Chapter 65 - Keepin' Busy

In June it will have been five fun-filled and interesting years since I 'retired'. There was a time, long ago, when someone suggested that I should keep on working, that I would likely dry up and die if I were fully retired. 

Or something like that.

Hahahahaha, they were wrong!! I've been, for the most part, having a good time. Oh, I've had my hills and valleys but, on the whole, life is good.

And, hey!! My heart is till ticking!!

Hooah!!

But part of the fun has been keeping busy. Living in the small community of Lincoln City has allowed me numerous opportunities to get involved and keep somewhat busy.

That and the damn lawn around this shed I live in.

But I'm being positive here and so I will concentrate on the good things I am able to participate in. Like this!! A food drive!!

And an early morning food drive. And that is why I was standing in front of the Dorchester House at around 0547 in the morning.

I was meeting up with Carol so we could walk up to the IGA for the Community Days Food Drive. At least the Kiwanis Club's part of it which ran from 0600 to 0800.

And after Carol and I started walking over to the IGA, I turned and got this picture of The 101 early in the morn. Notice the definite lack of traffic? So rare.

It was our first time doing this and so we had no idea of what to expect. But it was nothing more than standing along side The 101 and, sometimes, vigorously waving a sign that said, simply, "Food Drive".

Not too difficult. Right up my alley, really. Carol put in an hour before the chill got to her and she walked back to the DH. I lasted for the whole two-hour tour.

We were out front of the IGA and even hung a KBCH Banner.

I think the purpose was to have people stop and donate money, really. There was some food collected while I was there but it didn't fill two bags.

But Kiwanis opened the drive and led the way for the  Day. Doing my good deed for the day. Keeping busy. Trying to help.

Ahhhhhhhh...Spring has sprung.

Joy fills my heart. I am so tired, so very tired, of being cold. To see blue skies is such a good tonic for me.

I'm even thinking of feeding the gulls again.

I may, maybe, walk down onto the beach for a while. I just might. It's been a couple years.

I may even go down and see if I can find any starfish or tide pools. Maybe.

Ah, gosh!! I am so happy with Spring. Welcome to you...you're a shade late but I forgive you. I'm glad you're here.

And I even mowed the lawn. It upset my ducks but they came back after I was done. I figured out they come for the birdseed that is knocked onto the ground from the bird feeders.

I've learned to shake seed from the feeders out onto the ground to make sure they have enough to dine on while they're here. 

The Missus...

...and the Mister.

One of the first, decent sunsets of 2018.

So nice I shot it twice.

I think I prefer the horizontal one. Which do you prefer?

On a really busy Saturday, we headed off to Taft to enjoy a Kiwanis Pancake BF with Miss Oregon. No, that's not her on the pier. An interesting picture I took while waiting for my pancakes to show up.

Hahaha, Spring!! Look!! Shirtsleeve weather!!

Loving it!!

The Mo's in Taft was hosting, again, the Kiwanis Pancake BF. So that meant, because of its location, there were plenty of photo ops.

It was low tide and the harbor seals were out playing in the shallow water.

We are so fortunate to have this saltwater estuary so close. It's a one-of-a-kind refuge. And they are actually entertaining the idea of dredging this bay and building a port here. 

Idiots.

After breakfast, we head over to Kirtsis Field for the first game of the Youth League Season. And while I was there I got me some shots of the resident Ospreys. One of them was home and posing.

I think the Mister is late and she's ready to take her turn at lunch.

It is so cool to have four nesting pairs of Ospreys within the 7 miles of Lincoln City. Now if I could find a place where I could sit on the shoreline of the lake and watch them fish. That'd be way cool.

But there were other things going on, too. Like the ball game. I already mentioned it was opening day for the Youth League and so all three fields were busy with plenty of folks in all the stands.

Hannah and Mike had invited us to join them for Michael's first game with the Tigers. There's Carol on the left, Hannah in the middle and Mike, standing, on the right.

Ah, yeah. I remember the tension, the nerves, the anxiety of having your child on the field, playing.

I do not miss those days.

Colin is the coach of the Tigers. He's also the Den Leader for the Tiger Den. Hahahahaha, I love that he's the Coach of the Tigers and Den Leader of the Tigers. Totally cool!!

And it was a beautiful day for baseball. A seriously nice day. Cool, sunny...loving it!!

And baseball, well, Youth League, too.

Michael had a good day. He whiffed, twice, but that's what most every other kid did, too. He got to pal around with his buds and run in the sun. So, yeah, good day.

I think he was swinging a bit too early.

I got to take a lot of pictures. I sent them off to parents I knew. And I had a fun time shooting.

Afterwards I got to look at a bunch of the pictures I took (over 400) of the Tigers batting. And I got to enjoy all the different positions the catcher was in trying to avoid being hit by the ball or the bat.

But he was a little Trooper (he was the third one to don the catcher's gear during the first at bat for the Tigers). He at least tried and that was far more than the previous two did.

And Michael at second base. Biggest challenge was to get the kids to throw the ball in once they finally got their hands on it.

The Tigers had a bit of trouble with that concept.

Take me out to the Ball Game, take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don't care if we ever come back...

Here's a awesome segue!!

After the game I dropped Carol off and headed to the Shack. Both of us were tired and ready for a nap. You see, we'd both been invited to drive out to Kathy's for some cribbage and dinner.

After our naps, I picked up Carol and enjoyed a pleasant drive to Kathy's. And the girls were there to greet us when we arrived.

They came over when they saw us walk up. Silly girls, they thought we were going to feed them.

And I got to admire the daffodils. I'm bragging just a little but this might be the best shot I've ever gotten of daffodils. Hahahaha, I've been shooting, and deleting, daffodils forever and now I have one I half-way like.

Ah, life.

Kathy's in the middle of a remodel. She's getting a new bedroom and, more importantly, she's also getting her new studio.

There's Kathy, on the left, showing Carol around the new studio. The beams in the center are temporary; they're just holding up the rafters until they're put into place.

It will be a large studio. She's already got it all filled up...in her head.

Behind the girls is the new bedroom. Hahahaha, at least Kathy was having a good time. They're sitting in one of the future windows.

Ah, Spring!! I'm loving it!! Now to find the energy to get out and shoot it.

And what a great view they'll have from the studio or their bedroom when it is finished.

Another great segue!!

And it leads into another puzzle.

This one, however, was a bit tougher than the previous ones for me to do. But it was still fun.

Obviously this is dated puzzle, filled with lots of things that call to mind New York. It was fun watching it come together.

Plus, as an added challenge, the box top didn't have ALL the picture to help guide me. So a lot of the top part I was swinging in the wind as I put it together. Hahaha, a little extra difficulty. Oh, and there were also five missing pieces. Finding where those were was also a lot of fun.

Hahaha, topical. There's President Trump...

...and Senator Clinton.

I liked putting the street scenes together. Nicely done on the artwork.

And the street. Busy Times Square.

Plenty of shows represented here. Oh, and you can see where one of the missing pieces were. There, on the right, from the Late Show.

I don't know what the "Steel Pier" was but I do know there's another missing piece by the "Lion King".

Sometimes, sadly, it seems to me we've already forgotten.

And the Empire State Building.

Another interesting street scene.

(OK, I get it. But I really enjoy these small vignettes. These little pictures in a picture kinda thing.)

The other side of Times Square.

And here I could use some help. What's up with that sign? What is it saying? What does it mean?

"itstkutsikotkts"

I don't get it. And, believe, me, I've studied it a lot!!

And the Statue of Liberty.

Hahahaha, another great segue.

OK, let's get to this. I was recently contacted by a woman named Jena on FB who asked if I was the same Jack Seagrove she had met back in the early 70s?

I remembered I had met a girl named Jena. She and her sister lived next door to where I was staying with my brothers in Long Beach my last few months in the Marines. Evidently I had given her a couple of medal and she wanted to make sure it was the right Jack because she wanted to return them. We corresponded a bit more and I gave her my address and the other day they arrived.

I can't remember why I would have had just these two medals. Or why I would give them away as I did. Delayed teen-age angst, I suppose. I would like to sit down with Jena and have her fill me in on all the missing details but I felt I would be imposing on her by asking...so I didn't.

But I got the medals. I must have received them sometime in 1969. They're nearly 50 years old now. I'm going to send them to Amy.

And another swift movement. From medals from long ago and far away to the here and now outside my window.

Evidently the drake has been using the KIA as a shade. I happened to glance outside and he was coming out from under the car.

Strange. But they're back nearly every day lately. And spending a lot of time here. I've found that if I shake the bird feeders it's the bird seed they peck the ground for. That's what they like.

Now all the rest of these pictures are also from today, April 24, 2018. Keeping myself busy.

I put away the New York puzzle this morning and thought I'd just lay out this new one and get started on it later. I was wrong. I poured it out, sat down and got started then. This one wasn't as big as the NYC puzzle at only 500 pieces. It was also another change of pace as it came from a photograph of a scene along a canal.

And away we go...

As usual, I find the edge pieces first. It's my routine.

And, VIOLA!! Four hours later I was looking at the finished puzzle. And I enjoyed it. I know it's a huge time waster. I know it's exactly what "old" people do. I know. But I enjoy it. I listen to talk radio or to a TV show and puzzle it together and I enjoy myself.

Hahahaha, and then I take a picture of it so I can bore you. It's what I do.

I kept myself occupied with the puzzle until around 1515. After I finished the puzzle, I couldn't put off the yard any longer. The lawn was dry; the sun was out; the wind was light and the grass had grown enough so, for the third time this Spring, I mowed the lawn.

A little background here. Every time, every damn time I mow the lawn, someone will stop, smile and remark how they once used a push mower like this one to mow their lawns. And, every time, I reply, "Well, c'mon and relieve your childhood," while motioning towards the mower.

There's always someone who will comment on it and so, after the second person had said something, I thought I'd get a picture of myself mowing so I could put it here, in the blog, and tell my silly story.

I got the little camera, mounted it on a tabletop tripod, set the timer and, there it is. And it doesn't look like fun at all. Just like I thought it wouldn't.

Still, it evokes a memory of childhood and youth and the way things once were. And it makes people smile to themselves.

The second most common remark is how the push mower is Sooooooo much better for the environment and it's Healthy, too.

Hahahaha, all the Old Hippies love seeing the push mower. It's like me, saving the planet, one push mower at a time. The dirty little secret is, if I could store/afford a power mower I'd be running that thing left and right, all day and all night.

Seriously, I'm too damn cheap and use the push mower primarily because it saves me money. Hahahaha, once again I am out of step with my generation...the idiots.

"It's my planet, too!!"

(Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!)

I've also determined that you can't look elegant, no matter how hard you try, while pushing a mower. Just can't.

And I bet it causes a lot of Grandpas and Grandmas to tell their Grandchildren, "Why, that's how we used to mow the lawns back when I was your age."

And today was the first day of Spring that I've worn shorts. There's a milestone there of some sort. I don't know exactly what but of something.

Carol's been baby-sitting for Amy on Tuesdays while Amy goes to class. She plans out the four or so hours she has with Isaiah. As part of her plan, the two of them usually walk down to the beach at 15th St., and then walk along the beach up to my place. The boy loves it and can run all over and Carol doesn't have to worry about the cars. It's fun.

And they usually stop by my place for water, a break, the potty or whatever. Today it was to blow some bubbles.

So, while I finished the lawn, Isaiah chased around blowing bubbles. And when I would stop to rest, which was often, he would rush me whirling his bubble-wand around at me. And, of course, I made all the appropriate Grandpa noises.

I even got him to help me mow a little. Couldn't convince him to do the whole thing, though. Not for lack of trying.

Since Isaiah was there, I had a good excuse to take a long break from mowing and the two of us tried to feed the gulls. But as much as we threw out the food, we couldn't get them to land and eat it.

The ones I had 'trained' a year ago have, evidently, moved on or forgotten. Still, we both had fun yelling, "Seagulls" and tossing the dog food in the air.

Carol got both these pictures, the one above and the one below, with her trusty cell phone camera.

When I first started mowing, the Mallards found it too noisy and so they flew away. When Carol walked back to the DH with Isaiah she saw where they went to hang out until the work was done. It's up on 33rd and Lee. Not far away.

There they are, lounging on the lawn.

All in all I can truly say I'm keeping busy. As for wasting away and dying after retirement, well, I hope that's not for a while yet. It still makes me smile, a bit sadly, about what that person said to me long ago.

Hahaha, she was wrong!! At least for the last five years so far.

Dianne Nahirny

Gotta agree with Diane on this one. It means having choices.

Life is good!!

Hooah!!