$11.00 and Black Friday.....

Our television "news" shows and commercials are all full of "information" about sales on Black Friday. I'm not sure how many years ago this American "tradition" started and stores offered deep discounts on the most sought after gifts. Dave and I watch (sort of) and say to each other "There is not one thing they are advertising that we want or need." Part of our thought process probably has to do with not having any young grandsons who enjoy toys anymore....the four of them are much more interested in gift cards so they can do their own shopping. And gift cards are easy and boring to wrap but lightweight to send through the mail.

The onslaught of Black Friday ads made me remember several Christmases at our farm house in Nashotah when the kids were young. Todd was in fifth grade and Megan was in kindergarden....so of course there were letterrs to Santa (even if Todd was doing it with good humor to please his little sister). Dave and I would make our purchases trying to satisfy a few of the top requests and then, in the mail, I would get a letter from my grandparents from Appleton. Gramma would send a cute note and include a check asking me to shop for something for each of us. The check was always for $11.00. Thinking of it just now and it brings a lump to my throat....$11.00 was what they could afford and they wanted each of us to have a gift to open on Christmas morning. Something wrapped and under the tree.

At that time there were no Dollar Stores, but I would add their request to my shopping list, deposit the check and search. 

I don't remember any of the little gifts I got...something for Dave, for me, for Todd and for Megan. Something with a tag that said Merry Christmas from Great Gramma and Grampa. I knew the love wrapped up in those little boxes was worth much more than whatever the item inside.

$11.00......four gifts.....all before Black Friday was invented. 

Hard To Ignore......

I don't remember when we bought this banner....but I know it was while the "kids" were still at home. So if Todd is 52 I'm sure we've had this for about 40 years. And there is 40 years worth of tape on the edgest to prove it. Now that it is just the two of us, the banner goes up in the middle of the night either on Dave's bathroom mirror or mine. So the first greeting you get on your birthday is a big, colorful

In my case I got up in the middle of the night and with the nightlight in my bathroom I could not ignore the fact that I was "facing" my 75th birthday. Aaaggghhhh!!! Once again I look in the mirror and wonder "Who IS that grey haired woman and how did she get in my apartment?"

And then my second thought is "Aren't I lucky to be celebrating another year around the sun." And then my thought is "I hope I can get back to sleep!"

Zzzzzzz....I did.....

Peek A Boo......

It's getting colder in Wisconsin and most trees have already dropped their leaves. When I walk Fenway out of the building we pass this low shrub along the sidewalk. I don't know what it is or if it will keep any leaves all winter. But what I do know is that lately, as we walk by, it is a very noisy bush. As we approach there is are rustling and dry-leaf shuffling noises emanating from inside and under the bush. Is it one of the rabbits that live on the property? A squirrel or chipmunk? Something taking refuge in the thicket?

As we get closer there is a flurry of activity as small birds come out of hiding and take wing. There are dozens of them and the zip by so quickly it’s really hard for me to grab a photo. So I stand quietly for a few minutes and watch as a few begin to come back to the gone-by hydrangeas and down into their hiding places.

Sparrows? I’m not sure….but it is a quick and fun Mother Nature moment and I have to wonder if they will be greeting me all winter?

My Priviledge.....

I was born in Chicago. When I was five my parents bought their first small house in Park Ridge, Illinois. It was in a neighborhood of similar two-story "square" houses all with manicured lawns and flower gardens in the summer. Our neighbors were nice and there were enough kids on the block to have plenty of fun...sledding nearby in the winter, games of kick-the-can in the summer. We got on our bikes on Saturday mornings to roam nearby new construction sites, build tree forts in nearby apple trees....it was sort of a "Leave It To Beaver" existence. I walked five blocks to Carpenter Elementary School and came home for lunch.

My parents bought a bigger home across town when I was in seventh grade and I made new neighborhood friends while keeping up with the ones from my old neighborhood because we all went to the same junior high school. I went to Ripon College in 1964 and graduated four years later without student loans to burden my future.

Dave and I got married and followed his insurance career from the midwest to the mid-Atlantic states and back again....several times. We parented two kids, had nice houses and lived in communities with good schools. Our progress through the years was what it was "supposed" to be.

Once again, after yesterday's verdict in Kenosha, I am reminded that my life progressed the way it did by starting with a lucky chance....which sperm met which egg, where I was raised, the support from my parents, the opportunities presented and taken. 

When I sit and think about others who live in America where things are "supposed" to be equal under the law and who do not enjoy anything close to the open doors that I've walked through over my 74+ years it is a sad shock to my system. I feel so deflated today....or some feeling I can't really identify. I am angry and frustrated and in a state of disbelief. Not guilty on all counts.....ridiculous. And I don't believe for one moment that the jury chosen would have reached the same conclusion if the defendant sobbing on the stand had been a person of color.

I refuse to mention his name.....I wish, instead of surely becoming a "hero" to the far right and showing up on every FOX interview show in the coming weeks he would just fade away and face some sort of justice somewhere down the road. Maybe the next time he decides to "help" a community by taking a loaded gun to patrol the streets as a "medic" he will, once again, kill people but then be held accountable. I hope this haunts him for the rest of his life....as it will haunt the families who lost someone to his violent actions.

Equal justice under the law.....give me a break.

Pondering A Dry Spell.....

I write my little blog mostly because I enjoy putting thoughts to paper....usually nothing of great importance, but just something that I've been thinking about. Sometimes a book will prompt a memory or a topic to share. Sometimes it's something I see outside while walking Fenway. Sometimes it's a paragraph or two in response to something in the news.

For about a week I've been walking around thinking "I am dry! There is nothing I want to put down on paper." These dry spells have hit before and always seem to just go away on their own and I feel back in the swing. 

So I'll just wait it out....at some point I will think of something that prompts some pondering and then a blog entry. Something.....someday.....soon I hope! 

The Last Time.....

Monday, November 8th.....2:30 p.m......Milwaukee Wisconsin.....64 degrees!

I am sitting on our little deck reading a book in the sunshine. No jacket needed.....just a light sweater. Fenway basking at my feet. Will we "pay" for this in January?

Probably.....

Pretty In Pink.....

Sunday, November 7th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and it is sunny and 64 degrees. This is probably the last gasp weekend for this kind of warm weather before the colder temperatures settle in and are followed by snow.

Fenway and I walked three blocks to the park overlooking Lake Michigan this morning. I sat on a bench and listened to waves washing ashore on Bradford Beach at the bottom of the bluff. A favorite sound and an absolutely beautiful day.

Walking home I note the trees have dropped more of their leaves but some are still hanging on. A few maple (I think) leaves caught my eye on the sidewalk because of a sort of unexpected color pallette. I'm not sure I've seen such pink leaves before.

Pretty in pink......wishing this could last!

3/4.......

Somehow this fraction seems to change meaning depending on the context. 3/4 cup of flour for a recipe....I've got that. 3/4 cup of sugar.....maybe I'll cut that back just a little. 3/4 of the way home from a trip....the end is in sight. 3/4 of the population favors a certain candidate or movement....that's a strong majority. Trim my hair 3/4 of an inch....just right. Do water aerobics for 3/4 of an hour.....feels good but later I will be need of a nap.

3/4 of a century.....75 YEARS.....now that seems OLD when it's candles on a birthday cake. Dave just stepped over this line and I am right behind him. We look at each other and wonder "How did this happen? Where have the years gone?"

The meaning of 3/4......depends on context.