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MELANCHOLY MOON
© By Richard L. King
From my book: Nice & Naughty

Sitting on the balcony, enjoying the suns last rays,
fending off the melancholy revealed in recent days.

The evening settles in over a glass of favored brew,
love songs on the stereo bring a romantic thought or two.

The sun has lost its glory, yet the sky is still ablaze,
peering out across the water, through the purple haze.

Waves gently crashing, the moon begins to rise,
Mother Nature’s beauty unfolds before his eyes.

The waves are iridescent as darkness now prevails
and a sailor in the bay at long last drops his sails.

Mesmerizing beauty, music created by sea and sand,
lonely thoughts triumph, not precisely as he planned.

Florescence catches the eye as waves gently roll ashore,
time is not their enemy they’ll continue evermore.

Much like any campfire draws attention to the flame,
these psychedelic waves act pretty much the same.

The moon, in all its glory, now lights up the cloudless sky,
she’s not here with him and still he questions, why?

Alone on this balcony, long after the suns last rays,
a melancholy moon experienced so often in recent days.

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Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #411

About: Common Sense

 “Unfortunately, common sense
jist ain’t all that common anymore.”

*********

By:  Donna Hale Chandler

I color my hair myself – which is the subject of today’s Beauty Advice.

For some reason (it seemed like a good idea at the time) I decided to color my hair in the morning before I started my day. When it was time for bed the night before, I set the alarm on my cell phone for 6:00 am. This would give me plenty of time to make myself presentable before the dead-line I’d set for myself of 8:00 am. (Everyone should be up and ready to ‘meet the day’ by 8:00.  A point that I’m sure would be debated by many who like to stay snuggled under the covers a bit longer.)

It felt as though I had just dozed off when my cell phone is playing that catchy little happy tune to wake me…………. Up I hop ……. Into the bathroom …. Mix the color …. Cover my head with goop, paying special attention to the grey around the edges … Set the timer for 20 minutes. Warm a cup of left-over coffee and prepare to read my morning newspaper while I wait for Lady Clairol to produce her miracle.

But the newspaper hadn’t arrived. My newspaper delivery person is never, ever late. Why do they have to be late today? I can’t think of any other way to get through 20 minutes with goopy hair, except to sit quietly and read. But there is NO newspaper!

As I walk past the kitchen, I glace at the clock on the wall. 12:45 am. Oh dear, my clock has stopped ……. Search for new batteries. No. Wait. The clock is running. WHAT TIME IS IT? Check the time on the cable box (that time is ALWAYS correct, right?) 12:45 AM! WHAT THE HECK? No wonder I felt like I had just dozed off. I DID. What am I doing up at 12:45 with color all over my head? I haven’t slept enough!

Wait! Did I set my phone alarm wrong? Nah, I wouldn’t make a mistake like that, would I? Go to the bedroom to check the phone …. Nope, I didn’t make a mistake. The alarm is set to go off at 6:00 am.

Oh my ………….. I have a voice mail. Someone called me at 12:45. There was a voicemail. It must be an emergency. Something has happened to one of my children. Oh goodness, why didn’t I realize it was the phone, not the alarm? Dreading to listen to bad news and already wondering how fast I could get myself together to go to the rescue (what happens to my hair if I rinse this stuff off before the 20 minutes is up? Or maybe I’ll just leave it on and only take time to grab my purse and go. What would happen to my hair then?)

Holding my breath, I punch in the numbers. My son is evidently in a bar with a group of his friends. He’s listening to karaoke and felt the irresistible urge to share with me the sound of his favorite singer of the evening. Maybe he was even the singer. Who knows? AT 12:45 AM,,,,, WHO EVEN CARES????

I do know one thing absolutely and positively …….. As soon as I rinse this stuff off my hair, I’M GOING BACK TO BED. (after I turn off my phone alarm, of course) and I don’t think I’ll be ‘meeting the day’ at 8:00 AM GEEZZZ!

(The complete story can be found in Life Happens (My Story). See our Book page.)

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Gram use’ta say

“Figure it out.
If you just can’t figure it out, read the directions.”

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FIRST LOVE
© By: Richard L. King
From the book: Memories & Time

Memories of distant times… painted with a mottled brush,
colors seemed so much brighter,,, first love causing him to blush.

Memories of those olden days recall only the highlights,
…country meeting city,,,, or one of several fights.

That one and only first kiss, the lovely little girl,
holding hands, carrying her books, the long walk home from school.

Believing this is love, fearful to let it show,
lunch break on the teeter totter, too timid to tell her so.

That first taste of passion, whether love or lust,
shared with your best friend, the first you’d learned to trust.

Memories of distant times… painted with a mottled brush,
colors seeming brighter, first love recalled as much more plush.

*********

Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #425

About: Aging Gracefully

“I’m in my stone ages…
gall stones, kidney stones
…and lots ’a headstones.”

By:  Donna Hale Chandler

Yes, there were absolutely rules regarding how and even when to wash your clothes (on a wringer washing machine, perhaps?) and hang them outdoors on the clothes line. I remember well my mother instructing me on the correct way to put your clothing out to dry.

1. You must have at least 3 clothes lines. They must be tightly attached to the poles so    they wouldn’t sag when loaded with clothing.

2. You must have a clothes pin basket of some sort. Most likely my mother made what we used for our clothes pins. It looked a little like a small dress hanging on a hanger. There was a large opening for retrieving or replacing clothes pins. The hanger hung on the clothes line and you slid it along as you pinned up articles of clothing. The clothes pin bag must never be left outdoors once the laundry in finished. It needs to be as clean and neat as the rest of the ‘wash’

3. Before pinning anything to the clothes line, you needed to make sure the line itself was clean by walking the length of each line with a damp rag around the line.

4. Large items, sheets, pillow cases, towels, etc. were pinned to the outside lines, leaving the inside line for your ‘unmentionables’. I’m not quite sure what would happen if your neighbors saw underwear hanging out on the line but it probably would not have been pleasant.

5. Socks were to be pinned by the toe, shirts by the bottom, pants by the cuffs, etc.

6. Never ever hang a colored item with a white item. The neighbors would surely decide that you were too lazy to separate your laundry properly before washing.

7. Don’t waste clothes pins. Pin the edge of one garment to the edge of the next.

8. The laundry absolutely must be taken in before the evening meal. Again, the neighbors would decide lazy people lived there if the wash hung outdoors too long.

9. As you removed clothing from the line, the pins went back in the clothes pin bag and the article of clothing was folded and placed in a clothes basket. This would make it easier to iron later when it was ‘sprinkled’ and smoothed out on the ironing board.

10. Of course it doesn’t even need to be mentioned that you never ever, under any circumstances did laundry on Sunday. You’re probably be struck by lighting and sent straight to hell for that.

We’ve come a long way — now I throw everything in the washer and when I think of it, move it to the dryer. (Grandmothers around the world are turning in their graves each time laundry is washed in these modern times.)

*********

Gram use’ta say

AGING –
“That’s when everything that doesn’t leak, dries up.”

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RETIREMENT
By: Richard L. King

Since I retired every day is Saturday…. Well, at least it seems that way.   I’ll wake up in the morning and begin to wonder just what do I have to do today, then I’ll begin to wonder what the hell day is it? It used to be that I could keep track of the day of the week by the date on my newspaper, but I now get my news over the internet so I don’t take a newspaper anymore. As a result I have to be a little more cunning.

A friend and I were discussing this recently. He just moved to a different community and ever since the move he’s having the same problem. Where he used to live he could see our clubhouse from his front window and every Wednesday they would put out a big sign saying BINGO TONIGHT. Well, my friend always knew when it was Wednesday because of the sign. When I take my morning walk I walk right past that sign so I always know when it’s Wednesday too.

Then on Thursdays the maintenance crew comes in to mow all of our lawns. So my friend said he always knew when it was Thursday because, “all the Mexican’s show up.” That’s probably not politically correct, but my friend doesn’t really give a damn. He’s an ex-cop from New York City and to be honest, he doesn’t give a damn about much of anything.

He and I play poker with some of our buddies every Monday and Friday night and I look forward to it so much that I just always seem to automatically know when it’s Monday or Friday. Saturday this time of the year is college football day so, at least during football season, I always know what day is Saturday and come Sunday about 10AM you can always hear the church bells announcing that it’s time for the service to begin so I know when it’s Sunday. That only leaves Tuesdays and since nothing of any importance ever happens on a Tuesday, I just don’t worry about knowing what the hell day it is.

Of course, I keep the calendar on my computer up to date, so if something important,,,,, like say a doctor appointment,,,, should fall on a Tuesday, my calendar will send me a little message to remind me.

We also have one of those Apple devices called Alexa, which reminds me when it’s time to start getting ready to go to poker. She also reminds me when it’s time to take my pills and I suppose if it was important enough I could program her to tell me when it’s Tuesday.

….Maybe I’ll take that under advisement.

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Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #414

About: Life’s Lessons

  “Telling your child you’re proud of them
accomplishes a lot more
…than telling the world.”