Last night...

...was better, I don't know why,
but around four, I caught a few winks on the fly;
slept until two, then there was no more,
so, time to get up, it's no time to snore.

Did you get the hint a couple of days ago,
the one about the web-site where we can go..
..and make free donations and do some good.
You did? Thanks, I knew you would.

Today is a Hollie day, and we're going light,
don't get stuck in that traffic out there tonight,
the weather is mild, for this time of year,
but we won't go far, we'll stay quite near.

Still going to Staples, to plastic things in,
in case you've been wondering where we have been,
I'll write here tomorrow and fill you all in,
then maybe next week, we'll do it all over again.

Drive Safe!

I'm disappointed...

...it's happening again,
getting up so early, like I don't know where I've been,
falling asleep too soon, during the six o'clock news,
I've been thinking I could beat this thing, at least I had those views.

I don't want to relapse into that pattern again,
want to be awake longer, but I know where I've been;
so probably that will be just the way things go,
so we'll just wait and see, kind of dread it though.


This is me at 1:00AM!!



It's been...



What the page looks like http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/


...a while, since we've talked about this,
how, for nothing, you can give great gifts;
the web-site about is how it's all done,
but we need more help, more than just one.

Those tabs at the top are what you use,
in any order, from reds to blues,
and on each page there's a big button to push,
it costs you nothing, and you can sit on your tush.

Whether you like libraries or pets,
this is as easy as giving gets,
pain free and simple, even I use it,
and there's no way I know for me to abuse it.


They need your help



Blizzard?...

Gas prices still bite!

...maybe, we got lots of wind and snow,
maybe fourteen inches, but boy, did it blow;
gusts to 46 and steady at twenty-four,
all of that made it nice, to not open a door.

So blizzard maybe, or a regular storm,
but we were safe inside, and nice and warm,
we didn't lose power, the way we sometimes do,
and my neighbor cleaned my car!  oh, wah-hoo!


Sometimes, in town, I think like this!



I know this is Maine, but it still applies

Blizzard?...

Go for a ride!

...warning?  Or just a snowstorm,
just be careful, and try to stay warm,
it's winter in Maine, and it snows,
it's a lot in one day, and it shows.

But it's winter, it's bound to snow,
and, yes, if you're careful, you can go;
it the roads are plowed, and you clear off the car,
if none of that's done - then you won't get far.

Looking for food



Snow on the Maine coast



So this is Christmas?...

Six truck drivers, three trucks and escorts,
chumming on Christmas as cohorts,
stuck in Maine with a mission to do,
but the rules of the road, won't let them thru.

But on Monday, after Christmas of course,
the permits are allowed, they can get on their horse,
going to Buffalo to load up a barge,
but the ice is now in, the plan needs a charge.

These trucks are loaded, 122 thousand pounds,
too heavy for the interstates, they're out of bounds,
so it's off through the country all across the state lines,
all permitted, of course, so there'll be no fines.

So truck through to Utah, with these heavy loads,
not on the interstate but using small roads;
the towers of windmills secure is the load,
the only danger is the condition of road.

So they were away this Christmas doing their work,
the rooms they rent are their only perk;
so it's missing the family on this holiday,
let us all hope that they've earned their pay!

My thanks and/or apologies to the Lewiston, Maine Sun Journal

A late note: Most of Maine is under a blizzard warning for Sunday night and Monday - there will be more delay, I expect.

Click on photos to enlarge, make it easier to read :)

Merry Christmas...

...from Maine, in the far eastern reaches,
where I reside, and nature teaches;
that Christmas is here, seen in the snow,
but it's warmer than eighteen below.

The trees are all up, decorations are done,
they are just waiting for the fresh morning sun,
examples of living in the natural world,
are all around us their glory unfurled.

Here's wishing you and your families too,
Merry Christmas from me and my family too.


Nubble Light, York Maine




A lobster trap tree in Cape Porpoise (Kennebunk) Maine




Potato barrel tree in Wallagrass, Aroostook County, Maine



Wether it's...

...here in our country or Norway by chance,
all of the world gets a good Christmas dance;
it's the same message, everywhere you may be,
Merry Christmas to you, for an old guy like me.

The traditions are different, the language is too,
but they'd like to see us, me and you;
they would accept us as one of their own,
you're always at home, wherever you roam.

God Jul means Merry Christmas in Norway

Christmas Eve in Norway



Store window decoration



The Christmas market in Trondheim, Norway

It's getting...

...close to Christmas, and I'm out of ideas,
maybe Santa will bring me, or I'm hoping he hears...
..my requests for material, or a whole new brain,
so I can keep going, or stop my brain drain.

So, here's what I offer for you today,
Christmas in Japan, on that I can say...
..I spent two there, in that eastern land,
where Christmas is different, break out the band.

Please understand that there aren't many Christians,
who celebrate the way we do here,
and trees then were rare, but you see them now,
45 years ago they'd just meet and bow.

The cards that I used to send folks back home,
featured bamboo drawn with ink with a pen (of bone?),
maybe a photo of Mt. Fuji for view,
but, as you'll see, Christmas there is now new.

メリークリスマス (Merīkurisumasu) - they do say Merry Christmas.
I think my good friend "Wilbur" spent a Christmas or two in Japan also.

A Christmas card



A display in Tokyo



Yours truly, on the roof of the building where I worked,
Navy Supply Depot, Yokosuka, Japan - 1963

One more...

...day of cars, then we'll try something new,
but today - take a look at what I offer you;
advertising loves to look good on cars,
and I have selected three of the stars.

Some of old, and one still lives on,
It's kind of sad the others are gone.
I can imagine a good many more,
of course, then again, my choices are poor.


Moxie! The drivers sat in the saddle.  This one is still around
it appears in Moxie Days Parade in Livermore Falls Maine.
Click on the photo, for a good look




I don't need to add anything to Mr. Peanut




Oscar Mayer, this one is still active. Thanks Darlene.



Now we.....

...arrive at the proud letter "Z",
and just how many cars can there be?
Not to many and only one recent one,
but that's not the story, of how this is done.

Schuyler Zent, way out in Ohio,
Bellfontaine was the place, where Z wasn't zero;
he made the Zent for a whole two years,
then made the Traveler, but ended in tears.


The only one left...




An ad in the paper



A Ford truck makes a delivery

Before...

...John Hertz put you in the drivers seat...
..he put you in the back, that's how he thought he could beat...
...the costs of buying cars.  In 1921 he started to make..
...his own for Yellow Taxi, in 1925 it's when he sold his stake...
..to General Motors, then they made them just for him...
...so know we know the margins made, weren't all that slim.


1931 Yellow cab




1936, taxi!



..and in 1941, this was the cab.

It was...

...kind of hard, to find cars that start with X,
not too many of them, maybe it was a hex;
but, whatever caused the lapse, never may be known,
but now that I found one, it's one I'd like to own.

These were called "cyclecars", and they were small,
two people in a row, or tandem, if that's your call;
sporty little buggys, chain drive and all that,
and a nice windscreen so you wouldn't lose your hat!


1914 Xenia



An early Xenia ad



You'd like one of these, admit it.



It's pronounced willies..

From the comic strip "Shoe":
Editor "I need you to cover that story at the morgue"
Shoe "My car is in the shop"
Editor "Take that old Jeep out back, like you did last time"
Shoe "How come every time I have to go to the morgue I get the Willys?"

That's right, it's what W brings,
John Willys praises, the US sings;
from plain old cars to the almighty Jeep,
we owe him more than a peep.
 
It's an old brand, back to nineteen-oh-six,
some folks still drive them, just for kicks;
the '41's were a hot-rodders dream,
put in an Olds engine, and let 'er scream!


1935 Model 77 Willys



1949 Willys Jeepster



1954 Willys Aero



Here's a '41 that's done over



We are...

...arriving at the letter V,
not much longer until we see Z;
Willard Velie a grandson of John Deere,
was in Moline, Illinois, built the cars right here.

There also were trucks, race cars and planes,
radial engines and sixes, he went to great pains;
but even back then techology changed,
he couldn't keep up, with the way things were arranged.


c.1903 Truck and race car



1910 Touring Velie

1920 Model 34 Touring Velie

It takes...

...a little looking, for the letter U,
not many autos out there for you;
but there were a couple, photos sure are scarce,
but we I found would save a lot on gas.

Single cylinder engines, not built for speed,
Union City, Indiana, must have had a need..
..they only built three hundred of these motor cars,
but, for the letter U, they're our daily stars.

1902 Union



Ad for the 1902




Ad for the 1903 - the last year for Union



Now we arrive...

...after A to S, at the letter T,
and we offer the Terraplane, just you wait and see;
there cars were beauties, no such thing as plain,
before they were a Hudson, just plain Terraplane.

Nothing real fancy, kind of middle class,
built to last but had good speed, very hard to pass,
I'd like to take one for a ride, but that is not to be,
simply put, well you see, none belong to me.


1934 Terraplane roadster




1935 Hudson-Terraplane pickup



1935 Terraplane sedan



1938 Terraplane Coupe



If I had...

...a Studebaker, I take it for a ride,
all the way to the sea, just to watch the tide;
or maybe to the mountains, a breath of fresh air,
and I'd take you along, after all fair is fair.

They started making wheelbarrows, then wagons...
...the brothers five, then they say "fire breathing dragons..
...of the internal combustion type. 
They turned to making autos, and advertising hype.

The Studebaker, very well could be my favorite car,
I had one once and liked it, it was, for me, a real star;
but change is change and it was gone, and left me with a Ford,
oh how I wish my Studeie back, please, please Lord.

1932 Studebaker President Convertible Coupe



1948 M52 A16 truck



1950 Studebaker Champion Cabriolet