Keeping up with the Rourk's

My sister Pat has a blog, which I can occasionally find - I am really not very computer literate. Anyway, she wrote about the boxes of tangled Christmas lights, and it struck a nerve because Shirley just brought down about 6 "totes" from the attic, along with a Christmas tree and several cardboard boxes of decorations. My comment was, we have got enough s___ to decorate the mall. SM's answer was "I am going to get rid of some of this stuff" - a reply which I know is a complete lie. The boxes don't get smaller - they get more numerous. We had recently strung the lights around the house - not too bad a deal. I made up some hangers out of Romex wire and put them up for the light strings. They are a lot bigger than those cup hook things we used to use, and I can use a long pole to slip the strings into the hangers.

Christmas lights have to get tangled, they spend a year in a dark box and breed. Then they go visiting each other to show off the new batch - how could they not get tangled? She was off today to do some work at the Legion and she already has the tree assembled and waiting for decorating. Her parting remark was ' "go ahead and decorate that tree while I am gone". You betcha - I tried helping once and everything I put on the tree was removed and replaced about 2 microns from where I had it. The logic escaped me, and so did the decorating business. If I had any choice I would do what an old bachelor buddy of mine used to do. He had about a 2 foot tree, complete with bulbs and lights, and a box that would hold it nicely. He brought it out every Christmas, plugged it in and was in business. After the holidays, he unplugged it, popped it back in its box and was good for another year. His decorating took about 15 seconds.

With all this decorating going on, I am curious to see how Hank Robar takes care of his lot in Potsdam - you know, the one with the toilet commodes full of flowers around it. The Potsdam officials have been having a fit about Hank's decorating for a few years now to no avail. I think they brought it upon themselves when they refused to rezone so Hank could sell the lot to Dunkin Donuts - and the result was what I call "Robar's Revenge", an eclectic collection of toilet bowls, and occasionally flower, trees, old brassiers, and various other artistic articles. To add insult to injury I recall Hank comparing his creation to the artwork at SUNY Potsdam to the howls of protest of every art conniseur in the area.

The new Lowes is going up in Potsdam despite the constant hassel over water, sewer, and anything else the Potsdam folks can dream up. This is done in conjunction with the constant claims about how much business they are bringing into the community. I got in trouble with my publisher over my comments about the Potsdam attitude toward business - but this forum is strictly my own and I can ignore any criticizm as I usually do.