August 30, 2015

Life Glimpses and Sunday Snippits


The Stennis entering the harbor.


  • Another old friend died.  Patrick Latham.  He was part of my group of friends who helped me raise my two teenaged daughters during my first years alone.  Bill and JR, and Frankie were the others.  These guys helped hold me together when I was drinking very heavily and knew not what I did.  Lately, I would see him often in the store…usually Mondays, but he’d also come in on Wednesdays.  As he got older and his particularities grew more, I liked him less.  Still he was a friend.  Many folks remember him as the man who walked his dog on the cliffs every day and talked about OB in the old days.  There will be a gathering at Dusty Rhoads Park September 13th at 1pm.

  • I’ve been rereading the Nazi essays that I’ve been writing over the years.  They are really pretty good…I surprised myself with the quality of my writing.  Only once did a sentence have to be rewritten.  Only about five times did I find that a shorter sentence would work well instead of one long and unwieldly one.  The research was well done too.  Metaphorically I found myself patting myself on the back.  I have a couple more to read then I’d like to share them somewhere besides my blog.

  • Suddenly we are a very social couple.  I’m sure no one took the heat into account when planning these birthdays or fundraisers.  Friday a BBQ at the bay.  They were planned months in advance.  Saturday night, far into the hinterlands, was a delightful ice cream social.  I love these things.  In this beer drinking age, who would have thought that ice cream socials would be in again, but they are.  Sunday is a triple potluck birthday party.  We to almost recluses are being forced out the door and to a party.  Oh, my.

  • I’ve begun sketching out the Bobbie quilt.  Bobbie is in Texas opening her latest show.  Her New York agent has now scheduled her for a Museum show opening in two years in Chicago.  Very exciting stuff indeed.  Perhaps I will title the quilt ‘Crows.’

  • Reading the last two of the JA Jance Beaumont series.  Well written all around, but I think so well written that the character has almost become real over the years.  Real, but rather dry, and humorless as he aged.  LOL  He was a much more varied person when he was younger.

  • Hot, hot hot….That’s the opening line of a Broadway show.  That’s us too.  They say the world will soon begin a cool-down, but I will believe it when I see it.  All conversations around here center on the weather.


  • Himself:  Feeling better he says.  Off to the museum now.
  • Herself:  Finding cool clothes to wear over the weekend.
  • Reading:  Jance.  Wearing: Something cool.  Eating: Small meals.  Drinking a lot of water.
  • Gratitudes:  The seared blue of the sky.


  • 6 comments:

    1. I cannot tell you how your post has given me an uplift. I now feel more normal and more loved and a little less crazy. I think you and I are more alike than we would think...except I am less sophisticated or intellectual. Yes, really! I am so sorry for your loss of someone who was there for you when you were making mistakes. Those friends are hard to come by. I have traveled so much in my life, which is a precious quirk I am thankful for, that all my good friends are few and far between. Thus my panic at such a sudden social life. I am glad you like your work on German history and hope you find a good place to publish. I think your time with your grandmother is an excellent subject for a chapbook or series of short stories. Yes, our lives were rich in various ways, it seems.

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    2. A cooling earth may be the only thing that saves us from global warming. But 'soon' in geologic time may not be soon in our time. We shall see.

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    3. We have had a really good social weekend.

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    4. Good for you for socializing and getting out. I find that it rejuvenates me to be out among people. Sorry for your loss. Those kinds of friends are very special, when they are there for you in difficult times. Have a special week!

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    5. I am sorry about your friend. You were his angel too. I am sure of that.

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    6. Sad that you lost your friend. Those that trekked through the swampy parts of our lives with us stay with us always,

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