Goodbye, Old Hat

REMINDER ... for the benefit of those who might not have heard by now: This weekend is when we’re supposed to set our clocks forward ... on the rationale, as I understand it, that the time change will give farmers an extra hour for playing golf in the coming summer afternoons.

And how do I remember which way the clocks go?

Easy, right? First we SPRING FORWARD ... then we FALL BACK.

Or do we FALL FORWARD ... then SPRING BACK?

The more I think about it, the more confused I become (as though I could be any more confused than I already am).

Anyway ... if you’re as confused as I am, check with neighbors to see what they’re going to do in the middle of tonight ... unless, of course, they check with you first.
Good luck.

-S&G-

ONE OF MURPHY’S Lesser Known Laws (courtesy of HELEN, Florida): "The shin bone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room."

(This will be evident, of course, when you’ve gotten up in the middle of the night to reset all your clocks. Actually, does anybody reset them then?)

-S&G-

LOREE (Kansas) ... had a busy day ... did the outside chores, came in and thawed out, then did a couple loads of laundry, attacked the kitchen ... and, it would appear, the kitchen fought back.

She has a buffet-type piece of furniture there, holding her video viewer ... and the TV is perched precariously on the top shelf. Loree opened the doors beneath, sat down, and ... SURPRISE! ... "everything stuffed inside behind the doors slid out into my lap ... seed catalogs, JC Penney sales notifications, and ‘Birds and Blooms,’ for clear back into the beginning of 2008 ... last time I cleaned it was in January of last year, so I was a bit behind schedule this year ... I was amazed to count at least a dozen seed catalogs already ... for THIS year."

She kept the catalogs ... and the "Birds and Blooms," still in their wrappers and unopened ... and some time this year, she says, she actually get around to using the viewer to look at them.

Having survived that episode, she capped her day off with a two-hour nap that made it possible for her to get up long enough to do the outside chores again, fix supper ... and clean the kitchen all over again.

(Whew! I’m not sure a two-hour nap would be enough to get me going again.)

-S&G-

WALT (Ohio) writes: "After a very long time I finally found my way back to S&G, with help from Loree out in KS. It was like meeting an old friend that I had not seen for a very long time."

Welcome back, Walt ... old friend! Welcome!

-S&G-

Which leads us to ...

TODAY’S QUOTE: "Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." - Mother Teresa (courtesy of WALT, Ohio)

-S&G-

EARLY WARNING ... as you may already know ("bad news travels fast") ... next Friday is FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH ... need I say more?

-S&G-

THE OTHER DAY we had the pleasure of having lunch with a group of former co-workers whose custom it had been to gather to celebrate birthdays of those in the group ... It was great seeing them again, of course ... but I was amazed, via their respective updates, at how fast their children seem to be growing up. And how old I’ve become.

-S&G-

TODAY’S POEM - I don’t even have a picture of it (the hat that’s mentioned in today’s poem, that is). The original had never, to the best of my knowledge, sat for a portrait ... nor even had its photo snapped by someone mistaking its wearer for a celebrity.

So I had to resort to a stunt double to illustrate the poem about its plight ... and (sniffle-sniffle) mine.

The double, of course, is a younger version of the vanished one, but it's gradually becoming ... well, quite comfortable, like an old pair of shoes.

But now, the poem:

GOODBYE, OLD HAT

"My old brown hat is gone!"
I cried.
"When did you have it on?"
she sighed.
"This year, or last.
Time goes so fast."
"The one rumpled, crumpled,
and torn?"
"Yes, yes! Tattered, spattered,
forlorn.
Twenty years my best buddy ...
all that.
My oldest, dearest friend,
my hat.
Now it's gone, left no trace.
I'm wild ..."
"I'm sure it's, uh ... someplace,"
she smiled.
And, looking me straight in
the eye:
"But it was time to say
goodbye."
(originally published in Capper's)

-S&G-

COMMENT? Feel free ... below, if you like.
Or if you prefer e-mail, that's fine, too ... especially for more detailed observations, to rbrimm@peoplepc.com... and it helps if you put "Squiggles" or "S&G" ... something like that ... in the subject line (just remember, no religion or politics ... please!)

-S&G-

UNTIL NEXT week ... take care ... see ya.

-S&G-
© 2009