ALL THIS? REALLY?

Grandma Mae stood in the kitchen at the tipped forward mirror above a sink with a slop pail under it. Below the mirror was a shelf with a curtain which hid the things she did to maintain her beauty.

She was a tiny woman with a beautiful summer tan from working in the gardens. At night, she would later up her face with Pond's Cold Cream. I bought some a while back, more the aroma of her than the product itself.

Recently I read of all the things one should do to save their skin from the sun exposure. Grandma Mae would have lost the rat in her rolled up on the back of her neck hair style if she knew the products listed cost $725.00. The list did not look like the local supermarket items. Maybe it is the price of beauty. Much of it comes from great skin, like Mae and my dad.

I don't think there is a product on the market that will take the wrinkles off the left side of my face from squinting and driving. A friend in New York will have plastic surgery after all the cancer is removed; that side of her face will be smooth--She questioned if she could get a two for one!

What I did glean from the article was a starting point, that is exfoliate with a product that includes 8% glycolic. I will take my camping stool to the store and read labels on some afternoon at the lake when it is windy, raining, or just too hot to be on the water getting sun burned.

Mean while, used sunscreen, as I do every day year around because I mix it with my face paint.

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TOO MANY GEESE? HOW COULD THAT BE?

Among the splendid things to watch while fishing are the Canada Geese. The practice flights in small groups are practical as one after another take the lead and form a V in the sky above.


My sweet Thomas hunted wild life in his youth. Recently, while fishing a flock was in flight above us. “They are setting their wings”, Tom said. And sure enough, they indeed landed on the water near us and disappeared into the wild rice patch.


There is a magazine my children read when young. One of the articles was on observation. Let’s say, in the case of the geese, you said to me, “The geese have been here”. I would know that because the wild rice has been reduced to stubble. If you asked the same question near a dock, I would know because of the poop on the deck. Or if you said to me, “Watch you step, I would know what littered the ground.


There are restaurants with docks for boaters to come to dinner by boat rather than by land. A young man on crutches was having quite a time finding clean areas to set his crutches. The rest of the family were doing the goose step.


It is said that geese have become so over populated they are raising the bag limit. In the state of New York, they are killing them off, last year 14K birds were killed.


It's hard to believe, but a little over 100 years ago, over-hunting drove Canada geese close to extinction. New York State officials decided that the birds needed help if they were to survive and, starting in 1958 and extending to 1963--only five years, wildlife experts released scores of geese into the state's forests. Before long huge flocks were settling throughout the state. Today, officials face the opposite problem: There are more than 200,000 geese in New York, and they have begun endangering public health by soiling parks and lakes, stripping farmers' fields and getting in the way of airplanes.


It is said a geese caused the plane crash named, The Miracle on the Hudson.


Yet all the poop and problems caused by this over population, they remain one of the most beautiful of water fowl. We like to watch how one or two are on sentry as the others eat. They preen and bath and go tail feathers up to eat off the bottom of the shallows in the lake.

They care for their young in groups. It isn’t unusual to see 25 or so ducklings of different stages of group following an adult while another adult brings up the rear of the long line swimming in the lake.


And there markings? Magnificent. Once you see one you always will know them again just like you would loons.


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WE ARE AMAZING

Truly...........we are amazing.

The case is simple. Someone is having surgery. One person finds it dreadful and thinks only about how heavy hearted SHE is, another finds a way to have humor to lightened the day for the patient, and yet another is only encouraging in a loving way.

All three are normal. Dreadful and heavy always sees the worst. If you ever want uplifting from her, you would have to strap her to a rocket and send her to the moon.

The humorous one does not make light of the surgery but finds things to visit with the patient about to tickle their funny bone. Does it not say a merry heart doth good like medicine?

And then there is the encourager. The support system for all of us. The huge heart, although she has her own bag of tricks to deal with, reaches deep inside of her ever flowing stream of goodness to be the best of the best.

It is too bad ENCOURAGING can't help DREADFUL.

Yet, so it is, we are all amazing and are detailed and programed, are we not?

Surgery went well. We are encouraged. And a merry heart doth good.

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OLD TRUNKS DOES NOT LIKE FLIES

Old Trunks does not like flies. She has not liked flies her entire life. As a child, she rejoiced when eating at a place commonly called the greasy spoon, the ringlet fly paper that hung from the ceiling caught hundreds and hundreds of them. They all seemed to blend in with the smoke drenched knotty pine walls.


She does not like flies. The deer flies bite. The house flies get in the truck at the lake and come into the house as if invited.


Grandpa Benhard used to sit at the table and kill the flies which landed on the table. Did he wash his hands? Probably not, did his wife wash the table? Most likely she could see the little specs of fly poop through her flour dusted lenses. Grandpa said they didn’t eat much.


He grew up without window screens. How would one keep them out?


Old Trunks grew up with window screens and no air conditioning but a mother who battered a thousand in fly killing. She did not, however, get the ones that hid in the white criss cross curtains. Those she would find in the fall house cleaning when the curtains were washed.


One fly came home from the lake via another trip north and west. It pestered for greater than 350 miles that day. It came in the house.


Last night we got down the fly swat. This was the first one this year.


While ironing it pestered. I tried to steam it and press it but it was to quick. Then, it followed to the computer and with mother’s vengeance, the mighty swing was taken. The fly was stuck in the web of the swatter.


The fly is no more.

Old Trunks does not like flies!
　
　
　
　
　

WHY ARE GRANDPARENTS WERE HAPPY

Just got this from a cousin in Oregon!


WHY OUR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS WERE
SOOO HAPPY

'Why Our Great-Grandparents Have Such Fond
Memories Of Their Youth...' (I'm surprised that they remember anything!!)

A bottle of Bayer's 'Heroin'. Between 1890 and 1910 heroin was sold as a
non-addictive substitute for morphine.

It was also used to treat children suffering with a strong cough.


Metcalf's Coca Wine was one of a huge variety of wines with cocaine on the market. Everybody used to say that it would make you happy and
it would also work as a medicinal treatment.

Mariani Wine. Mariani wine (1875) was the most famous Coca
wine of it's time. Pope Leo XIII used to carry one bottle with him all the time. He awarded Angelo Mariani (the producer) with a Vatican gold medal.

Maltine. Produced by the Maltine Manufacturing Company
of New York ..It was suggested that you should take a full glass with or after every meal.

Children should only take half a glass..

A paper weight: A paper weight promoting C.F. Boehringer
& Soehne Mannheim , Germany ). They were proud of being the biggest producers in the world of products containing Quinine and Cocaine.

Opium for Asthma: At 40% alcohol plus 3 grams of opium per tablet, It didn't cure you, but you didn't care...

Cocaine Tablets (1900)..
All stage actors, singers, teachers and preachers had to have them for a maximum performance. Great to 'smooth' the voice.

Cocaine drops for toothache. Very popular for children in 1885. Not only did they relieve the pain, they made the children very happy!

Opium for new-borns. I'm sure this would make them sleep well (not
only the Opium, but also 46% alcohol)! It's no wonder they were called, 'The Good Old Days'!!

From cradle to grave...Everyone Was Stoned!!!




=

THE LANGUAGE OF THE FAN

The lady appears briefly at the balcony, slowly fanning herself, and returns inside, shutting the balcony means "I can’t go out"

If she appears briefly at the balcony, excitedly fanning herself, and quickly goes inside, leaving the balcony open: "I’ll go out soon"

Well, such as it is with the language of the fan. Grandma didn't have a balcony on the soddy, most likely she didn't have a fan, rather cooled herself with a rag of some sort.


Resting the fan on her lips: meant, "I don’t trust you" If the fan was still in use, how often would YOU use it in this fashion?



Running her fingers through the fan’s ribs: "I want to talk to you"

Slowly fanning herself : "Don’t waste your time, I don’t care about you"

Quickly fanning herself: "I love you so much"


Quickly and impetuously closing the fan: "I’m jealous"

Hitting any object: "I’m impatient"

Yea, I gotta get a fan.

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SMOKE SIGNAL GENERATION

Oh, it is going to be one of those days~~~~~~~~~~~~!!!

We went to Verizon last night, surely the phone we have had for four years could be replaced with something better so Tom didn't have to stand on the roof of the trailer to call Fargo from the lake. Surely. Well, the lady that helped us had been at Verizon for two years. She had never even seen a phone with an antenna. Good grief.

Now the idea of the cell phone came into the Johnson house one Christmas as a two year plan at $55 a month. Of course, we never use it so it was tossing coins into the trash. When that contract was up, , we got a new phone, one that could be used to link up via dial up to the Internet at the lake. Although it was slow, it was still a connection to the outside world.

When that year was up, we did not renew, kept the phone and went strictly to prepay which is $16.05 a month. Each month, according to the sticker on the calendar, I renew the policy via the phone. I think we have about $325 in credit on it now, down a little because Tom used it at the lake to call Beth.

So, he isn't in favor of standing on the roof so that is how we came to the decision to go to the shop in the Mall last night. The place was very busy; little girls about 8 and 10 where playing games on the Droid. Other's mingled. People cruised about. After a goodly amount of time, they called Tom's name. By this time, we had felt the key pad on all the phones, looking for something that is raised because, of course, Tom has no feeling in his fingers because of the Raynauds Syndrome. We found two flip phones with decent pads; we had made a decision. It just so happened they were on promotion and could be bought at the two year contract price without buying into the contract, that is: Keeping the prepaid. A deal? Us?

Of course, the phone we wanted was not in stock. OF COURSE! Oh, the Johnson curse. Or is that oh, the Johnson's cursed. She assured us that it would be much like it, the numbers would be raised. Tom asked what if it wasn't like the other? She told us there was a restocking fee of $35. Don't they just get you coming and going? Geez.

Now, we go to THAT store because they may be busier, but they also seem more knowledgeable. And it this case, it was good we did buy it there instead of a kiosk type set up at Sam's. Why you ask? Because when she asked for the phone number to look up the information, it was a different number than we thought we had. Ode to joy.

It appears that when we switched from the $55 dollar policy to the prepaid, they switched the numbers. I am certain they told us but we never gave it any thought. And since I prepay by phone, it was never questioned. I am maniac about keeping information and did not find anything in the file to support the number. Oh well, I may have had a brain fart that day.

There was a notice in the in box this morning, the phone has been shipped.

Now that just goes to show how cell phone oriented we are.