Hello on Tuesday

Dear Friends,

I hope that all my readers had a wonderful Presidents’ Day. I know that many of you had to go to work. This is school vacation week for the Public Schools in the Berkshires so working Mom’s and Dad’s had to try and figure out what they are going to do with their children. With Linda and I being teachers during our working years, we did things with our children. When our two boys were small, I would have taken them ice-fishing.

Speaking of ice-fishing, everything started off very well for me on Monday. I made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and took some fruit for lunch; loaded up my car with ice-fishing gear, and headed off to the bait shop while Linda was fast asleep. After picking up my bait, I drove directly to the parking lot at the end of Narragansett Avenue which is located across the lake and parallel to Route 7. Everything was going well, until I hauled my sled, loaded with gear, to Pontoosuc Lake. The shoreline was watery with thin ice. I tried to figure out how the fisherman who were already on the ice got from the not so safe ice to the ice where they were fishing. Luckily, a guy saw me struggling mentally and told me how to get on the ice without falling through it. I had to drag my sled over dirt, which was not an easy task, about 150 feet to some docks which were owned by a people who live in some condos. The ice at the docks was hard and thick enough for my not so light body to make it out to the ice. I took out my auger, and drilled 5 holes into the ice. The thickness of the ice was in the 6 to 7 inch range. This thickness is safe enough for people to be on the ice. I was more concerned about the thin ice on the shoreline. I spent four or five hours on the ice communing with nature. The sun was shinning brightly so I did get a sun tan, and a little wind burn. I did get three flags, but no fish before I decided to call it a day. My plan of listening to my radio talk show host didn’t workout because I forgot that he doesn’t do his radio show on Holidays.
When I decided to pack up and leave the ice, another problem arose. The thin ice on the shoreline turned to water. The dirt that I pulled my sled over had turned into mud as the temperatures of the day rose to about 35 degrees. After struggling to get back to land, I decided that I would walk on land and haul my sled like a boat on the ice that turned into water. When I got to the access road, I had to pull my sled over the dirt / muddy road. I felt like I was getting a work out at Retro Fitness. I made a decision that I am giving up ice-fishing for this season unless we have some kind of cold snap that refreezes the ice. There were a good number of people on the ice on Monday, but maybe their access to where they were fishing didn’t have a watery shoreline. There is an Ice-Fishing derby right out of the same parking lot this coming weekend for a deceased Irish American Club friend. If the conditions are like what I saw yesterday, you won’t see me at the event.

Linda has a chicken and vegetable soup brewing in the crock pot for her Mah Jongg ladies. It looks and smells wonderful. She likes a soup that contains more broth, but I like a soup that is full of ingredients, and is a meal in itself. Linda is hosting her Tuesday Mah Jongg session. I was supposed to dine with the ladies, but I won’t be able to do so.

I have two errands to do before I make it to the family meeting at the Mt. Greylock nursing home this morning at 10:30 AM. After the meeting, I am heading to the ITAM to help prepare for a Boys and Girls Club Pasta Dinner where they expect over 200 people. I have to leave the kitchen around 12:45 PM to attend a REAM (Retired Educator Association of Massachusetts) board meeting. Since I am President of the local chapter, I must attend this meeting. After this meeting is over (in about an hour), I will return to the ITAM and finish working in the kitchen and setting up the buffet line for the Pasta Dinner.
Linda and I had planned to attend a Fat Tuesday Dinner at St. Agnes Parish Hall in Dalton this evening, but that is not going to happen. Linda said that it was alright that those plans have changed.

If any of the people on my blog are local, this fundraiser is for a good cause. The cost is at nominal price, and begins at the usual 5 PM hour. Dessert and Coffee are also included.

This event was not on my social calendar. Every time that we have a board meeting or a membership meeting, there always seems to be another UNICO event which we pick up. It is kind of unusual to have such an event the day after a meeting.

Our UNICO dinner meeting went well last evening. We had a salad, pasta, Italian Bread, a baked stuffed pork chop with all the fixings along with cake and coffee.

The President of our local UNICO Chapter became a grandfather for the first time on Friday. His first grandchild is an 8 pound plus baby girl. I keep on telling people that being a grandparent is a new phase in a person’s life. My friend said that he is starting to realize that.

Oops! I forgot to mention that Linda spent several hours of her day cleaning up the house which she contends that I make the most mess for her to clean up. She did have some relaxing hours when I wasn’t around to bug her. Actually that is not true. When called her and I told her about the thin ice that I had deal with all she could do is do is visualize me swimming with the fish instead of trying to catch them. Oh Darn!

Speaking of grandchildren, our son Kevin took his 2.5 year old son to work at his dad’s restaurant “Dough” on Monday. I wish that all of you could see the video of Max making pizza. In the video, Max is rolling out the dough for a pizza. This child knows how to use a rolling pin already. In the second video, Max is putting the cheese on the pizza. I am guessing that Max will be working in the restaurant very soon with a step stool. I hope that the child labor laws allow him to do so.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and the start of Lent in the Catholic Church. Maybe I could use Lent as a way to lose a few pounds. I have to decide on what foods and beverages that I could give up for Lent.
Well, if I have no willpower to give up certain foods and beverages, I could at least use portion control. On the other hand, how can a person who volunteers for so many events that involve food deal with portion control? Besides tonight’s pasta event, my UNICO Brothers and Sisters will be preparing over 350 Polenta and Venison Dinners for Saturday night’s Womens’ Imaging Fundraiser at the Berkshire Hills Country Club. A person has to sample what they are preparing to make sure if it tastes okay. We also have to sample some of the homemade wine that some of the workers bring into the kitchen. It is a never ending cycle of food, fun, and merriment, and I feel that I have to be part of it. Oh Darn!

News – The local boy who became the top Sheriff in Arizona is running into some flack that now has gone viral. A disgruntled boyfriend of the sheriff has accused the sheriff of harassment when their relationship fell apart. This also meant that the Sheriff had to go on National television to declare that he is gay. The Sheriff is trying to run for a higher political office. Arizona is not one of those States which looks favorably on gay people. Oh Darn!

Well, I have to quietly gather up all of my food preparation gear for tonight’s pasta dinner after I read the local newspaper. Once I leave the house at 9 AM, Linda won’t see me until after we clean up the kitchen at the ITAM. Hopefully I will be home around 8:30 AM. I will be one tired buckaroo when I walk in the door. I will need all of Wednesday to recover from today.

Have a great Tuesday!

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad