Aroma from the past

"Early childhood memories can be evoked by many triggers, of which one of the most powerful is a particular smell."

I found that quote on a psychological website but when I went back to locate it to give credit I can't find it, despite looking at my browser's history. In any case, this posting is about such olfactory memory, but in this case it is in reverse. It wasn't a particular smell that evoked a memory, but rather memories that caused me to remember the smell, and thus to reproduce it. Confused? Then, dear reader, read on.

I was raking leaves, or rather blowing them and then mulching them in my mulcher, which reduces them to small particles which I can then put in my compost or spread out under bushes. So, I was doing this and began thinking about raking leaves as a young boy in our back yard which had somewhere near an estimated thirty trees. Forty five years ago there was no need to bag leaves to put out for recycling. Instead everyone burned their leaves. A fifty five gallon drum, or a galvanized garbage can was the customary container, with holes punched in the sides to allow air flow. Once the leaves were ignited, you would just keep adding more leaves as the fire reduced them to ashes. When the leaves were damp you could create great billows of smoke as the wet leaves temporarlily smothered the fire. On brisk fall days or evenings there was always the wonderful smell of burning leaves in the air. Those were the memories that came back to me as I did my leaves, and I longed for that smell.

So, what did I do? I got a terra cotta flowerpot out of the shed, filled it with leaves, and lit it. A leaf caught and went out with glowing embers remaining. I tried again. Still no luck. I got a small piece of paper, shoved it down along the inside of the pot and lit that. That caught and then the leaves. And the smoke; the wonderful smoke, and then fire. I added more leaves. This was the smell I remembered. After two or three pots full of leaves I doused it with water, ending my foray into my past via the olfactory path.

I know I will do it again next year.

Do Over

I wasn't sleeping good last night so my mind was producing some random thoughts which I thought I would share with the multitudes. (multitudes would be defined as a number smaller than five) In the spring I made some observations about "springing ahead" with the clock, so it is only appropriate I make a similar observation when "falling back".

When you are awake in the middle of last night and at two o'clock you turn your clock back, it becomes one o'clock. Then an hour later when it is two o'clock again, do you turn your clock back again? And then when it is two o'clock...... You can see where this is going, right?

And what happens when someone is born at 1:30? Which 1:30 is it? How is it differentiated? And on their birthday, how can they celebrate the exact time of birth if DST isn't changed on that day that year? This question would hold true for any official event.

So, next year I am going to stay awake so I can have that one hour to do things over again. Or I will write in this blog, saying it is 1:10, and then an hour later say it is 1:10 again.

Maybe with all this off my chest now I will be able to sleep better tonite.

A Blessed Event

In case anyone who knows us hasn't found out or seen a picture, here she is.

Keira Ann, born 10-28-08, 8 lbs., 20-1/4 inches.

Mother and daughter are doing fine as well as Grandma and Grandpa.

Irksome

No matter what Steve Jobs and Apple's sales deptartment think, funnest is NOT a word.

New ad.

A very sad day

For the second year in a row the Mets season came down to the last day and again they are not going to the post season. In the early season I hated when people would say a loss it just one loss and it is a long season. Without that thinking one could make the argument that the Mets lost the season in April in a tough loss rather than today. But no matter how you spin it, having the same thing happen two years in a row is tough to take. One more win and you get another day for a playoff, but to only score five runs in the final three games doesn't get it done. Don't blame the bullpen. The offense went to sleep. Another loss season. And once again we say, "Wait 'til next year".

But to add to the sadness of the day is that it was the final game at Shea Stadium. Forty five years of games. It was more than a two tissue day watching the ceremony and all the highlights and all the past players. Maybe it was the two glasses of wine I had, or the 162 games I suffered through this year, or all those years of highs and lows at the stadium, but it was very moving. So many memories of games I attended. Games with my father and brother Bob including Jim Bunning's perfect game, games with Pat, games with Pat and the kids, one opening day with Kevin, games with guys from work, and games with my brother Rick which included the greatest game of all, the sixth game of the '86 series. Such good times, such good memories. Somehow the closing ceremony cushioned the end of the year collapse a bit by deflecting some of the sadness to more of a happy memory sadness, if that makes sense.

So, as numbers 41 and 31 walked to centerfield and through the gates, then turned and closed the gates, it was very moving, and very final. The end of a year, the end of an era. Shea is gone, but the memories will remain.

A Screen Legend Passes On

Usually I wouldn't make note of a celebrity's death, but this one is special. Paul Newman died today. To see that on MSNBC's page this morning was a bit shocking. It was inevitable because he suffered from lung cancer, but because of his connection to Pat and myself I was taken aback. Connection? Yes. Pat has adored him and his blue eyes for the past fifty years, always saying that he could "put his shoes under her bed anytime". Over the years we have joked about him being the one man she would be allowed to be with. And she always wanted to invite him over for spaghetti and meatballs. So his passing makes it a sad day for us.

Almonds anyone?

You go through life thinking that you are good at spelling and fairly adept at recognizing how to spell things based on hearing the word, and then you find out that for years you have been mistaken. But it is comforting when you realize that most people have made or are making the same mistake you are. What am I talking about you may ask? What do you call the vegetable dish with green beans and almonds? Now you are thinking that this is probably a trick question and are trying to think outside the box to get the answer. Green beans almondine? Or maybe the alternate spelling of green beans almandine? Did you think it was either of those? Well if you did you would be wrong just as I was wrong, and just about every recipe you can find was wrong. So now I have you wondering, right? If you go to dictionary.com you will see that almondine will refer you to almandine which is "a mineral, red iron aluminum garnet". The correct spelling for the recipe would be green beans amandine. Who knew?

Baseball quiz

When is the following true? Tie game - bottom of the ninth - leadoff man triples - team doesn't score - ends up losing in the tenth.

Answer: When the team is the Mets.

I can't take much more of this and am glad the season will be over soon, one way or another.

An Uneasy Evening Remembered

I recall this night very well. Sitting on the couch with Pat the day before her birthday waiting to see which way my life would go. But I recall the show being live, perhaps on a different channel. By live I mean from start to finish without a reporter commenting as with this video. In the very beginning of this clip, as he is talking, if you listen very carefully you can hear April 17th being called out as number 260. As they drew the numbers and April 17th didn't come up I would get a little more relaxed, especially when it got to above 150 or so. But listening to all the numbers drawn before that was a nerve wracking experience. Not an easy evening to endure. Knowing that your fate was in the hands of someone picking a blue capsule out of that bin. And when I say I never won any lottery I will have to keep this in mind, because I did win that night. I think they only got as high as 195 in the actual call ups in that year. So I had a cushion of 65.

A little further explanation of the lottery can be found here: "lottery info"

Two Months In

Two months down, and many, many, many more to go. Pat's retirement is now two months old, but it is really only beginning this month. The first two months, being July and August, were similar to previous years when she had been home for the summer. Only with the start of the new school year is retirement real. We have thus far survived being home together, but who knows what the future holds. I have considered writing a separate blog about this new chapter in our lives, but think it would have one entry after the other with the words "Please see previous day's entry". But if anything extraordinary or unusual does happen you will be able to find it here.

Too painful to endure

Please refer to the previous post as I say "See, I told you so."

Groundhogless posting

When the Mets were 2-1/2 games out of first I thought they were doomed and the deficit was insurmountable. Now that they are ahead by that number of games I think it is such a meager lead and there is no way they are staying in first place. Go figure.

Victory! Hopefully.

I made the last entry at 2:18. Just an hour later and things have surely changed. After making the posting I was sitting in the den reading and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something run across the backyard. At first I thought it was a cat that has been running loose around here. I got up, went into the backyard, around the side of the house, and as I turned the corner I heard something in the trap trying to get out. I thought it was the cat. Nope, it was Mr. Groundhog. He was chewing on the side trying to get out. Whoopeee!! I got him!! I almost did a victory dance. I took a couple pics, then loaded him into the truck and drove a little more than a mile, over a bridge and a river, so it is more difficult for him to make an attempt to get back here. I stopped on the side of the road, put the trap on the ground and popped open one end. Out he went. He stopped, looked back, and then kept going. It is finally over. Or is it?

I get back home, go around the house where I was going to take down the stuff I used for the "channel" to guide him into the trap, and I noticed that the hole was open again. In my joy in seeing him in the trap I didn't take notice as to whether it was there before. What I don't understand is how he could have made it through the trap to dig it out, then back through the trap into the yard, and then back into the trap where I finally caught him. Is it possible that there is another groundhog that dug it out while I was relocating the first one? Oh boy. I filled in the hole again and will again do the monitoring routine. Maybe I should have tagged the relocated one in case he does make it back here.

Just when I thought it was over

Well after yeterday's post you wouldn't have thought there would be another one so soon. But here it is. Yesterday I wrote the entry just past four thirty, which was about ten minutes after I had checked to see if Mr. Groundhog had redug his entryway. After writing it I was secure in the knowledge that he was probably gone for good, having not made an appearance in four days. Two hours later I took some parings to the compost, glanced over to the corner of the shed and was flabbergasted to see his hole open again. Did I assume he was in there? Do I wait til dusk to make sure he is home? Without a clue I simply set up the trap. If he was there he would encounter it when he came out, if he wasn't there and wanted to get back in he would have to go through the trap. This morning the trap wasn't tripped. I did notice that there was some dirt over the trap's base, which wasn't there when I set it up, so he did encounter it, but didn't set it off. The trip mechanism did appear to be slightly stuck, but it isn't a mouse or even a squirrel. A groundhog is a larger animal and I can't see how he could walk over the trip mechanism without setting it off. So, I reset the trap, left it in place, filled in his hole again, and will wait to see what happens this evening. Based on previous tries I expect this to be fruitless because it is obviously not his home and he is only there on occasion. I have no idea why he keeps coming back. Is it just to use as a safe haven when he is far from his home? Someplace he can run to if a predator is after him? Don't know, don't care. I just want him relocated.

Which way did he go George?

It seems that more than a few people want to know what happened after my last posting. Well, maybe only a few. Actually only two. But still that is more interest than I expected. If you are reading this and have no idea what I am talking about I am not going to take the time to recap everything. Simply go back and begin reading at my posting on July 30th.

Apparently he lives somewhere else and only uses our shed as a stopover on his daily excursions. I say this because in my last posting I observed that he had dug out his tunnel again, leading me to the assumption that he would be there overnight and I would catch him in the morning. I was wrong. In the morning, after setting the trap so there was no where for him to go except into it when he came out, I waited and waited and waited, but he never came out. Reasonable deductive powers lead to the conclusion that he wasn't there overnight. So, I filled in the hole again, and waited for his return. That was on Saturday. Today is Tuesday and the hole is still filled in. Where is he? I have no clue. Is he gone for good? I certainly hope so, but am not too optimistic.

If anything changes you will be the first to know.

Tonight, tonight, won't be just any night

I looked for him yesterday but he was nowhere to be seen. Still no evidence that he had returned to his burrow under the shed. But today around noon I saw him in the neighbor's yard enjoying his lunch under the sun. But still there was nothing near the shed. I assumed he had found other lodging in the area. Then, after dinner, I took some stuff left from dinner preparation to the compost pile and checked. His hole had been uncovered to prove he had indeed come home. In the next five minutes I had the trap set. Now I wait.

He's going to be grounded

He didn't come home last night. He didn't call either. Maybe he went to visit relatives, or stayed over his girlfriend's house. Maybe he has a second home somewhere. I waited until it got dark before I gave up on him. He did this once before so I really do expect him to be back in a day or two. I still put his breakfast (see yesterday's post) out for him, but with no sign of his return I knew it would still be there this morning, which it was. So, now I have to wait for his return before I proceed.

Ray's Next Move

I borrowed a trap from a neighbor. Research says to put it at the entrance of his burrow after he has retired for the night, and to provide a makeshift channel for him to have nowhere to go but into the trap where there is also food to entice him. So, when Mr. Groundhog awakens, exits his hole, he will be guided to his breakfast and WHAMMO, I finally have victory. (I hope) Setting it up tonight.

Error and another defeat

First let me say that I think I have been incorrect in referring to the rodent as gopher. In a previous post I had said that the terms gopher, groundhog and woodchuck were interchangeable. Well further research says that is not the case. A gopher burrows under lawns, gardens and golf courses through tunnels, is very difficult to get rid of, and will dance to a Kenny Loggins tune. A groundhog is less destructive being satisfied to simply burrow into the ground for his home, not needing to create a system of tunnels. You can see the obvious confusion since they both look alike and Bill Murray was in movies with both of them. I am convinced we have a groundhog.

With all that said, the groundhog won another round. My seemingly impenetrable barricade has failed. He simply burrowed under it to get between the shed and house and then through his hole under the shed. It seems to be a losing battle. I guess I will now get a trap and try to trap him and remove him to a distant land. But I have one more thing to try. I am going to drill a one inch hole in the floor of the shed and pour ammonia down into his habitat, hopefully making it an uninhabitable place. If that fails then the trap. A nice big trap, something with springs, and spikes to inflict the most pain and agony as possible. Just kidding.

Obviously more to come.

The Battle Wages

And so it continues. Apparently Mr. Gopher wasn't satisfied with the neighboring housing accommodations because he is back under our shed. Or at least the hole was reexcavated this morning. How did he get through my barricades you might ask? Well, underneath the cinderblocks at one end there was a small space between the corner of the shed, the ground, and the cinderblocks. I had plugged this space with some pieces of concrete but it wasn't enough to stop him. As determined as he was he dug out the concrete pieces and burrowed his way under and then back under the shed. So, this morning I did my stamping routine to make sure he wasn't under the shed, and went about plugging up the new entryway. I replaced the pieces of concrete and then laid a large paving stone over it, wedging it in tightly. The final step was to distribute more of my questionable repellant. Now I wait.

Your move Mr. Gopher.

Repellent failure

Well I guess my rodent repellent is not working. Or perhaps I am not eating or drinking the correct things to make it effective. I hadn't been putting it down for a couple days but was still checking for evidence of Mr. Gopher's return. For days there was no sign of him. I thought he had moved on to greener pastures such as the neighbor's house, which has been vacant for months, and would be perfect for him. But no, he decides to return and annoy me. Yesterday my brother Rick stopped by, asked about the gopher, and I said he apparently was gone. An hour after he left I go out and look between the house and the shed, and sure enough, there is a whole in the same spot. The concrete pieces I had placed in the hole were moved revealing a nice hole going under the shed. I opened the shed, stamped on the floor, to scare him out if he was there, and when there was no sign that he was, I once again took a cup, filled it with repellent and splashed it in the hole and replaced some of the concrete pieces and covered it all with leaves. A little while later I splashed more repellent over the area. Not easy to produce the repellent on demand. This morning I went out to check, and to my dismay, I find that the repellent didn't work, as the hole was there again. Again, I did my stamping routine, filled in the hole, assuming he was out, and then cut two pieces of a metal fence to place on top of the existing wall/fence at both ends of the space between the shed and house. Before this I had only a couple of cinderblocks stacked at one end and the other was blocked by the aforementioned fence which is only eighteen inches high. Now both ends are blocked by a three foot high barricade.

My question as to whether I barricaded him or out was just answered. As I sit on the patio writing this entry I heard a rustling sound in the other neighbor's yard, at the back corner behind their shed. Sure enough, there he was, moving along between the fence and the shed. Then he apparently went under the shed. So, unless there are two gophers in the neighborhood, he is possibly now living under a shed, but it isn't mine. We shall see.

Updates to follow.

Gopher update

Two days later and with daily doses of "gopher repellent" there have been no new tunnels or any sightings of the varmint.  I am thinking of bottling the repellent and selling it on the internet, but it will require drinking a lot of water.  

"In the immortal words of Jean Paul Sartre, 'Au revoir, gopher'."

Yesterday I am in the computer room putting something up for sale on eBay when Pat calls to me to "quick come look at this". I think she is watching TV and as I make my way through the house think "why doesn't she just pause it?" But when I get to the den she is looking out the patio door and I take her lead and look too. There in the back corner of the yard is a gopher or groundhog or woodchuck. (all terms are acceptable) We watch him disappear into the forsythia hedge then pop back out again. Then he runs up along the fence looking for a way through it. Finally he turns toward the patio and comes up to the screen claws at it as if to try to get in. At this point I holler and he runs off along the back of the house. I quickly come back into the house, get my glasses and sandals and go out looking for him. He is not in sight but I look between the house and the shed and it appears that there is a slight hole under the shed. It doesn't appear large enough for him to get in, but I think I should take precautions. I put some leaves over it to see if they are moved when I check later in the day. Later I am sitting on the patio reading and out of the corner of my eye I spot him again. He comes right up to the screen again, about three feet from me, and again tries to get in. I stamp my feet and again he runs. This time I follow immediately. I again check between the house and shed and this time the hole is bigger and he is sticking his head out. Oh boy. Time to take action. I go in the house get a large plastic cup, fill it "in the bathroom", and then go out to the shed. As I approach the shed I see him run off in the neighbor yard. Knowing he isn't under the shed I splash some of the contents of the cup into the hole, then put some small pieces of concrete over it and splash the remaining contents of the cup. I check later in the evening and no sign of him. This morning I go out checking for signs of his return but find none. Today I will again pour some "gopher repellent" between the shed and house. If this fails and he returns I will next get a gun and shoot him. Actually a trap will be the next step.

Invisible man on third

I recently finished reading a book about the origins of baseball which detailed the first games as "town ball" which didn't have the rules that the present day game has. It was more fluid and flexible restricted by the number of players, the equipment and the availability of space to play. It made me think about the game of ball we played as kids. But then something in another book I read really jarred my memory which prompted me to write this post. As kids we too were fluid and flexible, never having enough kids for a real game of baseball, and never having a field to play in. We were lucky to have empty lots, a definite thing of the past, gloves and some questionable bats and balls. It is a good thing black electrical tape was available. We would use that to cover the ball when the cover came off, and to hold a cracked back from splitting apart. Our diamond was really a diamond because we didn't have the area to have a true square infield. But what I mainly remember is the number of different games we played. Without going into detail, I will list what I remember... "Three flies, six grounders", "Rollies at the bat", "One up", "Stick Ball", "Wiffle Ball" and "Running bases". This is all I can recall right now. Granted they weren't the traditional game of baseball, but were played with a bat, a ball and a glove. Usually these games were played because of only two or three kids being available to play. Of course there was always a simple game of catch, or what I guess would be called stoop ball where you would bounce a tennis ball or spaldeen against a stair or curb.

Is it worth it?

This is another petrol posting. (I was going to say gas, but I prefer alliteration.) Yes, another posting about the high cost of fuel for your internal combustion vehicle. Yesterday I needed to get gas in my truck even though it was at half a tank. I usually fill it back up when it gets to half because of the fear that the price will rise and because of the shock that I would have to endure in looking at the total after a fill up. The gas station out on the highway, about a quarter mile from the house, is selling regular for $3.91. It is 3n gas. No, that is not the type of gas, it is the name of the station. I know there are some who say that these stations are more likely to water down the gas or cheat the customer in other ways, but I haven't seen any problems yet. But, that is not what I am writing about. Down the highway about a mile and a quarter there is a BP (a name brand) which is selling gas for $3.89, although it is the cash price, with credit being $3.93. Now we get to the crux of this posting and today's observation. The obvious dilemma is whether to drive the extra two miles (one each way) to save two cents on a gallon. A little simple math now. Half a tank in my truck is about eight gallons. Eight gallons at two cents per gallon is a grand total of sixteen cents. When you are spending nearly $4.00 for one gallon, and over thirty dollars for half a tank, a mere sixteen cents doesn't really seem worth it. Does it?