Spring hath sprung....evidently!

“Every path has a few puddles.”

I talk a lot about Ol Fair Oaks but truth be told, there’s a lot of Ol Fair Oaks that I almost never get around to....Oh, once’t in a great while I use’ta walk down Bridge Street to the river... The American River is a purty river... I’ve ever seen....ain’t nearly so wide as the Ohio or the Mississippi but t’ain’t muddy either...

what it is most of the year is durn cold ‘cuz it’s basically snowmelt...it’s a pretty river but I don’t walk her near as much as I did a few years ago....I use’ta hike various ‘n sundry streets around the village...they’re little old narrow streets, winding up ‘n down ‘n in ‘n out ‘n it’s easy to get lost but if you keep walking, why sooner or later you’ll come out....maybe not where you intended but you will eventually find your way back to the village center....

Mostly, me ‘n da boyz stay pretty close to Crestline Avenue....that’s a pretty fancy name for a street that’s barely two blocks long ‘n one of ‘em is basically an alley....still, it’s only a spit ‘n a holler to the main drag of the village.... that’ud be Fair Oaks Boulevard which jogs right thru the middle of things...anyways, when I’m talking about wand’ring ‘round ‘n about the village, I’m really talking about walking da boyz around Plaza Park which is the center of Ol Fair Oaks Village...

And t’day is Springfest...well, the first day of it anyways...s’two day affair that use’ta be called Fair Oaks Fiesta but as we’ve pretty much made the transition from ‘real’ village to a faux artsy-fartsy antiques ‘n more village, the new crop of movers ‘n shakers evsidently tho’t the old name was p’litically incorrect....ah well, as Kermit the Frog once famously stated, “Time’s fun when you’re having flies.”

I ‘uz just thinkin’ that our current crop of politicians just keep proving over ‘n over that the biggest troublemaker the average person’ll ever have to deal with shows up in the mirror ever’ morning....

So the Backyard Rooster, more commonly known at the present time as MacFail (for reasons I’m not going to ‘splain so don ‘t ask) tried after a couple months of his hermit-like existence in the Smith south forty to move out into the world...See, loneliness drives all Gawd’s critters to desperate measures...I figger MacFail wuz someone’s pet rooster ‘n like so many other denizens of the mean streets of Ol Fair Oaks, for whatever reason wuz dropped off t’make his own way in the world...My best guess is that he wuz a socialble cuss ‘n used to being the Cock o’ the walk where he lived before ‘n his entitlement attitude got his butt kicked by the current tenants so he took refuge in our backyard...which brings us up to the present time...’bout two weeks or so ago, MacFail ventured out of the yard ‘n across the street to mingle with the half dozen or chickens that one of my naive neighbors has been feeding...Now in the meantime, another new rooster has come to Crestline...I’m pretty sure he came along with out new human neighbors....he’s a tall, range, lean, mean fighting machine that I’ve named Bad Man Jose Jose...’n Bad Man Jose Jose is the current Cock o’ the walk on Crestline...’n he whaled the tar out’a MacFail, tore out most of his tail feathers ‘n played a mean tune on his chicken head whereupon MacFail retreated to our backyard again.....I don’t know how long Bad Man Jose Jose’ll be able to reign as King Cock...it’s an old human aphorism that ‘them as live by the sword, die by the sword’ ‘n uneasy lies the head that wears the crown...

‘course, much like their human counterparts, the average chicken just tries not to attract the attention of the King Cock whoever he might be...I mean, it’s hard enuff just trying to scratch out a living off the land..even in idyllic Ol Fair Oaks....

If you are s’pozed to learn from your mistakes, then why do some people have more’n one child?

So the haps here on Crestline is our new neighbor is cutting trees....three sick ‘n tired old Redwoods ‘n one big old Valley Oak that’s over 100 inches in circumference....’course, he assured me that he had a permit to take all the trees down ‘n for his sake, I hope he does ‘cause cutting down a heritage Valley oak without a permit can get really expensive....he’s cleaned out a lot of brush ‘n shrubs ‘n some smaller trees ‘n opened up the back of the property so’s we all get an increase in traffic noise from Sunrise.....the poor old house is in sad shape...

the previous owner had it as a rental for a long time but the last tenant was a couple years ago ‘n after he left, well the place just set empty ‘n forlorn ‘n forlorn houses don’t do well....it was built the same time as our tired old manse (1900) ‘n I s’pect it could be refurbished if a body was to put a lot of money ‘n effort into it....’course now that’s a pretty standard saying among people who look at old houses....”Y’know” musing to oneself, “that c’d be a really nice place if I was to put some money ‘n work into it.” I know that’s true becuz that’s exactly what Millyrose ‘n I said when we bought this old moneypit...’n it’s still true t’day, thirty-some years later.....this ‘ud be a nice place if someone was to put some money ‘n work into it....ah well, you know what the song said, “Fools rush in where wise men never go but wise men never fall in love so how are they to know.....”

Sumtimes ya just gotta vent....

Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people. Others have no imagination at all...

Cokie Roberts 'n her husband, Mr. Whatever Roberts were on teevee this weekend....nuthin' at all remarkable about that, they're on teevee purty darn reg'lar...after all is said 'n done, that's how they 'earn' their daily bread...anyways, once't upon a time, I was under the impression that she was fairly bright 'n had a decent education until I heard Mr. Whatever Roberts say that 'Muslim' was a conservative code word for (gasp) N####r...'n she agreed with him....Now, I don't know about everybody else...I swear to Gawd that I absolutely don't know about anybody else, I have enuff trubble trying to figger out my own place in this world 'n I'm running out of time t'do that....But, I gotta say that I'm really, really, really tired of so-called Liberals (a misnomer if there ever was one) infusing racism into ever' damn thing under the sun that they don't happen to agree with...Democrats have this one playbook that sez, "Divide 'n conquer!" And it's always class warfare with them...well, class warfare 'n race warfare....the 'have's against the 'have-nots'...that's why they come up with nonsense like if you're black 'n a republican, you must be an Uncle Tom...if you're Latino 'n a republican, you're a traitor to your class ' n if you're poor 'n a republican, you're too dumb for your own good...Ah well, if you ain't got a sense of humor, you prob'ly ain't got no sense at all.....

Easter Sunday

One of the things that I’ve learned from living so durned long is that you gotta wait ‘til evening to find out just how splendid the day has been.

T’day was a big day....Easter Sunday ‘n all with almost all the fam’ly here...son Dave is still in Saudi Arabia ‘n t’day was a workday for him....well, you know you wouldn’t expect a Muslim country to celebrate a Christian holiday anyway....it was a long day, longer for Millyrose than it was for me....she was up late last nite ‘n got up early this morn....lots ‘n lots of getting ready stuff....lots of food....there was potato salad, mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes with a secret ingredient....just goes to show that we’re basically a potato-loving fam’ly...’n a Smithfield Paula Deen ham....(brother John would’a loved it)....Heck! Dave would’a loved it...there was long, skinny green beans ‘n long, skinny asparagus, corn, stuffing, ‘n some other stuff that I never got around to trying at all...

there was bread, of course, sourdough rolls ‘n miniature croissants ‘n some home-made Portuguese sweetbread that Millyrose ‘n Francisca ‘n da gurlz made....there was assorted drinks ‘n desserts ‘n of course, there was Spring Spheres, what normal well-adjusted folk call Easter Eggs ‘n there was Easter candies ‘n basically there was stuff to eat.....lots ‘n lots of stuff to eat....’n we ate...all of us...’n then we sat around talking which we do pretty much as well as any other family....prob’ly better than some ‘n not so good as others tho’ I must admit that as talkers go, the Smith family overall ranks pretty good....’n then, Willie got out...oh, someone left the door open ‘n Willie likes to go wandering on his own when he gets the chance...we all went looking for him ‘n found him exploring the park....he likes to go to the park ‘n since I hadn’t taken him earlier, I guess he just took it on his own self to wander around the village ‘n see what was happening...

As old Willie Shakespeare famously stated, “All’s well that ends well” ‘n this Easter Sunday in the year of our Lord, 2011 ended pretty well....hope it was a nice day for everyone......g’nite all

“Annoy a Liberal!”

Don’cha just love it when someone tells you, “Let’s just agree to disagree.” Ain’t that just another way of saying, “You’re entirely too stupid to understand plain english ‘n I’m tired of talking to you.”

I swear t’goodness, I do love bumper stickers...

only trouble is my eyesight ain’t what it use’ta be..

I recall when I was a boy we use’ta watch the steamboats comin’ up the river...there was a big old curve in the Ohio just downriver from our little village ‘n you saw the barges first ‘n then the top of the steamboat....gen’elly the name was painted in bold letters d’rectly below the pilot house ‘n it was sort of a game among us as to who could read the name first ‘n farthest away....t’day, I expect I’d have to be right on top of it ‘n still need my specs.....

I tho’t for a short while that the bumper sticker folks was just printing them smaller but I got disabused of that notion early on....grandkids are pitiless about stuff like that....as time wore on I found that the newspapers were using smaller ‘n smaller print ‘n ‘specially on the comix which I’m pretty sure they made smaller in order to save money on the colored ink....now I’ve got to the point where mostly I read the comix on the computer where I can zoom in ‘n make ‘em as large as I need ‘em to be.....funny thing is newspapers use’ta be much larger than they are t’day but the print was smaller back then...I don’t know why that is but it’s so....I get a kick out of old movies where someone is reading a daily paper ‘n it’s easily twice the size of todays snooze nooze...’course, the SacBee has been on one of them slippery slopes for several years now...ever since they ran the Sacramento Union out of business...the McClatchey organisation has run a lot of smaller ‘papers out of business all around the country ‘n now they’re crying poor mouth because they’re losing circulat ion....go figure.....

Ah, Springs idle tho'ts....

“Atheism is a non-prophet organisation.”

Dunno why some Atheists want to protest Easter...I realize that some religious nutz tend to become a little unhinged if you tell 'em that there are people in this world that maybe don’t agree with whatever it is that they have focused on (kind’a like the so-called ‘liberal thinkers’ among us)...fortunately, most religious nutz are wrapped so tightly in their own cocoon that they tend not to notice the rest of the world too often....’course, then you got your exceptions as ev’ry rule seems t’have....like your Westboro Baptists, f’rinstance

or most Muslims....the Muslims are exceptional in that they are the only religion(?) that actively preaches ‘Death to the heretics (non-believers’ for you heretics).... Mohammed taught his followers to spread ‘his’ religion with ‘Fire ‘n Sword’...but in this modern age, they are the only religion that continues with that p’ticklar practice....a few hundred years ago, the Catholic Church pretty much preached that also....’n practiced what they preached by means of ‘The Inquisition’....

I think maybe that was a pretty standard modus operanda for most state-sanctioned religions...When the Romans gave up on feeding Christians to the lions (maybe they were running short of lions) ‘n decided to baptize the known world with fire ‘n brimstone, it didn’t take too awful long to convince most people that conversion was indeed the better part of valor....

Anyways, it’s all pretty much water under the bridge now (except in Texas where they have a Texas-sized drought situation)....’n tomorra is Easter Sunday, the holiest day in the Christian religion where Christians celebrate the re-birth of Christ ‘n children celebrate the Easter Bunny.....

Unsurprisingly, in this secular age, there are many young adults who don’t understand the significance of Easter ‘n haven’t a clue as to how the Easter Bunny came to be...par exemple, the idiotic teacher in the northwest who wanted to refer to Easter eggs as Spring Spheres.....that’s enuff to make even an atheist cry out for Gawd’s sake.....

Oh....Happy Easter!

“Be careful reading the fine print. There’s no way you’re going to like it.”

Once’t upon a time.....When I was a boy during the second World War (The Big One according to Dobie Gillis’ father ‘n I’ve already been told that my reference points were ‘way out of date, thank you) gasoline was expensive ‘n in short supply because most of it went to the war effort ‘n turned automobiles into a really luxury item that was primarily available only to the very rich ‘n the p’litical connected (much as today)..

also, rubber which was pretty darned essential for tires considering that’s what cars ride on...

my first car had synthetic rubber tires that lasted almost four months of teenage driving...

Anyways, ‘way back then, while cars were no longer a novelty, still the majority of Americans didn’t own one but we were moving in that direction....well, until the war came along, anyway...A lot of working people who had managed to acquire an automobile suddenly found them unaffordable....’n pretty much unsellable also....A lot of cars ended up on blocks with the tires hanging from the walls of the garage.....t’was a fairly common sight during the war years....

‘Case you’re wondering, I’m just venting ‘cuz I paid over $4 a gallon for gasoline t’day ‘n the snooze nooze showed some places where it’s over $5 a gallon....’course, that really don’t have a lot of effect on our politicians who pretty much get all the gasoline they want on our dimes.....

y’know, it’s funny when Obama sez he wants to tax the rich, I’m beginning to wonder just what rich folk he’s talking about ‘cause from where I sit, seems like all the working class people are the ones paying all those taxes...oh, maybe not on their tax forms but certainly at the gas stations ‘n grocery stores....

“If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.”

Woke up this morning to overcast ‘n breezy with the smell of rain....Helas, seems t’have been a false promise ‘cuz we ain’t seen a drop...

didn’t make any difference to our ‘cross the street neighbors as they were running the sprinkler on their patch o’ green...’course, they would’a run the sprinkler even if it ‘ud been raining.....I’d been looking forward to another sunny morn ‘cuz it’s easier to get m’self motivated to go jump in the pool on a nice day...ah well, I got too much sun yest’iday anyways ‘n got whatchamight call some ‘Spring Color’.....also I was thinking about digging out my summer wardrobe of shorts ‘n tee shirts even tho Millyrose keeps telling me that it’s still too early for whites....I keep insisting that old rule don’t really apply these daze ‘specially in California but she don’t listen t’me....that puts her in a safe majority ‘cuz there ain’t a whole lot of people who actually listen to me anyway....I’d get my feelings hurt over that if I hadn’t learned early in life that the world pretty much ignores every one regardless of race, color or creed....or any other criteria that you might think up....

Quiet Village......

“Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, and leave the rest to God!”

‘n if that don’t work, remember that sometimes you get ‘n sometimes you get got!.....

‘s been a quiet Sunday morning here in Ol Fair Oaks...seems like even the roosters have been somewhat muted t’day ‘n that’s always a good thing...quiet roosters, I mean...’n with the number of chickens that we got in the village, that’s unusual...one of my neighbors (I ain’t gonna say who) remarked that the roosters seemed t’be on a rape rampage ‘n that surely must be a sign of Spring....I asked her if she tho’t that chocolate milk came from brown cows ‘n she sed, “Of course not. Why would you ask?”

It’s kind of amazing when y’come t’think about it that there’s a huge generation of Americans that learned about animal behavior from Disney films....I’m not at all surprised that there seems t’be a rise in vegetarianism, at least here in sunny California....

A view from a rock to a hard place.....

"T’is better to remain silent ‘n be tho’t a fool than to speak up ‘n remove all doubt~"

O frabjous day, calloo, callay...ect......s’what useta be referred to as ‘hump day’...y’know, the midway day between Blue Monday ‘n Good Friday....they called it Good Friday ‘cuz that’s when the Eagle flew...(payday for all the still wet behind the ears crowd)....started out t’be on the coolish side here in Ol Fair Oaks, cloudy with a now ‘n then touch of sunshine for God’s chillun....I’m reminded of Ricky Gervais shouting all, “Thank God for making me an atheist!”....s’what you call an oxymoron....well, it’s what most of us call an oxymoron...not sure what Democrats ‘ud call it....I only say that ‘cuz I been watching the p ‘litical nooze again...

Boy, I’ll tell ya, it’s gotta be hard being a politician these daze when ever’one ‘n their brother has a cell phone that not only records images but captures whatever is said as well...’n it’s forever....goes around the world in a flash ‘n maybe a half so ever’one in the whole wide world can see ‘n hear just how stoopid our p’litical leaders are....I’m picking on the Dems but y’know, it don’t really matter what label they pin on themselves, it seems like every political hack the world over is born with a silver foot in their mouth....

Well, what we got here is a fat old man 'n two rambunctious dogs....'n down the street we got chickens 'n cats 'n a whole world of new 'n innarestin odors....well, for the dogs anyway...'n under the bench, we got a couple of the famous feral fowl of Ol Fair Oaks hiding from Willie whose second most fav'rit thing in the world is terrorizing chickens

Why did the chickens cross the road?????

Out wandering up the street ‘n down...me ‘n da boyz, that is....checking on the chickens ‘n the catz ‘n whatever might be new in the ‘hood....

Had a calico cat sleeping on my back deck this morning....found herself a spot of sun ‘n decided she liked it enuff to stay awhile....Douglas sez she’s a friendly cat ‘n likes people...sed one of the cat-women (the ladies who travel the various ‘hoods with bags of cat food in their cars) took the calico home for about 3 daze before the cat up ‘n left....Doug told her cats adopt people, not t’other way ‘round....anyways, the boyz had a good walk, got the opportunity to exercise a few chickens....bidness is a little tough in the village right now...Oaks Hardware, a Village Institution for many years, is changing hands...that doesn’t happen often so it deserves t’be noticed...there have been only two owners since I’ve lived here...Everett Nardinelli had the place when I arrived...he sold it to Dave Hill ‘n moved to Oregon, I think in the early ‘70’s....Dave ‘n his wife both passed while I was in Kentucky a few years ago ‘n left the property to their son, young Dave Hill... well, he ‘s younger than me but nowadays, thats no longer a big deal....it’s really hard for small stores to compete with the big box stores in good times but this economy makes it even more difficult...let’s hope the new owners have deep pockets ‘n the economy turns around...

Oh...The Slocum House folded if you didn’t know...advertised as one of the most romantic restaurants in the Sac area ‘n home to myriad chickens, I never ceased to laugh at the price they charged for ‘Free Range Chicken’...’course, I don’t really believe that they simply walked into their yard ‘n butchered one of their own but I found it amusing.....

I complain a lot about all the durn chickens but I hafta admit a couple things....there’s a lot of ‘em....they’re diversified ‘n colorful....’n they give you something other than the weather to talk about....

The Smith south forty.....

Backyard in Spring bloom....'n if I could keep it thisaway, I prob'ly would...at least until the deer could move in 'n eat it down...don't work that way sadly....when the heat gets here, the sun'll beat down 'n ev'rything'll droop 'n dry out 'n become a real fire danger so sometime before that happens, I'll pull on my wellies, cover up 'n fire up the old weed-whacker 'n whack weeds until my hands go numb however long that takes 'n these days, it don't take that awful long but there's always tomorrow to look forward to doing it again 'n again....just remember, you're never too old to learn something stupid!

Got all the livingroom carpet pulled up...floors don’t look ‘all that bad’....’course, they don’t look all that good either....part of ‘em still has the remnant of the dark stain that once was....part of them are still faded red from times long past but, all in all, they’re recoverable....but I ain’t gonna do it...the cost of sanding ‘n refinishing is prohibitive ‘n the tho’t of the damage that two little dogs could inflict (not to mention the damage that a clumsy, unthinking oaf like m’self) is too durn daunting.....soooooo, I’m thinking Pergo or somesuch is a lot more practical...
fortunately, I don’t hafta do anything at all in the near future as long as we have it in the planning stage....I’ve found that the planning stage is not a bad place t’be...it’s when the planning is done ‘n you’re expected to actually do something is when it gets tough (not to mention expensive)....
Sunday morning in the village...gotta luv these soft Spring mornings....great day for Willie ‘n Rusty as we got to meet up with not one, not two, but three cats....Rusty got a ‘wee bit antsy’ but Willie turned into some kind of whirling dervish of a little dog...he hit the end of leash at full tilt ‘n did a somersault...looked a bit dazed for about half a moment but the cat was still there....exciting times, I’ll tellya....

If you're wondering.....

"Good judgement comes from experience 'n a lot of that comes from bad judgement."

....or even if you're not.....we've been offline for a few daze now due to my inability to think outside the box, so to speak...what it is, is we're having some painting done 'n I just unplugged everything 'n moved it all into the middle of the room....then, we took the dogs for a walk....been doing that a lot lately....well, since the rain stopped for a while anyways...Willie looks out the window, the sun is shining, the chickens are all over the neighborhood, the neighboring dogs are...well, raucous is what they are...'n Willie can't stand it....he just has to go outside 'n he pesters me something fierce until I give in...'n of course, I can't take Willie without Rusty, the old poodle-dogger going along also....we generally go up the street 'n around the corner 'n down t'the park...there are always lots of chickens hanging out at Plaza Park (there's even a couple that I kind'a like)...gotta get Millyrose to take a pic of them one 'a these daze....ah well, it's midnite thirty 'n I need t'go back to bed....pleasant dreams y'all!