RUSHVILLE —
If you’re still impressed with yourself for chomping at least one serving of every dish at your Thanksgiving feast, think how proud you’re going to feel after digesting the following collection of newsy type tidbits! (Just please don’t call them “leftovers” - I prefer something more flavorful, say, “sound bites on a shingle.”)
No. 3 son received word the other day that he’s been accepted for induction into the “Society of High School Persons Who Are Kicking Tail in Math.” Okay, that’s probably not the actual name of the organization, but it’s something like that. I have a good excuse for not remembering the club’s name, because he’s not even going to be an official member of it for NINE MORE YEARS. Seriously. The letter he received, signed by the student President of his school’s chapter, as well as the student Treasurer, it advised him that he should plan to attend an induction ceremony on, and I quote, “December 5, 2021.”
The good news is that I can withhold the $10 initiation fee until then. Now I was never smart enough in math to be chosen for an honor society, but I got out my calculator and did some figgerin’, and I’ve deduced that when the Treasurer of No. 3 son’s Society gets that $10, she’ll do some quick calculations of her own and conclude that she doesn’t care.
We traveled to Buffalo, New York for Thanksgiving and saw many friends and family members. At one get-together, we were introduced to the five-month old granddaughter of our friend Grace. At one point we were also introduced to a picture of Grace when she was only a few months old, and the resemblance between her picture and the new baby was jaw-dropping, to the point where I blurted out that it was “creepy.” Both Grace and the baby gave me kind of a funny look for that.
A short while later the baby was evidently feeling peckish and started to screw up her face and cry. It was then that I blurted out “Now she really looks like Grace!” The house shook with laughter from all the guests, and then, within just a few seconds the house shook from Grace slamming the front door behind me.
My No. 5 son (age 11) and his nine-year old cousin got a big kick out of a Thanksgiving Day football play when the NY Jets quarterback essentially knocked himself down while carrying the ball by running right into a teammate’s heinie. They giggled themselves silly over it, especially the suuuuuper slooooow motion replay. And then they were able to relive the joy the next day when I showed them the newspaper article containing the line “Sanchez inexplicably ran right into his own lineman’s butt.”
Most of the friends we visited in Buffalo have kids around the same ages as mine, and you just know that they get sooooo exceedingly tired of hearing things like “look how big your are!” And “boy have you grown!” I, too, cringe as such cliches, but was a little surprised that when I gave them my best empathetic look after hearing them they stared back at me with an undisguised “not that line again” eye roll. Turns out this was because I was the one who had just said something like “You’re sprouting like a weed!”
I guess that even after years of modulating my behaviors and mannerisms to evoke maximum hipness, even I am susceptible to the dreaded condition known as Involuntary Fogey-ism.
It surprised me to learn on our Thanksgiving travels that No. 4 son, who generally tends to put the “devil” in “daredevil,” is afraid of flying. Like, REALLY afraid. Even though he’ll take on any gut-busting roller coaster known to man without batting an eye, AND right after eating a Styrofoam container of gut-busting amusement park chili nachos. My attitudes about altitudes are the complete opposite of his: Flying is not so trying, thrill riders are suicidal. I tried to calm his per-flight jitters with soothing words but he would have none of it, especially when I avowed that I would never ride - EVER -the Incredible Hulk roller-coaster at Universal Studios theme park.
We decided to not try to convert one another to the other’s way of thinking, and instead to commiserate over something we’re mutually horrified by and fearful of: inexplicably running right into each other’s butts.
TakefiveT5@yahoo.com
Opinion
Post-holiday newsy “casserole”
- Opinion
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Our View: Seizure of AP phone records insult to independent press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
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Barada: 50 years ago and counting
My, does time fly! On June 22 next month, the Rushville High School Class of 1963 will celebrate its 50th anniversary. To be honest, 1963 doesn’t sound all that long ago, until one considers that, when we graduated in June 1963, the Class of 1913 was celebrating its 50th anniversary! Now, 1913 seemed like a long time ago when I was just 17 years old. The year 1913 was four years before the United States entered World War One.
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Barada: Local library should be a county facility
A noble effort is underway to renovate and expand the Rushville Public Library. It will not be an easy task. What will help, in my opinion, will be finally making the public library a county library.
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Ziemke: Back home again in Batesville
Following the hustle and bustle of Indianapolis, I must say that it has been nice to be home this past week. Session is an exciting process to be a part of, but for now, I am just going to enjoy the fact that I can be at my restaurant more often to talk to the folks I represent at the Statehouse.
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Mauzy: Weddings paint a larger picture of life
The marriage of my oldest daughter was this past weekend. With great fortune, weather remained wonderful for the outside venue. More than a stroke of good luck concerning the weather, the calm and positive energies of everyone in attendance would have overcome any adversity.
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Messer: Have we learned the lessons of 9/11?
September 11 was a devastating wake up call for every American. The events of that terrible day taught us that we are at war with violent Islamist extremists. If we let them, these jihadists are committed to exploiting our generosity and legal protections to further their murderous mania. The 9/11 Commission which investigated that tragedy concluded warning signs were everywhere, noting that “the system was blinking red.”
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Barada: 150th anniversary of the American Civil War beckons travellers this summer
Since we’re in the middle of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War; and based on the presumption that you’re interested in it at all, it’s just about time to start planning a trip to one of the two sites that marked the turning point in that conflict – Gettysburg, Pa., and Vicksburg, Miss.
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Zeta Tau Run for the Arts in Milroy
ZThe Zeta Taus would like to invite the community to join them in several activities in and around Milroy on Saturday, May 11. The annual Run for the Arts begins at 7:30 a.m. for runners and 8 a.m. for walkers. This event starts and ends at Milroy United Methodist Church parking lot. The cost to participate is $15 for adults and $10 for children. In
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Ward: Furnishing Rushville
I have fond memories of Rushville when it had three lumber/coal yards and four railroads went through town. The city owned the electric utility and the phone company was user-owned and operated.
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Wolfsie: Long day’s journey
I have never aerated my lawn. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever written the word “aerated” before. If I did I am sure I misspelled it. I think I accidentally went from liquefy to aerate while making a strawberry shake in our blender. That’s the extent of my experience. I guess I aerate my tire when it is flat, but I don’t think that word works with a 7-year-old car. If you own a 2013 Lexus, you aerate. Otherwise, you just put air in your tire.
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