| June 1st |
Long stormy spring-time, Wet contentious April, Winter chilling the very lap of May; But at length the season of summer does come. -- Thomas Carlyle (circa 1840) And it will come.......this month......in a mere three weeks.......be patient.......wait for it.......wait for it....... |
| June 2nd |
It's tough to make predictions; especially about the future. -- Yogi Berra (circa 1980) But here goes: The Minnesota Twins, as bad as they seem now and in spite of what most people seem to think, are way too good to be in the lowly position they find themselves in at the moment. Early in the season most people thought they were good (and they are good); they've just had a run of bad luck and a few slumps which will be corrected. My prediction is that, come October, the Twins WILL play in at least one post-season game, and they'll probably even be the Central Division champs. If anyone cares to dispute that, be my guest; I'll even put your response in here, if you like. |
| June 3rd | Three comments so far (see above), and it's 2-1. Two people think I'm crazy and one person agrees with me. Feel free to add your own comments. |
| June 4th, 5th, and 6th |
Sorry, I was out of town without a computer. |
| June 7th | This was the "Picture" for this day in 2015, six years ago today (click HERE). Tim and Monica, part of that very group, are now the owners of LBLR. Back in 2015 when I flew that Iowa flag in honor of their arrival, who would have thought that three years later they would own the place??? |
| June 8th | The Summer, the Glorious Summer, is nigh! She will arrive in a mere fortnight less two days. |
| June 9th | I've never liked parties very much (other than during my teenage years maybe), and for the last 40 years that trait has been getting more and more intense. These days, a single social occasion involving four or more people, and which lasts for more than a couple hours, gives me enough group social interaction to last for weeks, after which, the only thing that sounds good is sitting at home.......alone or with one other person. Geez, if I live another 22 years to match my Grandpa's age when he died, what will I think of socializing then? I might even be tempted to become a recluse. |
| June 10th | The Chickadees attempting to raise a family in one of our birdhouses (see the entry for May 9th), have not been rousted out by Wrens as I had feared, and they appear to have been successful (click HERE). Those chicks certainly look full-fledged and ready to leave the nest, don't you think? |
| June 11th | Concerning the prediction about the Minnesota Twins and the rest of this season (see the June 2nd entry above), several people have told me that I'm living in a dream world, and only one person (Colleen) agreed with me. By the way, since I made that prediction the Twins have won 3 and lost 5, and they're still in last place. Maybe my prediction wasn't all that well thought out; maybe I should have listened to Yogi and not made any predictions. Sigh....... |
| June 12th |
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! Ronald Reagan (1987) Those words were uttered by President Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin 34 years ago today. It's considered to be one of the most memorable speeches of an American president in Berlin after John Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in 1963. From what I've read since then, the speech wasn't considered significant until after the wall finally went down two years later, but I remember being very impressed with those words at the time that he said them. |
| June 13th | Today is the Ides of June. In case you've ever wondered, the Ides is the 15th day of the month in March, May, July, and October, and the 13th day in the other months. I guess that made sense to the ancient Romans with their calendar, but to us with our calendar it seems a bit arbitrary. |
| June 14th |
To see a comparison of two "morning rituals", or maybe I should say one morning ritual but in two quite different eras, click HERE.
PS: Happy Flag Day!!! Click HERE. |
| June 15th | Happy Birthday Deb!!! |
| June 16th | Who used the catch phrase "What a revolting development this is!" every week on TV? Hint: You have to be as old as me to remember it. If you know the answer, let me know. I'm really curious about how many people know it and what they thought of it, because for some reason I liked that show, even though I was too young to understand most of it. |
| June 17th | The answer to the above poser was "The Life of Riley", both from radio in the 1940s and TV in the 1950s. I distinctly remember Riley (William Bendix), on a number of occasions, looking directly at the camera and uttering the words "What a revolting development this is". BUT today I spent a little time scanning through a couple of the old TV shows, and didn't come up with a single instance of it. |
| June 18th | Even this late in the season, House Wrens are filling up birdhouses with sticks, including the one that was used and then abandoned by a pair of Chickadees who raised a brood in it a short time ago. I didn't know that Wrens did this until last year because, although there were Wrens up north over the years, I never had any obvious places for them to nest. Supposedly they do that to keep other birds from nesting in them. As one web-site explained it: House wrens hate having neighbors and will do their darndest to make sure all possible homes appear to be occupied. It's like when we put our coat on the seat next to us on the bus, only wrens use sticks. |
| June 19th | In the late summer, to indicate that Autumn is at hand, I usually show a picture of the first birch leaves that fall. It's not even summer yet, but look at this (click HERE). Maybe they're falling already because of the abnormally hot and dry weather?!?! Who knows.......but I know it's not even close to autumn yet. Sheesh. |
| The Summer Solstice |
In somer when the shawes be sheyne, And leves be large and long, Hit is full merry in feyre foreste To here the foulys song. -- Anonymous, May in the Green Wode (circa 1450) I know, I know.......the title refers to May, not summer.......but summer is mentioned in the first line and the words are appropriate. Here's to you Summer! Thanks for coming, and please stick around for awhile. |
| June 21st | One day around this time of the year in 2015, the Chronicles contained a set of pictures of the rising sun on the first days of Winter, Summer, and Fall (one can assume that the sunrise on the first day of spring is at the same location as the fall sunrise). It was sent to me by a longtime customer and friend, Linda A, and it's a beautiful depiction of the sun's movement as the seasons pass. (Click HERE.) But there's another neat thing about it, and that's the reason it's in the Chronicles again today. Doesn't that look like a neat place to live? It's Onida, South Dakota.......population 634. Linda was a high school English teacher at the time, and those pictures were taken on her way to school. Didn't you normally walk to school, Linda? I've never been in Onida, but I AM going to get there someday. Anyway, the pictures are great, from both astronomical and sociological viewpoints. Thanks again Linda! |
| June 22nd and 23rd |
No entries and no excuse.......not a valid one anyway. |
| June 24th | Does anyone know who this is? Click HERE. The picture (which is from 14 years ago), is too small for me to get a decent look at his face, but he was obviously staying at LBLR. Even if you have an idea who it is, but you're not sure, would you let me know anyway? Thanks. |
| June 25th | Today is the furthest one can get from Christmas......Christmas 2020 is six months past and the 2021 version is six months hence. Not to sound like an old Scrooge or anything, but.......let us celebrate! |
| June 26th | Sigh....... |
| June 27th | This is a sign in a "back in the sticks" bar that has a good message, click HERE. I was surprised, but it's an important message so take heed! |
| June 28th |
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!
Chronicles entry for this day in 2009, eleven years ago: Last night Jim (a son-in-law) took some of the grandkids out on the lake to fish, and Jeff (another son-in-law) took some other of the grandkids out for an evening boat ride. Jeff's boat broke down and blew into some weeds, so he flagged down Jim and asked for help. While he was towing Jeff's boat back to the resort, Jim's boat broke down. Nattie (Jim's daugher), who happened to have her cell phone with her, called her Mom (Tammy). So Tammy and I went out with one of my boats and "rescued" the whole lot of them. But here's the truly amazing part of the story: This morning both sons-in-law got their respective boats running again with a total expenditure of $0.00...........impressive, eh? Note added today: I don't have anything to embellish or to add to the story.......I just thought it was a neat situation that happened during a fun vacation. Some watercraft breakdowns occur every summer, but not usually two at the same time, and not always with such happy endings. |
| June 29th |
And speaking of memories of fun times, the above situation (in 2009) occurred early in the week that contained the Fourth of July, during which the whole resort was usually reserved for my family. Below is the Chronicles entry for June 27th of the previous year (2008):
Here's the Angst arrival plan for the week beginning tomorrow. Saturday: A brother, a sister-in-law, a niece and a nephew. Sunday: A daughter, 2 sons-in-law, 3 grandsons, and 3 granddaughters. Monday: A sister, a brother-in-law, a nephew (and his wife & 2 kids), and a niece (and her husband & 3 kids). Wednesday: A daughter, a granddaughter, and an ex-wife. Friday: A brother, a sister-in-law, a nephew, and a niece. And I THINK that's it; 32 in all (counting me). Note to family (added today): Can any of you remember that occasion well enough to figure out exactly who all those 32 people were? Try to get them all first, but if you can't figure it out, click HERE to see the fish pictures from that year (2008), which may help you to remember. Geez, those 4th of July weeks were fun, weren't they? |
| June 30th |
Meanwhile, back at the resort.......
.......life goes on just as it has in the past. To see (1) North Carolina Laurie with her friends and family, along with my great niece and nephew (their Mom is probably the photographer) in the yard between cabins 4 & 5, (2) Calvin (well, his hand anyway) holding up a bass that he has just caught, and (3) a relaxing view of the lake, click HERE. Geez, do I ever miss that place.......as we all do. But we all knew this would happen eventually. Sigh....... |
