POEM FOR CUZ LAURA
I promised my cousin, Laura Dunfield, I’d give her a poem on her 80th birthday. She lives in Connecticut and is a giant UConn women’s basketball fan. Anyway, it’s a little late, but here’s her poem:
Roses are red, Violets are gray;
Hope you stayed sober, On that special day;
I know you like the pool, But now swimming is done,
Too cold outside, not hardly fun!
So, Happy Birthday to you, Just stay healthy and don’t get the flu!
Polly
“Polly” was our foreign student guest we hosted over the Thanksgiving holidays. Polly Cheng (western name) or Nga Yue (Hong Kong name) is from Hong Kong which means,”fragrant harbor.” People in Hong Kong and also Singapore have two names. Because of the Covid 19, the International Thanksgiving Day Program was suspended until this year. In short, foreign college students from Chicago are bused to Geneseo and a few other northern Illinois cities over the Thanksgiving holidays. The students stayed with host families and were bused back to Chicago on November 26th. Polly is studying for her Masters in Social work.
She was lots of fun and spoke excellent English. Besides having Thanksgiving at the farm in Long Grove, IA, one day we took her to see the Mississippi River, Al & Karen Lyman’s farm in Cambridge, and the Henry County Historical Museum in Bishop Hill. We also had breakfast in Argo, IA. It is the only place I know of where the waitresses take your order from memory. There were seven of us. The food was excellent and we always go there the day after Thanksgiving. On Saturday, November 25th, we had the traditional International Potluck Supper and Program for all the host families and the foreign guests. This year it was held at St. Malachy’s Catholic Church, Geneseo. Lorna and I will miss our friend, Polly.
Falling Nuts
Nut-bearing trees have on and off years. On the “on years” which are called, “mast years,” there are a lot of nuts falling from trees like oak trees dropping acorns. After the trees have dropped their nuts they take a breather for two to five years. They can be a nuisance if the acorns or walnuts fall on your driveway, or on your lawn when cutting grass. Naturally, park your vehicle in your carport or garage if you’re bombarded by the projectiles.
Fishy Humor
What is a shark’s favorite game? Swallow the leader.
What did you call a fish’s date? His gill-friend.
What do you call a fish that can do magic?
Marlin, the Magnificent. (Don’t blame me, ‘yer the one reading these dumb jokes).
Leave ‘em Be
Not in our front yard, but we have lots of trees in our backyard jungle. In past years I’ve cut the grass in late fall and did it so the leaves would be jettison into the woods. This fall I’m leaving scattered leaves in the backyard because I read it is best to do so as they become fertilizer. We’ll see how that turns out. In that same article it mentioned to use caution when planting a black walnut tree. It’s leaves contain a toxic chemical which adversely affects and sometimes kill plants like peonies, hydrangeas, lilies, tomatoes, and other plants. I don’t think there is a problem with artificial plants!!!!
Beyond 76
I heard on TV that the average life dependency is 76 years. Wow, I snuck in an extra 5 years. Hope St. Peter doesn’t find his mistake!! I read that the world’s population is now over 8 billion. Much of that is that people are living longer. I’m quite sure I’ll checkout in my 80s, but I’m in no hurry.
Job Humor
My first job was working in an orange juice factory, but I got canned. I just couldn’t concentrate.
After that job I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but just couldn’t hack it. They gave me the axe.
I then became a tailor. It was just a sew-sew job.
A few years ago I liked my job at a muffler factory, but it was too exhausting.
My best job was as a musician, but it wasn’t noteworthy.