NO DUCKS

Katie and her grandfather "Say" at the Kinderhook - 1991

This morning, as we usually do for Sunday breakfast, we use the Make-a-Plates I made about twenty-five years ago. At that time, I made animal drawings on the plates for the granddaughters, and put some of my favorite sayings on the set for us. Today, when Frank finished his French toast, he read the saying “No ducks, es worms.” That was what Katie said, probably in disgust, when her parents asked about the resident ducks at her preschool. Just worms there that day.

As he usually does when he reads one of her sayings, he reminisces about the wonderful times we had with her and her sister when we lived just a few miles away from each other in upstate New York. This morning, he asked me “How big is she now?” I had to smile. I said, “She’s thirty.” Oh. He’s confusing her with her daughter, Adeline, who is just the same age as Katie was then. They’re all in Texas now, and we wish we were closer.

KATIE - 1993

At age eighty-eight, and having had two mild strokes resulting in mild senile dementia, it is understandable that he confuses the generations. It’s also understandable that he confuses Adeline with his Katie. Adeline is almost a Katie mini-me.

ADELINE 2019

ANIMAL FARE

I went to the animal fair,
The birds and the beasts were there

A Parliament of Owls

Trivia buffs know, and usually remember, an odd selection of facts. Many specialize in fields like the history of sports, television, or popular music. Some specialize further into individual sports and  music genres.

Then there are generalists like me. For a few days before our monthly Trivia League game, I quiz myself on crazy, trivial facts. Crazy is the word, ‘cause it does make me a little crazy. One bunch of facts I’ve always loved is the names of groups of animals. I do remember some, but most are lost to the depths of memory.

You can understand intuitively how some of the groups got their names: a tower of giraffes, a parliament of owls, a pandemonium of parrots. Then there are something fascinating groups: murder of crows, an unkindness of ravens, or a zeal of zebras.

My favorite – an exaltation of larks.

UP EARLY

The Big Dipper is in its Winter position now.

This morning when I got up and went to close the drapes - I close them so the morning light won't disturb Frank - what did I see? The Big Dipper. What a treat to have it handing right there outside my bedroom window.
I'm so glad I saw it, because it gave a happy start to my very early day. I was awake at what is now 4:30 a.m. The switch in time really bothered me this year. I don't know what powers that be decided we needed to have Daylight Savings Time in the first place, but they should have set the clocks ahead and left it at that - forever.
There are movements afoot to leave time - someday - at the earlier hour. DST was supposed to save money, and it really hasn't proved to do that. There are many pros and cons. I'm all for keeping DST.
So now, that I'm up early, I'll go write something.