If Birthday Wishes Were Fishes, My Stringer Would be Full!

 

by Pa Rock

Old Goat

My 76th has come and gone, and if you read yesterday's blog posting you know that means that my contract to sit around and bitch incessantly has likely been extended for another full year.  In practical terms that should mean that I have twelve more months to conclude the long writing mess that I have been slogging away at for over a year.   It is now west of  350 pages and north of 150,000 words - and is showing no signs of drawing itself toward a conclusion,  This blog, which has been around going on seventeen years, is in addition to the other never-ending writing mess!

Twelve more months of typing aimlessly in search of a plot, or a purpose.  Goody.  Sometime during that twelve-month extension, probably in May, I also want to make a trip to Salt Lake City to complete two family books that have been languishing in my computer files for way too long.  The extensions won't keep happening forever, so it's time to get stuff done!

The first person that I heard from yesterday was Mineko, a lovely Japanese woman who lived with our family during her senior year of high school.  Mineko is in her early sixties now and lives in Tokyo were she is becoming a political activist and working to save some of Tokyo's green spaces.  Her early morning email was most welcome and appreciated.

My first phone call of the day was from Imogene, a former work colleague who is also retired but much younger than me!  Imogene lives in southern Missouri about a hundred and fifty miles from where I am at.  We usually call each other on our birthdays, and I hardly ever forget hers because it is Christmas Day!  Imogene offered some sage advice yesterday when she said, "I refuse to mow my yard in March!"  "So do I," I agreed.  Solidarity forever!  (That's the kind of stuff that retired people talk about!)

Carla, an old friend from college in the 1960's called and we talked about kids, grandkids, politics, and Easter -  sometimes as individual topics, and sometimes as a stew of subjects.  We also have dogs in common.  (Those are other things that retired people talk about.)

Ranger Bob sent birthday greetings in a response to yesterday's blog, along with a dining suggestion which I followed to excess!  Bob's a happy guy who always makes me smile!

Granddaughter Olive telephoned and granddaughter Willow texted birthday greetings.  My son, Tim, in Kansas, who had already gotten me a comfortable pair of shoes for my birthday, called, and my son, Nick, here in West Plains, grilled a nice steak for my dinner last night and baked his speciality, a pineapple upside-down cake.  Delicioso!

My sister, Abigail, called, and her daughter, Heidi, one of my two favorite nieces, sent a nice email which caught me up on some of her family's adventures.  Cousin Joyce sent email greetings from her home in Arizona.  Joyce is another person who always makes me smile!

It was a fairly eventful day for an old goat who spends the better part of every day sitting in the front window typing and watching the buffalo!  I always enjoy hearing from friends and family!