Coming Up Roses

Dare I say it, but life is finally taking a turn for the better for this Delaware retiree. The bill for my emergency room visit of January 3rd is finally settled. I have my new partial denture after enduring a tooth extraction and a couple of months of no teeth on the right side of my mouth. The unexpected bills have finally stopped popping up. And, best of all, I do believe the cold weather is behind us. Bill and I were out this weekend building new raised flower beds while the swallows performed their aerial acrobatics over our lawn insect hunting. After years of procrastination I finally have my genealogy website and blogs up and running. Through the kind and generous help of a fellow blogger, I’ve added music to both. After the long winter hibernation, I’m ready for the long, warm, sun dappled days of summer in coastal Delaware. And who knows, maybe DELDOT will finally finish Route 1. Then I can truly say…………………..life is good in Slower Lower Delaware.

Sunny Days Again

As twilight descends upon this wonderful sunny spring day, I can report that life for this retired gentleman has returned to sunny days. Yesterday I traveled the 37 mile one way trip to my dentist in Dover to have my new partial denture refitted. I could not use it the way it was. Wearing it was giving me a constant toothache, and I couldn’t chew food on that side of my mouth. Something had to be done or else I was going to go without, thus becoming a true toothless Sussex County native. Good news! Dr. Jolly (yes, that is my dentist’s name) performed her magic on my denture and I am now among the fully- toothed citizens of the eastern shore of Sussex County. If it wasn’t fixed I would have to seriously considering moving to the other side of Route 1 to Millsboro or thereabouts thus joining the many Sussex County toothless natives who live west of Route 1. More good news, my partner has come out of his depression. We are doing things together again. This morning we had our weekly Saturday morning breakfast at Zorba's Restaurant in Rehoboth Beach. Zorba's, formerly the Ocean Point Grille, is a family owned Greek restaurant. It has a comfortable, if not elegant, ambiance and serves home cooked food in a friendly all inclusive atmosphere. This is a restaurant that makes single diners feel comfortable. Food is good, prices are reasonable, service is great, and (a big plus) no screaming kids. What more could two elderly gentlemen want in the way of dining out experience? After breakfast we stopped at Lowes and purchased eight 4 by 4s to build garden boxes at the edge of our back yard. Yesterday, the Birdman of Milton put in two birdhouses for us. One is a purple martin birdhouse and the other is a bluebird house. He told us the purple martins will be arriving the first of May. The bluebird house is positioned directly outside our sunroom window where Bill can watch the activity all spring and summer. Who needs the Disney channel when we have so much of nature right outside our window? Today the temperature reached 78 degrees with no wind and some humidity. It was a tantalizing preview of the long, hazy summer days to come. Perhaps the only downside of the warm weather is that it takes me away from my PC and updating my blogs and website. It isn’t easy sitting in front of my computer with the outside beckoning me through my window. It is easier during the cold blustery days of winter to make the choice to bury myself into my computer and all its addictive charms. For now I will have to balance the lure of outside with the passion of keeping current my blogs and web site current. Life is good.

The Kindness of Strangers

Sometimes, when you least expect it, a stranger comes into your life and offers a helping hand. In this world today, when we are so skeptical of any unsolicited offer of help, it is refreshing to discover that there are still nice people in this world. One such person is a lady that I know as “Happy In Nevada.” I only know her first name. It is Diane. A friend told me that someone had left a comment on my blog. I’ve had comments before on previous blogs. They were usually critical of either my subject matter or writing style. Never a comment that was constructive or helpful. Thus, I proceeded with trepidation to read the comment on my “Computer Frustrations” blog. I had written about my difficulty in adding music to my web site. It was a very complicated and laborious process. I did not know I had the option of adding music to my blog. Happy in Nevada gave me instructions on how to add music. The first thing I thought was, “What’s the catch?” We have become inured these days to someone doing anything nice for us without expecting payment in some form or another. Even worse, Happy in Nevada could be a very clever ruse to put a monster virus in my computer. Tentatively I began to follow her instructions for first selecting music then adding that music to my blog. After a few false starts, my blog had music! My computer didn’t get that dreaded Blue Screen of Death when I added the music. Could it be that Happy in Nevada was just a nice lady who lives in Nevada extending a helping hand to this frustrated computer geek? Yes, she was for real! Like Dr. Frankenstein said when the lightening bolt brought to life his monster “It’s alive! It’s alive!” I’m saying “I have music! I have music!” I’m so enthused now I might start a new blog. I’ll call it “Happy in Delaware.”

Slowly Recovering

All is still not well in paradise. My partner is still silent. This is a pattern he has displayed for most of the forty-three years we have cohabited together. However, I sense that he is coming out of his depression. Every now and then I catch a glimpse of him passing by. That is a positive sign that this period of silence is coming to an end. Even though I say I will get through it each time it happens, it doesn’t get any easier. This past weekend the weather warmed up enough that I could get outside and do some yard work around the house. It only takes a few warm days for the winter pansies to awaken from their chilled slumber. The splashy purple and gold colors of the violas have given Old Man Winter notice that it is time to leave. Yesterday I traveled up north on Route 1 to my HMO dental offices located in Dover, Delaware. My appointment was at 8:30 AM. I arrived in Dover at 7 AM. I missed the morning rush only to sit in the dental office parking lot listening to the robins, starling and sparrows sort things out for the day. Later, I was fitted for my partial denture. It doesn’t fit. Dr. Jolly (ironic name for a dentist), did some grinding down but the denture still didn’t fit. She said to try it for awhile. She told me there was no need for me to make an appointment if I wanted to return for another fitting. I wore it last night at work, still doesn’t fit. As much as I tried to rationalize it to myself, it just doesn’t fit. The bite isn’t right. I thought maybe a good night’s sleep would do the trick. Maybe it was a combination of me being depressed over my partner’s silence and the long day. First thing this morning I placed the denture in my mouth. Still doesn’t fit. I called the dental offices. Dr. Jolly will be in Friday. I now know what I’m doing Friday, I’m returning this denture. As Bette Davis said “Getting old ain’t for sissies!” Perhaps by Friday the silent treatment will be at an end. I do know that the flowers will still be putting on their colorful springtime show. And all will be well with the world again. Even though I will probably never get that denture to fit.

Chickens in Delaware

Shortly after I retired to Delaware, I noticed one thing that was to become ubiquitous on my travels around the roads of Sussex County, the chicken trucks. What are the chicken trucks? These are open bed trucks loaded with cage upon cage of 8 week old boiler chickens headed for slaughter. Sussex County Delaware is the most southern county of Delaware’s three counties. Sussex County land is open and flat, perfect for the long rows of chicken houses. Delaware is ranked 7th in the country for poultry production. I live east of Route 1, which is the ocean side of the peninsula. The demographics of “East of 1” are almost all new Delaware residents. Like me, most of these new Delaware citizens are retirees who moved to Delaware to escape the high taxes of their home states. Others have second homes to take advantage of the resorts of Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach and other shore attractions. On the “other” side of Rt. 1, are the natives of Sussex County. These natives consist of the descendants of the original Dutch settlers, Nanticoke Indians (true natives) and the recent immigration of Hispanics, mostly Guatemalans. On occasion I have to travel on the other side of “One” to visit a friend or to shop at the local Walmarts (Georgetown and Milford). Almost invariably I will find my Subaru Forester behind one of these chicken trucks. My first reaction is profound sadness. These chickens do not know where there are going. I think of Nazi Germany sending trainloads of Jews to the death camps of Auschwitz and Treblinka. I want to holler “Run for your lives!” Some chickens do escape from their cages, only to be run down on the highway. Shortly after this picture included in this blog was taken, I saw the mangled form of one such chicken along the side of the highway. For all of these chickens, this first and last trip is the first time they have seen daylight in their short lives. They are raised in long, low slung chicken houses under artificial light. Their feet never touch the earth that have been warmed by sunlight. On this last day of their life they are roughly gathered by forearm scarred “chicken catchers” and shoved into wooden cages. These cages are stacked one atop another on the back of a tractor trailer flatbed truck. Thus they begin their Final Journey. They do not know that they will soon meet their end at one of the local chicken processing plants. They will be pulled out of their wooden cages. They will be hung upside down by their legs in a conveyor belt type contraption. The lucky ones will have the electric shock stun them to death before they are eviscerated. When I pass one of these chicken trucks I think of this. Quite frequently I’m on my way to lunch at the Ocean Point Grille II on Long Neck Road. They have a great Chicken Caesar Wrap. I wonder if I’m eating one of those chickens that only a week or so earlier were giving me a quizzical look from their Truck of Death.

Friends

Cloudy Sunday

I slept late this morning. Normally I get up around 6 AM. This morning I didn’t roll out of bed until around 9 o’clock. Perhaps it was because of the comforting sounds of the wind whipping around outside my bedroom windows that caused my slumber. Maybe it was because of relief from the stress of conflict with my partner yesterday over the placement of curtains in the sun room. Or maybe it was just because I took advantage of another benefit of retirement, to get up when I felt like it. There is nothing like the pure freedom of getting up when you want to get up. That precious freedom does not have a price tag. Each day like this is a little miracle. So many years are sacrificed just to get to this point, to get up when you want. If you want to turn over and sleep another hour, go ahead. Absolutely wonderful! Another benefit of the freedom of retirement is to decide today what I want to do today. My only “obligation” is to meet friends at the Purple Parrot in Rehoboth Beach tonight for our weekly get together. Of course I don’t have to go, but we do enjoy each other’s company. It is a time of gentle teasing between friends. To have a few laughs at each other’s expense. We will have a glass of wine, some of us will order the prime rib special. We will all enjoy that special camaraderie that only old friends can bring together. Such times are indeed good for the soul. On the home front, Bill is slowly overcoming his disappointment and anger about not being able cover up the sun room windows with smothering curtains. Life will go back to normal. We have been to this movie before. From my front door I can see that is a cloudy Sunday in our community. All is well. The sun will shine again.