December is here in full swing.  Mostly I've been hiding in my rooms.  My rooms are: a bedroom too small to accommodate it's queen sized bed,  a   den too small to be called a bedroom,  and a barn corner with a small wood stove.  All together they could be considered a spartan man cave. I watch a lot of Hallmark movies  Read books a chapter at a time.  Take my pills and my insulin.  Watch my wife come and go through her busy schedule.  She's fun to look at.  December has gotten so busy that I find myself overwhelmed.  An old Tin Pan Alley song sums it up for me: "May all your days be merry-  Your seasons full of cheer-  but "till it's January-  I'll just go and disappear-  Santa may have brought you some stars for your shoes- But Santa only brought me the Blues....Those brightly packaged, tinsel covered,  Christmas------Blues!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Lucky 13

Hey friends.  Merry Christmas.  Time for more Delaware musings.  We moved into our "downsize"
house in Delaware about a year and a half ago.  It suits us fine.
Back when we lived in Maryland I used to do a lot of shopping along the Delaware Rt. 13 "retail corridor".  Our old place was only 22 miles from our new place.  Our new place is crazy near that "retail corridor"  So now when I shop in Seaford,  I'm hanging out where I used to,  for the last 27 years. All this is on the Delmarva Peninsula.  Rt. 13 is a north/south road that kind of bisects the peninsula.  From our house we can hear trucks on Rt.13.  A distant roar.  We can hear train whistles
too.  I like those.  Our neighborhood is farms and forest and suburbia.  Rt. 13 is in most places a median divided highway.  In most places 55mph.  There are no ramps.  Just stop lights and stop signs.
And tiny towns like Greenwood,  and bigger towns like Dover and Salisbury.  Rt. 13 goes thru 3
states:  Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.  Rt. 13 is full of:  hidden entrances,  vegetable stands,
strip malls, Royal Farms gas stations, farm fields, forests, traffic lights, main streets in small towns.
Rt. 13 is one big automobile accident.  Exactly one year ago on our wedding anniversary we were coming home from a wonderful dinner at the best restaurant in Seaford.  We were sitting at a red light of course on Rt. 13.  We got smashed fairly hard in the rear end.  We were the last car hit in a five car
accident.  Welcome to Delaware and Rt. 13.  Happy Anniversary.  Luckily we weren't hurt.  The other 4 cars, not so lucky.  Fortunately no one killed.

Now it's this year's anniversary.  Wife and I went to a place in Milford we like called "Irish Eyes".
A fun time.  So driving home it crossed our minds that this time last year we had a mishap.
I was telling wife that I thought the Subaru was whining or groaning especially at highway speeds.
She took the car in to the shop the following day. They found the noise:  wheel bearings going bad on rear wheels.  While they were at it: oil change, oil pan leak, front brakes.  So:  Eastern Shore Lloyd:
"you just tore up 1700 bucks".  Happy Anniversary!

The day before our anniversary I went out  to Rt. 13 to get wife an anniversary card.  I went to seven! different places on the Rt. 13 retail corridor.   The very first place I stopped was an antique store called "Antique Alley".  I got her a nice old butterfly pin.  I saw some tumblers with cartoon characters on them and I fell in love with them.  I will give them as Christmas gifts.  After our anniversary I was showing my December bride the glasses and she asked if she could have the
"Tweety bird" glass.  I went through the seven glasses I had bought and found the "Sylvester" glass.
I put the two glasses on the kitchen counter where she was making lemon tarts and said:  "This is a set.  I got them out on Rt, 13.  Happy Anniversary and Merry Christmas"!

OK.  This post is way too long and I've forgotten how to write.  I gotta go out to Lowes now.
Guess where that is.

LLITTY       :::::+:::::
 

Stream of Consciousness

Hello Readers.  I love you.  Here it is November 12th in Delaware.  The high yesterday was 73.  It is snowing as I write!  Plan for today:  Write here.  Watch the snow turn to rain.  Watch the rain. Watch   Hallmark Christmas movies.  Stare into the abyss.

Here's a little Delaware story.   When we moved the 20 miles from our Maryland farm,  I moved three hobby cars with me.   One was a 1970 VW Beetle.  I have a post or two about the car years ago in this blog.  Last Spring I took the Beetle to Georgetown,  De, with it's Maryland tags, to the MVA for inspection.  It failed in a hundred ways.  But it was running great and had brand new tires and every single light worked and wipers and everything else.  So I drove the car away from the test bays and over to the admin building.  I talked to the folks there ( after a wait of course) about antique or historic tags.  But,  long story,  no joy.  So I wander out to the parking lot a very sad bug owner. While I was getting ready to leave,   a passerby  said to me  "nice beetle".  Then I heard myself say    
" Yeah,  you want to buy it,  it just flunked inspection!"  The guy says simply and quietly, "yes".
"How much you want for it?".  I hear myself say:  "I just put a grand into it.  It's worth $4 K  even without the inspection.  I'll take $2K- or offer!"  He says I love it I want it but there is one thing
I have to check.  Let me pull out the back seat and see the battery compartment.  If there is rust there it is usually bad.  I said OK as long as you yank the seat and reinstall it.  So he does,  and it is fine.
We shake on the $2K .   A few hours later he shows up at our house with the cash.  After title etc.    
he says "this is kind of a coincidence deal".  I said "because I sold you a car in the MVA parking lot
on the spur of the moment?".  He said, "well yeah, this is a very cool house, and  my high school science teacher built this house and I have been in it several times years ago.
   

I'm Still Here...Sort of

My last post was 3 and a half years ago.   I went through a lot of changes as people almost always do.
As I type to you now my friends I am a quite different person.  I hope a better person.  I think most of us remain basically the same.  Just to reach the age of 69 and a half....  that in and of itself is a pretty
good chunk a pie.  Then add to that,  I was a suburban kid with parents that stayed together 50 years.
Now my wife and I are 31 years married. When I got cancer she saved my life.   I've never known not knowing when or where my next meal was to be.  Or where I might sleep.  When I was a kid,  we were not rich,  but my dad worked every day.  Middle class.  Nobody in my family hardly suffered,  nor my brothers and sister.  Christmas trees.  Clothes for Christmas for school.  I always had shoes.  Not the ones I wanted.  I was not spoiled.  I happened to live in a land where it is possible to be spoiled.  My whole life and having a great life is because I was simply lucky.  My DNA and timing in space/time simply gave me an easy life.  You would think I should be thanking and celebrating every day.  More and more I try to do just that.   It is a pleasure and a privilege to be posting this post.  My dear friends and readers I wish you a wonderful Solstice,  Advent,  Xmas Eve,  Xmas Day,  New Years Eve,  New years Day,   the Twelve Days,  Twelfth night,  I'm hoping to post a little more often.  So I'll talk to you soon.  Thank you.

      "Silver-white Winters that melt into Springs"

LLITTY              ::::::+::::::