Check out other A to Z Challenge participants by clicking here . "Yes!" ". . .We have no bananas. We have no bananas today. . . ." I like that song a lot. It was written for a Broadway revue in 1922 and became a hit the following year for Eddie Cantor, according to Wikipedia. I first heard it in an old-time cartoon that I saw on TV when I was a kid. I love those cartoons from the 1930s and 1940s. They introduced me to old ditties such as "Yes! We have no bananas." and "Mairzy Doats and Dozey Doats" as well as classical and jazz music. Today, cartoons will flash through my mind when I suddenly hear certain classical or jazz songs. Yeah. So, here we are—the letter "Y". Tomorrow, Zeee. The next day, zzzzzzzz! on the blog. Just kidding. Maybe. As I'm writing this post, I hear in the near distance the sound of seals barking.  Yawp, yawp, yawp! But, here's the thing. I live about 25 miles from the ocean, if I was a crow.  

Check out other A to Z Challenge participants by clicking here . This post was originally written on September 23, 2010 and published on my previous blog, This and That. Here and There. Now, Sometimes Then. A Special 23rd Date Fourteen years ago, about the same time as I'm writing this, I'm getting food ready for the next day's festivity. Getting married to the husband, it was. Fourteen years ago, about an hour or so from now, I will have finally laid down beside a very anxious husband-to-be. He would be so anxious, he would not be able to sleep. And, that would mean I would not get to sleep. "We can still call it off," I will have said. "No, we can't," he will have replied. "Yes, we can." "No, we can't. People are coming." "We can call them up first thing in the morning." "No, we can't." "Yes, we can." "You've already made the food." "I ca

Check out other A to Z Challenge participants by clicking here . December 7, 1941 Honolulu, Hawaii Clip. Clip. Clip. The Daddy's cousin was cutting Daddy's hair in their kitchen. They talked about this and that when suddenly they heard  in the near distance Boom! Boom! Boom! "Hurry up," said the Daddy. "Something is happening at the harbor. Let's go see what's wrong." December 8, 1941 Baguio, Philippines At the same moment, thousands of miles to the east, the Japanese Navy Air pilots were bombarding the U.S. bases in the Philippines,  a U.S. territory. The Mama was staying in Baguio, a mountain town, where the John Hay Air Base was located. The town was immediately evacuated. The Mama said it took her and her family about a month to walk their way down the mountain to their home in Pangasinan, a province in Central Luzon.

Check out other A to Z Challenge participants by clicking here . Yesterday afternoon, while the Husband and I worked in the Mama's garden, Molly the Cat walked along the fence. We didn't know what she had been up to until the Husband went looking for her. He found her heading down a connecting fence. Fortunately, she turned around when he called to her.  He took her off the fence, put her down on the ground, and followed her to the house all the while praising her for a job well done. After she went inside the house, the Husband shut the door. Molly the Cat rested beside the screen door and watched  us hammer poles into the ground, untangle wire fencing, and attach the wire between poles for vegetables to climb up and up. She did not say a word unlike the neighborhood dogs when they want their way. When the  Husband and I came to the screen door, Molly the Cat sat up. First, she looked adoringly at the Husband. "Verily, kind sir, please, will you open the do

"Seriously. Another photo." I think that's what Molly the Cat would say if she could speak. "I suppose you're telling stories about me." Yep. I surely have. If you'd like to read a post or two, click over to Missy Molly by Golly . Check out other A to Z Challenge participants by clicking here .

In April of last year, I stumbled upon a handsome batik-like print with ukuleles. Immediately, I thought, "An Hawaiian shirt for the Husband!" Without giving it another thought, I bought 2 yards of the fabric. I didn't care that I hadn't ever sewn a shirt before. When the Husband saw the print, he was just as excited as me about the idea of a Hawaiian shirt for him. Throughout May, I looked at patterns online. The thought of sewing collars, yokes, and buttons made my hands sweat. I needed to turn this shirt into something fun to sew. "What do you think about a tunic?" I asked the Husband. The Husband went into a happy place as he described a Mexican tunic he once owned when he was a young man. How comfortable it was. How neat it looked. And so on, and so forth. In June, for his birthday, I gave the Husband a written promise of a hand-sewn tunic in the ukulele print. Over the summer, I kept my eyes open for the perfect tunic pattern. By September

Check out other A to Z Challenge participants by clicking here . Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. "What is that noise?" I imagine the Pop of the mom-and-pop grocery store said. The Mom walked over to the front window and laughed (so I conjecture). Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. "What is it?" Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. "That darling little chubby girl is skating." "On what? Cans?" "Yes." Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. I was probably 6 or 7 years old when I skated for the first time. With each foot snugly encased in a crushed beer can, I slowly made my way around the bend of the gravel driveway to the road and along the shoulder.  I crossed in front of the mom-and-pop store with the goal of reaching the stop sign. There I rested for a long while.  Most likely I wished I had a nickel for a candy bar or maybe a dime for a bottle of Nehi soda. Skating was more work than I thought it would be. Up, I stood, and