Dashing Through the Snow Going to a Show

Day 29

I bought tickets for Dashing Through the Snow today. It is a Christmas comedy set in Tinsel, Texas at an inn filled with unusual characters. This is a local production at the Kirtland Center for the Performing Arts in Roscommon. Taking mom for a night out this Saturday. Should be fun. I'll report back after.

Until tomorrow,

Ken

Model Trains Not a Thing of the Past

Day 28

Last night I drove to Roscommon Twp to get some groceries at the local Glenns store. I could have gone to Walmart but it's a little crazy on the weekends, plus I enjoy the drive to Glenns. While I was standing in the parking lot a train came thundering through town, the whistle blasting out it's warning could be heard for miles. Trains come through so seldom that Fred's Restaurant and Bowling Alley, which is next to the railroad tracks, buys all customers a round on the house. This brought to mind a memory from my childhood.

When I was about seven years old, my brother had a Lionel train set. The set had two different engines; a modern Santa Fe and a black steam locomotive, several freight cars and a caboose. The black locomotive would puff smoke if you dropped a special tablet into the smoke stack. There was many feet of metal track and a long curved tunnel shaped like a mountain which had to be placed perfectly or the train would hit the side and try to move the mountain.

My brother Tom and I weren't allowed to play with it because it was our oldest brother Bill's train set and it used a large electric transformer that was considered possibly dangerous. Mostly though it was because it belonged to my brother and he didn't want us to play with it. He was older and bigger than us, so he got his way.

When our parents and brother were not home we would sometimes pull out the three boxes of track and trains and the heavy controller. We would set up the track in different configurations from ovals to figure eights and the tunnel under the mountain was a must. We would spend hours running the trains and when we were really daring we would put a pellet in the smoke stack of the steam engine and wait for it to warm up and start puffing smoke rings as it went around and around. Daring because there was a limited supply of pellets. Often a model car would  stall on the tracks and POW, train wreck. The plastic car would fair much worse than the heavy metal train.

When we heard a car pull into the driveway we would scramble to pull the track apart, put the locomotives and freight cars back in the box and lug the transformer/controller (I swear it weighed a hundred pounds) back upstairs to the attic. Then innocently stroll back down the stairs. Eventually the train set stayed in the basement where would set it up but when we didn't have to sneak, it lost it's appeal. I guess half of the fun was carrying it down from the attic to the basement and back without getting caught.

Back then there were enthusiasts who would set a piece of plywood with permanent trees, bushes buildings and complete little towns with road crossings and even people. Some with enough track to run several trains at the same time. Truly amazing. There are still people who do this today.

I went online just to see what a model train set costs now and found that model trains have changed over the years. There are a plethora of different models, many run on batteries and are remote controlled. Currently the most popular would be a replica of the Polar Express, and even this has many variations and price ranges. Also there are many train shows and clubs still here in Michigan. I may have to take a ride to see one and feel young again for a day.

Until tomorrow,

Ken

GO SPARTANS...GO GREEN

Day 27

The championship game is tonight. But the big championship game is not until next year. Still tonight's game is huge. For the Spartans to reach the NCAA championship game they first have to beat undefeated Iowa tonight in Indianapolis. Should be easy, right? Wrong.

Tonight they play the only undefeated team in the Big 10. And that's never easy, even in the so called "watered down" Big 10. I hope the Spartans are not dismissing the Hawkeyes by looking ahead. Most local pundit's believe MSU is a shoe in to play Clemson in the first elimination. 

The Spartans are a legitimate national powerhouse and should be capable of dispatching Iowa. Unless there is a total meltdown of the committee, they should give MSU the fourth and final spot if not better. So keep your fingers crossed and then keep your fingers crossed again.

GO SPARTANS...GO GREEN

Until tomorrow,

Ken

DO NOT READ THIS!!

Day 26

Aw, what did I just tell you. Slept most of the day recovering from Detroit Lions "no time on the clock last play" because of a face masking penalty on the real last play. My throat still hurts from yelling at the television. The Lions are cursed, that's the possible explanation. The players played hard and they played well. The coaching staff have done a good job.

The defense makes the Packers fumble, the ball goes forward 10 yards across the goal line, only to be covered by a Packers player for a touchdown. The Packers defense grabs Stafford's arm fro a fumble at the 10 yd line and then get a touchdown right after. Finally the questionable face mask call giving the packers one more play even though time has expired and the "hail Mary" pass caught by the Packers for a touchdown to win the game. NOBODY has that much bad luck in one game, except the LIONS. It's a curse.

Until tomorrow,

Ken

I am a Procrastinator

Day 25

I am a procrastinator. There I've admitted it, but it doesn't change anything. I have a hole in my kitchen floor about the size of a mans size thirteen gray slipper right foot. How do I know? Because that's what made the hole. And it's not the first hole. Just a continuation of another hole. I put my whole right leg through the first hole. I should have completely removed and replaced that section of the floor. I went fishing instead. Numerous times.

I went to Home Depot to get a piece of wood to cover the hole so I won't get any uninvited guests tonight. I placed the piece of plywood over the hole and checked by the door to see if I had taken the screws back out to the shed after I had covered the first hole. Fortunately I had procrastinated about taking them back to the shed so I didn't have to fumble around in the dark looking for the screws. One for procrastinating.

I grabbed the cordless drill motor off the table where I left it after covering the first hole. Two for procrastinating. The screw bit was still in the chuck, That's three. I loaded a screw and started to run it into the wood cover to keep it from moving. The battery was dead. I had put off charging it. While the battery is charging I have time to write my blog entry for today. Call that even.

So while I'm waiting for the drill motor battery to charge I'll just say this. If I had done the job right in the few hours it would have taken, I wouldn't have needed the drill motor or the screws. But it all worked out in the end. Soon I'll be watching football. I can finish patching the hole in the morning.

Until tomorrow,

Ken

Papa's Key of Life: A Story

Day 24

He walked up the center aisle past the rows of gunmetal gray folding chairs. His steps were slow and deliberate like the pendulum of a clock. Eyes downcast, watching as first one shoe would appear then the other. There was a small scuff mark on the left toe, it would have to be buffed out. Looking up he saw the bronze metal casket with golden handles. The right half was closed and draped in a blanket of red roses. The left half was open showing the ruffled, lily white satin liner. His mind drifted back to just a few weeks ago.

“Papa, why do people die?”

The old man hesitated a moment and then continued to shuffle forward down the hall until he and the boy were standing in front of the dusty grandfather clock. He opened the glass door on the front, reached down and picked up the key. He reached up, opened the clock face and inserted the key. The boy could here the sharp click, click, click as Papa wound the clock spring. The key was placed back in the body of the clock and with a gentle nudge the pendulum started to swing side to side in a slow hypnotic rhythm. Papa turned to the boy with a thoughtful expression.

“People are very much like this old grandfather clock. When we are born an angel comes down from heaven with a key. The key of life.”

They walked back to the study and Papa sat down in his favorite chair next to the fireplace. The boy climbed up into his lap and snuggled into the crook of his arm.

“The angel inserts the key right here”, he said pointing to the boys belly button. “You see? Then the angel gives it a turn and winds up the life spring inside us. When the spring of life winds down our souls are set free, like a moth leaves it's cocoon and then flies away. How long we live depends on how many turns of the key we receive.”

The boys mother took his hand in hers bringing back to the present. She wiped away a tear. The boy peered over the side of the casket. It looked wrong somehow. This was not his Papa. This looked more like a department store mannequin, plastic and cold. He remembered what his Papa had told him. This was just a cocoon, the soul had already departed.

His mother smiled and said, “Your Papa loved roses”

The boy watched the delicate wings flex next to a red petal and said, “He sure does.”

Until tomorrow,

Ken

Musings From My Mind: Computer Dating

Day 23

Back in the 70's, when I was much younger, my cousin convinced me that she had a friend who liked me. The plan was I would call this friend on the phone and ask her if she wanted to go to the varsity basketball game on friday night. I felt scared, excited and queasy all at the same time. What if she didn't like me? What if she said no? What if she said yes? I broke out in a cold sweat. My mouth and throat felt like the Sahara desert at midday. I picked up the phone and started to dial then hung up. I dialed again, the phone on the other end started to ring. What if mother answered? What if her father answered? I was facing the firing squad without a blindfold. She said yes. I went through hell and came out the other side and found paradise.

I dated that same girl for eight years through high school and college. She became the other half of my life, the better half even. We had our ups and downs as any couple does. It's all a part of growing. In the end, we grew apart. She wanted to get married and I just wasn't ready. It may not have been the best relationship I ever had but it's in the top two. She set the bar awfully high.

(Had to stop for a glass of wine, I was getting all choked up)

As I aged it became easier to ask but more difficult to date. I always felt I was being compared to the "Ex". Checking for similar flaws to the last guy. Eventually I met someone with the same ambitions as me and a personality similar to my high school sweetheart. We didn't always agree; we learned about each other. We were together for eleven years until her untimely passing at the age of 43. This was the other of my top two relationships. Both relationships took courage and compromise and time to develop.

Nowadays young people simply fill out a form on the computer and a dating sight shows them several of the best possibilities for a successful relationship. My favorite commercial is when the young woman says, "I don't have time...". OK the bar scene may not be your best bet to finding true love, there are other places to look. I have to wonder if she doesn't have time to look for a relationship (the reason for the speed and convenience of using a dating service), how will she find time to HAVE a relationship.

The dating companies brag about the number of marriages resulting from their match making services. They never mention how many end in divorce. How long do their match ups last?

I never started a relationship with the soul purpose of getting married. I did it for the experience and companionship and the love.

Take a chance. Ask someone your interested in. Don't wait for a computer to set you up with yourself. Variety is the spice of life.

Until tomorrow,

Ken