Monday, October 22, 2007

Crabby Old Man.

Post 345 ~ ~ ~ ~ Monday, 22nd October, 2007.

Hi Everyone ~ ~ How are you all this evening/morning? I hope
you are all going to have a wonderful week. We have had 2 very
warm days (read darned hot), but we are promised a few cooler
days, so tomorrow in go the tomato plants I bought. And some
rain would be the icing on the cake !!

We have another birthday girl tomorrow. Diane has her big
day on the 23rd October so any bloggers who would like to
wish her Happy Birthday, please use the link. I hope you have
a lovely day Diane.

More from my garden ~ ~ ~ ~



A closer look at the Genista which if higher than my 6 ft fence.


Another Pelagonium


Another pretty one.

Tonight I have a nice story sent to me by my friend Linda.
It is called "Crabby Old Man" and was written by a little old man
not long before he died, but left this Anonymous poem which
is winging across the Internet. Thank you, Linda.

What do you see nurses? . . . . . What do you see?
What are you thinking ? . . . . . . When you're looking at me ?
A crabby old man . . . . . .. . . . . not very wise.
Uncertain of habit . . . . . . . . . . with far away eyes ?

Who dribbles his food . . . . . . . And makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . . ." I do wish you'd try!"
Who seems not to notice . . . . . . .The things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . . . . . . A sock or a shoe ?"

Who, resisting or not . . . . . . . . . Lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . . . The long day to fill ?
Is that what you're thinking . . . . Is that what you see ?
Then open your eyes, nurse . . . . you're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am . . . . . ... . . .As I sit here so still,
As i do at your bidding . .. . . . . . As I eat at your will
I'm a small child of ten . . . . . . . with a father and mother.
Brothers and sisters . . . . . . . . . who love one another.

A young boy of sixteen . . . . . . with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now . . . . . a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . . . . my heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows . . . . . . that I promised to keep.

At twenty-five , now . . . . . . . . . I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . . . . . . And a happy secure home.
A man of Thirty . . . . . . . . . . . . . My young now grown fast.
Bound to each other . . . . . . . . . With ties that should last.

At Forty, my young sons . . . . . . have grown and are gone,
But my woman's beside me . . . to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more . . . . . . . . . . babies play around my knee,
Again we know children . . . . . . My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me . . . . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future . . . . . . . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing . . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . . . . . And the love that I've known.

I'm now an old man . . . . . . . . . And nature is cruel.
'Tis jest to make old age . . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles . . . . . . . . grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone . . . . . . . . . where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass . . . . A young boy still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . . . . . . my battered heart swells
I remember the joys . . . . . . . . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . life over again.

I think of the years . . . all too few . . . gone too fast
And accept the fact . . . . that nothing can last,
So open your eyes people . . . . open and see . .
Not a crabby old man. Look closer . . . see . . . ME !!

Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who
you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within . .
we will all, one day, be there, too.
<><><>
Time for some jokes ~ ~ ~ ~
These first ones ere sent to me by my friend Susie Thank you.


The newly appointed priest was being briefed by the housekeeper
on problems in the rectory that required immediate attention.

"Your roof needs repair, Father," she said. "Your water pressure
is bad and your furnace is not working.:

"Now, Mrs. Kelly," the priest allowed, "you've been the house-
keeper here five years, and I've only been here a few days. Why
not say our roof and our furnace ?"

Several weeks later, when the pastor was meeting with the
bishop and several other priests, Mrs. Kelly burst into the office
terribly upset. "Father, Father," she blurted, "there's a mouse
in our room and it's under our bed !!"
<><>
Where to Retire . . . .
You can live in Phoenix, Arizona where . . .

1. You are willing to park 3 blocks away because you found shade.
2. You can drive for 4 hours in one direction and never leave town.
3. You have over 100 recipes for Mexican food.
4. You know what "dry heat" is comparable to what hits you in the
face when you open the oven door.
5. The 4 seasons are : tolerable, hot. really hot, and ARE YOU
KIDDING ME ??"

You can live in California where . . .

1. You make over $250,000 and you still can't afford to buy a
house.
2. The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway.
3. You know how to eat an artichoke.
4. You drive your rented Mercedes to your neighborhood party.
5. When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them
how long it will take to get there, rather than how many miles
away it is.
6. The four seasons are : fire, flood, mud, and drought.

You can live in New York City where . . .
1. You say "the city" and expect everyone to know you mean
Manhattan.
2. You can get into a 4 hour argument about how to get from
Columbus Circle to Battery Park, but can't find Wisconsin
on a map.
3. You think Central Park is "nature."
4. You think that being able to swear at people in their own
language makes you multi-lingual.
4. You've worn out a car horn.
6. You think eye contact is an act of aggression.

You can live in Maine where . . .

1. You have only 4 spices : salt, pepper, Ketchup, and Tabasco.
2. Halloween costumes fit over Parkas.
3. You have more than one recipe for moose.
4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than 8 buttons.
5. The 4 seasons are : winter, still winter, almost winter, and
construction.

You can live in the deep South where . . .

1. You can rent a movie and buy bait in the same store.
2. "Y'all" is singular and "all y'all" is plural.
3. "He needed killing" is a valid defence.
4. Everyone has 2 first names : Billy Bob, Jimmy Bob, Mary Sue,
Betty Jean, Mary Beth etc.

You can live in Colorado where . . . .

1. You carry your $4,000 mountain bike atop your $500 car.
2. You tell your husband to pick up Granola on his way home and
he stops at the Day Care Center.
3. A pass does not involve a football or dating.
4. The top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail.

You can live in the Midwest where . . .

1. You've never met any celebrities, but the Mayor knows your
name.
2. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor.
3. You have to switch from "heat" to "A/C" on the same day.
4. You end sentences with a preposition, "Where's my coat at?"
5. When asked how your trip was to any exotic place, you say,
" It was different !"

AND you can live in Florida where . . .

1. You eat dinner at 3:15 in the afternoon.

2. All purchases include a coupon of some kind . . . even houses
and cars.
3. Everyone can recommend an excellent dermatologist.
4. Road construction never ends anywhere in the state.
5. Cars in front of you are often driven by headless people.
<><><>

A blonde walks into an electrical appliance store and says to
the clerk, "I want to buy that T V over there."
He says in return, "I'm sorry, we don't sell stuff to blondes."

Next day, she comes in with red hair and says, "I want to
buy that T V over there."
He says, "I'm sorry, we don't sell things to blondes."

Next day she come in with brown hair and says, "I want to buy
that T V over there."
He says, "I'm sorry, but we don't sell things to blondes."

Frustrated she says, "How do you know I'm a blonde ?"
He replies, " That's not a T V . It's a microwave."
<><>

Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl asked
her mother, "Why is the bride dressed in white ?"

"Because white is the color of happiness and today is the
happiest day of her life."

The child thought about this for a moment, then said, "So,
why is the groom wearing black ?"
<><>

Two boys were walking home from Sunday School after
hearing a strong preaching about the devil.

One said to the other, "What do you think about all this
Satan stuff ?"

The other boy replied, " Well, you know how Santa Claus
turned out. It's probably just your Dad."
<><>

A sailor stationed overseas received a "Dear John" letter
from his girlfriend back home. It read as follows :

Dear Ricky,
I can no longer continue our relationship. The distance
between us is just too great. I must admit I have cheated
on you twice, since you've been gone, and it's not fair to
either of us. I'm sorry. Please return my picture that I sent you.
Love, Becky.

The sailor, with hurt feelings, asked his fellow sailors for any
snapshots they could spare of their girlfriends, sisters, ex -
girlfriends, aunts, cousins etc. In addition to the picture of
Becky, Ricky included all the other pictures of pretty girls he
had collected from his buddies. There were 57 photos in that
envelope . . . along with this note :

Dear Becky,
I'm so sorry, but I can't quite remember who you are. Please
take your picture from the pile, and send the rest back to me.
Take care, Ricky.
<><>

He said, I don't know why you wear a bra, you've got nothing
to put in it." She said, " You wear pants, don't you ?"
He said, "Shall we try swapping positions tonight ? "

She said, "That's a good idea - you stand near the ironing
board while I sit on the couch."

"What have you been doing with all the grocery money I
gave you," he asked. She said, "Turn sideways and look in
the mirror !"
<><>
That is all for tonight as I have to get to bed and the computer
is acting a little strange. The curser won't show up at present
so I will wish you all a happy week. Be kind to each other.
Love and best wishes to you all. Cheers, Merle.

Post 345 ~ ~ ~ ~ Monday, 22nd October, 2007.
<><><>


16 comments:

Gledwood said...

Hi Merle!
V entertaining jokes, as ever...
I saw Olive's birthday video too... can hardly believe she's 108 years old!!

Mary said...

Merle,

Very touching poem about the Crabby Old Man - and oh, so true. I'm not sure if you read my post on Senior and Elder abuse. October is Senior and Elder Month in Ontario. This fits perfectly.

Also loved the joke about the sailor.

Have a magical Monday.
Mary

Mary said...

Merle,

I've posted the photos of my front door for your viewing pleasure. Hope you enjoy them.

Mary

The Ramblin Irishman said...

Hi Merle,
Loved the Crabby Old Man story. Took a copy of it and emailed to all my children. Your jokes are the best as always. I really enjoyed the boys and Satan since our preacher talked about Satan this past Sunday. Have a nice day.

Tammy said...

Ahhh Miz Merle...I loved the Ricky/Betty letters...great fun!

Your flowers are so pretty!

Have a great day!

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Aww, thanks for the shout out for my birthday, Merle! I appreciate you thinking of me. :-)

Great jokes from Susie and the others, and your flowers are gorgeous! Flowers are a favorite interest of mine and I do enjoy seeing yours from Australia. I know they're common to you but they're so exotic to me.

Hope you get your computer woes straightened out and have a great week, Merle.

Hugs,

Diane

audrey` said...

Dear Merle

You Genista is sooooo lovely =)

Renie Burghardt said...

Hi Merle,

Crabby Old Man is so sad! Of course, crabby old women are as just as sad, and I'm getting there much quicker than I thought.

Your flowers are so pretty. Funny jokes! I like the one aSusie sent you about the priest. Hehe. Oh, I live in the Midwest, and how true! I hope your cursor is working better by now. We're having a rainy Monday here, and I'm enjoying it. Have a great Tuesday!

Warm regards,

Renie

Lee said...

Lovely flowers, Merle. The weather is magnificent up here on the mountain at present. The days are warm but not hot and the evenings lovely and cool. Rain is predicted for Thursday and Friday, so let's hope the predictions are correct!

Take care. :)

Lady Di Tn said...

Merle
Another entertaining post. GENISTA Wow what a lovely plant to gaze upon. Is it frangant?

A Tennessee farm girl hint. Put newspapers around the tomato plants leaving about a 6 inch opening and then put a layer of straw around them. Keeps out weeds and keeps in moisture.

I love home grown tomatoes and tomato sandwich is my favorite meal in the summer. Do you like tomato sandwiches?

mreddie said...

The flowers are beautiful. Hope your tomatoes do well - I went out today and picked some from my overgrown, late season vines. They were small but probably still better that the ones from the grocery. ec

Jim said...

Hi Merle -- I hope the computer straightens out. Did you hit the 'Esc' escape key? That does wonders for a cranky pointer.

Those blondes!

There are a lot of good things about Texas, I had a list and parts of it are scattered on my earlier blogs.

We are having winter today and tomorrow. It may get into the 40s [F] tonight, it started out at 74 and worked down to low 50s by noon.
..

Jeanette said...

Hi dear Merle.You have some lovely Pelargoniums in your garden.I havent heard of that tree i like the yellow blossom on it. love the crabby old man was sad though.hahaha to the new priest. great jokes, yep i posted anew one yesterday, just going to make a call see if puter on its way.take care my friend. Janxoxo

Gattina said...

Very true, we are sitting in an old carcasse but the head is still young ! I loved the sailor story, lol !

Susie said...

Hi Merle,
I've been reading through your posts that I've missed here. It feels good to laugh at the jokes you are so good to post each and every day. You have such a gift for being able to add a large smile to our blogging world.
Glad you were able to use the ones I sent and I also enjoy seeing your flowers. My garden is getting ready for fall. Not too much color right now.
love and ((hugs))

Unknown said...

Another excellent post, Merle. Thank you.