The Days and Nights of Catherine Evermore

Clowns and Flying Monkeys

I once dated a fire fighter who had a side job as a clown. Little did he know that clowns frightened me. If he had then he probably would not have given me a rather large picture of a clown that was framed. I had to hang it on the living room wall so as not to offend him.

You have no idea how much that picture creeped me out, but it stayed on the wall until our dating friendship came to an end. After that, the picture was donated to Goodwill.

As for flying monkeys, if you have watched “The Wizard of Oz” then you know what I’m talking about.

I was a child with two younger sisters when Mom and Dad loaded us up in the family station wagon and off we went to the drive-in theater to see the movie. Back then, we would go in our PJ’s. Sometimes we took our own snacks, while other times we were sedated with popcorn and a sugary drink from the snack bar at the drive-in.

Needless to say, one or two of us would fall asleep before a movie was half over, but I managed to stay awake until the end of this particular movie.

Once we were back home and in our own beds, I stayed awake for the entire night thinking about those flying monkeys. I was convinced they were real and they would somehow find their way to our house.

Well, they weren’t real and they didn’t find our house.

To this very day, clowns and flying monkeys creep me out. I have yet to watch “The Wizard of Oz” (again) or date a guy who has a part-time job as a clown.

Happy June!

Send In The Clowns
by Judy Collins

A Tribute to Rusty’s Rhubarb Pie

We find inspiration to write down a thing or two from the most unlikely places. In this case, my inspiration came from my friend’s blog about Rhubarb pie. I better give credit to Rusty’s wife, Snookums, who actually baked the pie that Rusty was able to enjoy with great pleasure.

My little story beings like this …

There was a very small diner (back in the day) that made the most delicious pies. Rhubarb pie being one of them, and it was Mom’s favorite. Mine was Apple. Dad liked the Black Bottom pie.

On a rare occasion, we all enjoyed a Pecan pie. That’s “PEE-can” for those of you from the South, which my parents were not, so they said “Pa-kawn.” Think Yankee and that’s how they pronounced it. I could go either way.

Inside the diner were maybe 10 stools at a counter … could have been 12 … and a small refrigerated bakery case for pies and most likely other sweet treats.

The diner had a drive-up window where customers in cars would line up around the small building waiting to pick up their pies.

If you returned your pie tin (from a previous purchase) then you got a discount on your next pie.

Our family had grown to six, so the pies never lasted that long. We enjoyed them with Reddi-wip or vanilla ice cream on top.

Sometimes (usually Dad) someone (Dad) would stand at the kitchen sink taking a few bites out of his favorite pie while he looked out the kitchen window. He was a man of few words during those pie sneaking times.

You know what? I miss that small diner with its 10 or 12 stools lined up at the counter. It was such a fun place to go to for pie and coffee if you were lucky enough to get inside.

Those were the days …

… yes indeed.

Weary

Today is Friday, May 27, 2022.

As the old saying goes: “My get up and go has got up and went,” or something like that.

I’ve been busy closing out accounts with social media sites (there weren’t many) with one exception.

I posted something earlier today that had to do with my father, and someone on Twitter just had to correct me.

What did I do?

I deleted everything and blocked him simply because I just didn’t want to get into a BS discussion with a stranger about something that involved Dad.

Period.

Dad was a patriot and he fought for our country not once but twice. Mom stayed at home with the kiddos while Dad served our country. We had a good life, and our parents instilled in us a love for our country – the United States of America.

The American flag was flown each day in front of our house. Even as Dad approached his later years, the flag was always there to remind anyone passing by that America was part of the family home.

As Memorial Day weekend approaches, this comes to mind:

Well done, good and faithful servant …

Father (Deceased) – Navy Pilot – WWII and Korea
Uncle (Deceased) – Navy Pilot – WWII
Uncle (Deceased) – Army Officer – WWII
Brother (Deceased) – Army Enlisted – Vietnam
Fiancé (Deceased) – Army Enlisted – Vietnam

Peace … ~CE