Expounding

 This little guy just sent me a short note reminding me that as the elder member of the family my duty is to fill in the historical blanks of his memory...write more about our family!

This picture was taken sometime after I had entered the Navy...in short my last memory of him prior to leaving was one of my sisters changing him. History here is part of his nickname for many years included the word "stinky". Now perhaps this isn't the type of story he was anticipating, but as I have mentioned previously, my memories are disjointed.

Most of us remember things that our parents have taught us, whether it be baseball, cooking or something else. Most  of my sisters probably remember my Mother's recipe for fudge, most likely the only recipe of her's that anyone might have carried forward. I don't have it. She taught me Gin Rummy.
Not well enough to win but so that she had someone to play with. Remember, I said disjointed?

Remember leaving home for the first time? School? Service? Feeling homesick? You write all your friends and relatives...family too. Your response? My family moved. But, they sent me the address so I could continue to write unacknowledged messages.

My brother was not even two when I left home, now he's the one responding to my blog...yes I believe in the goddess of irony. Wish I knew who she is/was?

To paraphrase..."Like a toothache"

The song was "Like a Heartache', by Bonny Tyler. But the reference is to having just completed moving. I do not have any really pleasant memories of any move that I have ever made. This was the first time that I have "down-sized" and even that effort is on-going. 

Good things: New landlord is the old landlord...really a good thing.

                     Distance moved, about five blocks. That means most of the move was done after work, in my car. Only one use of friends and a truck.

                      New house really nice. I will miss the pool but sacrifices to reality have to be made.The Florida room with it's new windows will help ease my pain.

                      More economical...more reality!

Having moved so many times, the words; "I know where it used to be" are indelibly printed in my mind.To be uttered frequently...until the next move, ad nauseum! 

The walls are being left bare until my return. Rome is next on my card. A trip to set most of life in the right direction. To calm, to heal, to complete and to restore. I'm ready.

What needs to be accomplished first is...how do I use the new camera?...tablet?...and how do they interact together?

Do you remember how you were always supposed to read the manual first? And the first thing the manual did was tell you how to unpack your new toy? ...but you had to unpack the toy to get to the manual! Now, the manual, all 10, multi-lingual pages direct you to an on-line site. Good luck with that! Think I'll buy some memory cards and hope for the best.

One intention for this on-coming trip is to use my blog, facebook and skype to remain in touch. Need to master some pretty basic things first, like, will my U.S. based skype work from Rome? Will facebook and the tablet play nice together? For that matter will my blog work? Ah, it's all a work in progress, another learning experience...joy!

Time to start another work-day, so it's off to the races!