Monday Meanderings - 7.29.2019

News from the Neighborhood -

A few weeks ago the City of Austin began posting notices about a pending re-paving of the streets in our neighborhood. This was good news because of the deteriorating condition of the existing asphalt and bad news because of the disruption it would cause.

The notices had dire warnings about cars parked in the street (they would be hauled to some other vague location) and the interruption it would cause (if they are working on your street and you need to come or go, tough luck).

The work began, and we carefully considered our lunch-time options in view of where the paving trucks seemed to be working and decided they would not get to us until after we had dined at Chuy's. We keep our priorities straight on things like that. So we left and had lunch and you can guess the rest.

It turned out to be a negligible delay - one side of our street had the tar and gravel laid down and by driving to the bottom of our block we scooted across to home and safety before the trucks started doen the other side. Home free.

As far as cars that had to be re-located, it appeared that they simply had tow-trucks gather up vehicles on to-be-paved streets and park them on already-paved streets. Like ours. And it soon became obvious that the tow trucks were NOT charged with returniing them once moved; it was up to the owner to find and remove his vehicle. But there is this one un-driveable (front end mashed in) vehicle that ended up across from our driveway that the owner evidently thinks is in a better place than in front of his or her house.

At first, we didn't know what the deal was, but Freddie - the across-the-street neighbor, had seen the tow truck deposit the car and learned from the towing company that they had no further obligation to return it. So he called it in as an abandoned vehicle and was told it might sit there a long time before any action by the city was taken. So, we doubled down and also called and got essentially the same story, but... the other day a cop put the orange sticker of death on the windshield, so maybe, just maybe it will be moved in our lifetime.

In the mean time, I'll make you a real good deal on a late model Chrysler SUV with extensive front end damage. As is. You will need to arrange its removal, but the price is excellent.

Monday Meanderings - 7.22.2019

On getting old.

Of late, Barb and I have been discussing getting old. As in, we are. Getting old.

Age is only a number, and by and large we have ignored that ever-incrementing number, but there comes a time when the body begins to call attention to itself in ways that make us stop and assess our condition and think, "You know, I can't ____________ anymore."

Case in point. A few minutes ago Barb needed to move the stand of TV tables from one spot to another. She was struggling with them - the rack holds 4 solid wood tables, so I magnanimously stepped forward to move them for her - and discovered I could barely lift them! When did that happen?

We daily receive pointers on aging from a wide variety of sources; our alphabet of physicians and health-care experts, the AARP emails and bulletins, the exercise class leaders at the gym, a wide range of social media sources (why do I keep getting ads for Depends in my Face Book feed?), and even from our financial consultant and part-time Walmart greeter ("Have you signed up for a casita at the Casa Pequeno Home for Assisted Living yet?")

And by and large, we pay attention to these pointers. We try to eat healthy. Queso and chips is a food group, right? And we exercise. Those trips from the recliner to the bathroom really add up. We eschew habits that are bad for you, so we can check off a lot of the boxes and feel (somewhat) good about it.

But Barb pointed out that socializing is always high on the list of check-offs. That without putting forth effort to interact with others - and Alexa doesn't count - one tends to become like Boo Radley, locked away in the haunted house.

In fact, she pointed out, apart from our family, the people we currently have the most interaction with are our favorite wait-staff at the various restaurants we frequent.

Ouch.

Well, we have been talking about getting back into a Care Group at church. We know one that attracts old folks like us. And they meet at the Casa Pequeno Home for Assisted Living. We can check out the apartments while we are there.

Just kidding about the Casa Pequeno Home for Assisted Living part. But maybe they would be willing to move.

Monday Meandering - 7.15.2019

Today's post came together from several directions - and surprised me in the process. I'll explain.

I have posted recently about Barb and I giving some effort to clearing out some of the accumulated stuff that fills our closets and shelves. The most visible result of that effort has been a marked and noticeable clearing of bookshelves. Barb has dedicated herself to that task and weekly hauls sacks of books (that have been gathering dust for years) to Half Price. Family pictures have taken their place and I must say it is a nice improvement.

I have been less industrious with the clutter of stuff in my computer room/office/sound studio, but I am making some progress. Most of my detritus just gets tossed in the trash or recycling. There's still some "family heirloom" type stuff to deal with - like, for instance, my father's glass Easter Egg.

 

It is a milk-glass, hand-blown, decorated Easter egg, about 6 inches long. The naval anchor is embossed and gilded. The word "Easter" is painted on the egg, but is almost entirely rubbed off at this point. You can find similar eggs that look very much like this on E-Bay, listed from $12 to $100, depending on condition,

The story behind the egg is that it was a gift - the earliest gift my father remembered - from a neighbor lady. And what to do with it has been weighing on me for some time. I have some other "heirloom" items that I will dispose of with little or no emotional baggage, but the egg was a conundrum.

Barb mentioned the egg at her weekly ladies brunch, and one of our friends spoke up and said, "I collect eggs of all types, I would love to have it." Problem solved. She asked me to provide the background - what I knew about the egg, and here's what I told her.

"Joyce,

My father, Jessie Leon Anderson, was born July 15, 1907 in Johnson County, Texas, one and a half miles east of Cleburne on the old Grandview Road. He lived much of his early life at that location, in a two-room house situated on 15 acres of a sandy loam fruit and vegetable garden that provided the family income.

He described the egg as the earliest gift he recalled, given to him "a neighbor lady who taught first grade." He later said that near-by neighbors included "Mr and Mrs Homer Curtis - a Civil War veteran and his wife, who baked good cookies, and their spinster daughter, Miss Emma, who taught school in small country schools."

So the egg was probably a gift from Emma Curtis, likely his first grade teacher."

And the surprise? I'm writing this on Sunday, and when I went to schedule it to be posted on Monday morning, the posting date was July 15. My fathers date of birth, 112 years ago.

MMs - 7.8.2019 - Alexa! She shoots, she scores!

The 2019 Women's World Cup is in the books. USA! USA!

No secret that we're fans. Barb enjoys it; but I can best be described as rabid.  I did, in fact, watch all 34 games, for example.

It came to our attention a few weeks ago that we have been following Women's Soccer for 20 years. There was an exhibition game a month or so ago and the 99ers - the team that won the World Cup in 1999 was feted. That was the win that resulted in the iconic Sports illustrated cover of Brandi Chaistain celebrating her goal in her sports bra!

BTW, a reporter asked Brandi if she had that sports bra in a place of honor somewhere. Her response was, "No. It was just laundry to me."

Players change over the years, of course. Mia Hamm and Christie Rampone gave way to Hope Solo and Abby Wambach, who gave way to Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe. Megan apparently will give way to no one - especially the President.

I worried about this team. They have shown a tendency to react slowly in the back line, allowing easy, surprise goals. And until Cup play, the current goal keeper appeared very vulnerable. But as of yesterday, the US Women are 4-time winners and pulled off the very difficult back-to-back championship. USA! USA!

It has been interesting to see the growth of interest in the Women's game at a national level. This is a recurring phenomenon, and after the parades, and the Victory Tour games, it will wane somewhat, but overall, the needle has been moved upward significantly.

That's good, because members of the same team that won the Cup are suing their parent organization for equality with the Men's team. It's a righteous fight; the Women draw bigger crowds, generate more revenue, score more goals (the Women scored more goals in a single Cup game than the Men have scored in Cup play in total since 2006), and oh, yeah. The Men didn't even qualify for their World Cup.

Plus, one of my all-time favorite blog posts was about watching the Women's World Cup (Deep thoughts while watching a soccer game.)
 
Alexa! She shoots! She scores! Try it.

Monday Meanderings - 7.1.2019

Last week of Women's World Cup. The US Women are still going strong, but the game with England will test them tomorrow. And if we get past that we will face Sweden (who we have beaten once already) or the Netherlands (who we have not met, yet) in the final. USA! USA!

The family heirloom clock has learned a new trick. When it comes time to strike 8 o:clock, it doesn't. At least it doesn't on Saturday night and Sunday mornings. That's near the end of the spring un-winding for the week, so that may have something to do with it. I wind the clock every Sunday afternoon after we get home from church. It's the weekly "wind and water (the orchids)" ritual.

Interestingly, the clock does chime correctly at 9pm on Saturday (and I suppose at 9am on Sunday. We're gone to church by then, so I'm not sure about Sunday morning. Maybe I could ask Alexa to listen at 9 and tell me later. I was already aware that the clock only strikes 10 times for the 12 o:clock hour; that has been it's behavior since getting it back from the repair shop.

I posted a picture a few weeks back of the gray foxes that wandered through out back yard one evening. I sort of figured that they had drifted over from the Pioneer Farms - a large, open area that is part of the Parks and Recreation system. The coyote population is pretty high over there and we regularly see coyotes walking down the streets, cutting across to a green-belt to our north. If coyotes live there, I assume foxes can too.

However, they just might live a little closer than that. Barb saw one in broad daylight on the patio recently, and one morning this week I saw a fox run from beside our house across the street and disappear between the houses directly across the street. There's a cat that lives over there - or maybe there WAS a cat that lived over there.