Where has the time gone?

This has been a rather interesting, mind-blowing, mind-expanding, long-strange-trip-it's-been month. Where did the time go?

Still doing cleaning and sorting at Mom's place. To paraphrase Churchill, it isn't the end, nor perhaps the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning. There's still so much junk. It's depressing to me. The time and money spent on crap could have been so much more profitably used. But we make progress every time up there. And now it's visible progress. But there isn't one or two of anything-it's always a lot of something.

Last time I was up, I found a truckload of planters, all of them full of dirt, most of them cracked from exposure to the elements. I took them and dumped out the dirt (enough dirt to build a berm, I think). I found a blue tarp with a bundle under it lying on the slab by the garage. It had been there a while by the looks and location. I kicked it a few times in case there may have been a snake deciding to make a home there and then unearthed-

-a Christmas tree, with lights, tinsel, and decorations, wrapped in brown trash bags duct taped together. Evidently my stepfather just decided to leave it instead of dragging the last two feet to the garage. The tree was obviously ruined and moldy.

All I could do was shake my head and mutter "I don't fucking believe this". I tossed the lot in the truck with the ruined planters and drove it back to my brother's place. He can run it over to the dump, and it'll only cost me a sixer of St. Pauli Girl. Such a deal.

Oy (and that's not the exuberant Australian 'Oi!', rather the resigned Yiddish 'Oy').

A dear friend wrote to me recently talking about driving a 4x4 Mazda ute. Queen of the road, she was. Well, I'll see your Mazda and raise you a Dodge 4x4 Magnum Hemi. Big as a tank, with comparable gas mileage. So there.

I'm taking this Friday evening off to see the River Bandits ball game and post game fireworks for the 4th of July. Nearly forgot America's Birthday is this weekend.

How about a bit of Chaikovskiy to celebrate the day? Nothing says 'freedom' like a piece written to celebrate the Russian Army beating up on the French. Whatever. I still like The 1812 Overture. If you listen closely, you can hear strains of the old Imperial Anthem, God Save The Tsar:

Боже, Царя храни!
Сильный, державный,
Царствуй на славу, Hа славу нам!
( 2× :)
Царствуй на страх врагам,
Царь православный.
Боже, Царя храни!
( 2× :)

Transliteration:
Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!
Sil'nyj, derzhavnyj,
Tsarstvuj na slavu, Na slavu nam!
( 2× :)
Tsarstvuj na strakh vragam,
Tsar' pravoslavnyj.
Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!
( 2× :)

English translation (literal):
O God, protect the Tsar!
Strong and majestic,
Reign for glory, For our glory!
( 2× :)
Reign to foes' fear,
O Orthodox Tsar.
God, protect the Tsar!
( 2× :)

Or do the Armed Services Medley if you feel the need for more martial airs.

You are all authorized to hoist a brew and roast animal meat in honor of the day if you so choose. Cheers all.

yankeedog out.