Day 149, Year 11: Adding a Little Humor
Date: Saturday, March 19, 2016
Weather: Partly Sunny, Hi Temp 40’s F
Location: At Home in Evergreen Preserve, Lowell, MA
One ingredient in the recipe to feeling good is humor and today we added that to our mix. Actually our friends Ed and Lynne Kirwin in Nyack added it by sending us a series of five DVD’s of The Best of the Dean Martin Variety Show, circa 1965 to 1974. Admittedly, neither Mark nor I were big Dean Martin fans in the day, but today we thoroughly enjoyed watching the guests on Dean Martin’s Variety Show. Comedians Lucille Ball, Woody Allen, Bob Hope, Don Rickles, Jonathan Winters, Bob Newhart, George Gobel, Rowan and Martin, and on and on. Actors, actresses, and singers Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Florence Henderson, Petula Clark, Rosemary Clooney, John Wayne, Goldie Hawn, Kate Smith, and on and on. We still have lots to watch but we are really enjoying the trip down memory lane. I think the thing that struck me the most today was Lucille Ball’s youthful appearance when she was in her 50’s. In the first DVD, she appeared as a chorus girl with very long, thin legs—certainly not the image I had ever had of Lucille Ball. I had to look up her age and found that she was born in 1911. So in 1965, she was 54 years old. Evidently she aged with grace! I don’t think the humor of those days would be much appreciated in today’s world, but just seeing the familiar faces was a fun walk down memory lane. And I have to admit that Woodie Allen was truly funny. Thank you, Ed and Lynne, for adding this most important ingredient to our lives at this point when it is much needed.
Mark’s days are tougher than his nights right now. He had a tough afternoon and was certain that he wasn’t going to be able to eat any dinner tonight. But I persisted and we had a late dinner of broiled salmon and artichokes. By the time we ate, he was feeling better and he really enjoyed the rather strange choice I had made. I boiled the artichokes and we dipped the leaves in curried mayonnaise. The ‘arties’ were delicious, but I’m just a bit biased as artichokes are my very favorite food choice.
Tomorrow morning we are off to the Cape for Ollie’s birthday party. The weather forecast has changed and could change again. But at this point it looks like we will drive home tomorrow evening as the snow is now slated to begin at midnight and go on into Monday. Our travel decision on land will be made just like our travel decisions when we are sailing. On land or at sea, the weather rules.
