Hello on Friday

Dear Friends,

Hope that all of the children and students in the Berkshires who had a snow day on Thursday had a fun day with the snow which fell over the past couple of days. I did venture out on the roads at 9 AM, and the main thoroughfares were down to the black top. I did get the feeling that the Pittsfield Schools should not have closed the schools. The weather prognosticators predicted 3 to 6 inches of snow would fall, but the additional snow was less than an inch.

There wasn't much news in our local newspaper this morning. I did like the article about the leaders in the town of Lenox voting "No" to windmills. As I have said in previous emails, I don't want windmills on every one our beautiful Berkshire mountain tops. I shouldn't use the term "mountain" because our tree lined forests are like bumps, and none have the elevation of a mountain like Pike's Peak in Colorado.

The local Convenient Store robber is getting close to being caught. The authorities put a video of the recent heist on the air waves, and several tips have been coming into our police department.

Politics -- The Massachusetts Presidential primary takes place this coming Tuesday. All my readers know who I will be voting for! I am pretty sure that Linda will be voting the same way. Linda and I don't always vote the same way for every person or issue, but we lean toward the Liberal vote.

Update on Dad -- Dad was officially discharged from the Mt. Greylock nursing home on Thursday. All of the staff on the wing where dad was being taken care of gave dad a big hug before we left. Dad is now staying at my sister's home. He has his own bedroom. His two motorized chairs are at my sister's home; one is in his bedroom, and the other one is in the family room. When I left him at 2 PM on Thursday, he was sitting in the family room. My sister was going to prepare a steak dinner for dad and her family for supper last evening. Dad was getting tired of pasta on the menu. Sometimes dad said that the nursing home would serve some form of pasta several times per week. Dad is a meat, potato, and vegetable man.
I am not sure if I should wait a day or so to visit dad. Getting adjusted to a new environment might take some time for dad.
I think the move might do well for his psychological health.

I did say "Goodbye" to his roommate. The roommate said that he was going to miss my father. I asked his roommate, who will be in the nursing home for the rest of his life, how many roommates that he has had during his time in the nursing home. He said that he has had at least 6 roommates, but dad was his best one so far. The roommate is only 78 years old.

I did come home and weave in an afternoon nap while Linda went off to her Thursday afternoon knitting gathering at Dottie's Coffee shop located in downtown Pittsfield.

We headed off to the Shamrock and hooked up with a friend whom we had supper with. Corned beef and cabbage was on the menu as well as a beef stew. Linda and I had the corned beef, and our friend had the beef stew. The corned beef was okay, but not as flavorful as the one which Linda and I make in our crock pot. We purchase the less expensive type called "point cut" of corned beef which has more fat which produces the flavor.
As matter of fact, I purchased 6 packages of corned beef which was on sale at one of grocery stores in Pittsfield. Two of them will be used when Linda hosts a party of girlfriends next week.

I was trying to find a date on our social calendar to invite some friends over for a Curley Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner, but we have no free days until after St. Patrick's Day. Oh Darn!

I just checked my raisins which have been soaking in Irish Whiskey. I think that need another drink. The raisins need another day or so of swimming in the whiskey before I use the raisins when I make some Irish Soda Breads.

The WolfTones Concert last night at Wahconah Country Club was great. This group has been playing together for 49 years which is highly unusual. They have been performing at the Country Club for 22 years.

Our normal Friday night at the Shamrock playing Keno and eating some type of seafood product has a little glitch. I have to attend a last minute called meeting that is very important at 5:30 PM. The meeting will take place at the Italian American Club, and I hope that it is a short one.

Rush Limbaugh made national news once again. His comments about birth control, and who should pay for it has hit the airwaves. The media is running with this newsmaker.
Like Rush says about himself : "I am on loan from God!"

We had another indicator how dangerous it is to be a policeman in this day and age. A routine traffic stop in New Orleans turned deadly. Two officers were shot, but they did manage to shoot and kill the passenger of the car which the police had stopped.

We have so many activities going on each day or weekend in the Berkshires that we can't attend all of them. The events that we would like to attend cost $25 per person per event. Sometimes we just have to say "No".
There is a Jimmy Fund Comedy Show the cost is $25 per person. There is a Civitan Soup Fest $25 per ticket. There is a Wine Tasting for a family foundation which costs $25 per ticket.
Linda I decided that the $10 per ticket Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner, including a live Irish Band at the Polish Falcon Hall on Saturday night, is in our price range.

Well, I have to do some quiet activities, replenish the bird feeders. I will give my sister a call and ask her how day one went with dad.

Have a great weekend!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad