Aug 3 – Lillies, Harry Caray and toilet brushes : The Szpinner

Mary Rutherford Lily

A ‘First’ For Brant’s Ford
Today….Sat Aug 1st….is M/R Day in the Telephone City. ‘M/R’ being Mary Rutherford, Miz. Jo’s Mother, a ‘centurian’ who passed away few years back in her 102nd year. When Mary reached the age of 75, a couple of her close friends had a Day Lily ‘developed’ bearing her name to honour the occasion at a day lily farm near Orono, Ontario. The farm is not in business any more, but over the years they had many orders for M/R bulbs….not to mention family and friends of Mary….of which there are many….digging up some of their own to hand over/pass around to others. Not sure if I can say M/R’s are found coast to coast, tho they live/grow all over Ont, and I’d bet Mary is as far west Alberta, perhaps even B.C. Anyway, last Wed Miz. Jo was up visiting Allan (not his real name), a kindly old gentleman from Listowel, and he dug up two clumps of M/R bulbs for her….then on Thurs ayem Shelley (not her real name) The Garden Lady here was nice enough to plant them for us in one of several gardens Skyline Living maintains down front….and we can see the M/R’s from our balcony! Rotzy’s keen eye noticed one ‘scape’ appeared ready to bloom at tyme of planting, so I kept checking it yesterday (Friday), whilst predicting it would open up today. And Bingo!! I’ve advised Joan, Mary, Bill, Karen, and cetera (not their real names) here in our building of the ‘Grand Opening’ and Miz. Jo will be down there with her i-Pod/camera to record the event! No doubt getting it out and about on Facebook*tm. *UPDATE….Sat 10:48AM….we’re just back from the foto session, Jo Ann leading the way down to the garden with her walker on ‘Cruise’ at about 25 MPH….and she got lots of pics! So….SO…. here’s a “F/N” tip of the Tilley Gardener’s Hat to the dozens and dozens (hundreds?) of keepers of Mary Rutherford Lilies….now also found in Brantford!!

(More) Funn With Masks
Not ‘masques’, as I pointed out two weeks back. I paid about $7 bucks for TWO ‘upscale’ models, which promptly went AWOL, somewhere between Zehr’s and the countertop here in unit #303 where I unload whatever I’ve picked up on my ‘buckboard run’. No masks! That was the heck of me. Next day, being totally ‘maskless’, I grabbed a pack of ‘cheapies’ at Circle K….FIVE for $5 bucks!….drove over to TD Bank for their ATM. In attempting to put the mask on whilst sitting in Norm The Truck, I removed my glasses to make it easier, but the elastic broke. Damn. Mask #2….the elastic broke. Double damn! Mask #3….with great care and concentration I slid the first elastic over my left ear….success! The second elastic being VERY carefully moved into position by my right ear….and it broke!! S–T!!! That was the heck of me again/still. Nervous breakdown tyme….almost….but somehow got the damned thing on, albeit crooked as can be, tied to the arm of my glasses?! Hence, into the ATM area I strode and if anybody had yapped at/complained to me I woulda punched them right in their mask. Hard. However the area was totally void of people AND masks. Also made it into/through/out of the In And Out Store’s major lineups without incident. Back at Unit #303 I’m explaining the whole sorry-ass affair to Miz. Jo, who calmly said ”your head is too big”….or did she say ‘too fat”? Rotzy is more inclined to blame it on my ears…because ever since my post-COVID haircut I look not unike Dumbo. Whatever. Next day I somehow managed to get my second-to-last ‘cheapie’ on my pumpkin, headed right for Zehr’s Pharmacy and sought out a 2 for $7 pack….Model KM 95 or something close to that….and here I am after three consecutive days, still no broken elastic! Proving you only get what you pay for. I’m hoping they become non-mandatory sooner than later. You too?

I Got The Call….
….from Canadian Blood Services last week….actually they foned twice….and I’m booked for a donation (my second, the ‘debut’ having been last April) on Sept 1st, and rather than driving way down to The Civic Centre, it’s at a church just a stone’s throw from #555 Harris Place….over near Frankies Bar should I need to ‘RE-hydrate’! As I had previously mentioned in this space, being ‘0-Negative’ type, one becomes sort of a ‘rock star’ in the world of Blood Donors. Actually, I was figuring on going back for #2 as soon as I could following my inaugural, but a ride in an EMS unit to BGH emerg and a bout of diverticulitis got in my way, then a few days later Miz. Jo had her week-long hospitalization and ‘recovery’ period. But we’re both back on track and I’m actually quite looking forward to it. Long w/ends are always tough on blood supply so yours truly will be able to lend a hand….or a quart….for Labour Day. And if you’re not already a blood donor, maybe you wanna give it some thought!! t

”Take Me Out To The Ball Game”….
….words in song immortalized by MLB announcer Harry Caray during the 7th inning stretch as he urged the crowd to join in with him, hanging out of the booth with his trademark windshield-size glasses. VERY few announcers outlasted Harry’s 53 years of broadcasting over 8300 ball games from 1944 to 1997….25 with the Cardinals, a brief stretch with Charlie O. Finley’s A’s, and of course the balance at Wrigley Field with the Cubs! The infamous intro….”Holy Cow! Hello everybody….bee-yooo-tiful day for baseball”! Harry died in Feb 1998, less than a year after retiring, replaced (in a matter of speaking) by his son Chip, then his grandson Chip. Jeez, Major League Baseball could surely use a hefty dose of Harry Caray these days, couldn’t it? Along with a double shot of Curt Goudy, Mel Allen, Dizzie Dean and Pee-Wee Reese, Scooter Rizzuto and cetera. However, even traipsing out this string of baseball’s best ‘men in the booth’, along with their wisdom, wit and inside-out knowledge of the game wouldn’t help them in the least to deal with what is troubling MLB in 2020….coronavirus! Nothing resembling the Black Sox scandal, nor anything remotely similar to Free Agency or Collective Bargaining. No ‘doping’….balls, bats and/or players. COVID-19….like nothing anybody’s seen before. Ever. And it says here that by this tyme next week….let’s say August 9th….the 60-game shortened version of MLB’s 2020 season will be toast/cancelled/done. I passed this bad news onto Tyson (not his real name), the guy who gathers grocery carts up over at Zehr’s Market parking lot, then sprays/wipes them down with sanitizer. He’s a big guy and a BIG Jays fan, really happy at T.O.’s over .500 start-up! Anyway, I told him yesterday about the THREE teams already infected/infested….that it was surely inevitable from the get-go, and not to get his hopes up for the NHL, NBA, etc….but NASCAR and WWE might escape closure. However, Tyson (not his real name) has chosen to don his rose coloured glasses and said something about ‘thinking positively’. So….SO….as I left him to walk back to Norm The Truck I sang a few lines from ”Keep On The Sunny Side Of Life”…but it didn’t seem to register with him. Stay tuned.