Did I mention the huge banana spider that had been hanging out over my patch of sweet potatoes? She was huge and quite beautiful, with a super-strong web that had captured quite a few unsuspecting guests. When I was in the garden working, I would tug at a bit of her web because I wanted to watch her re-make it. She never gave me the privilege because she just disappeared one day. Birds? Raccoons? As a very tiny, little girl, my family lived in Bryan-College Station while my dad worked for The City of Bryan and went to A&M. We lived in a small trailer park (I can remember tall pine trees everywhere), in a house trailer with huge windows that ran across the front of the kitchen. There was a ginormous spider that lived on that front window. My sister and I would get up on a cabinet next to it and were quite content to watch the spider for hours. My mother would go outside and mess up the web just a little, so we could watch her re-make it. When we moved back to Waco, mom put the spider in a canning jar and moved her with us, carefully placing her back on the window after movers had situated our little home in its new location, (which was real close to the old Elite Café, now Magnolia Table, by Chip and Joanna.) My parents had exactly zero money back then, so I guess it was the absolute cheapest form of entertainment. Pet spider. Nowadays, if a child needs entertaining, parents put iPhones in their hands.
Turning 65 is like turning 18 in Celsius. I am so old now, to find out my age you must cut me in half and count the rings. I am not 65, I am 18 with 47 years of experience. At 65, you can go to antique shops and visit your old furniture. Enjoy your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s because in your 60’s, your check engine light will start flashing. The first 64 years were rough, but I will never have to do them again.
If you have not filled out your 2020 Census, you can do so online at 2020Census.gov. Every response is crucial. So, step up and tell your friends and family about the impact that census responses will have on local funding over the next 10 years. Remind everyone that census data determines congressional representation and informs funding for health care, child care programs, libraries, public transportation, schools, job assistance, and other critical public services. We need all the help we can get right now.
They say that age is all in your mind. The trick is keeping it from creeping down into your body. Colonel Sanders started KFC when he was 65. Sir Ralph Fiennes climbed Mount Everest when he was 65. Laura Ingalls Wilder started publishing at 64. Nelson Mandela was elected at age 77. Grandma Moses started painting at 78. It is kind of funny (not really funny, funny) how being old doesn’t seem so old now that I’m old, but I bet it’s easier to win anything in my age group. Awesome.
Several studies are showing that an experimental blood test is highly accurate at distinguishing people with Alzheimer’s disease from those without. It is not quite ready yet but is showing 89% to 98% accuracy. More than 5 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer’s. Current drugs ease symptoms temporarily but do not slow mental decline. The disease is usually diagnosed through memory tests and thinking skills but is imprecise and requires a neurologist. Spinal fluid and brain scans are invasive and expensive. A simple blood test at the family doctor would be such a blessing for this common form of dementia.
There are some things in this world more important than money – things like home and people’s feelings and where they grew up, and things like. ‘Do unto others.’ Aunt Bee
Congratulations to Howard Goe, owner and founder of Goe Harley-Davidson in Angleton. Mr. Goe will be closing his business and retiring on August 29th, after 46 years in the motorcycle business. He was known for the annual Toy Drive for the Salvation Army. There will be a special event and ride to celebrate his retirement.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Rocker Christine McVie is 77. Fleetwood Mac. Actress Denise Nicholas is 76. Liz McIntyre on Room 222.Actor Wayne Knight is 63. Newman in Seinfeld. Magician, author, and lecturer James Randi is 90. Humorist Garrison Keillor is 76. Singer B.J. Thomas is 76…see below. Singer Lana Cantrell is 77. If You Go Away. The Music Played. Country singer Rodney Crowell is 68. He had five number one country singles on his 1988 album Diamonds & Dirt.Tennis great Roger Federer is 38. Actor Keith Carradine is 70.Wild Bill Hickock in ‘Deadwood’. Singer Kathy Lennon is 77. The Lennon Sisters.
Actor Dustin Hoffman is 82. Best Actor Oscars for Rain Man and Kramer vs. Kramer. Actress Connie Stevens is 82. Actress Nita Talbot is 90.Best Supporting Actress in Hogan’s Heroes. Actor artist Nehemiah Persoff is 101. Known for his roles in The Comancheros, Some Like It Hot, An American Tail, The Wrong Man, and in Twins. Rock musician Garth Hudson is 83. The Band. He has been called “the most brilliant organist in the rock world”. TV meteorologist Dylan Dreyer is 39 and TV host Hoda Kotb is 56. The Today Show Girls. Basketball Hall of Fame Bob Cousy is 92. Actor Anna Kendrick is 35. Pitch Perfect.
Trini Lopez died of coronavirus complications at 83. A singer and actor (he starred in the classic 1967 The Dirty Dozen) who rose to fame in the 1960’s. He was mentored by Frank Sinatra and had hits,If I Had a Hammer, Lemon Tree, &This Land Is Your Land. He opened for the Beatles. His break came when Buddy Holly saw him perform. After Holly’s death in 1959, Lopez was asked to perform with the Crickets, so he moved to LA. There is a Lopez documentary to be released in 2021. It’s tragic that he won’t be able to see it. His last song If By Now was to be performed as a fundraiser next week for coronavirus.
On Saturday, I broke out of my mold, grabbed a couple of face masks, gloves (& threw in a cape), cranked up the old Buick and headed to Houston Garden Center near the beltway, to enjoy plants and the steamy outdoors. It poured down rain on the way there, but it was dry when I arrived. I bet there were only 10 people milling around and some of those were employees. It was hot but it just felt so good to be outside in a safe situation, just looking at flowers and not working for a change. Then, feeling like I could handle a little more of this ‘deserved’ independence, I headed towards Buchanan’s Nursery in the Heights. They were allowing in just a small number of people, so I stood patiently in line for my turn. It took 20-30 minutes, but there were big X’s marked on the sidewalk every 7-8 feet for those that needed to be reminded of your place. They had erected big canopies for shade, and everyone was masked, polite, happy, and properly distanced. As I watched, each and every person walking out, had either a full box or cart, and a huge smile. If you haven’t ever been to Buchanan’s, it’s just a happy place. I didn’t buy any plants, just new gloves because plants would have died in the heat while I went grocery shopping, but there was a boatload of pleasure in just walking and looking. I didn’t stay long because I knew there were anxious people waiting in line, but it was just enough to fill my tank…for now. Then I headed to Central Market where they limit the number of people going in, to fill my other tank, because nothing makes me happier than flowers and food on the same day.
Hurry to Krispy Kreme for Educator Appreciation Week and get one free glazed doughnut plus a coffee if you flash your teaching or school administrator badge. Limited time only. The parent company of Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A Bank filed for bankruptcy. So did Lord & Taylor. Polar bears may become nearly extinct by the end of the century, as a result of shrinking sea ice in the Arctic, if global warming continues. Zac Efron is going to star in the remake of Three Men and a Baby. The 1980’s comedy starred Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg as three swinging NY bachelors who live together and take in a baby left on their doorstep by one of their old relationships. At first, they are overwhelmed, but then they fall in love with her. One Georgia school district that reopened last week, has already ordered 925 students (08-12) to quarantine. Face masks were recommended but not required to be worn by either students or staff.
Songs of 1970. Yikes. Could these songs really be fifty years old? 1.Fire and Rain by James Taylor. Yes, I remember my friend Terrie, and I were at the A&W Root Beer in Shreveport, Louisiana., but she believes we were actually at Cobb’s BBQ. She is probably right. Either way, Terrie had a brand new gold and white Gran Torino and we had taken it out for the very first time, with the knowledge that both of our mothers had told us not to dare leave Bossier City, so what did we do? We headed straight to the bridge over to Shreveport and locked her keys in that beautiful car. A sweet young man took a coat hanger and popped the lock for us. I miss those days when you could unlock a car with a wire coat hanger. Carole King said that her hit, “You’ve Got a Friend” was her answer to JT’s lyric, “I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend,” and, she played piano on Fire and Rain. 2. Your Song by Elton John. What a beautiful ballad. Have you seen Rocketman? We watched it last week and thought it was great.3. I Want You Back, ABC, The Love You Save, and I’ll Be There, by The Jackson 5. Wow. Four No. 1 hits in a year. Baby brother Michael, had a voice that was way ahead of his years.4. Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head by B.J. Thomas. The song was written for the movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Paul Newman and Robert Redford, scoringthe Oscar for Best Original Song.5. Let It Be by the Beatles. The ‘Mother Mary’ in the lyrics referred to Paul McCartney’s mother who died of cancer when he was 14. 6. Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel. I babysat for a couple that owned this album, so I listened to it every single time they went out…over and over, again. It won Song and Record of the Year at the Grammy’s in 1971, but the duo had split by that time.7.O-O-H Child by The Five Stairsteps, a Chicago soul family.They got their name from Momma Stairsteps (as she was called) when she noticed that her kids looked like stair steps when they stood next to each other according to age. Remember, things ARE gonna get ea-si-er. 8. Maybe I’m Amazed by Paul McCartney. He released it in 1970, but not as a single until seven years later, then it made the Top Ten. 9. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) by John Lennon. He wrote and recorded the song in one day with George Harrison on guitar.10. My Sweet Lord by George Harrison.His first single after the Beatles.11. Woodstock, by Joni Mitchell, made even more of a hit by Crosby, Stills Nash & Young.12. Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) by Melanie. She performed at Woodstock. 13. (They Long to Be) Close to You by The Carpenters. No. 1 for four weeks, then became the second-biggest selling song of 1970. The memories of this song had me at the skating rink on Friday and Saturday nights with friends, Jan and Roggie, working hard not to fall. I had my own skates, white leather that had to be polished every week to keep them spiffy looking. Oh, did we love The Carpenters! 14. Mama Told Me Not to Come by Three Dog Night. Randy Newman wrote the song that made fun of a square guy at a “Pot Party.” Three Dog Night’s version became their first No. 1 hit. OK, hope this is enough to trigger some sweet memories for you no matter your age. I may be 65, but at least I got to see all the cool bands and I saw many of them again with my two kids under the age of 23. That is way, way, better than seeing them the first time.
The Beatles sang, “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?” Paul McCartney. What in the heck were you thinking about?!? I have never defined myself by age and I’m not about to start now. I just kept age to myself, but as impossible as it sounds, there are now only 1,825 days until I reach the next huge milestone b-day that could actually define me. The past 12 months have not been pleasant, just anticipating what was going to happen on this birthday. Then COVID came into our lives and there was something else to worry about. It is weird. I was only one day older but now there is a label. I have run out of space to tell you what changed my negative attitude about this birthday but that means I still have stuff to tell you next week. Have a great day and stay safe. Wash your hands, wash & wear your mask, do not congregate, distance yourself preferably outside. We CAN do this. Lisa Baker – Making the world a better place since 1955. 😊
