Halloween -- 50 Years Ago

Back when we were kids, the most important aspect of our Halloween costumes was the mask.  You must wear a mask so that absolutely no one would know who you were.  Didn’t matter if you were dressed like a strawberry or a bumblebee, you had to have a mask covering your face.  Little did we realize that the adults all knew who we were.  We were just certain that we had everyone fooled and perplexed as to our true identities.

See this character.  Now, just why would a gypsy need a mask …. Unless she was Zorro’s girlfriend or something.  But, of course – So that no one would know who she was.

1962 - Nancy, 4th grade

Then there’s this little old lady.  Of course, it’s not abnormal for her to have a mask on.  She doesn’t want anyone to figure out who she is.

1962 - Jane, kindergarten

Fast forward to present day.  Why doesn’t this scary character wear a mask?  Easy, dear Watson.  That would impede the flow of “adult” beverage sliding effortlessly down the parched throat.

2012 - Patrick, of legal age

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One Halloween I remember clearly was probably about 1958.  We arrived at our grandmother’s house that Halloween Friday night after dark because we couldn’t leave for our weekend visit ‘til our dad came home from school.  (And he probably had basketball practice, too, to finish up.)  My brother and I had on our masks and went to play a trick on Grammie.  We knocked on the door, then waited in anticipation to scream out “trick or treat.”  Our dad got a little impatient and banged on the window next to the door.  Boy, that got her attention.  The moment arrived, the door opened, and candy was dropped into our outstretched sacks.  The masks worked!  She didn’t recognize us!  I couldn’t believe it!  And couldn’t stand the suspense as we waited for Grammie to figure out who we were.  I blurted out, “It’s us, Grammie.  Nancy and Bobby.”  

Never would have pulled off our big surprise without our Halloween masks.

Simple Supper

Here's a photo of John's supper.  It is leftovers from the Endres family reunion yesterday.  Doesn't this look delicious?

NOT!

Beef tongue.  Be sure to click on the picture for a larger image so you can clearly see the bumply taste buds.

I'd intended to have the leftover taco salad, but John finished that off at lunchtime.  He probably saved me from a mediocre meal because the lettuce gets mushy and the tortilla chips become soggy in a leftover taco salad.  I ended up with a leftover chicken salad sandwich.  So much nicer.

Looking for Relief

And I thought last summer was too warm.

This July has set a 90-degree heat record: 27 of 31 days this month the high temperature touched or exceeded 90 degrees.  Not liking that.  The old record was in July 1921 when there were 25 90-degree days.

Among the 27 days this month were seven days when the high was at or greater than 100 degrees.  The average high this month has been 95.2 degrees which is 10.2 degrees above normal.

Although not a record, we’ve had only 0.61 inch of rain for the month.  It’s definitely a drought.

1936 looked like a miserably hot summer, too, with 15 days in the hundreds.  And no air conditioning.  That’s the one thing that has made this summer bearable.

I’m really looking forward to August when the temps just have to drop.  Please.

(source: The News-Gazette - July 31, 2012)

Mashed Butter

While sitting in the family room this morning, I witnessed John in the kitchen fixing his breakfast.  He poured out some cereal in a bowl, then discovered we had no milk.  He had used the last of the milk on his cereal yesterday morning so it shouldn’t have been a big surprise to see there was none.  He poured the cereal back into the box then moved on to Plan B.

Plan B was toast with butter.  He popped some bread in the toaster (sure hope he checked it for mold first), then reached in the fridge to bring out the butter dish.  That’s when the bottom of the butter dish fell out of the top, and the stick of butter landed on the floor.  He picked up the butter, put it back on the butter dish, and proceeded to butter his toast.  He then covered the dish and put it back in the fridge.

Here’s what the stick of butter now looks like.  Be sure to click on the photo so you can see a larger image.  Gross, huh?

One end has been mashed where it plunged to the floor.  There are little bits of debris on the top plus one very noticeable hair.  Yep, that’s what he put back in the refrigerator.

Having witnessed this stick of butter mishap, I recall several months ago taking the butter out of the fridge and seeing it in a very similar looking state.  I knew then that he had dropped the butter on the floor, but today I know why that happened.  He was carrying the butter dish by its lid without supporting the bottom.  The lid is not going to stay on while carrying it with a nearly new stick of butter.  You’d think he’d have learned the first time it happened.  Now I’m wondering how many other times the bottom has fallen out of the butter dish.

Mom's Crop Top

Or, From Whence It Came

T-shirts are meant to be loose and comfortable. A uni-sex t-shirt is basically a rectangle with a neck and sleeves. My 84-year-old mother -- from her senile point of view -- decided that the t-shirts and polo-type shirts that she received through church events were just too big. "I swim in them," she says. So to correct that problem, she cut the bottoms off and re-hemmed them. Unfortunately, they are now too short and will not tuck into her pants or pull down past her waistline. She created herself "crop tops."

The newly-created square t-shirt

One of my dear sisters gifted me with one of these crop tops. I am happy to report that it has been returned to its rightful owner ... God. Yes, while at OLL for a family wedding yesterday, the t-shirt inadvertently slipped out of my coat pocket and was negligently left behind in a pew when I exited the church. May the person who finds it enjoy the freedom of movement that their new Jesus crop top offers.

Wang have mercy.