Posted by
William D. Dannenmaier on Saturday, December 24, 2011 11:04:24 AM
My knee still hurts from my dive over Baxter. Mary Ann, our dictator nurse at the Cardiac Club, commented that men of my generation always think problems will go away if one waits long enough. Actually, it does with children, but not with wives.
A week after my destruction of our bed, Sheila was harassing me. She wanted to take pictures of my leg, which she claimed was an absolutely gorgeous blending of reds, blues and blacks. I’m keeping my leg covered. I will not permit pornographic photos of me. Furthermore, her enthusiasm about seeing me in different colors has made me a bit concerned about having her behind me if I’m walking down a flight of stairs.
My current inability to kneel bothers Sheila because, like all women, she likes an obedient husband, one who kneels on command. On the other hand, the realization that if any one of the attractive young women who work for Dr. Smith or Dr. Blazer was to sit on my lap it would hurt bothers me. So - as it is a concern for Sheila and a hopeful problem for me, I’ll have it checked in January. Maybe.
When I first put on my new hearing aids I sat on the back porch. I was amazed. Cumberland Furnace is not the quiet place that I’ve always thought. The birds at our feeder are a noisy lot, dogs are always barking somewhere and I hear every car and truck passing on the highway, which is almost a mile away. The sounds I enjoy are the chatter and laughter of happy youngsters playing ball at the Community Center playground.
Megaera gave us a kitten. Now, while lying on the floor exercising to stretch my back muscles and eliminate back pain, I have an adventurous kitten walking up my body to examine my face. This same delinquent feline enjoys jumping on my stomach when I’m trying to sleep and attacking my feet – I’ve tried shifting my feet over next to Sheila’s feet to encourage sharing, but the kitten prefers mine. It also walks on the key board of the computer when I’m trying to write – like now. Thanks, Megaera.
From Megaera, my thoughts drifted to Bill. We were living by ourselves and he was a student at Austin Peay State University. I would go to the Laundromat in Clarksville on Saturdays and, following washing and drying the clothing, go to a nearby drugstore that had a morning breakfast special: two eggs, toast and coffee for a dollar. One Saturday Bill accompanied me, so I left him with the wash while I did a few quick errands. Returning, I found my clothes were not yet dry. When I asked Bill if he had shaken them out, he replied that the owner had told him he didn’t need to do that, the dryer would do it. When we finally left, I pointed out to Bill that it took longer to finish drying the clothing when the machine had to shake them out: that the longer clothing was in a dryer, the more money the owner made. It was in her interests, not mine, to refrain from shaking the wrinkles from the clothing. Incidentally, we were too late for the dollar special by the time the clothes were dry.
It always amazes me how little our intelligent, educated, young adults know and understand about the world in which they live. Experience teaching at different universities has taught me that the same ignorance is rampant among young – and old – professors who receive all of their degrees and continuous employment without leaving a college campus.
I see that some former and current professional football players are suing the National Football League (NFL) for damage to their brains as a result of playing football. The horror of it! The NFL should not have forced those men to accept millions of dollars in salaries and play football for them. Now they are injured and no one cares – slavery at its worst. While they are at it, why don’t they also sue the Junior High Schools, the High Schools and the Colleges which forced them to play football? Thank God I was a ninety pound weakling in school. Otherwise I might be brain injured also – and be a Democrat.
Finally, the best of new years to all. No man has ever had better friends.