The four of us went to see the greatest show on earth today, Ringling Brothers and Barnimum Bailys Three Ring Circus. The Omni held more elephants than I thought possible. I don’t know why the Democrats complained about space during the 1988 convention.

Of course Nicole and Danny were amazed by the lions, tigers, zebras, elephants, pigs, goats (Kathy thought they were dogs), cows and buffalo.

Then there were the human clowns, jugglers, trapeze artists, acrobats, and motorcyclists.

I was most impressed by the Ball of Death. This lattice work of steel bands formed a globe about 30 feet in diameter. Three motorcyclists got in and zipped around in perfect synchronization in and out, up and down. One would do a vertical loop while the others did diagonal loops. Then they would all traverse the equator of the globe, tires inches apart as they followed one another, their bodies parallel to the ground. One could have reached over his head to smack the one of the other guys on the head!

Then some girl with a little outfit and a bunch of feathers on her head stood in the center during this death defying act.

I would have preferred a suit of armor if I were going to defy death so. Heck, the crazy motorcyclists were smart enough to have on helmets!

Maybe the feathers make good padding.

Mrs. Tener funded our tickets through her Christmas gift.

***

On the opposite side of life, we went over to Mike and Lois’ house to see Grandma Petrides. She is up because Theo died last week. We went over to offer our sympathies if only by our presence.

As we approached the back door, Kathy suspected something was wrong by the look on Dorothy’s face. She was sitting next to Grandma in the kitchen along with Larry.

Lois met us at the door. “Talk about bad timing.”

Dorothy had just told Grandma for the first time that Dorothy has lung cancer. We sat outside talking to Lois and let the kids play for a while. When we did go in, we left the girl scout candy outside that we had brought for Grandma, not knowing what to expect once inside.

Actually, it was a nice visit. Grandma was already giving instructions and professing her wisdom, and Dorothy seems very positive about everything.

Everyone was almost more worried about how Grandma was going to take Dorothy having cancer than Dorothy. Seems the family fails to give her credit sometimes.

She is still bothered by the nice, ermine coat she lost 45 years ago when a “friend” of hers swapped it for a Chinchilla. She used to keep the ermine in a cedar chest. She didn’t really have a sense of quality back then. Turned out the Chinchilla was a rag, she said. But having adult friends at that time was more important to her then than things of quality.

“She’s still my friend,” Grandma added. “But it still bothers me about that coat.”

Late nights at work and 3 nights straight of a PBS series, “Making Sense of the 60’s” has made for an exhausting week.

Today it snowed, however, and the city went into a panic as everyone called everyone else to find out how bad it was.

Heavy, wet snow fell all morning, but never stuck at Harland. At home, the kids got a chance to throw snowballs and build one-third of a snowman.

Kathy and I formally celebrated our anniversary Friday night by going to see “Frankie and Angie Got Married.” It was just like attending any wedding, however the bride, groom, and wedding party were an outrageous group of Bronx Italians. The audience made up the rest of the wedding.

We had a good lasagna dinner, got to do The Hustle, decorated the car with shaving cream, shoe polish, and balloons(?), and got repeatedly hugged by our Italian friends for the night. It was a blast.

Q: Why are men like panty hose?

A: Because they either run on you, cling to you, or don’t fit right in the…

That’s Amoré

When the moon hits your eye

Like a big pizza pie

That’s amoré

When the world seems to shine

Like you’ve had too much wine

That’s amoré

Bells will ring

Ting-a-ling-a-ling

Ting-a-ling-a-ling

And you’ll sing

Vita bella

Hearts will play

Tippy-tippy-tay

Tippy-tippy-tay

Like a gay tarandella

When the stars make you drool

Just lika pasta fazool

That’s amoré

When ya’ dance down the street

With a cloud at your feet

You’re in love

When you walk

In a dream

But you know you’re not dreamin’

Sigñoree

Scooza me but you see

Back in old Napoli

That’s amoré

Mom was reading Nicole and Danny the comics at her house on Sunday. There was one strip where someone was sleeping on a couch with zzzzz’s floating over his head.

“Look,” said Danny, “He’s dreaming about his ABC’s!”

Bob and Carol came over Saturday night for a game of 1980’s triveal pursuit. Bob had the most pies when we quit. Kathy got mad at me for giving clues to Carol and not giving clues to her. I thought I was giving clues to her, but I guess they weren’t good enough. Actually, she decided I shouldn’t be giving clues at all. No one else was doing that. So I won’t give any clues anymore. (Unless they are really good ones and I can whisper them to Kathy.)

***

I went to SpeakEasy today with Brian Pomrenke and six other Harland reps. It was strange, but I learned a few things. The four of us sat around and watched my video tape. Nicole thought it was a good movie and wanted to watch it again.

***

Danny has a game that he plays with his pals at school. “Bumpin Heads.” Apparently you bump your head into your friend. Then he bumps his head into you.

I talked to Danny about the rules. You don’t actually have to bump each others’ heads. You just bump your head into your buddy’s shoulder, stomache, whatever. Girls do not play Bumpin Heads.

On the eve of possible war in the Persian Gulf, I have to wonder if there is any connection between laser-guided missles, tank-killing helicopters, TOW missles, chemical weapons, and Bumpin Heads.

We went up to the Hedges farm for a spectacular New Years celebration. The four of us brought the pizza after work on Monday. Teddy had a big fire going. The kids were given half the house and the adults took the other half. Both sides turned loose.

In attendance were:

Nancy, Ted, Shawn, and Brittany Regan.

Bennett, Alice, Taylor, and Robert Butker. Robert had a burping, black cabbage patch doll in tow. A gift from his Grandmother Judy. Bennett had a bottle of Old Taylor Burbon in tow.

Kathy, Mike, Todd, and Sara Holsey.

Frank, Stephanie, and Lauren.

Laura, sister of Nancy, recently divorced, without kids. She laughed all night.

Glen, Marsha, Chris, and two other girls from Ted’s company. Glen also laughed all night. He and Laura had been set up for a test run.

That’s The four of us + 4 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 1 + 5 = 25! Only 7 of those were kids. Seemed like more than that at the time. Guess that’s about even.

The long evening included: charades, brownies, triveal pursuits, thumper and fuzzy duck, religious debate, burning pizza boxes, and target practice.

Kathy and I stayed up the latest. 4 a.m. We woke up with little kids standing over us arguing about whether or not they could wake us up.

Bennett and Mike seemed to suffer the most as they sat staring on the couch for several hours in the morning.

Bennett took Kathy, me, Alice, Danny, Nicole, Robert, and Tayler in his Suburu’Ranger down to the river to shoot Alice’s .22 caliber Baretta.

Kathy and I took six shots at a stump in the river. And Danny took one shot with Bennett’s help. The stump still stands.