NORWEGIAN FIRE DEPARTMENT

One dark night outside a small town in Minnesota , a fire started inside the local chemical plant and in a blink of an eye it exploded into massive flames. The alarm went out to all the fire departments for miles around.

When the volunteer fire fighters appeared on the scene, the chemical company president rushed to the fire chief and said, "All our secret formulas are in the vault in the center of the plant. They must be saved. I will give $50,000 to the fire department that brings them out intact."

But the roaring flames held the firefighters off.

Soon more fire departments had to be called in as the situation became desperate. As the firemen arrived, the president shouted out that the offer was now $100,000 to the fire department who could bring out the company's secret files.

From the distance, a lone siren was heard as another fire truck came into sight It was the nearby Norwegian rural township volunteer fire company composed mainly of Norwegians over the age of 65. To everyone's amazement, that little run-down fire engine roared right past all the newer sleek engines that were parked outside the plant.

Without even slowing down it drove straight into the middle of the inferno. Outside, the other firemen watched as the Norwegian old timers jumped off right in the middle of the fire fought it back on all sides. It was a performance and effort never seen before.

Within a short time, the Norske old timers had extinguished the fire and had saved the secret formulas. The grateful chemical company president announced that for such a superhuman feat he was upping the reward to $200,000, and walked over to personally thank each of the brave fire fighters.

The local TV news reporter rushed in to capture the event on film, asking their chief, "What are you going to do with all that money?"

"Vell," said Ole Larsen, the 70-year-old fire chief, "Da first thing ve gonna do is fix da brakes on dat focking truck!"

A family joke from a friend who is half-Norweigian.  I love it.

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE BORDER COLLIES

 

How are border collies like bishops?

ABOUT GROUNDHOGS

When my wife and I lived in Arkansas, there was a groundhog living in the dry spring house. I kept hoping that it would dig into water and start the spring flowing again.

Better than casting a shadow, don't you think?

From a reader who shall not be named. :-)

Image from Wikipedia.

FAILURE TO TOAST

 

Failure to Toast

The blue flash particular
to a circuit fried
wisp of smoke, the smell
half charred crumbs
half wire sheathing burning
on the day the toaster oven died.
A small thing, familiar
UL certified
no whistle or bell
or grand sums
spent on “status” baking
just bagel warming at morningtide.
Here beneath the floorboards
of security
where we soften scapes
long past thrift
with twenty-five watt light
the “expired appliance warranty”
is epitaph the wards
of prosperity
hear as time to traipse
options sift
at the mall where no right
exists but the harsh rule of plenty.
To the bin, the broken
trash the obsolete
count as lost, beyond
repair those
who failed to court with toasts
network or successfully compete
of these no word spoken
judged human sleet
as if to respond
would impose
on best kept private ghosts
hold in abstraction cold bread, defeat.

(Marthe G. Walsh)

Well done, Marthe. 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - ERROL LABORDE

Ash Wednesday resonates in New Orleans more than in most places because of the way we live the day before. There would be less purpose in saying “farewell to flesh” were we not previously so consumed by flesh of all forms.

Errol Laborde in New Orleans Magazine. 

Laborde's words made me smile, because they are so true.

MORE INTO IT

 

True. Sorry, fans of the Super Bowl. Still, I hope the local businesses in New Orleans make lots of money from the visitors.

From someecards.

GOING TO THE RIVER - FATS DOMINO

Friday night with Fats Domino.

By David's request.  Check out the expression on Fats' face in the photo of him smoothing his hair.  Love it.

FAMILY DAY

Yesterday, I was gone from home all day, spending time in activities with various members of my family. The first outing was to Grandparents Day at my granddaughter's high school. Grandpère could not go, as he was due at the boat museum at the same time. Last year, we made the grand tour of the entire school, so GD didn't think we needed that again, but she did want us to visit her art classroom and see the work she had done in class. While we were looking at her pictures, the art teacher came up and said, "Your granddaughter is a very talented artist." I said, "We know." Still, I was delighted to hear the art teacher affirm what we knew. The picture is from our visit to the school last year. The photo from this year will be mailed to me.

Next up was a pleasant lunch at a local restaurant with my daughter-in-law and son to celebrate my DIL's birthday.  I enjoyed spending time with them, catching up with what's going on in their lives and the life of their son, my grandson, who is at LSU.  I have sworn off discussing politics with my son, except about matters upon which we agree, and I managed to keep my oath till the end of the lunch, which mercifully concluded before the discussion became too heated. I'll simply add that we all agree on certain matters political, which I will not detail here.

My next destination was my son's house to stay with my grandson until his older sister, my granddaughter in the top picture, came home from school and running errands. My GS is now a couple of years older than in the photo.

So. There it is - my family day - which is why I didn't blog yesterday.  Busy, busy, busy.

STORY OF THE DAY - CLOSE TO THE GROUND

I still fly a lot in my dreams, she told us, but I try to 
stay close to the ground. At my age, a fall can be pretty 
serious.

Indeed.  :-)

From StoryPeople.

SPEAKING OF NIGHTMARES

John Fuseli - The Nightmare

Early this morning, I had not one, but two nightmares.  The first is all but forgotten, but it involves a head-and-shoulders picture of a young woman with reddish-brown hair, wearing a green dress or blouse.  In some way, the picture is vitally important in my nightmare and causes me great anxiety, but why I don't remember.  I woke up, went to the bathroom, and went back to bed.  The question as to whether I dream in color is definitively answered.

I slept again, as I was worn out, only to begin another nightmare.  The second nightmare is one that recurs.  Grandpère hurries me to leave to catch a plane to somewhere or other, and I realize that I've forgotten to pack several vital items, which I cannot do without.  Anxiety, sturm und drang, GP saying, "We have to leave now!", and me saying, "No, we can't!  I have more to pack!"  The items included, medications, vitamins, and a jacket, among other things.  There I am scrambling ineffectively to gather up what I need to stow in the suitcases, with GP saying all the while , "We have to go!  We have to go!" and me saying, "Wait!  Wait!"

Because I am chronically late, and GP usually hurries me along whenever we go anywhere together, my second nightmare is somewhat of a replay of real life, except that the scene plays out with me intensely fearful and anxious. Then, as usual, I woke up with the entire scenario unresolved and me exhausted already, and having to face the day ahead.  What kind of rest is that?

Some of the experts on dreams say that we dream in metaphors, and the key is to discover the significance of the metaphors.  Others, Jungian types, say all the people in our dreams are aspects of ourselves.  Whatever.  Two nightmares in one morning is too much.

Image from Wikipedia.