Getting Old Isn't For The Faint of Heart

 

Even though it's getting closer to July the 4th

Ocean's still too cold for swimming up here in the North.

Toes turn blue, your ankles ache, and water past your knees

Means a wave is gonna cause your private parts to freeze.

Back when I was still a kid I didn't feel the cold;

I'd just run and dive right in but, now that I'm so old,

Run would be a stagger and my dive a belly flop

As the freezing cold Atlantic caused my heart to stop.

Plop Goes The 4th

(Photo/Courtesy of Boston.com)

Boston's Pops has cancelled their performance on the 4th

Because there's a major storm, named Arthur, heading north.

They will play tonight instead and, 'though it might still rain,

People won't be sitting outside in a hurricane.

Fireworks displays called off in towns along the coast...

Any outdoor plans you made to celebrate are toast.

Mother Nature's putting on another kind of show.

Batten down the hatches 'cause the winds are gonna blow.

Summertime, and This Living Ain't Easy

In the summer, other things preoccupy my mind;

Then this Dr. Seussilitis blog becomes a grind.

Seems a rhyme about the news won't come as easily

When I've gone to parties and awaken queasily.

Posts become sporadic with vacation almost here...

(We're returning to The Lookout, where we stayed last year.)

Boys are home, we're busy, and tomorrow is the 4th,

Then we're in a tournament with golfing friends up North.

Looking back, I see this current trend is nothing new.

Last year, in the summer, I had other things to do.

Thus, I make no promises that I'll be up to date

Or that rhymes I do get to are gonna be that great.

Hope that you'll bear with me 'cause my record also proves

In the Fall, when life slips into its accustomed grooves,

I'll get back to politics - for me they're like a drug -

But, in summer, my brain starts behaving like a slug.

Across the Pond - Basketball Diplomacy

Ambassador Extraordinaire Dennis "The Worm"  Rodman? (Photo/People)

'though no-one's confirmed him as Ambassador, I heard

Dennis Rodman went to North Korea for a word

With its leader, Kim Jong-un.  They watched some basketball.

Rodman says that we don't understand the guy at all.

Kim Jong-un is "humble" and a "really awesome guy."

Rodman says he's sure of that, and why would Dennis lie?

Says the people love their leader; that's why they parade.

Can't imagine that the North Koreans are afraid...

After all, what's there to fear? (Except for prison camps,

Or the missile tests that they're conducting... Little scamps.

Nuclear explosions and a multitude of threats.)

Rodman says he's peaceful; that's as solid as it gets.

Let's give a portfolio to Dennis Rodman, fast.

Who knows how much longer this diplomacy will last?

Maybe get a pick-up game together.  Putin would;

And I bet Obama could take Kim Jong-un...  He's good.

Happy Birthday America - A Little Bit Early

Happy Independence Day!  I'll be at the parade

Where I'll stand and cheer each time the anthem's being played,

Stand again - salute the flag whenever she goes by,

Make sure I get up for vet'rans, so I don't know why

I bring any chairs to this - I'm always up and down.

Thank God it's a short parade we have in my small town.

(By the way, I know today is really just the 3rd

But I have potato salad on...  It must be stirred.)

Didn't want to miss the 4th, but I won't be around.

When you live where I do, opportunities abound.

Many people pack a lunch and go to see the Pops

Playing on the Esplanade - They pull out all the stops.

When they do The 1812 the Old North Church bells ring.

We will watch it on TV 'cause - not for anything -

Could I drag my darlin' spouse back to the river Charles;

He was not a fan of the post-concert traffic snarls.

We'll pursue our happiness at home on our back deck.

That means I'll be busy because, right now, it's a wreck.

(Cannot let the guests suspect their hostess is a slob)

Then I have some ears to peel for our corn on the cob.

So, I'm sending wishes now to you and all of yours

Happy Birthday everyone - on all our shining shores,

'cross the amber waves, on purple mountains - out of reach.

Yikes! I've started sounding like a bad Mitt Romney speech.