A Simple but Busy Life!

As I have said  before, Pop leads a very simple life but that doesn't mean he isn't busy! Breakfast is a leisurely meal lasting about two hours. Pop has oatmeal, cantalope and coffee every morning. Which sounds simple enough but the process is very complicated. Coffee is 1/4 cup coffee, seven teaspoons of sugar, evaporated milk, half and half and skim milk. (and he always wonders why his coffee is cold. You can hear him say under his breath, "Darn!" when he takes his first sip) The oatmeal has strawberries and banana evaporated milk, half and half and skim milk. Strawberries and bananas have to be cut up first before the oatmeal is cooked. It must be Quick Oats (one minute cooking time) verses Old Fashioned Oats (5 minutes cooking time) because it will save him four whole minutes in the morning. Half a cantalope, that must be cut the night before to make sure it is cold enough.

When he leaves the table two hours later, the sugar bowl is empty because he is too busy to fill it, the cantalope rine is in the sink, too busy to throw it in the garbage, the morning paper is still spread on the table and the coffee is still cold...

More Spoonerisms

I was explaining to my students one day, about Pop's ability to speak in spoonerisms and gave a few examples. One worried student asked, "Can he talk right if he wants to?"

nicken choodle soup             chicolate chop cookies                pollilops                          peanut belly and jutter

chicken noodle soup             chocolate chip cookies                lollipops                          peanut butter and jelly

The Test

This post provides definitive proof that elder folk turn into four year olds. My nephew graduated from Villanova this year with his MBA (Congrats Nick!) We celebrated by going to a restaurant. My niece, who is four and my mother sat next to each other counting the sugar packets and rearranging the flatware. I asked my niece about school and what was her favorite subject. She said, "Give me a test, Aunt Kathy." "OK," I said, "The topic is animals." Mom and Alice were immediately attentive and delighted at this challenge.

First question: What kind of animal has a horn coming out of its forehead?

Alice: A unicorn                                Mom: A rhino

Second question: What kind of animal hibernates and eats honey?

Alice: Winnie the Pooh                      Mom: a bear

Third and final question: What kind of animal has stripes?

Alice: a zebra                                     Mom: Tony the Tiger?

It's a bird, it's a crane...it's an ostridge

Mom sometimes has difficulty finding the correct word she wants to say. A few weeks ago, it was pouring rain and I said, "Look, that big blue heron is out on the pond looking for fish." "Yeah," Mom observed, "the crane and ostridge were out there too." This week the blue heron was dubbed the pink flamingo.

Rock Tumbling

Pop has always been an amateur geologist. As a boy, his favorite past time was collecting rocks and garnets. Each treasure he brought home, he carefully chipped away excess rock and began polishing them by hand. As an adult, he bought himself a rock tumbler. Long days and endless nights were filled with the racket of rocks tumbling loudly in metal cylinders. Not that Pop ever complained because he couldn't hear them. Soon they were polished into shiny gems. Mom's jewelry box sparkled with earrings and necklaces that Pop lovingly crafted for her. My husband couldn't resist this advice for my mom, "Wear it or make it a doorstop but just don't swim in it."