Friday, December 15, 2017

Psst! Over here....

...I don't know if anybody will read this but here goes. My sister is in the middle of dealing with her husbands medical situation. He will not be coming home. She has retained a lawyer who is helping her wind her way through a complicated and difficult situation. My brother in law is in and out of reality but I'll give my sister credit, she is dealing with everything well after a very rocky start.


I have started several blogs since my last one but just never got around to finishing them. I could start 'em but I couldn't finish 'em.
But life goes on. On January 5, 2018 it will be one year that I stopped working completely. Now it's nice not working but it has been an adjustment for me. I hung around with my friend Dave on Wednesday. We ended up taking a ride to Lowell Ma. because he wanted to buy some chocolates to send to a friend of his in Australia. Lowell is about 25 miles from here and I'm sure you can buy chocolates around here but he was driving and I had nothing else to do. He likes to buy from this place because he used to live in Lowell in the 80's and 90's and still has quite a fondness for it. The candy store is a privately owned business and have been in this same location for sixty years. And yes I ended up buying some boxes of chocolates.
I wish I had brought my camera. It was a sunny but cold day. Dave knows his way around Lowell and this is a historic city and some of the old textile mills are still standing and the canals are still around. For most of the 1800's this was Americas industrial center. It's a good sized city with a population of about 109,000. We went to a favorite lunch spot of his and later we stopped at a "private club" for a beer. Now the only reason I could see that this was a "private club" and not a bar was you had to press a button, and then you got buzzed in. You can't smoke in any places of business in Massachusetts but apparently since you couldn't just open the door and walk in, it is a  "private club" not a bar, and there were people inside smoking. I have been to this "private club" in the past and it's a nice place. We had a couple of beers then continued on our way. We went by where he used to live with his wife and kids back when I used to visit in the 80's. And the grand finale  was going by the house Bette Davis was born in. These are pictures from the internet.

Something else I didn't know, well I did kind of know but I forgot I knew. (What the hell is he talking about?) Fannie Farmer lived up the street from me. The house was lost to fire in 1979.
  
Then there's the house where Amelia Earhart lived with her mother and sister. Her sister lived there until 1998 when she died at the age of 98.
   
 


One thing I have noticed is I am becoming less and less enamored with driving. The greater Boston area is a wonderful place to live. It has much to offer but driving around here is not one of the perks. For an area supposedly filled with so many smart people they weren't so smart when they laid out the streets and roads. We have many rotaries or roundabouts if you like and they can be a challenge. One in particular near where I grew up, features six roads leading up to the traffic circle. If there is a pedestrian that wants to cross from on side to the other, They press the walk button and everyone entering the circle stops and the pedestrian crosses.  Then all the traffic lights turn green and everybody enters the circle at once fighting for position so they can exit where they want. It's insanity. So as I age, though I am fortunately in good health, I sometimes think about moving north to New Hampshire. It's quite rural compared to Massachusetts, and certainly cheaper to live though I would miss being able to go into town which is only five miles away. 

Okay now I'm beginning to ramble. Maybe I'm all blogged out. I had jotted down several things more to write about but I think I'll save them for the next installment. I had other things like the state's plans to change the rotaries to roundabouts. Difference? There will be lane markers and you have to be in the proper lane for your proper exit. Yeah right! Then there will be times when the white lines will be covered with snow. It won't matter. As far as I'm concerned it will be the same free for all it has always been. It would be tough to police.

So it's time for me to get my act together and go and run a couple of errands. I plan to come back later and see what's going on in blog land. For now...
...I'm outta here,  

3 comments:

  1. Good to have you back. How naughty you are to forget to bring your camera on your ride to and around Lowell. Your own history photos are always charming and nice. I guess your ride to town at 5 miles is a much more difficult one than our 5 miles to town. Roundabouts are scary to me! Come back again - I've missed you - your humor and your wonderful photos.

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  2. Well howdy..I will try to comment on this Kindle. Nice to read about your adventures. Sorry about your brother in law hope she gets things settled some. Prayers to her and you. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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  3. Boston Boy, Keep posting...once you start you can always put"To be continued" at the end. I know what you are saying about driving. I never thought there'd be a day I would not want to drive places. Maybe it's age and then maybe it's all those self absorbed drivers that will not see me, cause I drive the speed limits. LOL. Talk about round abouts. My daughter just moved to the city of round abouts. The mayor of this city is overly fond of them...hell he wrecked himself driving in his city. Probably dizzy from all the round abouts. LOL .
    I had been wondering about your sister and her husband. So scary, how quickly our lives change. Praying for all of you.
    Some time you could make some posts of your family...I love all the Italian history you have. Blessings, take care. xoxo, Susie

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