The Egg And I (or Them)!

  I drove my daughter and two grand kids to a
park in Plains Township yesterday morning.
  There we joined what seemed like nearly ever
over child in the area for the annual Plains Lions
Easter Egg Hunt!
   The Lions Club in our area is a wonderful
organization intent on improving the quality of
life for everyone in our community.
    When it comes to the Easter Egg Hunt the
Candy companies must lick their chops when
they see the Lions Club coming each year.
     In addition to the candy found all over
the park's football field, basketball courts, and
playground area the Club gives out additional
special prizes to many of the kids who donate
canned goods for the needy at the annual event.
     All of the prizes, of course, consist of
various forms of Chocolate! I now know why
most of these kids will have Easter Monday off
from school. Most of them won't be coming
"back down" till Tuesday at the earliest!
     The "Hunt" is very well organized. Various
age groups are assigned to different sections
of the park. I must have missed the part where
they announced which field Senior Citizens
would be using...... so I didn't find any eggs
myself!
    It's probably just as well. If we Seniors were
in the race nobody would ever win!
    The Chocolate just kept on coming and my
grand kids got another dose at the BMX Bike
track where registration opened for the new
season. Practice runs were followed by....yep....
an Easter Egg Hunt! This time I tried to hide
one near a rock by my foot. But some darn
kid found it anyway!
     Of course the Easter Bunny also made a
full scale pass at all the kids at home this
morning too!
     Willy Wonka must be especially pleased
with this Easter! Well, that's more ham for
the rest of us!
      Hope you didn't put all your eggs in one
basket and that all your NEWS is good!
      Happy Easter Everybody!

   

What's Up Doc?

   It's March 30th everybody! And that means
it's "National Doctor's Day!"  It's a day set
aside to show your appreciation to all those
physicians who try to keep us well or make us
better when we're sick!
   I wish I would have know about this
"holiday" a little earlier. I could have bought
a box of cards and sent them out Thursday.
They are still delivering on Saturdays aren't
they?
   I would have needed a bunch of cards. As
I've grown older my "collection" of doctors
has grown. At this point I see four on a
regular basis. And that doesn't include my
dentist who, of course, is technically a
doctor.
    I've also had the "pleasure" of submitting
myself to the expertise of about three others
since the beginning of 2013.
    My family doctor is the most understandable
of the lot. Most of the others spoke in technical
and medical terms that I don't understand and
forget how to pronounce minutes after they've
talked with me. And have you ever noticed
that, usually, when a doctor walks into the
examining room he usually asks "How are you?"
    Why don't any of us answer honestly and
say "I'm not here because I feel great!"
    But in the midst of some serious coughing
bouts in January I started to wonder if I was
dying. My Doctor said..."Yes. But not any
quicker than anyone else!"
    Unlike some of the other unusual "holidays"
I've mentioned from time to time this one is
official!
     The day marks the anniversary of the first use
 of general anesthesia in surgery. The first National
Doctor's Day was celebrated in 1991.
     On March 30, 1958, the United States House of
Representatives adopted a resolution commemorating
Doctors' Day. In 1990, the congress and the senate approved
legislation establishing National Doctors Day. The resolution
designating March 30 as National Doctors' Day was signed by
President George Bush.      Since it's too late to mail cards we
should all justcall our doctors and wish them well.  
   Odds are you'll get the Answering Service so you'll just have
 to leave a message.   
  Hope you're feeling well and that all your NEWS is good!

                         

Hanging From The Ceiling!

  Good friends got together yesterday.
  A half dozen of us met up at a Cracker
Barrel restaurant just outside Binghamton
New York. It's a sort of "half way" stop
for my buddy from upstate New York and
the four of us heading north from Wyoming
Valley.
  Cracker Barrel is a neat place. The food
is good. But that's only part of the
attraction.
   Our wives usually head straight to a
shopping area where the chain offers
unique items like novelty gifts and clothing.
   And there's usually one section set aside
for items that are being offered for sale.
Yesterday, for instance, some Halloween
items were available at 80% off!  A lot
of shoppers realized it wasn't a trick and
took advantage of the treat!
   While the gals shop the guys usually
look towards the ceiling! Cracker Barrel
appears to be the final destination for
some of those unusual items the "Pickers"
find in old attics and garages across the
nation.
     It's interesting to note that most of
us have owned most of the things hanging
from those ceilings at one time or another
during our lives. If only we had thought
to save them!
     Our gang has visited this place many
times. In fact my buddy, who takes pictures
of anything that moves, has photographed
most of the employees over the course of
our visits and usually has a series of Mug
shots to hand out before we've scanned
the menu! Most of the waitresses probably
think he's eventually going to try to sell
them a photo album.
     Good friends, good place, great time!
     Hope you've got a group and place
like that and that all your NEWS is good!

Looking For A Little Weed!

  Easter is just a few days away. Most of us are
darn tired with temperatures more associated
with Winter than Spring.
  So I say it's time we all started looking for
a little weed!
  Now before you jump to conclusions I'm
not talking about the debate over legalizing
Cannabis.
  I'm talking about those little garden growths
that are just as certain a sign of Spring as any
of those beautiful flowers you can name.
  You see today, March 28th is "Weed Appreciation
Day!" I'll bet a lot of you haven't even bothered to
mark this day on your calender! And why not?!
  Probably it's because weeds get a bad rap!
  Some aren't really all that bad!
  Just think about the Dandelion! Kids play with
the stems and their yellow flowered heads. They
blow the fluff off after the blooms have closed
and turned into a cotton-like top.
   Some folks even use the Dandelion to make
wine! Others include it as part of salads.
   All that fun and food from a weed!
   You should start looking for a little weed
today. If they're starting to pop up around
your house stop and pay them some homage
today.
   If the weeds are here Spring and Summer
 can't be far behind!
   Hope you'll join in the celebration and that
all your NEWS is good!

 

  

You know the drill!

      I went to the dentist yesterday.
      It was just a routine visit. The kind you
have every six months or so.
      That's a lot of visits over a lot of years.
      It's covered a few dentists too.
      Different years, different dentists, and
yet the scene is always the same.
       You recline in a very comfortable
chair. The dentist's assistant comes in and
begins the process of cleaning your teeth
by inserting a narrow sharp metal pick
into your mouth which is scrapped
against each tooth with an accompanying
noise much like the sound of fingers
scrapping a blackboard.
      A second device provides a constant
flow of water on the teeth. That's is
alternated with a vacuum cleaner-like
hose which evacuates the water.
      Now here's where "Dentistry 101"
comes into play.
      While those devices are invading
your head the assistant, or the dentist
himself, asks you a series of questions.
Unfortunately none of them ever seem
to lend themselves to "yes" or "no"
answers!
       I have always found it difficult to
express my thoughts about subjects
like Global warming or the attractions
of various vacation destinations when
my tongue is pinned beneath a sharp
medal pick!
      If that weren't bad enough I just
watched a rerun of "Marathon Man"
on TV last night and suffered along
with Dustin Hoffman's character as
the German dentist drilled into
perfectly healthy teeth to get him to
tell what he knew about a stash of
diamonds. In view of my appointment
maybe I should have picked another
movie!
     Hope you're brushing at least twice
a day and that all your NEWS is good!

 

What a dirrerence a day makes!

  What a difference a day makes. Not to mention some
nearly 600 miles!
   Snow was falling as I drove to Scranton yesterday
for my weekly program on Electric City Television.
Not a lot of snow mind you. But snow none the less.
    24 hours earlier I left the Outer Banks of North
Carolina on my trip back home.
    We had seen a few minutes of snow there too. In
fact several workers at an aquarium there stopped
in their tracks and ran outside to get a quick glance
at the tiny flakes. Most melted before ever hitting the
ground. I started to wonder if I might make a million
by opening an Alpine Ski shop somewhere along the
road that runs by all those sand dunes. I'd probably
have the only such venture along the coast! I wonder
why nobody else ever thought of it?
    My wife thought it sounded a lot like my other
plan to set up a Hot Dog & Chili stand along a
desert like uninhabited stretch of highway that runs
through the Outer Banks. Nobody else has thought
of that plan either!
     Maybe they're just too busy enjoying the fantastic
scenery and unique attractions the area has to offer.
     Things like the historic lighthouses, the wild
ponies, and the seemingly endless beaches where
you can sit and fish the surf. A few snow flakes now
and then can't put a damper on all that!
      Hope you've got some good ideas to make million
and that all your NEWS is good!

        
   
    

    

Home Again..Home Again...

   They say "You can't go home again." But we did!
   Eight plus hours and more than 400 miles after we
got in our car in North Carolina we pulled into our
driveway and began the back breaking job of
unloading our bags and baggage.
   We managed to get everything out of the car. Well,
almost everything!
    We unexpectedly hauled a bucket or two of sand
back home. It's scattered throughout the vehicle so
a vacuum job will be necessary sometime this week.
(Although maybe we can use it for traction in the
expected snow!)
    I believe the sand infiltrated our interior a little
each day after beach walks and just general strolls
in an area where the grains are far more plentiful
than blades of grass!
    It was a great trip!
    Florida was warm (although the people there
were "freezing" during a few 40 degree mornings.)
    North Carolina was a bit chilly. But there was
plenty of sunshine for those walked in the sand.
   We found trees in bloom in Virginia.
   And it was kind of neat to realize that Cargo
Freighters were literally floating over us as we
drove through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel!
    Still, it's good to be back among family and friends
and to wait for "Spring" to catch up with us here!
    Hope you realize, as Dorthy said,"there's no place
like home" and that all your NEWS is good!

    

Stairway To Heven!

  The lyrics of Neil Sedaka's popular song kept
rolling through my mind. Over and over again.
"Climb up, way up high, climb up, way up high."
 And that's exactly what I was doing! Climbing
 and climbing.
    We had gone to visit the Currituck Beach
 Lighthouse in the historic Corolla Village of
 North Carolina and my daughter, grandson,
 grand daughter, and I decided it would be fun
 to pay the modest 7$ admission price and climb
 to the top for a look around.
     As you might expect one long spiral staircase
 winds it's way up and up. It's about 160 feet tall
 and made completely of brick.
     Officially, there's 214 steps to the narrow
 walkway that encircles the huge light. They
 failed to count the 6 that lead into the entry area.
 I counted those too!!!!!!!!!
    There are small landings every so often so I
 was able to stop occasionally, catch my breath
 and take a puff from my inhale!
     Most people know enough not to look down
 the center area or through the open grate steps
 supporting you. But I did anyway. It's a long
 way down!
      220 steps later I stepped through a doorway
under the lens tower and onto that walkway on
top. I found my fellow climbers, who had beaten
me to the top by about ten minutes, with their
backs planted firmly against the lighthouse wall
so as not to be too close to the railing that
separated us from the drop!
      A photo of my wife, who stood on the ground,
gives one some perspective of the height!
      I couldn't help but wonder about the endurance
of the original lighthouse keeper who probably had
to make several trips up and down everyday to
make sure the light was ready to protect the seamen
who depended on its beam for navigation around
the waters that have become known as the "Graveyard
of the Atlantic." At night when that beacon is
illuminated it can be seen for 18 nautical miles!
    Come to think of it the steps I climbed seemed
about that far to my aching legs and knees!
    Hope you're got a dependable beacon guiding
 you voyage through life and that all your NEWS
 is good!

Waiting For The Morning Sun!

  My wife and daughter got up early yesterday
morning with the intention of watching the
sunrise over the Atlantic from the windows of
our third floor apartment.
  It was due at 7:03am. That's not my most
favorite time of the day. I believe we should
begin mornings around 10 or so. But, apparently,
time and the sun wait for no man.
   I decided to go the extra mile by dawning my
leather Bomber jacket and heading down to the
beach to catch the event on camera.
   Much to my surprise I found some other folks
braving the chilly morning temperatures for a
beach side view.
   Two young couples has stacked out the front
bench of our pier well before I arrived. They had
some fully prepared.
    The group had heavy jackets and sweaters, a
couple of blankets and beverages to greet the
morning.
    A gallon jug of orange juice was carefully
placed behind their bench, And, behind that,
a corked bottle which, I believe, may have
contained something of an alcoholic nature!
    Maybe they planned  to "celebrate" a new
day? Maybe they planned to stay all day...have
the orange juice for breakfast and the other
beverage for sunset?  Maybe it wasn't orange
juice!!!
    What ever the case their, and my, early
arousal paid off with a beautiful view of the
sun rising slowly above the ocean with the
sound of the surf and seagulls providing
some natural "music" to the morning.
    Hope it was a sign that your day was great
and that all your NEWS was good!

I Found The Fish!

   The  "Lost Colony" is still missing! But I teamed up
with the Wright Brothers yesterday and.....I found the
fish!
   My wife, daughter, son-in-law, and two grandkids
headed for Kill Devil Hill in North Carlonia to visit
the Wright Brother's Memorial and Museum where
the first powered flight of a heavier than air craft took
place 1903.
    It's a National Park these days. But thanks to some
good advice from an old friend I had obtained a
Senior National Parks Pass which admitted the whole
lot of us to the place free-of-charge! Free always
seemed like a good deal to me!
   The Wright Brothers choose this place because
there's usually a good wind. Now we know why! It
was hard to keep ourselves on the ground as the
strong breeze blew us around!
   Regular readers will recall our unsuccessful
fishing outing the other day. But, like I said, we
finally found the fish! BIG FISH!
   They were in an Aquarium on Roanoke Island
near the place where the first English Colony
up and disappeared sometime between 1587 and
1590...and No...I didn't cover that story!
   No wonder I didn't catch any fish! They're
all there in those huge tanks!
   And, from the size and looks of some of them
I'm mighty glad I didn't catch anything!
   We watched as an attendant fed the Sting Rays.
   We had to leave though before they fed the
man eating shark! That would have been
something to see!
    Hope you've still got your feet on the ground
and that all your NEWS is good!

A Ferry Tale!

  We had a full agenda yesterday!
  Our plan was to head south along the Outer
Banks of North Carolina, see the Cape Hatteras
Light House, then check out the wild ponies of
Ocracoke Island.
  It's a long drive through the Hatteras National
Seashore, You're surrounded by water and
sand dunes. It's not the place to be when a
hurricane strikes!
   The light house is magnificent! It was built in
1870 and stands just under 200 feet tall. It's hard
to imagine that, in 1999, it was picked up and
physically moved one half mile away to save it
from a site threatened by erosion.
   Next objective...the wild ponies of Ocracoke,
said to be the descendants of survivors from a
Spanish ship wreck a few hundred years ago.
    But the only was to get to Ocracoke Island
is by Ferry Boat!
    It's a free 40 minute ride (if conditions are
good) and the vessel leaves every hour on the
hour. We were about 5 minutes late for the 2pm
sailing so we killed some time in a nearby snack
and gift shop.
   The trip was smooth and pleasant and we
got to see the ponies which have actually been
fenced in since 1959 to keep them off that long
highway I mentioned and to keep them from
eating all the vegetation on the island! I guess
they're still "wild" in the sense that "they ain't
been rode." But they're well fed and don't look
like they're apt to stampede anytime soon.
   Now to return we again had to board the
Ferry Boat. But this time I lot of over folks
had the same idea.
   We now have some idea what a sardine must
feel like in the can! Cars and trucks were
crowded together bumper to bumper and door
to door.
    I had to laugh when I spotted the sign for
the Men's Room just beyond the tractor trailer
next to me. A "Handicapped sign" was there
too. But, since I had no chance in the world
of getting out of my vehicle, I wondered what
anyone dependent on a wheel chair would do!
So glad I didn't "have to go!"
     I was also very glad the attendants told  the
drivers to engage their Parking brakes! A slight
bump by one car at the rear of the line could
have made this crossing far too wet for the
vehicle at the bow of the ship!
     Of course the Ferry Boat ride was free so,
crowded or not, who cold refuse a nice cruise
at exactly the right price!
     Hope you're all still wild and free and that
all your NEWS is good!

 

         

Surfs Up!

   I ran into the Beach Boys yesterday. Actually, I
was one of the Beach Boys yesterday!
   My Son-in-law, Grandson, and I headed onto
the sand here in North Carolina to try our hand
at some Surf fishing.
   This can be, and was, a harrowing experience!
   You bait a line attached to a weight knows as
a "Sinker." Then you cast your line as far out
into the waves as possible hoping some
unsuspecting fish cruising around those breakers
will take a bite and get caught on your hook.
   Of course to cast your line out as far as
possible you are required to stand as near to the
water as possible to make that cast.
   Now here's the thing. The ocean has no respect
for the spot where you're standing and, frequently,
the leading edge of the surf is upon your feet
before you can get out of the way!
   I don't know if any of you have experienced
the "feel" of cold ocean water on warm feet
when the air temperature is still chilly. It is a
sudden and rude reminder as to why people on
the Titanic who ended up in the water didn't
make it!
    After less than an hour on the beach my Grandson,
the youngest member of our trio at 10, decided we
might like to join the women on their shopping
expedition. A wise move indeed!
   My son-in-law and I stuck it out for over two
hours, Our only catch, however, turned out to be
each other as our lines tangled somewhere in the
turbulent tide!
   We did return home with some "seafood." I
had a substantial amount of calamari we had
been using for bait. It's in the freezer now until
we decide to have another go at it!
   Unfortunately the unmistakable odor of the
Squid seems to have embedded itself on my
hands and jeans! But....it's the closest thing to
a catch I had all day!
    Hope you've got fresh fish on your menu,
a Beach Boy's song in your mind, and that all
your NEWS is good!

Of course the grand daughter loves the surf!