At this time I want to acknowledge the deep debt of gratitude to all those who have supported me in this endeavor. My wife, Queen is my inspiration and greatly augments my efforts. I realize that I sometimes must drive her nuts with my ravings and antics. Her support has been a lifesaver.
        My son George, grandsons; Andy and Jason have been instrumental in making these things appear at all. They all suffer an old fool well, my thanks to them all. I also deeply appreciate the responses from my readers. I regret that some still have problems opening the pictures. At least these pages don’t have to stand on their literary merit alone. The responses from readers have been wonderful. I appreciate you all. Bob


Saturday, June 26, 2004 7:22 AM 66 Deg at LVIA and 67.1 in the bus stop.
          It looks cloudy this morning but it is expected to clear. The blood glucose this morning was 135 and the weight 204.
<11:37>I had planned to go for a Saturday swim but there is no sign of the sun. The water would be fine but I would like some sunshine to take off the chill when I exit the pool.

          Once again I was reminded of one of my biggest failings last night. I am always in too much of a hurry when I do something. My impatience is a real curse. Queen says all I need do it to try to curb it harder. Oye Vey!! Last night I couldn’t find my web page after I put it on line. I knew it was there because I watched it upload. The problem turned out to be one lousy period instead of a dash in my naming it. Son George, informed me and fixed it. Honest to God!!! As usual I am my own worst enemy. I am always in too much of a hurry and don’t take the time to check things properly. <Sigh> From the quotation at the bottom of this letter, “Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately, it kills all its pupils “ is a great truth. I wonder if I will live long enough to actually learn this stuff!!
          After lunch Queen was busy trimming the bushes up at the old garden area. I went up and helped her using the loppers and the gas trimmer to get rid of a lot of overgrowth that badly needed trimming. It looks much better now.


        This afternoon I sweet-talked Queen into going up with me to the pool. After my swim we water walked. It was wonderful! It was nice to be greeted by Gretchen as we entered the pool. The water temperature was a wonderful 75 degrees.



Tommy was over to supper this evening. After our meal we all sat on the porch, had dessert, and had a good time just shooting the breeze.


Sunday, June 27, 2004 7:24 AM 50 deg at LVIA and 51.1 in the bus stop.
          I went up to the “tent” with my coffee this morning and was glad to see such a beautiful day this morning. It is cool and very comfortable.

 When Queen got up we went for our regular walk. It was a marvelous day to walk. I see that the “Duris Lot” is now pretty well excavated and I suspect a foundation will soon be constructed.


         
This morning my blood glucose was an amazing 114 and the weight 201. That was with a mac and cheese meal last night. To me the obvious moral to that is to have mac and cheese more often. Ha!!
          This morning Queen and I were sitting up in the “tent” resting after some more bush trimming and Tommy came over with a new birdhouse. He looked inside the old one to be sure they had left and permanently installed the new one at the same location. He said there is a good chance they will nest again in a week or two. Now we are prepared with brand new “digs” for them.
          Golly but I got a refreshing E-Mail this morning from Bob Dunn. He lived down the street from our house. His Dad was the manager of the old W. T. Grant Store. He has been out of this area for quite awhile.

“Good morning Bob,
    Again what a great pleasure it is to receive the news of the week.  For those of us who were in the 60's generation coming out of school, Palmerton was too sleepy and dull.  Well you never realize how beautiful sleepy and dull are until you have lived in a variety of towns and cities as we have. [Underline, mine]
          Your mentioning of Palmerton being a superfund site got me thinking of a report I saw many years ago which was published by an independent government office regarding the living conditions in and around the Palmerton area.
    The report stated that Palmerton had more healthy citizens, per capita, above the age of 70 than anywhere else in the United States.  There were fewer colds or serious infections with the populace as well as fewer serious ailments of any type than any other area of the United States.
 Here is my personal story to support the results.
          In late 1979 I banged up the lower part of my right leg to the point that I developed gangrene around the lower quadrant of the tibia.  Our family doctor at the time, Dr. Ray Nelson, and the dermatologist, Dr. Phelps, determined that there were two outstanding reasons why the condition had gone this far (beside my stupidity of not wanting to see a doctor).
          The first was poor circulation due to my size.  The second was that I had been away from the high quantities of zinc for an extended period of time that the body could not heal itself.  Turns out both doctors researched the Palmerton area to see if they could find anything to support their claim.
    For one year I underwent a program of shots, soaks (basic therapy), salves, and 500mg of zinc a day (this was gradually stepped down to 26mg a day).
          I still have my right leg and I still take a zinc pill or multiple vitamin containing zinc everyday.  When all is said and done, I think your statement about someone getting rich off of the superfund site might be correct.
          Please take care and thanks again for the "News From the Valley" Bob”

          I suspect we are a lot more fortunate that we think to live here in Palmerton. It is a wonderful little town. It has a lot more to offer that folks realize in spite if it’s critics. Perhaps Roger Danielson the Borough Manager should tout this town as a health Spa. Boy the P.C.C.E. would have a short circuit on that one!!!
          I wrote to Bob asking him if he objected to my using his E-mail in here. I observed that Oscar Blynn told me after a serious operation at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa that they were amazed he healed so fast until they saw where he lived.

 I just got this from Bob,
Subject: RE: New web page
          Bob, no objection from me.  In fact the Air Force Lt. Colonel who was my Dr. at Lackland AFB back in 1973 made the same comment as was made to Mr. Blynn.
  There are probably more stories from others, with the same conclusions than you can count.  Now if only politicians and health officials would listen...but then again if cows could fly.  It would be interesting to find
out if this occurs in people who were born and raised in Palmerton or could it also apply to those who were born and raised elsewhere and then moved into the area, say by age 12 or 13.  Wonder if your readers would offer up a story or two.
Please take care,
Bob

I got this from Russ Howell in Texas:                                                                                                        
          I knew there was some reason I always like to shop at SEARS. This was sent to me by a friend. I did not check it out, as he evidently did, but, knowing him, I am sure it is factual.
    I do know when I was counted among the employed by Shell Oil Co., they did basically the same thing. And, I am sure there are other Companies that do it also. It is worth passing on!!! I received this information from a friend:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time to shop at SEARS!!
Have you seen the reports about how Sears is treating its military reservist employees who are called up? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up... Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I saw this I decided to check it out before sending it on.
I sent the following email to the Sears Customer Service Department:
    I received the above information, by e-mail, and I would like to know if it is true. If it is, the Internet may have just become one very good source of advertisement for your store. I know I would go out of my way to buy products from Sears instead of another store for a like item even if it was cheaper at the other store.
Here is their answer to my email......................
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Customer:
Thank you for contacting Sears.
The information is factual. We appreciate your positive feedback. Sears regards service to our country as one of greatest sacrifices our young men and women can make. We are happy to do our part to lessen the burden they
bear at this time.
Bill Thorn

I just got back from the pool and my swim. The water temperature was still 74 degrees and very comfortable swimming. As usual it was swim ten rest then swim the remainder. The air temperature is not too bad but the low humidity makes one feel cold while you are wet.
George was there. Doc Cyr is on vacation at the shore with the grandchildren all sharing a suite at a hotel there. Better him than me!!

Tommy was over for supper tonight. He brought the dessert!!


Monday, June 28, 2004 7:16 AM 55 deg at LVIA and 54.5 in the bus stop.
This morning the blood glucose was 132 and the weight 202.It looks like a sunny beautiful day today, as I sat up in the tent this morning. Lee Bollinger was on his morning walk and we exchanged waves.
Today is the “dreaded sheet” day for Queen. That means it will be a big wash. One good thing about washday. It is the day we dine in God’s restaurant with her spaghetti. Ah!!!
 I will have to water things this morning. I don’t have too much of anything on the agenda today.

We went for our walk this morning before she started the wash. It was a nice beautiful time to walk.
 
Beware!! Here comes one of Bobby’s political rants!! Last night I was in bed watching the late news and came upon political commentary that was downright stupid and insipid. There was Michel Moore railing against President Bush and gloating how his new movie was such a wonderfully informative thing. He said he wants to influence the outcome of the election with it. Moore said, “He, Moore, is making America think!! Larry Flint the pornographer followed him, telling the world that President Bush is probably the most unqualified man ever to hold that high office. Now when one looks at those two scruffy men, who were exercising their “Free speech” rights on national television by a news network as though they were men of the highest integrity, it is mind-boggling. How stupid do those news people think we are? Then, too, there is the foul-mouthed Howard Stern who also wants to defeat GW.  I think the Bush campaign would be smart to run those statements as their political advertisement. The appearance that all of those slobs trying to speak in a dignified manner, while looking like the jerks they are, says it all.  Those are the kinds of enemies to have!!

This morning I took the car to go down to Shea’s Hardware store and happened to take the camera along. I went down to the Y to go down Delaware Avenue and saw the re-seeded mountain. I went over and took some of these pictures. The mountain is coming back. It will with time. At least we are not making it any worse!!



  When I came back I helped Queen prune one of the lilac bushes. Then later this afternoon I went for my swim. Apparently they are having a swim meet tonight and I got there plenty early and got my swim in with no difficulty. There was a photographer taking pictures of the swim team. He had them posing at one of the ladders. The families of those kids will probably treasure those pictures.
 I didn’t see George at all so I swam and came home before the place got too crowded with swimmers and their families near meet time.
 
 After I returned I helped her cut some more stuff she was trimming. I used the lopers. Queen wants to trim some more stuff including the other lilac bush and some other stuff  near the garage for which I am sure I will be “asked to volunteer” Ha!


Tuesday, June 29, 2004 7:01 AM 55 deg at LVIA and 57.3 in the bus stop.
 We went for our walk this morning before 8AM. Previously I saw Marlene and Lee Bollinger walking down Columbia Avenue. It was nice walking early on a nice clear dry day like this one. I forgot to weigh myself this morning but the blood glucose was 113. Spaghetti appears to be “healthy” for it. Ahem!!

 
Queen was talking about trimming some more bushes this morning so we were up at the end of the yard trimming the second lilac bush. I must have chopped off four feet of it. It certainly looks better now.



It certainly looks better now after our pruning job. We took it easy this afternoon. About 3PM I went to PMPA for my afternoon swim. George was there as well as Doc Cyr. Doc had to return to town interrupting his seashore vacation for some kind of a necessary borough meeting.
 
As I entered I met and spoke with Jean Fritzinger. I had not seen her since the death of her husband, David, last year. She looks well. She asked about Queen. She is learning to do a lot of things she never had done before like pump her own gas and a lot of the financial paperwork that Dave took care of during his lifetime. She acts very well. She will make it all right!!
 
The swim went very well. As usual a rest after 10 laps is the norm now. The water was quite comfortable.


Wednesday, June 30, 2004 7:15 AM 55 Deg at LVIA and 56.8 in the bus stop
  I went up to the bus stop with my 8 O’clock coffee this morning and I saw Marlene and Lee once again on their morning constitutional. We exchanged waves.
 
  This morning is a great day to go for a walk. We did and I took along the camera and got these shots of the construction up the street. The masonry contractors are there now and starting to work on a foundation


This morning the blood glucose is 124 and the weight 202. I feel damn good this morning. I believe the swimming is helping a lot to further my feelings of well being.
 
This morning we went downtown for a bit and then Queen decided it was time to clean up the east patio side of the house. While she was at that I watered the tomato plants, the flowerbeds, as well as the new grass. I uncovered the new grass seed that had been covered with burlap all last week. It had come up beautifully. Then I wet the burlap up at the garden area near the garage.  I went to check on her and found she cleaned out a pile of stuff under the patio roof on the east side of the house. In addition she pulled a mess of weeds. She threw out the old tarp that was used as a curtain over the enclosed area. I looked for a replacement up in the garage. While it isn’t in greatest shape it is a lot better than the old one. I fished out a drowned chipmunk from the small pond over there. Boy was he ever ripe?

She had me also spray “Round up” on the weeds that I missed down at the street level. I also got the ones growing in the swale. This should cure that problem. Then after a thorough wash I went back to the west side to complete my jobs there. About 11:30 she decided to quit. We sat up in the tent with some ice water.

This afternoon after 3:30 I went to the pool for my swim. I only swam 10 laps today. I was tired and sometimes I suspect 20 laps a day everyday for me at 77 years can be a bit much. It is another concession to getting older. So I will do them all when the spirit moves me. Today it didn’t move however I felt OK but Gee whiz!!

George said Doc Cyr is still in town working today at his Carty job. His meeting is tomorrow.

Earlier on our walk we passed Mike Bloomfield’s house. His wife, Kathy has plans for a raised flowerbed. All day yesterday they were busy preparing the spot where she wants it placed. Mike was shoveling and Kathy and her Mom were busy pulling out weeds and generally making the area ready for planting. She was still working at it last evening. This morning on our walk I took these pictures.



This is a damn nice little town and folks take pride in their properties. One can see it wherever you go in town.


Thursday, July 01, 2004 7:20 AM 57 deg at LVIA and 60.2 deg in the bus stop.
This morning the blood glucose was 122 and the weight 202. I took the garbage to the alley and then got the car out for our shopping trip this morning. After I got back I took my cup of coffee up to the park bench. It is a nice cool morning today. We went for a short walk this morning and I took these pictures after the footings were poured yesterday up the street.


Here is a picture I just got from Bob Green of Delaware Avenue taken in 1908. It must have been taken in the middle of Delaware Avenue at about Fourth Street. There are no sidewalks but the park appears to be planted. Seen also is The Palmerton Supply building long before it became the  “Palmerton Printing Co.” There is no Chestnut Ridge Railway bridge across Delaware Avenue either. I don’t know where he gets these pictures but I am always appreciative of old stuff like this one.


This afternoon I went to the pool for my swim. There was a swim meet and the lane markers had just been installed so I had the luxury of swimming in my own lane with the water flat as glass. It really improves the swimming. After my swim I talked with George for a time before heading home and helping Queen with the supper. We had a seafood meal tonight. It turned out very well.

Friday, July 02, 2004 7:04 AM 64 Deg at  LVIA and 62.9 in the bus stop.
The blood glucose is 128 and the weight 201. I shall be going out with Butternut in a moment as soon as the coffee is ready.

I got an e-mail from an old friend Dave Horn, who is up at his summer place in Vermont. Here is a part of that letter.
          “What a great visit I had back home and at the pool.   The pictures were really good, too.   Give my best to those who just might remember me, especially Tom. 
    We are expecting Jennifer and Tim this afternoon for what turns out to be their annual July 4th visit.   Peter David is now about 10 weeks old so he should be a big hit.  I'll probably march with the Williston Band on the July 4th parade (actually July 3rd this year) along with Jennifer (flute) and Amanda (cymbals).   Gathering at the neighbors at the lake will precede the fireworks in town.   I REALLY got homesick for you and the gang at the pool with your great letter.   A vicarious trip is better than none at all.   Thanks so much.

It is always good to hear from a valued old friend like the Horns. As to the Horn family marching in the Williston  band on the 4th of July. I would be careful if I were Dave. It has been said that he has been mistaken for Vice President Dick Cheney. In fact there is a remarkable resemblance. Now there he is up in Patrick Lehey country. I hope he is careful and “temperate “ with his language!!  Up there he is probably considered a radical conservative    Ha!!!!!!!
 
This morning early I cut the grass. I started when I went out with my first cup of coffee. As usual I dragged out the job to make the job fit the available time.
 
Jim Burnhauser was over in the cemetery cutting back the overgrown “bushes” growing all along the bank. His Grandson was with him and he used the lawnmower on the grass while Grandpa cut the brush. They stacked it and cleaned up nicely. They make a good combination. It really looks nice after their work!!

Queen and I went over to the Post Office and the bank this morning. I had to get the battery changed in my Pulsar watch. The man on the treadmill died after about 4 years. Imagine that!!
         
The Bloomfields were busy with their landscape job. They were both at it for quite awhile. Now they appear to be finished.


     
 Well it is time to end this week’s page. Please love one another.
 Mom and Bob [Queen and Bobby]

“Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately, it kills all its pupils.”

  Hector Berlioz

 The wireless telegraph is not difficult to understand. The ordinary telegraph is like a very long cat. You pull the        tail in New York, and it meows in Los Angeles. The wireless is the same, only without the cat.

  Albert Einstein (1879-1955) 

  The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives

  Albert Einstein