It's cold and snowy outside!

Hi.. meet SuZee, our Siamese cat. SuZee was found in a barn, the survivor of an attack by some kind of "varmint". She spent the weeks that she should have been with her mama, living with two dogs who let her have some food if there was any left in their bowls after they had theirs, and who apparently terrorized her. But, she was able to hold her own in some scuffles and even pushed one of the dogs out of his bed and slept there in relative safety.

We were given SuZee as a free gift and she has been a joy to us for almost two years. I especially like that she hasn't realized the range of noises that she could create. Now, she has only a small "meow" and a few other soft sounds. Elaine has tried to teach her the "AARP AARP" song that she used to sing with her former Siamese cat named BufFee. No success yet.. thank heavens!

SuZee does make a unique sound whenever she see a bird perched on the topmost part of the neighbors' roof. I wonder if this is an in-bred mannerism developed over the years in Siam when these cats were guardians of the temples. Yes.. she is warning us that something is desecrating the temple next door.

OK.. time for another dozen observations.

01. Graduation: My beautiful granddaughter, Bridget, graduated from Towson University last week. She is the first grandchild to get a Bachelor of Arts degree. I hope that her success will motivate my other grandchildren to continue their educations.

02. Red heads. Bridget has beautiful red hair. So does AnnE in the movie, Anne of Green Gables. Elaine and I watched this 3 1/4 hour flick last night. It was filmed in beautiful Prince Edward Isle, Canada, and is a monumental tear-jerker. (I defy you to watch it without blubbering!)

I visited PEI a number of years ago and feasted on some of the most delicious seafood I have ever had (outside of New Bedford, of course).. I understand a bridge has finally been built to get to the island. When I went, I spent five hours waiting my turn to get on the ferry. But PEI certainly was worth it, despite the fact that they monopolized on the fame of the book.

Folks.. forget about a European trip. Visit Canada. There is so much to see there.. and you can do it in your own automobile.

03. Where's the Rev? For some time now, I have been trying to find tapes of the shows of Reverend Ike, my favorite preacher. You remember his motto: "I've got what it takes, to take what you've got." One of the few preachers that I have met who were not hypocrites. If anybody knows how to find such tapes, please let me know. I gave away all my BetaMax tapes and I had some of his shows taped on them.. I wish I had kept them.

04. Deep thought: Stephen Hawking says that God did not create the universe. He says that the Big Bang was inevitable and didn't need any help.

05. Thieves in high places: In Greenbelt, Maryland, a Federal employee was found guilty of obtaining over $600,000 in erroneous disability benefits. Also in Maryland, an official at the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau stole over a million dollars from court orders.

Now, if that is almost two million dollars being stolen just in a small area of Maryland, there probably are other thefts going on throughout the U.S. by people in positions of trust. (Of course, if there were no scumbags, thieves and scammers at work, who would be able to afford those multi-million dollar homes that are advertised? Oh, that's right, I forgot about the lawyers.)

06. Grades? Letter grades are now being given to automobiles, based on fuel economy and tailpipe emissions. .. I have been buying groceries and prescriptions at the Giant grocery store in Westminster, Maryland, for several years, and now they have a program where a percentage of money savings is given for Shell gasoline, based on the amount of money spent in that store. Recently, I have had 30 cents a gallon taken off one of my gas fill-ups and 40 cents a gallon taken off another one. I think its a good deal. I wonder why other stores are not copying the program?

Hey.. I remember when gasoline cost 16 cents a gallon. At that time, I had a 1935 Chevrolet with bald tires and broken wheel bearings. I could fill up for $2, whenever I could spare that much money, which wasn't too often. Luckily, I could coast downhill the mile from my house to the high school. (Coming home was the problem.)

Also, my future spouse lived three miles away and by a judicious usage of coasting and light gas usage, I could use very little gas to get to her house and back.

07. Calendars: Many people are are concerned that the world will end in 2012. They base this on some old predictions which failed to take into consideration calendar changes.

I read somewhere that there was a calendar change in the year 1750. The day after September 2nd became September 14th. Crowds of people rioted, demanding: "Give us back our 11 days!" I can't find a reference to this, but if you are interested in calendar changing, please check out:

http://www.suite101.com/content/the-calendar-change-of-1752-a141775

08. Prayer heals all? A French priest, mad because of the expulsion of gypsies, said: "I pray, I beg your pardon, that Mr. Sarkozy has a heart attack."

Another person who wasn't happy about the expulsion was EU Justice Commissioner Vivviane Reding who called it "a disgrace" as well as something she "thought that Europe would not have to witness again after the second World War."

09. Poor Ming: My Snapple diet drink bottle cap says: "The oldest living animal ever found was a 405 year old clam named 'Ming.'" After all those years, he was dug up, and died during the assessment of his age!

(Hey.. look it up in Wikipedia if you think I'm kidding you.)

10. Marriage of convenience? A marriage announcement in a June 2010 edition of the Carroll County Times reads: (married) Carroll County Department of Social Services and Michael E. Francis, of Hanover, Pa., June 15.)

11. Crooked banks? A recent Harper's Index says that the number of Wall Street banks so far which have been tried on criminal charges related to the financial crisis is 2. It also says that the number of banks which have been acquited is also 2.

12. Honoring our veterans? Harper's Index also says that an estimated 2,266 U.S. veterans under the age of 65 died in 2008 because they lacked health insurnace.

So that I won't leave you completely depressed.. let me tell you the words on a birthday card I received from my late friend, Bob Whisenand: "If you think I sent you this card just because it's your birthday... you're wrong! ... it's also out of respect for the elderly!"

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Martha's Vineyard

The Obama family's vacation in Martha's Vineyard triggered some memories for me. I grew up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, about 10 miles over the ocean from Martha's Vineyard. I remember when that island was not the fashionable (read: expensive) place it is today.

When I was a kid, it was a whole lot of fun to pack a lunch basket and take the ferry to Oak Bluffs, one of the little towns on Martha's Vineyard. On the ferry, there would always be a Portuguese band blasting away marvelous tunes, in between slugs of Madiera wine. We would all sing and dance for the hour-long trip. When we got to Oak Bluffs we would find a spot on the beach to eat our lunch and then swim or ride the famous Merry-Go-Round until time to get back on the ferry.

Oak Bluffs is now a small African-American enclave on the island. Most of the homes are brightly colored small cottages which were built in the early 1900's, when camp meetings were the rage. People would come over on the ferry, rent one of the cottages for the week, and listen to the hell-fire preachers. I'm not sure if the preachers are still around, but the houses look as good today as they did on the day that they were built. It is well worth the trip just to see these cottages.

Once, I think it was in 1951, my girlfriend, Elaine, and I took the ferry to the island as a treat for my eleven-year-old future brother-in-law. When we got to Oak Bluffs, we rented a car for the day and drove all over the island, from Edgartown to the Gay Head cliffs. We stopped here and there and bought stuffed quahogs, fried chicken, and fried clams from vendors. We played on the beaches and jumped into the ocean. We had a ball! The eleven-year-old said that it was the most fun he ever had. (He still talks about the fun he had back then. It was a much gentler time, guys.)

During that 1951 trip, we noticed a lot of land for sale at very cheap prices. For $1,000. one could buy a very large plot of land with a nice clapboard house and outbuildings, and get change back. At the time, I was only 17 and earned $1. an hour at the YMCA, so I was not able to become a land speculator. Some people apparently were though, and now that same plot of land would probably go for ten million dollars!

The estate that the Obamas are renting goes for $35,000. per week, I believe. There are some bed and breakfast businesses on the island for a bit less.. probably still too rich for me to afford. However, you can still take the ferry out of New Bedford for not too much money and spend a day exploring the many quaint locations on the island. Try it.. enjoy the boat trip, listen to the Portuguese band, get windburn, drink some Madiera wine, try stuffed quahogs, eat fried clams, look at the little painted houses, ride the old Merry-Go-Round, pick grapes along the road, dive into the ocean surf, enjoy the bracing sea air, get away from the cares of your job....you may never want to leave.

Just don't get arrested for wearing clothes at the nude beach. You know, the one that is near where the Obamas are staying.
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