The Blogger's Return

Yes, I have returned. Yesterday was spent in recovering from the break and trying to get back into blogging mode. In answer to the questions posed to my last post:

Update on Mad's Progress

The latest information I have dates from July 12. To quote that letter, "There was a definite improvement in Mad today. He rested over the weekend and it was obviously of benefit. He used a zimmer frame (walker) today and can get on and off the bed although it is not easy and he has to lift his legs. They are hoping to get him on crutches tomorrow. Hoping that he will be home by the end of the week. I have a commode and urine bottle and bought a chair that is the right height for him. He is off the morphine, just on 'normal' painkillers. He is quite chirpy but says if they don't let him come home soon, he will make his escape!"

Adventures in Tahlequah

We stayed in Tahlequah for two days but did not go rafting or anything else on any river. Kathy's sister is married to a direct descendant of Major Ridge, who led a contingent of Cherokee on the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory, so it was inevitable that we spent most of our time at the Cherokee Heritage Center. I may post about this but it needs time to "ferment".

Back to Work

I am still getting back into blogging mode so will continue the Accelerate series tomorrow. In attempting to catch up with my "rounds", I notice that Gary Bourque of Both Worlds has tagged me (in his post "Splendor in the St. Augustine Grass") for an interesting meme. He caught me at a good time - not ready to get back to work proper but needing to post something to get the ball rolling again. So here it is:

Childhood Meme

The idea is to state five things that I miss from childhood days and then tag just one person.

1. Freedom from Responsibility. More than anything else, I remember childhood as being a time when I did not have to think about "important" things like my position on the earth's surface, what games the politicians were getting up to, where the next meal was coming from, who would be affected by any action or decision of mine; all these things were taken care of by "the big people", leaving me free to pursue my own concerns. If my memory serves me correctly, these matters did not even enter my consciousness until I was well into the teenage years and I then became as desperate to gain such responsibilities as any other kid. Having gained them, I can say that they are not nearly as enjoyable as I imagined. There is a freedom in never having to make such huge choices.

2. Long Summer Holidays. I remember little of how I spent those long days with no obligation to do anything and a whole world to explore. But it's not the doing that counts - it's the endless days that stretch into the future, waiting to be filled with whatever comes along. As adults we steal a week off here and maybe two there but can only dream of taking the whole summer. Just imagine it - six or seven weeks with no necessity to blog!

3. Cheese Chips (crisps). They invented flavored chips during my childhood and one of the first flavors was cheese. I think it was just cheese and not a chemical for it tasted exactly right. Then some idiot thought to improve them by bringing out cheese and onion flavor, this time thanks to chemicals. Cheese chips disappeared into history but I, for one, mourn their passing.

4. Shelling Peas. One of my chores as a child was shelling the peas. I resented it at the time but now realise that those peas tasted better than anything we have today, be they frozen, canned, reconstituted or anything else. Of course, I could buy fresh peas now and shell them myself, but it's all about speed these days - and frozen peas are a fair approximation of the real thing.

5. The Swiss Army Knife. I never had a Swiss army knife but I always wanted one. And it's the desire for something unattainable that I miss. You could say that now I desire an Audi S3 or a stomping computer and you'd be right. But these days I desire such things intellectually - they'd be nice to have but I'm not going to die if I don't have them. Back then I desired with true passion from the heart and was convinced that failure to achieve that desire would result in a slow, lingering death.

Okay, that's my five. I call upon Josh to tell us what he misses from childhood days. Of course, I realize that Josh's blog is where memes go to die so I'll not be holding my breath...