One year ago today: December 8, 2018, 38 that I remember.
Five years ago today: December 8, 2014, off perpenzontal.
Nine years ago today: December 8, 2010, Broward Community College sucks.
Random years ago today: December 8, 2007, coming soon: the $100 laptop.
Joy to the World. Except Sony, because their MP4s are messed up, so you get these choppy videos with no sound, sigh. Yes, it was the bell concert at San Antonio’s in Punta Gorda and what a huge turnout. You see, the other big church in the area has canceled the Xmas concert and decided to concentrate on Easter. That’s the big church across the river. Here is the bell choir, the format is they play through the tune twice, and everybody sings along the last round. It’s great because most folks only really know the first verse of most Xmas carols
No, you are not going to get some milky review on Xmas concerts and dinners. Disney World is 72 miles in the opposite direction. You’ll get some candid views and comments, which is why we are really here.. This is the entrance to the golf center, showing the palm trees and bright open skies of a typical Florida winter day.
The concert was also everything as usual, except for the novelty of singing along with the bell choir. Man, that was the thousandths time I’ve typed choir as chior. That is because I type it phonetically and it is pronounced the opposite. Hey, after all these years I still have to think “Wed-nez-day” to spell that right. Now, where was I? Oh yes, the concert. It’s no secret attendance goes up on religious holidays because people go to see and be seen. The gate today was around 220 people and the average age is now well over 55 for the women, 65 for the men. The ratio was around three to one, mostly because women arrived in groups and there were a lot of single old men most of whom would be widowers. This was sad to see, and I’ll explain that.
Most of these old men were dressed in out of fashioned styles that lacked a woman’s touch. Some looked like they dug something out of the steamer trunk. Once more, I was the only man wearing a proper dress shirt and a tie. My one concession on that personal rule is that due to the Florida climate, I will wear short sleeves. Alaine & I would were among the youngest there who appeared as a couple. The mass of single ladies (in groups) was preponderous. This can be strange to see, because church is a known place for women to meet men.
Let’s just say it beats singles bars for meeting a hopelessly lonely alcoholic to take home to mom, whomst I think was also in the congregation with a similar design. But nobody mingled. The women, dressed to the nines and manning the trenches, would not make the first move. TMOR, that is a concept that was ridiculous long before I came along, that breaking the ice gave a woman the reputation of being “loose”. For long out-moded reasons, American women cling to this crazy notion and die alone by the millions. Did you notice that “whomst” I slipped in there? Good. Sharp eye.
Anyway, the flip side is the old men, who probably would not mind having companionship in their declining years. But even the ones who would have at some time been happily married have learned that there are certain aspects of dating older women that they simply do not care to repeat. How odd that so few old ladies ever figure this out, but the few that do are known, I believe, as “catches”.
Spanking new factory in India.
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Here is a music sheet used by the bell choir. I asked to see one out of curiosity. The lady was only too happy, saying in all these years, I was the first person to ever ask about that. Hmmm, ordinary music scores with the parts marked in colors for left and right. Players had several bells, most had only two and were somewhat challenged by that. The full choir had seven members, a mass coordination effort that appears far too easy from the outside looking in.
Speaking of the audience, this year there were no children. No children’s choir, none in the audience. The churches don’t seem to be replacing their associations with the community on that count. There were four or five elegantly dressed ladies who knew the priest on a first name basis, but other than that, it was people who did not seem to really get out that much. Wary of last year when I had to drive home in the dark, I left promptly after the concert to find a mostly empty road. This game me enough time to stop at the Limestone Country Club for a Sunday Budweiser.
Limestone is a separate community. To the consternation of locals, it shows as Ona on maps, GPS, and zip codes. The crowd there was also sparse and today the server was the mother of one of the young couple that usually work the bar. Myself, not expecting to meet anybody there, brought in a Sudoku puzzle, and was the only person to go sit inside. I don’t enjoy eating or drinking out along the dusty sidewalks of Florida. Do you know this word “whell”. It is the pronunciation of “well’ so hated by Quagmire, where the h is sounded.
Whell, I guess they don’t get that many men in that place wearing a tie and working the puzzle. Granny instantly gloms on to me. Customers from outside had to come inside to order, she was right at the counter, giving me pointers on both the Sudoku and the crossword. I suspect she seriously thought she was helping me. It is a mystery how that was, being she kept telling me to slow down. And the crossword. I make them more challenging by starting in the top left and getting every answer toward the opposite corner.
She said, again being helpful, that I should first do all the “acrosses” and “downs” to fill in every square I could, using those for clues to go back and do the rest. I wonder why I never thought of that. Maybe I should start getting out more. Maybe meet single women who know more about what I do than I do myself. Just because that never works at church once a year doesn’t mean it is impossible. At least according to Dear Abby.
