Antiquities; silver and gold star mothers; elephant products; tidiness

The elephant

 a noble beast

is revered by some
and still slaughtered by others.

Pre-raccoon, we scrawled

a prehistoric mastodon

on a shelf bracket fungi

and put it out to dry.

It still reposes here
years later

at the Odd Fellows,

overexposed, next to 

a fish fossil from Silurian

limestone sediment

it suggests antiquity.


Our building, The Putney,
is made of limestone
that is circa 137 million years old.

The elephant became 

a Republican symbol

somewhere along a fuzzy line

but that's just fine, 

and we'll gladly use

paper from

Sri-Lankan elephant

dung (see below)

and be happy.


(I don't think donkey dung
would have the cachet that
elephant dung has, anyway...)

.........

A circus elephant,

made into a flag stand

rears pose-like on the loft rail

here at the OF,

greeting each new day

with old glory, a flag

donated by officer Hogan of the State bank

when I opened a senior account.

I asked if I could have the little flag

and Hogan, looking left and right
 said yes.

(Remember that:

State Bank = yes.)

A heavy teak elephant

grazes as a desk ornament,

OFian;

folks who visited Ruth and John Hale
in the old days

will remember this elephant.
He was theirs

and he is not for sale.

An old gourd horn,

playable even in its broken state

needs its non-bakery elephant ears

glued back on

The ears came from the back

of the skull so all of the gourd

- grown at 517 Arcadian -

was used.
Our scarce fringe hair 
decorates his forehead.
A worn Harlow Kneser cornet
mouthpiece, used with proper embouchure,
allows for great playing.

This elephant form presently

lies honored in the spare room

on a quilt, tattering but usable,

made by my grandmother

Myrtle Dix, Ray's wife,
http://raccoonnews.blogspot.com/2011/12/grandpa-his-post-office-to-sever.html

of Cedar falls Iowa.

She had a banner in the front window

at 2009 Clay Street in the 1940s

 holding four silver stars

signaling she had four sons

serving in WW II,

all in different theatres;

all came back alive

but damaged in varying degrees..


War no more....

Yes, they were silver, but I'm painting them gold, for they are all dead now, RIP

................

Pachydermal humous

Dee gave me some paper.
I love paper
--onion skin, and now this! -
from
The PLOWSHARES Center
in Waukesha


made from recycled Sri-Lankan
elephant dung.
See net link below.


I used it all up in letters and post cards
and went back for more yesterday.

For more information:


http://www.mrelliepooh.com/

True to what the advertising says
there is no smell to this paper
whatsoever
and it takes ink on both sides
very well.


Some of the sheets are thick enough
to cut up and send as post cards.
Reasonable prices.
Plowshares also has recycled ellie-dung
pins and refrigerator magnets.


Great gifts idea. Budget-pleasing!


........


Dawn of a recent morning, downtown
Tree branches, light-struck, are vibrating to bud out

It is imperative to exercise due diligence
to keep this charming Waukesha sector clean.
Street cleaners run regularly in these
early morning hours.


We know;
we see them.
Others not living down here
may assume everything is
automatically tidy all the time.

Not so.
Everybody, all stakeholders -
be they property owners
or tenants -
must play a part
in our lovely neighborhood
to keep it that way.


Lend a hand, please!

Caution:

Old children

I know where the carnival mounts

And merry-go-round animals

- Some of them -

have gone,

and the teeter-totter

saddled goats

and snails, too.

And some of the dwarves

And gnomes

And their cousins

The munchkins:

They’re out to pasture

No longer to withstand

The clamors of screaming

Children grabbing at their

Wooden or fiber glass

Horns and manes

I’ve seen them.

Their smoothened bars

For handles

Years behind them

Likewise their rusting springs

For former leapings 

Now at rest

But their mad grins

Still transfixed

Crazed eyes

Still bulging

And the colors

 Unpresentable

In any suburban play

Grounds or fairs

Chipped, delaminated,

Cleaned in their retirement

Pastures only when it rains -

These still multi-colored

Brightnesses

Capture imaginations even now

Of passing children

Walking through the tall

Grass or up on a porch

I know about.

Old children sometimes

sit on the calmer adventures

and are happy.

(v.Z.)

SAY NO MORE (The Blues)

Muddy Waters

From Bluesman Bentz

rec'd via E 3-8-12 as follows:

In the 1930s and 1940s, the great diaspora of poor Americans from the south to the cities of the North and West brought the blues of young, musically ferocious guitarists like B.B. King and Muddy Waters from Mississippi to cities like Memphis and Chicago. With that move came a transition from acoustic to electric guitar, and a sound that formed the muscular roots of rock and roll:

"In 1943, four years before B.B. King departed the Delta, a young singer/guitarist named McKinley Morganfield headed for Chicago after a 1941 field recording session with Alan Lomax, which resulted in a second session the following year. Like B.B. and Howlin' Wolf, Morganfield also had a nickname: Muddy Waters was the tag his grandmother had given him as a child growing up on the Stovall Plantation, just outside Clarksdale, Mississippi. Waters believed his chances of becoming a commercial recording artist were better up north than in Mississippi or even Memphis, so he joined the black movement out of the South, arriving in Chicago determined to make his blues mark.

"It didn't take long. A singer with a rough-hewn voice that belied his youth, Waters also played a mean, slashing guitar that was at once angry and arrogant. His chords and bottleneck slide-guitar riffs were direct descendants of the sounds he heard from Son House, Willie Brown, Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, and other first-generation Delta bluesmen. Yet, something in Muddy Waters's delivery was new and refreshing, something that came from the past but was now clearly lodged in the blues present - and future.

"It was one thing for Muddy Waters ... to play house-rent parties and the occa­sional club with his acoustic guitar as accompaniment. It was clearly another when Waters got hold of an electric guitar and began playing with a band. What resulted made American blues history: the true transformation of the music, from a singular, lonely rural sound to a lively urban one that filled dance floors in South Side clubs, that ripped the heart out of any blues sen­timentality that might have been wafting in the air, and that opened the door to a brand-new blues sound. In time, Muddy's blues redefined the music in contemporary terms, helping to give birth to rock & roll in the early Fifties, to inspire countless young British guitarists to play the blues in the early Sixties, to keep the blues alive in the Seventies-one of its leanest decades-and to forever change the face of American music, since no pop or roots form could escape the blues' reach for long. ... 
 
"His recording career really got going the following year, when blues pianist Sunnyland Slim arranged for Waters to record for Leonard and Phil Chess,   two Jewish immigrant brothers who had recently started a record company called Aristocrat, which later became Chess. ...

"And then there was Willie Dixon, who often played bass behind Waters. A big, round man with a warm heart and a comforting smile, Dixon also had the best ears in the blues business. Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Dixon came to Chicago in 1936 and pursued a career as a professional boxer before turning to music full time. ... A superb songwriter, Dixon supplied Waters with the material that became his biggest Chess hits, including the 1954 landmark number 'Hoochie Coochie Man.' "

  Muddy Waters sings Hoochie Coochie Man (1960)

Don't miss this video:

http://youtu.be/uO4A6xx65WU

.....

Years later there came these guys:

play

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1ehMrK3itM

THE BLUES BROTHERS

ONE OF THE GREATEST FILMS OF ALL TIME

J. Belushi, RIP

 Send "Soul Man" Ringt

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET A DRINK AROUND HERE?

  PLAY

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4StzNTpNls

........

SEE NOTATIONS BELOW

----- Original Message -----

From: steve dix

To: ddix1@wi.rr.com

Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 3:55 PM

Subject: 76 Trombones

Cousin David,

Congrats on the 76 Trombones!  (;) !  It’s hard to think that you are now as old as I remember Mother and Dad being. MAN, YOU THINK IT'S HARD FOR you ?  EVEN HARDER HERE Then again it’s hard to realize that I too

am of the now  older  generation. STILL A KID Sounds like you had a grand day made even better by good friends and family.  How many stairs do you have to climb to ascend to the Odd Fellows Hall? TWO FLIGHTS, 3RD FLOOR.  I USE THEM DAILY BUT NOT FOR EVERY TRIP. PROBABLY WOULD BE GOOD IF I DID.  THERE'S AN ELEVATOR HERE THAT ALMOST ALWAYS WORKS.  Somewhere I read that the more stairs you climb the longer you live.  You look hail & hearty in the photos we see of you, so whatever you are doing it seems to agree with you. BEING AT THE ODD FELLOWS HALL AGREES WITH ME GREATLY.   WE LOVE IT HERE. I AM AFTER THEM TO GILT THE FRONT STAIRWAY ENTRANCE ON MAIN STREET.  THEN IT WOULD BE PERFECT. The photos & stories on the Sewer Raccoon News are always welcome.  LET ME KNOW IF THE UNSOLICITED MAILINGS EVER GET TEDIOUS, CUZ.

I wish you many more healthy & happy years. Marnie sends you an e-mail hug.

Cousin Steve

........

........

'GREAT-NEPHEW' ADAM

OF PLEASANT VALLEY, MARYLAND

WEARS THE SHIRT

UNCLE RACCOON PAINTED

FOR HIM

FOR CHRISTMAS

SENT TO THE ODD FELLOWS

BY DONNA

Birthday celebrations to infinity: Epilogue

Hey Les!

Thanks for the birthday phone call on the 28th.  On the day!

I was not abed asleep as you speculated.  I was heading into Milwaukee and the birthday event arranged by my friend John Helt.  It is written up in the Raccoon.

If you have read the two birthday postings, you perhaps noted the small trombone Dee tied to some flowers.Ref: THE MUSIC MAN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbhnRuJBHLs  I have taken that symbol of our trombonist, Dad, and wedded it to a small 1930s pin, a picture of my mother, Ruth Elies.  I am wearing that assembly as one now and plan to for some time.  Certainly on ceremonious occasions.

I hope you like it.  Picture attached.  You will remember that Dad was something of a musical instrument salesman when he taught band and history at Sun Prairie high school in those early 30s days.  


He once told me with a wink that the a boy from a wealthier Sun Prairie family was found by analyst Dad to have surprising talent for a big (and expensive!) tuba. THE MUSIC MAN has always reminded me somewhat of Dad and his arrangement with a man at the local music store.

Hope all is well in the Southland.

Brother David

A magical mystery tour

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION: Part II

A long but fascinating series of photos

My birthday began on the day, Feb. 28th, when Rev. John Helt, one of my best friends

(see SRN history, search 'Helt')

picked me up at the Odd Fellows for a ride into Milwaukee, ultimately to Riverwest and  the Fratney Street rear-cottage abode of his son, Adam and Adam's wife, Megan.  The Helts have intended to show me this unique dwelling for years.  Now that I have attained a certain age,

their thought has become acute.

Adam and Megan are careerists with the Habitat for Humanity organization.  They possess similar esthetics to mine, but have strode way ahead on the spectrum as the lower photos will testify.     But such testimony is only in part.

Adam and Megan are complex creatures: brainy, attractive, handy with tools, artistic and musical.

But that's only part of their description.

They epitomize the YIBAWEan Society's by-word:

Yes, I'm Bald, And What Else?

AND WHAT ELSE?

.....

First, we stopped for a birthday breakfast at the art-deco hotel on the lower east side,  known since antiquity as THE PLAZA.

There, we were served by waitress Edna (not shown) who has waited on John before.  She smiled wanly. Might have been fighting a bug or something.

Edna was a study in herself but I daren't get into that subject while on a focused bent.

The Plaza coffee cups were noteworthy.

  

From the Plaza we followed Prospect Ave north, past my old residence just south of the Balistrieri's SHORECREST, then west on North Ave to Humboldt Ave and north to our Riverwest destination.  

Theirs is a small house.  It was known as a rear cottage.  The main front house had been gone before Adam and Megan bought the cottage, allowing for a deep garden from the sidewalk to the front porch.  Too bad the season did not allow views of the remarkable plantings and landscaping the Helt/Beldwins have done.

They've been there eight years.  When they were thinking of buying it, John took me in to see it and pass judgement, though minds were made up by then.

To my credit, I endorsed the undertaking. 

Tricks with color and pattern have yielded a feeling of greater space than there is.

Bold colors, unusual reclaimed furnishings.

Objets d'art everywhere.

Here's a tray made of beer bottle caps

from one of the countries they've visited.

An electric stove with moving flames

gives comfortable extra heat

and looks good running.

Here's a small basement bath.

The sink, used, maybe from the Habitat

RE-STORE, cost fifty cents

uncleaned up.

Adam got a shower in there.

John is proud of the 'kids'.

Henry the dog, a mix, is leery of me at first......

....but then settles down.

Megan and John in the upstairs bedroom, created from raw attic space.

John now leans against a cyclone fence barrier, otherwise he would

be plummetng down the circular stairs to the kitchen.

He says he always thought he might die there.

The Helt/Baldwins have been long-time frequenters of used building material places,

and salvage yards.

They've picked up windows such as the one behind John that just fit

Adam's improvised dormer that allowed for the opening up of space

for the clever stairwell, as well as admitting lots of daylight.

Unfortunately my camera did not capture the closeup I wanted to get

of the method Adam employed for the winding stairs.  (I thought it clicked but it was just taking a reading, I guess.  I was shooting so many pictures, one after another, that I wasn't looking to see photo quality, figuring I would edit them later.)

So, back home, I drew a sketch of the method as I remembered it:

A winding staircase usually has a central column from which the treads radiate out.

Adam used a large diameter plumbing pipe for the column.  To that, he wrenched-in pipe junctions at the precise positions, in a measured spiral.  The stair treads are affixed to those junctions securely and then on the other end, to the walls.

My rude drawing does not show this exactly.

Above the highest bedroom window upstairs, Adam put an old child's hammer

presented to him when he was a boy.  It came from the Burlington Iowa farm where John grew up.  Granny, a believer in the value of used things in her own right, had given the tiny tool to Adam.  John himself had previously played with it.

No one knew when Adam was using that tool that he would become the craftsman he is today.

He learned on it.

Their headboard is......an old board.

The shelf curves on purpose.

See the small zeppelin to the right of the guitar John made for Adam when he was little?

The zeppelin came from me.

Granny's hammer is at the top right corner.

Lighting is provided by old and prized floor lamps in most cases.  Here a reading lamp is a clip-on utility lamp, very adjustable.

Adam and Megan have installed some exterior lighting fictures as indoor ceiling and wall lights.

(Missed that photo opp, too.)  They said they picked up those dirty old things from a pile, for pennies.

They look good now.

Subtle mood lighting in the bedroom is provided by a plastic Darth Vader lamp with two low-voltage 'eyes.'

A tiger sculptural form has a barbed wire bit in it's mouth.

Lack of fear with color has acquitted the young residents well.

Father John, reflective.

The late Grandpa Cordes rides his bike

in a vintage photo.

A pump organ adorns the living room.

Adam is refinishing it.

.....

Completing my 76 Trombones experience in Riverwest was the sighting of a dusty

trombone tucked in the rafters of the Helt/Baldwin basement, in a section that has not yet been restored.

You know Adam has been at work there, though.

See the PVC plumbing?

Thanks, Helt family, for a great day!
Getting older was never so much fun.

Trombone (76) extra-vaganza

The chosen theme for my 76th birthday

Dee baked a pineapple upside-down cake,

always my favorite.

Also seen, the famed Utz potato chips

arrived from Hanover PA by way of 

Pleasant Valley, Means Rest, Maryland

Our friend was still (and always) attracted

to his oyster crackers.

But today he wasn't rodentially alone.*

Surprise flowers bedecked the Odd Fellows hall.

when I got home from a morning adventure.

See following post, up later today

(LW &TCDR.)

Raccoons assembled

joining birthday cards

and if you look closely

a small trombone from Dee

adorns this floral arrangement.

* A flock of church mice

were delivered to us

at the Odd Fellows

by Kirsten Dobson and Bob!

(a known delicacy:

http://raccoonnews.blogspot.com/2010/11/confectionary-church-mice.html)

Dee made a jaunt up the street

to Plowshares

and added an art piece,

an ebony heart motif.

She also found something new at this unique 3rd world store.

Mr. Ellie Pooh's Elephant Dung Paper

I got a book I wanted.  Am well into it.

On civility in the public square, etc.

And last but not least

I was paid a ghostly visit

- there ARE ghosts here at the Odd Fellows -

from our beloved,

here always in spirit

 cat,

Mona.

...............

Thanks to everyone!

I got visits, cards, telephone calls or Emails

from all of my four children.

And the folks in Maryland,

and my brother in Shelby, NC.........

A very loud '76 trombones' event

also occurred on Feb. 28th and

 will be described following this posting.