Chronicles of Nana

No one let the fishing gods know that winter has long gone and summertime is pushing the envelope!! burrrrr…..!! We traveled to the Lake on Memorial Day and tried our hand at fishing in inclimate weather. It rained, snowed and dipped below 30…my tush never got warm….

COUNTING THE DOLLARS SPENT…

The trip up the mountain was rather uneventful except when we realized the gas gauge was ever closely edging to empty! But what the hay…we were off to enjoy ourselves and catch some trout. Believe me, we were not alone!! The Lake was surrounded by trailors, RVs, campers and tents. The cabins were all booked up and it seems everyone was determined to have a grand time…even if hell froze over… and it did!!

We rented a “rustic” cabin close to the Lake. It was a shade above the lean tool shacks we used to rent many moons ago. The lodge was still sitting about the Lakeside…a place greatly remember by my daughters as they would roller skate about the big lodge ballroom when they were much younger. This time, it was they who inquired about the skates and the office desk person said…”Oh, is that why there is a closet full of skates over there!” Go figure…the traditions has disappeared!

THE ONLY WAY TO FISH…

My daughter rented a pontoon boat that seats 9…however, in between snow flurries it was determined that Nana could not stand the test of roughin’ it and was confined to the cabin dog sitting the pets. I was disappointed..I remember sitting freezing in the old green row boats half way across the Lake as a storm came in and landed a full fledged thunderstorm overhead. Plastic garage bags made great rain coats…and I would be mumbling unheard of sentences that I normally do not utter under normal circumstances….let’s just say if you crossed my fishing line I was not very kind!

So, Grandad, his two daughters and grandaughter braved the elements and eventually brought back 3 good sized fish. They also came home dead tired, chapped faced and cloud burnt!!

THE ART OF FISHING…

Now, we have not been fishing in decades..there is a fine art to enjoying the whole experience. It comes back to you in time. It’s good to know there is still fish in that old Lake. There are also alot of jack rabbits hopping about and deer who like to come out at night and test ones ability to stay on the road. We have to learn to second guess the acommodations that exists there. Apparently “rustic” means no dishes, pans and utensils….

We wondered down the mountain and headed to the Wallyworld for the needed necessities…so, judging by what we spent, the gas and rentals those 3 fish must have been golden trout indeed!

We now have the start to a grub box once again. I have been promised a returned visit during the summer because I did not get on the Lake at all this time around.

Man, I am living with a bunch of guard dogs and fun police..they have forgotten the old times when Nana could out fish and swear with the best of them. Next time is my turn……

Watch out Walter, I am aiming to get ya!!

The season’s almost finale of American Idol happened last night. Were you among the millions glued to the TV set? I am not into “Idol” worship but last night’s episode was electric and probably totally overdone. Having said that.. I bought into it completely….

UNFAIR COMPARISON….

Previously I have stated to pit David Cook against David Archuleta is like morphing apples and turnip greens! Both entertainers ( and they are that) have their own unique sounds and talents. Fox news called the event the “rocker versas the choir boy!”

As an old Nana it is probably grossly apparent which contestant I have been rooting for and silently hoping will run away with the top prize. But, don’t get me wrong I am of the rock and roll generation and can groove to the noise with the best of them. After all, I did accompany my teenage daughter’s to the Fleetwood Mac concert long ago and sat high in the nose bleed section and smelled the happy gas!!!

REALLY COOKIN’….

David Cook has earned his place with all the rockers who come and go. He is cool with a unique sound. He is current and has the grunge look of today. For his catagory of talent he places right up there with the best. Put a few years behind him and good representation he ought to have the staying power to last awhile. He is a winner and his future is as bright as he wants it to shine.

TEEN DREAM…

David Archuleta is a teeny boppers dream. He is also an ole Nana’s idea of awesome talent mixed with innocent wide eyed trust for a fabulous future…he projects hope! He has been given a beautiful gift….and he has been raised and trained to share it with the world. I have felt his age might be a detrament to his performances especially compared to the others he was competing with. Of all the contestants I feel he has shone and has gained the greatest stage presences and has transended age or at least turned his youth into a positive.

THE FUTURE…

Once the excitement and fame deminishes somewhat what will really matter is the trusted management team who will surely surround him. I do not blame his parents for their forthright concerns and over protectiveness…after all the grandma in me wishes that he get his last year of high school and that perfect prom date. I am not too sure the powers that be will give him that treasured opportunity. Fame and fortune demands a heavy price and sacrifice…..

EXPLOITATION AND THE BOTTOM LINE….

I would say the the promoters and producers of American Idol tend to go over the top with hype and publicity. Had I watched from season to season perhaps I would be better equipped to give an honest, exacting opinion. However, these two Davids have become a comodity…a product to exploit and parade about in the guise of the bottom line….money.

I can only hope they get their fair share of it  and that they can hold unto their intrigity and honor in the process…let your faith keep you both grounded…

Good luck!!

Today Grandad and I took an old friend in for a badly needed makeover…my ‘91 Honda finally came home to stay after many, many years away. She held together through thick and thin. Once she claimed the crowded highways of California as her domain but  the last several years she has been basking in the hot, hot desert sun….

GETTING OLD SUCKS….

Poor thing, her cobalt blue exterior although not rusted out has accumulated alot of oxcidation and crusty barnacles!! Lacking a hubcap and one door strip and a driver’s side door handle that is hanging by a thread…she needs an old Nana’s loving care.If she were to callapse right now, I would not blame her. She has racked up 191,000 miles plus….just like me….

TWILIGHT TIME….

It is appropriate that we met once again. One gimpy ole Nana and the never say die ‘91. It is fate that we share our twilight years together in quiet “get around town” peace.

If only a loyal car could talk….it would say “I have served my purpose well…pushed around a younger Nana for a few years, took one daughter to college, started off her other daughter in her marriage, took a grandaughter to work for few few years and got a grandson to high school when in a pinch!”

So, here we are together again…dear ole friend! Two old has-beens, lumpy and dented and we sure have seen better days! But, as dear friends do..they keep going like the energizer bunny and now my old mechanical wonder is at Maaco for cosmetic surgery!

Soon….it will be the ole Nana and the sparkling new vintage wheels..

Oh…how I wish it was sooo easy for a “me” makeover..

Life is just not fair!!

The thing about politics is that it creeps into every aspect of daily life and raises its ugly head into our own homes upon occasion…

ENTERTAINMENT POLITICS…

This week’s American Idol is a classic example of politics  and manipulation run amouk….Now, I realize the rating game rules but using the primise that the audience chooses the winning contestants is a bit of a stretch. I mean, where is there an honest system that can count an accurate vote? Give me a break..look at the debacle of the last American elections.

That being said..if one has a fan base the quivalent of a presidential candidate there would not be much of a contest. At least with American Idol you know that there is some measure of talent involved and that  the winners know they have something to do with the results whether it be good looks, personality or vocals. Perhaps we should required our elected officials to start singing for their money!…

WHO CALLS THE SHOTS?…

But, sincerely folks.. just how up and up is American Idol anyway. Each program is staged to elicit a response from the viewing public. We are being calculatingly manipulated with every song choice and privot mark on the stage. Entertainment professionals and corporate sponsorships always look to the bottom line…..money.

I am fairly sure AI producers and comrads get their pound of flesh out of the winning contestants for months, perhaps years after they have been crowned top dog. A signed contract goes a long way to pay for the privilege.

SHOW ME THE TALENT…

However, it still bothers me that the powers that be (producers/judges) have so much say in the performance aspects of the contestants. As the tension mounts from week to week, careful leaks of information  have come forth concerning song choices, stage parents , and personal perferences and opinions  that are bound to influence the end results..

So, this coming week has David verses David….perhaps meant to be or not…surprise!!! Two different personalities, two different beings in range of talent and choices of style, vocals and frankly, age. 

 This morning Fox News called the showdown between the two Davids as the rocker verses the choir boy…duh! Honestly I admire them both…there is no comparison..

In my book they are both winners…I wish them success and a future filled with excitement and satisfaction….

Hype can be tripe!!

Mother’s Day was bittersweet for me.  I am left to face the reality of change, loss and broken dreams. There are three Moms in our household this year…the older, been-there done-that Mom, the single parent with a graduating senior and a widowed thirty something with a five year old…..

MEMORIES…

It wasn’t meant to be a meloncoly day but all three of us had moments of retrospect. If one examined each of us…there would have been times that each of us tried to recover the past….waltzing in dreams that have vanished and disappeared.

For me, the older but wiser one…ha!! I found myself acknowledging that my dreams and self absortion ended when I turned seventeen and I found myself married and expecting a baby. What a way to start a new life….babies having babies! But “them are the facts.” This fact is nothing new in society and truthfully I’d guess there were bets that my marriage was heading for the dumpster. True enough, the journey has been riddled with stick and stones and brick walls that seemed insurmountable. My husband and first child changed my direction on a course that would define who I am….

CHILDREN…..

Like most women in love with their husbands, I had more than my share of children…stairsteps born in the sixties (4) and the cabooze who became the miracle child and the answer to her sister’s prayers in 1971. Through the years of the flower children,  university sit-ins and leisure suits, I was left battling the raising of 5 raucous kids while trying to get my husband through Cal Berkeley..yes. he was a duck out of water! My husband likes to say he majored in riots and sit-ins!! Graduation from Cal was a monumental day for each of us…I had dreamed that one day I would get back to college but life got in the way….my family became my mission and my mindset became faceted on home..

AS THE WORLD TURNS….

Our eldest daughter did all the right things….married her brother’s best friend, put him through college and seven years later found herself a divorced soon-to-be mom. As a single parent her life change required guts and determination. She returned home to us and  she “sucked it up” and went back to college with her younger sister. They graduated from junior college together. She went on to graduate from a four year university and also acquired her Masters. For the past eighteen years she has raised her son. He is about to graduated from high school and go to college. I am certain her Mother’s Day this year was bitter and sweet….

THE UNEXPECTED….

Our youngest daughter is a recent widow…married only 12 years and left with a five year old daughter to raise. Her life changed dramatically one awful, rainy January night. She has come back home to us as she must sort through all the stuff life offers a grieving widow. Even though it has been 4 months and much has had to be decided…I see that far off look in her eyes that crushes my heart. Having the companionship of her little girl has made Mother’s Day much more meaningful, yet bitter…

And so I look upon three very strong women… living the circumstances of life. Taking each day with quiet strength and steely determination and grit. I see their mind set upon their children, ever concerning, ever sacrificing and ever hopeful to mend relationships and bring the whole family together. Bonding lives with the spiritual gifts they possess and the guts it takes to endure to the end…

A MINDLESS COMPARISON…

Before I was married I purchased my first “real” car. My last “real” car is my 1991 Honda that has found it’s way back to me after years with my children and grandchildren. For Mother’s Day this year I received a gift certificate to get it a makeover… new paints, repaired door handle and detailing. I look upon this car with love and respect…it has been of service to most of my family on many, many occasions…it took my daughter to college, it started another daughter off who was newly married, it carried my grandaughter to work after college…. and now this old friend is back with me.

I would hope that I might be remembered like my old Honda….never needing great repair, always dependable, serving others and like an old friend, always coming home . Sort of like children always coming home to rest upon the heart of Mom…

Wherever you are…. Mom, you are loved!!

May day and there has been snow flurries on and off all day!! I sat in the dentist chair watching the snow flakes fall UP…which was a novel way to see it snow. Normal these days seem to be the unusual….

LIFE MARCHES ON….

Here we are preparing for the long, hot summer with 34 degrees outside. Usually we are setting out the tomato plants, filling up the flower pots, turning on the sprinklers and giving the lawn mower the ouerhaul… This year we have made plans to have a patio cover installed and a swing set delivered for the backyard.

DOG BITES MUTT…

My companion pet Mandy got too frisky this week and got herself pulled through the fence by the mutt eating german shepards next door. After all the screaming and as the comotion ebbed we determined to install a chicken wire barrier along the back fenceas soon as possible. Mandy is a ten pound ball of fluff with no sense in her head. She takes herself over to the fence and gladly invites the dogs to come after her. After an expensive trip to the vet she will recover with a puncture wound on her side and a split laceration on her right foot. It needed stitches!  No, she is not worth much but means the world to me….I am not good at saying goodbye to pets either….

SOMETHING NEW…

We have seem the purchase of two new cars this month. In the driveway are two mini coopers, one Mickey Mouse red and black and the other vibrant blue and black. My grandson was so excited he could hardly contain himself. Grandad and I have a bet when the first traffic ticket arrives..

PLAYING IN THE SUN….

We are planning the graduation trip to Hawaii…sun, papayas, mopeds and dolphins… our five year old grandaughter has been hooked up with a visit to play with the dolphins while we are there. Frankly I am looking forward to the cool breezes, mahi-mahi and sweet flowers. We are very grateful we can do this this year after such a tragic beginning. It will be nice to see something new through the eyes of the young…

WHAT WILL TOMORROW BRING?

Judging by the state of the world , I am not sure if we will have these kinds of opportunities in the future. I, like most everyone, am very concerned about the economy that impacts every avenue of our lives. It seems what little we can squirrel away gets spent and used up on just the necessities of living.

However, life marches on..the trees are turning all shades of green and flowers are beginning to bud. The grey clouds part and the sun gleams against the granite mountains.

Hope is in the air….