Letters for George: November 2020

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Vic's Hometown Photos

Dear George,

My dad, Vic L., was an excellent amateur photographer. Thanks to my brother Peter, who restored many of Vic’s photographs from the late 1930’s through the early 1950’s and beyond in the form of postcards, we’ve enjoyed a treasure trove of images from our childhood family history. The majority are of family members, friends, and our home on the river, but a number are also of various sights in our home town of Menominee, Michigan, and her sister city, Marinette, Wisconsin. Here are some of my favorites.

Happy Thanksgiving to All,

Dave

Interstate bridge connecting Marinette and Menominee

The Interstate Bridge at night from Riverside Avenue (Marinette)

Lauerman's Department Store, Dunlap Square, Marinette

Bay Scenc

Sailboats on Green Bay

The Ann Arbor Car Ferry (Frankfort, Manitowoc, Menominee)

The Menominee Marina

My Grandfather's Menominee Rexall Drug Store

Interior, soda fountain, Menominee Rexall drugstore

Businesses on Sheridan Road at Ogden Avenue (Vic's law office was above the M&M Light & Traction Co.)

Washington Grade School (attended by my siblings, Steve, Peter, and Vicki and myself)

The Ogden Club

The Menominee River

Dam on the Menominee River

The Ideal Dairy (2 dips for a nickel)

Local Industry

Company houses

Local Industry

Dunlap Square at Christmas time, Marinette

Marinette railroad depot

Nighttime Main Street scene, Marinette

Seagulls and Menominee River at Menekaunee (Marinette)

Fisherman at work in Menekanuee (Marinette)

The Parker-Watts Circus

Circus Parade on Sheridan Road

Monday, November 16, 2020

What's Happening At Our House?

A Quiet Abode

Our house nowadays is a quiet abode

Even sassy little Iko forgets to bark

I’m usually upstairs revising an ode

Our house nowadays is a quiet abode

At home in her kitchen, Katja cooks a la mode

Cuisine de Francaise, her trademark

Our house nowadays is a quiet abode

Even sassy little Iko forgets to bark

Mozart in the Jungle

“Mozart in the Jungle,” our favorite new show

Katja loves it as much as raspberry wine

Conductor Rodrigo, so kooky, you know

“Mozart in the Jungle”, our favorite new show

Newcomer Hailey practices the oboe

Though her teacher has said she won’t shine

“Mozart in the Jungle”, our favorite new show

Katja loves it as much as raspberry wine

The Plumber Calls

The plumber came by again last week

Of all his clientele he says we are the best

One hundred dollars, I suppressed my shriek

The plumber came by again last week

The garbage disposal had started to reek

The egg shells, the celery, the melons, the rest

The plumber came by again last week

Of all his clientele he says we are the best

Jumble Madness

My wife has gone mad for the Jumble

She tackles it first thing each morn

Though upstairs I still hear her mumble

My wife has gone mad for the Jumble

This puzzle makes both of us humble

Though I’m sad that she feels so forlorn

My wife has gone mad for the Jumble

She tackles it first thing each morn

Lil Goodies

We drive to Lil Goodies for our weekend trip

The payoff, a small softserve sundae

Katja explains that the Turtle’s most hip

We drive to Lil Goodies for our weekend trip

I order peanuts to get extra zip

Chocolate syrup is heaven, I say

We drive to Lil Goodies for our weekend trip

The payoff, a small softserve sundae

The Mice

The mice come out when we go to sleep

Scouring the counter for bread crumbs and scraps

So quiet we don’t hear a single peep

The mice come out when we go to sleep

They leave little pellets that cause some to weep

So smart, they’re not fooled by my traps

The mice come out when we go to sleep

Scouring the counter for bread crumbs and scraps

Sheltering

We’ve sheltered in place for close to a year

Though I’m glad that the shelter’s our house

Despite the ennui, we’ve had moments of cheer

We’ve sheltered in place for close to a year

Our ventures in public cause covid-ish fear

I’d rather be home with my spouse

We’ve sheltered in place for close to a year

Though I’m glad that the shelter’s our house

Saturday, November 7, 2020

The Longest Week Ever

Tuesday, Nov. 3

Glued to the tube on election eve

Trump’s winning more states than we thought

The night wears on, we begin to grieve

Glued to the tube on election eve

I worry the pundits have been naive

And our dreams will have gone for nought

Glued to the tube on election eve

Trump’s winning more states than we thought

Thursday, Nov. 5

They’ve been counting the ballots for days

And the battleground states are still close

Trump in the Heartland is still a craze

They’ve been counting the ballots for days

I watch with a growing sense of malaise

Ohio, Kentucky, so gross

They’ve been counting the ballots for days

And the battleground states are still close

Saturday, Nov. 7

CNN has declared, “Joe Biden has won”

It’s true but it’s hard to believe

Trump is now working to get it undone

CNN has declared, “Joe Biden has won”

A moment of joy but not yet much fun

The Prez has tricks up his sleeve

CNN has declared, “Joe Biden has won”

It’s true but it’s hard to believe

BLOG POSTING SCHEDULE, CONTENT, SOURCES, FOCUS, ETC.

-POSTING SCHEDULE

-Larger main posts at left: usually a new addition every one to two weeks.

-Short posts in right-hand column: changed every three weeks, usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

-SOURCES: Personal photos (e.g., family) are by myself or sometimes by another family member. Nonpersonal photos are usually obtained through Google Images. Nonpersonal factual info most frequently comes from Wikipedia and external links available there or from Google searches. Typically I cite sources at the end of the post. If you want to know a source and haven't located it through info I provide, Wikipedia, Google, or Google Images, please let me know at lundgrdc@gmail.com, and I should be able to help.

-MORE OF MY PHOTOS: www.flickr.com/photos/lundgrdc/

-MORE OF MY POEMS: www.funnypoemsmaybe.blogspot.com

-NAMES: At my family members' request, I use "L" rather than our full last name and sometimes initials for first names. Where there's content deemed personal in a story, I may use pseudonyms.

-MY EMAIL: lundgrdc@gmail.com

MARCH 2024 HOLIDAYS

Sun., Mar. 10. Daylight Saving Time starts. Clocks move forward one hour at 2 a.m. // Sun., Mar. 17. St. Patrick’s Day. Celebrating one of Ireland’s patron saints and Irish-American culture in the U.S. // Wed., Mar. 20. Spring Equinox. One of two annual equinoxes in which the length of night and day are nearly equal. // Thurs., Mar. 21. World Poetry Day. Promoting linguistic expression through poetry. // Sat., Mar. 23. Purim starts. A Jewish holiday which commemorates Jews being saved from extermination in Persia. // (Source: wincalendar.com)

CINCINNATI NEWS

According to ratings by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, Cincinnati ranks 4th best in parks among the nation’s 100 largest cities. 88% of Cincinnati residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. Neighborhoods where most people identify as a person of color have access to 4% less park space than those in predominantly white neighborhoods. Park amenities ranked high for Cincinnati in categories of basketball hoops, playgrounds, bathrooms, recreation, senior centers, and splash pads. Dog parks were much lower, only 1.6 dog parks per 100K people. Cities ranked higher than Cincinnati were Arlington, VA, St. Paul, MN, and Washington, D.C. (wcpo.com, 5-5-22)

EVERYDAY FOIBLES

I have one pair of prescription glasses for reading, one for distance (driving, movies). I also have a dozen $1.00 reading glasses from the Dollar Store so I can keep my prescription pair permanently on our dining room table. Of course I lost my distance glasses two years ago. I’ve been sure they was somewhere around the house, but I’ve scoured everywhere. Last week I got ready to go to my writers group and picked out a pair of reading glasses from my bedside table. One had orange and purple rims, one green and yellow, and one dark brown. I chose the conservative dark brown pair. At my group I tried reading with them, but everything was blurry. I was sure they weren’t Katja’s glasses, but they certainly weren’t my reading glasses. Back home Katja suggested that maybe they were my distance glasses. I looked out the window, and the house down the block was in clearer focus. So my lost distance glasses have been sitting next to my bed for the past two years.

FAMOUS POETS

Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1888. His father, a prosperous businessman, sent him to Milton Academy and Harvard where he excelled. At Harvard Eliot studied philosophy, earning a master’s degree under George Santayana. He then studied linguistics, poetry, and philosophy at the Sorbonne and at Oxford University, settling in England after his studies, working as a banker, and writing poetry. Eliot published his first masterpiece, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, in 1917, and he followed it with “The Waste Land” in 1922, a long poem that had tremendous impact on Western literature. Andrew Lloyd Webber adapted Eliot’s 1939 children’s book, “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” into the stage musical “Cats”, one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history. Awarded the Nobel Prize in 1948, Eliot died in 1965. (Tessitore, Extraordinary American Writers, 2004)

MY WEEK (Mon., 4/8 - Sun., 4/14/24)

We watched the total eclipse on TV, not wanting to risk our retinas. I read “An Ode to April” at my writers’ group and watched episode 1 of Ripley on Netflix (too scary for Katja). I went to the fitness center and did FaceTime with Donna. Katja and I ate out at Dewey’s (pizza and salad), Izzie’s (pastrami Reuben), and Lil Goodies (softserve sundaes). We took the tax info to our accountant, too late and requiring an extesion. Katja went to the Hair Salon. We wound up the week with Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office, a chilling PBS drama.