Strange Times

[gbaglo]

Nothing more social distancing than being dead.

 

[Patandlinda]

Hi: All... Here we go again!!! This Pan Dem ic is becoming a royal wave. I don't know how much more staying home I can take. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

I am with you on this ! It is getting very hard ! Pat

 

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Alf
Tell me about it. Between the pandemic and the derecho I’ve added some new vocabulary words to my thesaurus. And then there’s my son who was hit hard by the derecho and coined the term covrecho which in Swahili means “2020 has sucked so far.“ I’m not much on spicy food anymore, but still like a good cold beer and a good Italian beef with a few jalapeño slices and take the rest off if I’ve had enough.
Got some great onions drying and a 5 gallon bucket of peppers out of the garden yesterday. Wish I could have brought some to Niagara but was not to be. Next year.........
Iowa Dave

 

[Iowa Dave]

Cemetaries

Nothing more social distancing than being dead.

I managed cemeteries in three different cemeteries in my career.
I had a foreman who mentally collected cemetery humor and could do a routine that was pretty good. When asked about crew size he would always say “I’ve got ten thousand people under me”. And when complimented on his park maintenance he’d say “You ought to see the cemetery then, people are dying to get in”.

One of the hardest things I ever had to do was line up a baby grave sale the first thing on a Monday for a couple who had lost a child and did not have the $30 for the grave let alone the rest of the fees associated with a funeral. We gave them the plot and my tree workers opened and closed the grave. That was tough.
Iowa Dave

 

[h2owmn]

Glenn, that’s a great saying.

Here in the north of California I’ve had quarantine, then 105 degree days, add in air quality that peaked at 350 (below 50 is good) so had to keep the house closed up and I don’t have ac. Thank goodness the weather is turning cooler and the smoke is gone for now.

As several have remarked, maybe the grasshopper and frogs are next.

 

[escape artist]

Tombstone!!!

Hi: Iowa Dave... I'm going to have carved in stone "I said I didn't feel well!!!". Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

 

[camp4528]

Key West Cemetery

There are plenty of interesting stories in the Key West Cemetery - well worth a (non-permanent) visit.

This one is for Alf.

 

[escape artist]

There are plenty of interesting stories in the Key West Cemetery - well worth a (non-permanent) visit.

This one is for Alf.

Hi: camp4528... Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

 

[MyronL]

Anyone who has lived on a coast can understand this if they have spent time growing up with a beach. The family takes you to the beach in high summer as an outing that helps everyone cool off. A nice day far away from routine life back on the block. The walk from the car, spreading out the blanket on hot sand, the umbrella, maybe a cooler with sandwiches, and of course, being surrounded by others with their children. And the surf.

You rush to the surf. It knocks you down, you sit down in it, the sun is shining, you love it all washing over you. You walk out toward the horizon until you are neck deep in the water and you paddle around in it. Such a great way to spend a hot summer day.

That’s the way I grew up. It was the fifties, Ike, our kindly, honest, grandfather, was President, the world made perfect sense to me. It really was morning in America.

Things have changed so much since then. Now, we are on the verge of a great challenge, one that if there is justice in this world, will potentially bring us back to that feeling of promise for great things ahead.

 

[Iowa Dave]

Surviving

Anyone who has lived on a coast can understand this if they have spent time growing up with a beach. The family takes you to the beach in high summer as an outing that helps everyone cool off. A nice day far away from routine life back on the block. The walk from the car, spreading out the blanket on hot sand, the umbrella, maybe a cooler with sandwiches, and of course, being surrounded by others with their children. And the surf.

You rush to the surf. It knocks you down, you sit down in it, the sun is shining, you love it all washing over you. You walk out toward the horizon until you are neck deep in the water and you paddle around in it. Such a great way to spend a hot summer day.

That’s the way I grew up. It was the fifties, Ike, our kindly, honest, grandfather, was President, the world made perfect sense to me. It really was morning in America.

Things have changed so much since then. Now, we are on the verge of a great challenge, one that if there is justice in this world, will potentially bring us back to that feeling of promise for great things ahead.



Nice allegory Myron
Couldn’t agree more. I did not grow up around the ocean. With us it was creeks and rivers. We learned first to always wade upstream so if you stepped into a drop off, the current would carry you out not deeper. We learned not to walk along cut banks especially in the spring when they could give way. We learned not to walk on thin ice to get to a spearing area in winter without two picks on a cord around our neck in case we went through. And we learned how to build a fire and always carry a waterproof match case in the winter. I’m not concerned with what happens in the next ten days, I’ve voted, the auditor took the ballots from me personally on the curb in front of the courthouse. I trust her whether she’s politically oriented the same as I am or not. I’m setting on a rock with my feet in the water. I’m eating a can of sardines with my hobo knife and drinking water out of my World War II canteen with the canvas cover and wool felt lining. I am 14 again.
Iowa Dave

 

[MyronL]

My dad called inland streams and lakes "sweet water." When I took my very much younger brother camping in the woods I always brought along bacon. Not just because we liked it, but because bacon fat was a great way to get our campfire to stay lit.

 

[rubicon327]

Or, come election day, if we are forced back into the surf, we can be caught looking back at the beach and not see the wave rushing behind us and it will cover us, submerge us, and then a vortex of undercurrent will catch us and drag us out to sea, and we will all drown.

Geez Myron. It sounds like you need another delivery of Taylor pork roll!

 

[camp4528]

Nice stories!! Thank you. I’ll definitely be heading towards a Taylor pork roll when things are calmer and we’ve taken delivery of our 5.0, currently spring 2022 but you never know.

 

[Iowa Dave]

Bacon

My dad called inland streams and lakes "sweet water." When I took my very much younger brother camping in the woods I always brought along bacon. Not just because we liked it, but because bacon fat was a great way to get our campfire to stay lit.

My dad used to buy a can of bacon that was made in Denmark. It did not need refrigeration. We always had a can or two in the trunk of the Buick. That along with some soda crackers and a jar of Skippy peanut butter. Always Skippy because my dad liked the TV program “You asked for it” with Art Baker as the host and Skippy was one of the sponsors. Dinah Shore sang “See the USA in your Chevrolet”. And we dreamed about going to the black hills some day. We all had boy scout or military surplus mess kits. We’d fry the canned bacon, when we stayed out over night fishing. We had an all metal cooler with an embossed 7up logo on it. We had eggs in the cooler. So bacon, eggs fried in the bacon fat, and a loaf of bread that we fried when the eggs were done. We slept on the ground by the fire rolled up in a wool army blanket. I still have the blanket, now over 75 years old. My dad brought it back from the war. That was camping out for us. It’s different now, isn’t it? But not really better. My dad did not like Ike, his General was Omar Bradley. We are coming up on the anniversary of the “Bulge” I can’t imagine that “camp out” even now.
Iowa Dave

 

[Bobbie54]

I remember that canned bacon.

 

[Iowa Dave]

Bacon

I remember that canned bacon.

My memory is that it was pretty good. Of course it’s been 60 years and I was always hungry.
Did you ever eat it?. We had spam too along with sardines, anchovies, and kippered herring.
Iowa Dave

 

[cpaharley2008]

I keep looking for canned scrapple, but with no success.......

 

[steve dunham]

My dad called inland streams and lakes "sweet water." When I took my very much younger brother camping in the woods I always brought along bacon. Not just because we liked it, but because bacon fat was a great way to get our campfire to stay lit.

When I was a teen , I worked in a grocery store. This was back when grocery store had real butcher and not people who repackage pre cut meat
In the Fall we would ask Jerry the butcher for a big bag of pork fat they trimmed off the hogs
The pork fat was great for starting or keeping a fire going , we saved the bacon fat for frying up a big pan of potatoes and onions
Maybe not the healthiest breakfast but it sure tasted great and filled you up .

 

[Bobbie54]

My memory is that it was pretty good. Of course it’s been 60 years and I was always hungry.
Did you ever eat it?. We had spam too along with sardines, anchovies, and kippered herring.
Iowa Dave

I think we ate it camping once in awhile. blue and white can? that's what I vaguely recall. We didn't get bacon much, though, and when we did it was one piece per kid (5 kids).

 

[HABBERDABBER]

Quibble if you must

But my memory of canned bacon was very positive. I took some on some camping outing and was pleasantly surprised. I've gone online, you can still get canned bacon, but it is pricey, and Costco is just a hop & skip away....so all I have is a memory. Burp.