Thinking Back on Things

When I look at this car I used to drive around in, it reminds me of when I used to have money. I had a brand new 2 story home with a wife and 2 children. Both my home and cars were paid for. When I went shopping for clothes, I didn't even look at the price tag. Voice newspaper voted me one of the 10 best dressed men back then. I could do things and travel places. It's been a little over 30 years since those days. It's funny how much things can change.

Remembering The Disco Days

It was 1977. I was 32 years old. My wife and I had just come out of the show. We saw “Saturday Night Fever” The movie, the music and the dancing were awesome. We didn’t want to go home that night. We wanted to go dancing. My wife and I asked around and found this Disco place. As we enter the building, there in front of us was a stage packed full of young people like ourselves line dancing to the tune of “Stayin’ Alive.” The lights were flashing and the dance floor lit up in all sorts of colors. It was one of the most fantastic sites I had ever seen. We felt like we had been transported into the Disco that we had just seen in the movie. In that instant my wife and I were hooked on this whole lifestyle.

We didn’t know how to do any of the dances so we just watched the people that night and had a couple of drinks. We wanted to be able to dance just like that. So my wife and I took a Disco Dance class at our park district. We never looked back from then on. We were dancing at all the clubs around Chicago.

Every time my old body hears the music from “Saturday Night Fever” I come alive again and my mind is back on the dance floor twirling around with my wife. It was one of the best times in my life. I loved 1977.

              

The Cell Phone

A Long time ago we had these two executives from Motorola come to our disability meeting at the Schaumburg township in Illinois where I live. They wanted to know our opinion about this new thing called the cell phone. We all said "Yes it would be great to have a cell phone but we can't afford the monthly phone charges." I told them about my recent troubles about when my car broke down on the interstate on my way to the V A hospital. I told them, "The price of the phones are not the problem it's the yearly contract fees that we can't afford. Why don't they have a deal where the phone company would give us so many minutes each month for free so that we could use the phone in case of emergencies? Being disabled it would have been great to have a cell phone to be able to call for help." The two executives turned and looked at each other if like a light bulb went on in their heads. I don't think they ever thought of that idea. Well sometime later after that meeting they came out with the free 911 phone calls that you can now make on your cell phone.  That was a god send for the people who couldn't afford the cell phone charges.

 I still didn't have the money to buy a cell phone so I went without one for some time. After my heart attack my son gave me his old cell phone so I could use it to call 911 in case I got in trouble. Then came along the cell phone I have now. It's a cheap pay-as-you-go phone. I don't call very many people and I only have to put $20 on it every 3 months. I have gotten so use to carrying it now that I wouldn't be without it. It gives me that sense of security when I go out in case something happens to me.

Later on in our disability meeting, I found out that if you qualify you can get a free phone and they give you so many minutes each month and it doesn't cost anything. Now everybody in our disability meeting has a cell phone. It took a while but I'm glad that everybody has one. You never know when an emergency will arise.  


The following are "topical remarks" issued by the White House upon President Clinton's signing of S.B. 800, which designated 911 as the nationwide emergency number, and provides liability protection for wireless carriers who handle 911 calls. The bill was introduced in the 106th Congress by Sen. Conrad Burns on April 14, 1999, and was signed into law by President Clinton as Public Law 106-81.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release
October 26, 1999
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Today I am pleased to sign into law the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999. By making it easier to use wireless phones to report emergencies, this bill could save thousands of lives every year. Nearly 100,000 times each day, someone uses a wireless phone to make an emergency call. People with wireless phones can speed the delivery of public safety services by providing rapid reports of car crashes, incidents of aggressive or drunk driving, serious crimes, and natural disasters. Getting rapid care to someone who is suffering from a heart attack or is involved a car crash can mean the difference between life and death. The legislation I am signing today will improve emergency wireless communications in several ways. First, it will make 9-1-1 the universal emergency telephone number for wireless and "wireline" telephones across the United States. Currently, there are 20 different emergency wireless numbers in different states. Second, it will encourage statewide coordination of the efforts of public safety and law enforcement officials to protect our citizens and save lives. Finally, it will increase private sector investment in emergency wireless services by providing wireless companies with the same level of liability protection that "wireline" telecommunications companies have.

I want to thank members of Congress, the wireless industry, public safety officials, and medical professionals who worked together to pass this important legislation.

Those Flowers Started Blooming

Today was the day that I had been waiting for. I knew those flowers in the Nature Preserve were about to bloom any day. So I headed out with my camera and tripod. The only thing I didn't know was how hot is was going to be out there even in the shadows of the forest. I even wore the wrong shirt. It was a long sleeve shirt made out of polyester. I stayed out there as long as I could taking pictures of the flowers but soon I couldn't stand it anymore and I left but not without a few beautiful pictures.

 When I got to the Nature, I went straight for the farm house where they have some of the flowers along the fence that I had been looking for. I was happy to see that they were in bloom. That meant that the rest of the flowers deep in the forest would also be in bloom. I stopped and took a couple of pictures.

After I got a couple of shots, I headed down the path into the forest.

Along the way I stopped and took a picture of a field of lavender colored wild flowers.

In the woods there is a log cabin that has those flowers so I stopped and took some pictures.

After I was through there, I went down this path where I knew they had a field of these flowers.

 By this time I was about to pass out from the heat so I started to get out of there but I stopped to take a couple of more pictures.

I was pushing it so I finally left. and headed back up the path to my car.

 I just wish that it wasn't so hot out. When I got home I found out that I was walking around in 91 degree temperatures. I'm not use to that. But I am glad that I got my pictures.

Mother's Day in the Forest

 I went back to see if those certain flowers I have been waiting for were in bloom today but no such luck. It seems like they are just taking their sweet time about it. I even brought my tripod with me today. I'm glad I did though because my hands shake so much that I lose some good photos.

  It was kind of crowded on the path in the forest but I kind of expected that being that it was Mother's Day and all.

 Today I took a different path to see what I could find to photograph. I started my walk where I had left off the other day. It was along an old wooden fence with those lavender colored flowers.

 I walked across this wooden walkway that goes over a little stream. When I came to the end there is a memorial bench there with a woman's name on it. What caught my eyes was that someone had come along an put some flowers on the bench for that woman whose name appeared on the bench. I supposed that it was a daughter or son or even a spouse that had stopped by and say "Hello Mom" on this day.

   I continued my walk passing a few couples with their children. They started following me on the path. The kids were making a lot of noise just like I used to do at that age. Now that I am older I prefer to hear the sounds of the forest. It gives me peace. So I sat down on another memorial bench and waited for them to go by. As I sat there, I looked up and saw the sun shining through the trees."Cool," I said to myself. I wondered how this picture would turn out.  I got my camera and took a shot.

 The kids were gone so I got up and continued my way down the path in the forest until I came to this open area. The grass was cut and there where flowers all over. I looked over at this one  flowering plant and it seemed to glow as the sun came down through the trees. It was so cool. I hoped that I could get a good picture of it.

 I knew there was a Lilac bush around some place because I could smell it. I just love the smell of Lilacs I turned around and saw it behind me. Before I started taking pictures of it I had to get up close and take a whiff of it.

 

 After I took a close up picture of the Lilacs, I just had to smell the flowers one more time before I went on my way

 Further into the forest, I saw this little red flower. It looked like a school bell or something like that.  I bent down and with my camera on my tripod and started taking pictures. Some people walked by me and I thought to myself, "They don't see the little things that I see. They were in a hurry. To bad, they are missing out on a lot of beautiful things the forest has to offer.

Up ahead is a bridge that I think is cool. I've tried to take a picture of it with my old camera but I was never happy with the way it turned out. So I wanted to try using my new camera and see what happens.

   As you can see it's getting a darker in the woods as I go deeper into the forest. Up ahead were all these beautiful lavender flowers again. I'll show you.

 I got up as close as I could and took another picture.

 A little way down the path I saw this itty bitty little flower. I got down on the ground just as some people walked by. They probable thought I was either nuts or having a heart attack because the flower I was looking at was that small. I set my camera so that I could get as close to it as possible and got the picture. "Cool," I said after I took the picture.

  I was at the end of the path and it was time to go home and see how my pictures turned out. Today was a beautiful day. I am glad that I was around to see it.

I Heard My Mother's Voice

  I Heard My Mother's Voice

 

   It was around 1978 when my 8-year-old daughter came down with the flu. We called the doctor and he told us what to do and if she got worse we were to call him back. My wife and I were giving her some aspirin to keep her fever down. We didn’t know it at the time but giving her the aspirin was the worse thing we could have done. Within a couple of hours our daughter went from bad to worse. We got scared and took her to the emergency room where they admitted her to the hospital. The doctor told us that he was going to transfer her to The Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He said that she had Reye's Syndrome. We asked the doctor how bad she was and he said, “She might die.”

   We were really scared and we started crying. That night after we had our daughter transferred to Children’s Memorial Hospital, we waited in some waiting room on her floor. The doctor came in and told us, “If she can get through the night she might have a chance.” I was so scared that she was going to die. It was late so I laid down on the floor but I couldn’t sleep That’s when I heard my mother’s voice in my head say, “Don’t worry, she’s going to be all right.” My heart started to calm down and I felt better. I knew my Mom was watching over my daughter. Mom had died 15 years ago but I knew she was there right with us. I didn’t hear anymore from Mom that night. The next morning the doctor came in and said that our daughter showed signs of improvement and that he did not think she would die, not that day anyway.

Remember summer vacations?

Remember summer vacations
No worries
Everything was an adventure back then
Didn’t need money, just played a lot.

I forgot what it’s like to be in love again.
There must be someone.
I miss that feeling
And time is passing

Being alone is good sometimes
Thinking about the good times passed
But not all of the time

Hope is a good thing
Hang on to that
Stay young, play, love and have a good time

Spring Continues

After waiting 6 days, I went back to see if those flowers had opened up yet. Well they didn't, not yet anyway. The first thing I saw when I got there was this Raccoon trying to find some food in the trash barrels.

It's been raining so much lately that the mushrooms are even growing on the trees. This one was pretty big

As I walked down the trail I looked for other things I could take a picture of.

This was a pretty little flower growing alone side of the trail in the forest.

Today was a nice sunny day to take a walk through the forest

I continued my walk

I saw this flower and I couldn't help but take a picture of it.

There were more flowers in the forest

They have small lake in the nature preserve and I wanted to capture the lily pads. If you look closely (click on picture to enlarge) you can see a bunch of fish swimming.

This reminds me of a wishing tree or a gateway into the forest.

I started to head back but I thought I would get another picture of these flowers.

As I walked along a gravel road I looked down and saw all these mushrooms growing up out of the grass.

I like the way this pictured turned out. Those lavender colored flowers make it look so pretty.


Maybe by next week those other flowers will be in full bloom.

SPRING

Spring is here and I just had to take a walk in the Nature Preserve after I had finished with my Cardiac Rehab Exercise class. It's such a gorgeous Day Today. I came upon the Cabin in the Woods and sat down on a bench. I got my camera out and took this picture — at the Volkening Heritage Farm at Spring Valley Nature Center.

                                         An Old Wagon Wheel 

                         Looking across a pond in back of the cabin. 

   This was my view as I walked along the path next to a small lake. 

 It seemed like I was in a beautiful dream as I stood there in the forest. I heard  all  different kinds of birds  singing as the light from the sun streamed through the trees. 

I looked back over my shoulder to see where I had been on the path in the woods. It looked so pretty that I didn't want to forget how beautiful it was. 

After I walked around I came back and sat down on the bench in front of the cabin again. 

The bees were out spreading the seeds of life that they were meant to do. How dismal this earth would be without them. 

It was around 1 o'clock in the afternoon and I supposed that he decided it was time for a nap. 

After seeing the cow resting I started to get tired to. It's like when you see somebody else yawn, you know? It's catchy. So I started heading back. Along the way I saw this old hand pump and little red wheelbarrow in back of the farm house and caught a picture of it. 

On the way out of the Nature Preserve, I stopped along the farm house fence and saw the flowers starting to bud. I'll come back in a couple of days when they are in full bloom. It sure is a sign of SPRING.