WAUKESHA SEWER RACCOON NEWS: 1931; No no you naughty; From his window; Grace; The Congo; Random parade shots

1931

This was my mother's graduation pin made for her friends

when she was prom queen at Sun Prairie WI high school -

a one and a half inch long item

starting with the back of the pin above

showing the simple 1931 fsstening method

Press down on the brass wire

and voila! it opens by moving the wire to the bottom

of the comma-shaped opening.

Put it on the garment you wish

and it is easy to close and lock it in place

without having to see behind it.

^.^

Memorial Day

we remember our mother, Ruth Elies (Dix, Hale)

who has appeared under that name in the Raccoon before.

(search R-u-t-h)

She is the one who formed her own dance band

at age thirteen (13).....

^.^

and we remember her this Memorial Day

as a wife of a soldier away fighting WW II

in France and Germany

because she is honorable on this particular holiday -

those who sat and waited did their war time too.

The late Ruth, organist at one time at the Congo

and many etcs...

.......

pip pip pip!

no no you naughty pussy

no no you naughty pussy!

Up on the dining room table

you know you aren't supposed to be there

such a good kitty

in most every way

but now I will have to squirt you

and gutsy you, you are posing

right next to the ever-ready water bottle/

plant mister

You run when I grab it

.......

Monet, Van Gogh, at Home

by Norita Dittberner-Jax

The wonder that Monet

had time to paint, the vast

size of the garden and across

the road, the Japanese pond,

a man enchanted with nature—

flowers, water, haystacks, and

light! A blind man's obsession

with light, every slant of the sundial

documented, time filtering

light.

What a life! Two wives

the second with six children!

No wonder the huge table

in the dining room, fourteen chairs,

all canary yellow; the blue-

and white-tiled kitchen, large

and commodious, festooned

with copper pots;

the large bedroom overlooking

the garden: to throw open

these shutters in the morning!

So much life!

Modest, difficult, van Gogh

thought himself one link in the chain

and took the yellow house at Arles,

on Place Lamartine, hoping

others would come. A table

and two chairs and just enough

left for broth and coffee.

Gauguin fled after two months

when Vincent chased him

with a razor. He painted

"Gauguin's Chair" empty except

for a lit candle, in memory

of the failure.

Toward the end, he painted

the vestibule near his room,

the yard where he was confined,

night sky from his window.

"Monet, Van Gogh, at Home" by Norita Dittberner-Jax from The Watch. © Whistling Shade Press

\

.......

Grace

by Linda Pastan

When the young professor folded

his hands at dinner and spoke to God

about my safe arrival

through the snow, thanking Him also

for the food we were about to eat,

it was in the tone of voice I use

to speak to friends when I call

and get their answering machines,

chatting about this and that

in a casual voice,

picturing them listening

but too busy to pick up the phone,

or out taking care of important

business somewhere else.

The next day, flying home

through a windy

and overwhelming sky, I knew

I envied his rapport with God

and hoped his prayers

would keep my plane aloft.

.......

The Raccoon News
of Waukesha

rarely recommends particular foodstuffs but
an exception is being made here.
The 'special company' mentioned in last week's
Saturday edition brought their orchard's
un-Pasteurized (keep refrigerated) apple cider
as a get acquainted gift for us.

Their third generation orchard in Rochester WI
has several websites. It is known as the
Ela Apple Orchard.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60241-d2285682-Reviews-Ela_Orchard-Rochester_Wisconsin.html

Never have I tasted cider more delicious than this.
Dee and I are sure to make the drive to the orchard
to get some more of this product!