At the OFH!

        When looking at the weather forecast for today that showed rain all I decided it was time to repair to the OFH. Windshield wipers were on for the duration of the drive. It wasn't heavy until I entered the urban area. With Sinai to the west and the OFH in St. Paul, it necessitates crossing Minneapolis. Traversing Minneapolis is when it rained hard. But we made it safe and sound.

   So, am I home? Or did I leave home?  My answer is "Yes."

Takk for alt,

Al

Fado musicians in Lisbon, Portugal.

• Fado is a Portuguese urban song tradition that emerged in 19th-century Lisbon from Brazilian musical imports and inland migration.
• A traditional performance is built on three elements: a fadista, a Portuguese guitar and a viola — no drums, no amplification.
• The emotional range goes well beyond melancholy: lighter forms like Fado corrido exist alongside the famous laments.
• Poetry is at the centre. The melody follows the words, not the other way around.
• Today's scene runs from Lisbon's UNESCO-protected casas de Fado to a thriving Porto circuit and contemporary fadistas like Mariza and Ana Moura.

Fish Markets

       "Fish Markets' seems a very random title for a blog...it is but yesterday's random picture from Portugal awakened a memory. My first experience with a fish market was in Olongapo, Philippine Islands in 1962. Our ship, the USS Princeton, an aircraft carrier, was anchored in Subic Bay. On weekend evenings Marines from the ship were assigned to walk shore patrol in town. Issued white helmets emblazoned S P, white ammo belts with no ammo and Billy Clubs we patrolled the streets. What exactly we could have done in an emergency wasn't clear. Perhaps just the presence of several pairs walking the area had some effect.

    It was while walking shore patrol that I encountered my first fish market. The smell of fish reached us first before we saw the actual market. Olongapo, being in the tropics, the market was outdoors. With its proximity to the sea, fish and seafood is huge in the Philippines. The market, too, was huge with a wide variety of fish and other sea food. Since that initial exposure to a fish market, I've visited many others in Sout East Asia and Europe.

    The largest fish market I've seen was in Lisbon, Portugal. That's not surprising given Portugal's orientation to the sea. Lisbon's temperate climate dictates an enclosed market. There are several seafood markets in Lisbon but, I assume, we saw the largest all under one roof.

    And to think, I'm not allowed to eat fish or seafood! Here's a personal story about that. When I first began living with "my" Thai family I said, "I don't eat fish or seafood." It was best to be clear about that from the beginning. I'd been staying there for years when Met, wife and mother, came home with a large mess of fresh calamari. Daughter Poe said, "Mom he doesn't eat seafood." "Oh" she said, "I though he only didn't eat fish."  They enjoyed the calamari. 

Takk for alt,

Al

The Lisbon Seafood Market.

Introverts Unite!

     L gave me a tee shirt emblazoned "Introverts Unite...each in our own home!"  What's the difference between introverts and extroverts?  It's very simple, extroverts get energy from being with people and introverts get energy from being alone. Joanne would get energized in a group while I get tired in groups. This difference caused her to fear I'd be social isolate after her death. Not to worry, I like people, but I also need alone time. The OFH home is perfect for me; when I need people, I leave my apartment, and I go to it when I need alone time.

   The unnamed author I quoted about autumn writes this about being alone. "...it's good to be alone, for a few hours to be exempt from all the complicated bonds, all the conflicts great and small, all the demands and expectations, wills and desires that build up between people, and which after only a short time become so densely intertwined that the room for reflection and for action are both restricted."  Yea and verily that names my experience. 

Takk for alt,

Al

This is the best book I've found about the experience and reality of intorverts.

Bed Report

     After one night on the new bed, I'd say it's a modest improvement over the old one. It wasn't the bed per se that prompted the change. It was the tendency of the old frame that had a proclivity to dump me on the floor in the middle of night that motivated the change. The new frame is exceptionally strong so no more worries. The bed is noticeably lower because it's only a mattress with no box spring.

    In July and August there were many days we waited for rain in vain. With the advent of fall we've embarked on a rainy spell while we wait in vain for a dry spell. The individual showers have not been large but before there's any drying another rain comes. It's been great for pastures which have responded quickly to the moisture. Trees are also beneficiaries of these rains. It serves them well as they move towards winter and freeze-up.  

Takk for alt,

Al

Students at the University of Columba, Portugal, selling pencils to tourists. The University was founded in 1290.

New Bed!

      It was 2007 when we bought The Little House, the year I retired. At a local farm auction, I was the successful bidder, and the only one, on a bedroom set. Bed; spring set, mattress, frame and dresser and chest of drawers. Blond oak is a clue that they were from the fifties. All were like new. The previous owners had no children, and the set was in a rarely used guest room. They weren't the type of people to host overnight guests. No stickler for fashion, blond oak is just fine for me. For all of this I paid $12.00.

    The only downside was the bed frame. It was metal with four cross slats supporting the box spring. The slats had the annoying habit of slipping down during the night. Nineteen years of that was enough, so, I ordered a new bed; frame and mattress. Which was delivered today. When I removed the mattress cover, in preparation for delivery of the new bed, I was reminded of how pristine are then mattress and box spring. While I was feeling bad about disposing of them, fate intervened.  As they were leaning on the truck that would cart them away, a neighbor came to the door. He asked if he could have them for his son who needed a bed. So, they meet a need and I avoided a disposal fee. Tonight I'll try it out!

Takk for alt,

Al

A cheese shop in Amsterdam. This picture was taken in 1908 and posted randomly to supplement a possibly boring blog.

Falling into Fall!

      Well, here's the Vernel Equinox for which we've all been waiting. This summer was hot enough to make even me relish autumn.  As mentioned in a previous blog it happened while I was recently in Minnesota.

    I came on this good description of fall. "Day after day, of open clear skies, that has been how summer has been from May up until now, sun during the day, stars at night. Nothing is finer than an ebb of a good summer, it has left behind a sort of satiation, something has been filled, and now it turns, now the village is no longer surrounded by gently waving fields quite indescribably golden beneath the high blue sky-seen from the roads the ripe fields resemble lakes between the clustered houses-but stubble fields, for in the past few weeks combine harvesters and tractors have been gliding slowly back and forth across them, and tall rows of compressed hay bales have been left behind here and there, like high walls against the wind..."  Authorship to be revealed later.

Takk for alt,

Al

Soybeans ripening turn from green to yellow before shedding their leaves as they dry down for harvest. 

Another reason to like dogs!

    For the sake of my eyes, an ophthalmologist told me that kale and spinach can arrest macular degeneration. Consequently, I eat spinach almost every day and it's working. I'm not allowed to kale however.  

   

Take for alt,

Al