ENTRY NUMBER 499

Like ENTRY NUMBER 498, I will not be posting this on Facebook so I can pretty much say whatever I want without offending anybody.  More or less, as the mind speaks my fingers put down the words.  I was pretty pleased with ENTRY NUMBER 498 so let's try it again.

 My neighbor Sally turns 86 years old next month.  She is a petite lady rising above the 5 foot mark by about 2 inches.  Her mind is sharp.  She has a friendly and helpful personality.  You have to be careful though because she can also be a fiery lady as well.  She and her husband, Bob, moved into the house across the street back in 1996, good neighbors the whole time.  Bob passed away about 15 years ago and it seemed that Sally made the transition pretty good although it was difficult for her.

Sally is independent.  She is strong and does not like to ask for help although she readily gives help when she sees a need.  During the time when Barbara's health began to deteriorate, Sally, along with my other neighbor Charlene, kept a close eye on Barbara.  Barbara was as much of an independent as Sally is.   During the time when Barbara was still able to drive and able to accomplish things with difficulty, Sally was there.  Barbara would come home from grocery shopping and start to carry a bag at a time to the front porch where she would then carry a bag at a time into the house.  Sally would come over and talk Barbara into letting Sally carry the bags from the car to the porch so Barbara could carry them into the house.  As Barbara's health worsened, the more help our neighbors gave.  I am lucky to have the neighbors that I do have.

Sally, as I said, does not like to ask for help.  She has begun to acknowledge that at her age, she does need help here and there but that doesn't mean she likes to ask for it.  A couple of weeks ago I received a call from Sally asking me if I was busy.  The light bulbs in Sally's garage door opener and her overhead light in the garage were burned out.  Her garage door would not open.  I went over and replaced the lights and Sally pressed the button to open the garage door.  It would not open.  After looking at her door I discovered it was locked.  Somehow Sally had accidentally locked her garage door. I walked her to the door, explained what was wrong and showed her how to unlock the door if it should happen again.  As she was walking me back through the house and thanking me, she slowly broke into tears.  She expressed how she felt so alone and didn't know how to do things.  I told her that her, Charlene and myself were there for each other.  That's what friends and neighbors are for.  We lean on each other.

What I want you to take from the telling of that event are four things.  First, of course, is that Sally is very independent.  Second is that she feels vulnerable as she gets older.  Third is that the lady loves to drive her car.  That is not a bad thing.  Not yet anyway.  She is sharp minded.  She is a good driver and she knows her limitations while driving.  For example she does not drive on the highways.  She knows that her reflexes aren't what they use to be and so she stays on the side roads and never drives far from home.  The last thing is that Sally like a routine.  She does not like change or things that take her out of her comfort zone.  She does not like surprises. This leads us to what happened last Friday.

Last Friday morning Sally had gone to the DOV to renew her drivers license.  While she was there something happened that had never happened to her before.  She failed the eye test..  The lady at the DOV gave her a piece of paper to give to her eye doctor when she went to get glasses.  The paper was a sign of Sally getting older.  It was a paper that the doctor would tell the state if Sally was fit to drive or not.

She showed up at my front door shortly after noon that day.  She was anxious.  A wrench had been thrown into her day to day machinery and she did not know exactly what to do. At the DOV they had given her the name of an eye doctor that is approved by the state who was located in Belton.  To Sally, Belton might as well be a hundred miles away.  She did not know the town.  She wasn't sure how to get there and she certainly did not have a clue as to where the address of the eye doctor was located.

I did my best to calm her down and we talked about what had happened that morning.  I would make sure that we got this taken care of.  I had nothing else to do so I would drive her to Belton for the exam.  We called the phone number and made an appointment for Monday afternoon. After telling her not to worry and giving her a pat on the back, she headed home.

Saturday morning Sally called me again to make sure I hadn't forgotten about Monday's eye exam.  Her anxiety was building and I think she was a little scared that she would not be able to drive anymore.  The way I figured it, she was driving around the neighborhood without any problems so the adjustment to her eyes would be minimal.  That seemed to calm her down a bit for the time being.  I would not hear from her until Monday.

I had told Sally we would leave around three on Monday and so a little before three I stepped out of my house to find Sally walking up my driveway.  I smiled at her and she told me to let's get this over with and off we went.  It was a long appointment.  Sally is a talker and loves to tell stories to people.  I imagine there was a lot of story telling going on during her exam.  She came out of the exam with the paper the doctor had signed telling the state that her eyesight, with corrections, would allow her to drive safely.  She picked out some frames and we headed home with a much relieved Sally.

She insisted on buying me an early dinner on the way home so we stopped at Freddie's and got some pattie melts and fries before heading back home.  Sally was happy.  Today she mailed the paper to the state and now all she has to do is wait for her new glasses before heading back to the DOV for her license and her day to day routine returning to normal. 

Having good neighbors is important.  I am saying that from my perspective.  Me having good neighbors is important and I have two great neighbors, Charlene and Sally.  The three of us are single and live alone.  Sally losing her husband several years ago, Me losing Barb in 2018 and Charlene just lost her husband last July weekend.  We are the same the three of us and each of us need help from time to time.  I put a couch and a chair in the dumpster Charlene had rented last fall and Sally put a microwave and some boxes in the dumpster I rented a few weeks ago.  The theme between the three of us is that we are all in this together and we watch out for each other.  

Good neighbors are hard to find.  I am extremely lucky.  You get a good neighbor, help them.  It is indeed a rarity to have such fine ones.

It is 10:30 pm tonight.  It has been overcast but a nice temperature most of the day.  When I went to the store to pick up my prescriptions, a lady who was walking just in front of me into the store informed that it was a nice day but we would pay for it with storms tonight.  I did not ask for her weather forecast, she just offered it to me.  It is nice to have people feel relaxed enough in this day and age to talk to strangers like that.  It felt good.  She was right though.  Thunder, lightning and rain have arrived in Kansas City.

I like the rain.  I like the sound and the smell of it.  The only problem with rain, especially when accompanied with thunder and lightning is getting Dutch outside to do his business.  He doesn't mind the rain but the lights and the sounds make him rather skittish.  Tonight he will more than likely sleep close to my bed during the night as if I could protect him from it.

This rain is also a good thing for my dogwood tree.  It was one of my gifts from Dit-MCO on the occasion of my retirement.  They gave it to me as kind of a replacement for Barbara not being able to be there.  It was a thoughtful gesture and one that I very much appreciated.

Life is marching on.  I was thinking about that this morning as I sat quietly by myself eating oatmeal for breakfast.  Life does not stop and soon I will be a memory just as Barbara, all my grandparents, my sister, my dad and all those aunts and uncles as well as many friends have become.  Just a memory that will fade to obscurity as the generations come and go.

Going to school for the first time.  Playing baseball, then football and finally basketball and making the school team.  That first kiss from Valerie, who is now herself but a memory.  Time with Debbie and meeting Barbara then marrying her.  Working for dad and finding my place in the labor force. Meeting Ronnie for the first time and all the fun we had discovering music together to spending time with Larry and all the evening in the church parking lot playing basketball.  Seeing Brett for the first time and bringing home as my son followed by raising him on Beatles tunes.  Watching Barbara leave this world and telling people at my fathers memorial service in Alabama about my dad.

Memories.  We hold onto them as much as we can.  We lose a lot of those memories over the years due to time or age.  My dad was starting to lose his memory when Barbara died.  Barbara adored my dad and I think dad kind of like her as well.  To be honest dad "kind of liked" me too.  That was dad's answer all the time.

Me: Love you dad

Dad: yeah well I kind of like you too

It brings an unusual smile to my face these days.  I don't smile much anymore.  I am thinking that maybe I am forgetting how to smile.  What about a laugh?  Almost unheard of coming from me.  My sense of humor is fading like the memories.  I look at this world, in these times we find ourselves and I don't think there is much to laugh about.  As Americans we are divided and there is almost a hatred among the people of my country.  I remember studying and observing the fight to desegregate our country and it feels like just as we are right there. I look around and see that re-segregation is on the rise and moving fast.  The strange thing is that the very people who fought so hard to integregate the country are leading it back into segregation.  It saddens me.

I do not understand America anymore.  Hell, I don't think I even understand human beings anymore.  Everything seems to be upside down and sideways inside out.

I want simplicity to make a comeback.  I want critical thinking to become a thing again.  I want the Constitution of the United States to stand for something.  I want to see a return to true ... TRUE ... freedom of speech in this country.  Without that, this country means nothing.  That is what makes The United States so special.  The right to a free and open exchange of ideas.  We do not have that anymore.  The public square has been dismantled.

I think, at the moment I am typing this, that I am kind of glad I won't be around to see the path this country is headed down and where it ends up.  I truly believe that this country, this Democratic Republic that has proven itself, in my mind, is the greatest country in modern history.

My heart is truly saddened by what I have seen happening to it.

Enough for ENTRY NUMBER 499 in this blog.

ENTRY NUMBER 498

 There is not a title for this entry to the blog. So, why no title.  Recent events in my life have put me into thinking mode.  Crazy convoluted thinking.  My mind has been running all over the place jumping from one topic to another.  It has been jumping all over the place at such a speed that I am not able to get organized in any manner or form.  Therefore, I guess I'll just write down .... well, whatever and see if you people can make any sense of it better than I can.  I am not going to post this on Facebook as I normally do, so it will probably be read by less then ten readers.  I have had this blog looked at over 86,000 times mostly because of Facebook.  I only have 2 followers according to my stat report on the it so do the math.  No one will hardly see this.  This is a good thing in this case as it makes it easier for me to write anything I want and not give much worry as to what people think.  Let's try this and see what comes out.

It is midnight here in Kansas City, Missouri the morning of March 27, 2022.  I have learned over the many years of my life that when people ask where are you from and you answer Kansas City, they immediately ask you how are things in Kansas? This irritates me a lot.  I do not live in Kansas.  Never have have and, if I have my way, never will.  I don't actually HATE the great state of Kansas.  It is just that Kansas is not Missouri and I LOVE Missouri.  I was born here and have lived my entire life here so far.  After the last few years, particularly the last week or so, I no doubt will die here as well.

Yes I love this state.  There are many reasons why I do.  One of those reasons, ironically, is the fact that Kansas is so damn close.  On the western side of the Missouri there is a natural rivalry between the two states.  It is more than the rivalry tween the two major universities, University of Kansas in Lawrence and the University of Missouri in Columbia.  This divide between these states can be traced at least as far back as the United States Civil War, if not earlier.  Before the war began and as part of Missouri being given statehood in August of 1821 the powers that be came up with the Missouri Compromise.  The main part of the compromise was the beginning of ending the growth of slavery in the country.  Missouri would be the last state to come into the union as a slave state.  All territories and states from then on would be free non-slavery states and territories.  It was a huge first step in the country's move towards ending the institution of slavery.

There is a misconception that Missouri was a southern state and a part of the Confederacy.  Fact is that when the CSA was created, Missouri did not succeed from the union.  This state has always been a member of the United States of America from it's inception.  This worked out great for the north and eastern part of the state.  St. Louis was a northern, anti-slavery city without a doubt. Most historians consider St. Louis the last eastern city in the country and Kansas City the first western city.  That is a little side track but one that I have always found interesting.  Anyway, Kansas City definitely supported the southern cause and lined up with the CSA.  Kansas settlers were supportive of the abolitionist and so on the border between Kansas and Missouri fierce fighting and battles broke out during and after the war was over.  Kansans were known as Jayhawkers while the Missouri folk were referred to as Ruffians.  The most famous of these Missouri Ruffians was one Bloody Bill Anderson.  He was best known for raids into Kansas multiple times and once burning the town of Lawrence to the ground.  Eventually, after the war was over, the Federal Government had to institute Order Number 11,  I think that is what it was.  Barbara would know for sure, but this order acted kind of like the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.  Eventually the two states learned to live next to each other, but deep down there is still a little of that rivalry existing between the citizens whose families have been in the border area for many years.  New comers don't understand it, but they shouldn't be expected to I guess.

So I have lived my whole life within 15 minutes of Kansas.  In all honesty though, the people of Kansas are good people.  They are typical mid-west friendly as much as those in Missouri are. My definition of the mid-west is not the same as it is nationally.  Ohio part of the mid-west?  I don't think so.  The mid-west to me is east to west from the eastern border of Indiana and there about to the western border of Kansas.  From north to south it goes from the Canadian border down to maybe northern Texas, no further south than Dallas though.  Mid-west people are very friendly and helpful.  I would rate the people of the southeast and the mid-west about the same.  There is no better place to have a car breakdown on you than somewhere in the Great Plains.  You will have help and get helped back on your way s soon as possible.  Thinking about that now, it could be because these mid-westerners don't want you to be hanging around the area very long.  They see California car tags and the general thought is that the sooner we get them out of here the better.  I can see that thought process being carried through.  I can see myself thinking that way actually.

I have visited other cities in the country.  The cities I have spent most of my time out of Kansas City include San Francisco, Oakland, Denver and Chicago.  Also on my travel resume are the cities of Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, Nashville, Memphis, Dallas, Phoenix and Louisville as well as some smaller areas. I can honestly say that none of those cities compare to my home town.  That is to be expected though I imagine.  I do love this town and state.

Well, it is 1:30 am on the 27th of March of 2022.  I have breakfast and church services in the morning so I'll temporarily stop for now and maybe pick this up again tomorrow. 

Woke up a little early this morning, around 6:30 when my Sunday morning alarm is set for 7:00.  I do not find a problem with this as it gives just a little more time to relax with Dutch.  I love my Sunday mornings.  It is an important part of my week and the most relaxing part of my week.  I wake up and first thing on the agenda is to let Dutch out.  While he is outside taking care of business I grind up some coffee beans and brew a nice pot of my favorite beverage followed by letting Dutch back inside.  I then shave and take a shower, get dressed, put some music on before sitting down and enjoying a cup of coffee while petting Dutch.  This is such a relaxing few minutes that Dutch loves.  I head out towards my first stop of the morning.  At 9:00 every Sunday morning I walk into the Belton Crackerbarrel Restaurant.  Sometimes I enter with my special friend Lisa if she is feeling well or wasn't up all night dealing with things in her life.  Most Sundays though, I enter alone and sit facing the windows that look out onto I-49 to watch the traffic pass by as I eat.  And what do I eat?  It is very simple.  Coffee and Mama's Pancake Breakfast. This gets me two eggs, two sausage patties and three pancakes to go along with my coffee.  Now the church is only a few minutes away so I can eat leisurely taking my time enjoying every bite.  At 10:05 I head out the door for the short drive to the Open Door Bible Church a couple of blocks away.

When I arrive at the church I exchange greetings with the "Welcomer of the Week" before heading to a board that has name tags printed on to sticky labels.  I find my name, put the tag on my shirt and walk into the sanctuary to find a seat on the back row.  Today was the last Sunday of the month so at the end of the service we partook of communion.  This is always a special time for me.  It has been special nearly my whole life.  Communion upholds my beliefs and my faith.  It is a time of reflection that provides me a way to strengthen my faith and what changes I may need to make from the mistakes that occur on a daily basis.  This week there was a lot of reflection and corrections that need to be considered.

I can predict the rest of this particular Sunday.  I'll find a ball game to watch or maybe a movie.  I might listen to more music.  More than likely a nap will happen at some point in the day.  Sunday s a day off for me in a series of days that are all days off more or less since I retired.  I'll head to bed around midnight or so and wake up tomorrow morning whenever Dutch feels it is time to get up.

Well, I think ENTRY NUMBER 498 went fairly well.  Perhaps I will do the same for number 499.  I don't know.

Right now though, it is publish time.