SUNDAY FUNDAY OCTOBER 15, 2023

OCTOBER 15, 2023

WARM-UP

No, don’t warm up - we’ve had enough of that hot weather!! Fall is one of our temperate seasons - warm but not hot; cool at night.  

We still could use rain. Lake Travis is about 35% full, and it will require a lot of rain to fill that up again before next summer.

There was a solar eclipse yesterday. Did you catch it? And another solar eclipse on April 8, 2024

Picture from a friend.

*****

A HEART-WARMING STORY: (not original)

“Calvin? Calvin, sweetheart?”

In the darkness, Calvin heard the sound of Susie, his wife of fifty-three years. Calvin struggled to open his eyes. God, he was so tired, and it took so much strength. Slowly, light replaced the darkness, and soon vision followed. At the foot of his bed stood his wife. Calvin wet his dry lips and spoke hoarsely, “Did... did you.... find him?”

“Yes, dear,” Susie said, smiling sadly, “He was in the attic.”

Susie reached into her big purse and brought a soft, old, orange tiger doll. Calvin could not help but laugh. It had been so long. Too long.

“I washed him for you,” Susie said, her voice cracking a little as she laid the stuffed tiger beside her husband.

“Thank you, Susie,” Calvin said.

A few moments passed as Calvin lay on his hospital bed, his head turned to the side, staring at the old toy with nostalgia.

“Dear,” Calvin said finally. “Would you mind leaving me alone with Hobbes for a while? I would like to catch up with him.”

“All right,” Susie said. “I’ll get something to eat in the cafeteria. I’ll be back soon.”

Susie kissed her husband on the forehead and turned to leave. With sudden but gentle strength, Calvin stopped her. Lovingly, he pulled his wife in and gave her a passionate kiss on the lips. “I love you,” he said.

“And I love you,” said Susie.

Susie turned and left. Calvin saw tears streaming from her face as she went out the door.

Calvin then turned to face his oldest and dearest friend. “Hello Hobbes. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, old pal?”

Hobbes was no longer a stuffed doll, but the big furry old tiger Calvin had always remembered. “It sure has, Calvin,” said Hobbes.

“You... haven’t changed a bit.” Calvin smiled.

“You’ve changed a lot,” Hobbes said sadly.

Calvin laughed, “Really? I haven’t noticed at all.”

There was a long pause. The sound of a clock ticking away the seconds rang throughout the sterile hospital room.

“So... you married Susie Derkins,” Hobbes said, finally smiling. “I knew you always liked her.”

“Shut up!” Calvin said, his smile bigger than ever.

“Tell me everything I missed. I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to!” Hobbes said, excited.

And so Calvin told him everything. He told him about how he and Susie fell in love in high school and had married after graduating from college, about his three kids and four grandkids, how he turned Spaceman Spiff into one of the most popular sci-fi novels of the decade, and so on. After he told Hobbes all this, there was another pregnant pause.

“You know... I visited you in the attic a bunch of times.” Calvin said.

“I know.”

“But I couldn’t see you. All I saw was a stuffed animal.” Calvin’s voice was breaking, and his tears of regret started welling in his eyes.

“You grew up old buddy,” said Hobbes.

Calvin broke down and sobbed, hugging his best friend. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry I broke my promise! I promised I wouldn’t grow up and that we’d be together forever!!”

Hobbes stroked Calvin’s hair or what little was left of it. “But you didn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“We were always together... in our dreams.”

“We were?”

“We were.”

“Hobbes?”

“Yeah, old buddy?”

“I’m so glad I got to see you like this... one last time...”

“Me too, Calvin. Me too.”

“Sweetheart?” Susie’s voice came from outside the door.

“Yes, dear?” Calvin replied.

“Can I come in?” Susie asked.

“Just a minute.”

Calvin turned to face Hobbes one last time. “Goodbye Hobbes. Thanks... for everything...”

“No, thank you, Calvin,” Hobbes said.

Calvin returned to the door and said, “You can come in now.”

Susie came in and said, “Look who’s come to visit you.”

Calvin’s children and grandchildren followed Susie into Calvin’s room. The youngest grandchild ran past the rest of them and hugged Calvin in a hard, excited hug. “Grandpa!!” screamed the child in delight.

“Francis!” cried Calvin’s daughter, “Be gentle with your grandfather.”

Calvin’s daughter turned to her dad. “I’m sorry, Daddy. Francis never seems to behave these days. He just runs around making a mess and coming up with strange stories.”

Calvin laughed and said, “Well, now! That sounds just like me when I was his age.”

Calvin and his family chatted some more until a nurse said, “Sorry, but visiting hours are almost up.”

Calvin’s beloved family said goodbye and promised to visit tomorrow. As they turned to leave, Calvin said, “Francis. Come here for a second.”

Francis asked his grandfather, “What is it, Gramps?”

Calvin reached over to the stuffed tiger on his bedside and held him out shakily to his grandson, who looked exactly as he did so many years ago. “This is Hobbes. He was my best friend when I was your age. I want you to have him.”

“He’s just a stuffed tiger,” Francis said, eyebrows raised.

Calvin laughed, “Well, let me tell you a secret.”

Francis leaned closer to Clavin. Calvin whispered, “If you catch him in a tiger trap using a tuna sandwich as bait, he will turn into a real tiger.”

Francis gasped in delighted awe. Calvin continued, “Not only that, he will be your best friend forever.”

“Wow! Thanks, Grandpa!” Francis said, hugging his grandpa tightly again.

“Francis! We need to go now!” Calvin’s daughter called.

“Okay!” Francis shouted back.

“Take good care of him,” Calvin said.

“I will,” Francis said before running off after the rest of the family.

Calvin lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. The time to go was close. He could feel it in his soul. Calvin tried to remember a quote he read in a book once. It said something about death being the next great adventure or something like that. His eyelids grew heavy, and his breathing slowed. As he went deeper into his final sleep, he heard Hobbes as if he was right beside him at his bedside. “I’ll take care of him, Calvin...”

Calvin took his first step toward one more adventure and breathed his last with a grin on his face.

(I don’t know about you, but I cried reading this).

*****

SOME WORD PLAY (thanks Nancyanada)

I changed my iPod’s name to Titanic. It’s syncing now. 

England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool. 

Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes. 

Today, This girl said she recognized me from the Vegetarians Club, but I swear I’ve never met herbivore.

I know a guy who’s addicted to drinking brake fluid, but he says he can stop at any time. 

A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months. 

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, UCLA. 

I got some batteries that were given out free of charge.

A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail. 

A will is a dead giveaway.

With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress. 

Police were summoned to a daycare center where a three-year-old was resisting a rest. 

A bicycle can’t stand alone; it’s just two tired. 

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine last week is now fully recovered.

He had a photographic memory, but it was never fully developed. 

She thought she’d dye when she saw her first strands of gray hair.

Acupuncture is a jab well done. That’s the point of it. 

I didn’t like my beard at first. Then it grew on me. 

Did you hear about the crossed-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn’t control her pupils? 

When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble. 

When chemists die, they barium. 

I stayed up all night to see where the sun went, and then it dawned on me.

I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can’t put it down.

******

Halloween in two weeks. 

I’m playing at Walburg on Saturday, October 21 and 28. (we start at 6:30, so come early)

LOVE WINS!!!

Karen White, October 15, 2023