Thursday, April 25, 2013


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I CAN BARELY MAKE a cohesive comment, Reader Dear.  I've been busy cooking, staying up late, making movies, and pushing trucks around.  (The blue monster truck with the big fat wheels that flies across the floor and hits the wall and spins around is quite my favorite. [It happens to have favored status with all the other truck-pushers in these parts, as well].)

Now, prior to this past Monday, I wasn't doing much truck-pushing.  (Not that much cooking, dancing, or movie-making, either, to tell the truth [though I have been burning the midnight oil for far too long)  But that all changed this past Sunday evening, when  my Small Actor showed up for an extended visit!  We've been  having a high old time ever since!
The Little Actor came, too, for a shorter visit.









The Little Actor slept over just last night, and unfortunately he had what can only be described as a  ghoulish dream (based strictly on what I've been told).  This morning when that blue monster truck rolled across the dining room floor and into the kitchen, The Little Actor didn't run pellmell in pursuit, but shrank back.  "There are skeletons in there!" he exclaimed with a shudder.*

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*As I said, I'm really busy, Reader Dear.
I'll have to let you hang in suspense...
ARE there skeletons in my kitchen?!     

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Saturday, April 20, 2013

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YESTERDAY I TOOK A trip.
You could say it was a trip to China.
But, Reader Dear,  I can see you hesitating; you don't really want to say it, even though you could...so I'll just say it for you.   Actually, this metaphorical stop-over in China was part of a broader journey I took with a friend to the King of Prussia mall in...uh...King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA.  The two of us spent a long time in a store where the Chinese-American shop-owner served us tea.  There were all kinds of interesting items from China and articles of Asian clothing to peruse. And naturally there was tea for sale, as well--many kinds in an expansive array of glass jars.  When the friendly and vivacious seller described this one type of tea, it caused me to leap to attention.  I immediately started off on a time journey that was vastly more fanciful and far-reaching than my little jaunt to China!


I had to go back through all of recorded time!  At the very least, I had to stroll around the Garden of Eden, searching for Adam and Eve (and hoping to find them lolling in the shade with teacups).
This black tea, the woman told us, was the oldest in all of human history!
Think how old, Reader Dear!
(I'll have to admit, its smell kind of verified the fact.)
Other teas--most of them a little newer on the scene--had delightful scents.
In fact I bought a kind that hints at good fortune.
You could say I carried home some Lucky Dragon.
Oh, alright, alright (yes, I'm rolling my eyes)... I'll say it for you, if I must.

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Thursday, April 18, 2013

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LIFE JUST KEEPS PLOWING FULL STEAM AHEAD. And I'm behind the train--running as fast as I can.   One thing that has me huffing and puffing and panting is the orneriness of technology! With the suddenness of a lightening strike (or possibly the speed of tooth decay)  the glitches started piling up. First was the stubborn resistance of my used-to-be trusty laptop.  Lately it's been dragging its feet, twiddling its thumbs, sometimes plopping itself in a chair and refusing to cooperate entirely!  Then, too, within the past few days the cordless home phone has been filled with static.  Almost as routinely as I say Hello,  I utter such things as Oh, botheration! Let me call you back on my cell phone!   Lately it developed, when I start up the car it commences to making a wince-worthy noise.  Those little fits of screeching have made me long for a fan belt of my own!

Too, I think something sinister's been lurking within the walls of this house. Perhaps an evil spirit; I believe I hear it gnawing sometimes late at night.*


...
*(I suppose it could be a mouse.  Technically speaking, that would not be a technological problem;
though, technically speaking, there are technological mice.  Speaking in any old way you please, I'm happy that technological mice don't scamper around in my walls [...er...gulp... though I suppose it's possible (technically speaking)]!)

Saturday, April 13, 2013

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NEARLY EVERY DAY I make the one-mile drive to the Post Office to collect mail from my rented box.  And so it is that nearly every day I get to see my neighbors' holiday adornments.  And, uh....Dear Reader, it just so happens I'm not talkin' Easter eggs! 
It's okay, I told myself today.  They are lovely wreaths.  They looked so pretty in December!
And then I happily focused on the forsythia, such an abundance of seasonal cheer in that short little drive to the post office!                                                                              
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Did I ever tell you, Viewer Dear, that YELLOW is my very favorite color?!
(It well nigh made me giddy.)
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Sunday, April 7, 2013

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TWO KINDS OF PLAY the Yard Man and Wanja and I took in today:
Musical playing in the afternoon--a lovely concert in the church sanctuary.
Wanja sat in the back and texted his German friends on the Yard Man's smart phone.
I closed my eyes, listened to the playing of the Austrian composer's silvery strains, and pretended I was in heaven.
  

And Soccer playing in the evening--the games held at the local polo field
(Though when I chose to walk to the games, I discovered the field was not quite so local as I'd chosen to consider [more than a mile (most of it uphill)] But, then, I got to take in an Amish volleyball game in full swing as I took my arm-swinging walk past our Amish neighbors' house)

 

I confess. The best part about the soccer-watching for me was the fellow spectators (two little actors, their father making a goal in the game just after my arrival!)


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Saturday, April 6, 2013


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"IT'S SUCH A PRETTY evening,"I said to The Yard Man yesterday."Let's take Wanja to First Friday in the city."   I did not know whether this fifteen-year-old from Germany would find much about which to be excited in the galleries and gift shops, but I knew that I wanted to go.  The weather seemed to be almost, very nearly, right on the verge of spring-like!  Besides, I was pretty sure Wanja would readily acquiesce to the plan; what did he have to lose? He had already watched every stale old video-cassette that we own (Turner and Hooch, Tootsie...).

And then...first thing out of the car, something sparked his interest.
It could have been a one-vehicle parade, the way Wanja and The Yard Man watched that car and driver pass by!


And Wanja also gamely strode through the galleries with their various presentations, watched the musical renditions,


 and in general seemed to enjoy himself.
As for me, I was totally tickled by the one-man band!
"Look at that!" I exclaimed to The Yard Man and Wanja, as we came upon this twitching, shuffling, strumming guy on the sidewalk, "He's playing two musical instruments and singing!"


"Three instruments!" said The Yard Man.

Well, duh. So that was why he was doing the weird thing with his feet (Yes, you knew, Viewer Dear. Of course you knew...





...and if not, I've got views from all angles to show you)!

  We saw other sights and sounds that were entertaining (I liked the young folks cartwheeling down the middle of the street after dark ["This I can do, too," said Wanja])   But, ultimately,  the one-man-performing-as-four I found four times more fascinating than anything else!*


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*(or approximately so)

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Friday, April 5, 2013

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TWO EXTRA
MEN AT THE BREAKFAST table this morning!


One an American;
the other a German.
....
One a young child;
the other a young man.
...
One a very picky eater;
the other, who when asked if there is anything he does not like to eat,
could think of almost nothing.  "Maybe not so much sweet potatoes," he replied.

...
One, a firefighter extraordinaire.


the other, quite accomplished at getting picky little firemen extraordinaire to eat!


....
One, the celebrated Little Actor;
the other, the celebrated brother of Linus!*
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Reader Dear, the Little Actor stayed overnight with The Yard Man and me, as he does occasionally.   Our other guest, Wanji (pronounced Vonya), is a ninth-grader from Germany who is in this country for nine weeks as part of a cross-cultural experience (required by the private school he attends).  
More about Wanji should this blog continue....
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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

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WHEN I WENT TO ANSWER the door yesterday, I didn't know there would be a surprise! The twin sisters* holding the container of cupcakes live nearby in a house that is adjacent to the Yard Man's barnful of horses.  After they'd explained the gift (and I'd run for my camera), and Karly had obligingly done this brief re-enactment, a short dialogue followed:
"The green ones were from Saint Patrick's Day," said Karly.
"You didn't have to say THAT!" exclaimed Karine.
 
"Well, they ARE!" responded Karly.
"And YOU are the only one who can eat the pink one!" she went on, looking directly at me.  "I think maybe it's strawberry or something like that."
"Well, you can eat the blue ones, too," Karine added.
"They're more like purple," said Karly.
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*I have a soft spot in my heart, Dear Reader, for fraternal twins.
Cupcakes are pretty nice, too.








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Monday, April 1, 2013

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FINAL POST!
(alas)