HAIRCUT

Pittston's annual Tomato Festival is now under way. I made sure I showed up for the first day yesterday. One of the things I regularly get some chances for each year is the San Cataldo Society's basket of cheer. I'm such a regular with them by now that the guy I spoke to at their stand, Carmine, even recognized me from last year. Early in the morning, immediately after 8:00 Mass at St. Joseph's, Bob gave me some really nice big tomatoes from his garden. I wanted to make sure I got a really nice haircut so I could be ready for tomorrow's lay Carmelite meeting in Wilkes_Barre. We meet each third Saturday of the month at 9:00 a.m. at the Little Flower Manor on S. Meade Street. We are always looking for new members. Tomorrow Judy & Yvonne will be there for their annual visit. Recently when I drove over the bridge on Eighth Street I noticed that Rose Chairge has moved because of all the construction. I have no idea where she is so I went to a new place this morning in Exeter. I went to Gerald's Hair Fashions. It's the first time since I've been living here that I went someplace else. As a kid, though, I used to get my haircuts at other places around here. The lady who cut my hair was named Vicky. She did a really nice job. Fran got her new house so we're all really happy for her. Uncle Frankie showed up yesterday. There doesn't seem to be anything new with him lately.

BIRTHDAYS

Today's the infamous Friday the 13. There have been a lot of birthdays lately. Mary Anne's birthday was three days ago. Uncle Frankie's was yesterday. He, my parents & I went to the Pittston Diner by the Pittston Bypass to get something to eat. Today is my cousin Maelene's(Mary Ellen) birthday. She lives around Buffalo. July 21 would have been Daren's birthday. She died in 2005. Her mother, Grace, sent me a card. Yesterday was also cousin Java & Nunziata's thirty seventh wedding anniversary. The annual bazaar for St. John the Evangelist Church in Pittston started yesterday & will last until Saturday. They never let it go until Sunday. I didn't go yesterday because it was such a rainy day & those things have all their main attractions outside. I shall hope to go later today. It starts at 5:30 each day. Pittston's world_renowned annual Tomato Festival begins very soon. It goes from Thursday, August 19th to Sunday, August 22th this year. Be there or be square. Lately I've been reading a lot, including Carmelite books & classic poetry. I've also been listening to my usual bottomless pit of old music, ranging mostly from the 1960's to the early 1980's.

MANY BIRTHDAYS

A few days ago a woman called from a political organization. I know those surveys are unavoidably necessary but she drove me crazy for around ten minutes with all sorts of annoying repetetive questions about my opinions about the Pa. politicians & how they stand on things. Mary Anne, Steve, Sam & Bridget came in on Friday night & left last night. Michael's enjoying his big trip to Costa Rica. This month has many birthdays & we had quite a nice party for them all. All the gang from West Wyoming showed up. All their birthdays are this month. Sam did a lot of work over the weekend. He, Steve & Bridget helped my father with the garage too. Steve, Uncle Frankie, the kids & I went, as always, to Jitty Joe's last night. Sam's favorite singer & musician these days is Jack Johnson. Johnson does a really nice version of Beatle John's "Imagine". Recently I got the new schedule for O.L. Sorrows. Now that Rocco's back I'm not on the schedule that frequently anymore. One individual makes quite a difference. My hay fever has been going crazy lately. I've been doing quite a bit more coughing than sneezing. There's a bit of a drought these days besides the excessive heat. After a brief respite the temperature this week will be back up past ninety degrees.

FIREMAN FUND RAISERS

August has always been quite an especially big month for birthdays among my relatives. Yesterday was Jamie's birthday. He's my cousin Alan's son in Michigan. Today is Fran's & Elaine's birthday. They're both cousins too. Yesterday my parents & I all went to Uncle Frankie's house for a party for Fran. Immediately after the party, though, she was forced to go home because it's such a long trip for her. I lectored at 10:30 Mass yesterday at O.L. Sorrows. It's nice to see that Rocco's back on the schedule. On Saturday night there was a big fund raiser put on by the local firemen. I didn't bother to show up. Everyone at Mass yesterday wondered why I wasn't there. Gino & Michelle, Uncle Frankie & Fran went there for a while & they too were surprised that I never bothered with it. The big annual Tomato Festival in Pittston is also coming up this month. I should suppose that life as we know it will cease completely if I dare to pass that one up. It's been raining intermittently around here these days. We haven't gotten enough though. On Friday night I saw "Rosemary's Baby" & on Saturday night I saw "Dr. Doolittle". They were both really famous when I was a kid.

FAMILY FEASTS

Saturday morning's lay Carmelite meeting went well. We meet at the Little Flower Manor on South Meade Street every third Saturday of the month, from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Anne & Mary Elizabeth were there for a while but they had to leave early. Barbara couldn't show up because she got very sick from all the bitter cold air conditioning at the meeting in Middletown. They really overdid it that day. Last Sunday I won twenty dollars on the money wheel at O.L. Mt. Carmel's family feast. This Saturday I won a basket of shampoo, soap & bath products. I lectored at 10:30 Mass yesterday. Amazingly my cousin Maelene's son, Joey, turned thirty on July 16. They live in North Tonawanda. I can still remember when he was first born. At times like this I feel like such an old geezer. Uncle Frankie & Fran came over for a while yesterday. She had to leave early but he stayed for supper. It rains every once in a while lately, including this morning but it's not enough. I've never been able to help getting a kick out of the really nice green border around the otherwise parched grass on people's lawns these days.

JANE AUSTEN

It's been raining all day today at least since this morning. Lately we've gotten frequent small rainstorms but not as much rain as we really need. People's lawns have been dying with brown grass all over the place except for the few people who have zoysia grass. Unfortunately Aunt Lauren's sister-in-law Joyce died last week. Although none of us knew her my mother & Uncle Frankie went to the wake yesterday. My father wasn't available because of a doctor's appointment. Today is Maria's birthday. She's cousin Gary's wife. We wish her a very happy birthday. Lately I've been reading a couple of Carmelite books. I just finished, yesterday, "The Institution of the First Monks" & started re_reading "To Quell the Terror". I've also re_read most of Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice". Unfortunately I shall have to get some exercise eventually. My extra weight has yet to go away. Long_time N.Y. Yankee owner George Steinbrenner died early yesterday morning of a massive heart failure. I've never liked sports but this really caught my attention.

YET ANOTHER MIDDLETOWN TRIP

I went to yet another Carmelite day of recollection on Saturday morning. It was, as always, in Middletown, N.Y. I drove, in a summer shower, to the Little Flower Manor in Wilkes_Barre to meet Rosemary. From there, she drove to a local school in Clark Summit where we got together with Barbara to go the rest of the way. As always Fr. Mario, Theresa, & Jim & Rosemary were there with all the other regulars. I was especially happy to be able to see Marie, Carmela & Debbie from the Seaford chapter too. They told me all about Fr. Stanislaus & Fr. Vitalis. As always they served a really nice continental breakfast & lunch. There were lots of things on sale from the book store too. It was quite an absolutely exhausting day though. I woke up with a very annoying headache on Sunday. The weather on the way home was slightly weird. It rained for a few seconds at a time in certain places only over specific spots. I've hardly ever seen anything like that before. Rich, the oldest of the Ronald's three kids, turned forty on Saturday. I went to the last night of O.L. Mt. Carmel's annual feast last night. While I was there I won twenty dollars on the money wheel. Fr. Phil & Fr. Jackson were there. Fr. Phil said that our next meeting would probably be sometime next month. Yesterday Danny showed up with a picture, for my parents, of all the kin from the Fourth of July. He wanted to know if Gino & Michelle were home because he had one for Aunt Helen. He also found a pair of sunglasses & a watch that one of the kids appeared to have forgotten to take home.

BLOOD DRIVE

Yesterday Barbara called to see if I really intended to attend Saturday's Carmelite day of recollection in Middletown, N.Y. Later last evening Rosemary called to confirm our driving plans. Rosemary & I shall have to meet at the Little Flower Manor in Wilkes_Barre at around 6:00 a.m. From there we shall join Barbara in Scranton. We just went to Middletown very recently. Judy & Yvonne will be at the meeting & they also have to come visit us next month. They show up once a year. On Tuesday I started re_reading Jane Austen's "Sense & Sensibility". Since I've already read it quite a few times, & seen the movie with Emma Thompson & Kate Winslet a few times, it gets a lot easier to figure out each successive time. The heat wave continues although today, so far, seems a bit cooler than yesterday. My car still doesn't have air conditioning although I tried a while ago to get it fixed. Some things are simply entirely hopeless. Yesterday I gave blood in Plains. My appointment for a double red cell donation was for 4:00. I got there around 3:00. Unlike the last time I went to the Waterfront Banquet Facility for a blood drive, it was exceptionally crowded. Yesterday hardly anyone showed up so I got finished slightly before 4:00. My New York K of C council gave each donor a full meal. Here we just get water, juice & muffins or cookies or something. They also gave out a free coupon, as usual, for three pints of Friendly's ice cream. One of the volunteers said she recognized me because she lives on Tenth Street & goes to St. Cecelia's. Fr. Leo McKernan is now the pastor at St. Joseph's & O.L. Sorrows. He showed up for 8:00 Mass at St. Joseph's this morning. He's our fourth in the past two years.

BLOOD DRIVE

We're having quite an exhausting heat wave lately. Even I'm a little taken aback & I've always been quite fond of warm weather. Today we wish a very happy seventieth birthday to Beatle Ringo. Yesterday, believe it or not, marks the fifty third anniversary of the day when Beatle John first met Beatle Paul. Today we also wish a very happy birthday to Michael, my cousin Mary Ellen's son in North Tonawanda. Unfortunately he didn't get to show up in Hilldale for the Fourth of July this year. At least the weather was much more manageable then. The Depends team were able to beat the Pampers team quite easily. When cousin Larry started complaining about a few things he didn't have to include the weather on his list of grievances. Chris, from the Red Cross blood services, called yet again yesterday to remind me that I promised to got to the Waterfront Inn in Plains at 4:00 this afternoon to give a double red cell donation. As of today we shall have a new pastor at our churches. It was Fr. John Polednak's last day. He celebrated 8:00 a.m. Mass. Fr. Leo McKernan shows up later today. He will be in charge from now on.

IT'S FINALLY OVER WITH

Yesterday was the last day of 2010's family reunion. This one was a bit of a milestone because it was the fiftieth. It all started in 1961. On Sunday, Gino & Michelle threw a nice big surprise party for Aunt Helen at the Checkerboard Inn in Trucksville. A splendid time was had by all. Aunt Helen's not a blood relative. She was married to Uncle Rego who died in 1993. She's the youngest of the oldest generation of us. Some of the kin went to the Italian graveyard to visit the deceased family members' graves right before the party. As always the weekend's conversation ranged from sports, trivia, religion & politics to nostalgia, philosophy & music. I haven't gone into the pool in very many years. Oddly my cousin Danny asked if I've ever been thrown in. In our crowd, getting thrown into the pool is quite an entirely inevitable rite of passage for the very young. He appeared to have forgotten that when I was a kid & young adult he, more than anyone else, was the one who always threw me in.