SUN FUN - SUNDAY JUNE 4, 2023

 SUNDAY, JUNE 4TH, 2023

WARM-UP

“June is bustin’ out all over, all over the meadows and the hills”. Rodgers and Hammerstein, Carousel - 1963

Wow - IT IS JUNE!!!.  I was doing some reflection the other day.  After five months of 2023, how am I doing?  What is my report card?

Weight - “C”

Exercise - “A minus”

Tuba Playing - A

German online - “B”

Writing - A (maybe an A plus)

Socialization - A-minus

Yes, I’m a senior, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have goals.

JUNE SKY FEATURES:

Full moon - Saturday, June 3rd - also known as the “Strawberry Moon”

June 4 - Venus at Greatest Eastern Elongation. The planet Venus reaches its greatest eastern elongation of 45.4 degrees from the Sun. This is the best time to view Venus since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the evening sky. Look for the bright planet in the western sky after sunset.

June 21 - Summer Solstice - the official start to summer (although I like the concept of June, July, and August as the summer months)

SUMMER JOB MEMORY

After my work as a busboy, I got a job for the summer between high school and college delivering furniture.

I worked with Bill (old Bill).  Bill was a truck driver.  I was going to college in the fall, and Bill was as dumb as a board.  I was smart, Bill wasn’t.

In the afternoon, we’d take a break at a cafe.  Bill was a smoker and had a cigarette and a piece of pie.  I wanted to save my money for school, so I had a soda.

One day Bill suggested we play a game. The loser would pay for our break.  (Gee - Bill was going to pay for my soda.  I was smart, Bill was as dumb as a board.

He pulled 15 matchsticks out of a matchbook and put them on the table.  The rules were easy.  You alternated turns taking 1, 2, or 3 matchsticks off the array.  The one who took the last matchstick lost (and paid for the break).  Duh - I was going to take this dumb old truck driver.  

Well, the first day, he got lucky and beat me - and I paid.

The second day, he got lucky and beat me - and I paid

On the third day (a Friday), he got lucky and beat me - and I paid.

I might be dense, but I decided this wasn’t just luck, there was some kind of system going on.  That weekend I analyzed the game and knew how to win.

On Monday break, he asked “Do you want to play the game?” 

Trying not to be too anxious, I said, “Sure”.

I went first and I won.  That was the last time we played that game.  He knew that I knew how to play the game.

Since then, I played that game with my students.  I’d win ten games in a row, and then we’d get to the lesson.  Some students thought they figured it out, but when I went first I always won.  And when I let them go first, I generally won (just knowing how to play the game).

Bill suddenly wasn’t just a dumb truck driver, but a smart guy.  

Can you figure it out?

*****

June is the “month” for a lot of things:

NATIONAL ALZHEIMER'S BRAIN AWARENESS MONTH

AUDIOBOOK APPRECIATION MONTH -June 2023 - National Today

I enjoy audiobooks.  I can “read’ while walking.  I’m currently listening to Demon Copperhead (the jury is out on that book.  I picked it because two friends online said they were reading it for a Book Club

NATIONAL CAMPING MONTH -June 2023 - National Today

I put my tent away after my trip to Big Bend - maybe I can go for a two-day camping trip somewhere close? (Lake Georgetown?)

NATIONAL DAIRY MONTH -June 2023 - National Today

June was always dairy month growing up.  Of course, we had the “Got Milk” commercials 

NATIONAL FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLES MONTH -June 2023 - National Today
My string beans are coming on strong. My Swiss Chard is still producing.  My Kale seemed to be done, so it is out of its pot.

NATIONAL ICED TEA MONTH -June 2023 - National Today

Iced tea is generally my drink of choice (along with coffee).  I used to like Sun Tea - put a couple of teabags in a large jar on your porch and let it steep during the day.  But seemingly it doesn’t get hot enough to kill off the bacteria!!  

I've tried some of the instant iced tea mixes, but I’d rather do my own!!!

PRIDE MONTH 2023 - June | National Today

Love is love.  Some time ago, I was judgmental - and then <whack> things changed in my brain.

Going with National Dairy Month, we have

NATIONAL ROCKY ROAD DAY - June 2, 2023 - National Today

NATIONAL CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM DAY - June 7, 2023 - National Today

NATIONAL BLACK COW DAY - June 10, 2023 - National Today

NATIONAL ICE CREAM SODA DAY - June 20, 2023 - National Today

NATIONAL ICE CREAM CAKE DAY - June 27, 2023 - National Today

My mother always had ice cream.  An uncle worked for Borden’s Dairy in the Ice Cream development and testing lab.  

Do any of you have homemade ice cream makers?  

*****

I remember a jigsaw puzzle of a green meadow with a tree with fluffy clouds overhead.  I remember thinking that it would be a great summer tree to lay underneath and look up at the clouds.  Even yet, I watch clouds and try to make shapes out of them.  

I also think of clouds in art.  John Constable (“The Hay Wain”) has great clouds; Vincent Van Gogh’s clouds in “Starry Night” are active; I also remember Jean de Brunhoff’s Babar the Elephant books having amazing clouds!!!

Do you watch Clouds?  Do you imagine images in the clouds?

***

And, only slightly related, do you try to create a word or phrase out of the three letters on Texas car license plates?  My car is PWF 4801 -you could have “PassWord Freedom” or something else with that.  My old car had a CRM - plate.  That could be CRAM, or even CRab Meat, or even CRuMmy!!!

*****

WRAP UP

Granny Basketball is over (although we’ll keep practicing over the summer)
Symphony is over for the season (back in session in August)

Walburg and the Brushy Creek Brass Band is over until Oktoberfest

I’m organizing a brass quintet (San Gabriel Brass) and trying to get gigs.

Enjoy June!!! 

LOVE WINS
Karen White (she/her)