Oh! The vitality of youth!
Tonight, I had the pleasure of dining with 2 of the most charming kids in the world: Caroline and Sam.
Brother and sister.
Best friends.
Educated.
Smart.
Fun.
High expectations.
I have no fear of the future, with young people like Caroline and Sam in the world.
They forge ahead, pursuing their dreams, confident, courageous, and determined.
Probably the most tantalizing traits of my new found friends: A love of life, animals and people.
They even put up with me.
Looking forward to seeing both of you again.
You make me feel alive and happy.
Best wishes.
Stay safe, healthy, and never give up your dreams.
Xooxoxoxoxox
Wolf
The dog was wrong
Where were you on December 2,1985?
Some of you were not born yet.
Others?
It was just another ordinary day.
35 years ago.
Seems like yesterday.
Elkton Maryland.
Wearing jeans and cowboy boots.
A dog was howling in the background, trying to tell us:
Don’t do it.
But we did.
We smiled and laughed through the short ceremony.
And then we began our journey.
Married life.
We celebrated our 30th anniversary, the last one with Jim.
Was it a good marriage?
Yes and no, just like all relationships.
We said our vows 35 years ago today, and we kept them.
Rest in peace Jim.
I will always miss you.
Xxooxoxoxooxxo
Wolf
Queens, one eyed jacks and the sunshine of your life
From a one eyed Jack to an unemployed queen epitomizes my past few days.
A nasty yellow jacket got riled up and stung Patti’s eye. What a fright! She insisted it would just go away on its own, and suffered for a few days until she finally agreed to a trip to urgent care. I stopped in to see her last night and the swelling had subsided, thanks to steroids.
The queen is busy with job interviews, when she isn’t bossing her friends around. I think she may have found the job she would like. I hope she will be in charge of many hundreds of people, who need supervision and bossing.
By the way, both of these ladies are Irish, stubborn and bossy. Good thing I am the quiet demure one, taking all their punishing behavior.
Our dear Kim will no longer be my “doctor”. I always looked forward to seeing her, as she prescribed my meds, listened to my sad stories and entertained us with her creative and wild imitations. She will be missed! Several of her many friends stopped by last night to wish her well. We just don’t want to let go of her.
No, I have not yet had the mammogram. OK? There I said it. Will I? Maybe, when my dance card permits. The intermittent pain is gone, and I am in no hurry to get squeezed.
It was so good seeing Mary and Kathy again. I have missed my cooter friends. We always have a great time, just talking and laughing. I can’t wait until Kathy decides to stay home for more than one or two days. Until then, I hope Mary will continue to stop over at DMs for lunch, so I can join her.
A great 37th birthday lunch with Bobby yesterday. Too bad he is too old for me. Such a cutie!!
Game day seems like long ago, but it was Sunday. Patti, the one eyed wonder, made jumbolia for lunch! Wow! Really good. The queen, Dustin, Patti’s “husband” who shall remain anonymous and I enjoyed it immensely. The games took second place to Patti’s lunch. Next Sunday? We are taking a break over the Labor Day weekend.
It’s a rainy, gloomy day, except of course, when I am around. I am the sunshine of your life.
Hope you all are safe, healthy and are choosing to have a happy day!!
Wolf
Why do men stop for a drink?
Today, at the bar: Oh my!
Too many men who stopped for a beer, who are not happy.
How does that happen?
Well, let’s take husband number one: “Look: she is going through menopause, and is hot,. then cold. Whatever I say, it just doesn’t make her happy.”
Husband number two: “ We are fine. It’s just that our lives are boring. She wants me to pick up celery or whatever, and that covers our conversation. So, I get the celery, go home, and we have dinner, and then? She is tired. So am I. And tomorrow is another day.”
Husband number 3: “ She leaves me a list, every day, of things to do. Laundry,
folding, lawn mowing, cleaning the kitchen, fixing dinner and believe it or not, an allowance. It’s all about control.”
Number 4: “ What happened to the woman I married? She was crazy about me. A warm, adoring female, who couldn’t get enough of me. Now? The tide has turned.”
Hey guys!
My point of view?
Life is like this: Young people are passionately in love. Hormones running amok.
After about 4 or 5 years, guess what?
Time to settle down, enjoy one another, but not the same way.
We change as we age.
So what?
Children become our focus.
We mature.
And we become our mothers and fathers.
And so it is with the world.
Oh, yeah, there are those who believe they can capture the passionate lust of yesterday.
Mid life crisis.
And then?
That too, will subside.
Some stop for a drink with friends, to commiserate, before going home, to a wife and family that you love and cherish, in spite of your wild inhibitions.
Most would never stray.
They just like to have someone listen to how they feel.
And wake up the next day, and do it all again.
Wolf
Is there anything better than being needed?
An ordinary day, sort of. Let’s face it, we don’t have ordinary days. Not now. Will we ever?
It was a day to rest, read, and reflect.
Oh yeah?
Started out with my cracked windshield, to find an auto glass shop. I found 2. It’s the holiday weekend. Not open. Ok, so I will drive around watching those unsightly cracks, hoping they will just hang in there, until after the weekend.
I forgot to eat breakfast, having been fixated on the cracks. So, up I go, to Dunkin for my usual refreshments. I really need to find a new breakfast joint, but I don’t want to go inside any restaurant. I am paranoid about going inside. So, who serves breakfast outside? A new mission for me.
Just then, I get a text: Meet me 130pm. At Hops. What the hell? That doesn’t sound ordinary. Something’s up.
What a bitter sweet meeting. So happy, to just hang out together, but so sad to hear about the problems. I am good listener, sometimes. Other times? I just talk and laugh too much. We were outside on the patio at Hops, and had slushies while we talked. Hey! Those slushies were not your normal run of the mill. Yikes!
I hope the discussion helped. I know I felt anything but ordinary when I left. It always feels good to be needed, even if it is only to listen.
I had one heck of a time sleeping, however. I am swearing off the slushies. I am already crazy enough.
Do you remember when your folks would ask you what you would like to eat for your birthday? My choice this year: Burgers, beer and potato salad. Happy to announce at 4pm, today, I get my wish. I can’t wait!!
My wish today? For everyone to be healthy, safe and happy.
Let your sparkle shine!!
Wolf
bye, bye, Ms American pie.
I have been advised by the boys in the hood: “You are not yourself. You are talking to too many people, and many do not appreciate why and what you are saying, as they walk into the venue.”
Their advice? Take a few days off, dry out. Be nice. Not everyone appreciates your humor.
May I just say this about that? Do not try to control or to silence me. If I am obnoxious, and acting like an idiot? What’s it to you?
“Oh, wait. You are usually a fun loving person and now you have become a blight on the face of humanity. Cool it. Be who we want you to be.”
Nope. Not me. After all these years, do not expect me to follow the yellow brick road. If you don’t like it? Buzz off.
Well, since I was born and raised in the North Country, where everyone is a joker, a smoker and a midnight toker, do you really think I can change or want to change?
I believe it is time for me to move on, back to my roots, where we all love one another, unconditionally, no matter if we are obnoxious assholes or not.
Pennsylvania: You have a special place in my heart. I will miss you, as I move toward the winter season of my life, with a renewed purpose to enjoy who I am.
We are who we are.
Don’t ask me to change.
xooxoxoxooxo
Wolf
The Beaver
As I walked to the mailbox on this 43rd day of incubation, there was a letter from the Beaver. Who is the Beaver? Let me tell you about this woman: Controlling, bossy, loves to wear black, avid reader, crazy about her swimming pool, has a loving relationship with Jess and wine, and she is a very loyal friend.
I worked with the Beav for many years. We shared the same last name, although we are not related. Well, in a sense, we are now, that we are the Beaver sisters. We sat near one another, and I quickly learned a few things: Never bother the Beav on her lunch hour, as she is reading; do not eat celery or any other thing that is crunchy, or she will beat the #%$@#% out of you for annoying her; let her go on rants as she will soon get over it; and never say a bad word about a cat, or she will take you out back and shoot you.
We have been on a few adventures together, outside of work, and what a hoot they were. Wineries, concerts, horse racing, gambling, and just plain bar hopping. Unforgettable.
We share the same political beliefs, love the same music, and are crazy for cheese steaks and Mexican food. She laughs at my jokes, I laugh at hers. The only problem I have with the Beav is that she is still working and I am a loose cannon, so we don’t see each other very often.
Today, I received a wonderful piece of artwork from the Beav, in the mail. A page out of a coloring book, that Beav had finished. Yes, it is a picture of 2 Beavers hanging out in the woods. I need to frame it. What a beaut! And a very loving note about our friendship was included. Yeah, she was probably slightly tipsy when she wrote it, but so was I, when I read it.
It is wonderful having the Beaver as my friend. I love her!
Wolf
Kaitlyn, you light up my life!
Put me in coach, I’m ready to play today. If you are wondering if I have gone crazy, it is the 25th day of the global hibernation and in baseball, the number 25 is typically reserved for the best slugger on the team.
I can slug them down with the best of them: or, if you prefer, the worst of them.
I believe I slugged down a few too many yesterday, so after my morning hot chocolate and muffin, I will be headed for a nap. So what if it is only 930am. I need all the beauty rest I can get.
G’night, Mate.
4 hours later……
Well, it is afternoon and here I am again, living the dream, in the twilight zone.
Being of not so sound reasoning, I am considering getting dressed, and taking a ride to Minnesota, just for the hell of it. But the wind is fierce and there is possible snow in the forecast, and I don’t like driving.
Therefore it is time to party! I see that my little buddy Kait is working and I usually stop by on Fridays for lunch. Yeah, it’s not open. So what? I love hanging out in the parking lot, waiting for take out brought out by one of the cutest little goofs in the world; reminiscent of the A&W drive ins with those frosty mugs.
Obviously, my main challenge today is fighting the lethargy that is clouding my mind and thoughts. At this exact moment, Kait sent me a message: She misses our Fridays, too. That does it. I am getting dressed and am heading on down to see her.
Everyone should have a Kait in their lives!!
Wolf
The secretive trio
4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie, on this 24th day of the infamous global disease.
I am going to get dressed today, to attend a clandestine meeting in a parking lot, with 2 friends, with plenty of space in between. Sometimes it is necessary just to observe how ridiculous we look in masks, except for me, of course. I love my blue bandana. No, I don’t know how to fold it, or any of that stuff’; I nonchalantly drape it over my head and face, remaining in complete anonymity, while following the rules of the new order of the land.
Back from the new “normal” gathering in the parking lot. Ok, so we drank coffee on the patio, at least 6 ft apart and no hugs. We had one very shook up, nervous Nelly in the small get together, who distanced himself from us by at least a football field. It was a special time for me, seeing these 2 crazies.
To top it off, I came home with homemade spaghetti and meatballs, and….. I did not lose them on old 22.
I was also given 2 special cookies, to calm the savage beast in my soul.
This afternoon is still up for grabs. Ooops. Forget about grabbing. That is not allowed; rather, I am still contemplating what will be on my agenda for today. Whatever it is, I know it will be spectacular.
xooxoxoxoxoxoxox
Wolf
take the long way home
Today’s story: Heartburn.
All day, after eating eggs, grits, and bacon.
A secret meeting in the afternoon, over a couple of drinks: Club Soda and lime.
Took a journey to a place I had never been before, and enjoyed meeting the locals.
I may return tomorrow, just because it is my kind of place.
It was time to change my daily routine, to get out of town, and to experience the unknown.
It was an adventure: an exhilarating fun time, even with the heartburn.
I highly recommend it.
No drama, just reaching out to people to make new friends.
A magical day, for sure.
Wolf
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