Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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Friday Night! (An 83-year-old's Perspective). A long day today with chores and calls. Just finished shopping in town--all on electricity (plug-in hybrid!). Now I am back home and spacing out. Thinking about what Friday nights used to be--rushing here and there-- For pleasure or some sort of entertainment. Now, at 83 this month (!), I am content to relax and think: Of my children and grandchildren and our future-- Just picked up a book 'The Heat Will Kill You First' (Goodell). My house is 82 degrees at 1800 Hours and AC is not on. Ready tonight to do a letter or two-- More fundraising for my Quail Ridge Student Endowment. Small tortoises ready to be brought back into the living room-- Raccoons out there at night! Two hens guided into their little coop for protection. TV news coming on--Kamala--a Boudican Celtic Queen! Mail to sift through, sending out small donations here and there. Had squid for lunch--perhaps now just an egg with a sip of Sake? I am moderately content--wish for more family contact. Oh, I just received in the mail a 'Sitting Liberty' 1860, 50 cent piece, Retrieved from the famous SS Republic shipwreck (1865)-- I am enamoured with the history of our coins. I used to put a tooth under my pillow, anticipating a dollar. 'Dollar' comes from our first using money from the Netherlands Before our own mints produced 'homegrown' coins! (Dutch 'Daalder' comes from the original German 'Thaler'.) So much for thoughts--see how an experienced old man's mind works? Frank Maurer 2 August 2024 1850 Hours.