Hat tip to Windbag for remembering this!

You asked for it....you got it

Oh wait. Windbag asked that I not post it.

I don't know. I'm sick. I don't know what I am doing.

Sorry.

Mama M's Excellent Adventure

 MamaM said.......

Where is MaMAS

If you're inquiring as to MamaM's whereabouts, she was stuck in traffic and finally made it out!

If windbag is around, he deserves a big "thank you!" for a good recommendation leading to a beautiful and memorable adventure.

We drove to Cade's Cove last Saturday after class and arrived in time to see the mountains turn deep purple and orange in the last rays of the setting sun. Since the weather was warm enough to have the windows open, the sounds and scents in the evening air added to the experience. The animals were grazing and crossing the road, with only three other cars sharing the space with us. As we came up on the first turn-off/short cut to the exit (two miles in), we were having such a lovely and peaceful time, we decided to keep going in the belief we could drive the rest of loop (9 more miles) before nightfall. What we didn't know was that we'd be joining a seemingly endless line of stopped cars around the next bend and would spend the next hour inching along as dusk turned to complete and total darkness. Except for the tail lights ahead the darkness was so deep and enveloping, we were surprised, sensing what night in the Cove may have been like prior to the advent of electricity and motor vehicles. When the second short cut came up, we took it, with about half the crowd ahead doing the same while the rest drove on to complete the loop. What everyone was doing or looking in the darkness remains a mystery. Driving out of the park and back to Townsend on a narrow winding road with no shoulder was another experience and we were glad to return to town and finish the adventure with a dinner of southern "comfort food" at the Firefly Cafe.

All in all, it was a trip worth taking, fitting my idea of "fab".

Thanks again, windbag for the mention.

Next up: Brussel Sprouts!

I like it when we all get along! It is so much nicer than when Allie Oop was here and all we used to do is have her tell us to go to hell. Just sayn'

Mother's Day Memories

windbag said...
It's been fifteen years since my mom passed away. Her birthday is May 9, mine is May 8. We shared birthdays and Mother's Days over the years, all jumbled together. I never really thought about how few birthday cakes she had, just the leftovers from mine. I remember one May Day I hung a basket of flowers on her bedroom doorknob. She wasn't well, suffered depression and stayed in bed most of the time. I recall watching the basket off and on all day, hoping that she would find it. It eventually disappeared behind the door.

Despite her illness, she was a talented lady. She could kick the ever living shit out of a piano and did so all the time. We always had music going in the house. I used to stand down by the bass notes of the piano, waiting to hit the lowest note that fit whatever she was playing. Somewhere we have a recording of a wedding she played, where she played a pump organ, feet pumping the bellows and fingers flying over the keyboard.

About a week before my little girl was born, my mom suffered a stroke. I traveled up to Watkins Glen to be there, but she suffered a second, massive stroke and died before I got there. When I got there, they had a machine pumping her heart and pushing air in and out of her lungs, but she was gone.

Just before she passed, she motioned for my dad to hand her a tissue box and pencil. The initial stroke a couple of days earlier had left her almost speechless. On the back, she wrote the words to the chorus of an old hymn:

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe,
Sin had left a crimson stain,
 He washed it white as snow.

She handed it to my dad and slipped away. Fifteen years. She would have been 83 this year.

I whispered "Happy Mother's Day" on my way to work this morning.

Happy Paddy's Day Windbag

Windbag said....

Nothing crazy ever happens on Paddy's day in our small town. I mean I sell a lot of pistachio ice cream and every once in a while I have a Bailey's Irish Cream cake to make but other than that not much happens that is ever different.

We like to have a party at home to celebrate the great contributions of the Irish. I just have to be careful I don't over do it because the wife sometimes takes that opportunity to send me a message.

She always said my face is really easy to read.

Commentor Memories Number 39

"Why hello there. I see you watching me through the TV. What's your name? Windbag? Wait a miniute that's not a windbag in your hand. Ewwwww."

"You're to old to be doing that. I mean that ain't an ice cream cone in your hand for crying out loud. And I don't even look like this anymore."

"I know what you are really seeing when you look at this movie."

"Well you know what?"

"Thanks."

You guys are just a bunch of ice cream eaters.

Well Windbag will be happy to know that Ice Cream is by far the favorite vice of the people who hang out at Trooper York's joint. The results of our poll:

Ice Cream 24
Beer 10
Wine 8
Cigars 5
Gambling 3

Next up in honor of hdhouse and Bissage we are asking you what is your favorite vegetable?

Hey Windbag has some great ideas!

Windbag said:
1) Diary of a DC cabbie;

2) Adrienne Barbeau's memoirs;

3) Jimmy Carter's therapists' notes;

4) The Secret Life of Ned the Weatherman;

5) Idi Amin's recipes for success;

6) Nobel Laureate runners-up and their lives in the aftermath;

7) transcripts of domestic disputes of the blond blogger lady;

8) windbag out on the town;

9) The Rest of the Story, focusing on 60s and 70s tunes.

10) condense the characters of an actor's career into one. Ex: Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing, only he gets to keep Jeannie from his Tony Nelson days.


Thank God so body actually listed and came up with some suggestions. I paticularly like the Nobel Laureate runners up and the combined actors career ideas. I have to give it some thought.