Observations

[larryJ]

A little rant maybe.......

Due to the fact that my oldest granddaughter has a travel softball game next weekend in Las Vegas we chose to have our family Thanksgiving yesterday.  It was the traditional Thanksgiving just not on the day that it was normally done on.  The gathering of my family was wonderful and the food was outstanding.  It was held at my daughter's house.  I sat in the living room with a view of the pool and in front of a wide screen huge TV and the game was on. 

Where is the rant you ask? Read the last sentence above.  I sat in the living room with a view of the pool and in front of a wide screen huge TV and the game is on.  What more can you ask.  In the recliner chair sat my son-in-law who (and this is my description of him) is a bump on a log.  He only speaks when spoken to and it has to be in a form of a question.  After a while my daughter-in-law (and this is my description of her) who is beautiful and very loving towards me came and sat by me while holding her five-year-old son who was asleep.  We held hands and talked about how things were going.  She is going next week to China to visit relatives.  She brought gluten free tamales just for me.  She kissed me on the cheek and told me she loved me.  Then my grandson was waking and she left.  Right about that time my daughter came and sat just for a few minutes and left.  From then on everyone was in the kitchen/dining room talking and getting the food together and I was sitting there watching a game that I didn't really care about with a guy who doesn't talk.....for a long time.   Then my son brought me a plate of food and I ate all by myself while everyone else was in the dining room.

Here is the rant.  Nobody chose to share their meal with me.  Not even the bump on a log idiot son-in-law who didn't get up to eat.  For the whole four hours I was there none of my four grandchildren chose to acknowledge that I was in the house except for the oldest who removed my plate from the room.  Towards the end of the day my wife came and sat by me for a while and we talked about the family and the food and that we should think about heading for home.  Then my grandson with the prompting of his mother came and kissed me,  Forcing a child to do something like that is not the same as being a voluntary thing.  So I discount that as a genuine show of affection.  My two other granddaughters never said one word to me the entire time.  When my wife moved back to the dining room she announced that we were going to go.  With some help from my son I got up and moved to the dining room where they were talking about the road trips my son and I used to take back to Howard and other places.  He always kept a journal and he was reading from those.  Then we left

This is sad.  I like to think I didn't treat my grandmother that way when I was in Howard. Can't remember.  Is this the way grandparents should be treated?  Or am I being too sensitive?  Or maybe I should make the effort to be more involved despite my disabilities to move around.  Who knows.  The only saving grace here is I know that my family loves me and takes care of me even if they don't sit and talk to me all the time instead of to each other as a family should!

This is too long and probably doesn't need to be here but there it is.

Larryj

[Dignified Redneck]

Well, there are two sides to this coin (argument). I agree that your children and grandchildren should have been more attentive to your presence. However, may I suggest that you ask to have a seat at the table with the rest of the family for the next family gathering (No matter how much of a burden you feel your asking for help to move in there would be, they will be happy to help you). I bet you will find they will be happy to have you there to join the conversation. Speaking for myself as a hostess with a lot on my mind, I don't usually think of that kind of stuff until too late. My thoughtful husband usually points these missed points and takes care of them for me. As always, love to read your posts and rants! Wish we were closer so we could visit in person. Love, Deb

[larryJ]

You are correct as usual.  I could have made more of an effort.  When I came in I plopped where they wanted me to sit.  Of course, they felt I would rather watch the game.  On the other side of this coin they could have come into my area to chat.

No big deal.

I too wish we were closer so we could see one another.  Did you notice in the obits that Robert Evans passed?  He was married to Wanda Henderson.  Wanda is my second cousin.  Her father was Raymond Henderson son of Suda Mattie Henderson who was a sister to Edith Andrews my grandmother and Bill Redmond's grandmother.  She would be your second cousin one generation removed.

Larryj

[larryJ]

This is not terribly exciting not even newsworthy but it is a good story and I wanted to share.

As previously mentioned we do not get a lot of rain in SoCal.  Our rainy season begins around November and ends in March or April.  January and February are the wettest months.  And again it is more of a soft rain.  Since we have had those big fires this month there is concern for mudslides in those areas. 

However, Wednesday evening we got a big storm and lots of rain....
And lightning......rare.  With thunder.  This almost never happens here.

Enter the new dog now six months old who has never experienced rain with lightning and thunder.  I am watching TV and all of a sudden a big flash of lightning followed by a large clap of thunder.  The poor dog went beserk charging through the house barking and trying to find the cause of such a noise or a hiding place.  My wife was sitting next to me in her wheelchair and with the second loud thunder he began to hide under her chair.  It was really raining hard.  More thunder.  Then the poor clueless dog decided to run out the doggie door to either find the source of all this noise or maybe a safer place to hide.  He got soaked.  He is a cocker spaniel and they are supposed to be "water dogs" and he didn't seem to be bothered by being wet.

Funny.

On the downside we have satellite service for our TV and storms such as this one sometimes disrupt the reception.  There was a really good movie on and three times the service went out for a few minutes.  However we got to watch the dog going bananas.

Larryj

[larryJ]

More reflections on being a grandparent..........

Over the weekend my wife, daughter and oldest granddaughter went shopping for my granddaughter's birthday which is today.  She turned 14.  They did some Christmas shopping also.  On Friday my son and daughter-in-law dropped off their children so that they could attend a Christmas party out of town.  My daughter picked them up after work and my son came back on Saturday to get them.  My son and his wife had come to our house on Friday in two cars and they left one here while they went to their party. 

I remained in my chair binging on TV and the computer.

So I had a brief meeting with my son when they left the kids who went into another room to play.  Then my daughter picked them up giving me a brief goodbye.  Saturday morning my wife went outside to wait for my daughter for their shopping trip.  My daughter did not come in.  After the shopping was done my wife was dropped off.  My daughter did not come in.  Meanwhile, my son and daughter-in-law texted to say they were going to swing by to get the car they left but were in a big hurry because they had to be someplace shortly so they weren't going to come in.  Remember my wife is out shopping at this point.  On Sunday more shopping a repeat of Saturday with my wife going outside to wait and a repeat of being dropped off except my daughter did help her carry some things in but then left.  My granddaughter was with them both days but never came in the house.  This is all very sad.

I remained in my chair binging on TV and the computer.

Wait!  I got it.  It has to be me.  They don't want to come in to see me!  They have no problem with leaving their children with me to care for and no problem leaving their car in my driveway.  There is plenty of room.  My daughter doesn't have to come in because she just saw me the day before.

Wait!  I am just being paranoid.

No, it's gotta be me.

Oh well I am just going to remain in my chair and binge watch TV and play on my computer.  When and if they do come through my front door I will be happy to see them.

Lol
Larryj

[larryJ]

And more.....

I just flashed back to an earlier memory of my grandmother Edith Andrews.  I don't know or never heard any specific reason for this.  At some point my grandmother had a falling out with her youngest son and they were estranged for the rest of her life.  He lived in Wichita and had four children, my first cousins.  These children grew up not  knowing their grandmother.

A few years ago there was a cousins reunion that I organized in Colorado Springs.  One of those children came to this reunion.  I had not seem her since she was a young girl.  After the formal get-together we all met back in her room at the motel and the first thing she asked was what was our grandmother like.  Many of us spontaneously said..........

Chocolate cake!!!!!!!

Anytime she heard one or more of her grandchildren were coming for a visit she would bake a cake.

It's funny that she would be remembered for her chocolate cakes.

Larryj

[Dignified Redneck]

Chocolate cake is not a bad thing to be remembered for.....  I always wondered what the fall out was about between Grandma Andrews and the youngest son. No one back here ever talked about it either.

Maybe for Christmas you should ask for gift certificates from your children for their time. They are probably so busy with their own families, they don't think about you wanting to just visit with them. Now that both of my parents are gone, time spent with my son, daughter in law and the girls are precious. And I didn't realize that until after they were gone. Just my humble opinion. After my husband broke his left leg the Monday before Thanksgiving chasing a couple of heifer calves in the dark that had escaped the pasture, our son and his girls came out the following weekend and spent the afternoon fixing the fence that the heifers were going through. That afternoon was the best experience I have had with them for a long, long time. Answering the girls questions about the bull, cows, calves, showing them how to untangle baling wire and Carl allowing the middle grand daughter to chauffer him around on the utility vehicle is going to stay with me for awhile.

Stay strong and smile! Didn't Betty Davis stay that old age wasn't for sissies!!!! Love, Deb

[larryJ]

Deb, this is something I think I might have heard back in the day.  I think I asked my mother at one time what the deal was with Granny and Uncle Jimmy.  I seem to remember that Granny did not like the girl that Uncle Jimmy wanted to marry and was against him marrying.  He married her anyway.  They remained married the rest of their lives.  Because that daughter of theirs was asking so many questions about what Granny was like it was apparent that their children were not told much about the grandmother.  I have often preached to my kids that family is forever.  Friends come and go but family is forever.  And then I say look at your mother's family.  She has a brother who lives here in Los Angeles.  They got into an argument and have not spoken in many years.  She has a sister who is bipolar and a pain in the you know what.  I know it is not her fault but it is difficult for my wife to deal with it sometimes.  And my children nod their heads and say yeah you are right.  As I said there are times that I am at a loss that they don't try to spend more time with me but then I think......And say to myself..........you dummy they are doing what you said.......spending time with their families!  And that makes me proud that they listen to me.  We are close like we need to be even if it is a occasional phone call or a text.  My daughter is on vacation this week and took the time yesterday to take me for a Doctors appointment.  I offered an apology for taking her time and she told me that she was happy to do it.  And you know we had a nice time just talking.  That's family.

Larryj

[larryJ]

Back to this dog.......

Did I mention already?  There is a commercial from Frontier/Verizon with a guy playing a guitar and singing the word "no".  This is in reference to a couple who don't have the Frontier service and are saying no to whatever they are watching.  The dog..........has heard the word no around here a lot when he does something he shouldn't do.  When this commercial comes on he stops whatever he is doing and stares at the TV.  I think he is trying to figure out who is saying no!

And......In the morning when I sit on the edge of my bed getting dressed no matter where or what he is doing he comes over and lays on my pant legs when I try to put my pants on.  I haven't quite figured out the reasoning behind this one.  He sits in my lap a lot during the day so maybe he is relating to that.

My days are just crammed with excitement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Larryj

[larryJ]

Okay it is a new year.  In SoCal we start the year with the Rose Parade.  The granddaddy of all parades.  The local paper gives out a complete guide to anything and everything related to the Rose Parade.  This includes the schedule of appearance of the participants all 91 of them this year.  One local TV station begins their coverage at 6 AM interviewing people and spewing facts about what we are about to witness.  The parade begins at 8 AM local time and is scheduled to last two hours.  This TV channel will repeat its coverage of the parade all day long until around 6 PM.  Their selling point is that they don't have commercials during the parade but in the repeats there are commercials.

Trivial facts about the parade.........It has rarely rained on the parade.  I have seen years when it has poured rain on the day before and the day after but I can't remember when it rained on the parade.  Some times it has been cold and I really feel for the majorettes with their short skirts or shorts.  Today it was in the high 50's so chilly for us locals.  The Rose Parade is never held on Sunday.  If January 1st arrives on a Sunday the parade is postponed until the next day.  The floats for the most part are assembled in warehouses in a neighboring towns of Irwindale and Duarte and Azusa some 12 to 15 miles away from Pasadena and are driven to Pasadena during the night before the parade.  They are lined up on Orange Grove boulevard in Pasadena.  When the parade begins the participants make a right hand turn onto Colorado Boulevard for the 5.5 mile march to the end.  There are officials at that corner to help the drivers negotiate the turn.  I have seen floats get stuck in that turn requiring tow trucks to get them through.

Reflections on this year's parade.........There is always the stealth bomber flyover at the beginning.  I used to always go outside to see it as it flies along the edge of the mountains.  Some years I saw it most I did not.  This year I stayed in bed and heard it fly over.  My daughter lives more in line with the path of the bomber and sees it all the time.  I am amazed at the logistics involved.  In that magazine they list all the bands and information about them.  So I added them up.  The total of marching band members came to 4971.  Add in the support staff and sponsors and parents and that is a lot of people.  This is the time I wish I had bought a motel in Pasadena!  Where do all these people stay?  How is it possible to transport all these people and the band instruments to Pasadena?  Who is the lucky one who figures out how to feed these people?  How do you take 300 kids to McDonalds?  The band from Hawaii had 440 members. They said that there were 18 million roses used in the parade.  Cut flowers don't last very long so all those roses have to get here within a few days of being put on the floats.  Everything you see on the floats has to be decorated with organic materials.  Something you don't see in the TV broadcast are the team of guys going along behind the equestrian groups with their shovels.  One of the things I hated when I was in marching band was watching out for horse droppings along the parade routes.

Two glitches this year.......The idiot who put the lineup of appearances this year put an equestrian group behind the American Legion float that, gasp, made the turn and fired off a cannon filled with streamers.  The horses were not in a patriotic mood and did not appreciate the loud bang so early in the morning.  Fortunately the riders were able to maintain order.  Second glitch.............The parade normally goes by without too many problems.  This year (attn: spoiler alert) the biggest and longest float courtesy of the Chines American organization depicting the joining of the transcontinental railroad stalled at the turn holding back other units.  Marching bands and smaller floats managed to squeeze by.  That rarely happens.

Overall it was a great parade.  In previous years this TV stationed had the same announcers, Stephanie Edwards and Bob Eubanks.  They retired and the hosts they have now are not as good.  I rather enjoyed the repartee between Stephanie and Bob.  Things change.  For many years there was a high school band from Kyoto Japan who came to be in the parade and also made an appearance at Disneyland.  Check them out on YouTube--Kyoto Tachibashi High School band. I was impressed at a group that could dance and play at the same time.  They were not here this year.

Happy New Year!

Larryj