Doldrums

What's the origin of that word, I wonder? Is that a meteorological term? I don't know but it's bandied about in the summertime more often than not, I think. And even though the weather has been decidedly un-summerish- very temperate, 70s and breezy, beautiful stuff, thank you very much! -it might as well be doggedly hot and overbearing for the lack of exciting goings-on to report.

But, hey, sometimes that's a good thing. At least nobody's breaking bones or crashing cars.

There is the forcible relocation of my online photo archives from Yahoo! to PhotoBucket. Unscheduled and unexpected but thus far uneventful. Updated the photo album links at left so once I get everything squared away at the websites it should prove pretty much seamless. I hope.

Plenty of toy news with the arrival of my first professional looking boxes for the Bonanza men. Fun stuff! Naturally, it makes me wanna supply the same kind of cardboard homes for my other little men. So they don't feel underappreciated or left out.

In addition to regular face time with my erstwhile and present toy store workmate, Big Don, I got a few minutes with another former workplace pal, Patoo, as well as 'original Pat' this week. Fellow toy geeks every one so we were able to hash over some doll and comic news and generally inconsequential topics of that sort.

Son boy spending the week with his car crazy pal whose Dad and I joked that he should just be adopted, he spends so much time there. I'm glad he's taken an interest in what goes on under the hood- I can check vital fluids and that's about it... -but it's weird when he's gone for a stretch like this. Plus I have to take out the trash and cut the grass myself. And field all his calls.

That's not true, I rarely answer the phone. I have a real aversion to phone conversation of late. I'd rather be kicked in the shin than answer the ringing appliance. If I can use the speaker I don't mind half so much but some people are funny about broadcasting like that. Where do those quirks come from? Same place as chocolate vs. vanilla, I suppose. To-may-toe, to-mah-toe.

Stopped in the other day on mother dear just in time to find her starting to set up her new dog kennel all by herself. So the wife and I lent a hand at that and it's standing upright if not in place all permanent and solid like. Needs a good sized post and some hardware to finish up, mostly due to the uneven ground where it stands.

Reminded by an old friend of my mother of the old homestead where I was a boy. She remembered me in a crib there though more likely it was my brother given the time frame she specified. Either way it made me think of the place, nothing left now but some foundation stones, and some of the pleasantries recalled from that era. Plums in a jar with sugary syrup. Dried apples. Frosty cold Cokes from a floor cabinet filled with ice. The smell of the wood cabinets and damp cellar environs of the store my great grandmother and maiden aunt kept. The array of candies and confections in the glass front cases.

Boy, I'm making myself hungry...