Friday, June 29, 2007

 

MORRIS


HELLO ALL. I'M TRYING TO GET USED TO WRITING ON THE BLOG.TODAY I'LL WRITE ABOUT OUR CATS, PRIMARILY MORRIS. THE CATS ARE A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WORK BUT ALSO A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF JOY . AT OUR SHOP IN EAST WINDSOR, WE WERE EXPOSED TO MANY PITIFUL, SAD-SACK CATS FROM THE SURROUNDING LOCALE. SOME DAY I'LL ATTEMPT TO WRITE ABOUT A CAT NAMED CASSANDRA, BUT THE SUBJECT IS STILL TOO PAINFUL. MORRIS IS A LESS DOUR SUBJECT, SO THEREFORE EASIER TO WRITE ABOUT. ONE DAY I SAW AN UGLY ORANGE CAT UP ON THE HILL OUTSIDE MY OFFICE WINDOW. IN THE BEGINNING THIS ORANGE BOY WOULD RUN FROM US. AFTER A FEW DAYS, HE MUST HAVE BEEN HUNGRY, AND STARTED TO LET US APPROACH HIM. HE HAD SEVERAL MORE CLEVER NAMES , BUT EVENTUALLY THE NAME MORRIS STUCK, FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. MORRIS STARTED TO GO UP TO ALL OF OUR EMPLOYEES FOR FOOD, WATER AND ATTENTION. THE WEATHER WAS GETTING COLD, OCTOBER OR SO.ANYTIME I WENT TO WORK , EVEN LATE IN THE DAY OR ON A WEEKEND, MORRIS WOULD INVITE HIMSELF RIGHT INTO THE OFFICE. HE WOULD DO CUTE THINGS, LIKE CLIMB INTO MY BRIEFCASE(WORMS AND ALL). I COULD SEE HE NEEDED A HOME AND QUICKLY! I RELUCTANTLY LEFT MY OFFICE ONE COLD NIGHT BECAUSE I KNEW HE WANTED TO COME HOME WITH ME, BUT I COULDNT BEAR THE THOUGHT OF THE WORMS! AS I DROVE AWAY I COULD SEE MORRIS CHASING THE CAR FOR QUITE A DISTANCE. I MADE UP MY MIND TO TAKE HIM THE NEXT DAY, AND TO GET HIM TO A VET. HE WAS NASTY TO SOME PEOPLE AND OTHER CATS, BUT HAS EVOLVED INTO A FAIRLY GENTLE SOUL THESE DAYS.HE ALSO TESTS POSITIVE FOR THE CAT- VERSION OF AIDS. SO FAR HE IS DOING WELL. WE MUST HAVE HAD HIM FOR ABOUT NINE OR TEN YEARS.HE WAS A THROW-AWAY PET BECAUSE THE VET SAID HE WAS NEUTERED, SO SOMEONE AT SOME POINT CARED ABOUT HIM. WE ASKED AROUND IF HE WAS LOST, BUT HE WAS HOMELESS.NOW HE LIVES WITH ME ,BUT USED TO LIVE WITH TOMMY.HE HAS A BEANY-BABY STUFFED CAT ( GIVEN TO ME BY CHRIS TEEL YEARS AGO.).EVERY TIME WE CAME HOME THE BEANY BABY WAS IN A DIFFERENT PLACE. EVENTUALLY WE DISCOVERED MORRIS WAS DRAGGING THE BEANY AND HOWLING OVER IT, LIKE PREY. HE WAS PRACTICING THE KILL.I AM ENCLOSING A PICTURE OF MORRIS AND BEANY ON OR KITCHEN FLOOR.SOME DAYS I HAVE TO SCOLD MORRIS TO PUT AWAY HIS BABY, AS IT IS ALWAYS UNDERFOOT.WE CALL MORRIS ENORMOUS-MORMOUS. HE IS FUN TO TEASE.HE HAS A LOUD PURR WHICH I CAN HEAR IF I PUT ON MY AMPLIFIED HEADPHONES(MORE ON THE HEARING LOSS LATER,STAY TUNED!)LOVE YOU ALL, PEGGY

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

 

MORE GOOD ADVICE

DON’T LET THE BEDBUGS BITE!
I’ll bet everyone has said that at bedtime one time or another. I’ll also bet that nobody among these readers has ever been bitten by a bedbug, except for me. You probably think that the Noonans have always been wealthy, in addition to being smart and good looking. Not so.
Believe it or not, there was a time when the Noonans, at least my branch of the clan lived in the low rent district! Grew up in the low rent district, in fact, and were actually bitten by bed bugs, among other things.
From around the 3rd grade until I got hauled into the navy, I lived at 558 Church Street, New Britain, Connecticut, and that address, not surprisingly, had bedbugs at one time.
Bedbugs lived where you would expect them to live, in beds. They got into the folds of the mattresses, and into the bed springs. We don’t know how we acquired bedbugs, but at one point we did, and they not only gave itchy bites, they filled up on your blood. You could see when one was engorged with it. That’s when I liked to stick pins in them to get even.
Getting rid of bedbugs was tough. I can remember my mother taking the mattress off my bed, exposing the bed springs, and using a lighted candle, burning out each spring, one at a time.
Then the examination of the mattress, examing each fold and physically removing each bug had to be done. She finally got rid of them.
The reason I got on this subject is the recent heat wave and people talking about having uncomfortable nights. This recalled one of my most uncomfortable nights. I was about 12 at the time. It was a sweltering night. And just as there was no central heat in that dump, there was no air conditioning, either. In addition to the weather, the bedbugs teamed up with the mosquitoes
and practically ate me alive. I can recall vividly the night I spent. I had to get out of bed to do all the scratching and sweating which was necessary.
So next time somebody advises not to let the bedbugs bite, you’d better listen.
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MOE'S BIRTHDAY


MOE HAD A NICE BIRTHDAY ON JUNE 26. MARY AND PEGGY GOT HER A DVD RECORDER WHICH WILL BE INSTALLED AS SOON AS NOONSKI FIGURES OUT HOW TO DO IT. THE DAY STARTED WITH BREAKFAST WITH PEGGY AND NOONSKI. IT CONCLUDED WITH DINNER AT MOE'S FAVORITE RESTAURANT, OUT BACK, WITH BOB AND GAIL, AND OF COURSE, NOONSKI. SHE HEARD FROM ALL HER KIDS.

Monday, June 25, 2007

 

56 AND COUNTING


Ain't that many as gets to the 56th wedding anniversary. We did, and people are probably scratching their heads. Possible reasons may be found in the following: An ad for Marlboro cigarettes which said, "We'd rather fight than switch." Or as Henny Youngman answered when asked the secret of his long marriage "There is this nice little restaurant in our neighborhood. Great food, pleasant atmosphere, soft music. We go every week. She goes Tuesday, and I go Friday."

Saturday, June 23, 2007

 

BY A WATERFALL, I'M CALLING YOU-000-0000

Remember that old song? What follows reminds me of it. We had an assignment in our writing class last week. We were to choose from a list, and employ our imaginations. The topic I chose will be obvious. Unhappily, I have no picture to accompany it.

"I don't take off all my clothes and stand underwatefalls anymore----not since I got arrested and featured in a Public TV documentary.
Long ago, I discovered the tranquility, the absence of extraneous, aggravating and intrusive thoughts which are always present in my mind while (I' m) wallowing under a free-falling wall of ice water. The soothing sounds of water crashing on rock, or on itself, and the calming diffused light filtering through the flow--sort of like Monet's haystacks produced the effect of meditation. It relaxed my overstressed mentality, and musculature to the point where I figured too much of a good thing would be even better, and to find total relief, I would be well advised to disrobe completely in order to commune more unequivocally with nature, and I did.
It was at that point that a public TV camera crew showed up to make a documentary. How could I have known that Niagara Falls would be of interest to anyone else?
Now I take a shower like everybody else."

 

my reunion


tomorrow, we go to my 60th reunion. i have never gone to one before, so this will be interesting. i might not recognize anyone except jean and sally. this picture is moe, eileen, and jean.

Monday, June 04, 2007

 

A MORE RECENT VIEW OF THE SUBJECT



MY HOUSE----MID NINETEEN THIRTIES


I CRIED WHEN I GOT MY FIRST LOOK AT OUR NEW HOME. IT WAS ON THE THIRD,
OR TOP FLOOR OF WHAT WAS CALLED A BLOCK. THERE WAS A TAVERN AND A
GROCERY STORE ON THE FIRST FLOOR WITH ALL THE ASSOCIATED ACTIVITIES AND
NOISE. TWO RESIDENTIAL STORIES WERE ABOVE. OTHER BUSINESSES INCLUDING A COBBLER SJOP, BARBER SHOP, DRUG STORE AND SECOND GROCERY STORE WERE ADJACENT.
OUR BUILDING WAS UNAPPEALING ENOUGH, BUT THE GARISH YELLOW BRICK
CONSTRUCTION SIMPLY DREW ATTENTION TO ITS OWN DECLINING STATE OF
PRESERVATION. IN THE GRASSLESS BACK YARD, THERE WAS A TRASH BURNING
BARREL WHICH WAS SHARED BY ALL. ADD ING THE FRAGRANCES OF THAT
SMOLDERING BARREL TO THOSE OF THE COMMUNITY GARBAGE PAILS
CREATED AN AMBIANCE OF SORTS. MAYBE NOT THE AMBIANCE OF CHOICE.
THE GARBAGE PAILS WERE OF GREAT INTEREST IN SUMMER. WHEN THE GARBAGE
WORKER CAME TO COLLECT THE FESTERING MASS, THE TEEMING MAGGOTS
WERE A SIGHT TO BEHOLD. WE HARDLY EVER SEE THAT TODAY, AT LEAST IN
TOLLAND.
THE SIX ROOM APARTMENT HAD A COAL BURNING STOVE IN THE KITCHEN
WHICH CONSTITUTED THE HEATING SYSTEM. THERE WAS NO FURNACE. SIX ROOMS
IS LOT TO HEAT, AND THE STOVE COULDN.T DO IT. THE BEDROOM IN WINTER
WAS LIKE THE NORTH POLE. WE KEPT A RECTANGULAR PIECE OF SOME KIND OF
FLAT STONE IN THE OVEN TO HEAT UP ALL DAY. THE STONE HAD A WIRE
HANDLE SO WE WOULD USE THE STONE TO TAKE THE CHILL OFF THE BED, THEN
WE WOULD WRAP THE STONE IN NEWSPAPER AND PUT IT UNDER THE COVERS
TO PUT OUR FEET ON. WHEN THE WETHR WAS ESPECIALLY COLD, OUR
OVERCOATS WENT ON TOP OF THE BLANKETS, TOO. WE WERE HAPPY TO HAVE OUR
DOG, TIPPY, SLEEP WITH US. WE HAD ONE DOG WHILE WE HAD THREE DOG
NIGHTS. TO STEP ON THE BEDROOM FLOOR WITH BARE FEET WAS TO BE
FROZEN TO THE ARM PITS. INSTANTANEOUSLY.
THE KITCHEN STOVE HAD A COUPLE OF ADVANTAGES. IF YOU CAME INTO THE
HOUSE WITH WET, OR HALF-FROZEN FEET, BECAUSE THE SOLES OF YOUR SHOES
HAD BEEN WORN THROUGH AND THE CARDBOARD YOU HAD PLACED INSIDE THE
SHOE WASN’T THICK ENOUGH, YOU COULD PULL UP THE MORRIS CHAIR (LIKE
TODAY’S RECLINER) AND PUT YOUR FEET AS WELL AS THE WET
SHOES INTO THE OVEN. THE STOVE ALSO KEPT THE COFFEE POT WARM ALL
DAY AS WATER WAS CONTINUALLY ADDED TO THE COFFEE GROUNDS WHICH
CREATED THE FIRST POT OF THE DAY. BY FOUR O’CLOCK, THE COFFEE HAD
BECOME A SYRUP WHICH WOULD TURN YOUR STOMACH, BUT WAS CONSUMED
ANYWAY.

IN A PLACE LIKE THAT, YOU COULD LISTEN INTO THE FAMILY FIGHTS GOING ON
IN THE OTHER APARTMENTS, EVEN TNOSE DOWNSTAIRS. TROUBLE WAS, THE
NEIGBORS COULD HEAR OUR FIGHTS JUST A WELL, AND IT WAS NOT UNUSUAL FOR
MY FRIEND DOWNSTAIRS TO COMMENT ON WHAT WAS GOING ON IN OUR HOUSE.
I’M NOT SURE THOSE WERE THE GOOD OLD DAYS DESPITE CURRENT
MYTHOLOGY WHICH GLAMORIZES IT.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

 

MORE LYNCH PICTURES


HERE'S MORE OF YOUR RELATIVES----UNCLE JIM'S FAMILY. MOSTLY

 

THE LYNCH FAMILY


WE ARE ALL PART OF A CONTINUUM, A ROOT SYTEM. HERE ARE THE LYNCHES--MOE'S SIDE OF THE FAMILY.

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