This post honors my sister Marian, who would have been 78 today. A few years ago she sent me a pillowcase (see photo) that she embroidered with her favorite animals: cats. She probably thought I would use it in the guest bedroom, but right off I decided against that.
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The garden at Treasure Island (see photo) has undergone a few changes this summer, all for the better. Plus it will be getting a name next year — Garden with a View — when a new gate is added as part of upgrading the perimeter fence. But does it need a yard-art rooster as a sentry when members of the garden team aren’t onsite working?
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The cutting board in the photo is not just any cutting board. It was a present from my sister. As the “before” view shows, I went far too long before attempting to restore it. As the “after” view shows, the product I used helped refresh the board’s original matte luster.
Continue readingLast week I watched about a half-dozen college commencement keynote addresses on CSPAN. The speeches were entertaining, inspirational, and, for the most part, mercifully short. I don’t remember the keynote speech at my own college graduation some 54 years ago this weekend, but from what I have read about it online, it wasn’t like the ones I watched recently.
Continue readingMy sister wrote poems for members of her family to express how she felt about them and about her life. One of my favorites is “The Best Things in Life.” In reproducing the poem below, I have modified the final verse for reasons I will explain later in this post:
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In July when the USA celebrates its 250th birthday, my Seiko watch (see photo) will also reach a milestone—50 years under my ownership. Following a recent cleaning and servicing, it’s keeping accurate time again. Will it last another 50 years? If it does, I won’t be around to see it, but hopefully a younger family member will.
Continue readingI think most people have heard of Richardson’s Law, probably not by name but surely by sentiment as there are other ways of stating the same idea. The problem is that the law is easy to break, intentionally or not. In need of a continuing reminder, I had it printed on a small plastic sign that I attached to the sun visor of my daily driver. When I’m traveling and the driving gets stressful, I glance at it for some relief.
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Posted in Cars, Friends & Family, Travel
The fortune cookie came from the Safeway deli, a place where you can order takeout Chinese cuisine. Inside the folded golden cookie shell was a modern fortune, printed on a slip of white paper:
It’s time to write a letter or email to one who is distant.
The fortune, my fortune, was on the money in two respects. First, when I write letters, I almost always use email, with a ratio of electronic to paper messages of at least 20 to 1 and probably higher than that. Second, earlier that day, I shared a photo and some news with a cousin I communicate with only every year or so. You guessed it: I used email for the job.
Apparently the humans who write these fortunes recognize that times have changed. However, I still look forward to the end-of-meal pleasure of reading, on paper, what they have in mind for me. Even if I get a smart phone someday and pay for my order that way, I hope the fortune doesn’t arrive after dinner by text message.
Posted in Friends & Family
January 21, 1954, was an historic day for the United States Navy. On that cold January day 60 years ago, the Navy launched the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, at Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut. It was a big day for my dad too. He was the ship’s first commanding officer.
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In several posts I have noted that my dad had a long career as a submarine officer (the most recent was titled Submarine First Day Covers). So when my Texas brother sent me a link earlier this week to a short video showing the launching of the R-10 submarine, I watched it with interest. Dad was assigned to the R-10 right after graduating from submarine school in 1942.
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