Dear Folks,
            Ah, the end of the year is fast approaching. As I sat up on the park bench this morning, it certainly looks as though it will be a great day today. My blood glucose was 130 and the weight 206.
            Gradually as I learn more about what I am doing the better the appearance of this thing will become. I discovered that Microsoft Word is a marvelous medium in which to work. As I viewed past editions of this epistle, I was chagrined to see that what I was typing and composing was not always at all what the web page showed. Then by trial and error [who reads directions] I found that I could monitor just how my work will appear as a web page. This enabled me to make necessary corrections as I go, so that the final appearance will not be such a shock.
            Golly Whiz, one wouldn't recognize this computer space in the family room now! This morning we went up to Big Lots and I got three plastic stackable drawers. Later this afternoon, I cleaned house and now for the first time since I started using this area for my computers, the couch is clear of any of my stuff. I can't believe it myself. One could actually take a nap on it and stretch out full length!
            Before we left town, I stopped at the bank and then over to ”Cipko plaza” for a picture of the “Yule Mule” Someone had placed a Christmas garland around it’s neck as seen below.

Sunday, December 28, 2003 9:03 AM 25 Deg at LVIA and 25.9 in the bus stop
            This morning I let Butternut out and after the coffee was ready went up to the park bench. I left the coffee on the bench, got the car out, went down to Lafayette Ave. and turned on the heat as well as plugged in the fridge and got it running, We expect the Delaware Ellistons today sometime. After which, I returned to my cooled coffee and enjoyed it. It wasn’t cold, but it had cooled. Queen was down early. She wanted to take a bath. Then I ran the mop over the kitchen floor.
            I got an  e-mail from Dave Engler about one of the pictures in a past issue concerning the Rahn house. I had it in the issue in which I had the major disaster. Many of them never made it into the web page. I shall try to remember the ones I missed and put them here.

       <Later> We had a grand time this evening. The Delaware Ellistons arrived for an extended stay in our fair town. We all enjoyed Queen’s chicken dinner with baked potatoes, green beans, raw carrots, sliced tomatoes, and for dessert, some of Queen’s candy and a special treat cookies from the fairy princess. It was good. Yes, I was careful not to over do. Here we are all together.

            This Monday morning my blood glucose was 133 and my weight 207. It looks like it will nice day this morning. As soon as the coffee is ready, mutt and I shall check it out.
Well, I was out this morning with Butternut. As usual, he saw a woman walking her dog and took great exception to it. After the first cup of 8’o clock coffee, I set about cleaning up recycled dog food in the yard. The stuff was frozen solid.
            Queen is busy doing the wash. At least it was not the big one she had last week. Then this morning, we went to the stores. Aldi, Wal-Mart, and Giant to pick up some stuff for the New Years celebration. We got back but it was after 2:30 PM before we could take our rests.
     I went to lay down when Queen called to me an emergency message from Kathy. She had locked herself out at Lafayette Ave. So, it was back on with the trousers and down I went with the key. No problem, though.
    Tonight before supper, Christine and Jason stopped by for a short visit. They were touring the area all afternoon and decided to stop by before returning to Lafayette Ave for supper.
    Tonight for our supper we had a superb meal. Yesterday neighbor Mike came over with a large dish of his Mom’s homemade Lasagna. Tonight we got it out of the fridge and heated a serving each in the microwave. We had it with a fresh salad. It was sensational. Mike said this would be the last for a while. They are starting on a low carbohydrate diet very soon. We wish him well in his endeavor. He can do it if he really wants to try it. As I am finding out the problem isn’t in my stomach, but in my head.
    On Sunday evening after our meal, my experts showed me some tricks I am now using in composing and formatting this letter. Golly but it certainly makes for a much nicer looking web page as well as speeding up the process. There is not nearly as much going back and forth to check content appearance.

I got this from Henry Schwartz,

“Subject: true or false

 Can you guess which of the following are true or false?
Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up
in the morning.
2. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a bellybutton.
3. A pack-a-day smoker will lose approximately 2 teeth every 10 yrs.
4. People do not get sick from cold weather; it's from being indoors a lot more.
5. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop even your heart!
6. Only seven (7) per cent of the population are lefties.
7. 40 people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute.
8. Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until they are 2-6 years old.
9. The average person over fifty will have spent 5 years waiting in lines.
10. The toothbrush was invented in 1498.
11. The average housefly lives for one month.
12. 40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.
13. A coat hanger is 44 inches long when straightened.
14. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.
15. Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than the rest of the day.
16. Most of us have eaten a spider in our sleep.
17. The REAL reason ostriches stick their head in the sand is to search for water.
18. The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning it's head are the rabbit and the parrot.
19. John Travolta turned down the starring roles in "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Tootsie."
20. Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State anthem.
21. In most television commercials advertising milk, a mixture of white paint and a little thinner is used in place
of the milk.
22. Prince Charles and Prince William NEVER travel on the same airplane just in case there is a crash.
23. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle built in 1903 used a tomato can for a carburetor.
24. Most hospitals mak e money by selling the umbilical cords cut from women who give birth. They are reused in vein transplant surgery.
25. Humphrey Bogart was related to Princess Diana. They were
7th cousins.
26. If coloring weren't added to Coca-Cola, it would be green.
 And the answers are:
  THEY ARE ALL TRUE”


December 30, 2003 7:38 AM 34 Deg at LVIA and 31.9 in the bus stop
            This morning my blood glucose was 148 and my weight 206. Apparently, the Lasagna is not without its downside. Sheez!! It is raining this morning. I doubt if I will be visiting the park bench this morning.
    I got an e-mail the other day from both Bob Green as well as Steve Jensen trying to establish the location of this particular house here in Palmerton. Someone has the picture for sale on E Bay and its location is in question.

   Queen just pointed out to me that the brick house next to it. is probably now the Sikorsky place. He was the plumber for Costenbader for years. The house in question is probably the house where Walter Campbell lived. Mrs. Campbell was Kenny White’s sister who lived with them. The upper side next to the brick house is where Mrs. Britton lives  today.  The John Helmuth’s lived there in the upper side for a time also. That would put it on the north side of the 200 block of Lafayette. The thing I can’t fathom is the house in the background up on what must be the south side of Columbia
    Queen and I went for our first full walk this morning in several days. It was good to be able to be out and walk with her. We met Lee Bollinger at the top of First and Columbia. It was good to talk with him.
    As we walked down Columbia Ave to Second and Columbia, we are almost positive that one of the houses on Columbia is the house seen in the background in the above picture. The back of the house on shown on Columbia in the picture looks just like the second house down from the corner on the south side of the street. That would put it just about where the one in the picture is located.
    This morning marked the end of an era for me. We got a sympathy card from the woman who kept us in touch with my cousin Charlotte Meisse, who was in a retirement home. She said she died last October peacefully in her sleep. She was 95 years old.
     Charlotte lived in the Harrisburg area. The woman bought and lives in Charlotte’s former house in Harrisburg and had been keeping us apprised of Charlotte’s condition over the years.
     Charlotte was the last of any of my Elliston kin. That makes me the “Last of the Mohicans”. I am now  the last member of that branch of the family tree. Golly, another branch pruned!! One of these days, I am going to have to think seriously about the possibility of old age. Ha!!
    Here is a picture taken at a party a long time ago at Charlotte’s home on Ivy Lane in Harrisburg. At the left is my brother Dick, a younger and beautiful Queen [Ruth], daughter Mary, my mother Belva, and my sister Mary. In the background can be seen me, Bob and I think just a bit of cousin Charlotte.


    The Ellistons arrived this evening for a short visit. They are relaxing and taking it easy. Tomorrow we will all get together for out annual  New Years dinner.


Wednesday, December 31, 2003 7:20 AM 23 Deg at LVIA and 31 deg in the bus stop
            It is a nice day this morning My blood sugar was 141 and my weight 206.Butternut and I were out, this morning, on this last day of 2003. As I sat up there recalled some New Years Eves past. My sister Mame [Mary}, often would go to a lot of trouble for a party that evening. She had fancy hats and all kinds of stuff to eat. At the strike of the New Year, she insisted that we all have at least a penny in our pockets and a piece of Gefiltefish in our mouths.  The picture below must have been taken by my sister Mary back in the 1950’s


This morning we  walked downtown. We parked at Keystone Savings at Third Street and walked to Rite Aid at 6th street and back.
    As we were starting a nice gal called to us to wait. It was our friend Marie Deiter. We were able to exchange hugs. She told us that her husband Harvey had to be taken to the hospital in the ambulance the other day. Apparently they noticed the he was he developing splotches in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. They examined him and called a dermatologist for a quick consultation. He had chicken pox. He is doing all right now.
    On the way back, we stopped in at the Times News. Joel was just leaving and Sharon was there alone. Patty was on vacation in Florida. Of course, I took pictures.


<Later> Well it has quieted down now. Every on has left and Queen and I shall soon  we will be heading for bed. We watch the ball drop and all those crazy people in Times Square after midnight it is over to my bed and to sleep.
    We had a great time tonight. George, Kathy, Jason, Christine, and Andy were here. Also Mary and Jim, Belva and Fritz and Tommy Davies. We had a baked ham, potatoes, a string bean & vegetable mix, a cranberry sweet potato salad, pickles, celery, olives, and carrots made up the meal. Then we had coffee and about a million kinds of cookies for dessert. Everyone brought some of their own cookies. It was excellent. Then, we had an evening of pleasant conversation. Here are some pictures of our New Years eve party.


Thursday, January 01, 2004 7:25 AM 37 deg at LVIA and 34.5 deg. in the bus stop
            Well it is the beginning of a New Year and we are all wondering what lies ahead for us. I hope that things will improve and continue to change for the better for the whole world in this coming new year.
    My God, I said at the meal last night that I was afraid to publicize my medical stuff today! It was unbelievable to me. The weight was still 206 but the blood glucose was an astounding 114. I hope that portends good things for the New Year, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it!!!
    Tonight for New Years day evening meal, we shall be having pork and sauerkraut with mashed potatoes. A chance to clean out the plumbing
            I sat comfortably up on the park bench on a splendid morning. There was not a cloud in the sky. I must have seen six or seven jet liners heading west as I sat there. I sat down here on the dark side of the mountain before the sun appears.  Up there with the sun was glistening on their fuselages all within a period of about fifteen minutes, It was a beautiful sight. Speaking of which, it seems to me that they must be doing something right. We got through New Year’s Eve with no incidents of terror here at all. I notice many foreign flights have ether been curtailed or canceled, some even were turned back. I strongly suspect they know a lot more than they are letting on. Mr. Ridge has taken a page from the Israeli airlines and is taking no chances. The lack of incidents is no accident. I hope I am right.
            I sat there contemplating the evening past. It was great having every one here. All contributed to the meal and were very helpful in its preparation and cleanup. It was very much appreciated by Queen and I.  We had to scurry around doing essential dishes before midnight.
            Then I lay in Queen’s bed with her watching the arrival of the New Year with great hopes for this new one. I said to her, next year same place, and same time!!  I said that same thing last year.                     
  I am not ungrateful. The good Lord has been very good to us both. Take one day at a time.
One thing I do know that I have an “easy” mind. There are no demons chasing me.


Friday, January 02, 2004 7:41 AM 36 Deg at LVIA and 33.8 in the bus stop
            It is a bit wet outdoors this morning. I did go to the park bench for one cup of 8 ‘o clock coffee, but it began to rain and my better judgment forced me to come in the house. The sidewalks were not icy, but the bench seat had ice granules on it. My blood glucose this morning was 134 and my weight 207.
            This morning we went to Aldi and Wal-Mart for a few items and returned home. Then we went to the bank and at the same time paid a batch of bills. Queen went into the Borough Hall to get the Dog license and pay the sewer- trash collection bill at the same time. I went into the Telephone office and paid the phone bill. I peeked in at the Times News office but everybody had gone somewhere else.
            After our lunch, I put Butternut’s license on his collar. Now he is a legal beagle. While we were out son George must have been here and installed the new shutoff valve for the Maytag clothes washer. Now, no more leaks. They gave the computer a few more tweaks and things are running smoothly now.
            They were here for supper tonight. Queen had a chicken, rice main course with canned corn, tomatoes, cottage cheese, and sliced tomatoes for supper. We had ice cream bars for dessert.
            The Delaware Ellistons are heading back home tomorrow. We will miss them. It will get quiet around here.
It is about time to close this for this week. Please love one another, Mom and Bob  
[Queen and Bobby]
 
Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.
Benjamin Franklin
He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.
Benjamin Franklin
Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?
Benjamin Franklin