Pines and Pine-Sol

This quotation was on p. 13 of the new issue of FARM AND RANCH magazine:
"People born before 1930 associated their past with natural odors they inhaled during childhood, such as hay, horses, meadows, and pine trees. Those born after 1930 connected childhood recollections with Pine-Sol rather than piney woods; with manmade scents like fresh plastic, scented markers, airplane fuel, VapoRub, Play-Doh, and Sweet Tarts--not with fresh-baked bread or wet laundry hanging on the clothesline."


We've missed out on a lot in recent years. Even those of us who try to make our children aware of some of the pleasures of our own childhoods--if my children are going to enjoy the smell of home-baked bread, it will be from a breadmaker or baked frozen roll dough. But I'm astounded at the number of children for whom a pastry means a Pop-Tart. So much is gone from earlier years and replaced with cheap--make that expensive--substitutes.

Bifocals = getting old

The time has come to buy a pair of bifocals. I've worn dual contacts for two years (left eye corrected for distance, right eye for reading) but sometimes you've got give your eyes a rest and wear glasses. For some time now, my family has scoffed at how I've accomplished reading with glasses on. What difference does it make, when you're at home reading in your La-Z-Boy, if you wear prescription glasses and then put reading glasses on top of them?!!

Anyway, I spent the better part of yesterday getting my vision straightened out, due to an error on my contacts prescription and then trying to get the glasses too. The cost of glasses is, in my humble opinion, outrageous. With some lame excuse about safety frames or something (it didn't make sense), Wal-Mart refused to use the frames I wanted to use (unused, $.50 at a yard sale, but nice--don't laugh) and the least I could have spent there was $300. Lenscrafters, WITH a coupon--$450 minimum.

I took Mary Lee to work, saw Sears Optical from the outside of the mall and decided--what do I have to lose. Walked in, tried on a pair of frames, liked them. Then--here's the good part--they are running a sale. Spend $400, they'll take off $200. Bottom line: $221 including tax, and I'm done. Thank you Lord for a nice little blessing.

Of Gravy and Grease

Yesterday I asked Mike, "Did you do something with the bacon grease in the frig?" When he said no, I asked Andrew the same thing. To his no, I said "It was in the bottom of a measuring cup." Upon which he got a funny look on his face and said "That was bacon grease? I thought it was gravy and I put it on my deer steak."

Earlier he had mentioned that he didn't realize that gravy had such an unusual texture and turned so liquid when heated in the microwave. I thought that was an odd question at the time but didn't think anything of it.

No wonder he thought that piece of steak tasted so good!

A New Ceiling

Mike walked in about 7:00 tonight and announced that he was finished. After approximately a hundred hours of work, over about eight weeks, he has completed putting a plywood ceiling in his shop/garage.

The old one was basically nonexistent--pieces of insulation nailed between the beams. Dust, insulation, and worse (think small animals) would filter down from the attic and make messes. So Mike decided to fix it.

Several times I went out and watched him at work. His high standards were amazing. He had to work around garage door hardware and openers, the attic door opening, wiring, light fixtures that needed replacing, and other obstacles. But every seam was perfectly straight, every screw placed equally distant apart, every piece cut perfectly. He used narrow pieces of wood as molding to finish the edges. It is a beautiful carpentry job--much neater and more precise than anything I would have done!--and I know he's glad it's done. So in the picture, look at the top--the beautiful new ceiling!

p.s. The boy is improving every day. It was a joy to see him get his guitar out today.