Existing In BFE

Phil, Jeanne and Bristol sent this condolence card this week for Missy. Beautiful card and great inscrition: "No greater compasion, no better friend, really sorry for your loss." Very thoughtful and kind, guys. Greatly appreciated and nice card...a real keeper.

1. My number one driving action that gets me more riled than anything else: long stretch of road with no one behind me. Car comes up to an intersection up ahead. Sits. and sits, and then pulls out in front of me, and slows me up. Man! Seems to happen all the time out this way. 2. I like my Kindle. Just downloaded "The Art of Racing In the Rain" on a recommendation from Karen in England. It is about a dog who believes if he does everything right he will be reincarnated as a human. 3. Speaking of dogs, I received Missy's ashes this last weekend. I have to say it was a bit of a letdown: no kisses, no wagging tail, no begging. 4. Saw this in the paper last night. I know Rose and Greg, and this must have been a good one. 5. I haven't totally embraced recycling. Out here in BFE there is no recycling but I do try to save my aluminum. I remember taking a truckload of cans to G & M and getting enough back to have one of those great "Wow!" moments and then being...

Actually Mike, your golf clubs were put to the curb for pick up day and as they were being crushed in the jaws of the garbage truck, I heard then whisper, "Thank you God".

Here is proof I did golf in the past. Or, rather, did drink beer in a golf cart, with my brother, on a golf course. My clubs have not been used in about three years, or is it four? I think they are in Aledo, but they may have been tossed out by now. Good riddance....golf is a game created by Satan played by dreamers with a Sisyphus complex.

I came across this picture of the Vice tombstone in Oquawka Illinois. This guy was into selling drugs and in a deal gone bad he was murdered about 10 years ago. His kid was badly injured in this incident and have no idea whatever happened to him. In a classy gesture to the world/visitors/life, the family had this photo of Mr. Vice engraved into the stone. On visits to this graveside (I usually check it out when there is a car show just across the road) there is usually strewn empty beer cans and cigarette packages. Nice legacy.

http://www.elwp.com:80/Joe%20Cocker.html

Twenty or so years ago I watched an old flick on TBS called "On Borrowed Time", a Warner Brothers fantasy made in 1939 I think, the greatest year of film, EVER. It is the story of an old man and his grandson chasing Death up a tree. Seems Death, or as he is referred to in the movie, Mr. Brink, is here to get these good folks along with granny. This is a small clip of the movie and gives you a sense and feel of the film. Anyway, it has never been available on DVD until last week, when Warner opened its vault for many forgotten films. It stars Lionel Barrymore (Mr. Potter in Its A Wonderful Life), Buelah Bondi (James Stewart's mom in Its a Wonderful Life), and many other people you might recognize but don't know their names. Yes, I bought it. I'll loan it out and bet you can't watch it without tearing up, or if you are an old sentimental loon like me, practically sob.

Daughter Kenze in the middle, Drew the BF and Florida.

Rosie was a lady we saw frequently around Galesburg. Whenever anyone in the family saw her they would promptly yell out, "Rose Alert!" for reasons I have long forgotten. She was one of the many in G-Burg and thousands in the state who were turned out of their institutional homes and placed in the community a couple of decades ago. She claimed the CIA and other governemntal agencies had placed tiny devices in her body and was set to go off in a matter of months. That was years ago. We have spotted her small frame bouncing along the sidewalks of town with a shopping cart full of goodies collected here and there. Never really knew where she lived but she covered town like a cold sweat, summer and winter and all weather conditions. We even saw her in a wedding dress right off Henderson street on Losey one afternoon waving to everyone who went by. Today after taking the mail to the Post Office, I saw her across from the depot wearing a bright orange conical cone-head type ha...

Posts have been few and far between lately, huh? Nothing really going on of interest. 1. Baseball started and I have yet to see the Mets in their new stadium. Speaking of baseball my fantasy team has been overhauled even in the first week which goes to show you how confident I am of its success. 2. Today is Easter and will most likely go to brother Mark's for dinner. 3. Yesterday Tim and Chris and I went to Galesburg on the bikes and checked out Nees Harley-Davidson. After that we went to the smoke shop to check out cigars, then to the Pub's beer garden (or is it garten)for a couple beers and some colorful G-burg denizens. 4. Watched "Doubt" last night. I am a Meryl Streep fan and have been forever. Her acting in this little flick is incredible but are those wrinkles on her face? 5. Speaking of movies I also saw "Milk" and "Slumdog Millionaire" in the past week. Slumdog was a bit tough to get into, but once I was in I liked it. Milk was very good a...

A camera is strapped to the back of a hawk. Pretty neat, especially the dive toward the end.

This is a great picture of our Missy and really displays her personality. This is how I will remember her: underfoot, needy, loving, awestruck, eager, pampered, hungry, adoring. The place is pretty empty without her.

Aunt Gladys turned 95 on April Fool's day and a small family gathering was held on Saturday. Now get this: this lady has a blood pressure reading of 130/70, clear lungs, good heart, lives at home (unassisted), takes NO prescription medication, and has only spent 2 days of her life in the hospital (last year when she fell, with no broken bones). Cousin Eddie apparently not buying brother Mark's line of BS. Gladys hasn't lost her appetite either. We Blythes, an amiable lot, will eat most anything, if only out of politeness. Resting their eyes? These tired guys (Adam and Dave) couldn't handle the wild celebration. Ashley ("Don't lay it on me"), Mark's daughter joined us for all the fun.

http://www.chiaobama.com/

Sounds kinky, no? Actually it is Yahoo baseball fantasy. We got a league together when I was still at the Mary Davis Home, so by now it must be close to 10 years old. Some of the charter members have drifted away (Brian McGrath , Lance Brooks, Randy Storm, and others), but there still some of us who started with it still drafting and making our lineups. Other charter owners still in it besides myself are Gullywhacker , Wilhelm, and the Crazy Asian. My team has been named the Metros after the Mets . We have won the regular season race the past couple of years. This years team looks like this: 1B - Berkman 2B - Utley 3B - Wright SS - Reyes OF - Burrell OF - Crisp OF - Holliday C - Ianetta Utility - Howard SP - J. Santana SP - F. Hernandez SP - Lowe SP- Lester SP- Blackburn SP- Snell SP-Jimenez RP- Lindstrom RP- Zeigler RP-Ray RP-Lyon It is not uncommon to have some 50 or...