Day O' Bob

(This ran originally in 2007 and is re-posted today to celebrate the man's birthday. It is not known if happenin' britches are widely available today. - Ed.)

No doubt the skies over Independence, Mo. are ablaze with fireworks as the daylong festivities commemorating the birth of key citizen Robert K. Wingate are reaching their appointed climax. Even at this hour, you'll probably still be able to pick up pieces of candy strewn along Noland Road, flung there by the various fire departments and ambulance brigades during the parade. That is, if you can pick it out amongst all the confetti and twenty dollar bills shot from cannons or launched from those rubber-band sling things by exuberant cheerleaders. Kansas City loves a parade, yessiree, Bob.

Pictured here is the man of the hour in an earlier time, probably about 9:30 a.m. He's in the foreground on the swing. That's me on the glider with the happenin' britches on. Probably he had spent the night at my house and we would all wind up down at Poppy's later on. The girl is my big sister, but enough about her.

Time flies and Bob and I have a married daughter each. He's a grandpa now. Happily, though, we've not traversed too far from laughing our fool heads off at cartoons, ours or someone else's, giddiness fueled by hot dogs, Shasta and not nearly enough sleep.

So, get your happenin' britches on! It's the birthday of Independence's own Bob Wingate! Happy Birthday, cousin!

Yessiree, Bob.

The Evening Rambler for 11-11-11 (Six digits...all ones!)

I don't really have a plan for this, and I don't know where I'll end up when I'm done writing. This will be an Evening Rambler in the truest sense of the words.

In fact, I fully expect I'll go away...and then come back and write more. It's like some kind of law of nature...

The sun rises in the east - then sets in the west.
What goes up - must come down.
Bob goes away - then he comes back.

Before I forget, thank you Mike for the last two posts while I was having writer's block. The color wheel for all the Crayola crayons was really nice to look at. I did notice a bit of history revisionism on their part, one of the colors (I think it was Peach), used to be called Flesh. Somewhere in the 80s I think it was, they had collected enough complaints that they decided to change the name. In fact, I think they released new colors at that time in other flesh tones, but none of them named Flesh.

Day to day family life here at the northern annex to The Porch has been in upheaval lately. My wife's dad has inoperable terminal cancer along with other medical conditions. He has been in a hospice house for a week or thereabouts, and he is receiving good care. So my wife is staying with her mom for a while, a truly good deed which I fully support.

Of course, that means someone else has to cook dinner here, as the budget won't allow fast food every night. Daughter number two cooked chicken alfredo two nights ago, and it was very tasty.

Tonight was my turn, so we activated a test of the Emergency Food Warning System..."Dad is cooking...should this become an actual emergency, you will be instructed to seek aid..."

That kind of thing. I followed the directions on the box of fish fillets. I also got a few potatoes out of the bag to bake in the microwave. They'd been in the bag for a while and had kind of an earthy smell to them, even after a good washing. So I went ahead and baked them, then peeled off the skin, cut them up and fried them. Surprisingly, everything turned out good. Along with some baby carrots and some apple slices, we did all right.

Back after Fringe...

...And I came back. Told ya.

That Fringe episode was easily the best so far of Season Four. I've got an idea of one thing they could do from here on, but I won't say; especially since I know most of my readers are not regular fans of the show. The writers will probably take it in some other direction anyway.

Why do I like Fringe so much? Well for starters, it has a mad scientist! And at least one alternate universe! Not to mention some great acting and characters you grow to care about. What more could you want in a strange TV show?

Before the day gets any older, I'll wish all veterans a Happy Veterans' Day! I'm not sure if I have any readers who are veterans, but I always like to thank those in uniform, and those who used to wear the uniform, for our freedoms. Really, any day is a good day to do that.

Six days ago there was an earthquake in Oklahome. I forget the magnitude - somewhere around 5 - but strong enough to be felt across several states, including Missouri. I talked to some people at church who said they felt it here in Independence. I didn't notice it, and neither did anyone in my family.

And something like a week before that, there was a large solar Coronal Mass Ejection and geomagnetic storm which gave rise to the best auroral display seen in the USA in years. The northern lights were seen as far south as Arkansas. I heard about it while they were visible, so I grabbed my wallet and keys, jumped in my car, and drove out beyond the city lights.

See, you should know something about me. I've wanted to see the northern lights ever since I learned about them in grade school...and I never have. It's still one of the top things on my "bucket list"...and I say still, because by the time I got beyond the light pollution and got out of my car, the northern lights had subsided. I stood in the dark for a good ten minutes anyway, long enough for my eyes to adjust. No joy.

Sometimes I just get the feeling that I miss out on things.

All around the town

Knowing as I do the interest in maps that the host of this blog possesses, I thought the following link would be appropriate.

What else would you do with a wooden map wrapped around a cylinder?

See it here.

Nothing like a brand new box

Found this at one of my favorite sites, 22 Words. Be sure to follow the link to the original site where you can mouse over the image for the color names.

I guess I feel like coloring now.

Ten years to the day after 9-11-01...a few thoughts

Building up to this ten year anniversary, I’ve read a few comments online questioning the remembrance. The idea seemed to be, “It’s not healthy to cling to this, let it be in the past and move on”. I initially dismissed this as nonsense, but then a commenter drew the comparison to Pearl Harbor, and farther back to Gettysburg.

Now I’m not saying we can ever forget totally, or that we should, but there may be a point here. Some in my parents’ generation told me of Pearl Harbor, and I – and I suppose most “Boomers” – know of the significance of December the seventh. I seem to remember though that there used to be more interest in and talk about Pearl Harbor Day years ago than there has been recently. And I daresay that most people now alive would not be able to give the dates of the battle of Gettysburg.

My guess is that this 10 year anniversary of the September 11 attacks will remain the big one; sure it will be remembered and mentioned in years to come, but probably not to this degree. It just seems that people are resilient. We cope with tragedy, learn some lessons (and hopefully not forget too many of them), and move on. I’m glad that the memorials at ground zero, at the Pentagon, and at the crash site in Pennsylvania have been dedicated.

We’ve also been told that part of defeating the terrorists is to live our lives as normally as possible. We can’t let them win. But I’m confident that even if the details fade, we’ll never forget.

This time of year we see or hear the question, “Do you remember where you were on September 11, 2001?” I still do , clearly, and I posted about it a few years ago. If you’d care to read that, click here. I’ve seen other questions about “How do you think things have changed”, and “Do you feel the same as you did 10 years ago on 9-11”?

I’d have to say that some things haven’t changed for me, but one has. I’m still sickened by the unspeakable evil of the act, and I’m totally disgusted by the people overseas who danced in the streets at the news; and I don’t need to spell that out further. I’m also still amazed by the bravery of the firefighters and other first responders. They may not have felt like heroes at the moment, but they were.

One thing that has changed, I don’t feel the fear of uncertainty that I felt 10 years ago today. I still recall watching the TV on that day in stunned silence, but it’s easier to forget the details of the great billowing dust as the towers fell and sensing the fear in people fleeing the scene. In those first few hours after we realized this was a deliberate attack, we really didn’t know if this was only the beginning. Would the terrorists strike closer to home? Would our lives be in jeopardy? Would our loved ones in other places be all right?

For most people, aside from inconveniences while flying, life has returned to normal, and I’m thankful for that.

The loss of over 2,970 lives was certainly a tragedy, no doubt of that. I’ve been dwelling on a different thought today. Just imagine how many hundreds of lives were saved that day by the firefighters, police, and other first responders. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Heroes, whether they admit it or not.

I’m composing this an hour after I watched the CBS special on 9-11 Ten Years Later. It was filmed by a young man who went along with one of the NYFD crews, and included interviews from many firemen involved with the rescue and recovery…a really moving tribute.

9-11 was mentioned in Pastor’s sermon at church today. As we entered the sanctuary, we were given a card with the following prayer:

Anniversary of 9/11 Prayer (from Portals of Prayer July-September 2011)

Lord Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace, amid a world full of tribulation, You encourage us saying, “Take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Thank you that Your peace is not the shallow, short-lived peace the world gives. By Your holy cross, You reconciled us forever to the Father, giving us the peace that passes understanding, the deep and lasting rest of sins forgiven. Grant us to know Your peace, even in the midst of troubles. Cause enmity among peoples to cease. By Your Spirit, grant that, as far as it depends on us, we may live peaceably with all. Amen.

Happy Birthday, Mike!

In the past, I've written a few things here, and here, and here, to mark the occasion of my Cousin Mike's birthday, what with him being a good friend and co-contributor here on Poppy's Front Porch and all. I'm afraid the creative well is a bit low this year; must be the recent hot weather.

But I reminded myself of the old saying that "A picture's worth a thousand words".

I figure that's on average. A blurred, out of focus picture might be worth only 387 words, and a really great picture, like one hanging on the wall in the Louvre in Paris, would be worth 2,000 easily.

Maybe more. But, I digress...

Anyway, I searched high and low and even on the internet, so now I present to you a few images celebrating...

some of Mike's favorite things.


Remember the old ad jingle? I heard a kid sing a parody once, "McDonald's is your kind of place, hamburgers in your face". Okay that was a bit of a cheap shot...Mike loves cheesburgers and he worked in a McDonald's or two.

Then I got to thinking. Mike has loved baseball for years, in fact, he's the expert in my family.



Mike especially enjoys Cardinals' baseball.



Mike is also a big fan of Batman.

So what could be better than a picture of Batman playing baseball?

This took some searching...



I also found this during my search...



And this one was way too much fun to pass up.



And so Mike, it's late as I write this. I hope you've had a wonderful day, and if you haven't had dessert already, by all means do so. Here in a few minutes I intend to have some ice cream in your honor.

The Evening Rambler for the beginning of Summer 2011

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? The jury’s still out on that, tonight’s contestant dropped out rather than tackle a fifth grade social studies question. So we don’t know, and we didn’t get to see the question to test ourselves. He ended up with $7,500 though, so that’s not too shabby.

That is of course, if that’s an after tax figure, which I kind of doubt now that I think about it. It would be nice if game shows did that, figure the tax owed and send it to Uncle, since they’re giving away that money anyway. But what I heard years ago is that the contestants owe the tax on the winnings.

Seems like a shame though. You get all excited that you’ve just won $7,500, only to discover that you end up with only thirteen dollars and eighty-five cents.

Much has happened since my last Porch post. The big news in Missouri was the Joplin tornado, back on May 22 nd. Much has been said and I don’t know what I can add…the whole event and aftermath was so tragic. My sister and her family lived in Joplin in the late 1980s, so I’m somewhat familiar with the city. That area will never look the same, and the recovery will be a long one. Rumor has it that our church will send some people down there, but I’m not sure of the details, whether soon for cleanup assistance, or later for help in rebuilding. I’m not sure how much I’d be able to do if I went down there, but I have the desire to help in some way, if I can.

The Kansas City Star last Sunday had an amazing article, a collection of first person reports of survivors at St. John’s Hospital and nearby.

Since then, we’ve had several rounds of rain and thunderstorms here, but they’ve only blown the tornado sirens once. No damage here, though.

My garden is doing well with the rain and the warm weather. I have several blossoms on the tomato plants, and the cucumber plants are growing well. We got the fence up, but it still needs adjustment to make it varmint proof. I’ll have to get to that before any fruit sets on the vines. The potato plants are bigger and healthier than any I’ve ever had. I guess we finally got enough compost worked into the soil in that corner.

Father’s Day was a simple celebration. What I really wanted was to get my family around the table all at once and play a board game; we haven’t done that in too long. So we chose Pictionary, and my second daughter and my son teamed up and ran away with the game. They ought to enter a tournament.

My first daughter called from California, which was a delight. I told her that was the high point of the day so far, and said I wasn’t sure that would stand because her mom had made me a peach cobbler. I did get to “talk” to my one year old granddaughter. It wasn’t real words yet, just sounds on her part. Practice talk.

As it turned out, the cobbler was great, but I’ll rate the phone call the high point of the day.

Of course I thought of my Dad. The question came to mind, how would I respond if someone asked “What words of wisdom did your dad pass on to you?” I’m not sure how I’d reply, though I suppose if I give it some time and consideration, I'd come up with something. Dad was a very intelligent man, but also a quiet person most of the time. I’m sure he kept many things to himself, and yes, I should have asked more questions when I had the chance.

While my Mom gave me an appreciation for music and art, Dad passed to me his interest in things technical. His interest in aircraft became my interest in rocketry. And I have good memories of working side by side at his electronics workbench, putting together some Heathkit project or other.

I’ve come to believe my odd sense of humor is about an equal mix of my Mom’s general good humor and creativity (sometimes moving across the line into silliness), and Dad’s quiet, unexpected, dry humor. Interesting that I’ve included comparisons with Mom into these comments about Dad. When I think of one, I think of the other…the way it should be, I suppose. Anyway, here’s what I’ve written before on Father’s Day, if you’re interested.

One of our digital TV subchannels, 9.2, changed formats today. It was one of two weather channels, but now it’s a MeTV affiliate. So far, I’m impressed. I’ve watched parts of The Streets Of San Francisco, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, the original Hawaii Five-Oh, M*A*S*H, and the Dick Van Dyke Show.

Rumor has it they also have The Beverly Hillbillies, but I don’t know in what time slot. I’ve also read on the internet that this fall they’ll be adding Star Trek (I assume it’s The Original Series).

And…Batman.

Who needs cable?

Oh, and happy Summer!