World of Wednesdays July 23, 2025

Here we go again folks. Wednesdays roll around fast!

What's On My Mind

I have reconsidered putting ads on my blog. Since I've upped my output (much to my enjoyment I might add), my page views have increased significantly Probably because I have something interesting to say, at least to a certain segment of the Blogosphere. Actually, all I write about is my life here in southern coastal Delaware. I am what I am, an eighty-three year old widowed gay man, soon to be married again, facing the challenges of my aging body and diminished brain as I prepare for my final exit from this lifetime. I know if I found a blog like mine I would be very interested in reading in so I am assuming there are other people like me out there in that vast blogosphere community. Writing my blog is something I enjoy doing and I could use the extra income. I'm not sure if I can make more than a few bucks a month but I'm going to give it a try. I'm still awaiting approval from Google AdSense. 

Where I'm Going

No plans for any trips in the immediate future. If Pat and I get married next month I plan to go to Philadelphia and visit my longtime friend Don McK. I also would like to visit my former hometown (Philadelphia was for many years) Downingtown. I'm still estranged from my MAGA brother but I've developed a close relationship with my cousin Barbara K. I haven't seen here in years but we've been talking on the phone a lot since her brother Bud died. She was his full-time caregiver and now lives alone in their former family house. Same as my MAGA brother, he lives alone in our former family homestead. He has a rescue cat for company. For years he literally lived in the basement with his giant computer screen where he played video games. This after his divorce. He moved in when my parents were still alive. When he lived in the basement he had Fox News on 24/7. Yes, he had that TV station on even when he slept. When I attended our Mother's funeral, before we had a falling out, I stayed overnight in my old bedroom. I had to leave at 1:30 AM in the morning because I couldn't get to sleep I could hear Fox News blasting out on his TV downstairs. It's a small house, eleven hundred square feet. I was afraid if I stayed the night my brain would be permanently damaged. I left and drove home to Delaware. It was strange taking that two hour drive at that time of night. Hardly any traffic. 

What I'm Reading

I may discontinue this category. I take a while to read a book since I only read when before I go to sleep. And I only read one book at a time. That's all my brain can handle at this point in my life.

What I'm Eating

Fresh fruit and vegetables. OMG! I love summertime. Fresh corn, watermelon, cantaloup, tomatoes and so much more! Right now I'm digging into a sweet watermelon every day. I'm overloaded with cantaloup since I bought one and my widowed neighbor Bob gave me half of his. We're both widowers and we give each other half of our food often. He's my main cake supplier although lately I've lost my taste for cake. More about that development in a future blog post.

Who Needs A Good Slap

Whoever supplies peaches to the stores. They pick them too soon and many of those peaches, which aren't cheap, are mealy when they "ripen" at room temperature. I'm old enough to remember what a real peach taste like. Many years ago when I visited my late brother John Tipton at his home in Greenville, South Carolina (the largest supplier of peaches in the United Stats, not Georgia as one might assume), I bought a basket of peaches at a ridiculously low price. I think I paid six dollars for the basket and it was a regular basket, not one of those cutie poo little ladylike baskets, this was a bushel basket. The last time I bought peaches at my local fruit and veggie stand I paid eight dollars for six peaches! The ones that ripened were good (and big) but still did not taste like those ripe South Carolina peaches I tasted in 2013 when I last visited my brother at his home in South Carolina. 

Who Gets A Fist Bump

Believe it or not the TSA! And by default the Homeland Security Department headed by that puppy killer lady Kristi Noem. They finally, FINALLY, stopped that Security Theater ridiculousness of removing your shoes at airport security. Now tell me, how many potential hijackers have they caught since that moronic policy was put into place? I'm think NADA. Nothing. It was all Security Theater. So much of what "authorities" do is meaningless and wasteful. Thank God they finally stopped this ridiculous practice. Lately it hasn't even affected me because I have a TSA Precheck pass and I'm old. Airport Security takes one pitiful look at this old man and knows that I'm not a threat. Besides if I had to take my shoes off I would probably fall over because of my balance problems now. I should record the looks on their faces when they see the Old Man coming at them. Sadness, pity and sometimes annoyance. Sorry folks, this is where I am now. Not much I can do about my condition now and I'm not going back to physical therapy.

What I'm Planning

Putting two aerators in my fish pond. My fish are thriving since I put one of those waterfall filters in my pond. I like the sound of the falling water, the fish get bubbles which translates into air for them, and I'm able to control the algae so the pond is relatively clear. However, I hear aerator bubbles will help to make my pond even clearer and the fish, of course, will appreciate the additional oxygen. 

What's Making Me Smile

Knowing Bill is in Heaven now with his dogs, parents and friends who have passed before us. Yesterday was particularly bad for me as I came across a short video I took of a visitor, my good friend Judy D. visiting Bill three years ago after he came home from the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and the Dover Rehab after three weeks. He was still so weak. But he was happy because he was at home. I was so happy that I was able to being him home and care for him for the next three years because I had almost lost him when he passed out and got a brain concussion from hitting his head on the edge of the coat rack in his bedroom. Looking at that video brought tears to my eyes again and a reminder of how much I miss him in my life. But I know that he is so happy now in Heaven with those he loved so much in his life. I am comforted by the fact that I know he awaits me and we will be together again. He confirmed this last night by reappearing through that burned out Christmas light. This is the way he has communicated with me in the past. For the last month or so it's been dark again. But last night, as I was making dinner for myself, I saw something flash from my peripheral vision. It was that light! That was Bill! Our love is eternal. That makes me smile.