Sinatra's Hat

 

SINATRA's HAT

by Barbara Etlin

Never thought much of
Old Blue Eyes.
To me he was always
just a second-rate Rat Packer.

So I was surprised to find him last night
standing in the living room
of the house where I was a child.

I was wearing my straw fedora
as I always do, for sun protection.
He wore one, too,
and Frank Sinatra said to me,

"Nothing looks stupider
than a hat worn inside."

I said that
Bogie always looked good in his,
indoors or outdoors.

Then Frankie
(he was Frankie to me by then)
told me about the time
he borrowed Bogie's new black Jaguar
and wrecked it
when he drove it
off the cliff into Topanga Canyon.

When I woke
I remembered
that I needed to buy
some rat poison.


Copyright, Barbara Etlin, 2018, all rights reserved

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

Paul McCartney

says, "You Can Drive My Car" and lots more...



when he's doing Carpool Karaoke with James Corden

in Liverpool

in this fab 23-minute video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjvzCTqkBDQ

Mellow as the Month of May

As  self-appointed  Official Tulip Greeter, 

 I am ecstatic to Officially Announce

 that

TULIP SEASON IS HERE!

 

Wordless Wednesday: Find the Bunny

Has Hazel come to visit?

The Truth About Santa

Last Friday night, I discovered the truth about Santa.

We had been in all day and I was relieved when M suggested going out for a late dinner.

After ordering pizza at a restaurant in the mall, we started talking to a man at the table opposite us. We commiserated about the freezing weather. He offered us the use of a portable heater which the restaurant had provided.

At the far end of the mall, a choir was singing. "That's Charlie Brown's Christmas Theme," I said to M. It was one of the few Christmas songs I like. (We actually avoid the mall as much as possible at this time of year because of the repetitive holiday music.)

Our neighbour finished his coffee and packed up his laptop.

"Time to go home to my family," he said. "Keep warm and have a very happy holiday!"

We wished him the same.

After we finished dinner we asked the waitress for the bill. She said that we were only being charged for M's dessert. The rest of our meal had been paid for by the nice gentleman with the laptop!

Santa isn't that guy in the red suit at the other end of the mall, where the kids line up to ask for presents and to be photographed.

He's a middle-aged guy with a laptop and a family, who showed kindness and generosity to
strangers who don't even celebrate Christmas.

Warmest wishes for the holiday season!

December 1, 1983

34 years ago today


I interviewed James Houston

at the Glass Art Gallery...

and sold my profile of him
to enRoute magazine!


It was also the day that

M secretly bought

Houston's "Snowy Owl"

from The Yaneff Gallery next door

and hid it for seven months

to give it to me for my next birthday.

October Leaves and A Lesson in Persistence

Before the month is over, I'd better post these photos of October's leafy extravaganza.

That is what we expect from October in southern Ontario.


What I didn't expect was this renaissance of the purple mums we planted back in June.

They flowered for about a week. Then, despite my constant watering and fertilizing,
I didn't see any more flowers. Lots of leaves, but that was it.

About Labour Day, I stopped watering the planters.

A few days ago, the purple mums came back to life.

Mother Nature is reminding me to keep watering, keep believing, even when it seems that flowering season is over.

You never know when that mum plant--or that sleeping manuscript--will have a renaissance.