The Shadow knows 10.12.17

                It was a nice Wednesday afternoon, I was in the Ford’s Chevy heading south on Oklahoma Ave, as I approached a stop sign. It was a warm sunny afternoon, 78 degrees with a light breeze. I had the windows down in the Chevy, as I enjoyed the nice weather.

                As I pulled up to a stop sign, I looked left and then right checking for traffic, and then it happened! I observed The Shadow! This huge shadow, passed over my vehicle, and then crossed the road disappearing over a fence. What was this a shadow of? I looked up but being in the Ford’s Chevy I could not see anything in the sky.

                I again looked left and right, seeing no traffic, I proceeded cautiously through the intersection. I drove one block arriving at Hewitt drive. Again, checking for traffic and seeing none, I pulled onto the road and headed south. I again checked the sky for the flying bird whose shadow I had previously seen. There it was, a large bird that was circling slowly over the road. This bird appeared to be larger than a buzzard, but it circled like a buzzard.

                As I drove I could see the white feathers on the underside of this eagle. This eagle was flying slow as it circled looking for something to have as a meal. Unfortunately, I could not pull over and take photos, or enjoy watching this eagle fly as I needed to get to the school and secure my spot in line to pick up The Alex.

                For that one senior person who reads this excellent posting, you know the title to this well written article, was also the title to and old time radio show, “The Shadow Knows”. Yes I still listen to these old radio shows on the satellite radio.

                On a different subject, Tres has been riding in the Ford’s Chevy, with Gabi and me to school the last few mornings. Now when we go outside to get ready to go, Tres heads for the Chevy and gets in. He actually likes riding.

                Even though he is big enough to jump into the back seat, he doesn’t. He walks up and climbs in. when we return home he acts like he is afraid to jump out, but after some coaxing he does jump out. When we walk into the Ford’s old office area, Tres sits and looks at the container where the treats are kept. I have been giving him a couple treats when we get home, and he now expects it.

 

Does your shadow know?

 

Don Ford

Fall fell, winter is here 10.19.17

                Winter must be here today, it is 55 freezing degrees. It is so cold our 6 month old puppy, even though he has a fur coat on, don’t want to go outside. I am not sure but it might snow today. The ladies that I observed walking this morning were all wearing sweatshirts and long pants. Berrrrrr!

                We need rain in a bad way, but if we were to receive precipitation today, it would likely be in the form of sleet or freezing rain. 55 degrees is too cold, for a naturalized Texan.  

                Speaking of dogs. What? I wasn’t speaking of dogs. Are you sure? It seems to me as if I was speaking of dogs. You know as we get older our short term memory does have a tendency to fade out fairly quick.          

                Now let’s see, what was I writing about. Okay, I have my thoughts back, I was writing about mowing the yard. I will not need to mow this week, as we have not had enough rain. I did want to water the yard today, but with this tremendous amount of wind, that we are experiencing, if I tried to water, the wind would blow the water onto the neighbor’s yard.

                What? I didn’t tell you about the wind. The wind is exaggerating this extremely cold weather as it gusts at 30 mph. Anyone outside in this cold windy weather will be frozen in just a few minutes.

                I have been allowing the Tres to ride with Gabi and me to school. Before you ask, I don’t go to school, Gabi goes to school I just take her there.

                The problem is that Tres still thinks he is a little puppy! Yes he is still a puppy, a 6 month old puppy at about 55 pounds, but he wants to be treated as a little puppy. I open the door of the back seat to the Fords Chevy, and the Tres jumps his front feet up on the seat but he doesn’t attempt to totally jump in. He wants me to pick up his hind end and help him get in.

                Today I attempted several times to get him to run and jump in, but he did not. I, (being the Smarty I am) put a foot stool at the door and he used the stool to get into the back seat. Hopefully as time passes, he will learn to get in without the stool. He likes to ride, but has not developed the habit of putting his nose out the window.

Did you pick up on the fade out?

Don Ford

TV commercials 10.09.17

            There is a commercial about dogs or at least they have dogs in it. I really do not know what the commercial is about but today I heard these words, “If I were you, I would want to be me”!

           

I like it. There is something about the odd statement that caught my attention.

As I sit and ponder that statement, I believe it to be true, at least for me.

Knowing what you know, if you were suddenly someone else, would you want to be you?

Consider for a moment, if you were someone else, wouldn’t you still be you, even though you were someone else?

 Now, for the rest of the day, let’s take time to consider the statement!

 Your thoughts will be appreciated.          

If I were you, I would want to be me!

                              or

If I were you, would I want to be me!

Don Ford

Horses butts 10.06.17

                This informative article is about people (male and female) who are either definitely careless, possibly stupid, or they just like to do things to irritate me!

                As I have stated over four thousand times, we should be allowed to run over anyone who walks out in front of a vehicle without looking in both directions. Everyone should look both ways in an effort to be sure, that the citizen operating said vehicle, sees them.

                My story begins on a nice Thursday morning, as I was driving my favorite granddaughter to school. Yes, she is my only granddaughter but that don’t mean she can’t be my favorite granddaughter. I do have a favorite grandson too!

                We were in the drop off line near the school door, Gabi had just exited the vehicle and I had started moving forward when this male person, who appeared to be late 20s or early 30s, who had a tool belt on, loaded with tools, walked out in front of me without looking in either direction. Heck, even the kids know to look both directions before crossing a street.

                He assumed (ass/u/me) I had saw him, and that I was going to stop and allow him to cross, which I did, but it still irritates me that these idiots, assume a driver sees them.

                Now let’s get to another annoyance that occurred a couple times this week. A female person, pushing a baby stroller with an infant in the seat, and another child of school age walking with her, was observed walking on the sidewalk toward the grade school. That to me seemed proper. It was when I observed her on the return trip which tripped my trigger. This female was walking in the bike lane on the street, with all the heavy school traffic to her back, instead of walking safely on the side walk which was about 6 feet away. With her back to the traffic, she could not see if someone was getting too close to her and the baby.

                Think safety when crossing streets and drives, even if there is a cross walk, the person driving might be texting and run over you.

                I feel better now that I have unloaded this burdensome thought on to you.

 

Look both ways before crossing!    

Addendum:

                The same lady was walking on the side walk this morning pushing the baby stroller. I can only assume that somehow she learned that I was irritated and she did not want me to be upset, or, possibly she decided it was safer to walk on sidewalks!

Don Ford

                                                No, I don’t really think we should be able to run over idiots, I mean people who don’t look before crossing. 

Deputy Preacher 10.05.17

                I got that heading from an old radio show I was listening to this afternoon. The radio was originally aired in 1946, and that was before I was birthed. I like listening to the old shows and they usually have old time commercials too. This radio program was a western and the main guy said he was, “A deputy preacher”. I will not try to tell the entire story but a short blerp goes like this. A real preacher was trying to rescue someone and was killed so this fellow took up the rescue mission and referred to himself as a Deputy Preacher.

                That has nothing to do with this article, I just like the idea of being a Deputy Preacher!

                This story has to do with others not respecting an old senior retired person. I am sure this has never happened to you and you may not understand how hurtful it is to be totally disrespected in your own home. I must say, it was unexpected and I almost had tears in my eyes when the total disrespect occurred.

                Before you start trying to guess what had caused this disturbance, in the Ford’s Homestead, let me say, “It does not have anything to do with the grandees”. Since we are on the subject of Grandees, let me say, today was report card day and both of the grandees are passing in all subjects.

                Now I am sure some of you have guessed that this disrespect came from my first wife, and even though I can understand that guess, that is the wrong guess. This disrespect of an old retired person was flaunted in the front room of the homestead. I was in the old office at the computer when I heard the disturbance. At first I ignored it as there are minor disturbances that occur and some of the time they involve my spouse of 48 years. When she is involved I try to stay away from the room she is in.

                 I could not ignore this disturbance any longer, and even though my present wife was in the front room, I felt an obligation to go in and see what was happening. How did I know that what I would see would hurt me like driving a knife into my back? Yes it was as if someone had stabbed me in the back!

                Imagine if you will, I walked into the front room and there, in my chair, totally disregarding my feelings, and also my rule that no one was to use my chair except me, there they were, both of them in my chair, and they did not attempt to apologize, and they did not get up. See the photo below, and you will see how disrespectful these two can be! Click to enlarge!

                It’s not funny, why are you laughing? You would not think it was funny if it happened to you!

                I give up, I don’t even get respect from you! This is totally hurtful! Just wait until you are treated this way in your own home, and see how you feel!

May all disrespect be no worse that this!

Don Ford

Forced Labor again 10.03.17

                Yesterday, I again took the place of the Grounds Manager, who was again missing from the Ford Homestead, so I worked in the yard, most of the day. Yes, I started early morning just shortly after the sun came up, which was about 9:30. I forced this senior body to get the old Ford’s riding mower out and mow the back yard. It is strenuous for this retired person to sit on that seat and turn the steering wheel. If we were wealthy we could have a mower that has power steering.

                Luckily, due to the lack of rain over the last month, there were few weeds along the fence and elsewhere. That meant I only needed to be on my feet carrying that huge string trimmer about 45 minutes.

                I was allowed to have a lunch break, with a short nap, (thank goodness) before being forced back outside in the extreme heat, (about 90) to work on the front yard. The front yard, even though smaller, is very demanding on a senior citizen. The front yard is mowed with the walk behind mower which means, I have to walk over every inch of the yard, not once but twice. Yes, I mow the front yard twice, once in one direction then again, in a different direction.

                At 2:00 I stopped and tried to get my body ready to go get, “The Alex”, from school. Alex retrieved and brought to Homestead, I decided to get back to work knowing I wanted to be done before dark.

                It was about 5:00pm, “almost dark”, when I completed the forced labors. I put all the tools away and headed for the shower. Luckily, I did not have to take the shower in the back yard again, as my present spouse was not at home to keep my dirty body out of the house.

                After showering, I was able to stagger out to the Ford’s old rocker and sit my tired body down with a diet coke!

                There was an interesting cloud formation, so I took a photo to share with you. These clouds reminded me of ribs, many ribs! Do cloud ribs taste as good as the ribs one gets off the BBQ grill?

Work hard, rest easy!

Don Ford

On the wing of a... 10.02.17

                Well, when this article is published it will be October, even though I am writing it in September. It occurs to me that the people that decide on words and names, have again missed the chance to get the right word at the right time.

                When I was a children, my friend who’s dad was rich, (Owned Monroe glass), had a dog. They lived in a big house, had a Cadillac and they had two phones, one upstairs and one down stairs! If you had two phones, you had to be rich.  The dog’s name was Octember. Yes that is an unusual name for a dog, and I have remembered it for these 60 plus years.

                If you have half a brain you already know what I am about to say, but I will say it any way. Why did they name the 10^th month October? Common since would say that we should have the months named, “September, Octember, November, December!”  I don’t care who you are, you know I am right!

                Anyway back to my story. For those of you who are hopeless romantics, you would likely think, the title of this wonderful article would be, “On the wings of an angel”!  WRONG! The reference is to, “On the wing of a Honda”, my Gold wing!

                It was a Saturday afternoon and I had completed my after lunch nap. Being tired of laying in the Ford’s old recliner, I decided to see if the Ford’s old motorcycle would start, and if so I would go for a short ride. I explained to my spouse of 48 years that I would be gone for 30 minutes to an hour. It turned out to be 2.5 hours and 110 miles.

                I started the ride with a short trip in mind, and as I rode it occurred to me that I could ride out to the Bunk house and get a couple sandwiches for supper. There was a problem, I was riding away from the bunk house. I reviewed the maps stored in my head and established two routes to get me there. One route was scenic and much longer the other less scenery and shorter. I went with shorter. I estimated that I would arrive at the bunk house at 3:30 and I only missed it by a couple minutes.

                I bought a couple sandwiches and an ice tea, and headed for home. I estimated I would arrive at home about 4:30 and I hit it right on the nose. Before anyone asks, yes I have a cup holder on the wing for the ice tea!

                It was a safe and rather nice ride. Only one idiot in a car that made me a little upset. I had the cruise control set at 75, when this idiot pulled out of a side road in my lane of traffic. I was able to bring the wing down to his speed, which was about 40. Yep, I called him the north end of a south bound horse, or something like that!

                I did take a couple photos, and the view was more interesting to me than the photos will be to you, as the photos do not cause me to have the same reaction I had, when I was taking the photos.  

Above is a photo of one of the many wide open fields that one sees as they ride. When one thinks about what they are seeing, it is one large state! Although I do not have a photo, I noticed that many of the houses on the farms and ranches, had flags displayed. Most had both, American and Texas!

I saw this large old tree, with these very large limbs broken off. I had to stop and get a photo.

It somehow seemed sad that an old tree had to be broken like that.

                I don’t ride much, and have wanted to sell the bike, but I must say todays ride was real nice, in part due to the temperature being in the low 80s!

Enjoy it while you can!

Don Ford

Smelter Ville 10.01.17

                In the olden days, and I do mean olden days, our family lived in the southern part of Cape Girardeau named Smelter Ville. Now I am not sure if it was spelled as two words or if it was one word, but my spell check has it as two, so for now I will agree.

                I do remember some things about living there, even though I was a young child at the time. The streets were gravel, that is except for Sprigg Street, which was a main road in Cape Girardeau. From Sprigg Street one could go north and south through Cape past the Blue Hole BBQ through the cement plant on down to highway 31. Anyone who lived there remembers the Blue Hole BBQ!

                We lived on Pine Street. I believe Pine Street was only one block long, although it may have been longer as there was houses on the other side of the rail Road tracks. I have a photo that is only about 69 years old, so it isn’t the best, but one can still see some of the area. The young lad in the photo is me!

  

                This photo was taken in our back yard and behind me in the photo was another back yard and that is where Uncle Jake Ford and his wife Taleda lived (I have no idea how to spell he name, but is sounds like “Ta Lee Da”). If you click on the photo you may be able to see the gravel street that ran parallel to the railroad tracks. There is a path from the street up to the railroad tracks. I was told that before my time people would walk up and down the tracks looking for pieces of coal that had fell off the coal train as they went through. Any coal they found was used in their stoves.

                On the other side of the tracks there were houses. I remember one street that actually crossed the railroad tracks.

                Something odd, if the photo isn’t odd enough, the people that lived about two houses away from us on Pine Street had the same name as us.

My dad was George A. Ford, my mom was Ethyl Ford, and I am Donald Ford.

The father was George E. Ford, the mother was Estelle Ford and a son named Donnie Ford. I believe Donnie became a preacher or minister, maybe both.

Is that a big coincidence, or what!

                Another memory and then I will shut up. At uncle Jake’s house there was this old lady name Granny Hogg. She smoked a pipe, and when I would go over there I would set on her lap with a box of matches. If the pipe went out, I would get to light the pipe. Yes, I was older than what the photo shows when I would light the pipe.

Memories, better than reality!

Don Ford