Halloween at the Firestation

Back in September, my coworkers and I had a brilliant idea. "Let's do a Halloween Trick or Treat at the Fire Station this year! We'll invite all the base kids, the firefighters kids and our COMM center's kids! It will be FUN!" A conversation ensued, ideas were exchanged, interest was peaked and the next thing I knew, I was organizing an event. Well folks, Halloween is tomorrow and what follows here, is my brief accounting of the journey from conception to stark raving lunacy! It is Sunday, October 30th at 9:30 in the morning. Not one decoration has been hung, not one pumpkin has been carved, not one string of lights has been strung! In a stairwell, back in the belly of the station, lies boxes and bags of accumulated items... from humble beginnings of a few donated items, to a massive growth of tangled bones and musty costumes, boxes of brand new store bought decorations and candy, funded by donations from generous coworkers and a fire department association. Candy and more candy and then even more candy. In the last month we have made games, props, flyers, we've prepared frozen ice hands for the punch, little clothespins covered with Kleenex tissue to resemble little ghosts, EMS gloves filled with candy, boxes of craft pumpkins and someone even brought in a FOG machine! I have an assortment of spiders along with various webs, some even lighted! Foam tombstones and eyeballs in bags, a stuffed raven, and well, you get the idea! We started with nothing and now, as I look at the conglomeration, I filled with feelings of 1. Dread 2. Anxiety 3. Excitement 4. Joy 5. Pride. Because of the nature of our environment, I have had to wait to decorate the station because it is constantly in use. Conference rooms, hallways, kitchen, rec rooms... all used on a daily basis.  So starting after shift today around 1530 hours, I and hopefully a few volunteers, will try to throw all this together into some semblance of order! (Say a little prayer for us?) Here is a picture of what we are working with.  I'll get you a pic tomorrow of the finished project!

An unexpected email that explains it all!

Like many citizens, I’ve wondered and tried hard to understand why Trump has such a remarkable following.  (It's obvious why he shouldn’t!)  Then a friend sent me this raccoon story. It makes no difference about your political leanings, this is just a good explanation of WHY... (Or it's as good as any I have seen).

 Dear Representative,

From the time I was able to vote I voted Republican. I am 75+ and have a great deal of respect and influence with many other seniors who also network with thousands of others around the country.

I received your questionnaire and request for money to help support the Republican nominee for the office of the President.  Rest assured, I strongly agree with every question you asked -- as I have since Obama was elected.   Unfortunately, an important question was missing, and it is “What have the Republicans and their Party done for the American people lately?” While you seem never to have listened to us in the past Forty Years, we gave you a majority in the house and senate two years ago and you have done nothing with the power we provided you.  And now, you want more of our money?   Give me a break!

 You should be concerned about our votes -- not our money.  You are the “establishment” and it’s apparent all you really want to do is to save your jobs and line your pockets. . . Well, guess what?  It’s not going to happen.  You can shake in your boots when I tell you our support is for TRUMP and he hasn’t asked us for a dime.

 You might think we are fools because you feel Trump is on a self-destruct course but you need to look outside DC and listen to the masses.  Few, if any, have achieved what he has, especially in a state like New York.

 If you really want to know how the majority of people feel, and this applies to both democrats and republicans, read below, it says it all.

 (Here comes the part about the raccoons)

Assume that you've been on vacation for two weeks, and when you come home you find that  your basement is infested with raccoons.  Hundreds of rabid, messy, mean raccoons have taken over your basement.  You want them gone immediately.  You call the city, the county and 4 different exterminators.  Nobody can handle the job . . . But then you hear of one guy and this one guy guarantees to get rid of them.  So you hire him.   You don't care if the guy smells, you don't care if he cusses and swears, you don't care if he's an alcoholic, you don't care how many times he's been  married, you don't care if he voted for Obama, you don't care if he has plumber's crack, you simply want those raccoons gone!  You want your problem fixed!  He's the guy.  He's the best.  Period.

 (Back to Trump)

 Here’s why we want Trump.  Yes he's a bit of an ass, yes he's an egomaniac, but we don't care.  The country is a mess because its politicians suck.  The Republican Party is two-faced & gutless, and illegals are everywhere.  We want it all fixed!  We don't care that Trump is crude, we don't care that he insults people, we don't care that he had been friendly with Hillary, we don't care that he has changed positions, we don't care that he's been married 3 times, we don't care that he fights with Megyn Kelly and Rosie O'Donnell, we don't care that he doesn't know the name of some Muslin terrorist.

 This country is bankrupt and appears weak.  Our enemies are making fun of us, we are being invaded by illegal's, we are becoming a nation of victims where every Tom, Ricardo and Hasid is a special group with special rights to a point where we don't even recognize the country we were born and raised in.  WE JUST WANT IT FIXED and Trump is the only guy who seems to understand what the people want.

 We're sick of our politicians, sick of the Republican Party, sick of Democratic Party and sick of illegals.  We just want this thing fixed.  Trump may not be a saint, but doesn't have lobbyist’s money holding him, he doesn't have political correctness restraining him, and we all know is that he has been very successful in business and is a good negotiator.  He has built a lot of things.  He's also not a politician, not a cowardly politically correct politician. And he not only says he can fix it, he says he will fix it and we believe him.

 And we believe him because he is too much of an egotist to be proven wrong or looked at and called a liar.  Also we don't care if the guy has bad hair.

 We just want those raccoons gone, out of our house, NOW.

Two Beautiful Souls

Tonight, I typed in the old web address to this blog. I wasn't expecting to be able to access it. I hadn't even googled it in awhile. I was so used to having access blocked at work, that I jumped for joy when I realized my workplace IT guys had finally decided that Blogger was safe.


I was thrilled to be clicking on all the old links to the pages of writers that I used to follow.  I was scrolling and clicking and laughing at some of the things I had missed, and then I wasn't laughing.


The moment I landed on her blog page, I knew. The moment I landed on his blog page, I knew. Two absent years had taken it's toll. Damn Facebook! If Facebook hadn't taken over as my place to post and if time and access hadn't become so limited to me on Blogger, I might have been able to at least check in once in a while and say thank you. As it was, I moved on and in doing so, robbed myself of our connection.


Two beautiful souls gone.  Buck Pennington, and Gertrud Svensson Stockton, I will never be able to express what your writings and fellowship meant to me during the times that I was officially "blogging".  I hope that somewhere, out there in the cosmos, you are able to feel the love and respect.    Never forgotten.