19 For '19 Part 1

Now that Christmas is over it's time to move forward to the new year, 2020. But not before looking back at the things I'll remember most about 2019. 

Over the next 3 posts I'll be, appropriately, listing 19 of them. As I always do, I'll be counting them down from 19 to the #1 thing I'll remember when I think of the last year of the 2nd decade of the 21st century.

For most of these choices, I wrote a blog post giving a lot more details. If you would like to know more about my choices go back through my 50 YNN posts for more details. 

19. Changing Bikes

In the early Spring, when the weather got warm, I decided to get my 10 speed Schwin bike out of storage and start riding it again. 

I loved riding that bike but it has been a couple of years since I tried. I rode it up and down my street a couple of times but soon realized that things were different than the last time. My ability to balance had changed. Not that much while riding the bike but when getting on and off. I quickly realized that I could no longer ride this bike without a high risk of falling and injuring myself. Getting old stinks. 

But bicycling is such great exercise and I really enjoy it. I just couldn't give it up. So I decided it was time to find a bike on which I wouldn't have any problems with 

balance. The answer would be a three wheeler. 

After doing some research and reading some online reviews, I found the model I wanted. 

I held off buying it until the end of September. It was belated birthday present. I bought it through Howard's Bike Shop in Bowling Green. Got to use my Schwin for a trade-in as well. 

 I rode my bike a few times before we went on vacation in early October. The weather then turned colder and life got busy so that I haven't ridden it since. Now, I have to wait until Spring to get it out and ride it again. 

But that trike is an investment in what will be my renewed effort to improve my physical health in 2020. 

18. Karaoke Contest Winner

This is the "big fish in a little pond" story of the year for me. On May 17, I participated in a parody contest during Karaoke night at the Cinco De Mayo restaurant. 

Bev and David Long who host karaoke there every week sponsored the contest. Of course, this was right in my wheel house. 

I wrote and performed a parody to the tune of a Kenny Roger's hit. Here's a link a video on my You Tube channel where you can hear me sing the song and see the presentation I made up to go with it. 

Ron's Karaoke Parody

There were only 4 participants in the contest but the crowd voted my song the best. Bev and Dave presented me with an award for being the winner. 

Like I mentioned for one night I was a big fish in a very little pond. But I have been writing parodies for decades. I have always shared them with people I thought would enjoy them. This #18 memory from May was the first time I've ever gotten public recognition. It made me kind of proud; which is why the medal is on display in my office. 

17.My First Cast

I'm not going to write very much about this because its such a recent happening. I just shared the story of how I ended up with my foot in a cast.The combination of the facts that this was my first broken bone in all my 59 years and that it happened in the middle of the Christmas season makes it one thing about this year I'll never forget. 

16. Yankee Near Nashville Blog

I started my first blog,"RH Factors" in April 2008. The last post for it was December 2018. Five months later, in May of this year I started this one. 

I wanted to change the blog's subject focus and posting frequency. Both changes were made in effort to keep what I write about interesting to my readers. 

Just the fact that it's 7 months later and you are still reading means I've managed to accomplish my goal to some extent. 

15. A Day At The Louisville Zoo

This first of many travel related memories that are on this list, happened September 8, the day before my birthday. It was a Sunday. Paula was spending the day catching up on her Color Street stuff so I went with James, Brandi and my grand kids to the Louisville Zoo. 
It had been a few years since I'd been there. The main reason for this visit was to see their new baby elephant named "Fitz". 

But I went to spend the day with Aria and Gabriel. Here they are playing in a jeep that was on display. 

We had lots of fun together that day.  

14. The Huckabee Show

On April 30th I went to Nashville to be a part of the studio audience of the TBN program hosted by former Arkansas governor and conservative political advocate, Mike Huckabee.   

The initial reason I went to the Huckabee Theater in Henderson, TN, just outside Nashville was to see my friend, Rik Roberts perform as the warm up comic.

He also mingled among the crowd, in character as deputy Barney Fife during the preshow reception in the theater's lobby. 

 During the taping of the show, I got to sit next to the show's announcer and got a great overview of the entire production. I really enjoyed being part of the show. I may go back again some time in the future. 

There you have the first 6 entries of my countdown of 2019 memories. Next time we'll be hitting the road even more as I'll share choices 13 to 8. 

Thanks for taking the time to come by and read my blog. I know there's a lot of choices I appreciate you making this, yours. See you next time.  

  

Christmas TV Past

Hello again everyone. I know I mentioned that I would write about my Christmas decorations. But dealing with my broken foot has kept us from finishing our decorating. We have yet to put up our tree. Also, because of my limited mobility I have not been able to take the pictures I would want to show you in that post. So as soon as both of those things are taken care of, I will write that post as promised.  

 Now, in this post, I have something else about Christmas that I want to share. 

Yesterday would have been my dad's 83rd birthday. So with him on my mind and most of our Christmas decorations adorning our living room, I leaned back on my recliner with my cast up in the air and started streaming the colorized version of "It's a Wonderful Life"  

I thought a lot about how my family used to watch television during the holidays when I was a growing up. 

Now there are a lot of TV specials that I watched as a kid, that you can still see today. There's the Rankin Bass specials, "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Frosty The Snowman" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Two generations after their TV debut, they continue to be perennial holiday favorites.  

Movies like "White Christmas" and "Miracle On 34th Street" and "Its A Wonderful Life" and several different versions of "A Christmas Carol" were about the only Christmas movies I can remember being shown on TV when I was a kid. Now they are playing on the air every December along with a select group of favorites from the 70s, 80s & 90s.  

But what are not around any more are the musical variety specials that our parents and grandparents used to gather in front of the set to watch. 

My mom & dad used to enjoy watching Bing Crosby's Christmas show but not so when it came to Bob Hope's. Mom didn't him at all. She always used to say he got on her nerves because he laughed at his own jokes. 

I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting. But there are 3 Christmas Specials that will always bring back to me such a strong memory of my parents that it's more like a palpable presence. A feeling that they are right there watching with me.  
I am going to be sharing some videos that are each glimpses into how Christmas was celebrated on TV back in the 60s. They are not anomalies. They are examples of what variety shows were like at their peak of popularity. 

It's very different from what you may see on TV today. The genre of the variety show came to an end in the late 70s. But believe me, for the first three decades of television in America, they were all over the networks. Yes, there was a time when there was only 3 to choose from but still variety was king.  

Here are the trio of Christmas shows that I'm talking about. The first one many of you probably have never heard of. 

The King Family

This musical family started out on TV in the early 50s as just a sister act. But in the 60s, they added their all the members of their very large and talented family and became very popular; especially their holiday specials.  Their Christmas shows were a must see for my parents. Here's the link to a You Tube clip of their 1967 edition. 

1967 King Family Christmas Special

The one moment I remember the most from any King Family Christmas  happened during the 1967 special. The US was deep into the Vietnam War and it touched everyone in the country including the Kings. As a tribute to her son one of the King sisters, Alice, sang "I'll Be Home For Christmas". He was serving in the army at the time. Please watch this clip all the way through. Its as touching as any you've seen on social media.  And it happened when TV was the only in-home accessible social platform there was.  

King Family 67 Christmas Special Surprise

The next entertainer I think of when it comes to holiday shows, that my parents enjoyed each year starred my dad's favorite singer. 

Andy Williams

Out of the 3 I'm going to mention, this is the one special I would have been most likely to voluntarily sit and watch with my parents. 

I really liked Andy Williams. One of my best memories from our trip to Branson this past June was getting to see Williams' legacy, the Moon River Theater. 

Of course Andy Williams is known by many as the singer of the original version of "It's A Most Wonderful Time Of The Year." A song that is heard over and over throughout December on radio stations and PA systems of retail outlets everywhere. 

His Christmas shows were an annual tradition on NBC throughout the late 60s. 

I have 2 Andy Williams links to share with you. The first is Mr. Williams singing that holiday standard on one of his specials. Kind of like a music video before there was MTV. 

Most Wonderful Time Of The Year Video

Like the Kings, Andy Williams' holiday shows always included his family. His brothers joined him in a reunion of their original act, along with his wife, his kids and his mother. 
Another family group, who made their debut on Williams weekly variety show, the Osmond brothers are also part of this show.  

This 2nd link will allow you to watch another version of "Most Wonderful Time" as well as the entire special. 
1966 Andy Williams Christmas Special

If you want more or want to get a wider variety of clips, you can go to Amazon Prime and stream the video "Best of Andy Williams Christmas Specials". Its only an hour and has highlights that are introduced by Andy himself.  

The influence of this third entry into my retrospective of my parents' favorite holiday specials goes beyond the TV screen and into my family's Christmas culture. Within my family, it's appeal was also multi-generational.  

Lawrence Welk

The Lawrence Welk Show was an ABC Saturday night staple from 1955 to 71. It then spent another 11 years in first run syndication. 

I say watching it was multi-generational because it was the only show I ever remember my grandfather watching whenever we visited him. It was one of the few things he enjoyed on TV.

The annual Lawrence Welk Christmas show was something that my mom and my sister, Peggy, always made sure they watched as well. 

The Lawrence Welk orchestra (aka the Champagne Music Makers) and singers, which included the Lennon Sisters and an all grown up, original Mouseketeer, Bobby Burgess, would perform all kinds of choreographed holiday classics presented on winter or Christmas themed sets. It was pretty much the same format as their weekly show but it was a little special because it was Christmas. 

What made this show special was that the show's finale included the spouses and kids of all the Welk show performers. They gathered around the Christmas tree as a family. They took turns introducing themselves and giving out holiday greetings.  

As with everything else that has to do with Christmas, add children to the mix and there's an added elements of excitement, uniqueness, and spontaneity. And you can't have kids on a Christmas show without Santa making an appearance to give out gifts. 

This first video link shows the last segment of the 1980 special. Santa shows up at the 11:24 mark. 
1980 Lawrence Welk Christmas Special Finale   
The 2nd link is a video of the entire 1966 show. It is really a glimpse into the past history of both Christmas and TV in this country. 
1966 Lawrence Welk Christmas Special

Lawrence Welk's holiday music transcended our home beyond the Zenith. I'm not exactly sure what year it was but one December in the late 60s or early 70s, my parents bought a special set of albums from Reader's Digest. It was a 5 record collection of Lawrence Welk Christmas songs entitled "Merry Christmas From Our House To Your House"

 In addition to the title song and 37 of the best known carols and Christmas standards on those five LPs were these songs:
Christmas Comes But Once A Year
Christmas Dreaming
I Wanna Do More Than Whistle
Ring Those Christmas Bells
Ho Ho Ho
Christmas In Kilarney

There was also a really cool ragtime arrangement of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" played on a harpsichord, and the entire orchestra does a great job covering Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride". 

As a teenager, I would actively pursue my dream of one day being on the radio by using "Sleigh Ride" as background music for Christmas commercials I wrote and recorded on my cassette tape player one year. 

My parents and my sister, Peggy, loved this collection. They enjoyed them all throughout the holiday season. They started the day after Thanksgiving and played them frequently all they way to the holiday. It was the soundtrack to our night of decorating the house every December. 

To this day, for me there's still an emotional connect to these songs and memories of Christmas time with my family. 

Over the years, I have included some of these in my Rewind Christmas recordings. I think next year I'm going to make them my countdown feature. They really bring back the spirit of Christmas Past. 

So there you have the 3 entertainers whose TV Christmas specials were "must sees" for my parents and their friends when I was growing up. 

If you are a "boomer" like I am, I hope you enjoyed this look back at an age of television long gone. 

I started out this post by mentioning that December 19 was my dad's birthday. In my next post I will share something about my dad and the music he liked, that I didn't discover until yesterday.
Be sure to come back next time for that story. Until then, thanks for taking the time to read my post and 
Merry Christmas from our house to yours.

  

My First Cast

As the year comes to an end I have to say that one of the best things I did this year was enter the SOKY's Got Talent contest back in August. I will be able to enjoy the memory of that experience whenever I look up and see my award on my office shelf. 

During that competition I was encouraged by several people with the old adage: "Break A Leg." Of course when it comes to performing on stage that means "good luck."

But little did I know back then that by the time 2019 was over, I'd be doing what they told me, in real life. Well, it wasn't actually my leg but it was my foot.

I wasn't doing anything dangerous or even courageous when this occurred. 

It was while staging the boxes and materials needed for my wife's Color Street booth at the Holly Jolly Christmas festival on Sunday December 15. 

The Friday before, I was moving some stuff we would need from the our storage room so it would be near our carport door. We would load it into my car sometime Saturday. 

I was a bit preoccupied with thinking about all the decorating and shopping and all the other stuff that has to be done at this time of the year.

The combination of not paying attention, having just socks on my feet, stepping down onto the concrete storage room floor with my drop foot (the left one) at a bad angle and the law of gravity taking over, I ended up falling and landed on the side of my foot. 

Now I've fallen and hurt my foot before but most of the time it just resulted in a  sprained my ankle with various degrees of pain and injury. This time I knew it was different.   

I spent the rest of that night on the recliner with my foot elevated wrapped in an ice pack. When it came time to go to bed, the left side of my foot was discolored with bruise like tint and I could hardly walk on it. 

The next morning I went to the local Urgent Care clinic. The x-ray showed that I had cracked a bone on the left side of my foot; officially a fracture of the fifth metatarsal bone. I was put in a walking boot. 

It made getting around a little easier but still very painful. I would have to follow up with my orthopedic doctor on Monday. 

On Sunday, I went with my wife to the Sloane Convention Center in Bowling Green for the Holly Jolly Festival. 

Of course, my foot was really bothering me but I had promised to help her. I took as easy as I could while still helping her. 

She had a successful day. It was her 7th vendor event in the last 4 months and the last one for this year. 

  

On Monday, I got a mid afternoon appointment at WKONA to see orthopedist, Dr. Riley.

He examined my foot and told me that from the x-ray he could confirm that I had what's known as a Jones fracture. It would take 4-6 weeks of non-weight bearing rest for it to heal. 

Based on the amount of moving around I had done since I got the boot, I knew I could not be still enough to rest and not put any weight on that foot if I could still walk on it.

To make a long story short, I got honest with myself and I left the office that afternoon with a cast on my left foot and leg all the way up to just below my knee. 

 I had driven to the appointment myself and could have driven home but for one thing. When it came time to leave it was pouring rain. I couldn't get to my car without getting my cast wet.

Paula was leaving work so I had her come pick me up leaving my car in the parking lot. Paula would make sure the Kia got back to the house later in the week. 

This is the very first time I've ever had a cast. In the last couple of days I have learned that getting around on one foot, even with the help of a walker is slow, difficult and exhausting. We've purchased some medical equipment to help me get around the house and taking a shower a little easier. 

Going in and out of the house is going to be a challenge which means over the next 4 weeks I'm going to basically be housebound. Not something I'm very happy about at all. 

I have already learned a lesson in that from now on I'm not going to ever walk around the house without my foot brace on.   

There's the story of how I got my very first cast. In my next post I will share with you how this is going to change the way I get to celebrate Christmas this year. 

Thanks for coming back to my blog. See you next time.  

  

  

The 50th Post

Hey there. Welcome to a rather significant post for this blog. It has taken 7 months to get to this point. But this is my 50th post for this blog. 

I really don't have a specific subject to write about for this one but since it's Friday, I thought I'd get back to a posting schedule I'd like to keep on a regularly in 2020.  

December hasn't started off that great for my wife and me. This past week saw both of us back at the doctor because we felt terrible due to sinus issues. 

So this week has been a "sick" week for us. We are taking anti-biotics and are feeling somewhat better but still not at 100%. At least we've made it to the weekend and can rest for a few more days. 

In the meantime, when I have felt good enough to get some things done, I've been preparing our living room for the Christmas decorations. 

This happens in stages and there's a lot of work assembling and arranging Legos. I've got a lot of Christmas Lego sets. If you ask my wife, she'd say there's too much. Nevertheless, I continue to grow my collection every year. 

With that said I want to share with you this year's additions. 

First up is a gift box that's more than meet the eye. 

Then there's some Lego Brick Headz. 

Olaf from Frozen 2 will also be part of my decore. 

Finally, there's a trio of new ornaments this year. 

Not exactly sure where I'm going to put these new things on the bookshelf. It was pretty crowded last year. 

I should have all the decorations up and ready for the holiday by the end of next week. I'll make sure to share pictures when my project is complete. 

That's about all I have for this milestone post. I will be back again soon. Thanks again for taking the time to read my blog. Take Care. 

November Highlights

Welcome back to the blog. I spent the month of November sharing with you what my October was like. So I'm going to continue the pattern and make the first post of December a recap of some of the highlights of the month of November.

As I shared in my November 6 post I began the month dealing with the effects of a flu shot and sinus issues. But I got over both of them enough to help my wife with 2 Color Street vendor events in the middle of the month. 

On the 16th we went to the Carol Knicely Center to participate in the autumn edition of "Bowling Green Girls Day Out." 
This was the event that Paula had been looking to as an important step in building her brand. She was right.  

For most of the 8 hours we were set up the booth was busy. At one point it was totally crowded. 

Paula kept busy applying samples to show those interested how easy the nail tabs are to use. 

The day turned out to be the most successful vendor event of the year. 

Three days later the Paula's Nail Haven booth was set up again in the Fruit of The Loom conference center as part of a unique craft fair.


All the vendors were employees at the Fruit of The Loom offices. It was an opportunity for them to share their "side businesses" with others in the company. 

This is Paula and her booth as it was set up that night. 

Now I have mentioned on this blog before that I've observed Paula in her element when talking to others about Color Street. 

But at this event it reached another level. I got to witness how much work she has put into building relationship as a CS stylist with those she works with. 

First of all, Amanda, a young woman who works in Paula's department, voluntarily came to help in the booth. 

During the time she was there helping, she talked up the nail strips better than I ever could. It was evident in the way she talked to potential customers how much she loves having Color Street nails. 

Also, many of the women who came by the booth who were already sold on the product. Others were curious to find out what they were all about. A lot of them ended up buying at least a set or two. 

The night was a big success and made me proud of all the hard work that my wife has done to get her brand to the point it is in regard to her co-workers. 

The two vendor events would help make November one of the best months Paula has had as a Color Street Stylist. 

The same week that we did the vendor events I had to deal with an issue that's part of adulting but is always aggravating and usually expensive: car trouble.  

On the morning of the 18th, for the first time in the 4 years I've owned it, my Kia Soul would not start. I had not used it since the previous Saturday, so I thought I may have left an interior light on and drained the battery. 

I called AAA and their road service truck came and jump started the car. 

I had no trouble starting the car again until we were leaving the vendor event at Fruit of The Loom. Luckily there was someone there kind enough to help us. 

The next day I went and purchased a new battery. In retrospect, I was glad that the problem happened close to home when I could easily do something about it. 

The most memorable event for me and my wife in the month of November was a road trip to St. Louis. 

On Friday, the 22 we drove to the "Gateway To The West" for the 2nd time this year.  

As I always do, I took several pictures of their world famous landmark, The Arch. 

 And since our last visit in February, another type of tourist attraction was added in the Union Station area, a Ferris wheel.  

Because this was such a quick visit, we didn't have time to visit either of them. But my goal is to cross both of them off my "to do" list the next time we go back. 

On this trip not only would we get to spend time with our friends, Patty & Mark...

...we went to two concerts at my favorite theater in the world: The Fabulous Fox

It was decorated for the holidays. 

We sat in the front row of the 2nd level of the balcony. 

We were there to see my favorite a capella group, Straight No Chaser, on their Open Bar tour. 

For the first half of the show they sang cover songs and after the intermission they did a few of their more popular Christmas songs. 

This concert was different than most in that the from the stage the group encouraged the audience to record and share the show on social media.

I recorded audio on my phone's voice recorder app to use on future Rewind music programs. 

But I did get some video. I have one short clip of their cover of a Smash Mouth song...

and all of this Chris Stapelton song posted on my You Tube page. 
Straight No Chaser-Tennessee Whiskey

At the end of the show each member came to the front of the stage to introduce themselves and thank the audience. 

One of them was from Easton, PA, the town where I lived before moving to Kentucky. Another was from Allentown, PA which is right near Easton. 

For the first of their encore songs they sang their unique version of a Christmas classic.  
I didn't get that on video but here's a link to another of their live performances. 
SNC: 12 Days Of Christmas

It was a really fun night. It was great to finally see them in concert, especially in such a great venue. 

The next day we returned to The Fox.

This time it was to see an afternoon performance of another of my all time favorite groups known mostly for their Christmas music: Mannheim Steamroller

This time, as usual, there was no recording allowed. 
After enjoying their music for close to 3 decades it was very satisfying to finally experience them in concert. 

They played all their more popular Christmas songs including: We Three Kings, Good King Wenceslas, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, and Angels We Have Heard On High.  

 But it was the songs, Christmas Lullaby, O Holy Night, and Stille Nacht (aka Silent Night) that touched me the most. I will always remember the feeling of connecting with Christmases from the past while sitting there listening to those songs.  

Every year about this time, there is an event or activity that, for me, serves as the unofficial start of the holiday season. 
Usually it doesn't start until after Thanksgiving. But this year, I consider the concerts in St. Louis the weekend before turkey day the start to the Christmas season.  

Speaking of Thanksgiving, the dinner at our house this year was pretty much as it usually is. We had an extra guest, my daughter in law, Heather's mom, Tina. 

For the 3rd year in a row, James deep fried the turkey in our drive way while the kids played outside in the leaves. 

The preparation of the side dishes was a little different. The ingredients and recipes were the same. But, since the heating element in the oven in our stove is not working, each of the 8x11 sized pans were baked individually in our counter top oven. I know that doesn't seem like a big deal but it did make a difference in the way dinner was served. 

When it came time I asked James to say the blessing. I figured based on the spirit of thanksgiving that reigns in and has changed his life he deserved the honor. 

I've gotten a slow but definite start on my holiday film festival thanks to watching Home Alone with my wife and granddaughter on Thanksgiving night. Aria spent the night for the first time in a while. 

Speaking of Christmas movies, I want to mention one more thing. On November 30th, I filled out an online application to chosen to get paid $1000 to binge watch a specific set of holiday movies. 

The company that's sponsoring the stunt is called "Simple Texting". I made sure I included all the reasons I should be chosen in my application. 

According to the "terms and conditions" on the company's website the person chosen will be notified on December 11. Its a long shot but I sure hope its me. I'll let you know if it is. 

So there you have a few of the highlights that happened for me during the month of November. 

As I write this post, the Christmas season is in full force. I am in the process of getting our living room ready for decorating. Soon I will have snowglobes, music boxes, a plethora of Christmas Legos, and a platform with a train and our tree set up. Then it will be Christmas at my house. I have a few special additions to my in-house display this year. But I will tell you more about those in a future post. 

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I'll see you again real soon.