RICHARD NIXON

 

       It was election day in 1972, and Dad and I were in line to vote.  I said to Dad, "We're just going to cancel out each other's vote. Why are we here?"

       He turned around and looked at me with a pleasant expression, and said, "I'm hoping you'll change your mind."

       I didn't.  I made a fool of myself and voted for George McGovern.  I had gotten out of the Army the year before, during which Richard Nixon was President.  I didn't like the Army, so I didn't like Nixon.  Simple.

       But Richard Nixon won by a landslide, carrying 49 out of 50 states.  McGovern only won Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.  It was one of the most lopsided presidential elections in U.S. history. 

       Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal, and I was happy.  But since then I've learned more and have grown more.  And I regret not making Dad happy in 1972 by changing my mind.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

A MAILBOX STAND WE CAN BE PROUD OF

        Years ago, our mailbox stand was a mess.  It was leaning over, broken and about to fall, holding four beat-up mailboxes of various kinds and sizes, etc.  You've seen these, a common sight.

       So I bought some treated cedar lumber:  One 12-foot 4x4, one 12-foot 2x4, one 4-foot 2x10, and one 6-foot 2x6; two 4x4 caps; a bag of Quikrete, enough for 3 cubic feet of concrete; ant blocker; one bell; and four mailboxes I've found, as a retired mailman, to be the most convenient size.

       Then I built a new mailbox stand.  I put house numbers on the mailbox doors, and returned the old beat-up mailboxes to the surprised neighbors. 

       Everyone was delighted, and Mary Jo, our mail lady, left a note in our new box.

 

        And every day the mail carrier rings the bell, and we can hear it even from the Lund Library.

 

EVERY DAY, BY ST. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

 

Remember, Christian Soul

 that thou hast this day, and every day of thy life:  

 

                God to glorify,

                                 Jesus to imitate,

The Blessed Virgin and the Saints to venerate,
 

              The Angels to invoke,
                                        A soul to save,
A body to mortify,

                          Sins to expiate,
 

   Virtues to acquire,
                                             Hell to avoid,
Heaven to gain,
 

                                  Eternity to prepare for,
 

                          Time to profit by,
 

                                            Neighbours to edify,
 

The world to despise,
                    Devils to combat,

                                      Passions to subdue,
    

       Death perhaps to suffer,

                               And Judgement to undergo.

JABBERWOCKY

I memorized this poem when I was eleven, 

and people enjoyed hearing me recite it.  

When I did, I did it with feeling.  It was fun.

 

 JABBERWOCKY

Lewis Carroll

(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872) 

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe. 

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe. 

HALLOWEEN'S FIRST PRIZE

 

        Awhile back, Micki and I went to the Halloween party at what is now the Lake Bronson Nudist Club near Sultan, Washington. Micki was eight months pregnant with our first child, and I painted her large belly like a pumpkin. This was her costume for the party. She undressed and came as a pumpkin, delighting everyone. She won first prize for best costume. 
       When the actual day of Halloween came, Micki had an appointment at the Mount Vernon Birth Clinic, so that morning I painted another pumpkin on her belly to surprise the midwife during her checkup. I stood by as Micki lay on the table. And when the midwife raised Micki's shirt to check her, she jumped with fright, surprised to see a big pumpkin, then began laughing hysterically. She then composed herself and very seriously called in her assistant, saying that she found something very peculiar in Micki's checkup and wanted a second opinion. The assistant, looking very concerned, then lifted Micki's shirt and jumped. We had the birth clinic in stitches.