T'aint Spring yet, but.........

When the sun comes shinin’ thru in February & all the weeds are green & the racket of the Blue Jays is on a par with the damn chickens....... with the dripping eaves, & flutterin’ leaves, & dappled sunshine.....an old man’s fancy moves to tho’ts of warm & turnin’ off PG&E.....
O frabjous day, calloo, callay, he chortled in his glee......
Nobody ever chortles in mid-winter.....they might laugh boisterously, (too much egg-nog p’haps)...or they might work up a chuckle or a wan smile...children are exempt, of course, they can get gleeful any time of year & that’s alright......children don’t reallly chortle tho’ ....babies chortle & old folks chortle (we have much in common)...working adults seldom ever chortle.....well, they almost never have anything to chortle about anyway.....it’s hard being a working, responsible adult.....Heck! It’s hard being an adult no matter what the condition......the ‘Human Condition’ is ‘specially tuff in this election year with all the candidates spreading doom & gloom like manure....’minds me of that ‘ol canard’.
.....”Recession is when your neighbor’s out’a work, depression is when you’re out’a work.”.......
And ever’ damn one of them has a plan to fixit!! S’funny how all those plans disappear like morning mist as they drop by the wayside......S’funny how every sure thing plan falls apart in daylite......S’funny how gullible we all are, believing that any self-serving politician c’n wave a magic wand & make Humpty Dumpty whole again.......
“Oz never did give nuthin’ to the Tinman that he didn’t already have...........” Justin Other Smith

But I digress..........

Captain Charles Boycott was so hard on his Irish tenants that they ostracized him, refusing to work for him or to do any business with him. The tactic was so successful that all such actions became known as ‘Boycotts’....the truth is while most boycotts seldom work as well, it is one of the few tactics that the mob (us) can use to defend against power-mad despots (them). ‘Course, one of the disadvantages we have is that a lot of us’ns ‘ud rather be thems. Which was Capt. Boycott’s problem. Seems he wanted to impress his employers by grinding his bootheels on the necks of.....well, I’m sure you got the idea already.
Doesn’t really matter, I spoze, as I only brought it up to express my irritation with the Hershy Co.......I boycott Nike for exploiting children in 3rd world countries & I pretty much won’t buy Shell gas & I’ve boycotted Raley’s off & on for about 30 years (not that any of these companies have noticed)......Anyway, Hershys recently closed their Oakdale operation. I c’n understand business closing an operation that is losing money & I c’n understand consolidating operations as a means of more productivity so when I first heard that they were gonna close Oakdale, I tho’t..”that’s a shame” but stuff happens as the world changes.......THEN I heard the reason they closed Oakdale (at the cost of 700 or so jobs) & a few more locations (at the cost of over 3000 jobs) was to consolidate & move the operations to Mexico, (much cheaper there)....Well, hurrah for profits.....so much for ‘the all american candy company’...
as far as I’m concerned, they can sell their candies etc in Mexico & bad ‘cess to ‘em.....I’ll just ‘Kiss’ them off & never buy another Hershys product.
Beware the Jabberwock & take evasive action from the vorpal blades.............Justin Other Smith

the coming Spring.......

Here t’is February already & looking back, I gotta say that while it’s a given that there’s no such thing as an intrinsically BAD month, as months go, January is pretty darn dreary. On that other hand, the one that I mention so often, paperwhites (narcissus) bloom in January, at least here in norCal.....here & there come little shoots of green sprouting almost whimsically under grey skies......
Guess you c’d say, I’m looking fwd to Spring this year...maybe a l’il bit more than usual after an unusually depressing (for me anyway) winter.....but Chemo is over & winter is withdrawing, at least here in the valley...More snow to come in the sierra where we really need it.....and I’m looking forward to NEW GROWTH.......
“I think the worst is over now. Yeah, I’m gonna be alright, and the morning sun is shining like a red rubber ball.....” Paul Simon.....
All that as a prelude to the new growth-thing, the blooming narcissi, the l’il shoots of green, the coming of Spring is bustin’ out all over......Running my hand over my bald pate, I feel..........wait for it.........FUZZ!...It ain’t really hair yet but it’s the precursor to real hair.....I’m growing facial hair also....not the stubble I was used to having, but what the heck? I’ll take what I c’n get.....whiskers, then (hopefully) eyebrows ‘n maybe by April or May, Millyrose might say I c’d use a haircut........
Justin Other Smith

Fading Glory.......

As I’ve stated before, sumwhere in that long list of blogs, I’ve beat the cancer & now I’m into my 2nd week of recovery from my ‘Last Chemo’.
Looking fwd to a dry Satiday & evidently another wet Sunday.....T’is SUPERBOWLSUNDAY, I’m told. Over & over. I’ve tho’t about a Sunday matinee, a trip to La Cinema, as a means of escape but perusing the list of available titles finds them overly dramatic or hopelessly sophmoric...P’haps I’ll stay home & watch ‘Harvey’ for the umpteenth time.
I’m beginning to think that the run for the White House will never cease...& watching the candidates reminds me of that old quote about stripping away the phony tinsel & glitter of Hollywood to get to the real tinsel & glitter underneath.........I heard where Romney has already spent over 40 million dollars of his own money & is prepared to spend maybe that much more...That’s what I call an EGO!
Or maybe that’s a small investment compared to what he envisions as the future earnings of a President of a fading world power......Faded Glory is, I think, a Walmart brand & everything in THE GREATEST STORE IN THE WORLD is made in China...D’ya think they’re trying to tell us sumthing?.........
On the other hand, (luv that phrase but, since humans have only 2 hands, t’is limiting)...what China sez & what China duz seem often t’be at odds, ya gotta wonder.....
Reminds me a bit of those old Charlie Chan movies of yesteryear......y’know the ones, the inscrutable Oriental knows all, sees all, & explains everything vis a vis a cryptic quote apropos confusing Confucious (?).......Too much information in this media-concious world...Man who see everything, understand nothing.......Justin Other Smith
On the proverbial other hand, man who see nothing, understand nothing....must be a better way somewhere......

Just wonderin'.....

I’ve heard it said, “if a man has nothing to say, he hadn’t ought’a say it.”
That particular witticism has never stopped me in the past so I see no reason to abide by it now.
I agree with the Sydney Greenstreet character in the Maltese Falcon who said, “Now sir, we’ll talk if you like. I’ll tell you right out I’m a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk.”
We’re enjoying a brief respite from the rain altho’ it’s still cloudy & overcast. No matter, we’re gonna take this opportunity to run some errands - Post Office, pay some bills, etc - filled out our absentee ballots t’day, gotta get’em in the mail.....pretty simple ballot....vote y’r choice for Prez, no on all the props, sign & drop in the mail.....’course, we waited ‘til the last moment to get’em in the mail but as everyone knows, I’m a lifelong practioner of the art of procrastination & I fear I’ve infected Millyrose as well.....
I hear my friend, Mollie Burke Phillips, is doing well albeit still very weak.....when you get knocked down so far that bottom looks like up, you gotta expect to take a long time to get your sea legs back....but Mollie is tuff & I expect she’ll come roaring back...
I’ve been thinking about what Mitt had to say about bringing the auto jobs back to Michigan which has about a snowballs chance in hell of happening...OK, sumtimes I’m a slow thinker....anyway, someone pointed out to me that while Ford, GM, & Chrysler are losing money & moving mfg to other countries, Japanese manufacturers are building plants here in the US of A.....makes me wonder who knows what & why...
Ahh well, just wonderin’......Justin Other Smith

Sunday Yawn......

YAWNNNNN! It’s raining.....not storming, but a steady dripping rain, falling straight down rain that you c’n barely see or feel but everything is drooping....all the leaves, the trees, the grasses & flowers.....bedraggled, disheartened chickens huddle forlornly, only crowing now if they feel threatened.....the dogs don’t want to get off the porch ‘n I can’t really blame them. I don’t want to go outside either. Feel kind’a droopy myownself.....
I’ve cut the Prednisone short so I don’t have the artificial high going for me....the upside is my BS is closer to normal & I c’n sleep.....the downside is...loss of taste, lack of energy, general dullness.....
But, it’s over...the Chemo, I mean. A couple weeks of self-pitying inertia ain’t that high of a price, I guess.....
Besides, January is coming to a close & mid-February is often Spring-like round about here.....& Spring, of course, signals a re-birth......& at 70 years old, I ain’t sure how many re-births I got left so I don’t wanna waste any..........
The powers that be are talking about a 2 month ban on fishing the lower American......”Joy to the fishes....”

Justin Other Smith

wet, wetter, wettest.....& windy too

Drab, dreary, drizzly days in soggy ol sac valley.....even when it ain’t actually rainin’........it’s still wet!
I got it done! The last chemo! Nuthin’ to look forward to now ‘cept feeling better.
Well that, & a little insomnia.....quiet in the middle of the nite.....at least it ain’t raining tho’ the forecast is for rain all day Friday.....
It’s raining, it’s pouring....I really should be snoring.....I woke up ‘round about midnite & I’m still up....still up.....
4:30 & the paper just hit the door....prob’ly tryin’ to beat the storm they’re forecasting....guess I’ll make some coffee & listen to the falling rain.....raindrops are fallin’ .....well, not on my head ‘cause I ain’t goin’ out there....’n I don’t feel like singin’ or dancin’ either.....I wish I was asleep.........Just sleepin’ in the rain, sleepin’ in the rain, what a glorious feelin’.....just sleepin’ in the rain.....apologies, Gene........Justin Other Smith