Fall 2015 October 22 Thursday

60 degrees this morning, Walk 38:18 minutes

Although it is 60 degrees this morning, it feels relatively nice.  I am even sitting outside writing this, for the first time in several weeks.  Of course, if the wind starts blowing it will get cold fast!  

Still nice, but there is a huge storm coming in, probably this afternoon.  They even have flash flood warnings out already, even though it hasn’t rained a drop.

Another major change in the recent years is weather forecasting.  I can look at my phone and see what the weather forecasters see, as far as the rain and storm crossing the state towards us and even know when it will arrive.  

I recently started getting notices on my iPhone about “it will rain at 4:15 p.m. etc.” and it further states how long and how intense the rain will be!  It isn’t always correct (I assume it is correct somewhere, if not here), but it is right a large part of the time.  

Listening to the book about the Mafia, (almost done-it was relatively interesting but I am ready to start on another subject!) I was disturbed (if the book is true) about the actions of the federal prosecutors and FBI, which, in their own way, was just as bad as the Mafia.  

Listening to a song from “Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” (She’s Leaving Home) by the Beatles, I am taken back exactly 50 years to the first time I heard the album.  

When I hear it, I always think about it was the Summer I was in Denver, working at the Samsonite factory.  It was the first time “on my own” and certainly my first experience in a big city and working in a factory!  

I learned a lot about myself and maybe life those two Summers in Denver.  It certainly affected how I approached life.

Also, my memory is somewhat refractory, since Sergeant Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band album was released in June of 1967, not June of 1965 as I was thinking. 

Probably the music in general was in that time frame, and I think of that album representing that time frame of my life.  

As I mentioned before, some songs bring back memories, not quite like it actually was, but the way I remember it, which may be different!

My experience in a factory certainly jarred my sense of what I wanted to do in my life.   Nothing against factory workers, I actually enjoyed working with them, but I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life. 

Actually, now that i explore my memory, I was in Denver the Summers of 1966 and 1967, so I guess my memory of Sergeant Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band being released when I was in Denver is correct.  

The Summer of 1966 and Summer of 1967 in Denver was completely different.  The first Summer I was there by myself and the second Summer I was there with friends who who decided to go with me to Denver to work for the Summer.  

It was the first Summer in Denver when I developed a  taste for tamales.  There were street vendors who sold these wonderful steamed tamales on the street corner and I loved them.  For some reason, the next Summer they were not there, but I had developed a life-long love for tamales. 

I have learned, like  lots of things, there is a wide variety of tamales and everyone’s view of what tamales are like can be different.  

Of course, I rarely eat them due to the high fat and calorie content, but when I do I enjoy them!  There are major regional differences in tamales, which perhaps is one reason I like them, but some I like a lot more than others!  I really enjoy it when I can get those steamed fattening tamales like I had in Denver on the street corner!  

When  I go back to Denver now, I am always shocked at the changes.  It is not the Denver I knew and loved during those Summers.

That’s it for now, Thursday, October 22, 2015.