Arts and Eats

       SATURDAY, MAY 16TH

           ARTS AND EATS!
   My wife and I along with one of our
grandsons stopped by a place we seldom
visit yesterday. It was Wilkes-Barre's
Public Square.
   We had gone to the annual Fine Arts
Fiesta to watch as one of our grand
daughters and her school Glee Club
entertained there.
    There are certainly plenty of truly
fine arts to be seen!
     Crafts of all sorts, paintings, metal
art work, jewelry, and other unique
offerings.
     I don't know how well any of those
items sell during the festival. But the
artists who work with food seem to
be very successful!
     There's a line of vendors near the
stage and a constant line of customers
that reminded me of the midway at
the Bloomsburg Fair!
     We're not just talking about hot
dogs here, although you will find
them.
     Chan's Chicken on a stick was a
work of art to my grandson who
gobbled it down while the recorded
sounds of a Jazz Band blasted from
the speaker system.
    A Caribbean Food Stand was close
by for those who preferred that menu.
    For those looking for something a
little less exotic more traditional
food like pizza was well within reach.
    The grandson demonstrated his
artistic talents with the blue flavor
design he "painted" on his shaved
ice.
     The hungry crowds made me
think they might want to change the
name of this event to the Fine Foods
Festival!
     Hope you'll check it out and that
all your NEWS is good!                                           

About That Overtime!

           FRIDAY, MAY 15TH.


       ABOUT THAT OVERTIME!
    Initially, when I heard the machine gun,
I thought I might be suffering from Post
Traumatic Stress Syndrome. The sound of
blast that followed tended to confirm my
suspicion.
   But then I remembered. I had never been
in combat!
   Perhaps too many war movies?
   No. This was no illusion that awoke me
during the dark of the night the other day.
   And it wasn't the enemy closing in on
my sleep.
   It was Penndot! Or, at least, contractors
working for the State Department of
Transportation.
   That "machine gun" was, apparently, a
jack hammer cutting away part of the rock
wall supporting a bridge on Interstate 81
that crosses the road leading to my house.
   The "blast?" Well who knows?
   I am very much in favor of Penndot's
efforts to improve our area's roads and
bridges. Lord knows there's a lot of
fixing needed.
   That said, the idea of working around
the clock in the neighborhood of a
neighborhood poses some serious
questions about noise pollution "after
hours." I'd shout out about it. But they'd
never hear me!
    I don't think I'd mind as much if they
were patching potholes after midnight.
I don't think they'd use jack hammers
on those. Unless, of course, they were
making new ones.
    Hope this project is over quickly and
that all your NEWS is good!

   



   

The Hundred Dollar Hot Dog!

         THURSDAY, MAY 14TH

    THE HUNDRED DOLLAR HOT DOG

     When we sold our camper last year we
salvaged a grill from our campsite and
brought it home.
     Yesterday my wife decided it was a
good day to rehabilitate the unit. That
required an extensive cleaning and some
fresh tanks of propane.
     I was assigned to fetch the gas.
     As nice as they may look, propane
tanks in the state of Pennsylvania cannot
be refilled if they are over ten years old.
     Had I know that in advance I would
have filled our two 2004 tanks last year!
     Turned away from the local U-Haul
Shop I exchanged the old tanks for two
newer ones that may give me a little
more grilling time.
     As my wife continued her scrubbing
efforts I installed and checked one of the
new tanks. Nothing blew up so I figured
I did it right. But that's when I noticed our
Lava rocks looked pretty worn!.
     I headed to our nearby dependable
Walmart that proved not so dependable!
Seems they no longer carry Lava rocks.
The clerk told me the new grills don't use
them.
     But my grill isn't new. It still uses
 Lava rocks so I needed some!
     Home Depot had a small supply. But
it's almost like they were hiding them.
It took me about 15 minutes and three strolls
through the "Grill Accessary Section" to find
them.
    Had I know it was going to be that
hard I would have brought some real ones
back with me from Hawaii! They're all
over the place there!
    According to my calculations the
new gas tanks, Lava rocks, and the
gasoline used getting them, added on
to the man (or in this case Woman) hours
of cleaning, will make the first Hot Dog
grilled worth at least one hundred dollars!
    Hope we don't have to buy Mustard...
and that all your NEWS is good!

     

And What Do You Think He Saw?

        WEDNESDAY, MAY 13TH.

   AND WHAT DO YOU THING HE SAW!

    We haven't been feeding our neighborhood
birds lately. It's not that we don't want to. We
can't!
    Over the past three weeks we found two of
our feeders shattered on the ground.
    Vandalism was, of course, a possibility.
    But why just the bird feeders?
    Now it's more likely our new neighbor is
the responsible party.
    I'm not referring to the guy moving in
across the street.
    It's the big four legged creature we
spotted just 30 yards away near the woods
the other day.
   It's a bear!
   He had apparently come over the
mountain recently and what do you thing
he saw? Yep! Our bird feeders!
   I got a quick snapshot of about half of
him along a trail just across the way. He
seems to be kind of large.
   I took my camera to the center of our
street to see if I might capture a better
shot. My wife reminded me I had come
out without shoes and the chances of me
outrunning a bear, even in sneakers, were
slim to none!
   The garbage goes out tonight so I'm
thinking we may see this bruin again
very soon. Since I take the garbage out
I'm hoping it won't be too soon!
    Maybe it's just Smokey reminding
us the woods are pretty dry.
     Hope none of us are in for a Bear
hug and that all your NEWS is good!

  

All Washed Up!

      TUESDAY, MAY 12TH

         ALL WASHED UP!
   This is not, as the title implies, a
narration concerning my career.
    It is the story of our latest
family adventure.
    I will admit it may not compare
with Hawaii or even our recent
drive to the Grand Canyon of
Pennsylvania.
    Yesterday my wife had me take
her to the Laundromat!
     Just so we're completely clear
on this we have had a washing
machine right in our house all
the while we're lived there.
     I think we bought it right after
my wife frowned when we talked
about the weekly wash and I told
her there was a creek nearby.
     But, yesterday, we had a special
need she didn't think our machine
could handle. It was a heavy bed
spread she was packing up after the
long winter. She wanted it washed
first.
      Suds and Bubbles is a
Laundromat that was built right in
our development about a year or
so ago and we thought we'd give it
a try.
       There are rows of washers and
dryers in the place. Individually
they're larger, but similar to the
machine at home. The big difference
is.....you've got to put money in these
to make them work!
       And they only take quarters!
       My wife carefully filled a small
container with the 25 cent pieces so
they'd be easy to insert in the machine
until she reached the $4 required
deposit. I helped by picking up one
or two that she managed to drop
anyway. One seemed to have
disappeared.
       The "lost quarter" was found
wedged in the door of the washer
after the cycle was complete.
       That proved to be a good thing
as another quarter was needed to
operate the dryer. Of course additional
quarters were required to get the
spread completely dry.
       As I sat there waiting I had this
vision of my old home in Hazleton.
       We had this thing out in the
backyard. Basically a long rope
stretched from one pole to another.
       You could hang wet laundry
over it and let it dry in the sunshine.
And you didn't need any quarters.
       Now I'm wondering if there's
still water in that nearby creek?
Think of all the money we could
save!
       Hope that bed spread is dry by
now and that all your NEWS is good!

My New Friend!

             MONDAY, MAY 11TH.

                MY NEW FRIEND
   I have just over 3,000 Facebook Friends.
   I don't actually know most of them. But
as a long time broadcaster/reporter I have
said "Yes" to most folks who asked to be
a friend.
   A lot of those folks know me even if we've
never met in person.
   But some Friends have turned out to be
better than others. Some, for instance, take
the time to "Like" or even comment on my
daily Blog. Or, perhaps, "Like" or comment on
some of the photos I post on my page.
   Then there was Morgan Gilbert!
   His photo pictured a handsome man in his
dress uniform. He asked that I accept him as
a friend about two days ago and I did so.
    And what a great friendship, though short,
it was!
    Morgan sent me a personal message
asking how I was doing and where I worked.
    I responded by reminding him all that
information was on my Facebook page. But
there was little about him.
    After reading his next message I understood
why. Morgan explained that his military unit
in Syria had come across a very large stash of
money. They turned it over to the government
(Syria) but were surprised to find that they
were going to be allowed to keep it.
    I was allowed to keep a Quarter I found one
time. But in Morgan's case there was a twist.
    Unfortunately they were going into a
combat situation and Morgan needed someone
back here who would be able to keep the money
for him in return for a rather large share!
     I think I was to get a third of the amount.
     All I had to do was send him my email
address and set up a bank account somewhere
(although he didn't explain why).
      I was about to make my fortune when,
after explaining I was a newsman and
wanted contact information so I could tell
his exciting story, he failed to respond!
      I thought he might have been over run
while communicating with me. Then those
darn Facebook Police showed up and said
the site Morgan was sending from was no
longer available.
      As far as I could see Moran only had
one other friend. Maybe he finalized a deal
with her? Now I'm out a friend and all that
money!
      You might want to watch out for
Morgan in your Facebook travels. Maybe
he'll say you up for a cut of all that loot
in Syria.
      I wonder if P.T. Barnum gets to read
these things in Heaven? If so, I'll bet he's
smiling!
      Hope my money comes through and
that all your NEWS is good!
                         ("Morgan Gilbert.")

A Day In The Yard

       SUNDAY, MAY 10TH.

       A DAY IN THE YARD

   My wife loves to work in the yard.
   I.........well.......my wife loves to work
in the yard.
   Our grass and plants, once safely
hidden under piles of snow, are free
again and in need of attention.
    Realizing the tasks ahead would
need my wife's direction and the strength
of a man, I called my grandson to
come over and help. He's 12.
    I, of course, could not expect to
escape completely. So I opted for
lawnmower patrol.
    We have two. One electric and one
gas. The electric is very dependable.
But lugging that cord behind you can
be a big pain!
     And there's always the chance it
will get in front of you. That happened
to me one time. Luckily my son was able
to splice both ends of the severed cord
back together and nobody was
electrocuted!
     Anyway I pulled out the gas mower
figuring it would make the task a little
easier.
     I now know pulling the starter
cord on a mower can be as physically
draining as a 3 mile hike in 80 degree
temperatures. That's about how it feels
after 30 or 40 unsuccessful attempts!
    I was about to search out the extension
cord when pull number 38 or 40 brought
the gas mower to life.
    Meanwhile my wife and grandson
sailed through the raking process and
used the wheelbarrow to dispose of
last year's leftover leaves and debris.
    As I finally collapsed onto the porch
rocker I saw my wife and grandson
putting their equipment away in our
shed.
    Unfortunately we keep a couple
plastic bats and a Wiffle ball in that
same shed and seconds later I found
myself on the freshly cut back lawn
tossing curveballs to my grandson.
     He, however, agreed to retrieve
any home runs himself and proved
true to his word. It was a wise
decision. It's easier to carry a
Wiffle ball out of the woods then a
grandpa from the lawn.
     My wife loves to work in the yard.
I think my grandson likes it too.
      I like writing blogs, usually
sitting down.
      Hope you liked this one and
that all your NEWS is good!