Godzilla's Bird in the Hand

A week or so ago, my friend Andy Fish asked for my snail mail address. I thought he was sending out a promotional postcard announcing an upcoming art show he and his wife, Veronica were participating in.

Last Thursday, I was surprised when I went through the mail and found this large, flat mailer addressed to me from Andy. 

Inside the nicest note I've ever received and a tiny, twee cardinal charm. Andy said when he and Veronica saw the cardinal they thought of me.

Cardinals always make me think of my parents. They loved watching these birds at their bird feeder. After my parents passed away, I started seeing cardinals especially when I was feeling down. It never failed when I was down in the dumps, I'd see a cardinal which I took to be a message from the folks. 

Last Thursday, I was feeling very sorry for myself. Himself had gallantly shared his sinus cold with me, and I was put out that I would have to postpone the runaway weekend trip with Teague to the Berkshires. There was no time to reschedule the trip, and there was something I really wanted to do.

Inside that padded envelope, the teeny, cardinal charm. My folks again, thanks to Andy.

The charm also came with a little card:

The

Christmas Cardinal

Charm

This little cardinal brings

good luck to you.

It symbolizes the power of faith

in all that you do.

Its brilliant red color symbolizes

joy and Christmas cheer,

bringing beauty and warmth

to last throughout the year

Wishing you all the joys

of the season!

This little charm

may be carried in a pocket,

held, or placed on a shelf.

Godzilla holds my favorite pen Man pen, and so the little bird won't get lost among the tools and desk toys, Godzilla lends a hand (along with a bit of museum putty) to guard the little cardinal.

Second on the Second

From October 22, 2015 a Throwback Thursday

When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time at this house. My mother's sister and her family lived here. When I was little, my grandma lived here, too. The door used to be the same brick red color.

Because Ma worked, Auntie was like another mother. During school vacations, we would ride the Green Line (subway) with Dad. We would get off the subway at Government Center (formerly Scollay Square). Dad would go to his office in Boston, and The Brother and I (or I would go by myself when I was 9 or 10) would go down the subway stairs to the Blue Line to catch a train to Maverick Square in East Boston.

Even though the Airport Station was closer (Auntie's house was one street away from Logan Airport), we were cautioned to get off at Maverick Square.  We were always told Airport Station was not safe. I suspect it was like we were told there were hobos in the woods. Maverick Square was safer as we could just walk straight down Chelsea St.  No turns and no crossing busy streets.

The door opened into a porch. On the left and up 3 steps was the door to Auntie's house. On the right, was the door that led to the two apartments upstairs. Auntie's husband grew up in this house. His sister and her husband  lived on the second floor. Uncle's mother and a mentally handicapped brother lived on the top floor. When I was little, I called Uncle's mother "The Grandma Who Lived Upstairs". I just remember a tiny, old woman with white hair. She always wore a dark colored dress and a black sweater draped across her shoulders. When The Grandma Who Lived Upstairs passed away, Uncle Peter lived with his sister on the second floor and the top floor apartment was rented out.

We'd knock on the door and waited to hear Auntie coming down the hallway. I can still hear her calling out "Who is it? I always yelled "It's ME!" and she'd reply "Who's me?" before she opened the door.

One thing I didn't like about Auntie's house was the "Buckhowsah", the bathroom, as my grandma called it. The bathroom was at the end of the long, dark hallway, before entering the main house. The bathroom wasn't heated and during the Winter, you could freeze to the seat if you weren't careful.

If the weather was nice, we'd get to play outside with The Cousins.  Take turns riding bikes or roller skating on the sidewalk, playing hopscotch, or marbles using the sewer cover as the playing field. We might get a chance to run errands. Go to the end of the block to Anna's the fruit and vegetable lady, cross the busy street at the light to go to Guy's, the neighborhood grocery store. When I was a teen, we'd go to the barber to get our hair cut by the cute barber.

Summertime, was the best time to be there. Men with trucks would come down the street selling fruit. They'd yell, "Ey waddamalone!" And then there was the man who wheeled a refrigerated pushcart. He sold Slush, a frozen lemonade which he piled into a small, pleated paper cup. On a hot Summer day, it was Heaven in the palm of your hand and all for a nickel.

When I turned 10, I got to have tea with Auntie. She'd make me a cup of tea. It was really more milk than tea with a spoonful or two of sugar in a china tea cup with matching saucer. There would be cookies, too, sometimes the store bought spice cookies shaped like Dutch windmills and Dutch boys and girls. If it was after a holiday, there would be Grandma's bow cookies drizzled in honey and Auntie's sesame seed cookies.

After work, Ma and Dad would come to pick us up. We'd stay for dinner and everyone would crowd around the table in the small kitchen. We'd have Grandma's Cappellini, home-made macaroni shaped like little hats, meatballs, sausage, and Scali bread from Blundo's Bakery to sop up the gravy.

The old folks have all passed away, but the memories and the door remain.

It's your turn to play. From Elizabeth: Now it's time to share your Second on the 2nd.  The rules are quite simple and everyone is welcome to join the fun look back.  All you have to do is bring back a post that you are especially proud of, or perhaps one you shared before anyone knew your blog existed.  Any post, any genre, any artistic endeavor is acceptable.  Join hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth to see what else is being served up the Second Time Around.

Throwback Thursday

 

Some words of wisdom from my Grandma. She used to say that the problems you think you have are flowers compared to what other people are going through. It probably sounds a lot better in Italian.

Throwback Thursday

 

Some words of advice from Ma. "Don't borrow trouble." She meant when you were going through something try not to think about all the negative what-if scenarios. 

A Matter of Perspective

 Himself's youngest brother's wife came for a visit to pick up seeds that Himself wouldn't be using in his garden this year.

The conversation turned to her hobby which is hiking. She has been hiking portions of the Appalachian Trail. The trail stretches 2200 miles from Georgia through Maine in the Appalachian Mountains.

She told us that a few years ago, she would see lots of women hiking the trail by themselves. 

"I saw one elderly woman on the trail." she said, "She had to be at least 70. And I thought, you go, girl!"

"J, elderly? I'm 68. I'll be 69 this Summer." J is 10 years younger than I am.

"Oh, wait, she had to be at least 80"

"Good save"

The Friday Five Good Things A Day Late

 

Prissy at her 85th birthday 
12. August 2011

Five good things that happened this week.

1. I had a dream about Prissy. Probably because I was thinking of using her zucchini bread recipe. In the dream, we were going to have tea outside, but it was raining. The dream was so real. I felt as if I had been with her. I used her recipe with a couple of minor tweaks to bake 2 loaves of zucchini bread

2. Calli lets me know she wants a "cookie" (treat) by sitting in front of me and looking at me and the cabinet where the treats are kept. I gave her one of the hairball treats.  But she spit it out. Ptooey! I guess she doesn't like those treats anymore.

3. Errands and Harry’s for late lunch/dinner. I had the Coconut Shrimp and a Raspberry Lime Rickey

4. Some hefty thunderstorms rolled through. Knock wood, no damage even though there wre a couple of close lightning strikes

5. And another year around the sun

How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1.The Eldest and I had lunch at the Farmer and Fork and spent the afternoon wandering around the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill.

2. The Eldest and I binged watched Card Captor Sakura, a favorite anime when she was little.

3. Had a chat with Teague and we made tentative plans to return to Camp Newport during the first week of August.

4. Had a phone call from my cousin remembering 4th of July celebrations with the aunts and uncles at his house when we were kids. 

5. The Eldest came with us to visit the cemetery. The Fourth of July would have been my parents' 80th wedding anniversary. We stopped for lunch at the Cracker Barrel.

How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Enjoyed a nice thank you lunch at Point Breeze with Himself's teaching assistants

2. Himself's college roommate and his wife ran a half marathon over the weekend in Rhinebeck, NY. We met them for lunch at The 51 Park Restaurant in Lee, Massachusetts. Good food, lots of laughs

3. While driving through the Berkshires and admiring the foliage, we saw a bald eagle

4. I had a funny dream about my Ma. I was in a crowded place when I heard my name to "come over here". I saw her in her Persian lamb fur coat, but she was only 2 feet tall like a little doll. So very cute.

5. The operating system wouldn't update so had to do a reinstall and lost some accounting files. Tech support helped me get back on track.

Throwback Thursday - Casper the Ghost Doll

 

It seems like a wave of nostalgia has washed over the Blogosphere. It started with Divers and Sundry posting the song Remote Control and BioArtGal posting a back to school journal page.

The one who sent me wandering down memory lane was Andy Fish posting about his visit to The Harvey Mercheum - A Celebration of Harvey Comics.

I read some of the Harvey comics: Lil Lulu, Lil Audrey, Richie Rich, but I liked watching Baby Huey, Casper the Friendly Ghost and other cartoons on Saturday mornings. 

When I was 5 years old, I had been very ill. It wasn't measles, but I don't remember what the illness was. Maybe the flu. Just that I had a very high temperature and was in bed for a long time. 

 I remember Ma had called Dr. East, and was upset with him that he wouldn't make a house call. Dr. East said Ma could bring me to the office. It was Winter, and Ma bundled me up in my fuzzy, blue jacket that smelled of Mr. Whitaker's stinky cigars. (Mr. Whitaker was the driver that picked me up for nursery school and kindergarten.) Dad wasn't home from work yet and Ma didn't drive a car back then. She called her friend, Isabel, who lived down the street and gave Ma rides into Boston when Ma worked for the Carver Dress Company in Boston's garment district.

The doctor's instructions were to put me in a tub of lukewarm water to try to bring my temperature down along with doses of orange flavored St. Joseph Aspirin for children.

On the short ride home, I remember being very hot and the stinky cigar fumes from my coat making me feel even worse. Ma grumbled that the doctor made her bring a very sick child out in the cold when he barely did an examination and could have told her to put me in a tub of lukewarm water while she was on the phone with him. 

I must have been very ill and my parents very worried. Shortly after the visit to the doctor's office, Dad brought home a talking Casper the Ghost doll for me. This is why I know I must have been very ill. The Brother and I got toys and stuff at Christmas and our birthdays, but not at random times during the year.

I'm sure Ma would have preferred he had brought home a baby girl doll, but Casper became my favorite (even though I secretly wanted the Matty Mattel doll).

I loved Casper and lugged him around with me everywhere until his white, terry cloth body became a dingy grey. The doll I had didn't have Casper's name embroidered on his chest. Casper talked when you pulled the magic ring at the back of his neck. He made a ghostie sound, "OOooooo" and he also said, "I'll play with you." Casper fell out of bed with a loud thunk. He fell out of bed so often Ma and Dad stopped rushing in to check to see if I was alright. Casper's trips to the floor caused some of the phrases he said to run together. My Casper said "Oooo, play iwth youoooo."

Many years later I commuted to Boston University. In the mornings, my dad or Isabel's sister, Josie, who worked in Boston would give me a lift. In the afternoons, I would take the T from Kenmore Square Outbound to Longwood to catch a bus to Natick. Sometimes I would take the T inbound to Boylston and walk down Boylston St. to Park Square to catch the the Boston to Framingham bus. If I was early for the bus, I would window shop at the Boston Music Company or an antique shop next door.

One day as I walked by the antique store, in the window was a Casper doll. Just like my Casper doll. He didn't have his name emblazoned on his chest. I was very tempted to go in an ask about Casper, but a sign at Casper's feet indicated he would cost $100 to bring home. I only had enough cash in my pocket for bus fare so I walked on by.

Y'know, I've always been sorry I didn't check to see if that Casper was my Casper. One pull of the magic ring, one "Oooo, play with youooo" and I would have known for sure.

Did you have a favorite doll or toy when you were a kid?

Tea Stands for Magic at the Cemetery

The weather was so nice three days after Mother's Day and we had nothing planned so it seemed a good time to go to the cemetery to visit my folks.

Before we left, I packed Ma's giant, all-purpose scissors in my bag. Since the cemetery is near Springfield, Massachusetts, I chose an homage to Springfield's favorite son, Dr. Seuss (Ted Geissel) Himself had given me an empty soda bottle because he said when he went to visit his parents' the water in the cemetery hadn't been turned on. On the way, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a posey of flowers.

As I was at the trunk (boot) getting ready to trim the floral stems, a couple of ladies stopped by to see what was going on. They chatted about the weather and as they watched what I was doing, one of the ladies said, "I hope you have some water, because..."

 I held up the soda bottle. "I brought my own."

"Oh, I thought that was ginger ale."

"Well, it was her beverage of choice."

They smiled, wished us a nice day, and continued on their walk

Entering the cemetery, there was a committal ceremony taking place so I couldn't take pictures. This is one of the flowering trees at the Columbarium across from the area where my folks are.

Funny to see the ginger ale bottle in the photo

Ginger ale was always on the table at any of the family functions.

Flower always brought to Ma and placed on her side of the stone. Dad would have wanted it that way, but I grabbed a couple of stems and laid them at Dad's place.

While I was walking to the grave, Himself said he saw a male cardinal fly into the copse that marks the border of this section of the cemetery. I always associate cardinals with my parents. They loved feeding and watching the birds and after my parents passed, I began seeing cardinal pairs, a male and female. Ma and Dad as my parents did everything together.

I couldn't see the cardinal, but I could hear him singing. Dad loved to sing and he had a beautiful voice. When he retired he took singing lessons from an opera singer. Dad sang in his church choir and with his Senior Center's glee club, the Goldenaires. He later became the director of the his Senior center group.

That morning as I was getting dressed, I was debating between two necklaces and chose the one with the cardinal

After the cemetery we planned on stopping for late lunch/early dinner at the Cracker Barrel, but we were chatting and laughing and Himself missed the exit. He briefly debated turning around, but he was hungry so we headed home and stopped at

The Longhorn Steakhouse at the mall.

Himself had a Coke. I had a raspberry iced tea with lemon. The waitress brought us some bread while we waited for our meal. Oh, note the strawberry shortcake on the dessert menu. I got a slice to go, but forgot to take a picture.

We started with cheesy, stuffed mushrooms

A salad. I asked for mine without nasty cheese

I had a surf and turf: Renegade steak with Prairie Dusting, grilled shrimp on a bed with rice. I didn't realize the shrimp came with rice. Otherwise, I wouldn't have ordered the baked sweet potato. No matter lots of food leftover and no cooking the following day.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s blog to find out what the rest of the T gang is up to. If you want to play, include a beverage or beverage container in your post. Don’t forget to link your blog from Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s page.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1.  No more drive by fish fry so we went to Uno's for deep dish pizza

2. Himself found a Mother's Day card from the kitties which he addressed to Mama mama mama because that's how Calli calls me in the morning when she wants to be fed. 😸

3. The Eldest sent a gorgeous orchid to me for Mother's Day. It's pet friendly and supposedly easy to care for.

4. Beautiful weather so we took a trip to the cemetery to visit my folks.

5. Moved the television out to the sunroom. The sunroom is now open for the season.

How was your week?

Throwback Thursday - Repeat

 

From May 5, 1016:

When The Brother lived in Harriman, New York, a small town in the foothills of the Catskills, Ma, Dad, and I took a trip to visit. The Brother took us to see the United States Military Academy at West Point. We walked around the beautiful campus. Got to see a bridal party posing for pictures at the chapel.

Here's a picture I took of Dad with his four year old grandson in front of the decapitated statue of General George Patton.

After leaving West Point, I couldn't find my beloved, Bollé, aviator sun glasses. It wasn't until several years later while going through photographs, I found where I had left them.

Little Bitty Tear

 

A journal page, when feeling sad. It took me a little bit to remember the date. The 8th anniversary of Ma's passing. And then the shock to realize how long it's been and how fast time has moved on.

The lyrics are from a song sung by Burl Ives:

"A little bitty tear let me down

Spoiled my act as a clown

I had it made up not to make a frown

But a little bitty tear let me down

Sharpie pen, watercolor pencil, pearl bead

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. Had a nice long chat about dealing with Weebles (elderly parents) with my cousin on the heart from Portland, OR

2. The new clock with the moon phases arrived.

3. Had a nice long chat with my friend, Red

4.  Finished the Celebration of Life invitation

5. After Himself's doctor's visit we stopped at Uno's for deep dish pizza.

How was your week?

Throwback Thursday - Finding Millie

 

Millie (left), Ma (right), Ida

In a conversation I had with Ma, I had told her she should go through the old photographs and label them so we (The Brother and I) would know who was in them. Her answer to me was "we" (Dad and Ma) know.

This photograph was one example. On the back Millie, Mary, Ida in Newark, New Jersey July 1936. When I was young I had asked Ma why she was in New Jersey and she said her father let them (I'm assuming she meant her mother, sister, and youngest brother) go on vacation. In 1936, Ma was 18 years old.

Sometime later my comment must have jolted her to action as written in pencil on the back: Millie looks like me. She's my cousin. The other girl is a girlfriend. And the 64 million dollar question: Millie who? 

This week, I fell down the genealogy rabbit hole. I stumbled onto a site that had birth, marriage, death records from Ariano Puglia (now Ariano Irpino) where my mother's parents were from. This was an unbelievable gold mine.

I knew very little about my mother's side of the family.  I pulled two all nighters searching records. My grandmother went from being a child with a brother to  having 4 sisters and 3 brothers! I knew she had a brother because I have a photograph of her and him (I don't know which brother) taken when she went back to Italy for a visit in 1963.

I found siblings for her parents. And spouses for her aunts and uncles, And cousins! Grandma's maternal aunt turns out to be Millie's mother and my great-grand aunt. The great- grand aunt also has the same first name as my mother.  Millie and I are first cousins twice removed. Millie's mother is a great aunt to Ma, and Millie and Ma are first cousins once removed. I think that's how  the theory of relativity goes.

When one mystery is solved another mystery pops up. Off to find another cousin of my grandmother.

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. Five Guys lunch in the sun room while watching Godzilla vs. Kong

2. Chatted with Teague to reschedule our outing due to crappy weather

3. Received an Amazon gift card. What to buy?

4. Found a delicious recipe for Zucchini Bread Waffles

5. Both cardinals came to the bird feeder to visit. It would have been Ma's 103rd birthday. Happy Birthday, Ma! 💐🎂☕

How was your week?

T Stands for Visit to the Cemetery and Breakfast at the Cracker Barrel

 Another back to front story

A big breakfast. I think this was called the Sunrise Sampler. I forget. What I really wanted was in bowl in the lower left corner. Grits. I love grits. There was also biscuits and gravy, 2 scrambled eggs, plain hash brown potatoes (no yucky cheese added to them), fried apples, and bacon, ham, and sausage. I ate the grits, the apples, and the biscuits and gravy and took the rest home for dinner. 

This week I remembered to take a picture of my tea. Himself had a Coke.

Browsing in the gift shop while waiting for our table. I was tempted to buy the cardinal mug.

Cracker Barrel, our usual destination after the visit.

This restaurant used to be Michael's Pasta in the Pan, but no longer. There's a new restaurant called the Hangar Pub. Too bad Michael's closed as the food was good and reasonably priced. I don't know if the restaurant went out of business due to the pandemic or if the owner decided to close this location. There was another location a few towns over. Maybe he retired.

There was some wild weather the night before. Lots of branches and leaves down. Six Flags Amusement Park had to close the day before because of flooding. The park was still closed this day due to flooding and cleanup

A new neighbor is moving in.

Okay, this looks like I'm greeting Dad first even though his bona fides are on the front of the stone.

The first one to be greeted had to be Ma. She would be put out if she was greeted second. She was funny like that. So I brought her flowers and greeted her first. We made our visit on 30. June. A visit for my parents' wedding anniversary. They were married on the Fourth of July and would have been married 78 years.

It wasn't until I looked at the photos that I noticed there was a sunflower in the bouquet. The Young One's favorite flower is the sunflower. Ma would have liked that.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Saw the first fireflies of the season.

2. On the first day of Summer, the female cardinal came to visit while I was in the sun room having my afternoon cup of tea. Hi, Ma! She loved this room almost as much as I do.

3. The male cardinal was singing all day and came to visit while I was having my afternoon cup of tea. Hi Dad! My dad loved to sing and had a beautiful voice. After he retired, he was a soloist with his church choir and the director for his senior center's singing group.

4. My cousin sent an obituary about a first cousin once removed. She passed on Valentines Day of this year. I asked him how he found out about her passing as I thought there was no one left from that generation. 

He said he had a dream and he was over (great) Uncle's house visiting and sitting at the table having coffee. He saw the cousin. He woke up and it was 2:30 AM. Just for the heck of it, he did a search on her name and found the obit.

5. Attended a Wellness fair with Master Beef and Grandmaster E.  A fun night visiting with friends.

How was your week?

Wordy Wednesday

 

And Happy Birthday to my dad who would have been 102 years old today. I miss you, Pal.

T Stands for Second on the Second

At her 85th birthday party
12. August 2011

From 10. June 2016 The Friday Five Good Things

My neighbor and friend, Prissy, passed away this week 2 months shy of her 90th. birthday.  Five good memories about Prissy.

1. Prissy was like having another mother. Except, Prissy could say the same things Ma would say to me, but Prissy's words wouldn't push my buttons.

2. You could count on her to borrow a cup of sugar or an egg so you didn't have to run to the store in the middle of baking when you ran out of ingredients.

3. She was always good for a cup of tea. After the Eldest was born, I took a part-time job at the hospital where I worked when I was in high school and college. I worked an 8pm to midnight shift running the laboratory computer and scheduling blood tests from the various floors for the following morning. Monday nights, Prissy used to play poker with some lady friends. They took turns hosting the games. The ladies' game broke up around midnight. I'd get home between 1 and 2 AM.Prissy would see my car pull into the driveway and then yell over "Come and have coffee!"

4. During warm weather, I loved having tea on Prissy's enclosed back porch. Prissy's porch was the inspiration for the sun room.

5. When she used to have a big vegetable garden, she would send over tomatoes, cucumbers,zucchini, and rubharb. She gave me recipes for freezer pickles and zucchini bread.

For 30 years, I had tea with Prissy once a week, sometimes twice a week. I used to tease her that I visited with her more than I visited my own mother.  I'll miss the old girl, the tea, the chats, and her love and kindness.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page

It's your turn to play. From Elizabeth: Now it's time to share your Second on the 2nd.  The rules are quite simple and everyone is welcome to join the fun look back.  All you have to do is bring back a post that you are especially proud of, or perhaps one you shared before anyone knew your blog existed.  Any post, any genre, any artistic endeavor is acceptable.  Join hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth to see what else is being served up the Second Time Around.