Unsuccessful Saturday ride

               If you read the heading you now know the entire story of the unsuccessful Saturday ride; you may stop reading now.

               Thanks and have a successful day.

 

               For the diehard person that did not read the heading I will tell you a short story.

 

This story begins on a cloudy ugly Saturday morning. My wife of 44 years was heading off to see if she could purchase some junk that other people wanted to throw away; she was going garage selling.

 

I, not wanting to be left home alone again, foolishly decided to go for a ride. I planned thought of a ride that would take a couple hours ending up at the Bunk House in Clifton, Texas for lunch. My assumption was, the clouds and fog will lift and it will turn into a very nice day for a ride.

(When you assume you make an ass out of you and me ass/u/me. I should have planned the ride and put some real thought into it, I would have been better off.)

 

I checked with the retiree across the street to see if he wanted to bring his Gold Wing out for a morning ride. He “wisely” declined.

 

I had a route in mind that would take a couple hours. You are correct; I did not want to be home alone so I opted to ride solo. (I think that is still alone.)  I started the ride under cloudy skies. These clouds were not high clouds; instead they were low to the ground and varying in density. I assumed the clouds were going to dissipate as I rode but they didn’t. They were actually getting darker and more threatening.  I persisted in moving forward choosing to ignore the possibility of rain falling on me.

 

I rode to and through Mother Neff State Park. The road on the other side of the park is a winding slow riding road that is possibly 8 miles long with about 5 houses on the road. As I was riding this road my allergies began to affect me. My eyes were starting to itch and my throat was beginning to tickle. 

I took this photo while on the back road; it appeared there had been a strong breeze.

I decided I would end the ride and turn for home when I reached the end of this road. There were some sprinkles hitting my windshield which help me make the decision to abort the mission ride. I assumed that my allergies would be killing me by the time I arrived back home but the faster paced riding seemed to help clear the allergies.

 

Arriving back home alone I decided to do what any self-respecting retired person would do, I took a nap.  My naps aren’t usually very long but this one lasted about 30 minutes. To my surprise when I woke the sun was shining and it had turned out to be a nice day.

 

The sun shining was both good and bad. Good because it was a fine day to be alive. Bad because I now was going to mow the front yard.

 

“Plan” you day, you will have more fun.

 

Don Ford

Foggy

 

               It should be understood that my brain is somewhat foggy most of the time, but that is not the subject of today’s “flight of fantasy”.  Actually “flight of fantasy” is a misnomer, in as much as this article is all true.

               Today is Monday; I am sitting on my rocker waiting to take Gabi to school. I have a cup of coffee to sip on as I wait. This morning there is fog in the area but it is not too foggy; I can see to the end of the block. I have noticed that every bird in the area seems to be making some type of noise this morning. Possibly the fog has caused me to focused on the bird sounds. There is one bird that has an annoying sound and I think he knows it.

               This fog started me thinking about fog in Sothern Illinois. For those of you that have never experienced a southern Illinois fog you may not totally understand or believe what I am imparting to you.

I lived in Cape Girardeau, MO which was located on the Mississippi river. There was an old narrow bridge that was kind of shaped like an arch that crossed from Missouri to Illinois. At its highest point it was approx. 150 feet above the river. 

Across the bridge from Cape were thousands of acres, all flat southern Illinois farm land. This farm land was black-land reclaimed from the Mississippi river. 

In those days, I was just a kid of 17, dating a girl who lived in southern Illinois. Normally the drive to and from her home was easy. The roads were fairly straight with one intersection. The drive was about 6 miles and there was usually a lot of truck traffic. Also there were several bars on the Illinois side of the river, which cause you to watch for drunks late at night.

One particular night about 11:30, my date and I started towards her home. We drove over the bridge toward Illinois and as we descended from the bridge to the river bottoms we ran into the densest fog I have ever seen. You may have heard the saying, “it was so foggy that you could not see your hand in front of your face” it was that foggy.

Anyone with common sense would have turned around and went back to Missouri but I was a know it all kid so I kept going. The broken white line in the center of the road was how I knew I was still on the road. At one point I was hanging my head out of the window to see the center line. We were driving very slow and after a while we arrived at the intersection. There was some pole lights that helped us know we had to stop.

Not being able to see 20 feet in any direction we took a chance and pulled through the intersection to get on the road to McClure. It was about another two miles to McClure. We unintentionally drove past McClure and didn’t know it until we saw a motel that had those, “yellow bug lights” they used in the olden day. The yellow lights were visible through the fog so we pulled in and turned around. Now we knew we were about a half mile past McClure so we started back. As we approached McClure we were able to see some lights from the Bar (The Why Not Club) which helped us fine our turn into the little town. 

I dropped her off at her house and instead of just staying put for the night I started for home. Somehow I made it back to Missouri without being in a wreck.

As usual, when I got back to Missouri I met up with my buddies. We would run around doing things we shouldn’t for the rest of the night.

 

I hope you have a good non-foggy day.

 

Don Ford

 

Can't beat them; join them!

            I have decided to join them and I started today. I was offered a government backed deal to have my attic insulated at a very low cost. Being on a fixed income and wanting to take advantage of some of the government offered programs I said come on and insulate the Attic.

            They had previously come to my house and sealed the windows along with the holes in the walls under the sinks and toilets. They want to make my house more energy efficient which would save me money and keep some contractors in business.

            This company which goes by the name Green Leaf was at the retiree’s home across the street prior to arriving at our home. These fellows went about their work without delay and seemingly have done a good job. All in all it took about an hour from start to finish. The sun was not shining today so it was a little nicer for the fellows that went into the attic. I have a couple photos before and after. Note the metal hanger holding the duct work; it is covered in the after photo. They have blown at least 12 to 14 inches of insulation into the attic.

Above we see another set of before and after photos of another location in the attic.

They charged me $250 for the insulation and said they were paying the other $1,300. I am now on the take and I enjoy it. I think I will try to get a Government cell phone. I may try to get food stamps, then I can spend the money on things I don’t need.

 

I hope you are having an insulated day.

 

Don Ford

It is a sad day.

               Today is the day to honor the first responders who lost their lives at Fertilizer plant explosion, West, TX.

 

               Having been a volunteer fireman for 12 years I thought I would show my respect by standing along the route that the procession takes. They are expecting a very large number of people from all over the US to honor these first responders. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families. 

 

It has been announced that the president will attend the memorials. It is my opinion that his attendance is more for political reasons than for showing respect for those who lost their lives. I could be wrong but I don’t think so.

 

I have decided to send my prayers but stay home.

 

I hope you have a good day;   
                                          sorry for my negativity.

 

Don Ford

 

 

Blest again.

               I want to show you some cabbage that was grown in Waco, Texas.

Keith is obviously a very good gardener as demonstrated in the photo above. These Cabbages were delivered to the Ford Homestead yesterday and will soon be consumed. You should understand that the monitor behind the cabbage is 22 inch. The green cabbage is large enough that half will be cooked and the other half will be for me to eat raw over the next few days.

               “Cabbage, cooked or raw, I enjoy it all.”  Wow, I am a poet and didn’t know-it.

 You could act like you thought that was a cool comment.

Being on a fixed income these cabbage are a true blessing. This means I will not have to drive out into the country looking for road kill this week.

               All kidding aside; even though Keith probably does not think of it this way, his sharing of the garden bounty is a true blessing to many people.

Take a moment and think about your friends and how they have been a blessing to you. You may not recognize how you have been a blessing to them, but you have.

 

Don Ford  

 

 

Who was not feeling well?

               Well folks, Saturday night and Sunday really sucked for me. The word sucked is a technical term that some of you may not be familiar with. It means I was feeling under the weather all weekend and did not sleep well Saturday night. I had a raspy throat and was achy all over.

 

               The good news is I am now feeling good, or at least normal.

 

               I am kind of a big baby when I don’t feel well and would like for others to recognize that fact that I need some special attention. Here at the Ford Homestead I did not get this special attention. As a matter of fact I do not think they believed I was feeling bad.

 

               If you want to send me a card such as, “sorry you were feeling bad”, it can be addressed to, “The Ford Homestead Foundation, Hewitt, TX, Sympathy Department, attn. Don Ford”.

               Donations of $20.00 or more will be accepted.

 

Have a very nice day and allow someone to be nice to you.

        (When you allow others to be nice to you, it is supposed to make them feel good.) 

 

 

 

Don Ford

 

 

 

 

Saturday events

            What kind of Saturday did you have? Did you do the same normal things or was there something exciting for you. If I were guessing I would say it was a normal day with not much new to talk about.

            My Saturday started out like many others, Tejas came to my side of the bed at 6:00 am and woke me. Yes I normally get up at 6:00 but on Saturday and Sunday I would like to sleep an additional few minutes. Once I am awake I can’t just lay there in bed so I got up and made coffee. I turned the TV on and watched a black and white movie. On Saturday morning TCM usually have some olden day movies that are often detective movies. These movies are easy to watch and you don’t have to think a lot. When someone gets shot there is no blood and guts.

            Later in the morning I decided to take a bag of clothes to the Good Will. I had cleaned out my closet last week and most of the clothes that I had not worn in a year along with those that do not fit had to go.

After dropping the clothes off at Good Will, I went on a quest to find a barber shop. I think barber shops should be just for men with male barbers like in the olden days and the cost of a haircut should still be $1.00. What is this crap of tipping the barber; who started that? Next thing they will expect you to tip the waiter when you go out to supper. 

I found a Barber Salon with a sign no waiting. I decided to try it and when I walked inside there was about 20 stalls complete with barbers/stylists. They took my name and handed me off to a female barber.

            This is the second time I have been to a barber in the last 44 years. Yep my wife of 44 years has cut my hair all these years. Now I have to go to a stranger who wants money to cut what little hair I have left. I must admit that I did get a nice haircut and I received a senior discount. Senior discounts are one of a few things that are good about being old.

            Returning home I pulled my trailer from the back yard to the driveway. This is the trailer that I pull behind my motorcycle. I removed the tarp which covers it and protects it from the weather. It has been sitting out back for several months and even with the tarp it gets dirty.  I washed it and put the new license sticker on the license plate.  After washing the trailer I took it for a short ride of about 30 miles. I needed to be sure it pulled ok. Having the trailer behind the motorcycle is noticeable for the first few minutes and then you basically forget it is there.

Returning home at around 2:00pm I did what any self-respecting retied person living on a fixed income would do; I took a nap. Even though Alex was not here it was still time for our nap.

            After the nap I re-tarp the trailer and put in back in the back yard. I did nothing for the rest of the day other than sit around and listen to the radio. It was too cool to sit outside after about 5:00pm so I went inside to watch the TV shows that my wife of 44 years was watching. I don’t really like the shows she watches but I have no choice. She would punish me if I complain about the TV station and I don’t like to be punished.

 

I hope you had a nice safe weekend.

From the Not Always Right But Never Left mind of           Don Ford

 

                 

 

Waiting again

            It seems as if I am always waiting on something. One day I am waiting on the coffee to brew then next I am waiting on the grass to grow. Today I am waiting for the appropriate time to go outside and start mowing. The back yard is growing at an alarming rate due to the mild temperature ranges and the occasional rain fall.

            My yard (front and back) has weeds, and they along with the grass, are growing.

I took a short walk the other morning to help break in some new walking shoes; yes even retired people on a fixed income can occasionally purchase new shoes, thank goodness for the Good Will Store.

During my walk I was surprised at the appearance of many of the yards on our street. Even those with sprinkler systems, were not what I would consider above average. I became aware that my yard, even with the weeds, looked as good and in some cases even better than other yards. 

            Being a student of “Yard-ology” I am aware of several important facts.

        1.    A yard that is edged properly will appear neat and well-manicured. Proper edging along the drive, side walk and street requires a 1 to 2 inch clearance between the cement and the grass. In other words, one should be able to see the bare dirt. There should be no debris in this edged area (no leaves, cut grass etc.).

        2.     The grass in the yard should be cut tall, (tall is defined as about 4 inches). Tall grass hides some of the weaker spots in a yard, it allows the root system to grow strong, and it helps keep moisture in the ground.

        3.     The street curb should be clean in front of your home. It doesn’t matter where the debris came from, if it is in front of your home you should clean it up. This includes taking the trash container off the street the same day that trash is collected.

       4.     Other information is available upon request.

 

The proper early morning starting time (AKA good neighbor attitude) to work in the yard is universally accepted to be 8:00am. If there are small children or someone who works nights living close, you may want to start somewhat later.

            It is now 9:00am and I have waited long enough to begin the mowing process in the back yard. I have been mowing the front and back yards on different days. It is done in part to allow me to work shorter periods on any one day and also due to Alex being here.

How does Alex play into the mowing process; I can’t mow or edge when he is in the yard so someone has to be here to keep an eye on the boy while I do yard work.

            A few minutes ago as I was sitting here putting this “attention-grabbing article together”, Alex can in and said he wanted a cookie. He then explained that he had to potty. While I was getting the cookie he ran to the toilet and did his business.  

He came out of the restroom with his shorts and underwear in hand (that is a well-known Ford mannerism). I asked him to put his underwear on to which he replied, “I can’t”. I asked why and he explained, “My hands are too little”.

That statement caught me off guard; Alex puts his clothes on by himself when he wants to. I have given him an “A” for originality and thoughtfulness. This young man comes up with some good comments. 

               I hope this article finds you in a good mood and good health.

Have a very nice day.

 

Don Ford