What the hic is going on?. . . . . .

Just for everyone's information, the folklore 'fixes' detailed herein do NOT work!!

Good. . .hiccup. . .night all!

Good night, sweet Duncan. . . . .

It's late at night and I can't sleep, so I keep myself happy by thinking of you, my precious little grandson! I hope that you are all snuggled down in your bed with Mr. Teddy Bear in your arms, having happy dreams about your Mommy, Daddy, and that special little sister who's on her way to join your family!!

If I were there, I would sing you a chorus of "Ten Dirty Little Fingers" and kiss your forehead.

I love you, Duncan!

Fear and Wondering at the Crack of Dawn. . . .

Don't be afraid that your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken -- probably more than once -- and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love.

So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt, because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

Enough Already!!!

If the Democratic candidates don't put a stop to the infighting, it'll be a smooth ride to the white house for McCain! These schoolyard antics are hurting everyone!

Obama backer sorry for 'blue dress' comment

The war of words between surrogates for the Democratic presidential hopefuls descends further into the muck.

The campaigns sniped at each other over the weekend after retired Air Force General Merrill A. McPeak, an adviser to Barack Obama, accused former President Bill Clinton of McCarthyism for, in McPeak's view, questioning Obama's patriotism. Hillary Clinton's campaign said her husband's remarks to veterans in North Carolina had been misconstrued.

Today, another Obama supporter, former Iowa Democratic Party chairman Gordon Fischer, complained that Bill Clinton was hurting the Democratic Party and leaving "a stain on his legacy much worse, much deeper, than the one on Monica's blue dress." That, of course, is a blunt reference to the former president's affair with intern Monica Lewinsky that led to impeachment hearings.

Fischer has already apologized for that comment, which he posted on his own blog, Iowa True Blue. Calling it "stupid" and "tasteless and gratuitous," Fischer said, "It was unnecessary and wrong."

But the Clinton camp is not letting bygones be bygones, calling it the most personal attack yet in the increasingly bitter nomination fight.

The Icky Eye Revisited. . . . .

Just a quick update on the mysterious icky eye problem. . . .

The lump (engorged gland) continues to grow larger in diameter, but softer in texture, so this is apparently a good sign. . . .or so I am told. The antibiotic clouds my vision even worse than the swelling and watering, but that's to be expected.

Hopefully, I'll be able to wear my glasses again soon and get back to a more 'normal' routine. Until then, I'll keep peering at life through the squint of my one good eye and hope for the best!!!!

Here's looking at you, kid!!

Happy Easter One and All. . . . .

Chocolate Rabbit

I got a chocolate rabbit
For an Easter treat,
A great big chocolate rabbit
Good enough to eat.

So I ate his ears on Sunday,
His nose I finished Monday.
Tuesday I nibbled on his feet.
I ate his tail on Wednesday
Thursday I kept on,
By Friday he was going,
Saturday he was gone.

Oh, I loved my chocolate rabbit
From the moment that he came,
And if I get another one,
I'll love him just the same

My Reaction to A MySpace Declaration . . . .

The Grass is Getting Greener! . . . . .

Spring is just about here! Thank goodness for longer days and milder temperatures and the new bloom of life all around us!!!

Click on the link below. You will get a black page. Click your mouse anywhere (& everywhere) on the page & see what happens! Better yet, click & drag your mouse over the black page... Enjoy!!

http://www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf

Good News Through My One Good Eye. . . . .

It's been a l-o-n-g day, but a productive one. Though I am still fighting the infection in my left eye, which seems to have also invaded my sinus cavity (ugh!), I was able to read a happy e-mail, telling me that I've had one of my stories accepted by Reader's Digest!! Hooray! Evidently, it won't be published until sometime in the fall, but I will post the issue information as soon as I know. (It's not a whole lot of money, but enough to make a dent in some needs, and it certainly gives me confidence to keep on keepin' on!)

Other good news: Dancing With The Stars returned to tv tonight. Didn't get to see the whole show, but I'm excited that it's back. Love watching the progress everyone makes and it's just a good, entertaining way to spend an hour or so! Was pleasantly surprised to see how well the men did tonight.

Hopefully, more good news will start flowing. . . . .and I'll be able to see it coming!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all. . . . .

The Eye of the Beholder. . . .

What a week this has been! Among other things, I managed to get a small piece of glass (or other sharp foreign object) lodged in my left eye, resulting in a small puncture and/or scratch. Got the offending object out and rinsed my eye well, so I really believed that there would be no more complication. Ha! Couldn't have been more wrong!

Evidently, a raging infection has taken hold and turned my otherwise average looking eye into something that resembles Jabba The Hut, from "Star Wars"! My best guess is that I may have picked up a staph infection in the ER, last week, or one of the many house animals here may have given me a little transfer infection of some kind. Either way, it ain't pretty!

My first clue that something was amiss came at about 4:00 a.m., when I went to the restroom and realized that all I was seeing out of my left eye was my left cheek! Hmmmm. In the glare of the bathroom light, I looked in the mirror to find an ugly, red, swollen eye socket and horrifically bloodshot eyeball staring back at me. Ewww and ouch!

At this point, I am rinsing the offending eye with boric acid solution once an hour and keeping a cold compress on it (for the only comfort I can get), and it continues to grow! Guess it will be another unscheduled doctor visit on Monday, if things don't dramatically improve. . . . ugh!

Meanwhile, here's looking at you. . . .from my one good eye!

Tribute to a great man. . . . .

Twenty-two years ago today, our family lost it's guidepost; it's role model; it's captain. Twenty-two years ago today, my father passed from this life into his eternal rest. And I still miss him, every single day. I'm certain that we all do.

My earliest memories of my father center around our visits to his parents (Nana and Alfred), who lived in the Parkchester Apartments, in New York city. My dad would take me for walks around the neighborhood and show me where my grandfather once had his livery stables and to the newsstand/tobacco shop, where we would get the papers and penny candy! Those were formative times that 'introduced' me to the man who would so influence the rest of my life.

After he left the air force (then, the army air corps), he and my mom spent a few precious civilian years in New York and New Jersey, adding both my older sister and myself to the family. Then, the government came calling again, needing his special talents on some secret level, and we all moved to Arlington, Virginia, as dad began yet a new career, at the Pentagon. It being the height of the cold war, the nature of his work was something he could never discuss with us, but we knew that he traveled to faraway places, like Germany and France, and I was intrigued! (He even brought back authentic French bikini bathing suits for my mom, my sister, and I, and we were 'scandalous' as we sunbathed in our own backyard!!)

I remember the hours dad would spend, making sure that every branch of our Christmas trees were perfectly symmetrical -- and to mom's liking! He would even cut whole branches off one side and drill a hole to re-insert a branch in another side, skillfully filling an 'unsightly' bare spot. He was a patient man. And a perfectionist!

I remember, too, the many stories my father would tell us. . . .often about some famous people he knew! He was college buddies with none other than Kirk Douglas (and even gets a nod in the actor's autobiography "The Ragman's Son"), at St. Lawrence University. He bowled with the fabulous Bette Davis, while she was on a USO tour, in England. And Winston Churchill's daughter, Sarah, had a mad crush on him during his WWII tour of duty outside of London! What a fun and full like my father had!

He was a man of passionate commitments, too, and taught us all that
dignity was far more important than any bank account or new car. He was a life-long Mason, and was understandably proud of his association
with that group.
Things I remember most about my father: His love of 'Dagwood' style sandwiches (sardines, tomato, onion, and mustard with orange marmalade on top!) and the fun he had sharing them with unsuspecting grandchildren! The go-kart he bought for my brother, which we all learned to 'drive' with. . . .and learned how to steer out of a skid with! Bowling! From the time when we were just little kids, until just before his death, my dad loved to bowl. (One of the best laughs I ever had was when he somehow didn't get his fingers out of the ball and he followed it, head-first, right down the lane. . . .pocket change flying all the way down to the pins!!) His guiding words (by Abe Lincoln): "I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet." Having the courage to start a new business, while raising a family with four kids, from a basement hobby to a respected manufacturing corporation known as RAM Industries. He and my mother (and, occasionally, the kids and/or grandkids) taking off on adventures in his huge Pace Arrow motor home!




Things I miss most about my father: His hugs. His stern expectations, tempered by his strong confidence in himself, his loving wife, his rag-tag kids, his beloved grandchildren, and the world in general. Hearing his voice calling me 'kiddo'. Everything.

Twenty-two years ago today, my father passed from this life. In the twenty-two years ever since, he has never left my heart.

Thoughts. . . .

Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.

-- Oscar Wilde

Ever have one of those days. . . . . .????

Good night, Dawn. . . .

It's been 32 days since I last heard your voice. . . .and much, much longer since your laughter filled my heart with joy. It's been many, many weeks since I last saw your blue eyes look towards mine. . . . .and much, much longer since those eyes sparkled with a shared happiness or memory.

I play your voice back, on my cell phone, just so I can hear you say "I love you, Mom" one more time.

I miss my friend.

[Note to those who assume to know it all: No 'anonymous' comments will be allowed on this blog, hereafter. Thank you.]

Perceptions. . . .

Things aren't always as they seem. . . . .sometimes up is down and front is back. It's up to us to decide which way our path is headed.

Special day. . . .

Sending the very best birthday wishes out to the very best son-in-law a woman could ask for!! Hope your day -- and the year ahead -- is full of happiness, love, success, and contentment. You are loved!!

Keeping fit. . . .

Local Mystery. . . . . .Solved??

Way, way back in 1968, I made my first trip from Washington, D.C. to Erwin, Tennessee, to view the beautiful valley my parents had chosen for relocating their business. On that very first trip, I couldn't help but notice a beautiful, large, stately home -- right on what was then the main highway heading north and south, 11E/19W -- which was completely boarded up. In such a lovely neighborhood (across the street from the university president's home, in fact), it seemed quite out of place and odd. The grounds were meticulously groomed, yet the house was sealed like a tomb!

For the 40 years since, that house has remained the same. . . .boarded up yet obviously cared for. In all these decades of passing the house (sometimes 4 times a day), I have never once seen anyone on the property, either mowing the lawn or otherwise showing signs of life. For the 40 years since, I have asked countless people what the story was behind this apparently abandoned jewel, but got little in the way of answers. I would only be told that "it used to be a hospital."

Finally, I seem to have stumbled upon some answers to this mystery. Chilling though this account may be, it is the first -- and only -- history I have ever been able to find. Read it, and decide for yourself. . . . .

Swingle Hospital was the first hospital in Johnson City. The hospital is located near Science Hill High School and Heritage Manor. It is said that back in the 1920's, Dr. Swingle performed simple surgeries in this privately owned estate. Dr. Swingle was a sloppy surgeon and all of his patients would die on the operating table. If you slowly walk up the front walkway, between the row of hedges, leading to the main entrance you can hear the voices of the insane doctor and his staff, and if you walk around to the back of the house you can hear the screams of the dead patients, who are buried in the backyard. You cannot get in to the old hospital due to boarded windows and doors. If you decide to visit the hospital, park on the street next to it and walk over, but stay away from the road. If caught on Swingle property, you can be charged with breaking and entering. Be careful, cops watch that place very heavily.

Update: My daughter, Dawn, has located a much more detailed -- and far less 'dramatic' -- story about the old Swingle house. It even appears to have a direct connection to a very good friend of my brother. . . .! Read it, and see more photos at the following website. Fascinating!! www.hauntmastersclub.com/places/washington_county_jc_swingle.

Sleep deprivation. . . .revisited

What is it about the nights that make them so very long and restless? It can't be the accommodations. . . .'cause I have a beautiful, comfortable, warm canopy bed at my disposal.

It can't be the environment. . . .'cause I am in a warm home, with compassionate people to surround me.

It can't be for lack of activity or busy waking hours. . . .'cause I am keeping busy with all the tasks at hand, from morning until late evening.

Yet. . . .as the clock ticks past midnight and beyond, my mind starts to race and I cannot sleep. All the what-if's and if-only's creep into my head. I worry about people who I care about but no longer see. I pace around, trying to figure out solutions to problems my children are facing, or that the world is confronted with, or that simply invade my psyche and will not give me peace!

How do you turn off your brain, for just a few blissful hours? How do you shut off your heart from aching? How do you sleep. . . . . .????

Teamwork. . . . .

A salesman is driving on a two-lane country road in a rainstorm and gets stuck in a ditch. He asks a nearby farmer for help.

The farmer hitches up Elmo, his blind mule, to the salesman's car and hollers, "Pull Sam, pull!" Nothing happens.

He again yells, "Pull Bessie, pull!" Still nothing.

"Pull Jackson, pull!" Still nothing.

Finally he hollers, "Pull Elmo, pull!" and Elmo pulls the car right out of the ditch.

The driver is confused and says, "I don't understand. Why did you have to call out all those names?"

"Look, if he didn't think he had any help, he wouldn't even try!"

WONDERFUL NEWS!

Just thought I would take a moment to update those who may want to know. . . . .our family will be growing again very soon!!! Valerie, Heath, and my absolutely adorable grandson, Duncan, will be welcoming a sweet baby girl, due around June 6th!!

Though this revelation came as quite a surprise to one and all, it is a remarkable blessing that we are all sooooooo excited over! In spite of all the troubles life may bring our way, and all the bumps in the road we have to hurdle, babies are truly God's way of telling us that the world is a wonderful place, and there is always room for another miracle to love!!! Congratulations to Mom, Dad, and Big Brother!!