Four Grandchildren Celebrate Lucy's Fifth Birthday

Update - March 17 to March 30, 2019

-- Lucy Turns Five

Lucy Displayed Some Cards

Fast on the heels of our returning from Tampa we encountered the whirlwind that surrounded Lucy's fifth birthday. As is typical with children today, there was more than one party, ours was a small version allowing Lucy to really be the center of attention without competing with too many other kids. The usual impatience expressed by five-year-old children is magnified somewhat for Lucy. She was ready for presents immediately.

Cousin Leela Helps

She felt it was out of order to have a meal, have cake and ice cream, knock down the pinata, or play pin the tail on the donkey. She wanted gifts first. But that was not to be. We maintained the traditional order of events with the exception of the pinata, which came after gifts had been opened.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

READ my Blog "The Books of Richard F Wright" (Books, Bookstores, Writing)     

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-- Gifts and Candy

The pinata had been filled with candy and it was my instinct that, while having not known about it in advance, I was now in a dilemma on how to hang the thing and let the kids take whacks at it with a small bat that had been provided. My decision was to remove the two cars from the garage and hang the pinata from one of the overhead door railings. I was able to adjust the dangling height to allow the kids to get a fair whack at it.

Finally, some cake

Ultimately, the pinata was burst open and the candy fell to the floor. All of the kids grabbed up as much as they could. We then turned our attention to pin the tail on the donkey. There are no "pins" as such, rather, the tails are stickers that you attach to the target. Lucy was incorrigible about peeking under the blindfold so her tail landed pretty much on target. Lucy hates to lose.

-- Where Did Five Years Go?

Sorting Candy

Now that Lucy is five years old she will begin regular kindergarten in the fall. We have only this summer to have her visit every week to spend a whole day with us. Since she was one year old and learning to walk we have had her on Tuesday. Now that Olive has arrived and will be one year old in August we hope to have her be a weekly visitor until she reaches grade school age. With both of them in the house, it has been an exciting challenge to cope with the pre-schooler and the near-toddler together. 


-- Torsion Bars and the Dodge Charger

1971 Charger

As a kid growing up I became fascinated with the torsion bar suspension on the Chrysler products of the day. When I bought my Dodge Charger in the 1970s it had torsion bar suspension and I was still fascinated with the technology it represented. No other manufacturer was using the design. While rummaging through some old files for something I needed for a client, I found this picture of my Dodge Charger. I bought it when I lived in Mystic, Connecticut. I used it to commute to Hartford and Norwich where I had offices. It was equipped with a CB radio, which was probably the highest tech, other than the torsion bars, that I had on the car. I wonder where it is now? Probably crushed. Too bad.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  

READING UPDATE: T.S. Eliot: A Memoir is a revealing biography of the Nobel Prize-winning poet constructed from the writings of Robert Sencourt, who had left his work unpublished during his lifetime. After he died, the writing of Sencourt was edited by Donald Adamson and the result is a fascinating look behind the scenes of this important and eccentric poet. He was more than a poet; he was an editor, essayist, philosopher, educator, and a playwright. Born in the late 19th Century he was educated in New England, including attending Harvard. As serious as anyone can be when you are a literary figure even in your own time, it's fascinating that he was a prankster and maintained a longtime friendship with Groucho Marx.