Hello on Frdiay Morning

Dear Friends,



Thursday was a glorious day in the Berkshires. I spent a good portion of my day working outside. I gave our lawn a trim, and began to winterize our deck. I still have a half of a day of work left to complete my task.

Linda wrote out the bills for the month which took just about as long as me working outside.



I needed an afternoon nap to make it through the rest of the day.



After my nap, Linda and I went off to a couple of stores to get some household items like a steam cleaner for our new laminated wood floors. The clerk said not to use the steam cleaner on old fashioned hardwood floors. We also purchased a better variety of a vacuum sweeper to use before we steam clean the laminated wood floors. I had to return the sweeper to Macy’s before the store closed last night because the charger was missing from the box. Oh Darn!



Linda and I had a date night last evening. This was an unplanned event. In yesterday’s e-mail, I did say that she was socially engaged. Well, the leader of the Thursday night gathering, who also plays BONCO, decided to cancel the girl’s night out since not to many people could make it.

Linda and I decided to use one of those Radio Auction Restaurant coupons. We asked another couple to join us, but they didn’t want to go to any of the three restaurants that we were choosing from. Things worked out well anyways. We went off to Zuchinni’s. We stopped in the bar before being seated, and we ran into a bunch of friends who we used to hook up with for years. Also at the bar, were 8 of my former students who play nine holes of golf together every Thursday at a 9 hole course just a few miles north from the restaurant.



The food at the restaurant was great. We both had chicken dishes which I thought was good because I was planning a “Chicken Novena” at our house if Linda was with her girlfriends.



Linda did win a prize at BONCO. She then proceeded to tell me some stories from all the chatting with the other 11 women she was with at BONCO. The most interesting one was that the husband of one of the BONCO ladies was installing a tree stand in the woods in preparation of the deer hunting season. He fell out of the tree, and broke one leg in three places, and fractured his clavicle on the opposite side of the broken leg. He didn’t have his cell phone with him. He crawled to a trail where a hiker saw him, and the person called 911. Our friend is still in the hospital. He has metal plates in his leg. Rehab is going to take some time before he is able to walk. He and his wife are booked into a whole bunch of social events which include trips to Tennessee to see two daughters, and multiple grandchildren. I think that his wife is not looking forward to all the care giving stuff which she has to do over the next few months.

This is the second baby boomer friend who has hurt himself by falling from heights. Linda has trouble watching me getting on a step stool.



Linda is all set to go off to the art show at the Massachusetts College of Fine Arts in Boston today. She and her friend finalized plans over the telephone last evening. They are departing the Berkshires at 2 PM from West Stockbridge. I will be taking a nap as Linda departs for her 25 minute drive to West Stockbridge. I will miss her so!



Observation – I was listening to a radio talk show program while doing my yard work yesterday. People were calling up and discussing the proposed tax cuts which I discussed in my daily blog yesterday. One lady said for voters not to listen to those scare tactics coming out of the voices of the current politicians in Massachusetts. This caller reminded the listeners that the politicians and teacher unions tried using these same scare tactics in the 80’s when our State passed Proposition 2.5 which put a cap on raising property taxes. The lady caller said that the State and Local cities and towns survived with less money.

We lost some great teachers here in Pittsfield, and they never came back as our economy got a little better. Linda and two of our closest friends were some of those teachers who got laid off. Linda and the male friend ended up teaching in New York State for three years. Linda is the only one who returned to teaching in the City of Pittsfield. Some laid off colleagues left our State altogether, and founding teaching jobs else where. One friend ended up in the State of Florida.

I think that the two proposed tax cuts will be passed on Tuesday. Many voters in the State feel exactly like the woman who called the talk show.



Sports – Another Boston team is off to a good start. I watched the Boston Bruins Hockey team win last evening. So this fall and winter we have the New England Patriots, Boston Celtics, and the Boston Bruins to cheer for. Just think of the many of the big sports market teams who can’t fill the football stadiums, basketball, or ice arenas. If the Boston Red Sox didn’t have so many injuries this past season, we might have been cheering for them in the World Series.

Speaking of the World Series, has anyone on the East Coast been watching any of the first two games of the series? Only the serious baseball aficionados are watching the World Series.



Weather – The short sleeve weather is all over for at least a week, and possibly the rest of the fall. We aren’t getting out of the 40’s today, and that will be pretty much the same pattern for the next 7 days. After I finish my outdoor project today, Linda and I will be waiting for the snow to fall.



Have a great weekend!

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad