Friday, August 29, 2014

Labor Day...

If you look closely at the end of the log on the left you can see the remains of my early morning cigar...
...weekend.  Started this Friday morning at 5:30 with a problem from work...appropriate I suppose since we are after all celebrating labor...so I got my butt out of bed and fixed yet another problem caused by a recent operations upgrade from hell.

Since I was up anyway, I showered, padded downstairs, and spent some time outside in the pre-dawn darkness...eventually decided to enjoy an early morning fire, and shortly after sunrise, a good morning cigar.  No whiskey...yet...

So this week we and a couple of neighbors paid to have several trees removed from the property behind us that were blocking the horizon and crowding out the sun...here's the new view:

kinda reminds me of Sinatra's Twin Palms...ok, I'm reaching...
That view used to be dominated by a wall of walnut trees...now we can see blue sky and sunshine...unfortunately we can also see the outline of an ugly apartment building, but that's life in the big city I guess.

While we're on the subject of trees, here's another addition to my upcoming Halloween display:

The Tree Creature during the day...
...and at night.
If you're not a fan of Halloween, we should talk...but either way, you have to admit this is cool...I'll put a spot light on him to add to the creep factor that night.  As always our goal will be to give the little trick or treaters an old timey spooky thrill, some great candy, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  A good time will be had by all...

Earlier this week I got a surprise in the mail from Bob Adams of www.RonsonRepair.com and this time he was in cahoots with Karen...sent a package to her attention, and this was the surprise:



I think Bob knows this may be the closest I'll ever get to having my own bowling lane...what a great lighter...thank you Bob!  Oh, the ashtray it's sitting on was also a gift from Bob.  Truly, he is all about his passion for collecting, fixing, and promoting Ronson lighters and related items.  Very cool!

So the rest of today will be about getting down to the Douglas / Saugatuck area, browsing the antique mall there, then bowling a couple of games at the LakeView Lanes.

Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about...(please ignore the fact that was a brooklyn strike...even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while...)

Later, mcm fans...

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Retro...

1963 Airstream Bambi
...Weekend.

Wasn't necessarily supposed to be, but that's how it worked out.  Friday I was whipped, and after supper I ended up sleeping for awhile...when I got up we put a fire in the chiminea and sat by the pool for a couple of hours...low key, relaxing, fun.

Saturday we needed to run some errands, and on our way we passed by the first annual vintage trailers show, so on our way back we stopped in to see what the big yank was.

Turns out they had some very cool, vintage camping trailers, dating all the way back to the mid 1930's...but the ones that caught my eye are the ones I remember from being a kid in the 60's when families piled into station wagons and drove across this great country for two week vacations.  No one does that anymore, including yours truly...the world moves much too quickly now.

So we stepped inside a couple of the 16 and 17 foot airstreams, and guess what bug I now have to fight??

My head tells me I don't do the camping thing because it's "almost, but not quite"...you know, it's almost comfortable, but not quite...almost convenient, but not quite...almost enjoyable, but not quite...plus every time I drive by a campground with 30,000 plastic boxes on wheels stacked up together like sardines, close enough to each other that you can reach out your window, into your neighbor's window, and borrow their salt shaker, I shake my head and say a prayer of gratitude that I'm not doing that this weekend...

...but my heart is calling me back to a simpler time, when your little silver bullet provided everything you needed for a romantic, if rustic, getaway, and you towed it right behind the family car.

Is it possible to find places now like they would have found then?  A campground that does not have the population density of a city block in New York?  And even if it is, do I want to spend $40k on a vintage airstream trailer?  Wouldn't I rather have that 1956 Corvette first?  Oh, I see where this is going...get them both, and use the 'vette to tow little Bambi...

That ain't no 'vette, but you get the idea...

A couple of other pics from the Vintage Trailer show:

The inside of a non-airstream trailer

Not sure how the fire truck got in...I guess in case there was a vintage fire in one of  the vintage trailers...?
Sunday we visited the downtown market because they had a bunch of antique / vintage displays set up as well...didn't see anything compelling, but it was a pleasant hour of browsing.

The rest of today was spent in the pool and relaxing in preparation for another week in the salt mines.

I'm usually a whiskey and cigar man, but changed it up today just because...don't want to get in a rut.

Now I'm off to write a letter to my aunt Alta...

Later, MCM fans...