Spring Time in Summertree

Spring is running late this year, but the azaleas are in full bloom now. The photo is a view of wild azaleas in the woods adjacent to our back yard.

Time and Plans

To the followers who read Kris’ comment to this morning’s post: I have to admit that she was correct in my wanting to make a long and interesting road trip with her shortly after she got her driver’s license. I was thinking of a trip following the Alaskan Highway to Fairbanks or a trip down the Baja peninsula to La Paz. But it never worked out. One or the other of us was always too busy with something else.

However, later in our lives, something better happened. We made two ‘Journeys to China’ together in quests for Xiandong and QuJie. They were the two most thrilling adventures in my life. The road trip we missed could not have compared with either of them.

Time

There is an essay in this morning’s StPeteTimes regarding ‘time’ as it relates to old age. In part, it reads: “Guess what, kiddies, your golden years are the time when you’re suddenly aware that time is short and getting shorter every day; and it exactly coincides with your increasing inability to do the things you’d planned to do.”

I sort of take exception: I’m damn near 90 years old and I can’t think of a thing that I’ve missed doing that I had planned to do. Oh yes, there were things left undone, that should’ve been done, but I didn’t ‘plan’ on doing them, simply because I didn’t want to....

Basketball

I’ve been extremely fortunate in every phase of my life. It’s hard to say which was the happiest; early childhood, high school, pilot during WWII, wooing Lomie, 27 years with GE, or retirement. But I have to rate my last two years of high school near the top. Being on the basketball team played a big part in it.... I am # 8 in the photo.

Think

Too often people overemphasize logic and ignore other modes of knowing.  If you leave out what your instinct tells you, your thinking is not very good.

XVI

In the early spring of 1937, I was 16 years old, a junior in high school and had my own 1929 Model ‘A’ Roadster for pleasure driving. I was a starter on the basket ball team and the prettiest girl in high school was my steady. I had a morning paper route and worked Saturdays in a grocery store; my income was about $5 per week. That was enough to for spending money. In fact, I had a bank account and may have been the richest 16 year old boy in town. I know for sure that I was the luckiest.

Sensational

You would have to pay a lot of money for thrill rides at an amusement park to get the same blend of psychedelic sensations that a pilot gets when flying a C-46 over the jungles of darkest Africa at night during a violent thunderstorm....

Xian and me in China

Meeting people on the streets in China and showing off my little granddaughter was a great thrill. I carried a small card, which Kris had given me; it was printed in Chinese and read, “I come to China to adopt one of your little girls. I will always love her and will teach her about beautiful China. I will never let her forget her heritage.” I would show the card to the people that gathered near. It was all that was needed to break the language barrier. Their comments and actions brought tears to my eyes more than once.

Getting Old

I was taught to respect my elders.  But it is getting hard to find any of them.

The Barefoot Princess

Lavon, my baby sister, was 14 years old when this picture was taken in 1939. It gives a hint of how things looked during the great depression. Not to say she didn’t have nice dresses; she did. But as a young teen-ager, with two older brothers to compete with, she was pretty much a tom-boy. She preferred to go barefoot, wear overalls and be in a good corn-cob fight, to wearing shoes, dresses and playing with dolls. A few years later she was a beautiful young woman married to a handsome young policeman.

At Home

God is in His Heaven.  I am in my home.

T-Bird

Stepping up in the world. I bought this good-looking Ford Thunder-bird in 1960. Of all the cars I have owned; it is still my favorite. The 1960 T-bird was often referred to as The Banker’s Hot Rod..

Spring has Sprung

At last, spring has arrived in Florida.  Trousers and sweaters are put away; summer shirts and shorts are now standard wear.  The quilt is off my bed; a sheet is enough cover.  The lawns will soon be green; the azaleas are starting to bloom.  I feel like shouting!

Lomie - February 1943

I found her room; tapped on the door — she opened it. There were no words, only breath taking silence.... She was more beautiful than I remembered.... The next thing I knew, she was in my arms, tip-toeing to kiss me — our lips met.... The kiss did not say, “I’m sorry.” It said, “I love you! And I want you to love me. Let’s be lovers again tonight — and see what tomorrow brings.”

Scary

One of the scariest aspects of our times is how easy it is for the loudmouths on the TV news channels to turn us against each other.

Before the Big One

This photo of Mom with her two sons was taken shortly before WWII. Chuck had ran off to Canada to join the RCAF immediately after graduation from high school. And I had enlisted in the Army Air Corp three months before. We were both home on leave. It’s obvious that Mom was very proud of us.... But we can not begin to imagine how much worry and stress she endured the following five years.
By-the-way, the next time Chuck and I met, we both were wearing Silver Wings

It Happens

As I've grown older, I've become less critical of myself. I've become my own best friend.. Too many of my friends have left this world, before they had the chance to feel the contentment that comes with ‘growing old’.

Before PCs

This is a photo of my den, taken shortly after moving to Florida in 1986. The typewriter is a Xerox Memory Writer; bought before PCs were popular. I used it to write my autobiography. It had a lot of good features, but it certainly wasn’t a full-blown word-processor. The cost of it was far greater than what I had to pay for any of the computers and accompanying hardware that I’ve owned.

Flight Plan

I’ve been informed that I am taking a lonely route to eternity. It is probably true! I admit that my flight plan is different from most, as I am more concerned with actions than beliefs.

I am positive that there are many routes to the desired location. And that makes me a little peeved with people that have told me that their way is the only way. But I’m trying to forget it.

I’m confident with my flight plan. It may be a lonely route, but I’m on course and enjoying the trip.

Graduation

This photo was taken on Kristina’s graduation night at Indiana University in 1974. It’s a pretty good picture of all three of us.... But how about that suit, shirt and tie that I’m wearing? Golly! The suit is still hanging in my closet. I don’t think it has been worn since that night. And I doubt that it was ever worn more than three or four times. In fact, I can’t remember wearing it for any other occasion. Nice summer suit, but too flashy, it doesn’t match my conservative personality :-)

Care

Our distant friends may not realize how important they are to us, so it's up to us to make them understand. We should follow whatever method that fits us best, whether it's with chatty emails, newsy letters, greeting cards or by telephone. They will be glad to know we care. And for the people closest to our heart,We need to keep sending sincere, “I love you!” signals.  They work wonders!

10 Days Old

This picture is of Lomie and Kristina, taken when Kris was 10 days old. I have a photo of her with her granddad, taken at the time. Also one with her grandmother. But I can not find any pictures of Kris and me together when she was a small baby. I’m disappointed!

Well, not really.... I still have the memories! I was very happy --- thrilled to be Kris’s daddy and proud of her beautiful mother.

Luck ll

I may have put too much emphasis on LUCK in a previous post. I hope not. Work, Wits and Luck have to be in unison for a happy life. Luck is the most volatile of the three.

To live in comfort, you must work and use your wits to earn, save and acquire... But it’s also important to keep looking for opportunities (Chances for Luck). Without Luck, life would be boring. Coming out a winner, after acting on a tough decision, is a real thrill! A little happiness, now and then, makes just being comfortable a lot easier to take. You feel richer and sing better, too.

Service Station

Shortly after my discharge from the Air Force, Lomie and I returned to Sandborn. I soon leased and began operating a new Standard Oil Service Station. It was a good business, but it was a 7 days a week job with long hours. It got us off to a good start in civilian life; enabling us to buy a nice home, new furniture and a car. I was satisfied ‘til Kristina was born.... Then, I knew a change had to be made. Working long hours made it nearly impossible to see my baby except when she was asleep in her crib. My search for a new job was short. I went to an employment agency; they made an interview appointment with the new General Electric plant in Linton. I was hired immediately, and started work on second shift that evening It was a big reduction in income, but the new job gave me time to be a daddy. I made arrangements for one of my employees to buy me out of the Service Station business. .

Luck

Some people work hard and still fail. Others don’t believe in work; they fool themselves, thinking that they can live by their wits alone.

The rest of us know that to get by in this world, it takes both hard work and wits. And to live well, we know luck is needed, too. Without luck, we seem to struggle. Therefore, in order to be lucky, we expose ourselves to chance; knowing that each time we take a chance, we better the odds of being lucky.

Yes, taking chances borders on gambling! So, to improve the odds, we perfect a hunching skill. A hunch is a backlog of bits of information our brains have been gathering and storing. When a decision has to be made, the brain, like a computer, will put together all of the facts and figures that we didn’t know we knew and give us a calculated hunch. Then, it’s time to take a chance!

Air Mechanic

Eight months after I enlisted in the Air Corp, about the same time that I met Lomie, I received a First Class Air Mechanic rating. I only wore one stripe on my sleeve (PFC), but the rating made my pay equal to a Master Sergeant’s, and with flight pay which I always manage to qualify for, it equaled the base pay of a Captain. The extra boost in pay made it easier for me to keep enough gas in my 34 Pontiac to make the 30 mile trip, three or more times a week, to date Lomie. It worked out well when I was selected for pilot training, too. It was an Air Corp rule that one’s pay couldn’t be reduced when placed in another assignment. Therefore my pay, while in Flying School, was about twice that of a regular Flying Cadet. Good fortune seemed to stay with me through out my six years of military service.

Qualms ll

I guess I can lay my ‘qualms’ aside. The blog comments and emails were all positive; urging me to continue with my posts. Soooo... as long as I can find a picture that reminds me of a story from the past, an interesting paragraph from my autobiography, or a worthwhile quote from ‘My Something to Think About’ file, I’ll keep posting Non-Sense. Thanks to all of you who care!