GOOD BYE TO A NEIGHBORHOOD FRIEND

This week a very prominent tree in the neighborhood was taken down. It covered three lots and although it was a beautiful tree there was some risk. If part of the tree came down there was a possibility for damage. It spread across fences, two garages and three houses.  Many times this tree was inadvertently in my photo. It could also make a striking photo on it's own. Who could resist the yellow leaves with a bit of early morning sunlight.

     The process of taken the tree down was very technical. Many neighbors watched . This neighbor even took photos so her goes. The tree was over 100 ft high.

    The first day they used ropes and climbed to take off one side.

     The next day they brought in a very large crane.

GUNS

     Whenever there is a mass shooting I have to think about guns again.

     The solution seems very simple. However, many things get in the way of sanity.

     I know very little about gun politics and why it becomes so complicated.

    I know that I can't understand why after a mass shooting people make a lot of noise but little or no action is taken. It would seem that anybody in their right mind would not want to see many people shot at one time. Why don't people come up with a solution to prevent mass shootings? This is not a protection issue. We don't need something that fires many rounds rapidly in order to protect ourselves. Why aren't guns used to stop mass shooting?

    One thing that makes it easy to kill many people quickly is to have guns that fire many rounds quickly. Why are people allowed to walk around with guns that fire rapidly?

    The person walking around with a single shot gun isn't going to kill many people. He probably stands a good chance of being shot.

    The point I'm trying to make is that rapid fire guns are extremely dangerous compared to single shots. It would seem that this should be enough to control the type of gun on the street. Come to think of it, maybe it would be the best idea to not have guns on the street. 

    With all the people who are killed in mass shootings, wouldn't it seem reasonable to want to prevent these deaths? 

    Why not get rid of the guns?

93 AND COUNTING

    A few days ago we celebrated a 93rd birthday for the fellow in the chair. 

    He's always been special to us as we all came to the same school about the same time. We were in our 20's and he was early 40's. He took us under his wing in many ways. He knew that most of us were young, lost and struggling. He made us welcome in the school and community. He showed us a lot of ropes. He could teach and he insisted that everyone else do their best and he was always willing to show you. 

    I team taught with him in science. We set up a lab approach to teaching science. We spent a few late nights and weekends developing the program which others borrowed. We had our own definition of team teaching. We had a few other things that were unorthodox. We had our kettle on a Bunsen burner. We always had hot water for instant coffee unless the kettle boiled dry. 

   Seven of us usually gather for a celebration. We are all in our 70's and the birthday boy was 93.

   He lives in a nursing home and is battling with Parkinson's but still enjoys a good visit.

    He was a very good mentor to us but never wants to take credit for what he did,.

WHAT IS THIS TREE TRYING TO TELL ME?

     What's this tree trying to tell me? It's a linden tree right across the street from me. It's too early for fall . Or at least I think it's too early for fall.  But this tree is definitely starting to show fall colors. Other trees in that area are starting to show a change of color.

    So here goes. I might as well like fall colors.

RACISM

    Every once on a while I have to make a few comments on racism so that I'm thinking about the issue.

   President Trump made it easy to comment on the topic with his recent comments.

   My father was a racist. He was not a man full of hatred for others. He was just ignorant. He was a dummy when it came to racism. He used the n word. He fully used all the Jewish stereotypes. As a result he gave me a good education in racism. He thought white people were at the top on the totem pole. He was most surprised when he met some one who didn't fit this stereotype of what they should be. To him Chinese should run restaurants and do laundry. They should also talk funny and he imitated them. To repeat, my Dad was just ignorant of things. Because I grew up with him I had all of his prejudice. 

    All the people in our small rural district were the same. They strengthened each other's prejudice.

   So in 1957 I finished high school and set out into the big world. I think most people were the same at that time.

    I drifted into teaching aboriginal people with my prejudices firmly attached. We were given some information about different people in our one week orientation but most of the prejudice stayed with me.

    The big bomb shell hit when I went to someone's house and knocked on the door. I could hear them talking inside and they said it was a white man at the door. It struck me like a knife. I'll never forget that instant. I have gradually changed from then on. For two whole years I was called the white man (kabloona). I didn't mind that term. I became used to it.

    Now I'm very picky about what people say. I don't like to hear people joking about issues. 

   It has to go much further than chat. We have to be able to live and work  on a daily basis with other races. 

   Where I live there are many racists and white supremacists.  Much  work needs to be done by society to teach us what racism is and in that way just maybe racism will be come a bit less.

NEVER BORROW ANYTHING FROM YOUR OLDEST BUDDY

    Never borrow anything from your oldest buddy or you may find that it's so old you wouldn't know what it is. 

    This summer I've had to renovate some of my fence because the city has gone to a cart system to pick up garbage and I didn't have a place to put the carts. It required making four new post holes. I didn't want to rent a post hole digger so I started to think about who might have a post hole digger. Yes our city is small enough that some of us know each other well enough to borrow things. 

   I thought for a while and then it hit me. Mike might have a post hole augur. He has a farm although he never farmed it. So I phoned Mike and yes he had a post hole auger and I was welcome to borrow it.

    So I went over to get the auger and it wasn't what I thought I might be borrowing. I have seen these devices but never used one. I was expecting something that you turn and it bites in the ground and fills up the center . When the center is full you empty it. This process is repeated until you're finished digging the hole. What I saw was something with a lever on the side. The lever operated a cup which was used to get the dirt out of the hole. There was a special shovel to do the digging. So Mike's about ten years older than I am. I should have known that most things he has are from his Dad. Mike's Dad worked on railroad maintenance and also had a farm. Anytime something wasn't needed for maintaining the rail bed it was disposed of. Mike's Dad picked up much of this stuff. So I couldn't very well say I don't want this. 

    I took it home and learned how to use it. So now I have my fence changed and have learned how to dig holes with an antique post hole digger.

I WON! I WON! I WON!

    Okay here's the story. One our local Casinos has Wednesday as seniors day. One thing they have is lunch on a two for one. Both people have to have the same dish. It's always Chinese , but you get a big plateful of Chicken chop suey or whatever  else. It changes every week. So we go every Wednesday and for 12 bucks have lunch.

     There's also a draw each day for seniors. I rarely filled out a ticket. I had no idea what the draw was about. I thought it was some kind of gimmick. The Micro Manager would sometimes enter. This Wednesday she asked me to enter but I said no I wouldn't bother. However, she entered my name. 

    The next day the Casino called and asked for me. I wasn't home so the Micro manager asked if she could take the call . Well, yes. She said , "Red won the senior's draw yesterday." The skeptical micro manager thought it was a joke. Well they got the Micro manager cooled down and she found out that I won the Wednesday draw for 500 bucks!!! How  about that folks! I won $500.00!

   Now I started to think if I'd won much before. I know I've won some things but the only thing I can remember is a 2 oz bottle of whiskey! The other things I won were probably small too.

    So it was a fun day.