MAGIC WOK

LONG AGO, when Mr. Bob and I used to go to our within-walking-distance Chinese restaurant, the lone waiter, once he knew we were business owners, used to greet us with

"Once upon a time.......", followed by "There was a Queen", then

"and a King". It was such a ritual that I used to add "and an Emporer", just so Patrick wouldn't feel left out. And so it went, visit after visit, our knowing exactly how the words would unfold, wishing we could somehow break the mold.

Fast forward a few years to when the neighbors we'd lived side by side with for 45 years all decided to go to dinner together once a month. We'd carpooled and watched over the neighborhood kids all that while without having time to socialize really and retirement was affording us that freedom. We began by going to various restaurants, but nearly all of them refused to give us separate checks at the end of a delightful evening and we found ourselves in the position of doing mathematical story problems in figuring out who owed what.

Patrick to the rescue! At The Magic Wok, he was perfectly willing to separate the cost of the meal and it didn't take us long to decide to return and give that restaurant our business each month.

Gunars, in the Hawaiian shirt, is no longer with us. He was a sheriff's deputy and he left us too soon, but his widow, Susie (in chartreuse) still joins us. She retired last month, the last of us to keep working.

Dave, wearing an island shirt here, was a camp director in the High Sierra. He's the one with the yard full of artfully arranged mining equipment, up on the corner. He pans for gold in his front yard, you may remember. His wife, Shirley designs greeting cards and holds workshops for rubber stamping.

Clockwise, Rita and Bill, Zip (so camera shy in the beginning, refer to the first group picture), his wife must have been absent that evening, Susie, Dave, the miner, us and Shirley, Dave's wife. All have interesting stories to tell and the laughter is long and loud on the evenings we meet. Patrick assures us that it's permissible to be boisterous.

His conversational skills have broadened way beyond "Once upon a time........." and he comes to our table and joins our chatter, bringing in the subjects of the stock market and whatever else is on his mind.


Tonight's the night we get together (the third Thursday of each month) and anticipation runs high........eating Chinese food with 9 or 10 dishes to share is a treat, providing much variety. Dave, the miner, is the only one who brings his own chopsticks and handles them comfortably, so we let him take home most of the leftovers.


I just sent Owen a red money envelope this morning for Chinese New Year

Meanwhile, Happy Chinese New Year. Would that you could join us tonight. What dish would you order?

ON HIGH

AS A CHILD, I didn't like to ride on my father's shoulders. I can remember the sensation quite vividly, even today, some 75 years later. However, there's something fascinating about seeing people in high places. Almost always, they are men and back during the last Presidential campaign, I did a piece for the web log, entitling it "MEN IN HIGH PLACES"  with several pictures.

These 3 are new pictures of men in high places and I was proud of myself in the first post of tying it to the election by daring to say that I hoped that Barack Obama would soon be in a high place.


Well........that's when the doo-doo hit the fan and a longtime customer/friend rose up on her hind legs and commented that she was no longer going to read our blog because I had sullied it by becoming so political.


That put what I call an Edith Bunker look on my face, as I tried to grasp her point.

So of course I dropped her from the list of people to be notified. I knew her political affiliation but certainly thought she could handle hearing my personal views. It's true that nearly all of our close friends feel differently about politics than we do and it's a subject we avoid like the plague. I'm not the least bit good about defending my views and can no more debate than I can fly to the moon (that's getting to be an outdated statement, isn't it?)

As a driver, I can rarely snap such pictures these days and Mr. Bob's photographer's eye is different from my own, so it's a rare thing to add to my collection. A friend of my daughter's offered to drive me around just so I could put my camera to good use out in the world. Thank you, Laurie......such a generous idea. I may yet take you up on it.

"All right everyone, line up alphabetically according to your height."Casey Stengel

MORPHEUS CALLS

SLEEPING BEAUTIES are my specialty. 

For a mother, there's nothing like having the family safe under one roof.

Dear Winnie fell asleep waiting for the entertainment. I asked an aide to awaken her gently so she wouldn't miss the program. 

Never before published. This woman crossed me seriously. Getting even.

My darling Mr. Bob can sleep any time, anywhere.

 Susan, during one of our hospital stays. She's such a fine advocate.

My favorite curmudgeon catching 40 winks.

Sweet dreams

Mr. Bob, doing paperwork.

Snapped in Chinatown.

Double slumber

"Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds."
~JoJo Jensen

FOUND QUOTATION

WHILE DOING SOME WORK on the February newsletter last evening, I came upon the quotation I wanted yesterday to go with the cloud pictures.  My filing system isn't what it should be.

And when I awakened this morning and lay there gazing at the sky from our place in the universe, the clouds slowly became tinted and I had to leave my warm nest to go get my camera.

“Never, never again

This moment, never, those slow

ripples across smooth water,

Never again these clouds white and gray....

The sun that rose from the sea this morning will never return for the broadcast light that

brightens the leaves and glances on water will travel tonight on its long journey, out of the universe, never this sun, this world, and never again this watcher.”

                                    Kathleen Raine

To me, it's interesting to realize that we, too, are changing  minute by minute and won't ever be quite the same as we were just seconds ago. 

SKIES

RECENTLY I found a perfect quotation to go with pictures of clouds. It was about the sky never looking the same and the need to realize that we are looking at a never-to-be-repeated scene each time we observe the sky. The words were profound and lovely and deep and I'll be damned if I know where to find them.

So, what I offer you today is second best, if indeed that. Should you be close to a window, lift your eyes and marvel at something you'll never see again.




"I saw two clouds at morning
Tinged by the rising sun,
And in the dawn they floated on
And mingled into one."
~John Gardiner Calkins Brainard



“A pessimist only sees the dark side of the clouds, and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides and shrugs; an optimist doesn't see the clouds at all--he's walking on them.”
              Leonard L. Levinson




“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”
                     Rabindranath Tagore



"I wandered lonely as a cloudThat floats on high o'er vales and hills..."
               ~William Wordsworth



"See yonder little cloud, that, borne aloft
So tenderly by the wind, floats fast away
Over the snowy peaks!"
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow



"When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the Creator. "

                     ~Mahatma Gandhi



"Those playful fancies of the mighty sky."
                                    Albert Smith



“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time”
                               John Lubbock



"There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul." 

                                   Victor Hugo                                                           

"The sky is the daily bread of the eyes."
                    ~Ralph Waldo Emerson



" I think the world really boils down to two types of people - those who see shapes in cloud formations, and those who just see clouds. " ~Terri Guillemets



"Gray skies are just clouds passing over."
                            ~Author Unknown

FROM THE ARCHIVES

DIPPING INTO MY STASH of accumulated photos, these prompted today's entry for neither rhyme nor reason.

In my weakened condition, I'm having trouble getting back into our high bed when I get up at night so the past two nights I've slept in that new La-Z-Boy......the one that looks (and is) geriatric. And I don't need a blanket when I wear this ridiculously outsized robe. I'm glad I kept it.

Were we ever this young? I wish I'd kept that vest and that large spectacles were still in style. 

All along I've been saying, "Yes, we sold the shop 9 years ago" and this morning I realized that it's nearing the 11 year mark. Time flies whether you're having fun or not. I'm glad it's still there (in a different location. The corner where it stood for 17 years is about to become a Starbucks much to the town's sorrow.) And I don't miss the responsibility of it one little bit. Not at all. 

I think this was taken on our last day at the shop. Maureen made the aprons for us. Amelia and Jessica are now quite grown up; the older one in college, I think. It was her letter to the local paper that resulted in her parents buying the store.

Our monthly newsletter was named, "Silhouettes", my reading glasses are called "Silhouettes", I buy clothes from a company with the same name. My earliest childhood book was illustrated with that art form. It's an important word in my life.

And that's your weekend "nothing" report. I forgot to take pictures of getting my haircut and permanent this week and going out to lunch twice with friends. I may be slipping. 

TALES OUT OF SCHOOL

I'M NEVER SURE what's okay to tell and what isn't. My purpose isn't to betray confidences and I try not to include anything that would embarrass the subject. Once in a while, I look out over one of our public rooms and am overwhelmed by a feeling of love.......a fierce love for those of us in our collective family here at the Manor........yes, even the ones with whom I don't resonate. The loveable, the unloveable, the complainers, the beams of sunshine. Human nature shows all around, perhaps the more so in the elderly.

Midge has a piano in her room and hopes that no one hears her practice.

Dot, at the left, is from the East Coast originally. She's as avant-garde as anyone here.
Helen and her Baptist minister husband, Rudy; Helen had a stroke back in the 80s and is one of the most cheerful people at the Manor.

Darling Glenys who claims to feel physically awful 100% of the time but always has a smile and a caring for others.

MaryMil, our newest resident, is a delight and is thrilled with the food served here. 

Ernestine, to the left, is the Residents' secretary and Evelyn is the organizer of the group of wise women known as "The Crones". Ernestine is a Crone, too.

Lola is about as big as a minute. She loves opera on the radio and once when told by a male resident to turn the volume down told him, "No and you can just get used to it."

Helen, to the right, is scheduled for cataract surgery a week from today. 

All of these pictures were taken last night at our monthly birthday dinner. Here Diana, Sona and Verjik sing in celebration.

Lucky us! It was gooooooood!