Ace Wisdom

Grandson Grant graduates high school on Friday.  He gets to walk across the stage with his “cap and gown”, move the tassle from one side to the other and it will be official. It is on to Ames, Iowa (Iowa State) in the Fall.  Congratulations to Grant.

The perils of Summer are upon us.  I trimmed up some bushes and got several blisters on my hand.  I showed my injury to Grasshopper No.3.  He reached down and grabbed some dirt and rubbed it on my blisters.  Where is the love?

We have flies!  I guess that goes with Summer.  I am still pretty quick with a fly swatter.  I remember when my Grandma Myrna would take me (I was about 10-12 years old) to visit her family farm where she grew up.  The farm was located near Mukwonago and was in declining condition (Myrna’s folks were in their 80’s).  The farm was an incubator for flies.  The house had screens and screen doors but flies were everywhere.  Every visitor got their own fly swatter.  Instead of playing games on an ipod like kids would do today, swatting flies provided the entertainment.  Actually flies are “dirty” little bastards.  Ah, the memories of Summer on the farm.

I’m told that mosquitos have taken over Northern Wisconsin.  The conditions have been superb for incubation and growth.  It takes the fun out of a walk in the woods, swimming along the beaches and outdoor picnics.

On the positive side, I love the early morning smells of Summer.  The air is cool.  Humidity is high.  Everything is growing.  Flowers are fragrant.  And in the early morning hours, the flies, and mosquitos and other critters aren’t “out yet”.

Summer is short.  Enjoy the best it has to offer!

Love,

Dad

Today marks 70 years since the invasion by Allied Forces on Normandy Beach in France.  D-Day, June 6, 1944.  I don’t know what the “body count” was for wounded or killed troops, but it was huge.  I would be remiss in not pausing to pay tribute to all those who “gave of themselves”.  Our family did not participate in the European invasion but as you know, my Dad and his brother Bob (an Air Force pilot) spent their tour of duty in the Philipines and surrounding islands.  I’m sure all our lives are different because of their sacrifice.  Thank You.

My mother used to say “money isn’t everything”.  Of course this was from the perspective of a widowed Mom with four kids who didn’t have money.  A different perspective takes place next week.  Maverick McNealy (18 years old) has earned the opportunity to play golf in the United States Open Golf Championship.  What’s the big deal.  Well his Dad, Scott is a noted entrepreneur who co-founded Sun Microsystems. Scott is worth well over $1 billion which I’m sure makes him very happy.  Better yet, Scott is going to be his Son’s caddy during the Open Championship.  Scott claims to have sweated profusely during his Son’s qualifying rounds.  Imagine the persperation when your Son steps on the first tee next Thursday.  Caddying for your son for a National Championship.  Priceless.  Maybe Mom was right:  money isn’t everything.

I need to know if I’m considered “old fashioned”.  Does ordering a supply of new checks mean I’m old (versus pushing a button and paying bills electronically)?  Does ordering a hundred envelopes date me.  How about buying a roll of stamps?  “Bottom line”?  I don’t care what you think.  My system works for me!

Love,

Dad

Today is great-granddaughter Myla’s official 1st birthday (even though the celebration was Saturday).  Your Mom provided the nostalgia.  Nana (Myla’s namesake after Lyla) made lots of clothes for our Grasshoppers.  Grasshopper No.1 and No.2 were the recipients of lots of “little garments” made from old dresses and coats.  Your Mom selected two small coats (that should fit Myla for a year or two) along with matching bonnets and gave them as a birthday gift.  A few new ribbons were added.  If I’m counting correctly, 5 generations of girls are involved.  Special, special.

We got a few inches of rain on Sunday and Monday.  Appleton ended up with just over 2 inches.  My old “stomping ground”, Ripon, got over 7 inches of rain.  Hopefully the cookies and wafers aren’t soggy.

I finished one of my “bucket list” house projects.  We bought our house with a battery activated sump pump safety system.  The battery system has never worked probably because when we moved in, the house was 7 years old and nobody ever checked it.  I found a plumber friend who offered to replace required parts and activate my “backup”.  Alas, now I can sleep at night.

All the plant and tree life is in full bloom.  The tree in our front yard is “eating” our street light and bushes in the yard are full of birds nests and angry mother birds.  Ain’t Spring great.

Have a great week!

Love,

Dad

 

Great Granddaughter Myla celebrates her 1 year birthday this weekend. “Cute is one year old”.

My new “Buick” got 31 mph on combined city/highway driving.  Not bad!!

Grasshopper No.5 gave me a paperback novel to read for my birthday.  So being the voracious reader of non-fiction that I am, I read my annual book.  It was the American version of Jack the Ripper.  Why did No.5 think I’d enjoy “Jack”?  Actually it was a riveting read.

Everything in life is relative.  The L.A. Clippers NBA basketball team is under “distressed” sale because the owner Don Sterling made remarks with racial overtones during a private conversation with a girl friend.  Sterling paid  $12.5 million for the Clippers 35 years ago.  He has had 6 offers in to purchase the Clippers with the top bid being $2 billion (that is with a “b”).  The top bidder is Steve Balmer, former CEO of Microsoft.  Whoa!  How can Balmer afford $2 billion?  The answer is “Balmer is worth $20 billion based on his stock holdings with Microsoft”.  $2 billion is a drop in the bucket.  It must be nice.  I bet Balmer has his own personal jet (maybe a fleet of them).

I am becoming a believer in Amazon.com.  Batteries are needed to power my hearing aids.  My audiologist makes each battery available for $1.30 each.  I need two batteries at a time and they last 3-4 days.  As I browsed Amazon.com, I found the same batteries for $.28 each.  Really?  Really!

My Dad’s birthday was the 28th.  He would have been 94.

Good bye May, Hello June.

Love,

Dad

 

Your Mom and I made a visit Chesters in Plymouth over the Memorial Day weekend.  To me Chesters will always be the “A&W”.  It was the only place in town in the late 50’s where you could “drive-in” on a warm summer night, park in one of the stalls and have waitresses serve you in the car.  Remember I had a convertible so the experience was even better.  All the sandwiches are still charcoal grilled.  The only thing that has changed is that the large glass mugs of ice cold A&W root beer have been replaced with soda in paper cups with covers and straws.  A&W actually dropped their franchise.  Nobody seems to care!

It seems to me that more families including ours are attempting small gardens for “natural” vegetables.  There is nothing like fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini from the garden.  Nana always liked working with the soil.  Flower beds in front of the house.  Garden in the back of the house.  I guess growing up the “the farm” creates a skill set that never leaves.  I never acquired that skill set.

I had stopped playing golf the last few years because I felt so lousy swinging a golf club.  I have noticed that Grasshopper No.3 and No.4 both have new sets of clubs and Grandson Tommy has a “new used set”.  I have to admit it gets my “juices” flowing.  Stay tuned!

Memorial Day kicked off Summer.  Next stop?  4th of July!

Love,

Dad

 

 

 

Grandson Dominic is beginning to dominate my blog.  He recently had a birthday,  attained a drivers license and now wins a trophy.  Dominic is the 2014 Class A Wisconsin High School Trap Shooting Champion.  I had mentioned previously that he obliterated 97 clay birds out of 100.  Your Mom and I got to witness the competition and we have the pictures to prove it.  Congratulations to Dominic.

I saw a blue antique convertible on the way to exercise this morning.  The top was down and a younger man (45 years old) was driving it.  For a moment, I thought it was an Oldsmobile similar to the 1951 model I had in high school.  As I got closer  I realized I was only dreaming because it was a Ford.  It was a light blue (same color) Ford Galaxy probably from the early 60’s.  Hey, I can dream can’t I?

Amateur weekend begins today.  Memorial Day weekend kicks off the “cottage-lake” season.  People open cottages, launch boats and invite all the relatives to celebrate.  That means the lakes are overloaded for a few days as “amateurs” operate boats and jet skis, along with water skiing and possibly some swimming (this part is doubtful because of the cold winter we had).  After the weekend, all the relatives go home and summer begins for all the lake dwellers.  Ah, I remember it well!

Your Auntie Jo celebrated a recent birthday with your Mom yesterday.  As usual, she is still one year old than your Mom.

Don’t burn the brats.

Love,

Dad

Congratulations to Grandson Dominic.  He is 16 and has a brand new drivers license. My sympathy to the family for the loss of the family car which Dominic will be driving all the time.

Your Mom and I spent several days with Grasshopper No.5 in Minneapolis.  We got to eat “home made gourmet” meals, visit with some of her friends and attend a movie.  Not just any movie.  It was the opening weekend of Godzilla.  Your Mom and No.5 made me go.  Parking in the “theater parking ramp” was free.

Grasshopper No.5 demonstated her skills.  She pulled out her handy dandy cell phone, used an app to access the theater, reserved seats in the prime section and she paid for the tickets on her credit card.

When we got to theater, we walked right in, just like royalty.  With reserved tickets there was no rush.  I offered to buy refreshments.  3 small bags of popcorn and 3 small beverages only cost $31.

When we got to our seats, the section was filled.  Everyone wanted to sit in the middle of the theater.  There were no empty seats.  The man that sat down behind me, stumbled and spilled soda on my jacket and arm.  Hey, he said he was sorry.  Then he sat down, crossed his legs and kicked my head.  Really!  Again he said he was sorry.  But I’m not stupid.  I know better than to challenge the guy who was a  bungling boob.  The last guy that was chastised in a theater became angry and turned it into a shooting gallery.  I kept my mouth shut.

Once the movie started, a second “boob” sitting in front of us kept his cell phone on and kept texting during the movie.  Grasshopper No.5 got the worst of the annoying light.  She is not stupid either.  Confrontation can bring bad “things”.  She also kept her mouth shut.

Thank goodness “Godzilla” was loud and entertaining.  It minimized the distractions.  It wasn’t the stupid Japanese monster flick I had imagined.  Some  words choke me but I have to admit “the movie wasn’t bad”.

So you see, the best part of the afternoon was the free parking.  Everything else came with financial or emotional baggage.  Hey, the “company” was extraordinary.

Love,

Dad