Lunch time, yesterday

On my way home from yet another day of work, I stopped by a Middle-Eastern restaurant (*a gyro joint), and ordered a schwarma (which in this case was a lamb, yogurt and veggie sandwich on flatbread). After eating for a few minutes, a man who was seated in a comfy chair smoking a hookah suddenly got up, put his hand on my shoulder and offered me a cup of mint tea. It was a delicious cup of tea. He sat back in his chair but immediately got up and took the sugar from the only other occupied table in the room and poured some in my tea. Then he disappeared behind me for a few moments only to reappear with a sprig of fresh mint, which he placed in my tea.
That is the kind of service I appreciate. I would actually love a restaurant that the customer enters, finds a seat, and a friendly person approaches and offers whatever they happen to have. ”Hey, you wanna try these spring rolls? Randy just made them. They are lovely.” And then she comes back after a short while and brings the customer a glass of homemade mead, whatever that is. I know it has something to do with honey. And so on until desert.
A barbershop or salon like that would be good too, except it would be haircuts instead of food.
But I would not go to a dentist that operated that way.

*Please tell me how to pronounce that word. I ordered one in Boston once and asked, …”yeero? Is that how its pronounced?” The woman who took my order, a Greek woman said, yes. Then she yelled over her shoulder, “One gyro!“ pronouncing it like gyroscope.

Shower

Last night:
I feel like I should have a shower, not take a shower but have a shower thrown for me so people can bring gifts like towels, sheets, a nice set of kitchen knives, pots and pans, a KitchenAid. So today I registered at the following stores: Bed, Bath and Beyond, Williams-Sonoma, and Barney’s.

Just a moment ago a tall, attractive blond women walked into my house. I was happy to have a visitor until she asked for Justin. I said, “I left that dude in Albuquerque.” But what I really said was, I think you must have the wrong house. And then I told her that she was my first visitor.

This morning:
Speaking of showers but this time taking showers, mine does not work. I decided I'd take a bath instead but there is no plug.



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Sunday's Model

rowley
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

Another photo shoot this weekend. We thought we’d teach this guy a little lesson about trust. Lesson #1. Who can you trust? No one. And # 2. Don’t get caught with your drawers down.

Coincidentally, this gentleman has a split-cane fly rod.

Hydro

hydro
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

I’m not one of those guys who are into fast cars, for instance I think NASCAR is for republicans – the poor ones. (I’ve got nothing against poor republicans except - forget it, the list is too long). I am not interested in racy looking motorcycles either. But for some reason I love these little, wooden hydroplanes. And the “some reason?” It’s because I grew up on a lake with these little boats. My buddy Chris had one called “Skua.” Skua is my favorite hydro of all time. The engine was so big that the driver had to lean forward over the bow to make it plane. If there was a passenger, she (the passenger was always a she, like the girl affectionately known as "The Girl in the Purple Bathingsuit") had to sit on the bow so the driver had to lean forward over the passenger to make it plane. I had a hydro that I never got a motor for and my cousin Clyde traded it for a late ‘20s Johnson 10 Hp Seahorse.
Something about the fall makes me think about summer. Luke and I are dreaming about getting split-cane fly rods.

Toad

toadgirl
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

There are toads in the Midwest too.

Labor Day

meatbeach
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

This is a poor picture of me at the beach on Labor Day. I'm the one in the foreground.

This one needs no title

shoes
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

Here is a picture of my shoes at work.

Little Savior

I saw a bumper sticker that said, "Try Jesus," but I thought it said, "Tiny Jesus." When I realized what it really said I said, "Oh, 'Try Jesus,'" as if that clarified anything. But Tiny Jesus makes as much sense as Try Jesus to me. So if you would like a “Tiny Jesus” bumper sticker let me know.

My Adidas

my adidas
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

Today a panhandler said to me, “Don’t look so sad; just think, you could be in my shoes.” So I went out and bought some new shoes. But before that, I reflected on the fact that apparently I look sad when I am trying my best to look neutral. But what can I do? When I see a person walking down the street alone and smiling it makes me feel uncomfortable because smiling to your self is kind of like talking to yourself. I am trying to learn to raise the corners of my mouth but not too high. If I’m not careful I’ll look annoyed or – I hesitate to use the word crazy- unstable? Whatever it is I do not want to look it. If you want to put someone in a bad mood tell him to smile or better yet ask, “What’s wrong with you?” If you want to put someone in a good mood, wear these shoes. (Although a woman almost threw up when she saw me try them on.)

Katydids

The "crickets" that I mentioned earlier were shieldbacked katydids (family Tettigoniidae, subfamily Decticinae), scientific name: Anabrus simplex Haldeman or "Mormon Crickets." But I call them simply, "Crickets of the Church of Latter Day Saints." I've heard that the Church of Latter Day Saints, the Mormons, is the fastest growing religion. Do the Crickets count? Because I do not think it's fair if they do. They are lowly insects with little free will. They should not be forced into a religion that they may or may not understand.




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A Birthday

Stephen
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

The child pictured is my brother I believe. If the photographer were to ask for advice I would kindly give it to her/him as I am a photo teacher. But he/she has not asked and I am fairly sure the photographer is no longer with us. I am positive the man is my father, also not with us, and the woman is my mother. She is in California. August 29th is my brother’s birthday. Happy Birthday Big Brother.

Why am I still awake?

We drove from Jackson, Wyoming to Chicago in two days. “We” are Pam and I. In Jackson we visited Oona who took us to Grand Teton National park where we heard elks bugling.
But what really interested me was the giant crickets in Idaho. We saw them running across the street and they looked like small mice. I tried to pick one up but it was eating a grasshopper and it occurred to me that if it could eat a grasshopper it could bite me. There is a possibility that it was not eating the grasshopper but was just standing on it. You know how that is, sometimes it looks like you are eating something but you are just standing on it?

Which reminded me of a few days previous. I was driving north on Highway 14 in New Mexico and as I rounded a corner there was a tarantula crossing the street. I tried to swerve but I needed to swerve left to avoid the spider. There was a car coming toward me on the left - I had to decide - me and the person in the oncoming car or the spider? It was a split second decision but you know the result. I backed up my Taurus to checked on it just in case. The tarantula almost made it; I only ran over the head.

Book review: The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks sucks.

Fish

fish
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

Back from fishing. This is all I caught. Or bought. I realized after getting there and buying a one day fishing license for $14.00 that what I really wanted to do was hike. A man from Albuquerque named Justin, I know - not a “man’s” name, met me at the lake on Sunday. He had never fished and it was a joy to show him the ropes. “That’s right, put your finger through the ring and pull back. Well done!” Justin’s a quick learner.

I leave tomorrow.

Gone Fishing

Diddy? He did.

I realize, as I am sure you do, that Cabin is lacking in political and pop cultural content. Today I read a news story that I could not ignore: P. Diddy dropped the “P.” His name is Diddy now. He said the “P” was getting between he and his fans. He also said that all of his former names were confusing even himself and that it took too long to explain who he was when he called someone. I admit if someone called me and said, “Hi, Jon, this is P. Diddy,” I would wonder who it was. If someone called and said, “Hi, Jon, this is Diddy,” I would say, “Oh, hey what’s up Diddy.”

Produce

produce2
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

Thought you might like to see the results from my garden.

Untitled (no subtitle either)

The internet no worky in Albuquerque – at least not at our house in Albuquerque. I had to go to the Flying Star to check my email.
One thing I think we can all agree on, whether democrat or lowly republican, doctor or lowly mechanic, professional athlete or lowly amateur, is that Milwaukee is easier to spell than Albuquerque. Not much easier but easier. Do you think I’ll get more mail when I move? I do not think so but I do not blame the spelling of city names. I blame the Internet. I moved to easy to spell Boston after the Internet was pretty well established. I did not get tons of mail in those days. Sadly this missive offers no answers to the lack of real letters in my real mailbox. My address? Yea right. Next thing I know I’ll be getting offers to buy stocks from companies no has ever heard of delivered right to my house. Not this time bialzibub333x2!

Diane had a suicide, maybe.

Diane?
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

Somehow Diane ended up about three feet from the pond. It reminds me of the David Sedaris story, “Get Your Ya Yas Out,” about his Greek grandmother. Her gold fish jumped out of its bowl and Ya Ya says, “He think to have a suicide,” and “Why he have a suicide?” I am not sure how Diane died. Was it a suicide? We may never know.

Times, Dimes

This afternoon I overheard a couple of laborers talking to a carpenter about wages. The general consensus was that they weren’t getting paid as much as they would have a few years ago. I decided to throw in my two cents: “When I was your age you could get two nickels for a dime. Now it’s the complete opposite; now you need two nickels just to get one dime.” I think that helped put things into perspective.

undisclosed

undisclosed
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

Please excuse my lack of entries over the past few days. I have been in an undisclosed location. The attached photo is the only hint I can give of my whereabouts. Okay, one more, the location is on the West Coast in the Sierra Nevada. And the building that I occupied was not Internet ready - nor was it electricity ready or phone ready. In other words the building, the cabin, was not ready. Hopefully it never will be ready.
And in other news, I did get the job in Milwaukee. Of course this means I will be moving to Wisconsin and leaving my beloved Robert in Albuquerque. I already left my beloved Taffy the yellow dog in California. All of which reminds me that Robert and I need to eat lunch.