Just Ramblin’’ Penny and I had a truly fine trip to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket from Labor Day until mid-September, hence the delay in posting. The weather was perfect, the crowds were not so great, and the exploration was great fun. We had been reading a series of books that all take place on Martha’s Vineyard, and the descriptions were so enticing that we decided to see for ourselves. We would go back again, but there are too many other places to see on our continent, and time is fleeting.

We were a bit ahead of the autumn color, but the seafood is always on tap there, so the dining on scallops, clams, lobster, and white fish were fine. And if you ever have a chance for some blue fish pâté try it without fail.

But here we are home again and that is good.

Old Age: There are so many jokes and internet emails about seniors, getting old and forgetful, getting wrinkled, and getting even. The latter are the best ones.

I was driving along and heard a song entitled “Thank God I’m Old” and I was piqued enough to look up the words, which are copied below. To get the best effect, though, click on the URL to hear it played on YouTube.

If you just read the words, the cadence or meter does not flow very well. Best result is to listen and watch the words—or sing along. I discovered that the song is from a Broadway musical that was a moderate success in the 90’s and Tony nominated. It was a show called Barnum, about the founding of the circus. The singer here is billed as “the world’s oldest living woman” aged 106. So here it is. I hope you get a kick out of it. I think the video is about 3-4 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RtYUDGiwDI

Thank God I’m Old lyrics – Barnum Cast

When you see the shape the world is in

When the way it is ain’t what it’s been

When folks just care for gold,

Thank God, I’m old

When you take a gander at the news

When you hear the language people use

When no sweet songs are sung

I don’t wanna be young

Daddy Time, he

Doesn’t fret me

Should he spy me

That don’t upset me

Let him eye me

Come and get me

That’s fine by me

Age don’t worry me

When you see the way folks misbehave

When it’s only good times that they crave

When kids are much too bold

Thank God, I’m old

When there ain’t no He-Men left alive

When they tell you three men out of five

End up locked up or hung

I don’t wanna be young.

(Dance Break)

Gonna get me dressed and powdered down

Call myself a hack and go to town

See every shady street

These feet once strolled.

Then I’m gonna slip back on the shelf

Have myself a nip and tell myself

Though my back buckles and bends

My hair’s got silvery ends

When I see all of my friends

Laid out and cold

Thank God, I’m Old!

Bank Checks: We are headed toward a cashless society, probably not in our lifetime, but with the apps available on cell phones, a surprising amount of banking can be done and it is possible to pay using the cell phone. I don’t know about the security, but my guess is that it is not more susceptible to identity theft than computer or mail.

What that all calls to mind is the evolution of bank checks over the decades. My earliest memory of a check was at the drugstore several blocks away, where there was a shelf with blank checks on it, at a height where an adult could go and stand there and write a check. The check itself was fairly blank, so that whoever was making the check had to write in the name of the bank. There were no bank routing numbers at the bottom, and certainly no check number. I believe that the banks sorted all checks that arrived at their bank sent them to a clearing house for routing to the bank on which the check was drawn.

Recently, I was sorting through some very old papers and came across cancelled checks that my grandmother had signed to pay some property taxes in East Texas. Here is what the check looked like:

Travis Elementary: I don’t know if any of you reading this went to Travis Elementary way back when. I did, and I know Alex Trevino, Marcia Pittman, Louis Dan Holst, Susan Crawford, and Richard Kauffman did, and more whose faces are not popping up at the moment. Maybe Dan Scraiffa, Walter Graham, and Jo Ann Adams.

In August, I was in the old neighborhood and stopped by to have a look. It was closed for the summer, but there has been a big change. It is now a high school with a small population of college-bound students. The kids take advanced courses and most graduate with an Associate’s Degree. I intend to go back and learn a bit more. I gather enrollment is competitive. No sports and I wonder about what sort of campus life they enjoy. Maybe they are all just nerds.

Till next time…