Are You From Germany???

I was thinking of my nephew Matt all day Saturday as I cleaned up my little truck. The interior was still such a mess from the last trip I made in June. The dried up coffee was cleaned out of the cup holders located on the center console. The seats and carpet were vacuumed up.

Then I went to work on the outside. The tires needed to be rotated. I was really in an anal mood. I cleaned off the inside of the rims for the first time since owning this vehicle! (01/2002) There is still a lot of shine left in those old rims! Then I washed down the truck and then polished it out with “Nu finish” the once a year car finish! It is amazing how that truck shines…..Monday I’ll get the oil changed.

Stumpy being the biggest help in the world rotating tires:

My big boy... his coat is showing white now as he gets older. 12 years now!

Today (Sunday the 18^th) I went to work on the yard. We have been getting evening thunderstorms which have left my yard littered with debris. My old oak trees are always shedding dead branches. There was one fairly large dead branch over the sidewalk. I’ve been meaning to call the city to take care of it, but then I’m afraid they would really butcher that tree. I’ve seen them in action….

I got out my 10 ft ladder and “pruning chain saw” on the end of a long pole. Working in manageable sections the dead branch came down with little effort.

I was raking up the last of the mess when a guy riding by on a bicycle stopped. He asked me if I was from Germany! There are a number of German transplants here working at the Mercedes plant. I told him “No, I’m not.” He then asked, “Well why are you wearing that?” pointing to my Utilikilt!!! I laughed!! Wearing that is second nature to me now; I don’t pay attention to people’s gawks and looks anymore. “I love wearing this thing. It is the most comfortable piece of clothing I own!” I answered him with a big smile.

I always feel a pang of guilt doing yard work on a Sunday. The first time Ron made a trip to my house in Lockport back in the spring of 1985, it was on a Sunday. I was mowing the lawn when he pulled up. He was scandalized…. “What are you doing… put that lawnmower away.. NICE PEOPLE don’t do yard work on Sundays!” he admonished me in that southern drawl you could cut with a knife! Ron was so dead set on what “Nice people” did and didn’t do. There was an “Ice House” not far from where he lived in Houston. It was such a run down nasty looking place. Naturally, I wanted to check it out. Nope… it was the same story, “Jimmy, we are not going there: NICE PEOPLE don’t go to ice houses!”

I mowed and raked the lawn and cleaned up the driveway. I’m headed to a brick swap next weekend so I had to sort through my trader bricks and get a decent selection loaded up.

I relaxed on the front porch with an iced coffee. Stumpy passed by holding something in his mouth. I was hoping it was a mouse. I called to him in my “normal” voice. He stopped and turned his head. My heart fell when I saw it was a little bird. “Stump, let that little bird down” I said in a slow even tone trying to approach him. He loosened his grip and that little bird took right off! Gods, eye was truly on the sparrow today. I had to pick up my big boy and give him some hugs and rubs for being so good.

It is when people freak out and scream and yell at cats under these circumstances that confuse them so. My last good nerve has to be really worked up to yell at the cats. That rarely happens…..

There are little baby birds in the nest now, peeping their little hearts out. I was so afraid it was the “mama” bird Stump manhandled. No, she soon returned squawking at me from the safety of the camellia bush! All is back to normal.

A thunderstorm passed through about 3:30 cooling things down nicely. Not enough people had signed on to row, so I figured I’d eat an early supper as I was hungry. Carbs were calling out to me… I put the water on to boil for fettuccini. Then I melted down a mess of parmesan cheese and butter. Added to that was some garlic and heavy cream. By the time it was all cooked together, the pasta was done.

It was all washed down with a tall glass of ice water accompanied by a small glass of box Red wine. I have a new final meal on earth!!!! I could die happy after eating all that.

Checking out my E-bay bid I was surprised to see an E-mail from my rowing coach… we had enough people sign in to take out the four! YAY!! Now I can work off some of those calories!

The river was way up from the last time we rowed. The wind was blowing making for choppy conditions. The Black Warrior is normally so smooth we are really spoiled as far as rowing conditions go. It was a good row. We had to stroke with some heavy pressure, especially on the way back as we were going into the wind.

Being on the river was the perfect way to end up the day…..