It's TOAST!

Just found out that my family homestead, the house my grandfather bought in 1905 for himself and his new bride, the house I was brought to from the hospital and spent my entire childhood in, burned to the ground last week. At first, I was upset--I mean, my mother was born in that house, and grandfather breathed his last there, too, for heaven's sake--but then I remembered.

The place was quickly becoming an eyesore. In other words: It's really a blessing in disguise.

Every time I went home, I would drive by the place to see how it was doing, and every time I'd see new evidence that the house was not being maintained. In the least. Peeling paint, sagging porches, cardboard in the windows--you name it. It broke my heart, seeing how the place had been let go.

And now, a fire in a dryer has leveled it. It's almost funny--my father was convinced that installing a washer and dryer was going to be the ruination of the house. Mother, she who had done untold tons of laundry at the local Laundromat until she couldn't take it any more, wasn't having it and had them installed anyway. It was one of the rare times I remember them disagreeing publicly, but I guess Dad didn't have anyone else in the wings willing to wash his disgusting handkerchiefs, so he backed down.

Turns out he was right. About 30 years after the fact, but still.

Wonder if he and mother have already discussed this. Or do arguments die with their participants? One would hope so!

Anyway, the best part is that I found out about this because of this blog. A classmate/friend from the old sod saw this site and decided to let me know the latest, even though we probably haven't seen each other since we were fresh out of high school ourselves.

Isn't that cool?

Speaking of cool, Linda and I watched "To Sir With Love" over the weekend, and watching Sidney Poitier was the usual slice of heaven. If there ever was a man who made me wonder if I was really and truly gay, it is the Sidney Poitier of this classic and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" Oh my, what a beautiful man.

He is what cool aspires to be.

But since I aspire to be employed, I had better tackle the two interesting prospects I found this weekend and quit prattling on--for now.