Icarus at work!

 This is Icarus!  This is my calico cat that loves me to distraction!  It is about 5:00 AM and we just got up a little bit ago.  See, what you do not know, and can not see because I can not take a picture of us in bed is that I sleep on my side and she sleeps on my shoulder!  At some point I will wake up enough to push her off my arm.  She then puts her nose against my nose and gives me tiny licks. It is at this point I remember where that tongue has been and cover my head up.  She will then content herself with laying with both front paws on my hands and we drift off again.

Now I know you people out there are wise in the ways of the world as well as the workings of the feline creatures we call our friends.  And indeed, they are our friends!  Icarus does not go out and catch mice simply to be catching a mouse.  She knows I am incapable of catching one, so she does it for me. 
She  loves me!  Now I have told you the sleeping arrangements here, so tell me this......what goes on while I am sleeping?  I can only hope she does not think I want dinner when I am laying there with my mouth agape snoring.  That could be a very rude awakening.  And she does not know that I have never eaten a centipede!  I am afraid to tell her for fear she will misinterpret that as meaning I am feeling adventurous and might like to munch on one! 

 Now you see her reading her notebook here.  How she gets in that little hole between the monitor and all my very important notes I wish I knew!  The modem is back there and apparently she knows that I need to leave that plugged in so she leaves it alone.  The cursor catches her attention fairly easily as does the letters marching across the screen.  She puts her nose right on the screen and I can come up with some interesting writing if one finger wanders.  I tell myself she is reading what I write!  I am very glad I kicked in the extra money for the larger monitor so she could see better!

I came home the other night after dark and saw two sets of eyes out by the duck house.  You know how big those eyes look in your headlights!  I thought it was a couple mountain lions, but it turned out Icarus had a friend over to scout out the place.  It was the neighbors calico, so she is keeping good company!  She goes out to the fowl house with me every morning and evening when I do chores.  One morning she thought she might like to sneak up on one of the ducks.  Goosey Gander seen her and came up behind her!  When Icarus spotted him she shot about 8 feet straight up in the air!  Never have a camera when I need it most!

Now I will give you a few facts and then get out of here.  Calico cats are to the best of my knowledge always female.  Cats are very clean animals especially when you take into consideration that they go in their litter box for their toilette, walk across it and then proceed to lick there feet.  Then they want to come and kiss us.  Cats can be devoted to us and still remain completely independent.  Most aloof animals on the face of God's green earth.  While cats and dogs seem to be mortal enemies, mine will all sleep on the same pillow.  Icarus got her bluff in early!

I do know the name Icarus comes from a Greek God or something of the male persuasion and was someone that flew to close to the sun and melted his wings.  She was actually named by a "person of interest" who is no longer in my life, but I left her named Icarus just to remind me of why he is no longer in my life!  So, I am out of here, but on my way out the door, I want to share with you what someone shared with me.....

In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king!

Just think about that!

SCAP is represented here at World AIDS Day.

Here is the Southern Colorado AIDS Project table, although in all honesty it is now known as Southern Colorado Health Network operating as SCAP or vice versa.  I forget.  When I started my volunteer work there more years ago than I like to admit it was SCAP and so that is how I will remember it and that is the name I will use because it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks.  Arf! Arf!

Starting with the back row we have John Mark Hild, minister at the Metropolitan Community Church here in our fair city.  Next is me and then my com padre, Aaron. Aaron is my buddy and makes me laugh like a loon!  Not often I find someone with a mind that works like mine!  See the back row all has on the Focus shirt.  We do that so we remember who we are.

On the front row on the left is the lovely Linda Lorraine, SCAP case manager and other things.  She is our stabilizing force and we love her.  She is always there when we need her, and she is there when we do not need her, and when we need her, but don't know we need her.  The woman is what you call "devoted".  That happens in this business.  Show up a few times and pretty soon you feel like you are needed!

And last but certainly not least is Bill Sharpton.  He works in the Colorado Springs office which is our boss.  I do not know exactly what his title is, but  do know he is single!  His sister was a very good friend of mine and I miss her so much.  Somewhere I have pictures of Marty and the big red turkey that liked to come visit at my house, especially when Marty was there.  That turkey loved that girl and tried to set on her lap and I have pictures of that little endeavour. 

OK, there you have us in all our glory.  Motley looking crew that we are!  Hey, we try!  If we could clone these four people here we could set this world on fire because these are some of the best Colorado has to offer and I am damn glad to be standing in the middle of the finest Colorado has to offer! 

It seems as I wind this down that I have been given a most rare opportunity to work side by side with some of the greatest people on this earth.  In all my years of bopping around with the SCAP crowd, the Pueblo Community Health Center, Pueblo Health Department, the Gay Community..........I am sorry!  The whole of Southern Colorado is tied together and I can not name names without missing some one or some place.  Just know if you are reading this, Lou Mercer loves everyone of you and I thank God every day that he put everyone of you in my path!

Together we are going to fight the good fight and since we are all winners, you know what that means!

Home is where the heart is.

The other day, well today actually , I received an email from a friend and in it he was explaining to me where his home was located and the layout of his home.  He also said it was in the ghetto, but he was happy there.  I told him that home is where the heart is and that got me to thinking.  Where is my heart?  Where is the one place that is my sanctuary, that I feel safe and loved and wanted?  After much soul searching, I know.

Where I am now is a very nice house and I have an acre of land.  Not big enough for anything, but a little too big for nothing.  This house is solid, warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  I am located so I get very little traffic and it is quiet.  No one comes here unless I draw them a map and then they get lost.  I am almost secluded, but the neighbors know I am here and watch out for me.  That is good.  But where is my heart?

It is in Nickerson, Kansas at 709 Strong Street.  That was my ghetto; my wrong side of the tracks. It did not have running water.  We heated with a wood stove and cooked on a wood stove in the kitchen.  The out house was on the back of the lot.  Sears catalog and the whole bit.  Those were just the times.  I think we were the only street in town that was that far back in time, but there you have it.  Now you may ask why anyone in their right mind would go back to a hovel like that and I am here to tell you.

We were all there together.  Momma cleaned houses and put food on the table.  Cereal was cheap back then and we ate a lot of that and other grains.  Apples and Carp (You know that bony trash fish that other people throw away.)  We had fried apples, baked apples, boiled apples, apple sauce and I do not to this day eat a cooked apple in any way shape or form.  Don't eat Carp either.  Those are nasty!  Dad was there in his own little way.  He share cropped with a farmer and he was one of the last to give up the team of horses (and only then because they died of old age ) and never bought a tractor.

My baby sister Dorothy was there with her big brown eyes and dimples.  Mary was there with her long beautiful hair and her petite little body.  Donna was the serious one who ate the middle out of the loaf of bread after school.  My brother Jake was there and had not gone to the Army yet which he did by altering  his birth certificate at the age of  16.  Josephine had not eloped  yet. 

We had clod fights.  We walked to the sand pit.  I fished off the Bull Creek bridge while Jake and his buddies swam naked in a hole a little further upstream.  We had two creeks in Nickerson, Bull Creek and Cow Creek.  Also had the Arkansas River.  Every spring they flooded and isolated the town.  In the winter the Arkansas froze and had to be dynamited.  Old Black Joe lived on the river in a pile of lumber and made silver jewelry with turquoise stones and he was Jake's friend.  Momma was mortified to find out Jake hung out with the likes of him.  He died on the river.
We never had a dog.  Never had a cat.  Jake and I listened to the Grand Ole Opry on the car radio because the radio in the kitchen would not pick it up.  WSM in Nashville as I recall.  We had electricity eventually and got a pump in the kitchen.  The out house remained.  I attended Elementary school in Nickerson and went to 2 1/2 years of high school there. Came back to there after living with my Grandma my first  half of my Freshman year.  Smoked my first cigarette there.  Learned about God and salvation there.  Forgot about it there. Won a three speed English racing bike there by getting the most "Our Family" labels off of canned goods.  Flew my kite into a tree at the cemetery and could not get it down.  Watered the sweet potatoes and a spider got on my foot.  Momma had her hysterectomy there when I was in the seventh grade. 

The Reinke girls lived next door with their dad because their mom had died when the youngest was born.  I was glad my momma was still alive.  If we wanted ice for the ice box we had a card to put in the window with how much we wanted right side up.  All the doors used a skeleton key and you didn't lock the door because everybody had a skeleton key.  Whittling  Joe and Johnny Carson lived up on the highway and they let the chickens come in there house. Pop was a nickle and that was a lot of money. Ora Ayers rode her stick horse because she wasn't quite right in the head.  And we better be good cause the Gypsy's were camped outside of town and might come steal us.  We were poor, but poor was a state of mind.  There were people who had less then us

When I can not sleep, I walk the streets of Nickerson, Kansas.  I pass the feed store, the grocery store, the church and I say my prayers and fall into the most blissful sleep.

So my memories go on and on.  My ghetto lives in my heart and mind and everything I am today and will be in the future is because I was there and it impacts me forever.  So find your ghetto, or grotto, or wherever your safe place is and hang on to it with both hands.  It is your heritage.  It is your lifeline.  When life is stripped away and I stand before my maker, I know he will see a skinny knock kneed little girl with tangled hair and dirty bare feet and he will say, "Get in here you little urchin!  I been waiting for you to get home!"
And I will waltz in those pearly gates and up those streets of gold just like I belonged there.  Nickerson, Kansas is a state of mind!

And now, the candle light service for World AIDS Day.

This is our tree all decorated on December 1, 2010.  The red ribbons each have at least one name of someone who has been claimed by AIDS.  We were inside for the program and when it was over we picked up a candle and wrote a name on a ribbon and processed out to the amphitheater.  When we got outside the candles were lit, because there was some sort of something in balloons and the community college did not want us waving flamesaround. 

                                Up on top there is my friend Diane from the Indian Nation who is also the nurse at the Pueblo Community Health Center who holds sway at the Collaborative Clinic.  She is in her native dress and the woman is a real beauty.  And want to know something else?  She has a twin sister so if you happen to have access to this album you will see a close up of her also.  If you look back there behind Eddie Three Eagles and to the right of the drummer you can see them.  Aren't they cute?

So, anyway, after we got outside, we hung our ribbons on the tree and said aloud the names that we were placing there.  I only did two names this year.  I get tired of putting my friends on a tree.  I guess I am selfish that way and over the years my list has gotten so long that it is redundant.  I always do Mark though, because he was such a vital part of my life for so many years.

After the candles were lit and the ribbons hung, and the names said, Eddie Three Eagles purified the ground and then blessed the tree.  He then sang Amazing Grace in his native tongue and then we joined him as he sang it again.  That was  so moving! 

When the whole thing was over everyone went around in a collapsing circle.  Another moving thing.  When we went inside we lingered just long enough to pass out the hugs and Eddie Three Eagles gave me a peck on the cheek!  Hugs from everyone and home after a very long and rewarding day.

December 1 will come again!  It always does and it will always be World AIDS Day.  Next year I suggest you find a candlelight observance some where near you and attend.  There will be one, of that I am sure because the world is full of Lou's and John's and Erik's, and Annalees.  Call your Art Center, or your Health Department and if no one can help you do it yourself.  Our first observance was at our Arts Center outside in the freezing cold, but we were there and for this disease to ever be overcome it has to be out there and it has to be talked about.  People have to be educated and it starts with the young ones. 

Our testing at the college turned up not one single case of HIV.  Do you think that was an accident?

Along the Malecón: Florida lawmaker pressures Hungary on Cuba

Along the Malecón: Florida lawmaker pressures Hungary on Cuba

I know you were expecting something else here today, but I just caught this link and I find it very interesting. I know from reading my stats that there are a lot of you out there interested in cuba. My friend Tracey Eaton writes a very clear view of what goes on in Cuba on a political as well as a personal level. On his sight there is also a link to the daily mini blog in the New York Times.

If you go back to some of his older blogs you can see some of the most beautiful pictures of Cuban life.  That alone is worth the trip across cyberspace.

Check him out and we will get back to World AIDS Day a little later. And tell him Lou said "Hey!"

Johnson and Johnson isn't just baby products anymore!

You always thought Johnson and Johnson made baby products, didn't you?  Well just guess again!  These are two of the most prestigious people to walk through my life and I want to tell you about them.  Now you see there are three people there, so I will introduce you to them, starting on the left, because that is how it is always done and you know me, a stickler for protocol!

On the left is Merilou Johnson, MSW, MPA who I barely know. Her official title is Program Director Colorado AIDS Education Training Center.   I just met her Wednesday, so like a good little girl I thought I better figure this out quick!  I knew by the very virtue of her being here she was important, and right I was.  Those letter behind her name mean she is very educated in public service both on the social level and public administration.  See when you see an M like that it means Master and that is top of the line. Since I only met her briefly, I do not know her well, but I would dearly love to set and visit with her after researching her with my able Google toolbar.  This woman can tell us some tales I am sure and is a vital part of this continuing fight against this disease that I seem to have landed in the middle of for some reason.  To Merilou I say, "I would love to visit with you , but I was stuck at the tables.  Please forgive me for not being there."

The next lovely little creature in this little threesome is Annalee Beck, EIS Program Director at Pueblo Community Health Center.  EIS means Early Intervention Services.  Many years ago and I mean like maybe eight (?) this service was set up specifically for the HIV/AIDS community.  As I recall I was there for the first few initial meetings but that was just to whine about not having something for the clients. This town will do anything to shut me up when I start that.  I am so happy that bigger and brighter minds then mine prevailed and a program with Annalee at the helm and PCHC at her back and Dr. Johnson and Dr. Swartz beside her has brought first class health care to my friends.  There is also a most able staff there and I would be remiss to start naming names without a full list in front of me.  I only know JoAnne and Diane personally.  I will get that full slate and thank them properly in this tiny blog. Hats off to PCHC and all the little people!

And now we come to the love of my life, Dr. Steve Johnson, MD.  Isn't he the most handsome thing you ever laid eyes on in your whole life?  That little MD on the end of is name is so inadequate to describe this larger than life icon in the field of HIV/AIDS.  His official title is Professor & Director of Infectious Disease, University of Colorado.  This man is world reknowned for his work in this field and he was most instrumental in setting up and staffing our EIS Program. I know he comes down from Denver on a regular basis to meet with clients and he and Dr. Swartz confer on every aspect of client care. While I could go on all day about this man's accomplishments I know I would miss some and I do not want to do that!  What I want to do is tell you that this is one of the kindest, most caring men that God ever put on this earth and I thank him every day for sending Dr. Steve Johnson into my life, Mark's life and everyone in Pueblo, Colorado that is touched by this man's hand.  If there is ever a cure for this scourge on human life this man will be the first to know and it will be delivered to his people that same day.  Kinda like Moses bringing down the tablets!  I love you, man!

There you have it.  I know Pueblo is a backward little town, and we operate under the auspices of Colorado Springs offices and we get our funding through them.  Colorado Springs is big and we are little, but let me tell you this......We have had or EIS program eight years; Colorado Springs got theirs one and a half years ago.  Maybe they just didn't need one as bad as we did. 

These three angels are standing in front of the Pueblo AIDS Memorial Quilt.  I don't know if Colorado Springs has anything like this, but if Bill or Richard would get in touch with me I would be most happy to help them start one.  We have had ours since 1996 and it is a wonderful way for people to connect and express feelings.

Alrighty then!  Better get out of here before I fill up cyber space!  See you tomorrow for another little lesson in World AIDS Day 2010!

The testing part of World AIDS Day and a girl named Melissa.

As you know, December 1 was World AIDS Day, and we were off to do our thing at the Community College.  I promised a report, but this is one that is going to be made in about 4 entries as I want to try to do justice to each part.  Our focus this year was on testing.  Pueblo Community Health Center, Southern Colorado AIDS Project, and MPACT all had testing on site and it was free!  Now, you are going to be amazed at the changes in the world today.  Well, maybe you aren't, but I sure was.

First off, piercing through the eyebrows, lips, nose, eyelids and through the ears are all considered normal.  My thoughts on this is "If God wanted holes in my body he would have got out his drill!"   Now as to the dress code.  Remember how the boys used to wear their jeans baggy and way down their hips?  Now they wear what is called "Skinnies".  I know this because John told me. I digress!  Back to my purpose here on this blog.

So there were 8 long tables here in the foyer and we all advertised free HIV testing and our job was to reel in the students, talk to them about safe sex and the end goal was to get them tested!  I was absolutely amazed at our reception.  Here we have mere babes in arms being counseled on how to have safe sex by an old woman who would not have even said the word out loud 20 years ago.
They all left with a handful of condoms and a goodly portion of them headed upstairs to learn their fate.  That trip usually lasted about 20 minutes if they waited for results.  Then they would come by the table and poke out their finger with the band aid and I would give them a high five. If they did not want to go upstairs they were given a card for free testing at the Health Center.  Walk in.  Anytime.

I noticed one young girl visiting the tables and you know how you can just tell sometimes?  She finally came to my table.  I told her my spiel.  Free HIV testing and then I went a step further with her and engaged her in conversation.  I told her if she had sex she needed to be tested.  She told me she was pretty sure her boyfriend was faithful and I told her he probably was, but this is her body to take care of and protect.  "Take the test and if it comes back negative you can breathe a sigh of relief.  If it comes back positive then you got an early start and we will cross that bridge, but the unknown will do you in."  Only with this girl did I leave my table and walk her up the stairs and personally deliver her to "the room".  Of course I could not stay with her due to privacy issues.  So I went down to my table to wait.

The goal in testing is it is part of education.  There are people out there who think AIDS has been cured.  They think it is not the problem it used to be.  And it is definitely different.  People used to die of AIDS Related Complications or ARC.  But now we have high powered drugs that make the body toxic and in so doing suppress the viral load and build the immune system.  Now the cause of death is Heart Failure, Liver Failure, Cancer, Lymphoma, and any disease that can come in under the radar.  AIDS always wins in the end.  Always.

Along with the AIDS test comes counseling. Now this whole process takes about 30 minutes from the needle stick till you get your results.  Do you think anyone is going to leave that room and go have unprotected sex again without thinking about it? That would be just like setting there looking at a ticking time bomb and trying to figure out just when it is going to blow. Your whole life is now hanging on the word "if", the longest word in the English language.  I am pretty sure I would change a few habits I carried for years if I had thought about them a little more!

It seemed that waiting for Melissa to reappear was one of the longest waits of my life.  I had formed an instant bond with this little waif and I must confess I may have said a prayer or two inside my head that not our will but thine  be done.  I felt a personal connection to all the kids I sent upstairs, but it was just special with Melissa. I wanted them all to be alright, but especially this little girl with the sad eyes.

And my patience was rewarded after due time.  I knew when Melissa started down the stairs what the news was!  She was negative!  So I gave her a card for the Health Center testing with instructions to get that boyfriend in and get him tested or I would be paying him a visit.  Then I told her,  "I am going to write about you on my blog, but look, no pictures.  And I will change your name."  Then I gave her a card and I just want her to say this to her.....

"Melissa, it was wonderful to meet you yesterday.  You reflect the innocence of youth and the hope for the future.  It is women like you who hold the key to ending this epidemic that grows every year.  You can talk to your friends about safe sex and convince them that their bodies are theirs to protect and as women it is our duty.  AIDS is not gender specific, it is not a GAY disease and it respects no boundaries.  If your boyfriend thinks a condom is uncomfortable, what does he think full blown AIDS would be?  You can help me do this.  And you can have your friends talk to their friends and soon we will be an army of women marching shoulder to shoulder ...."

My God!  I am woman hear me roar!  I feel sooooo Helen Reddy!

In an ironical twist of fate there were in the neighborhood of 70 tests given yesterday and not one positive in the whole college!  To me that was absolutely amazing. This group of people that I thought was the party crowd, clothing optional, pass the bong turns out to be responsible citizens of society.  Well, I for one feel a little better about my future.

And I want to send a plea out to my Melissa and all the other Melissa's out there and the little gay guy and the macho football player and anyone else who will listen to me....I need you!  Southern Colorado AIDS Project needs you.  The Community Health Center needs you.  We need warm bodies to help us.  We are overwhelmed.  Linda Lorraine at SCAP particularly needs help answering the phone and always something to be done.  Do this.  See down below this where it says send a comment?  Send me a message.  If you do not want it published just say so and it will be our little secret.  If we keep talking we can conquer the world!

I do not remember who said this, but I remember it being said:

No man is an island....

P.S.  I give a social luncheon on the second Tuesday of every month at the SCAP office.  Everyone is welcome.  Come and meet some of the clients that eat with me.  They are wonderful people and this will put a face on this disease.  We even have a tiny baby to play with!  It starts at 11:30.  Oh, but I am skipping December because the Springs office caters that one for Christmas!  Well not skipping, but being lazy.  I will be there with the cookie bags from PFLAG.  Call me!  I am lonely!

Oh, finally got something done with that damned hair!

Do you see who this is? This is my friend Trisha! Trisha just finished giving me a permanent and making me very beautiful! See, today I decided that I had all I could take of my hair poking out here and there and needing cut, so I took myself to the city. And it was there that she took me to her chair and worked her magic. She is a novice in that she barely started there. Her daughter will finish in March. Then daughter will start a shop probably on the south end of Colorado Springs and Trisha will go help her when she graduates in August. And then another daughter will do massage, so I am staying in tight with this bunch!

But this place and I go back a lot further than today.  See, many, many years ago, when I was first separated from my very first husband and waiting tables at Skaets Steak Shop in Hutchinson, Kansas, that self same husband was drunk out here in Pueblo, Colorado. Ah, the plot thickens.

This man found his way to this shop and to the man who at the time ran the Center Beauty College.  Frank Schultz was a very kind and gentle man, but he had a mission in life. Well, actually two missions. The first was to teach young girls how to be cosmetologists and do it at a very reasonable charge to them. His second was to sober up men he found and put them to work. That business was called Center Tree Service and the first husband was a tree trimmer. Frank did indeed sober the little fellow up and put him on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, we never made it that far, but such is life.

Years later I came to Pueblo. I remembered Frank Schultz and went in to get my hair done cheap! My daughter, Dona enrolled in his Beauty College and when she went to State Boards I was her model.  I then modeled for 2 more students and that was fun. I got facials, manicures, fake fingernails and it cost me nothing!  Course I let them practice on me once a week, but I had to leave the hair cause when you went to State Boards the student had to cut off at least an inch and you better have it to spare!

Dear, dear Frank Schultz passed to his much deserved reward three years ago, but Center Beauty College lives on in the graceful and very beautiful form of his daughter, Leasa Wood.  Cici is still there as the most able receptionist in Pueblo, Colorado. She has held that post for 38 years, if you can believe that! She could tell some tales, I am sure.

Center Beauty College is still located at 228 West Third in downtown Pueblo.  Right there on the corner where it has been for 38 years.  The phone number is 542-3833.  Poke that little number in and go get a haircut at a reasonable price, or do like I did and go top of the line permanent for $30.00.  It is a bargain for you and the students need some one to practice their craft on.  A boon to both of you.

So, here I set, all dressed up with no where to go!  But bet I could if I wanted to cause I am lookin' good and feelin' fine and it is thanks to Trisha, and the whole crew at Center Beauty College!

World AIDS Day planning committee at work!

Here we are at Joe's Coffee Shop in the basement of Pueblo Community College.  This is our first year to  be on the campus at PCC and I must say it has been a real treat!  They have been most accommodating and the friendliest  people I have come across in a very long time.  Why it just makes me want to go back to school!

First I have to tell you who all these people are and if I knew I would sure share that with you.  Not really.  I did not get my little release like I need to go around the table naming names, so I am just going to point out a few.  Needless to say they are all friends of mine !  OK, top picture.  See that kid on the right with the dark shirt and glasses?  That is John.  He is on the National Quality Center Consumer Advisory Council Steering Committee.  Quite a prestigious fellow.  We just went and had Chinese before we came so he is probably dozing off, but more about him in another post.  The empty chair is mine.  The two ladies on the left are with PCHC. One is our co leader along with John.

Bottom picture on the right is Eric.  We used to go to church together, but I changed.  The lady with her back to me is one of the PCC Staff who is most kind.  Another one is behind her head.  The lady on the left is with Pueblo City/County Health Department.  So there you have a loose accounting of the people it takes to plan an event of this magnitude and actually pull it off with any degree of decorum.  Tomorrow is our test!!

Events will start at 9:00 AM and run until 7:30 PM.  Pueblo Community Health Center will offer free testing the first part of the day and then SCAP and IMPACT the rest of the day.  Dr. Steve Johnson, MD Professor & Director of Infectious  Disease, University of Colorado, will be our Keynote Speaker.  Our guest speaker will be Merilou Johnson, MSW, MPA, Program Director Colorado AIDS Education Training Center.  They are no relation, just share a last name. 

I have not met Merilou Johnson, but I have met Dr. Steve Johnson and can attest that he is one of the kindest and most intelligent men I have had the good fortune to visit with in my time in this business.  He and Dr. Swartz were Mark's doctors for the last several years of his life, so I had the good fortune to visit with them both every month.  They are both very caring men which is a necessity in this area of medicine.

Now for my far away friends, you should know that this is a coup!  I figure this is going to be the biggest WAD Commemoration to date in this fair city.  Right now I have to go finish Rick's panel or I will be standing there tomorrow night with egg all over my face and this whole table full of people glaring at me.  Not me, man.  I am looking forward to tomorrow and hope when I come home it is with a feeling of accomplishment!

Cuban Caravan part 2!!

Here is that shot I told you to watch for.  This Google thing is like a whole new world to me.  Just put your mouse on the picture and click!  But in case that does not work, I have done it for you.  The teal shirt says:

Cuba has:

One teacher per 10 primary children.

Vaccinations against preventable diseases.

A lower infant mortality rate then the United States.

No homeless children.

100% literacy.

The red shirt says;

Now is the time to:

Free the Cuban 5.

End the economic blockade.

End travel ban for all.

Take Cuba off "terrorist list."

Hand Guantanamo back to Cuba.

Normalize Diplomatic Relations.

There is the link you are going to need to learn more.  See in my simple mind I can not understand why we are carrying on diplomatic relations with every one in this world, from China, Russia, and Iran clear down to Osama Bin Laden, but we will not deal with Cuba, a struggling nation 90 miles off of our coast.  And this has gone on for at least 40 years.  I just can not see this.  If someone out there, reading this can give me a reason, I am a reasonable person.  I am fair minded, but we have 5 Cubans in prison for doing less than criminals walking the streets here in Pueblo.  Just clue me in cause I am clueless in Pueblo!

http://www.PASTORSFORPEACE.ORG

I missed these Cuba shots and they are so worth looking at!

I want you to take a look at these pictures that I have been looking at for the last how many months and not seeing!  If you think that going to Cuba with a school bus full of anything is a piece of cake, you are sadly mistaken.  These particular pictures were sent to me while they were at one of the crossings.  I probably posted a link, and maybe you actually looked at them.  You should have hollered and said " Hey, dummy, here is the whole thing in a nut

shell!"  See those three little guys there?Pretty soon you will be able to read the back of their shirts!  Now see how big they are?  Probably about the size of most of us and they do not look like heroes to me, but you hang on there!  Now, see these guys at the back of the bus?  They are the crossing guards and they are looking pretty closely at these computers.  The computers look pretty evil to me!  They did in fact have to confiscate a few of them.  All of them contained the same hard drives, so it was not the info.

But look at these guys!  Can you hear the conversations?  I can and I am thinking a few of these guys may have made a few dollars off this little crossing here!

OK, I can not get the picture I want to load on here.  So I am going to continue on another post which will be called Cuba Shots part 2.  You have got to read these guys shirts.  It explains why myself and a lot of others are adamant about the Cuban Caravan.

Remember way back when you were dating?

I was young once and I can still remember that time.  I was young and actually dated boys.  I don't think things happen the way they did many years back.  For one thing, everybody has a car now days.  Usually given to the kid by one parent or another so they do not have to drive them around.  Back in the day, it did not work that way.  Cars were few and far between and if the boy wanted to use the car to take a little chickadee somewhere on Saturday night, the deal was made weeks in advance.  A date was a big deal back then.  The guy had to come to the door and actually meet mom and dad. Well, it was supposed to work that way, but it didn't always.

See back then I thought my parents were way to strict and old fashioned and and I just could not be bothered with those little customs that other kids held so dear.  One might say I was a bit of a rebel back then.  So I always managed to meet the lucky boy up on the highway.  Looking back, I see that I might have been sending the wrong message.  Well, I am pretty sure I was not getting the message across that I had parents who cared about me and wanted to know where I was more for my benefit than just because they were nosey!

So, I met Prince Charming up on the highway and we would go to the drug store and have a coke ore something equally decadent which cost in the neighborhood of five cents.  Dates were cheap back then.  Then we might walk around a while.  You know, look at the stars and stuff because back then there was not so much light pollution and you could see the stars.  Then back to the car and drive some where so we could see better.  Inevitably that damn car would run out of gas!  What to do now?  My idea was to hit the road and go get more gas, but his was to neck.  Neck!  We could neck all night and that car would still be out of gas.

I have always been a woman of action.  "Come on!  It will be midnight before we get back.  I ain't gonna set here all night."  And it was then that the truth came to light,  I could either give or walk.  Give or Walk?  Is that your idea of foreplay?  Well, I have also been scared of the dark most of my life, but here was a situation that would warrant closer scrutiny of whatever was in the dark.  On the one hand I was alone with an idiot who did not have sense enough to put gas in his car, thinking that sex would make that thing run.  And if we had sex, he would still be out of gas and I would be walking.  Either way, I knew I was going to hoof it home that night.

Ever look back on your life and just wonder how you could have actually been that stupid and ever lived?  I got more walking time in when I was a teenager than in all the rest of my life.  And you would have thought that the guys would have wised up at some point, but they never did.  I did finally decide all the boys in my hometown were jerks and started dating the boys from the big city.  Now those guys knew how to treat a girl!  Actually I think they were afraid of me because I had some very muscle bound legs.  Guess they thought I might kick them!

One of the guys from way far away in Dodge City caught my fancy and the rest was history.  We dated three weeks.  He met momma and dad.  Never made me walk home. Took me dancing and we drank some beer.  I got sick, but I knew I would spend the rest of my life with this gorgeous man with blond curly hair, blue eyes and a Roman nose.  Funny thing, life.  My forever lasted 10 years and 5 kids.  The Dreamer that I had loved with every fiber of my being turned out to be just that, The Dreamer.  He wrote the most beautiful love letters, but neglected to pay the rent.  He painted pictures of a most glorious future, but wouldn't change a diaper.  Guess life just kind of got in the way, and life does have a way of doing that, doesn't it?

I have come to a decision and you shall be the first to know, after me of course.

I am going to start dating after the first of the year.  Now I know, I did hang out with the tall guy for a while, but I am not sure that qualified as dating.  The way that worked is I hung out at his house or garage and kind of helped him organize stuff and we talked a lot.  Sometimes he fed me or we went out and ate.  I do not think that was dating.  I think it was hanging out mostly.  None of that personal stuff, you know.

I think dating is where the guy actually would come to the house, ring the door bell, open the car door and take me some place, like out to eat or the movies or something like that.   Maybe we could hit some garage sales.  I don't know, but I am sure if we work at it we can come up with something to do.  Oh, yeah, like the fundraiser things that I hate to go to alone, I could like to have someone take me.  OK, now comes the "someone" part.  How do I get me one of those?   Sometime back a thing kept popping up on my email telling me I could find me a man at Match.com, or Zoosk, or any number of places and all I had to do was click on there and it was free.  Let me tell you, that sounded pretty easy to me, so click I did.  That is an experience I shall not soon forget. 

There were pages and pages of men who described themselves as "good looking, hard bodies, long walks,romantic, financially secure, and looking for love."  Now no offense intended here, but if he has to tell me he is good looking that is strike number one.  A 75 year old man with a flat stomach and hard body is a little hard to imagine.  I am having a hard time even imagining one with hair!  Now his idea of a long walk and mine may not be the same.  Right away I started thinking of a long walk on a short pier!  First hit I got was a guy from Pennsylvania who was ready to relocate, all I had to do was send him my email.  I may be a bit of a doubting Thomas on this "Get the man of your dreams for only $7.95.  Limited time only." 

Now, in all fairness, this may be the way to go for some people, but not for me.  Hell, I could not quit laughing long enough.  I found another way!  And it is free!  I can just pick one up.  They are every where!  My friends know single guys.  Well, mostly widowers.  So I am a widow.  That works, or should work.  All they have to do is introduce me.  Course they have to screen them first, you know, weed out the ultra conservatives, homophobes, Catholics, men afraid of spiders, and things like that.  Don't want one in a suit. No smokers.  No drinkers. Like animals.  Don't want to ski.  No racists and must like big dysfunctional families.  I am a thinking, I may be a little too particular.  You think?

Well, now that I think about it, I am not sure I want to do that dating thing.  I suppose it would probably happen at night and I like to go to bed about 9 PM.  That could present a problem right there!  And say I did date one, what if I got to liking him?  What then?  If I start liking him and he starts liking me, then we got another problem.  But if he could just like walk me to the door at 8:30, peck on the cheek and hit the road, that might be alright.  Yes, dating will be a good thing if I don't actually have to spend any time with him!  I am going to think about this some more.  When I reach my final decision I will share that with you.

Right now I think I just looked at the full moon the other night and thought about the good old days when I was a young, romantic girl.  That was when the wee, wee hours were for snuggling with a fella, or dancing the night away, not trying to kick the cat out of bed and letting the dog out for a quick minute then back to sleep.  Well, I do love my bed and I think right now I am going to go crawl in it and say my prayers.  May rethink this whole thing.  Got a whole month before the first of the year and everything is subject to change.

Didjaeverthink?

I have secrets that I will take to the grave.  We all do, I know.  May not be earth shattering to anyone if they knew them, but to me they are sacred.  Well there is only one, really.  No, there are two of them.  One is something that was never a real secret, but I knew.  Wait, make that three.  There was that first one, and then that second one.  At the time people knew, but they forgot.  Those two were never real secrets, but that third one is so secret that only me and God knows it, because the other person who knew has been dead a while and I think that person forgot even before they died. 

Oh, boy did I ever have one of those didjaeverthink days today!  I had what I thought was a friend and I came that close to telling my secrets.  Imagine how I would feel now, knowing just how close we actually weren't, had I told my secrets.  A very wise man once told me, "You know of people.  You do not know a person. Only that person can know himself."  He was right.  I have a face I present to people when I first meet them, but I am not good at keeping that face on and next thing you know, I have a new best friend and I will tell that best friend only the truth about myself.  Well, needless to say, not everyone is honest nor do they want honesty.  So, poof, there went my new best friend.

Needless to say I have a bit of a problem trusting people, so when I do put my trust in one of the friends I make, and they disappoint me, I am crushed.  I am learning lots of little lessons here on this big world of the Internet.  I am learning that as well meaning as people are, and as sincere as they appear to be, it is not the same as setting down at Starbucks and having a conversation face to face.  Eye contact means a lot to me.  I have made friends (?) with several people on the Internet and had gut wrenching conversations with at least one of them, laughed hysterically with another, been advised in business by one, know an other's grand kids by name and thought about a quasi affair with another.  So, why am I sad when one of these faceless figures disappears on me?  Hell, I don't know!

But in my favor, I must say, I still have my secrets.  The key to whether I trust you will be whether I share my secrets.  So far there is no temptation any where.  Like I said I almost told that one guy, but lips are sealed and it turned out well that I kept mum.  I set down to write this blog and things come out of me that amaze me.  You people probably know me better then the people I deal with on a regular basis!  You are my Internet friends.  Some of you are actually family and friends that I know.  Some of you are faraway friends that I have met.  Some of you I will meet at a later date, but the one thing you all have in common is you see the honest, forthright side of Lou.  When I meet a stranger the first thing they say is "I feel I have known you all my life."  I, myself, have never met a stranger! 

The people I meet on the Internet are faceless friends.  Sometimes I have a picture I can put with a face, but there you go.  Is that face the face that actually goes with that name?  One of my friends is apparently a bull dog!  One will not tell if they are male or female.  I have a closeup of Amy's mouth.  I met Jacci in Blackwell, Oklahoma and Ely at the bottom of Missouri.  My son has raised his voice at me more than once over what he refers to as my insane behaviour, but he does not understand.  I do not just run around and meet people wily nily.  I first have a connection with them.  Then I feel their vibes.  And I always say my prayers.

OK, I am willing to bet I have strayed from the topic again.  I know one thing, I am getting hungry so it must be supper time.  I am going to run my spell check (I love that feature),  read this over and see if it makes any sense at all, and if it does I will hit the publish button!

Hey, I understand this and that is scary in and of itself!! 

A full moon over Pueblo, I hope it's shining on you!

I was going to post a picture of the full moon, but I do not seem to be able to locate the moon picture.  Do you like my title?  That should be a country song.  They could change Pueblo to Tulsa,  oh wait!  They already did that!  It seems like Shelly West and Somebody Frizzell sang that and it was a great hit.  Seemed like I really liked it.  Seems like someone will need to tell me who the guy was.

I love to look at the moon, whatever phase it is in.  It is so far up there and I am so little down here in comparison.  Makes me realize just how infinite the heavens really are.  I was laying in bed last night thinking about the dying part and I do not think that will really be so bad.  Probably not going to be anything I can put on this blog when I do it, being as how it will be one of those "once in a lifetime things!" 

I have been with several people when they took that last breathe and it does not seem to be anything except a peaceful passing over to the other side.  I think I will rather enjoy it.  However, I am also pretty busy right now enjoying what is going on here.  How I got off the subject of the moon is beyond me, but you know how my little mind works.  I am doing good kick starting myself in the morning without trying to keep me tracking in a straight line!

OK, here is where I think I was going with this moon thing.  I love to look at the moon in all of it's phases.  Crescent is nice and reminds me of a dinner roll.  I know if it is tipped to hold water there will be no rain.  If, however, it is tipped so water can run out, gonna rain!  When it is about half it is great and I do not know what that means, but I think it is kind of good fishing.  But when the moon is full and bright I love to look at it.  I guess they call that a harvest moon, or just a full moon.  I know I need to watch for werewolves.  I think it is also the lover's moon.  Well, that entails having something I do not have access to, so I will just go with the werewolves.

I know I have heard that the full moon effects people with mental problems, but I can not lay my hands on any statistics, so I just have to say, I have heard.  I love the moon and I am very glad it stays up there.  It must have a very strong string.  Someday I will go to the ocean and spend a month on the shore and keep notes.  Until then......... enjoy the moon for whatever reason you are looking at it cause it was really pretty last night.

If you have access to a honey pie, grab their hand and go outside and gaze upwards.  Just tell them Lou said!

Have a good one.

The worst part about old age is getting there.

Did you ever just stop and think, "Where did the time go?  When did this happen? I am old!"  I did that today.  I realized that I am no longer young!  I did not feel old this  morning when I got up, but suddenly came the dawning of the realization that there will be no going back, no second chance at a first anything.  This is it and it is down hill from here to the end.  From the cradle to the grave sort of thing.

It seems like only yesterday, I was a little barefooted kid running the streets in Nickerson, Kansas without a care in the world. I do not remember being cold, but I don't remember being warm.  I do not remember being hungry, but i don't remember being full, either.  I went to school and apparently I learned something.  I remember babysitting to buy my mother a stainless steel mixing bowl because I had broken her glass one.  I remember clod fights, kick the can, watching the calf die, and eating green peaches.  I remember Howard Fein poking his false teeth out at me and scaring me half to death.  I remember many things, but I don't remember getting older.

I remember having babies, catching fish, and getting divorced.  I remember burying my brother, sister, father, mother, friends, husband, and pets.  I remember tears and laughter, good times and bad times, having money and being broke, but for the life of me, I can not remember growing old.  It just seems like one day I was young and the next day I was not.  The body that used to jump the fence, run a mile, dance to the twist, and unload 50 pound bags of feed, just quit cooperating.  The mind that was so quick with a comeback has slowed to a crawl.  Now the body seeks creature comforts of warmth and a soft bed.  The mind likes to drift back to another day and time.  Back to when the kids were babies and all I needed to be happy was a roof over my head, food in my belly and hope for tomorrow. 

Now my life stretches before me like a long black, endless ribbon of a highway with no beginning and no end.  Do all people face this mortality?  What a waste!  We start out as helpless little babies needing someone to care for us and move through a maze called life to end up as helpless old people needing someone to care for us.  Oh, the irony of it all!

I wish I had it all to do over!  If I could have another chance I would seize each day and savor it from dawn to dark.  I would examine every minute of every day and write each night in my journal and plan every tomorrow so that every day would be important to me and to everyone I knew.  I would hold my mother tight.  I would sing to my brother.  I would rock my children.  I would have been a missionary to the poorest of the poor and the sickest of the sick.  I would not have shed selfish tears for myself, but would have wept for the world and would have made it a better place instead of just drifting through in my own willful way.

But, alas, I can change nothing.  I set here a lonely old woman with my delusions of grandeur, and wish it were different.  But all my wishing changes nothing.  I just hope that when I get up to the pearly gates I can remember the one quote that fits this situation:  "Of all the things, of mice and men, the greatest of all, What might have been."  Or something along that line.

Jingle Bell Boutique all stocked up and ready to go!

Here is what a craft sale looks like when it is all stocked and ready to go!  Looks different than it did yesterday, doesn't it?  Today I am going to go around and take pictures of things that I think are special.  I bought a little sign that says, "Sarcasm, just another service I offer."

 This is my little corner of the world and I am really doing pretty well there.  Course I am a pusher, you know.  My arch enemy (Bet you did not know I had one of those, did you?) was in yesterday and we did a very good job of ignoring her.  Funny part was , Lyn stopped by and her arch enemy was also there at the same time as mine!  How fate works to try and set our Karma's to rights and how hard we work to keep it from happening.  Almost humorous.

Ok, I got to hit it.  If you get a chance hop on out to Pueblo West, 127 Spaulding in the VFW Hall!  I will be there until 5 and then I am out of there.

Have a good day, and be kind to each other.  Do as I say, not as I do!

The Jingle Bell Boutique is doing #32 in Pueblo West today!

 The Jingle Bell Boutique is starting today, but this is what went on yesterday!  This is the VFW Hall in Pueblo West where this little shindig will happen! This is at 9:00 yesterday morning.  Do you notice how bare this place is?  That is because the workers are not here to set up the tables.  Oh, Wait!  I am none of the workers!  Grand daughter Deven and I are going to get to help!

The unique things about the craft fairs that you walk into, searching for that perfect little something, is that they all start out the same way, in an empty room.  Somebody has to show up and set up tables.  Here you see all the tables set up nicely.  Bear in mind they are not where they belong, but see those 2 guys back there?  When they get through hanging that lattice or peg board, the tables will start being placed.  Now see this happy little lady here?  This is Mary Jo Cavender.  She belongs to the church I used to go to so I have known her for several years.  She is without a doubt one of the best cooks in the world.  I think that is one of the reasons that I put off changing churches.  But she will ply her wares here and I will no doubt be sick when I leave today!

Now you can see some of the tables back there all covered and placed.  Today when I go in I will take a shot of how the place looks.  You are going to be amazed at the transformation.  This is the 32nd annual Boutique and my first year.  So I am a virgin of sorts on this one.  Finally!

Now, not everybody gets to do this boutique, so I consider myself very lucky.  Of course I do have a rather unique product and an in with one of the ladies there, Marjorie Bratzler.  Marjorie makes handwoven baskets and those alone are worth the trip to Pueblo West.  She is an artist extraordinaire!  Whoa!  Hope I spelled that right! 

If you get a chance run out and see us today and tomorrow, that is November 19 and 20, 2010.  We will be there from 9-5, just like the working girls!  I am going to watch the door for you and bring me something to eat that is not chocolate and full of sugar.  As luck would have it my little corner is right across from Mary Jo!

Laughter is the best medicine!

Oh, it is now official!  I always thought that laughing was good for you.  At least unless you laughed at the wrong time or place, but now I know for sure.  My copy of http://www.realage.com/ came over the Internet today with tips to keep me younger than I think I am.  Had something to say about how good Butternut Squash was for me, but I promptly blew that one away and glombed on to the one about laughter.

It is a fact that laughter will lower your blood pressure 10 points in 20 minutes.  I have perfect blood pressure and take nada for anything.  Oh, one little thyroid pill which without, I am very tired.  That is to be expected at my age.  Lord, I have kids that are on all kinds of stuff for all kinds of things.  I have friends who look like a walking pharmacy.  But here I am, the happiest little thing you will ever come across and now I find it is good for me.  I know if I do not interact and laugh with my friends I just get a little blah.

Life in my little corner of the world is usually rather pleasant.  I keep the bills paid and the wolf away from the door so it is mostly a day to day thing, but if I keep an open mind and do not dwell on the mundane I can get a chuckle out of about anything.  Icarus the cat jumped on Elvira the dog and got a free ride one morning.  Goose tripped over a duck and landed in the pond.  Bret seen a spider in his room.  Now granted, I probably have a sick sense of humor, but it is humor none the less.

I think I am getting ready to make a point here.  Life is short.  Life is simple if you let it be.  When it gets complicated, you loose control.  So there is much to be learned from the KISS theory, which you all know means Keep It Simple, Stupid!  My biggest problem is trying to think for someone else.  I basically want to please every body, but it does not work like that.  I learned in seventh grade that "You can please all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can not please all of the people all of the time."

I also learned that you never really know anybody, you only know OF them.  I can not be inside their brain so I can not know what they think.  Know what I do sometimes?  I should not tell you this, but I will.  Pretty sure I will live to regret it, but I am banking that most people who read my writing, chuckle and forget what I say.  Sometimes if I am listening intently to something you are saying that is boring me to tears, I have a little smile on my face and nod and interject my one word comments.  My mind is a million miles away at that point.  Know how to tell if I am really with you?  If I laugh.

If I laugh, I am listening, because sooner or later everyone I know will say something that my twisted mind can get a laugh from.  If I laugh a gut wrenching belly laugh, you truly have my attention.  If I touch you, you are home free.  I rarely meet anyone I can not laugh with, and if I do, I only see them once cause next time I will make an effort to get out of their way.

So your assignment for today is to lighten up!  Shake loose and get down!  Life is short!  Life is wonderful!  What does not kill you will make you strong!  So get out there and carpe diem!  And whatever you do, find the humor in the situation!

Oh, Joe! You are a human after all!

Well, the Internet was a buzz last night!  Get online! Joe just committed political suicide!  And at first glance it seemed that my very dear friend Joe Seiwert from district 101 in Reno County, Kansas had done just that!  Having won his re election bid by 79% it seemed that he was truly the golden boy.  Now, those of you who do not follow my hometown as closely as I do will no doubt wonder what the boy did to warrant such an outcry.  Gonna tell you here.

He forwarded an email!  Can you believe that!  Unfortunately, he is a politician and this email contained an essay on the Muslim customs.  He did not comment on it in any way, just hit the forward button and off it went to 40 people!  They ought to tar and feather that fellow! (Sarcasm, for those who do not recognize the form I write in a lot!)

Now here is the deal, folks, how many emails do you forward in one day?  I shudder to think how many I get, glance at the first paragraph and hit my forward button sending it off to one of my lists of receivers.  (Can't call them friends because I have about 2, 000 in my address book and I am sure some of them do not even like me and vice versa!)

OK, back on subject here!  I am not sure this email never came across my sight.  If it looked boring, I deleted it.  If I read the first paragraph and it sounded like a conservative thing, I sent it to my conservative friends.  If it sounded radical, I got a bunch of them also.  Bear in mind that this looks boring to me, so it probably got the delete button early on in which case it is a moot point.

You know the routine on the forwarded stuff.  If it ends with the admonishment that " If you are a good christian, you will forward this!"  "If you believe in God, you will forward this!" "If you love America, you will forward this!" all of those will be deleted.  If people question my love of God or Country they did not read it, so I delete it.

But there is the small contingent of people who, when faced with that selection, will forward it because they do love God and country or are afraid God or Obama may actually be watching what they do.

Footnote:


The Muslims have said they will destroy us from within.

SO FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.


THE MARINES WANT THIS TO ROLL ALL OVER THE U.S.

Please don'tdelete this until you send it on.

In red is the last sentences in the actual email!  Use your own judgement as to whether you would have forwarded this!

I want to go on record as saying Joe Seiwert is one of the most intelligent, caring men I have ever met.  Granted he is a Republican and I am a Bleeding Heart Liberal, but we are eye to eye on many things.  Well, actually, most things! I only pray that the people of Kansas can get their thinking caps on and realize what a treasure they have in this man!  But in the outside chance that they want to ride him out of town on a rail, send him to Colorado, because we could sure as hell use an honest man out here!

I love you Joe!!!!!!!!!

Dear Bret took these for me to enjoy!

I have always been fascinated by the powers of the Universe and by the beauty of the skies, especially the cloud formations. I spent many years taking pictures of these beauties and had a bunch of them in an album. Now this was back in the day when you took the roll of film out of the camera and took it in to the store to be developed. At that time you got an actual 4" x 6" picture that you could put in an album.

                                                           

One of the most beautiful pictures I had was one entitled "The Wyoming Cloud". Now granted the skies in Montana are one of the most spectacular sights in this world, but the Wyoming Cloud was a true work of art.  Alas, like all things bright and beautiful, my album was doomed.  Enter a son in law!  Open season for the Bronco's.  Stir up my natural desire to wager.

We started out small, "Here is a lovely shot of a cumulus over  Pikes Peak. " Well rats!  What are those Bronco's doing?  "OK, this Buttermilk Sky over Fowler on the way to Kansas the day after Al died."  Crap!  Now I was sure the Bronco's could not lose every game, so I was finally down to the wire.  "Alright, Jimmie, the Wyoming Cloud against all the others you are holding.  This will put me back in charge of my album!"

What is that famous poem that says something about "Ah, somewhere birds are singing and somewhere children shout, but there is no joy in Mudville, for mighty Casey has struck out!"  Or something to that effect.  Who would have ever dreamed that the mighty Denver Bronco's could lose every damn game!

So there I sat, a defeated woman and the new son in law!  Now one would think that a boy in his position would have been eager to please, but such was not the case.  I have the album and a few scraggly clouds that no one really cares about and somewhere over at Jimmie's house in the bottom of a box buried in a closet is the beautiful Wyoming Cloud, lost and forgotten.

But Bret took these for me one afternoon while I was gone and he just thought they were pretty.  I had one as the wallpaper on here until he got his new bike and now he sets there on his Harley smiling so I can see the $6,000 worth of dental work.  And why did I get up this morning thinking about that cloud in Wyoming?  I miss the days of dropping my film off to be developed.  I miss the jumping in the car and going somewhere far away on the spur of the moment.  I guess the cloud represents a part of my life that is gone and forgotten and it is just another thing I need to let slip away. 

 Life does take it's little twists and turns on the way from the cradle to the grave, doesn't it? 

Here is my Mohawk!!

Hey, look at that! Bet you think this is my mug shot, but it is not! This was taken when I renewed my drivers license.  You should know that a lot of thought went into this.  I have always thought of hair as a necessary evil and envied the men who could go bald and get away with it.  I can pass male pattern baldness to my son, but I can't enjoy the benefits myself.  Is life really fair?

For 25 years my late husband had gone to the barber out here on the Mesa named Louie.  He is right up there by Brian's Small Engine Repair on the South side of Santa Fe Drive.  Forgot the address and if you think I know where the phone book is, you are giving me way too much credit.  Just drive out Santa Fe and watch on the right.  Blende Drug, Frank's Meat Market, and pretty quick you see the turning pole.  Go in the back door and tell him Lou sent you.

Back to this tale.  Louie did not want to do this.  I actually had to get firm with him.  After much haggling he got out the clippers and this was the result.  Not the end of the story by a long shot, but I left there with the first Mohawk I had ever had and I felt good!  Life is too short to not try the things I want to, if you know what I mean!  First stop, step daughter's house.  Whoa on that reaction! 

"What have you done!  I was going to take you to the fair and look at what you have done! I am taking you no where!"  I was crushed!  This would have been my first outing with her in 23 years and I had blown it~!  Laugh Out Loud on that one!  Next I was reported to the son-in-law who came and rang my doorbell.  When I opened the door, he just started laughing.  My kind of boy!

I loved that Mohawk and I put that sticky crap on it several times a day so it would stand up nice and tall.  I knew this needed to be preserved for posterity, so since it was drivers license time, off I went to the DMV.  The guy taking the pictures was a little cool at first when I explained that this was my first Mohawk and I wanted the best picture ever on my license.  Bless his heart, he took several shots before he got the one he was happy with.  Tell me the government does not love us little people!

I want you to know right now, that an old lady with a Mohawk will draw a lot of attention.  The people at church were astounded!  They soon recovered.  This was Lou after all, and she never did like hair.  Ok, this was people I knew and who knew me.  Off to the grocery store next.  Safeway on the East Side.  Tough place to play too since it is the East Side.  I was amazed at how many of the little "wannabees" and "gang bangers" in the parking lot smiled at me!  First they looked at me with their hard little eyes and I smile at them, and they everyone smiled back!  I think if we all got a Mohawk we could solve a lot of problems.  Could be wrong, but it was fun.

I still like to watch the faces of people who need my identification when I hand them my drivers license.  First they look at it, then they immediately look at the top of my head!  I just tell them "My wild and crazy days, last week!"  I am thinking I really want another wild haircut, but this time I will have Louie just shave it all except two circles in the front and I will shellac those suckers up good and  make me 2 horns.  Secretary at the church shakes her head when I say that, but the preacher thinks I might.  Tell me what you think!  Hit the comment button down there and if I get 2 yes votes I will do it and put it on my next license.

To my friend online who did not know I ever had a Mohawk, I first blogged this back on October 21, 2009, so it is no secret.  You just thought you had read all my blogs!  Now you got a picture to go with it.