BRIDGE TROUBLES

Yesterday & last night all the news was about the Kennedys. Since I've always been plum obsessed with the 1960's anyway, it's been interesting for me. I've read all sorts of biographies about LBJ, RFK & other people & events from that era. Last night at 9:00 VH1 showed the Beatles' "Anthology" but I already have that on VHS tapes so I didn't bother to watch any more than the first fifteen minutes of it. This morning at around 7:30 they closed down the Wyoming Bridge on Eighth Street. I finished "Don Quijote" yesterday & started reading a book of Chekhov's plays. Tomorrow's Jo Anne's birthday. She's one of my oldest friends from Queens. We all get to/have to turn fifty this year. It's an odd feeling. Tomorrow's also Margret's birthday. She & I have never met in person. She's yet another character I know only from the internet. The weather's a little cooler so far today than it's been most days lately. I played my guitar some more last night too. Cousin Gino & his wife Michelle just adopted their two sons so they're quite happy now.

RIP, TED KENNEDY

Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. Tomorrow there will be yet more work done on the Wyoming Bridge on Eighth Street. Anyone who wants to enter or leave this area will have to go by way of Forty Fort or Pittston. They're a few miles away to the north & south of here. I'm still playing my guitar & reading "Don Quijote". I'm down to the last few dozen pages of that very long book. Unfortunately I heard on the news early this morning that Massachussetts Senator Ted Kennedy has died. He was one of the three famous Kennedy brothers. They played quite a large part in all that made the 1960's such a notoriously controversial time. EMK, the youngest of them, was among the last remaining links to that era. His sister Eunice recently died too. Today's Ed's birthday. He's KrissyKrissyKrissy's husband. Monday was the birthday of former Arizona Gov. Mike Huckabee. He & I are on each other's Facebook friend lists.

RIGHT TURN SIGNAL TROUBLES

My mother spent a while on the phone with Fran yesterday getting ready for next weekend's big birthday party. Lately every weekend around here seems to turn out to be entirely too fattening for me to be able to handle. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday, last night & this morning. He & my parents spent their usual endless hours at a time rambling on about the past & gossip. I'm still reading "Don Quijote" & practicing my guitar. A few days ago I noticed that my right rear turn signal wasn't working. This morning I went to the AA store in Exeter & got a couple of bulbs to get it fixed. My father has all the necessary tools for the job. Around here it's not an especially bright idea to drive without turn signals. People in this area drive like raging lunatics. Everybody needs all the help he can get. I found out on the news yesterday that Michael Jackson was murdered. It's most certainly not exactly my idea of newsworthy because I've absolutely never been able to stand that family but they're really famous so people want to find out about it all.

MICHAEL'S BIRTHDAY

The annual Tomato Festival in Pittston went well. It rained a little yesterday but not too much. I spent at least an hour over there each day. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. He didn't know it but yesterday was the last day of the festival. Never having eaten at the Cafe Olivia, on Broad Street in Pittston, I was a little curious about what their food tasted like. They had a stand at the festival so I got something there. I made sure I got a chicken cacciatore sandwich with onion ragu & lots of tomatoes. It turns out that ragu, like the famous brand name, is just another name for a kind of sauce. It was entirely too sloppy & I should have eaten it with a fork but it was very good. My nephew Michael called yesterday. It was his twenty first birthday. He got a chance to talk to us all, including Uncle Frankie. It was also Goosiegirl's birthday. She's an internet friend. Another internet friend, Eberdeen, had a baby boy over in England. My mother spoke to both Aunt Lauren & Fran on the phone yesterday.

BIRTHDAYS

I spent over an hour at Pittston's Tomato Festival yesterday. It rained early in the day, but by the time I got there it was really nice. There weren't any real surprises, just a very interesting time. It was a lot like the church's annual feasts. I still don't know very many people in this area so there weren't a lot of familiar faces. Uncle Frankie showed up so I ended up hanging around with him for a while. The only things I ended up eating were pizza & nuts. They have Italian, Greek, Eastern & Central European foods, beer & soda, all sorts of other ways of getting fat. As always I made my donation to the San Cataldo Society for a basket of cheer. There was a really good band. I was surprised to see that there was even a really nice fancy vehicle that was being raffled off for nothing. It's some kind of a promotional gimmick. Tomorrow's my nephew Michael's twenty first birthday. Time flies. It's also my friend Heather's birthday. We've never met in person. I only know her from sites like Facebook. She goes by the name Goosiegirl.

TOMATOES

Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday. Mary Anne called too. Sunday is Michael's twenty first birthday. It seems as if he were only born yesterday. I spent a while yesterday playing my guitar & reading "Don Quijote". Yesterday was the first day of Pittston's annual Tomato Festival. I made sure I went over at around 3:00 because I wasn't even the least bit sure of exactly when it was supposed to start. I parked on the street fairly close to the library & Domino's pizzeria on Broad Street. Unfortunately I was parked on a very steep part of the street & the main part of the festival is downhill & a few blocks away from there. It was an extemely hot day so I went nuts trying to get to the right place. Besides that, the woman at one of the stands said it wouldn't even start until 5:00 anyway. Instead of bothering to stay I left. I can go anytime between now & the weekend. This morning there was a bit of a summer shower. It felt especially nice.

PITTSTON TOMATO FESTIVAL

Yesterday there was a torrential downpour during the middle of the day. Other counties got much worse than we did. With us it was more a case of twenty to thirty mile per hour winds. I read a lot of "Don Quijote" yesterday & practiced my guitar last night. Last night I went to O.L. Mt. Carmel. By the time I got ready to go the weather was much nicer. Ada, Lynn Marie, Jonathan & Neil were all there. It lasted an unusually long time, until around 9:00. Unfortunately there will only be one meeting next month because too many people will be unavailable. Before I pulled into the parking lot I made sure I got a full tank of gas next door to the church. It added up to exactly nineteen dollars. Today marks the beginning of this year's legendary Tomato Festival over in Pittston. When I went to the meeting last night, & Mass at St. John's this morning, I noticed that the neighborhood was all set up. The traffic on my way home on William Street this morning was an absolute nightmare but that was the only disadvantage.

ANOTHER MEETING

Yesterday I read a lot more of "Don Quijote" & played my guitar for quite a while too. Pittston's tomato festival is just around the corner. It should turn out to be quite a very nice time this year too. Maybe this year I shall get some souvenirs. The only things I don't like about things like this are the traffic congestion & crowds. Tonight there will be yet another meeting at O.L. Mt. Carmel in Pittston. I should hope our ringleader will be available this time. She was forced to cancel the last one two weeks ago. So far the weather has most certainly been very nice for those of us who enjoy sweltering heat. I've heard there will soon be rain though. Today we wish happy birthday to Robin in Chicago. She's my cousin Leonard's daughter. It's also KrissyKrissyKrissy's wedding anniversary. She's my cousin Larry's daughter.

LICENSE PICTURE

The heat wave continues. I enjoy hot weather so I'm truly gloating quite a bit over it all. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. I spent a lot of time practicing my guitar & reading "Don Quijote". I've gotten up to the beginning of Part Two of "Don Quijote". Unfortunately my cough, from my annual hay fever attack, has been driving me crazy lately. My father & I went to Ashley to get our driver's license pictures at around 10:00 a.m. today. It only took slightly less than an hour to get it over with for us both. I took my picture without glasses this time. I was really happy I didn't need any extra paperwork or an eye test. Amazingly I looked very nice in this picture compared to others I've seen of me. On the way home we ended up having to stop at Burger King because my father needed food for his diabetes.

PARTIED WITH THE KINFOLK

Lately there's been quite a significant heat wave around here. People always have their air conditioners on. It's allergy season too. I've been coughing incessantly these days. I went to the last night of St. John's annual bazaar on Saturday. I ate pizza & butter pecan ice cream & drank Pepsi. It's most certainly not the healthiest diet I know of. I made sure I entered a few contests but didn't end up winning anything this year. At St. Joseph's yesterday Fr. Marchetti announced the new Mass schedule that will start next month because of the school year. I've been practicing my guitar & reading "Don Quijote" a lot lately. Fran & Uncle Frankie came over for a while on Saturday to show us her new car. She got it over in Dixon City. We went to a local diner in Port Blanchard with them & Lisa yesterday for breakfast at 11:00. I ended up ordering a Sicilian scrambled egg breakfast with rye toast. Tomorrow my father & I both shall have to go to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles to get our pictures taken for our licenses. Both our birthdays are next month.