Another Retirement Send Off

This morning I went to the Tahlequah Post Office to join in celebrating another retirement. Dennis Morton's last day of work after 21 years delivering the mail.  John Palmer, a clerk, is retiring also.

Dennis is presented a letter from the District Manager commemorating

his years of service.

 

Dennis shows his cake and John his pecan pie that someone made for him.

 

Laura, Kathleen (both retired) and Rodney

 

Fellow retirees, Kelly, Tommy, and J.C.

 

Every time I come back there are more people I don't know.

 

Dennis's wife, Tammy, gets ready to take his picture.

 

Laura and Scottie, Kelly and Frank in the background.

 

Becky and Kathleen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February Snow

This has been a warmer than normal winter with hardly any frozen precipitation, but I knew it couldn't last until spring. A winter storm was forecast for our area and it has arrived.  This morning when we got up it wasn't snowing at all and Dorothy asked me if we should go to the store and get a few things before the white stuff began to fall. I thought we could wait until Friday because it was supposed to be over by then and it would probably be melted off of the streets. I've always been critical of those who run to the store to stock up when they see a few flakes as if they would be snowed in for weeks. Then, Dorothy informed me that we were almost out of coffee.
     "Grab your purse and coat," I replied. "Let's get to Walmart before the snow hits."  Enduring two days without coffee?  No thanks.
     Flurries began as we pulled out on the highway and by the time we walked out of the store it was collecting on our car.  Fortunately the ground is warm enough that no snow accumulated on the highway. It's coming down pretty heavy now. We got our coffee and some doughnuts, because comfort food is an important part of any emergency kit. So, now it's doughnuts, coffee, and old movies for the next day or so.  Let it snow.

Gracen's Gala

Assisted by her Grandma Sandie, Gracen blows out

her candles.

 

 

 

 

Gracen gently taps the Dora pinata.

 

Personally, I think pinatas should not be in the shape of beloved

cartoon characters.  They should be effigies of huge spiders, or rats,

you know, the creatures we would normally want to hit with a stick

because.......

 

When someone finally hit Dora hard enough to release the candy

Gracen was upset.....

 

in fact she was inconsolable.

 

But she was soon happy again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Two Gracen

We celebrated Gracen's second birthday yesterday.  Dorothy made the cake, of course, and I helped her by making the cartoon characters for it:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost Garden Time

We haven't had much of a winter this year. With warmer than normal temperatures and no snow to speak of we might just slip into spring without experiencing a true winter, although we have had some pretty heavy snows in March.  I'm beginning to yearn for for those planting days when, inspite of a chilly wind, you can feel the warm sun on your back as you bend to plant tomatoes, squash, and okra. The Cherokee Nation has a program that sends a crew to your house to till a 50X50 garden plot for just $25.  They arrived this morning towing a tractor on a trailer and wasted no time tilling up the earth for a perfect seed bed.

 

 

 

We'll start planting potatoes on St. Patrick's Day and everything

else not long after.  I can already taste Dorothy's salsa she'll make

from the tomatoes, peppers, and onions.

 

Hellebores Just in Time

Hellebores, otherwise known as Lenten Roses, have bloomed

right on time, seeing that Lent starts tommorrow.

 

 

Marley Kate

Marley made the family proud with her acheivments in
school this year.

What I'm Reading Now

 

Don't Stop the Carnival by Herman Wouk is an excellent story of a New York press agent who jumps at the opportunity to leave the big city behind and buy a hotel in the tropics.  It's a dream we all have. Who wouldn't want to leave the hamster wheel of modern life and spend our time basking in the sun, drinking rum and leisurely managing a resort hotel? Soon after he arrives at the island he is confronted by the problems of running a resort and dealing with the local culture.  He experiences one crisis after the other.  The book is an easy read and very comical. The name of the island in the book is a fabrication, but it turns out that it is a fictionalized account of the time Mr. Wouk spent on St. Thomas. This book was given to me by my daughter, Rachel, who presently lives in St. Thomas. She says that although  Don't Stop The Carnival  was published over forty years ago the island culture has not changed.

Dorothy's Latest Cake

Gracen's Visit

Gracen spent the night with Nana and Poppy.

 

 

She patiently waits for Nana to start breakfast.

When I told her we were having pancakes and

sausage she said, "Ossage! I need it!"

 

 

Nana always needs a helping hand.

 

 

Termite Damage Repair

A few months ago we discovered termites in our house.  We immediately had our home treated and today, taking advantage of the warm days, I started repairing the damage.

I cut the drywall away in the area of the damage, tore out the damaged

wood and replaced it with new.

 

The damage was to a non-load bearing wall so I was able to make

a new header with a length of 3/4" plywood sandwiched between

two 2X4's. Tomorrow I'll repair the drywall and it should be

as good as new.

 

O Wad Some Power the Giftie Gie Us

I subscribe to The Week magazine and each issue publishes the opinions about America by news reporters from various foreign news media. Sometimes it’s good to step back and look at ourselves through the eyes of others. Here is a synopsis of this weeks opinions.

Rupert Cornwell in The Independent (U.K.) says, “Americans can rarely have held their politicians in greater contempt--and rightly so.” Because of the feeble attempt of the two parties to keep the country from going over the so-called fiscal cliff by simply pushing the problem down the road, they will be bickering again soon when the country meets the debt ceiling. He also states that when our Founding Fathers set in place the checks and balances of separate branches of government they “could never have imagined so colossal a collective abdication of responsibility by the people’s elected representatives.”

Daniel Haufler in the Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany) says “Ever since they lost communism as an ideological punching bag, the Republicans have launched themselves against an imaginary enemy in Washington.” Lowering taxes is not enough for them, they want to starve the government of sufficient revenue which will end social safety nets and push the country toward default and bring the rest of the world down with them.

Olaf Gersemann in Die Welt (Germany) thinks that even though our political system fosters a deep polarization among voters and lately seems incapable of compromise it is a system that made America the richest nation in the world, and no political battles or economic crises will change that soon.

Leo McKinstry in Express.co.uk opines that America is no different than the EU. On both sides of the Atlantic the politicians use short term fixes to postpone a “larger reckoning.” Instead of governing most politicians work to maintain power.

What I'm Reading Now

Rascals in Paradise written by James Michener and A. Grove Day is a compilation of true stories about adventurers in the South Pacific that would make the pirates Black Beard and Henry Morgan look like sissies. Most of the characters profiled in this book were largely unknown, after all whoever heard of Coxinga the Chinese pirate who wielded such maritime power in the Oriental Pacific in the early 1600’s disrupting the business of the Dutch traders and other nations. The Caribbean pirates were noted in our school history books, especially the famous privateer Sir Francis Drake, but the Pacific adventurers were mostly unmentioned.   Many people have dreamed of life in the South Pacific as a carefree paradise where food was plentiful, social rules were nonexistent, and women were beautiful and willing. These are great true stories of men who sailed to the Pacific in search of fame, power, and riches only to have their adventures turned into perilous enterprises.

Wood Pecker

I was in the store shopping for bird seed and came across a block of suet that claimed to be especially for woodpeckers.  I was skeptical. How could a certain combination of suet, seeds, and nuts attract an individual species of birds? I bought it, took it home, and placed it with the bird feeders and was surprised (why was I suprised when the lable tipped me off?) to see that it had attracted three varieties of woodpeckers within a couple of days, along with all the other birds.

 

This is the Red-Bellied Woodpecker 

 

 

The suet is in the wire cage.

 

Coconut Creme

Whenever a friend or family member is sick or down for some reason Dorothy makes them a pie. Over the years her pies and soups have proven to be more therapeutic than penicillin. So, while our friend Glen was to spend time recuperating a pie was in order, and lucky for me she usually makes an extra one for home.

I've been successful during the holidays in avoiding the stuffed feeling one gets from overeating, until Dorothy made these pies. She hit the trifecta with this one.  Mile high meringue lighter that cotton candy, velvety smooth coconut creme filling, and the flakiest of flaky crusts. I hate to admit it but I had two slices

If the kids or grand kids are reading this and plan to come over for pie, you'd better come soon.  I'm having pie for breakfast.