Sissy’s Story (My Mom)

     I've learned that we all have quirks, which lead to interesting stories and parents are no exception.  My Mom, Sissy as everyone knew her had many quirks as I'm sure anyone living to the age of 90 may have.

     Mom would frequently miss-pronounce words or names but she was consistently wrong in that she would miss-pronounce it wrong the same way every time.  We initially tried to correct her but eventually we just laughed and used her pronunciation when we spoke to her.  Ruby Tuesdays in Mom's world was Judy Tuesdays, Chick-fil-a became Chick-a-lick, which we still use today, Styrofoam became Styfoam.

     She liked to bake and she made great pies, apple & lemon merengue were my favorites.  We would often tell her to make my slice small but she would always cut a the pie in no more than 5 pieces because you needed to eat your quota.  What quota?  Well, we never knew because she would always say, "You didn't eat your quota", so apparently no one ever ate his or her quota.

     Although Mom was a good baker the rest of her cooking skills were less impressive.  Almost everything was fried so not the healthiest option but that was what most families ate.  Some fried foods can be overlooked and dried out which was true of some of my Mom's dishes but I remember a couple of breakfast items that I looked forward to eating.  One was pan-fried cornmeal mush in butter and then drizzled with syrup and the other was fried puff wheat, which was also in butter but sprinkled with sugar.  We recently tried the fried mush and were pleasantly surprised, it was really tasty and pretty healthy considering it is fried.  We have not tried the fried puff wheat yet but we will.

     Mom's recipes were in her head, nothing was written down so if you would ask for a recipe she would say, “I don’t know the exact amount just put some in until it’s right”. Helpful, not!  Funny, yes!

     She loved Perry Como, dogs & angel stories, she liked to dance and shop.  She hated baseball thought it was boring but loved bowling.  She didn’t like that we put the alley bumpers up when we had an 80^th bowling birthday party for her.  She loved touching soft things in stores but she never put them away because she said gives them a job to put them back.

     When her grandkids would go over to see her she would always seemed surprised when she answered the door saying “ooooo’ every time even though she knew you were coming over.  She was hard of hearing so she would miss out on some conversation so when the kids would be talking to her and she didn’t hear she would ask them to repeat what they said but they would frequently say “Never mind”.  She would say I don’t like “Never mind”.  She didn’t want to miss out on the story.

     Our daughter Maureen went to visit her and rang the doorbell but she never answered so she left. Mom heard her but thought it was the answering machine so the next day she told Rose (my sister) that Maureen left a message on the telephone recorder, telling Rose “Maureen’s in there, how do I get her out.” 

     Sissy loved playing board games (Risk) and cards but she had her own set of rules that you needed to learn are you would be subjected to her funny sarcastic humor, which we all enjoyed and learned to give it right back.

     Her favorite TV shows were Days of our lives and Wheel of Fortune.  Mom loved strong coffee, cream but no sugar and she would drink it all day long, percolating from morning to night, which made it stronger and stronger.

     So here's saluting all Mom's with their funny and interesting quirks, it wouldn't have been the same without you.

Maximum Laughter - My New Years Wish

     Holidays can be stressful if you let them but try looking for the funny side even a mishap can be funny.  I always look for the lighter side of a situation and live for laughter, maximum laughter.  Some of you may think that's an odd way to approach life but I say more people need to try it. Laughter releases endorphins, which elevates your mood to give you a more positive outlook.

     There are many old wives tales like "You are what you eat", "Look for the silver lining", "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" etc.  I can't vouch for all of theses sayings but I do my best to always look for the silver lining because I believe you will find what you are looking for, whether i's a silver lining or a black cloud.  

     As I look around it seems like more people are looking for a black cloud and guess what they find it, which further tarnishes their outlook on life and depresses them.  This is not perfect world and why would anyone expect that, but the imperfections can be funny if we search for the humor.  This world is tense as we see on the news every night so maybe it's time we search for the laughter.  I know, everything is not funny but we take many things too seriously when we should really be laughing at a situation or at ourselves.

      If you are ever involved in a serious conversation that is getting out of hand try throwing some humor in the argument to lighten up the tension, it’s an easy way to redirect the conversation and ease the stress.  It doesn’t have to be hilarious; it can be something goofy, just something to knock people off the tension track.  The truth is in a heated argument people stop listening to each other so humor helps you take control.

     Maybe if more people were searching for laughter there would be less angry people in the world.  So here is my New Years recommendation for 2016 to make it a better year.

      “Look for the Silver Lining and Search for Maximum Laughter.”

     

Christmas Cheer at Dog Prairie

     Twice a year we gather at Dog Prairie Tavern to share stories and toast our friendship, once in July (Christmas in July) and of course the Christmas holiday season.  So in a way I guess we are a sentimental crew celebrating Christmas twice a year but it goes further with the many stories told, some old and some new.  The tavern is filled with laughter from the many stories shared with each other, so the sentiment is more of a remembrance of the fun times we shared over many years.  The stories seem to get better every year so maybe some get exaggerated but only in the best of ways.

     This is not a sports or wine bar, it's a country tavern in St Paul although it's only 30 minutes from my house but it has the feel that it's many miles and years away from today's life.  I prefer wine over beer but at these festivities I drink beer, the amber color not the craft beers which they may not even carry, I don't know I've never ask.  I know they have wine because I've seen some of the wives drinking a glass but it's white Zinfandel so not real wine.  Meeting at Dog Prairie has become a 23 year tradition originally setup by Bob K and Rich G but scheduled yearly by Don A.

     It starts at 3pm but people stroll in all evening so the longer you stay the more old friends you see.  Facebook is good but nothing beats sitting down with an old friend sharing stories and laughing the night away.  This Christmas gathering is of McDonnell Douglas/ Boeing product support employees past and present, so there are new faces that sometimes appear but these new faces become old friends after an evening of cheerful conversation.

     The Dog Prairie tavern is owned by a former McDonnell Douglas employee, retired in 1985, now run by his grandson.  It has good bar food with friendly people and a laid back country atmosphere. Nothing beats a good time with old friends no matter where you are but Dog Prairie seems to fit our crowd well.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my friends, I wish you the best and hope to see you soon.

     

Your Dream Life

     When is the right time to live out your dreams?  The answer is always, now.  We can't count on tomorrow because this is an uncertain world.  Every day is a new chance to live your dreams. Your dreams may not be elaborate or dangerous, but there's nothing wrong with a simple dream.

     Sometimes we think of dreams only in terms financial success or achieving some type of celebrity status.  If your talent or ability leads you that direction, great but for the rest of us it is different. Dreams change throughout your life and you may have multiple life dreams or goals.  As a young boy I was inspired by John Wayne, I dreamed of being a cowboy but that wasn't a dream it was a fantasy.  Later in life I understood that there is a difference in dreams and fantasies, although both have value.

     Fantasies can inspire your imagination but many times they are not based on reality whereas dreams are an achievable reality.  I can never be a cowboy in the way John Wayne portrayed them or a Star Wars character but the fantasy helps escape the tensions of life.  We go to movies for that very reason to fantasize and escape the stress of our lives.

     Dreams can do that and more because you are focusing on a goal that is attainable.  Achieving your dream is a way of securing your legacy.  Your dreams may be oriented toward a career, family, social, financial, political, etc.  We have many dreams throughout life and achieving one dream may lead to another unexpected dream.  All dreams won't translate to financial success some may be for personal satisfaction, which is just as important.

     Everyone won't understand your dreams or agree with them but don't let others rain on your parade, these are your dreams, pursue them with passion.  Age is not a factor in reaching for a dream.  Enjoy your fantasies but live your dreams.  "Just Saying...."

Things or Experiences

     Throughout life we accumulate things, which are important to us especially at the time we purchase them.  This is normal; everybody likes new things like a car, smart phone, jewelry, toys, etc.   Buying something new is exciting, most notably the big purchases.  The things we own give us pleasure but many times it is a short-lived pleasure unless it is connected to memorable experiences.

     We need things to make our life fun and interesting but when you reminisce about the past what you value most are the experiences versus the things.  I have to admit having cool things may evoke the memories but after these things are long gone you will still have the memories.

     We all have abundant experiences (good & bad) throughout life so the memories may not always be happy.  Good experiences easily flow to the top of my mind while some of the bad experiences soften or change over time making them less prominent.  I've even had some bad experiences that have become interesting humorous stories after many years.  Sometimes what makes a bad experience is simply how you react to it.

     I believe most of my experiences happen without the aid of things that I own.  Experiences can come from adventures, interactions with people or animals, trying a new activity, enjoying nature, watching an old movie with a friend, the list is endless.

     After many years of owning things I've come to the realization the experiences are more important and something I will treasure forever.  New things will replace old things but experiences will always exist developing our personality. Everyone is not wealthy enough to have expensive things but we can all be rich with experience.  “Just Saying….”

Colored People

    I'm sure there may be some readers that are offended by the title of this post but people are easily offended today.  It seems like this is a gut reaction to be offended without knowing the background of a comment or action.  There seems to be a lot of thin-skinned angry people today of all races looking for any reason to support their anger.  Let's not look for the negative side to every comment made by someone because any comment can be twisted into a negative view.

     Some people consider the term colored people offensive but I'm not sure why because the truth is everyone on earth is colored. Even white is a color but no one is truly white like a Styrofoam cup, people of the world have many shades to their skin but no one is colorless. The phrase "people of color" is an acceptable phase but I am confused in how it differs from the phase "colored people". Without a doubt race prejudices are real but could it be that our concern about race issues has made us overly defensive?

     The past is the past, it can't be changed, I'm not sure it helps constantly dwelling on the past.  Sure it's our history and its important to remember but we need to move forward which is hard when we are always reliving the past.  Wouldn't it be good to look to the future with a positive outlook instead of anger and revenge?

     I think it's time we get over our differences in skin shades because it shades our view of life and drives a wedge between races.  "Just Saying...."

Body on a Bike Trail

     It started out as a typical Saturday morning, loading up the bike to meet my buddies on a nearby mountain bike trail.  Our bike club would meet once a week at one of the many trails in the area, this time we are headed for Lost Valley to ride a familiar trail (about 8 miles long).  We never knew how many riders would show since we all have families and family activities always took precedence. Some days there could be 12 or more riders other times only 2; everyone was welcome even those that weren't in the club.

     This morning there were just three of us, Bill, Pat and myself.  We have been on many rides over the past years and considered ourselves experienced riders.  By that I mean we could traverse most terrain successfully, repair tires chains and other minor damages on the trail and continue on our ride.  We were self-sufficient in that we could handle any difficulty that we encountered, including injuries.  When you ride off road as frequently as we do you see many interesting sights but every once in awhile you run into something that surprises you as happened on that Saturday morning ride.

     We rode in the morning because the weather was cooler but that was not the case on this July morning in Missouri.  It was hot and muggy even at 8 am.  Sweat poured down our face after the first mile, the perspiration made our bike jerseys cling to our chest.  There was no breeze just the hot air on our bodies as we pedaled fast down the trail.

     This was a quite morning with no other riders in sight, the early morning heat may be the reason the trail was empty.  The heat was unpleasant but we took a path that was unfamiliar and not well travelled.  We pushed through tall grass and once we got to a small clearing we found were covered with deer ticks.  We spent the next five minutes picking these little critters off before we continued on our ride.  We had ridden 4 miles but we were off the main trail so we had about 5 more miles to go to get back to the trailhead.

     We had been so busy with the deer ticks that we didn't notice the sleeping bag next to the oak tree.  As we got back on the bikes Bill yelled to us “Wait look over there.”  Pointing to the sleeping bag.  We walked over to see if there was someone there.  We poked the bag to see if there was a response when we heard a groan and a guy peeked out of the bag.  He looked dazed and confused but in all fairness we woke him abruptly.  We asked him what he was doing sleeping on the trail (not that it was our business), he responded that he was traveling across the country and just needed some rest.  Seemed odd but we wished him luck and hopped on our bikes.

      It wasn’t but 5 minutes later we were riding down the trail with Pat on the lead bike when he jumped a log and lying on the other side was a body.  We all came to an immediate stop.  It was a man on his back, the same guy we saw in the sleeping bag but he was dead.  “How could that be?”  We just talked to him minutes ago, this can’t be happening.  How did he die and how did he get way over here?  His shirt was torn and we saw a fresh scar starting below his shoulder that travelled down toward the upper part of his chest. There was no cell phone service so we decided to head back too the parking lot to call the police but as we rode down the trail we noticed a guy walking ahead of us with camping gear.  As we got closer to him we were shocked to discover that it was the same guy, the dead guy.

     Now we are getting freaked.  We asked him if he camped alone. “Yes” he said. “I’m headed back home to see my brother, he’s my twin.”  Holy crap was all I could think looking at Bill and Pat.  “When was the last time you talked with him?”  “Three days ago, why?”  “Is there any chance he would have come to see you?”  “No, he was in the hospital, recovering from heart surgery.”  We checked our cell phones and we now had service so we told him to call his brother.  He looked puzzled but called and found out sad news, his brother had passed away over night. We told him about the body we saw in the woods with the scar but it couldn’t be his twin, we must be mistaken about the resemblance to him.

     We stayed with the camper until we got to the parking lot then called the police to tell them about the body on the trail.  We waited to take the police to the spot where we found the body, but found nothing.  No sign of any body or evidence of a body being there.

     We left shaking our heads in wonder.  I said “I think I’ll skip next Saturday’s ride.” Pat and Bill agreed as we drove out of the parking lot.