he couldn’t speak.  I don’t think we’ve ever seen Simon Cowell choked up but he was making me tear up.  Everyone on the panel and I think in the audience is moved by this man, this father, this singer.  You really need to check out his performance tonight too.  Google it and go to videos and look for tonight’s video versus his other performances on the show.  I can’t imagine the country won’t vote him into the next round.  Inspiring.

So, that’s all I’ve got.  Humpday around the corner.  Get over it 🙂  Then it’s soon to be a 4-day weekend!  On the first day of school, for the fourth year, a couple of my retired peeps with whom I taught and myself will be taking a little drive down LaCrosse way to mark another year of retirement beginning.  We’ve done it each year.  I think many retired teachers do something on that day yearly.  Makes perfect sense to me 🙂  So, there!

G’Night!

 

Nightly Reflections – Monday, August 27th, 2018

Well, we got some rain finally.  And it was hardly just “some rain.”  That little cell that moved over Apple Valley was nasty, albeit brief.  The winds and rain came fast and intensely.  We haven’t had many of those this or any summer.  I don’t know if our m memories are that faulty or if those in my age bracket are correct when we say we just don’t see storms like we did when we were kids.  It just seems like there was a good loud storm every other week, at least, in the summer.  In any case, it arrived and left.  We’re supposed to see more rain before sunshine returns so we’ll see how that goes.  Willy, though, was bothered by the intensity of the rain on my chimney pipe at the top of the house.  When it rains hard, the drops pelt the tin and if it’s coming down hard enough, he’ll be totally bothered by that which he can’t see.  I had him follow me into the den where he sat with me as we watched it come down.  I was talking to him like he was a human.  It made me laugh.

Today was writers’ group day.  Today was the fourth week where we continued building someone else’s story in the group from the previous meeting.  After an initial few minutes of “Hey, how are ya” and sharing what books we might be reading, then we move into the sharing of what we’ve written.  One of our peeps came and dropped hers off as her grandmother skills were in dire need at the last second.  As always, it was a nice gathering.  I wish we had more bodies ini this thing, and we’re thinking of trying to do just that in the weeks ahead.  We’ll see.

So, the teachers in the district are now one day into the new school year.  Word on the street from one of my peeps from the English department, the day was a good day.  A fun day, and positive vibes were alive as a new school is about to begin under new leadership.  The new principal was at RHS for a number of years.  I co-taught with him when he was a special ed. teacher.  He eventually went into administration, took a leave while taking his family to Bangkok for a couple of years, then returned to the district to fill an administrative role in Falcon Ridge Middle School.  And now, he’s the top dog at RHS.  He should fit his new role fine.  I’m glad it was a positive day for the folks.  And so begins another year for my former colleagues.

Tomorrow, The Book Club is released on DVD.  Candice Bergen, Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda and Mary Steenburgen…four classy women who are together in a movie for the first time.  They decide to read Fifty Shades of Gray and their lives never are the same again.  If you want to laugh, ya gotta get this.  It’s just a lot of fun.  And speaking of Candice Bergen, I’ve told you before she was Murphy Brown.  The original show ran ten years.  People enjoyed it.  Loved it.  It ran longer than The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  And now it’s coming to Thursdays this fall on CBS.  I was reading a little about it tonight.  One of the main characters in the show’s troupe will be a returning guest from time to time.  He’s in his early 80s and hasn’t done anything on the stage or television for fifteen years.  They apparently have some surprises in store, especially for those of us who remember the show.  In its original run, Dan Quayle, then VP for George Bush in 1988, publicly criticized the show because Murphy had given birth to a child yet she was single.  Well, the show returned their feelings about his feelings.  And the war was on.  And, I think most will agree….Murphy won.  In one of today’s commercials for the reboot, the four stars are around a whiteboard trying to pronounce names from the new administration. It promises to have plenty of jabs and I’m sure it will be jabbed back by the master jabber.  In any case, I’m pumped for the show.  I have a feeling it will be on opposite Will and Grace, also on Thursday nights.  I think it will survive to a second season, for sure.

Been to the state fair?  Me either.  My fair buddy moved to Iowa to be near her son and grandkids.  She left me high and dry.  Not sure I’ll get there this year, but we’ll see.  In any case, if you’re going, I hope you get out there on a sunny day.  I don’t think this year’s forecast favors the fair as it has in previous years.  Which always sucks, in my mind.  People love the fair and I always hope for sunny skies for all eleven days.

Have a good Tuesday!  The last one in August.  Hopefully, I’ll see you back here in 24 hours.  Until then, enjoy!  🙂

G’Night!

Nightly Reflections – Sunday, August 26th, 2018

Radar is misleading.  All day I thought we’d get rain, if not storms.  However, I don’t think we really saw anything resembling rain here in Apple Valley.  My brother is in Menominee and he was telling me they had some super storms but we here had nothing. Once the sun came out, I gave up looking for rain and decided to water the plant on the patio.  We’re supposed to get rain tomorrow, but no relying on the forecast anymore.

Oh, how this Sunday would wear on me once upon a time.  The teachers will be returning to their classrooms tomorrow to begin preparation for students September 4th.  Because of the parking lot makeover, nothing is quite the same this year.  There was no Freshmen Orientation in early August and since the parking lot won’t be done until the Labor Day night, there will be no Open House this week either.  We hated Open House as teachers.  It was usually the second night of workshop week.  We had put in a full day of meetings and prep work into our rooms and then ran home for a breather before returning all gussied up, ready to meet parents and be a part of their mock-up school day with ten-minute classes and 45 minutes at the end for parents to return to certain classes for further insight.  By the time we got home that night, we were wondering where the hell summer had gone.  This year, Open House happens after school kicks back in.  There’s just no place for people to park this week.  Makes sense.  Makes sense anyhow, without the parking issue.  I suspect the teachers will applaud this move.

Workshop week just had too many meetings.  We’d just spent two and a half months of no real rigid schedule only to return to a disciplined way of life for four days.  It was a harsh return to reality.  The fun part came Monday morning when we’d see one another. In many cases, we’d not seen one another since leaving that day in June.  So, reconnecting on Monday morning had its own energy.  It was quickly stifled by sitting in a 2-hour meeting.  And yes, I know.  It had to be.  Meetings this coming week are inevitable for the staff.  Inevitable.  Then a four-day weekend before the cycle kicks in full force the day after Labor Day.  I write about it.  I haven’t forgotten it.  I miss the camaraderie of it, but I do not miss it.  The meetings.  The planning.  The schedule.  I’ve said it time and time again.  The best part of retirement is living life on your own terms.  If you put in a lifetime of a career, you truly do deserve the time when you get to call all the shots.  You just hope that you live long enough to reap the benefits of a full career.  I, and my friends, happened to be fortunate enough to do so.

I hate Brewer losses on Sundays.  Last night, they really bit it big time.  Today, they didn’t.  Today, they won.  I’m happy.  They’re off tomorrow and then three games against the Reds.  They must win all series at this point and hope some teams simply lose.  The race is tight heading into September.  And speaking of last night, Willsters and I settled into the recliner at 9 and watched the HBO movie Fahrenheit 451.  Michael B. Jordan played the lead role.  I used to teach the novel.  Ray Bradbury.  Books are outlawed in a futuristic society.  This 2018 version updated the storyline to include any electronic means of communication and information.  It was intense.  Partly because of the head fireman.  Fireman are society’s police.  They catch people keeping their stash of books and internet equipment and they throw the materials in the street and burn it all.  The chief fireman is played by Michael Shannon.  He’s becoming more and more visible as a legit actor.  He was in an HBO series a number of years ago, Boardwalk Empire.  His character was creepy, at best.  The movie was good.  Glad I recorded and watched it.  It’s how we ended our Saturday night 🙂  Next week, if there’s a good college football game on, that’s how we’ll be closing out the evening.  It all begins this week.  I am excited to welcome the college teams back.  And Saturday morning ESPN College Gameday!

Tomorrow is writers’ group day once again.  That rolled around quickly.  I still have my homework to do.  It’s week four in the writing experiment in which we’ve been involved.  It hasn’t quite turned out logistically as we had originally thought it would, but it still presents us all with a challenge each week to build on someone else’s work from the week before.  That really isn’t an easy task.  But we have a good time sharing.  And tomorrow should be another good day 🙂

Well, hope your Sunday was just scrumdiddlyumpscious.  And I hope your week begins tomorrow with a hop, skip and a jump in your step 🙂  Tomorrow night, we’ll reconvene. You can tell me about your day and I’ll tell you about mine.  Or maybe I’ll do the talking only.  😛

G’Night!

Nightly Reflections – Saturday, August 25th, 2018

Well, once again it’s time for the normal monthly.  Today is August 25th.  Christmas is December 25th.  August.  December.  The 25th.  Four months.  Need I say more?  😛

It took Mother Nature and the weather forecast a little longer than promised, but we finally saw some sunshine after three today.  At least the sky got brighter.  The forecast looks dismal for the next three days, so I was hoping we’d get a little glimpse of sunlight before going back into the gray of late August.

I spent a part of the afternoon at the new Starbucks in that shopping area in Eagan on Pilot Knob and Yankee Doodle.  It’s basically right next to the HyVee store.  I really like this Starbucks.  It’s spacious inside with plenty of seating options.  There are tables bordering the outside too.  It may be my default Starbucks going forward.  There were few people there too.  Enough foot traffic, but very few chose to stay, which was nice because if groups would have decided to sit and chat, it could have been distracting to why I was there.

I knew my topic was going to have something to do with summer ending, Labor Day weekend, and the start of fall.  But that was all I had going for me.  I knew it was once again one of those weeks where I simply had to push myself out the door with my laptop in hand, sit down and just start writing.  I actually sat there for minutes before telling myself, You might as well get started.  You won’t know how much it sucks until you begin to write it.  As each paragraph appeared, and they did so slowly, I sort of saw the path I was going to take.  And by the final paragraph, I was pleased with what had transpired.  I sent it off to the friend who lets me know if there’s something I need brought to my attention before sending it to my editor.  My friend replied with a “All Systems Go” and off to the newspaper it went!  Another week done!  Starting Year 7 of the weekly column next week.  Wow.

Last night, my buddy with whom I saw MI-Fallout, was giving me a hard time because I couldn’t recall the first Mission Impossible movie, which happened to debut in 1996.  Good Lord.  I struggle to remember yesterday.  His memory is damn good, however.  There was a reference in this new movie to someone in that first film.  So, he got his mileage with the fact I couldn’t recall squat about the first in the series.  Well, it just so happened this afternoon the first movie was on one of the STARZ channels, so I watched it.  Parts of it certainly came back to me, but I have to admit, more didn’t than did.  However, it was fun to watch after last night’s film.  Cruise was so so young in that film.  Almost forgot he was ever that young when he broke on to the movie scene.

I stayed up last night to watch the Brewer game go to inning 15, but it was after midnight, so I told Willy it was time to head to the bedroom.  I found out this morning the Brewers gave up two runs in the top of the fifteenth and then scored three in their half and had a walk-off victory.  I stay up that long to see no runs and then, minutes after turning off the tv, all hell broke loose.  Go figure.  They’re the viewing choice tonight.

I shall sorely miss the food of summer with the melon and the corn-on-the-cob.  We’re in the final days of enjoying both and I am definitely going to do that.  Tonight had corn and made a ham and onion sandwich on a bagel and threw it in my panini maker.  Made a tasty dinner.

Hope you had a decent Saturday.  Hope you also saved your indoor work for tomorrow as it looks like that’s where we’ll be for the most part.  Lots of rain in this week’s forecast.  It might help the teachers deal better with returning to work on Monday.  If the weather sucks, then it’s a little easier to get back into the routine.  Or at least that’s how I always felt.  Enjoy your Sunday.  I’ll return to pontificate a bit more before bedtime tomorrow night 😛  Tonight, I’ll let Snoopy handle my regular sign-off 🙂

Nightly Reflections – Friday, August 24th, 2018

Yuck.  Considering it was early in the morning and the temps weren’t high nor was the sun visible, the humidity early morning was intense.  I rarely go out without showering as it’s just not something I do.  Duh. State the obvious, right?  But, in the morning, to run one errand, I guess it wouldn’t be such a priority if I’m going through a drive-through or an ATM or something where human contact isn’t going to happen.  However, this morning, before the heavy rains arrived, I wanted to get groceries, something I should have done yesterday until I got caught up in something else.  I did not, however, want to shower at 7:30 so yup…I just threw on the clothes and ran to Cub to get groceries for the week to come and get back home.  However, I didn’t plan on the air being so heavy.  By the time I got home and put away the groceries, I was more than happy not to have showered yet.  I would have had to do it again.  AND I turned on the air as I hadn’t had it on yet.  So, that was the start to my morning 😛

Sad news about John McCain.  There but for the grace of God…

Well, after the storms moved through, the air felt better, but that was short-lived.  Once there was a gap on the radar, I ran to get Willy some litter and then traveled to a different Eagan location from when I got my boot camp cut months ago and found a different Great Clips.  This one is in the strip mall that leads to the Cub Foods, across from the Eagan Theaters.  I warned her about not shaving my head.  The haircut is ok.  Still not short enough, but I had a headache and didn’t want to stick around any longer.  I headed back home and settled in to the recliner after taking some ibuprofen.  I think the weather plays havoc with my sinuses and that leads to a headache at times.

You’re going to think me crazy, but since I pay an arm and a leg for all the cable offerings I enjoy (premium movie channels), I record movies that caught my interest in the theaters but I didn’t want to pay $15 to see.  So it is that I recorded a little ditty entitled Happy Death Day.  The basic premise resembles Groundhog Day.  A college female wakes one morning (her birthday) in an unknown boy’s room after a heavy night of drinking and establishes her stereotypical female character by being a b**** to everyone she meets.  That evening, she is killed, only to wake up the next morning in the same bed in the same room.  As the movie progresses, it continues along this line.  Finally, she takes this stranger into her confidence as she feels she’s losing her mind.  I sorta was losing mine watching it, but… I was over an hour into it and it was only an hour and 35 minutes, when I got a phone call from my spontaneous buddy who wanted to go out for a bite to eat.  He NEVER wants to do that, so I said sure.  It was only 4:30 so he said I should come up with a plan for the evening.  I did.  We traveled to Harry’s Cafe in Lakeville for dinner and then, since he had yet to see Mission Impossible – Fallout and I knew his schedule wasn’t going to allow for it once school began Monday (for staff), I suggested we hit the Lakeville theater in the parking lot across from where we were.  The showing was at 6:20.  So, we did.  And he has this penchant for sitting in front rows of huge screen theaters.  So, we did.  And since we had just eaten, I had no popcorn.  It seemed sacrilegious.  I enjoyed the movie just as much and he loved it.  He began interrogating me on previous MI films.  I have no memory and failed miserably.  Once dropping me off, he came in for a couple of drinks and wanted to see the end of the Happy Death Day.  He was more amused by the fact I had been watching it than anything.  He left after some chatter and now I’m in the process of watching what is becoming a long Brewers game.  Extra innings.  They’re about to head into the 12th.  Ugh.

That’s it.  Tomorrow the sun is going to shine.  But this humidity continues.  It’s still 100% out there.  Enough already!  More moisture ahead.  Could be one of the fair’s less desirable years.  That would be too bad.

Have a good day tomorrow, at least.  Get out and enjoy.  See you in the evening.  God only knows what excitement I’ll have to share.  Amen!

G’Night!

The Weekly Column – “It Ain’t Summer Without A County Fair!”

The View From My Room – Year Six– #51

            My hometown is in southern Wisconsin.  My five siblings live in or near there. When I return to visit, I take I-94 until I’m about 40 miles away; then I take rural roads.  At some point, after crossing into Wisconsin, I pass through a time portal that transports me back 40-55 years.  As I draw nearer to my hometown, it’s more evident I am no longer in Kansas, or in this case, Apple Valley, 2018.

This past weekend I returned to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, to spend time with a dear friend of over 40 years. On Saturday, my sister and brother and their spouses as well as my nephew, his significant other and his 2-year old son headed to the Dodge County Fair.  For my 67-year old brother and me, it would be our first time in over 40 years to once again attend a fair we never missed when we were kids.  We were actually both excited to see it again.

I’ll say this at the start.  Nothingseemed as big as it did when we were kids.  From the rides to the games to the grandstand and the entire fairgrounds in general.  Everything seemed smaller.  Maybe the only part of the fair that didn’t seem to have shrunk was the animal barns. And the animal barns were where we began our nostalgic adventure.

My 2-year old great-nephew had already been introduced to the Wisconsin State Fair a week earlier.  Thus, he was primed for yet another fair and especially the animals that are always an integral part of any fair.  We began in the small animal barn with ducks, geese and rabbits and moved upward to the sheep and goat barn and finally the big creatures including cows and pigs.  My nephew touched each and every one.  This little guy has no fear.  I am sure we were the same way.

My brother and I both remembered the grandstand. We recalled the back of it more than the front.  The backside of it faced the inside of the fair.  We talked about how we’d hang out in this area with our friends each year. This all came flooding back as we approached the faded white structure.

Aside from the food one gorges on at a fair, I was most anxious to move through the midway where many of my memories resided.  There were the carnival games and the rides.  And on this special Saturday, memories were a dime a dozen.

While my great-nephew and his dad and grandparents all enjoyed watching his enjoyment that, years later, would be his memories, I looked around at the rides and the games, remembering so much fun from so many years ago.

My favorite ride as a kid had to be The Paratrooper.  Think of a ferris wheel.  Now think about the wheel tipping at a 20-degree angle.  Add an umbrella over each seat.  And then intensify the speed of a ferris wheel and you’ve got The Paratrooper.  Loved this ride.  Then The Furyhit movie screens in 1978 where one of the seats containing two adults breaks away from the ride itself, killing the passengers as they are hurtled through the air, smashing into a glass window. Never rode it again.  This ride wason the midway Saturday.

Then there were these rides, several missing from this fair: The Roundabout, The Scrambler, The Bullet, The Tilt-A-Whirl and The Bumper Cars.  All must-rides once I was tall enough.  The Tilt-A-Whirl wasat our fair on Saturday, as were the Bumper Cars.  As I stated earlier, these rides looked so much smaller than they seemed 40-plus years ago.  There were many smiling adults watching this day as their kids were now the ones enjoying the rides and creating memories for a lifetime.

The one “attraction” I used to enjoy was The House Of Mirrors.  I remember my first visit inside the House and when my friends had left, I couldn’t find my way out.  A crowd was gathering as my impatient friends were yelling to me to come out.  I could be plainly seen by all.  I felt like Jerry Lewis in one of his comedies.

The games were always a temptation too.  My nephew did the game where you grabbed a duck floating by and the carnival barker would look at the bottom of the duck, see what number was written on the base and connect it to the prize on the shelf. He won a little box of five metal cars that made him happier than any of us could have done.  He’s likely still playing with them now.

We left four hours after arriving.  We were probably more tired than the little guy.  And I, for one, slept quite well that night.  Returning to our county fair was a great time.  It’s all a part of who I am today, and I’m grateful for all the experiences.  Years later they bring me great joy.

Hey!  Next week is the final column of the summer; it’ll be Labor Day Weekend!  Ready for fall?

Nightly Reflections – Wednesday, August 22nd, 2018

“Hump Days, Hump Days, good ol’ golden Hump Days.”  For those of you too young to recognize, that’s a reference to another song we sang in the 60s, “School Days.”  And what a fine Hump Day it was.  Lots of fun to this day.

It began on my patio as I sat out there enjoying a beautiful start to the day with coffee and book when what to my wandering eyes should appear…from around the corner of the townhome but one of my favorite people of all time.  She was the school’s athletic secretary for a number of years, and I taught two of her three kids early in my career.  She retired a year after I retired.  She was driving by this morning when she saw me sitting outside.  She pulled in to my driveway and walked around the townhomes and joined me on the patio.  We had a delightful chat, albeit short as she was on her way to picking up her grandchildren to take them to an 11:00 movie.  We hadn’t seen each other for months, so it was a real treat to have her stop.  Everyone loved/loves this woman.  She has always been a breath of fresh air in my world.

While she was getting situated in her theater seats for her movie, I was off to Burnsville as well for two reasons.  First, I had to stop by Mind’s Eye Comic Book store.  I had three items to pick up.  Two of which I was terribly excited to buy.  Tonight’s pic shows them both.  The one on the right, Casper Classics, is just that.  A collection of the old comic book stories from the early late 50s, early 60s.  I own a bunch of these original comic books right now.  My brother who loves his comics, bought for me a ton of sleeves and an authentic comic book storage box to keep my comics from my childhood in as good condition as possible.  Getting this today and looking through it brought back memories, and need I say I love my nostalgia?  Me thinkst not.  The other one, Rod Serling Planet of the Apes Visionaries caught my attention when my brother told me months ago that it was coming in late August.  Obviously, I was a fan of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone as a little boy.  Everyone loved the show for it’s eerie storytelling.  What I did NOT know was The Planet of the Apes was originally Rod Serling’s idea.  When I did the research, I discovered he was co-screenwriter for the original movie that aired in 1968.  So when they brought out his material into a graphic telling of the story, I just HAD to buy it.  The book is a hardcover as opposed to Casper’s softcover, and it’s really beautifully bound and presented.  The art work is exceptional and I look forward to reading it.  And you know how I love my new books, even if they’re comic books.  As you’d expect, I’ve already picked up both and put them down numerous times.  And, of course I do it with loving gentleness.   😛

From there, I decided it was time to go see the noon airing of Mission Impossible: Fallout.  And so I did.  I have loved the entire reboot of this series with Tom Cruise and each one seems to improve.  This new one notched yet a new level of entertaining.  Part of its appeal for me is the casting and the characters they play.  The audience genuinely cheers for these folks.  The stunts and action always beyond compare.  As with each Mission movie, the opening leads up to the dynamic presentation of the credits.  This one didn’t fail to accomplish that task once again.  I thoroughly enjoyed the film.  And once again I was reminded how much I love seeing movies in a theater.

I came home to a hungry cat and I was in need of a little lunch too.  I turned on the Brewers final game against the Reds.  They ended up winning 4-0 and that continued to make it a great day!  As I write this, I’ve already watched the results show to America’s Got Talent and now watching Sunday night’s episode of Big Brother.  I’ll follow that with tonight’s episode of B.B. that aired opposite AGT tonight.  It’ll nearly be ten by the time those two shows are done and then it’s recliner time with the Willsters and then beddy-bye time!

Hope your day was as satisfying.  Tomorrow night it’s “Chuck Goes To The Fair” night with the weekly column appearing.  Then I’ll be back Friday night with more exciting Reflections.  🙂  Enjoy the final two days of this week and we’ll catch ya back here in 48.

G’Night!

Nightly Reflections – Tuesday, August 21st, 2018

Well, well, well…another Maid Day come and gone.  However, there will NOT be another one like this one again.  Here’s how it played out.

To recap briefly, yesterday, they texted that today was the day; I responded with a question as to where did my house fall in the order of being cleaned.  They never responded.  I called two hours later.  Asked a live person.  They told me I was third where the cleaner could arrive between 12 and 2.  I voiced my discontent.  They said it wasn’t quite settled yet, so it might change.  They said they’d call to confirm before end of day.  They didn’t.  I went to bed unhappy (regarding this topic).

So…at 8 this morning, their office opened and I called.  No answer.  I called at 8:05.  No answer.  8:10.  No answer.  8:15.  No answer.  I got a call at 8:17.  She apologized, indicating she just walked into the office.  I told her I was disappointed with their treatment of a customer who’s been with them for three years, 36 months.  I asked once again where I was on the day’s agenda.  She said “Third.  Your cleaner will arrive sometime between noon and two.”  I knew that was stupid because it’s not possible for her to get here before one.  I voiced my opinion there too.  I’m usually a “Don’t-say-anything-negative” kind of guy when it comes to retail dissatisfaction, but not this time.  Must be my age.  In any case, I told her I was very close to walking away from their service.

My cleaning person (and a young girl she was training) arrived at 3.  Yup.  I was sort of locked in to the house all day.  It was funny because the woman on the phone said, “The cleaning person had another with her today, so they might be there early, perhaps 11.”  I hope she really didn’t believe that.

Well, I know my cleaning lady now for probably a year.  I really like her.  So, I shared with her.  She fully understood.  She was surprised I was third on the list today.  It so happened, the boss had to stop by my home to drop off a key for my cleaner as she was given one more home to go to after mine.  So, my cleaner told me I could tell her myself or she’d go back at day’s end and express my unhappiness.  I wasn’t going to let her do my job when the woman came right to my home.  So, I walked her out to her car and shared my thoughts.  She was apologetic and said they’d fix the problem, but their biggest deal is learning how to communicate with the customers.  They lack expertise in that area.  Enough said.  The house is clean and before the two left I gave them each…

That actually is better left to a new paragraph.  I am not sure when it happened, but I think it happened when I retired.  You ever experience that older person in your neighborhood when you were growing up who, when you went to their house, they always had some sort of treat for you?  I had many in my neighborhood.  Well, I think I’ve become one of them now.  When the ladies were leaving, and it was warm in the house, I asked them if they wanted an ice cream sandwich to take them to their final home.  They were both eager in their positive response.  As I dug them out of the freezer and handed them over, Gyod, I felt like Grandpa giving the kids a summer treat.  Shook that off as quickly as I could!  I also gave my steady cleaner an autumn scented candle as I picked one up for her while I was home as well as a few more, cuz I want to give one to my garage-cleaning buddy who was more than gracious to help me give the garage its makeover a month ago.  My cleaner was thrilled to get her candle as she’s received one before at Christmas.  I told her at the October cleaning, I’ll be giving her a Christmas scented one.  I feel less like Gramps giving a candle versus the ice cream sandwich.  Hell, I was giving her some Abdallah chocolates when I had them in the house.  I really felt like Grand Pa Pa then!

I ran to Barnes and Noble to pick up the latest from one of my very favorite mystery writers, Steve Hamilton.  I’ve been reading him for years.  His Alex McKnight series is a great series.  The setting is northern Wisconsin but the story often bleeds into Minnesota.  He has started a second series with two stories in print.  I am hoping for a third soon.  His new character, Nick Mason, is a unique hard ***.  Kind of a Jack Reacher with a bit more testosterone.  🙂  In any case, it was good enough for tonight’s pic.  If you like mysteries and fast reads, look up this writer.  Start from the beginning only so you get used to his inventory of stock characters.  I’ll be starting this tomorrow as The Outsider by King is now a finished book.  And I loved it.  Pure King.

Hey.  Hope you had a good Tuesday.  Humpday tomorrow and I am not going to be a prisoner so groceries may be on my docket or a movie or who knows.  I have a column to write this week as well.  But for now, I’m done here.  Go in peace.  But may the Twitter storm that is sure to now come be filled with all sorts of self-implicating comments.  Buckle up.  The storm is about to intensify. 😛

G’Night!