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Thursday, September 24, 2015

LIKES & DISLIKES

                                  
                      



LIKES AND DISLIKES












                      LIKES & DISLIKES

I think it is very obvious that everyone has likes and dislikes and there is no way that anyone wants to list all of their likes and dislikes. I did want to get into this a little so as I sit one night in a motel room in Idaho Falls, Idaho, many years ago I brainstormed this subject for a couple of hours and this is what I ended up with!
I LIKE the smell of Christmas trees---The first fall snow on mountain peaks---old barns---an eagle soaring in a blue sky---the smell of new cowboy boots---Yellowstone Park---and riding a snowmobile on untracked snow.

I DISLIKE rude, sullen teenagers---wind---radio and TV commercials---flat tires---fog---fishing alone---a ballpoint pen that will not write---and the smell at the zoo.

I LIKE western music---night rodeos---good books---classical music---the smell of a new car--- and Christmas morning with children.

I DISLIKE hard rock music---the smell of burned hair---mud---slick roads---clothes that fit to tight---strange towns---and drivers that tailgate.

I LIKE smiling happy teenagers---Spring---birds singing in the mornings---fruit trees in blossom---roses ---Australian accents---Fall---and the full moon reflecting on winter snow.

I DISLIKE spiders---the phone ringing late at night---traffic jams---dirty windows---breaking in new boots---being sick---and left lane freeway drivers.

I LIKE the sight of a beautiful horse---the gentle rain on the roof---comfortable old shoes---old movies---soothing music---sunsets over Great Salt Lake---and to sit on front of a warm fireplace in Winter.

I DISLIKE crowded campgrounds---cloudy days---mini-skirts on older women---dull pencils---televisions in the kitchen---empty ice trays---and continued next week television shows.

I LIKE holding my grand children---campfires---being in the Temple---a field of mountain flowers--- a rushing mountain stream---a warm day in winter---new babies---and the sight of a pristine mountain meadow.

I DISLIKE a fireplace that smokes---people who whisper in the Temple---gossip---funerals---hospitals—cigarette smoke---dirty snow---and “holier than thou people.”

I LIKE the sight of animals in the wild---the sounds of waves breaking on the shore---a big order--- the smell of homemade bread---the smell of lilacs in bloom---football games---fishing with a friend--- and traveling with my wife.

I DISLIKE being alone in a motel room---dead animals on the highway---icy sidewalks---dirty clothing on the floor---drawers hanging open---poor losers---and people who take games too seriously.

I LIKE a kind word from the Boss---soft deep new carpet---pepperoni---the beginning of a new year--- the smell of new sawdust---other people’s dogs--- and a well prepared Church lesson.

I DISLIKE being interviewed by ANYONE---soggy newspapers---shirts missing buttons---unmade beds---sweet pickles---and zippers that don’t zip or unzip.

I LIKE waking up feeling good---the smell of the soap factory---vacations---the smell of spice after shave---to snuggle my wife---women’s perfume---black jelly beans---crisp apples---and the smells in the house at Thanksgiving time.

I DISLIKE smelly ashtrays in a restaurant---painting anything---women smoking---wilted green salad--- complaining people---bus fumes at intersections--- and political promises.

I LIKE my daughters---my son---my grandchildren---my son-in laws---my whole family---and especially my loving wife Donnie who has put up with my likes and dislikes for all these years. And for her loving, giving, and forgiving personality.

As I said in the beginning everyone has his or her likes and dislikes. I imagine if some psychologist got hold of this he could analyze it and come to some conclusion as to what makes me tick. Or better still maybe why I do not tick?

In reading it over before I typed it I feel that I am about like the majority of other people I know in my likes and dislikes, and that is not to strange, because I have said for years that we as a people seem to attract and associate with people with similar interests. Enough of LIKES & DISLIKES.

Written 1988 in Idaho Falls, Idaho
By: W.R. Baldwin

Although this was written a long time ago I just run onto it a few days ago as I was cleaning out some old desk drawers. In reading it I decided not a lot has changed in all those years--except of course the things I cannot do anymore because all of my parts do not function as well as they used to. ----------But it is still pretty much how I think so here it is and maybe it will bring back some memories to some of you.
Wally

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

WHAT IS IT -4





WHAT IS IT?




Does anyone know what this
is and how to use it?
My Sister found this
in her basement

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Frustrated Blogger

























FRUSTRATED BLOGGER

  

    When I first started blogging back in 2008 I did not realize what a one-sided thing it would turn out to be. I thought that if I blogged about common everyday happenings and memories there would be at least several people interested enough in the subject matter that they would comment on the subject matter and perhaps add a comment about something similar that had happened in their lives.

   Nope, that has not happened! Now after seven years of blogging I am finally reconciling to myself that it probably never will happen.

   Of course I know I am not a gifted writer, in fact I probably cannot be described as a writer at all. I even put a disclaimer to that effect in  some of my first blogs. If course I did not have to do that because anyone reading my blogs could surely figure that out for theirself. 

   So maybe someone out there in "Blogger's Heaven" can help me out? Can you blog to often, or not often enough? Can you blog on to many different subjects?

   I know people read my blogs as I have a counter on them and although I am far from a high profile person, I do have people look at one or another of my blogs every day. If thirty or forty people a day look at my blogs, why do you suppose no one comments on them? Is it because it is to difficult for them to comment? Are they perhaps just scrolling up and down and are not really interested in the blog, but are just looking?

   Another interesting thing is that even though people read the blog they do not take the time to comment. However they will take the time to send me a comment by E-Mail It is a big conundrum to me!

   I am getting up there in years and I have had a lot of experiences in my life. If for no other reason than it has been a long time (so Far.) I have been using some of these experiences in my blogs. I am also blogging to save some of my memories for my family members. And of course my family loves them.

   I am at this point a very weary blogger, who likes to blog. I have no thoughts of quitting, but was just hoping to find out if this was a problem for just a few like me or is it a big problem, with a lot of bloggers?

   Perhaps someone out there in cyber-space might take pity on me and give me some words of wisdom?

W.R.BALDWIN  20 Sep 2015  


   





Carl don't know.

CARL---DON'T KNOW

I don't know what I don't know
I don't know what you don't know
                     &
You don't know what you don't know
You don't know what I don't know

So do either one of us know anything?
And if so how do we know what it is?

Saturday, September 12, 2015

CARL'S PANTS

PANTS??? OF COURSE I HAVE PANTS, 

SOMEWHERE HERE IN THE HOUSE.

 I JUST CANNOT FIND THEM 

SOMETIMES!!

Friday, September 4, 2015

THE GATHERING

                                      THE GATHERING
   Just the name, “The Gathering”, I am sure will lead people astray as to what the contents of this “blog” will be. The two words, used together, usually mean a group of people getting together for a specific reason or to receive information of some kind. I guess it would not be too big of a stretch of the imagination to even say, just these two words together could even be considered ominous?
   This “blog” came about because of a conversation I had with an OLD friend. We were reminiscing about our home town, when we were much younger and the subject of pine-nuts came up. It was probably because this is the time of year that started us thinking about GATHERING pine-nuts.
   I am sure there are other places in this country and around the world that do this but when I was young I did not think about that. I only knew we had our own pine-nut forest just below town. I guess because it was so close to town that we could walk there, it became sort of a ritual that when the pine-nuts were ripe it was time for the gathering.
   Gathering the sweet nuts was an interesting thing when I was young--- even to the point of a misnomer or two. One of these was when it was time to gather people would say, “let’s go down the Cedars and get some pine-nuts today." I never did know why the forest below our town was called The Cedars. Of course there were Cedar trees there but the majority was pinion pine.
   There were several ways to harvest the nuts and all of them seemed to me like a lot of work for what you got out of it.
   When we just wanted a few to eat, we usually walked (when younger) or drove down the cedars a little way and then walk around the tree and pick up what we wanted off the ground. When the weather got cold at night and warm in the day the nuts would start falling out of the cones.
   Another way to harvest them if you become impatient, was to go and pick the green cones off the tree and take them home and boil them in a tub of hot water over a fire until they started to open then scoop them out and put them on a dry rock or board or something until they dried out. It only took me one time trying this method, to realize that was NOT the best way. It was a very messy affair. When you finished you had pitch covering everything including yourself.
   The most popular way in our family to do the gathering, was to put a white canvas tarp on the ground under the tree and then send all the kids up the tree like a bunch of monkey’s to shake it any way they could. Some stomped up and down on the limbs, some would grab two limbs and pull them back and forth, and some would take a stick up the tree with them and just poke or swat the cones that had dried out. Then when finished we would gather the nuts, put them in a sack and go to the next tree for a repeat performance.
   As I got older I wondered if anyone driving by, and did not know about pine-nut gathering, would they think we were going through some kind of ritual or ceremony?
   Of course I never thought about the fact we were competing with the deer, squirrels, porky pines and other animals for their winter storage.
   Gathering pine-nuts and eating them was somewhere on the same scale as eating pomegranates, watermelon w/seeds and pistachio nuts. It was a lot of work for what you got out of it. Never the less I was still picking pine-nuts when I left my hometown.
   My Mom used to put pine-nuts in our Thanksgiving Dressing so we knew when the pine-nuts were on we had to get at least enough for the dressing. Of course then the problem was to make sure there were enough left, that did not get eaten, to put in that dressing at Thanksgiving time.
   Probably the biggest “pet peeve”, other than the mess of picking, was when the City Slickers started coming to OUR CEDAR’S and picking our pine-nuts. Of course I wonder what the deer and other animals thought about us taking their winter food supply?
   When we got through with the harvest—big or small—we always got to have a picnic. We cooked a hamburger or had a sack lunch and just enjoyed just being in the great outdoors and playing in the dirt.

   I still get a craving for pine-nuts once in a while in the fall. However I now have become old and lazy so when I do I usually just jump in the car, drive to the store and pay about $10.00 for ½ pound of unshelled nuts and head back home to eat them and reminisce. 


W.R. Baldwin September 2015--- Just Reminiscing