Author: Marilyn Armstrong

CEE’S FUN PHOTO CHALLENGE: TRUCKS WITH SOME BLUE – Garry & Marilyn Armstrong

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Oh so many choices!

Take your pick. Garry actually went out to take some pictures today, but didn’t get as many as usual. First, because he got caught by a fan who was also a photographer and by the time the conversation ended, the sky had darkened considerably. Blue and gray had turned almost black and dark. Rain was coming!

A truck or a mural. An octopus, whale, or a rich color of blue. Or, for that matter, water! It’s going to be a very rewarding experience I’m sure!

I find I have no whales or octopi. I’ve very good on trucks and while I lack any murals, I do have some mosaics. And I’m totally sure I’ve got a plethora of blue.

Photo: Garry Armstrong – Two trucks doing road repair. Actually not doing anything, but in theory, road repair.
Photo: Garry Armstrong – Trucks in downtown Douglas
It’s a mosaic because we don’t have any murals. But it’s an old one and it’s all about shearing sheep and marketing the wool. The best of Uxbridge!
Blue spiderwort
A very blue counter in an old Mendon diner

THINK IT’S GONNA RAIN – Marilyn Armstrong

#RDP 47: CLOUDS

I wasn’t going to post again … but I looked outside and it’s as dark as night. I guess we are getting some rain today. Finally. It’s about time!

As as the thunder rolled, the rain started pouring down.
Photo: Garry Armstrong, taken as the weather began to close in.

And now, it’s raining. Hard. It’s still very dark outside. Maybe we’ll get that cooler air they’ve been promising.

#FOWC IS PRESENT- Marilyn Armstrong

TODAY’S #FOWC CHALLENGE IS A PRESENT

I’m sleepy. Maybe it’s the grey day outside or maybe I haven’t had enough caffeine yet. Regardless, a challenge when I’m already challenged might be more of a challenge that I can presently meet.

My day began when I got a call from the dog groomers reminding me that Duke and Gibbs are up tomorrow. I knew that, but I said “thank you” for reminding me. Because I might as easily have forgotten. I forget everything these days.

On Mic

As I was drifting back to sleep, the phone rang again. It was (I swear this is true) the producer for an Irish (child of Netflix) production company that wants to do a story about Boston’s busing kerfuffle (the word of the day a few days back, but it seemed like a fine time to throw it into the heap) during the 1970s  through which period Garry was very involved in the reporting.

Garry always wanted to be a movie star. Maybe he’s going to get his chance?

I grant you it’s a little late in the game, but I pointed out Garry is a serious ham and always enjoys a chance to get back on camera. If we can work around the surgery issue, I’m certain he’d be present and know his lines.

The only thing is, he will still be swathed in bandages when the group comes over from Ireland at the beginning of August. Maybe they’ll come back again and grab Garry on a second round? When he isn’t wearing bandages? And maybe can hear a little?

It has been a busy week and barely begun. As I expected, I don’t have the time to write the number of posts I normally do, so this must suffice.

Later, gang.

This is an Hilarious Spoof of our Esteemed POTUS

I always loved Gilbert & Sullivan! Now, even MORE.

lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown

Thanks, Forgottenman, for bringing it to my attention.  There is a brief ad at the beginning you can cancel after a few seconds.

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WORLD SHARING – IT’S A BIG WEEK HERE AT KACHINGEROSA! – Marilyn Armstrong

After a lifetime of being hard of hearing, then much more hard of hearing and eventually, downright deaf, Garry goes into the hospital this coming Friday for cochlear implant surgery. It is supposed to be a “day surgery.” The actual operation, including preparation and setting up anesthesia and whatever tests they might run means it will most likely take around three hours.

About an hour after waking from sleep, Garry should be ready to come home.

Not surprisingly, he’s anxious about the surgery and worried about the changes he will need to make. We will both be making a lot of changes. All of this isn’t going to happen all at once.

There will be a month just waiting for the bandages to come off and another two weeks before the new “equipment” is installed. Then, over a period of months, as Garry should regain real hearing for the first time in his life.

Life will, I fondly believe, get better. But it’s also going to take some getting used to!

Share Our World

Since we are approaching the hottest part of our summer in the northern hemisphere, what’s your favorite ice-cream, frozen yogurt or sorbet flavor?  (Those of you who live down under I’m sure you remember what it is like in the hot summer months).

Definitely yogurt. And our personal favorite is black raspberry swirl!

How often do you people watch?

Here in Uxbridge, hardly at all. There aren’t a lot of people around to watch, especially not in this part of the neighborhood. But when we are in a mall or the grocery store — someplace where you can see people — then we watch.

When we are taking pictures, Garry is the one who usually shoots people. I think it’s a remnant of television shooting.

If you had a choice which would be your preference saltwater beaches, freshwater lakes, ocean cruise, hot tub, ski resort or desert?

I love saltwater for swimming. It’s “bouncier” than fresh water. But I don’t like having to get the salt out of every tiny part of me. So I guess you can say I like both, for different reasons.

Swimming on a cruise ship gives you saltwater to swim in without the sand. I guess I should pick that. Except we are nowhere near going cruising.

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week? 

I found my inability to know what day of the week it was hilarious. I’ve also been enjoying our very retro retreat into favorite old Westerns. The news has been so appalling and it seems to get worse each day. We need to get our heads back on straight and remember other days and other times.

It’s not easy to do this time around. We have to work at it. So it has become a daring combination of as much baseball as we can push into one day, followed by at least one good western. Now that we’ve signed up with “FilmStruck,” Garry has easy access to all those old movies he loves. Mind you, we already OWN half of them.

Maybe more than half. More like 75%. But he really likes not having to fiddle with the DVD. Having all these movies “on call” is an improvement. Also, many of them have been very nicely cleaned up for both sound and picture.

HAPPY NATIONAL ASSHOLE AWARENESS DAY!

There has never been a dearth of assholes in our world, but I think recent years has raised them to a level of importance they never previously enjoyed.

The assholes are everywhere! Obviously, we know who the biggest asshole of them all is, but please don’t forget the rest of the crowd.

No need to name America’s biggest asshole. We all know him.

I have to thank my husband and his friends for bringing this important holiday to my attention. I had long felt that the morons, jerks, and assholes in our lives were not getting the recognition they deserve.

Often ignored and disrespected, this is a special day, dedicated to them all. The assholes we love, the ones we meet on the street. The ones we worked with and for. And most especially, for those we elected to run the nations of our world. If you voted for the asshole, please feel free to add yourself to the list.

To all assholes everywhere, this is for you.

Obviously, we have one overwhelming asshole, but he has gotten more than enough recognition. I think we should try to remember our local and less-international assholes. Not world leaders, yet somehow, they manage to get under your skin. They are the people you really don’t want to invite to your next party, but sometimes, you just don’t have a choice.

We worked for them and with them. We’ve lived with them. We are related to them.

This is your day, assholes. Enjoy!

OPEN MEMORY – Marilyn Armstrong

A Wide Open Memory – RDP #46 and #FOWC

Just when I think I’ve finally figured out what’s going on with my body, something weird changes and I have to figure it out all over again. When I think I know what I look like, I take a peek in the mirror and wonder — “Who is that?”

When I know what day it is? It isn’t. Sometimes, I’m not fully clear on the year and recently, someone asked me my age and I said 22 without even a pause.

What would Superman have to say about today’s world? I’m absolutely sure he could fix it, aren’t you?

Now, it’s obvious I am not 22 … or for that matter, 62. I think my brain skipped a beat and made me — for that brief moment — the girl I was. Because in 1969, I really was 22. That was a great year. My best year.

The music was amazing. The news was upbeat and we just knew that somehow, everything would work out better. And it would do it soon.  It wasn’t that we didn’t have plenty of issues and problems, but we were positive, and absolutely, positively certain that we could overcome them and really be great. Americans.

Great Americans, not these tawdry pretend imitation creatures that mealy mouth Americans but act like Stalin’s cohorts.

We walked on the moon and the Mets — who had previously been not only the worst team in baseball but hilariously the worst team — won the World Series. My friends were alive, full of bounce, and energy. Nobody was trying to figure out where they could move so they could use public transport, avoid having to drive, and skip the hard winters.

We still liked winter. We thought snow was fun. We went sledding and tobogganing even though they hadn’t yet invented Uggs. We went to the beach in summer and people got a suntan and bragged about it.

We got birth control and Roe V. Wade came down from the Supreme Court — and it was a real Supreme Court with honest-to-God the best in the world judges on it. They didn’t always agree and some of them were definitely strict constitutionalists while others were more inclined to change the law because the world was growing up.

But for all of them, the Constitution of the United States was the issue. It mattered. Law mattered. No matter where they fell, on which side of whatever issue was presented, they cared enough to be sure they made decisions they believed were in the best interests of the people they served.

Remember that? They people they served? They served us because we were the people. Even the politicians we hated were real Americans. They believed in this country. They believed we had a role in this world and it wasn’t just to become the richest, most corrupt global corporation on Planet Earth.

It’s not hard for my brain to take a bounce and get back there. I wonder what kids today will remember as their happiest days? I hope it won’t be how many different things they could do with their mobile phones. That would be too pathetic.

So just when I think I know something, it skitters away. Sometimes, it’s because I forgot. It’s easy to forget. So many things don’t feel important now. Values have changed. My understanding of reality has changed.

Remember growing up with The Lone Ranger?

I bet the Super and Lone could make things right! With maybe a hint of Crockett, just for the legend. You should always print the legend.

#RDP – Open

#FOWC – Memory