TubaOrNotTuba

Consider the potato. We have a lot of them locally and they are found in the ground. Hidden gold if you will. We do not eat them raw. That is frustrating. Instead we bake them or boil them or fire them. And if you are really looking for a treat you take a single potato and slice it into thin layers. As many as you can manage with the thickness of a piece of paper as your goal. Prepare of that of hot oil and carefully place your slices into the bubbling liquid. Carefully remember. In a matter of minutes you will have something that is worth being given to all and sundry. I will not go into nutrition here per. These are designed to be flavoured. I have never visited a potato chip factory but it must be amazing. To find so many ways to add a diverse palette of flavours to something that will then be consumed year round cold or hot. From where I sit these qualify as miraculous. We need to celebrate potato chip in measured quantities. Do not go crazy here because you will grow as you enjoy. Just be aware that the potato now has added value. I have seen a series of different sell formats. Rippled and curled and turned into sticks all equal in the and all good. In measured quantities. We actually do not have a potato chip factory here in the province which seems silly. Sending our potatoes fairfield to bring them back in a format that costs much more then it should. If the potato chip is a staple of our diet we should be able to keep the price down to a point where everyone can eat them when they want. Again no nutrition considered. I can remember the first potato chip bags and I know what we have now and they have in common that all do a dependable job of delivery. It takes a lot of space to ship a potato that has been so transformed. Be careful and do not crush them because although the powder would be delicious you lose the satisfying snap. Keep them dry.

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 I have a request to make. A simple one really. Please do not look to me for an explanation as you thread your own path through life. Too much responsibility to give to someone else. I have figured out that I no longer need to see the world unfold around me. Others have taken care of that. I watched a documentary about traveling through Egypt as many others have done and I have no need to stare at the pyramids nor sit on a boat as we head up the Nile. Or down. Take your pick. In the same way I will not be one of those people found on the upslope of Everest. I have little need to go there. I will take the time to read the reactions of others to their experience or watch videos they have produced but I will not be one of those who generate content for the world. At least I do not think so. If you have ever lived with a dog you quickly learn that the highest mountain in the house is often a bed. And the deepest lake is kept in a bathtub. Your dog will only go there if you are patient with him. I do wonder about those who endlessly chronicle their journeys. Do they not need to sit and remember where they have been? Where I live we have no mountains and the ocean is there to cross, not swim through. We have minor forests although they seem determined to cut them down. And right now the only dog climbing on my bed is a loaner. I spell that LOANER rather than LONER but I’m sure you knew that. We’re into a new month and I do not have to worry about the usual responsibilities of September. The leaves will fall as they may. Now you see why I am not a person to guide you on your life path. I cannot see where you want to go so I have little interest. And my own wandering outside is tempered by common sense.

Last evening we brought the bird feeders back inside. A preemptive motion before that certain raccoon arrived to chow down. It seems that he enjoys sunflower seeds as much as all the finches and other normal group who cluster around the theatres period. He’s not alone. There are also a whole collection of squirrels and chipmunks that depend upon us for their snack food. As well as the fox is. In fact I think that we are spending more time to keep the local animal population alive then anyone else. It could be worse. I do not care to watch there coyotes getting their protein supply from our address. I also have no idea about many of the other creatures they have discovered that man will keep them from having to do extra foraging. It should be noted the bird seed comes in large containers and the seeds that fall to the ground do not grow. Otherwise I would be living in a forest of flowers. This is one of the things that we never had to deal with living in the city. From my point of view there were no wild animals. Except perhaps for a porcupine that was spotted many years ago. In the city even the dogs and cats have homes to go to. Around here we watch for the strays from other places. A choice I guess. Also the number of trees in the area is declining steadily. Faced with the damages left by high winds people have learned that a chainsaw makes quick logs. No idea where those are going. The world is changing. Even if the number of farms has dropped the number of animals getting their sustenance from mankind has remained constant.

I am having moments of speculation. There are realtor signs on both sides of my property which leads me to believe that I am truly the man in the middle. As well those pesky windmills are coming. Shades of Lamancha. Having land for sale is rather new around here. Until now the ownership of properties has been very stable but now I wonder. Am I doomed to have an influx of new neighbours with different expectations than before. Will I have to adjust to a new dog next door? Will someone want to park in my driveway because it is so lovely? If I were was a rich man I could simply buy those properties because that’s how real estate works but I am not on such good terms with my financial backers. So I will have to wait and see what happens next. Possibly nothing. This is the time of the year that properties go on sale. The number of rich tourists who can hardly wait to have a chance to part with their cash are fewer than before. Something about global instability and high interest rates and all the other reasons given too slow gross. I will have to wait and see whether or not those signs harvest anything other than as I said speculation. I know that people are talking. I hear things through the Grapevine even if the vineyard is idle. Will it actually change anything for me in my daily routine? Not a chance I’m set in my ways and they know exactly where the limits of my property lie to within a few meters. But I want to know if I will have to learn a whole set of new names to replace those of the people that have been here that I have also never met. Probably the winter will come and go with no change. By then we should have better roads do due in part to the windmill people. I wonder would they pave my driveway if I begged nicely. Stood outside and waved my arms around. Oh well another nice day at least as we move towards the end of summer and a fall of wondering.

Any form of imitation is flattery or so I’ve heard. All of our arts are based upon imitation. That is how we learn our craft. It is also a given the some are better learners than others. This afternoon I listen to a podcast that tried to outline how one particular recording artist builds the phrasing. The instructor was excellent. In fact I sat back in awe of the ability to imitate and fraction out the different features of a given phrase. I wish I had that sort of talent. It takes one beyond the idea of copying. It requires a certain set of skills that few have. The ability to listen to a phrase and then replicate it by ear is almost magic. It is also the foundation of our musical system. Still some artists make it more difficult than others by the series simple dexterity of their work. Yes I know it is not simple. When you can take a phrase and modulate it and then sing on top of it and then add rhythm you have made a piece of music that goes beyond simple plain song. And do not forget that plain song used to be the standard by which all western music was judged. I can only wait to hear more by this particular instructor because obviously there is a talent that needs to be witnessed. I will wait to see who the next performer is to be outlined. After all this is a complex task and one that cannot be simply done by saying I want to do it. Go ahead. Sing a song. Imitate someone else. How did you do?

Let me start with the question of whether or not I have ever been scared. I’ll make it a division between afraid and startled. After thinking about it I will say no. I have lived a life relatively free of any kind of shock to my nervous system. I suppose if I lived in a different time and place that I would have had reason to fear that witch winter on around me but I have missed out on wars and attempts to cut off my head and all the other things that make history so interesting. I have not even had strong moments of nightmare which is probably a reflection of my diet and the calm of my home. But I do wonder what drives people to go watch television shows or movies that upset them. I have never been a big fan of movie fear. What would I do differently going forward? Nothing really. We do not need our night to be filled with fear. And as for being startled by things like loud noises or wild animals in the corner of the room I have had none of that. I keep my doors closed which allows the raccoon to wander around outside without ever coming into visit. Also having a dog around keeps the raccoons away or so I believe. My roof has never fallen in although those strong winds a couple years back made me wonder about that part. I have had no fires or floods or strong earthquakes. Once again a reflection of my lifestyle and where I live. Checking the historical record we do not do earthquakes in this part of the world. I live close enough to the sea level the floods are also a low risk and I try to keep the open flames away from my belongings.

It works I now have a talking wrist. Watch. I pushed the button and it tells me what time it is. More practical than waiting for a time check on the radio. This all came about because I attended a supper this evening. An evening of recognition from the community group that I used to belong to. They haven’t forgotten me. And so even though I could not see faces or wander around and drop into other people’s conversations I still felt like Still a change from my routine. I forget that by staying home everyday I am falling beside the road. Now that I can tell what time it is I have fewer excuses for saying that cannot join with others. A communion of minds if you will. And if someone says please try to be on time I will try. No promises offered yet. I did end up talking to someone about the roof. In a general sense. My shingles will not last forever. They may already have used up more than half of their life span and so I should start planning for the next step. Like will it be ten or will it be ten. The choices are actually pretty simple. If I put up shingles they will need to be replaced in a few years but if I put up metal I have a chance of something that might outlast me. The mathematics is simple. Go for that which will last the longest time. My dreams of putting up solar panels have been dealt a serious blow by the need of our government to move people to electric cars. The batteries that would have been available for my roof have been sidetracked to let someone travel down the road. I will have to start looking for my own Plan B. Happily putting up a metal roof is something that certain contractors do as a matter of course. I just have to find the right ones and then align that with my budget. Like I said, simple.

While playing the game of try to remember, I decided to recall the first piece of music that I could say I heard from a recording. Given my age this was from a 78 owned by my grandparents which they played back on a little portable phonograph. The cover was beige and it had a tube amplifier inside. That’s not the important part. What I wanted to recall what is this song. And I could. At least, with the help of YouTube and some lyrics. I found four different recordings dating back to 1952 and I could tell by listening which artist was involved. Someone who was well known at that time in this part of the world. Hank Snow. The song was sappy. Something that would not chart now as they say. But I was left wondering who would have purchased the record originally. I am unable to lay the blame at the door of anyone individual avoid feel certain it was not my grand father. Not his style. So that left it down to my uncles and aunts and my grandmother. And of course what was available for sale locally. The number of places that you could buy a 78 back in the day we’re limited. Was this an impulse purchase or something that they had carefully budgeted to own. Was this a favourite song around the house. Again no way to find out because all of the guilty parties are gone. Well I can tell you, I am glad that my memory is still intact. Even for remembering silly little things like this. I do not have to make up the details. Actually there were only about four recordings in that pile and all of them can be found with careful searching. None of them are going to make it under my personal hit parade. I wonder do the user today even know what the term hit parade means. Times have changed. We now stream and Spotify. The idea of allowing someone to compile a curated list every week of which songs were worthy of our attention seems antiquated.

Have I ever mentioned that I worked for years in an aquarium. We were the fish. We had glass walls and an audience of hundreds who came to see what we were doing. This was education in the last century. And I was part of an experiment. We wanted to see if technology had a place in a high school. And so we did our best to spend other people’s money and see whether or not certain ideas would float. Remember it was an aquarium. Not a large one. Roughly 1/4 of a standard classroom which means about the size of a bedroom with no beds. Instead we had counters around 2 walls and three people and two telephones, an oversized laser printer and that was just the basic furnishings. We added and subtracted as the years went by. For some reason our little room with the glass walls seemed to draw every rare fish from our high school pond. We had students there all the time. Not for formal learning. I think we were seen as a shelter against the larger predators that you find in every high school. Students could come to our area and be aware that we were not going to criticize or chastise or make their lives miserable. And it worked for over a decade until the money ran out and we were dispersed to our own areas of the world. But I look back on those years with fondness because we did not have time to relax. Not even finding the time to eat a bowl of ramen noodles which amounted to a 5 minute lunch. The one plus was that if the telephone rang someone else would probably answer it. If you have ever worked in an office because that’s what this was supposed to be, you understand what I mean.

If you take the time to take a trip down memory lane you quickly learn one fact period. Given enough years all of your stars fade to black. Some may call it death. I was watching some documentaries about television shows from my childhood. And invariably, they go away. Not to to retirement but rather due to the ravages of time. Disease in large part. No wonder people spend so much time searching for the fountain of youth back in the day. Go ahead. Once you reach a certain age you can play the game. Look up an old TV show and check the cast list. Pick a name that you recognize. The reality is stark and clear. None of us last forever. I would have thought that someone who could make it to the top of the pops or make it to the top of the TV lists had something extra going on but they do not. I guess I better enjoy what time I have while I can. It seems that writing afterwards will be a feat worthy of fame. On other topics I may have prematurely reported the end of the rail strike. Based on what I saw on the news this morning it’s a little bit like putting out a campfire. You pour some water on and you wait that’s what we’re doing right now. Waiting. The question of will the train arrive is as pertinent now as it was two days ago. That also is a sad reflection on the state of labour management relations period. I mean, they all want the same thing but the idea of how to get there is unclear. All we can do now is wait to see what happens after the weekend. And here’s a hint. Stock up on your groceries while they’re still available. Not to be a nervous Nelly but I cannot eat air.