Is it secret? Is it safe?

A couple of weeks ago I lost my wallet. Misplaced it, I guess, and whoever picked it up in the store thought he or she needed it more than I did, so I had to cancel my credit cards, request duplicates of them and all my other stuff, and rethink my budget for the month.

Then last week, my laptop gave up the ghost, and I had to take it to my son-in-law (who does that sort of thing) to breath new life into it.

Soooo -- easy, right?

Well, yeah, and no.

Couple of tips I knew, but didn't follow, and are now firmly fixed in my conscious thought.

1) COPY everything in your wallet! Take your credit cards, your medical, insurance, SS, licenses, and put them on a sheet of paper in your copier. Copy both sides of them! Then keep the copies in a safe place. Review them occasionally, updating them as necessary. Then you'll KNOW what was in there, especially when it comes to your credit and debit cards.

2) KEEP a list of passwords, IDs, program keys, etcetera, so that you can get back up and running with fewer calls to "the help desk" !!

List ended for now, I gotta get back to resetting passwords and recovering my access to some of the stuff that's still missing.

One of the on-going gripes we hear constantly is the complaint that a large chunk of our society stands there with outstretched hands, wanting something in return for the nothing that they do, while another large chunk of our society vows to deny them even those basic necessities unless they work for them. Political parties pander to one side or the other.

I'm afraid though, that the "something for nothing" idea is a red herring, only a temporary illusion to gain an overwhelming number of votes to put in place a power that has a much more serious agenda than plain liberalism.

They use the basic human nature of *both* "sides", our greed, jealousy, false pride, indifference, fear, lust, to hide what they're doing. 

One side tempts the natural greediness of half of us by offering something for free. The other half of us are jealous of what we have, and naturally want to keep it. 

Meanwhile the principalities and powers that Paul wrote about in Ephesians are in their high places, their beautiful puppets are dancing, and too many of us are blind to the strings, and where they lead.

At Wal-mart this afternoon, I walked by the sporting goods dept. Noted that they had lots of .22 ammo in stock, both mag and regular long rifle.
So I went to the counter and told the clerk I wanted a box of "CCI, .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, please."
He struck a pose, and asked "Mini mags, or regular Winchesters?"
I reiterated my request, and emphasized the "Magnum"
Now he's sure I don't know a damn thing about what I'm asking for, and he's gonna be visibly patient while schooling the old guy, and explaining the difference. He opened the case and pointed, ""These are Winchester LR's, and those are CCI rimfires. You said Winchester, which one do you want?"
I pointed at the CCI WMR's and said, "I asked for those. The WMR stands for Winchester Magnum Rimfire."
He still didn't get it, just humored me, said, "Just wanted to make sure you understood."
I didn't say anything else right then.

Got up to the counter and started the checkout process. Looked at the long gun display next to the register, and asked him, "Do you ever get any Stoeger Coach Guns in?"
He said, "No, the only side-by-sides we stock are the Tri-Star Over-Unders."

I bit my tongue, and didn't dare look at him again.

Storm

We're praying for family and friends in the path of the storm. Be safe!

No - I don't have a weird fetish for fruit, but I do love a peach, now and then.

Mostly now. Here's a recent essay - didn't know where else to put it.

Pickin’ Peaches

A few weeks ago we looked for a place where we could get some fresh, tree-ripened peaches. Couldn’t find one. The orchards where we used to get them are gone, replaced by vineyards. The old barns and houses along those country roads now bear signs inviting the weary traveler to “Come in for a taste of our fine wines.”

Fine wine is very nice, sometimes an essential. But right now I want a peach.

I couldn’t help thinking back to a time not so many years ago, when I’d stand in an orchard, under the trees, boots wet from walking through dew-soaked grass. The morning sunshine felt good as it went about its task of waking things up. It’d get much warmer, even hot, as the day progressed, so it was good to start early.

I’d walk until I found just the right tree. Then I’d reach up and feel the fruit hanging there on the sunny side, where things had already mostly dried off.

Do you know that a peach tree will talk to you if you listen? Not so much in words, but in feelings. They do. Empathy, I think they call it. Yeah, empathy. You reach out to cup a peach in your hand, and it either hangs on to the tree, and you have to pull it loose, or it likes you, and surrenders itself for your pleasure. Falls easily into your hand. Almost seems like it knows you’ll appreciate the sweetness of its gift. It says, “Here.” And it’s good.

You can find peaches that are sweeter than that, though they’re not up in the tree. You gotta look down. There, under the tree, yes, on the ground in that patch of sunshine. That one that’s lying there soaking up the warmth of the sun, while waiting for the ants to harvest its sugars, that’s one. It would have fallen into your hand yesterday, but it waited all day, and you didn’t come.

But it’s not too late; the tree doesn’t hold a grudge.

Pick it up, wipe the dirt from the bottom side, and brush off any ants that may be prospecting there. No, you don’t want to take a bite out of that cold side, but the side facing up, with the beautiful red blush against the dark yellow-orange color of the fully ripe fruit, highlighted by that bead or two of remaining dew, that’s the best part.

Take a bite. Go ahead. Yeah, I know, Mom always said never to eat anything you pick up off the ground. “That’s dirty! Got germs! Yuck!” But this time it’s okay. And you take a bite, just to taste it. Then another, and a third, and the juice starts to run down along your little finger, down the side of your hand, and if you don’t watch out, it’ll run clear to your elbow!

And now your hand and wrist are all sticky, and you’ve run out of sunny side, so you toss the remains over there by that clump of grass. It’s okay, the tree won’t mind. Now look around for another one. Ahhh! Right there! But there’s also a bee, obviously anticipating a feast, and you hesitate. There are more, lying all around, but that one looks particularly delectable, and the bee seems to verify that as it hovers over the surface, looking for just the right place to land.

The promised reward wins out over the threat of a little pain, so you softly brush the bee away, and pick up the fallen prize. This one feels a little softer as you raise it to your mouth. Why bother even brushing off the critters on the back side? You take a bite and you savor! You feel more juice running down your fingers, and your chin, and you open your eyes after taking another bite, and you see that the bee has landed on the side of your hand, and is enjoying that nectar, oblivious to the source. You decide to share, so you carefully take another bite, then watch as he crawls right into the opening you’ve just made, and begins to gorge on the remaining sweetness. You put that one down gently, because now the bee is an ally. You’ve shared sustenance together. So you find another. And another. And life is good.

You can only eat so many, though, and you look back up to see the others are filling their baskets, so you begin filling yours with the lesser, but still promising, fruit that the tree releases to you. It seems you both know which ones will best survive the trip back home, where you’ll put them into jars, make them into pies and jam, into shortcakes and dried fruit. 

Maybe ice cream!

You can’t resist one more, that big one there, so there’s fresh juice on your chin, and your shirt is has both wet and dry spots on it as you get back to the car. And then you sneak one final peach out of the basket, “just to eat on the way home.”

Later, when the house is closed up tightly against the cold and snow of the new year, and the smell of wood smoke lingers, you walk into the pantry and see all those bright jars lined up on the shelves. But the light they reflect is not winter’s cold, artificial, fluorescent glare.

It’s the soft sunshine of late summer mornings.

Under peach trees.

Where you shared a blessing.

hjt – September, 2016

Old friends

Most folks peel the fuzzy skin off a peach before eating it. I don’t, because that’s the way I like them. Had one this morning. It was soft, juicy; I did have to lean over the sink to eat it. Sweet, yes, a little, and, well, peachy-tasting. Polite comes to mind. Nice enough, I guess, for a total stranger.

I know some old peaches. I’m acquainted with J.H. Hale. Good friends with Elberta. Spent many a fine afternoon with Hale Haven. On a first name basis with Reliance, Red Haven, and a few others; trust ‘em with my taste buds.

But this one was a stranger.

I was a little leery when we purchased it. From another state, the sign said. It and its siblings were big, round, hard, fuzzy things. Looked ripe, but the guy said to let them sit on the counter for a week or so, and they’d “soften right up.”

What?

Apparently, “soften right up” is the new ripe. Who knew? Anyway, we were out of peach jam, and this was all we could get.

So I asked for an introduction. “What’s its name?”

He looked at me kind of funny, but humored me. Looked it up. Rattled off a string of numbers.  “X323B, or F25R, or something like that.” I didn’t respond. “Freestone,” he said. “Midseason.” I waited. “Good market peach.” I nodded.

That’s nice. “Good market peach.” Growers like that. So do shippers. Commercial canners. Grocers. Farm stand owners. “Good market peach” means profit. Convenience. 401k. College loan payments.

Whatever. I understand. Really I do.

But “Good market peach” is not a benchmark for flavor.

And friends don’t have numbers.

Howard Tuckey                                                                                                     9/2016

Catching up part 1

Ooookaaay! Looks like I can still post, so why not? Don't like it? Don't read it! :-)
So how to catch up?

I won't bore you with health stuff - let it suffice to say that my wife and I have both had to make some "adjustments" to our lifestyle. Both of us are retired now, and this year we celebrate our 50th anniversary. I'm blessed!

In that regard, you might find something here or there about our family - our four daughters and sons-in-law, our nine grandkids, and now our two GREAT-grandkids!

Yes, blessed!

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I see I started a book list way back there. Hmmm - how many books have I read since 2012? Wow!
There are over 700 books on my Kindle alone! Now, I haven't read them all, but I have read way more than half of them. Many of them are free copies of old classics, that I peruse from time to time.
So that's one area that needs work

                                                  =================

Three of the books on my Kindle are ones I wrote myself - Mattie's Place, Mattie's Town, and Annie Down The Street. The first two are collections of short stories that I like to describe as "Alice's Restaurant on Prozac." A few have actually described them as sort of "Lake Woebegone-ish." I find that extremely flattering, and I'll try to reach that level of quality. The third is a varied collection, containing mild horror, science fiction, and dark humor. Might even be a poem in there. I haven't read through it for a while.

All of them are available for Kindle, at Amazon.com.

                                                     =================

Still doing the garden thing, but I've cut down from the 8000 square foot plot to a few raised beds closer to the house. I don't walk so well any more, so that's one of the "adjustments." I also built a greenhouse right next to the beds, and am enjoying it. One of the topics I enjoy talking and writing about is gardening, so I'll be doing some of that.

                                                     ==================

Yep, gardening, and cooking, and writing, and, well, whatever tickles my fancy at any given time. Except politics. We'll try to stay away from election politics. I do talk about it a lot, and have some strong opinions on the subject, but not here.
I hope.

                                                      ===================

So, welcome - or, welcome back! We'll see how it goes.

Wow! I had forgotten about this place!

Got busy, and it totally slipped from my mind.

I wonder if I can still even post to it, after all this time?