Si's Home Run and Other Antics

I was just eating my breakfast when one of our two cats, Si, came running at full speed into the kitchen, then couldn't stop  himself and slid about three feet as if sliding into home base as he couldn't get enough traction on the linoleum to stop.  He ended up smashing into his dry food dish and the food went flying in all directions!  I cleaned up the mess which made me almost late for church.  

Si enjoys fishing out two or three pieces of dry cat food from his dish and scooting them across the floor and down the basement stairs.  He doesn't necessarily eat them.  I'm always sweeping up the kitchen from his playful episodes.  The other day we moved the fridge and found a lot of it under there along with other small objects that the cats probably played with.  He has plenty of cat toys but playing with food is his favorite thing right now.

Si has begun to shut the bathroom door on himself and I'm sure it's not for privacy!   We finally have had to use a heavy doorstop to prop it open so he can't do that, as who wants to get up at night (or anytime) to let the cat out of the bathroom? 

It is strange how much Si and Sam have lost interest in certain things that used to interest them.  We have a red laser light which they used to chase up and down the stairs but now will only chase around for a very short time on the floor.  There is no novelty to it any more, perhaps.  We are not sure how old they are but must be at least two years old now and when we got them they were probably about a year old.  So their kittenish behavior has changed.  Thank goodness!  

A year ago when we got them nothing was safe.  The first night we had them at about 3 AM I heard a crash.  I had left a deep fat fryer on the kitchen counter next to the fridge with about an inch of oil left in it.  The cover had long since broken so I had covered it with a Correlle dinner plate to keep out dust as I thought I might use the oil again.  Si (the most active of the two cats) was the culprit with one oily foot.  He had hopped on top of the plate (probably on his way to jumping on top of the fridge) and it slipped off and broke into shards of glass all over the floor which were mixed with oil tracked all over.  Imagine me coming to investigate a scene like that in my bare feet!  One would think a the trauma of such a loud crash would have cured Si of his jumping on the counter immediately, but no! 

Si has improved a great deal, though, and at least now and has a lot less interest in jumping on things.  He has respect for a spray bottle of water with a little vinegar mixed with it.  All I have to do now is to show him the bottle and he knows to get down.  At first he would also jump on my back at every opportunity.   I had to get rather mean to him about it and he finally gave up.  I even had him jump on my back one time while I was standing on a step stool trying to do some drywall plastering.  He is long and lean and able to jump up at least five feet high in a single bound.  All he lacks is a Superman cape.  Sammy, our other cat, is too stubby to jump that high and enjoys more lap sitting.  They are both pretty good boys now.

Gum-wrapper Chain Craft

I have discovered a neat craft lately, making "gum-wrapper chain" out of crisp heavy plastic bags such as from potato chips, raisins, cat food or whatever comes in these plastic bags.  To do it I cut a 2-inch by 5-inch card for a pattern and cut out pieces of plastic that size.  They are then folded lengthwise, opened and each side folded in toward the center fold and folded under toward the center.  This strip is folded in half, opened up, and each end folded in toward the fold.  Each link of the chain in inserted into the previous one making a zig-zagged chain.  Then strips like this are laced together on both sides using yarn and a blunt needle. (The yarn can be any color as it doesn't show.)  Flat items like picture frames or placemats or they can be worked in circular fashion to make purses baskets, duffel bags, etc. The printing and colors from the bags or whatever material is used--paper from magazines, wallpaper, calendars, wood contact paper-- you name it-- will create an interesting visual texture.

Here is a video of an example of purses made this way.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=7HmdlmD5Hd0

The "Class of '57"--close to reality?

I was just thinking today of the fact that so many of my 1964 High School classmates have had great adversities, some have had life cut short by illness, tragedy, or unfulfilled expectations.   I suppose at graduation time, a time of celebration and joyous release from twelve years of school, would be no place to bring up the statistics of what is probably typical of what the graduates could expect in their lives.  But when I think of my own 1964 High School classmates, the song by the Statler Brothers, "Class Of '57."  (see lyrics below), comes to mind. 

In my H.S. class there were about 20 graduates and about 100 in the whole H.S.  I believe it was in March before graduation, David shot himself in his head in his bedroom.  There seemed to be no explanation for his disturbing suicide.  A couple of girls became unwed mothers and/or got married young and one that I know of had an abortion.  Carol's 15 year-old son was killed in a snowmobile accident.  Jean's husband died of a heart attack at about age 62.  I remember that he was a star basketball player, a wonderful student, and he went into banking.  Beth died about age 62 of a long battle with rheumatoid arthritis.  Gordy had alcohol problems and died about the same age.    Mike who was a year older and a math and science whiz was struck with lightning and died.  Larry,  a couple of years older than I, was the ND State Historian died young--not sure what reason.  Steve who had become a world traveler and had "read everything", was a flamenco guitar player, died in his early 50s due to alcoholism, possibly suicide, and was estranged from his wife.  The last I remember he was living with and taking care of his 90 year-old mother who, outlived him.  Another popular basketball player, Ron, a couple of grades ahead of me in H.S. died due to alcoholism, possibly suicide.  He and his wife who met in H.S. were divorced and she since remarried.  At one reunion about five years ago I noticed that  one classmate of mine had become so heavy that she could hardly walk.  Another a grade or two ahead of me walked with a cane due to something debilitating, arthritis perhaps.  Ole died, I don't know any details.  A few classmates were divorced and some continue to suffer from the affects abusive home situations (although I had no idea about this at the time.)  One who I can think of lives here in town and seems to have smoked herself into a cackly version of herself and doesn't drive a car--perhaps alcohol problems too?   And, of course, most of those I knew from H.S. I never heard from again and whose fate I don't know.  

This is getting to be kind of a negative post.  I want to point out that the majority of my classmates became upright citizens and probably for the most part are still alive and healthy.  On the bright side, our H.S. Principal, Thilda Vangstad, died at age 104.  We thought she was really old when she was our principal with her snow white hair but she was only in her early 60s at the time.  Incidentally, she and her identical twin sister Lena, also a retired teacher, were at one time the oldest twins in the world for a few months until Thilda died.  Lena reached age 105.  At our 2005 reunion everyone was talking about their 104th birthday coming up and signed a gigantic card for them as they were unable to attend.  Only one teacher is still living, the librarian, who is in her mid 90s now.

Lyrics to The Class of '57

Tommy's selling used cars

Nancy's fixing hair

Harvey runs a grocery store

And Margaret doesn't care.

Jerry drives a truck for Sears

And Charlotte's on the make

And Paul sells life insurance

And part time real estate.

Helen is a hostess

Frank works at the mill

Janet teaches grade school

And prob'ly always will.

Bob works for the city

And Jack's in lab research

And Peggy plays organ

At the Presbyterian Church.

And the class of '57 has dreams

We all thought we'd change the world

With our great works and deeds

Or maybe we just thought the world

Would change to fit our needs.

The class of '57 had dreams.

Betty runs a trailer park

Jan sells Tupperware

Randy's on an insane war

And Mary's on welfare.

Charlie took a job with Ford

And Joe took Freddie's wife

Charlotte took a millionaire

And Freddie took his life.

John is big in cattle

Ray is deep in debt

Where Marvis family wound up

Is anybody's bet.

Linda married Sonny

And Brenda married me

And the class of all of us

Is just a part of history.

And the class of '57 has dreams

But living life day to day

Is never like it seems

Things get complicated when

You get past eighteen.

But the class of '57 had its dreams.

Oh, the class of '57 had dreams...
Lyrics www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/the_statler_brothers/

How to fold a top sheet for easier bed-making

I wish I had known this method of folding and unfolding a top sheet years ago--works like a charm!  It is especially useful to do when making a bigger bed.  When folding the sheet, fold it up (bottom folded up to the top), left side to the to the right, bottom up to the top, left side to the right, etc. until you get it folded into a square about a foot across with the last fold to the right. 

First, you will need to put the fitted sheet on the bed.  I don't bother to fold the bottom (fitted) sheet but just locate the top (short side) and roll it up.  The wrinkles will stretch out once it is on the bed. 


When you put the top sheet on the bed, stand on the right side of the bed facing the head of the bed.  Unfold the sheet to the left, down, and to the left.  Now place the still partly folded sheet at the head of the bed with the left side at the middle of the head of the bed and the right side hanging down about 12-18 inches (or however much you want it to hang down) off the right side of the bed.  Continue to unfold to the left and down until it covers the whole bed.  You will only need to go to the other side of the bed to pull down the last corner down to the foot of the bed.  You will probably need to  practice a bit but it's worth learning how to do.

Lunar Eclipse

I got up Sat. morning (Dec. 10, 2011) about 6:30 AM to see the eclipse of the moon. It was about 17 degrees F. outside, eerily quiet, but so calm that it didn't seem very cold outside, even without my coat. Despite the bright moonshine, the Big Dipper and other stars were visible and the full moon was on the rise in the west. About 6:45 the earth's shadow had taken a bite out of the top third of it and it had become noticeably darker outside. The shadow proceeded to obscure more and more of the moon but by the time the full eclipse occurred about 7:30, it had almost set behind the neighbor's house and trees so I didn't get a full view of it. Also by then the sun was beginning to come up. 

Supposedly at full eclipse the moon would have a corona of red around it. I had just been reading in the Bible about the "moon turning to blood," perhaps a way to explain some strange phenomena at the end of the world. I suppose the moon could turn red due to volcanic ash or other pollutants in the air in the same way that colorful sunsets are caused by dust in the air.

Another eclipse of the moon is not supposed to happen until 2014. When I was probably about ten or twelve years old we were at the lake in northern Minnesota and my Grandma Bertha who was in her late 70s was visiting us and went out in the cold night to sit on the beach and see the eclipse of the moon. She wanted to be sure to see it as she thought she wouldn't see one again in her lifetime.

When I was eight years old we visited this same grandmother in Minneapolis when there was an eclipse of the sun.  I looked up solar eclipses and found that there was a total eclipse visible in North America June 30, 1954, and I suspect that this was the one as we would have visited there in the summer and I would have been eight then.  My dad was interested in these things as he was a science teacher.  He had some special dark lenses with which to view it and said this was probably the only time he would see a total eclipse of the sun in his lifetime, a fact that also greatly impressed upon me how rare they were. However in later years I recall viewing a couple of partial eclipses of the sun by making a pinhole lens in a cardboard box that projected the eclipse upside down on the opposite side of the box.  This was done to prevent eye damage by direct viewing of the sun.


From the book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain I have heard the story of the main character who uses his knowledge of an eclipse to his advantage.  I should actually read the book as I have it here at home somewhere.  Sounds like a great story. 

Wikipedia Explains: The novel explains the tale of Hank Morgan, a 19th-century resident of Hartford, Connecticut who, after a blow to the head, awakens to find himself inexplicably transported back in time to early medieval England at the time of the legendary King Arthur.
The story begins as a first person narrative in Warwick Castle, where a man details his recollection of a tale told to by an "interested stranger" who is personified as a knight through his simple language and familiarity with ancient armor.^[2]

After a brief tale of Sir Launcelot of Camelot and his role in slaying two giants from the third-person narrative, the man named Hank Morgan enters and, after being given whiskey by the narrator, he is persuaded to reveal more of his story. Described through first-person narrative as a man familiar with the firearms and machinery trade, Hank is a man who had reached the level of superintendent due to his proficiency in firearms manufacturing, with two thousand subordinates. He describes the beginning of his tale by illustrating details of a disagreement with his subordinates, during which he sustained a head injury from a "crusher" to the head caused by a man named "Hercules" using a crowbar.^[3] After passing out from the blow, Hank describes waking up underneath an oak tree in a rural area of Camelot where a knight questions him for trespassing upon his land, and after establishing rapport, leads him towards Camelot castle.^[4] Upon recognizing that he has time-traveled to the sixth century, Hank realizes that he is the de facto smartest person on Earth, and with his knowledge he should soon be running things.

Hank is ridiculed at King Arthur's court for his strange appearance and dress and is sentenced by King Arthur's court (particularly the magician Merlin) to burn at the stake on 22 June. By a stroke of luck, the date of the burning coincides with a historical solar eclipse in the year 528, of which Hank had learned in his earlier life. While in prison, he sends the boy Clarence to inform the King that he will blot out the sun if he is executed. Hank believes the current date to be 20 June; however, it is actually the 21st when he makes his threat, the day that the eclipse will occur at 12:03 p.m. When the King decides to burn him, the eclipse catches Hank by surprise. But he quickly uses it to his advantage and convinces the people that he caused the eclipse. He makes a bargain with the King, is released, and becomes the second most powerful person in the kingdom.

I Don't Feel Comf-ter-ble...

I don't feel comf-ter-ble when the tem-per-chure is so cold.  I'll prob-ly have to put on sump-m warmer in Feb-u-ar-y, like a sweater.  At least Mr. Webster of dictionary fame says so.  Webster says it's OK to use this kind of sloppy pronunciation (which we all seem to use) but we have to spell it the "right" way.  No wonder people have spelling trouble!  Even the meteorologist on the weather report says "tem-per-chure" so there is no use trying to go back and change things now.  It would be nice to comf-ter-ble-ize a lot of English words to make spelling conform to the spoken word.  But I suppose if that happened, there would be no standard for words and the whole language would fall into a black hole of gibberish and ethnic schisms--the Tower of Babel all over again.

A few family pictures--Oct. and Nov. 2011

                                                     

Me with granddaughter, age 14 mo. in Oct.

Her mom in her kitchen.

Day after Thanksgiving at great aunt and uncle's house.  Our granddaughter having her first "rug ride," a tradition with all their kids and grandchildren.

"Why are they doing this?"

Our son with his daughter (16 months old) at Thanksgiving. She's wearing a sweater I knit for her.

Playing with a few of great aunt's large collection of wind up toys.