Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy.. 07 Apr 2019 10:08:30pm
What I hope will be my last move will be this weekend
when we pack up the old rented Conestoga Wagons and trek
all the way to Panhandle, Texas about thirty miles from
this house in Amarillo to our own Little House on the
Prairie. I've been packing on and off since Thursday
when I have the energy, these cartons full of albums and
catalogs are heavy;
It reminds me of the place where Dr. Zhivago went off to
the Siberian tundra, to write sensuous poetry and nest with
Julie Christie. Since I'll never even meet Julie Christie,
never mind any ambitious nesting; here is a poem I wrote
about four months ago for anyone who has been kind enough
to read this far.
Rye Roller Coaster
I never liked the roller coaster ride,
Even with a favored girl by my side.
In high school I had to swallow my pride,
And though I remained quite horrified,
I courted a girl, blondish hair, blue eyed,
Who loved that crazy infernal joyride,
Repeatedly testing a wooden hillside,
I pretended enjoyment, but remained petrified
An amusement park had a great roller coaster,
With one controlled fall after another,
And several gut wrenching twists,
With sharp reversing turns in between.
I always wondered why this petite female teen,
Treasured the ride, time and again.
But there was no denying her happy laughter,
And endearing fresh smile as we were pulled up,
To the top the blasted thing, over, and over.
I suppose the excitement of innocent kissing,
As we reached the peak of the first gradient,
Affected my better judgement somewhat.
So we did do the Rye Roller Coaster ride.
.
Along the way to the top of the arch,
A feeling of dread would grow in my stomach,
Concern that we might run off the rail,
But worse, was the fear that I might unveil,
My deep apprehension or a stream of vomit
My half eaten breakfast, like the tail of a comet,
All over everyone in the first rolling "baquet", (It had to be the first car, of course.)
Something so terrible that it would surely shatter,
And end my personal world of male swagger,
In front of, or possibly, all over splatter,
My classmates. and the unsuspecting riders.
But over the top we would go with force,
I'd pull her in tight, protectively, of course,
With my good right arm, whilest always keeping,
A death grip on the safety bar with the other arm,
Hugging her as close as was permissible,
My date would emit an ear piercing scream,
Her arms thrown around me apparently keen,
As each wild moment came, then as she'd lean
On my shoulder, and I'd pretend it was routine.
She would say "let's do it again."
Note; (My jaws would be clamped shut
so that no one would hear my
internal death screams.)
Secretly, I could hear Lady Macbeth's scratchy voice
Whispering in my ear; "You have no choice,
So screw up your courage to the sticking place,
And we'll not fall, Charlie Boy...."
Now, how the hell did Lady Macbeth know my name ?
So, I'd tighten my "rectus abdominis"
Pulling things together to appear verile and valorous,
Hiding the terror that lay just a bit indecorous,
Preserving an image of graceful demeanor.
After all, I couldn't let common sense betray,
Putting what I considered my reasonable fear, on display,
In front of my pretty companion, on that glorious day.
Note; (Certainly they
inspected these infernal devices
every couple of years, right ? )
So yes, I tightened up my gut muscle,
And assumed my best Henry Five hustle,
“Once more unto the breach, my friends, once more”.
Walking confidently to what was certainly,
To be my impending, unavoidable mort.
Consoled only, by a singular, wistful thought,
At least, we would crash to the concrete court,
Huddled together with our last passionate kiss,
As the coaster splintered into a thousand pieces.
While all our friends, schoolmates and teachers below,
Exchanged doleful, knowing glances, "in sotto voce."
"They were such a lovely couple."
Well I sometimes relive that magical afternoon,
While riding the night mare across the bedroom,
Only to awaken and discover, to my gloom,
There were no bugles or bagpipes of doom
To complement the clash of swords and shields,
It was just nature sounding a mid-night warning alarm.
".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
CDJ- don't stop the tale there-did you and your girl have more to the story, or did you eventually go your separate ways? (Or am I just an old romantic?)
Dan C.
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy.. 08 Apr 2019 11:45:13am
re: My last move
".... did you and your girl have more to the story, or did you eventually go your separate ways? ...."
It was an interesting story Dan, until the next summer when I started at Kings Point, the Merchant Marine Academy, comparable to Annapolis and West Point. The Academies restrict "plebes" the first year. Kings Point sent the second year cadets to sea on commercial freighters, tankers or passenger vessels for a year of study and travel, doing graded correspondence programs which keep the cadet away from home and very busy.
The third and fourth years as cadets are, or were then, more relaxed but still, it is really an engineering school with a two week long, intense, final examination for a license. So there was limited time for that kind of romance. Then there was four years in the US Coast Guard or Navy. The USCG sent me off to sea as well in a ship from Charleston, to a base at the north part of Baffin Island, Canada, (Inuit Country) and finally almost three years in the South and Western Pacific.
Finally I fulfilled my dream since age fourteen, and sailed all over this world in what the Brits call the Merchant Navy. Adventures and short term romances, certainly, but I was 30ish before I looked for something serious. We've been married fifty years now and managed to raise six children, so while it seemed difficult at the time, to some degree, breaking up with Patty after high school has turned out just fine for me.
I stayed in contact now and then with my high school beau, she met and married, apparently happily enough to also raise six children.
But I never planned or even dreamed I'd wind up in north Texas.
  2 Members like this post. Login to Like.
".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
"The silver maples can be messy..now i only get the leaves from my two neighbors."
I would never plant one. Too many higher quality trees available. Lots of old growth trees have been lost in this area in recent years. Our house is 80 years old and I am guessing this tree was here when the house was built. As you can see in the second photo, it's time had passed. We knew that was the case. About 9 feet of the trunk was hollow. Not a great tree for the yard, but we'll miss all of that shade.
Edit: By the way, that spider lift is brand new. Their older one was a 60-footer and they used it to take down a sugar maple here 5-6 years ago. This new one can extend to 90 feet. It's an impressive piece of equipment!
  2 Members like this post. Login to Like.
"I no longer collect, but will never abandon the hobby"
"It's so flat that you can watch an ant crawling across the ground from 500 miles away!"
Is that with the naked eye or a telephoto lens? We've always heard everything is bigger in Texas, but it never occurred to me the ants would be bigger, too!
Login to Like this post
"I no longer collect, but will never abandon the hobby"
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy.. 09 Apr 2019 04:53:59am
re: My last move
" .... CDJ, I like the stonework on the house.
It looks good, but I need trees around. Lots of trees...... ...."
We have big plans for the lawn, such as it is, trees, chain
link fencing, a big dog run with dog shelter, solar
panels and even a big windmill with cancer shield in the
distant back, and if I can sell it, geothermal underground piping
to assist the radiant heating in winter and summer cooling in the
concrete (tiled) flooring.
Big plans. I hope to be around to see it all brought to fruition,
as it will take time.
The original asking price had been reduced by $20k a month or two ago,
and then as a foreclosure date approached, the owners, a divorcing
couple,. reduced it again.
My son offered another 25K less as we knew the mortgage
balance and the foreclosure date. While not actually
a steal, it is a good takeover price.
Thursday is the closing with a new USAA mortgage some 2%
less than the existing rate.
I've been packing heavy cartons for days. Albums really weigh..
  2 Members like this post. Login to Like.
".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
That's not an accurate description of Texas. In my mother's former neighborhood in Austin, herds of deer wander freely, pretty much as in your picture, so much so that they are a hazard.
For me in Round Rock, I have rabbits that are so tame they won't move when you walk by them. They do run when the dogs go outside! We also have what are known as "urban coyotes" who wander about at night. Finally something in the neighborhood that keeps the mice and rats in check. By the way, urban coyotes are found in every city in the United States.
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy.. 11 Apr 2019 08:38:54pm
re: My last move
We have the truck and I am all packed, loading tomorrow.
Thirty-five miles to be closer to my son's work. Just
about everything of mine is packed but for a change of
clothing.
Once I get set up I'll start, or complete, paying for
invoices. That should be early next week as the PC will
be sleeping for a day or two.
With luck, this will be my last move unless one of my
children gets a job on Maui, in which all bets are off.
Effective tonight::
New Address;
Charlie Jensen
1001 COUNTY ROAD 13
PANHANDLE, TEXAS,
79068-7410
  2 Members like this post. Login to Like.
".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
I made what I think will be my last move several years ago. In the end we decided to have fewer trees. It is also nice to see the lots of sun. Our last house was dark due to all the trees.
That's a damn-ass Prairie Mansion Charlie! You could turn that into a community centre! (Although your next door neighbour looks to be about 20 miles away).
And get some feedback from our Saskatchewan (Canada) members on how flat the terrain is, but based on what my friend Mike says, you look to be in mountainous terrain compared to his old hometown...
Glad you are getting settled - and in a beautiful house, in a beautiful area, surrounded by beautiful stamps!
PRICELESS!
Good luck on transitioning from an Old Navy Guy into an Uber-Landlubber.
Cheers, Dave.
Login to Like this post
Please Note: Postings that were loaded from the old Discussion Board cannot be edited.