Durkee's - gotta have it

What can Thanksgiving possibly be without Durkee's? Or, rather, post-Thanksgiving...

Ever since 550 Warder Avenue, I have wanted Durkee's on my turkey sandwiches. There have been only a few times that I haven't had it, and that has usually been because my local store, wherever I was living at the time, didn't carry Durkee's.

Before the jar is empty, I have purchased the next one. I'm about at the bottom of this jar, and I know there is a fresh jar in my pantry.

My particular store doesn't know where to stock it. They put it where they want it, and I always have to hunt for it. I'd like to find it with the mustard and the ketchup, but I have to hunt it down in the salad dressing section. They don't carry much of it - many only one jar-width on the shelf.

Maybe this is why I don't move. I have finally trained myself to find it in my local store. If I move, I'll have to re-train myself - or maybe train the store manager.

So ... do you have to have Durkee's on your turkey sandwich?

Christmas stocking

How many years ago did Mom make this stocking for me?

And why did she put "Frank" on it? I mean, just because that's my name. How come she didn't put "Gus" on it?

Was there one year when she made four stockings (or six, including one for Dad and one for her)? Or did she make them as babies were born? What do the others look like? Like mine?

What happened to the stockings for Mom and Dad? Maybe Clellie has them. Or maybe Betsy does.

Mine hasn't hung by a chimney in years. Guess that's a good idea, or there might be coal smudges all over it.

I wonder if Clellie, Betsy or Jim still have theirs...

Locked in the bathroom - safe?

One day, in the house on Warder Avenue, Clellie and Al were sitting in the living room (before they were married, I think), and I sneaked down the stairs and shot Al with my water pistol from the steps. When was that? Clellie will have to add the year.

I scooted back upstairs and ran into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind me. I was safe! I knew he couldn't get me, so I sat there and laughed.

I should have known better.

It wasn't but about two shakes and that door opened. I have forgotten (I mean, it has only been 65 years or so) what kind of lock was in that door knob, but it only took Al seconds to pick it. I don't recall know whether a "skeleton" key would have done the trick, or if it was one of those locks where you just stick a nail through a hole to trip the lock. I think it was probably a skeleton key, and Al had what he needed.

Last ride in 2012?

I love motorcycle riding, and I may have squeezed out the last nice day of riding in 2012. Today I rode about 50 miles here in northern Illinois and went to a Siberian husky rescue site, where they have about 100 dogs they have rescued.

If the weather cooperates, I might get in a short ride tomorrow - between raindrops.

In August I rode to Annapolis, then to Richmond and Columbia, S.C. Had a great 2,500-mile ride. Here I am at Jim's boatyard in Annapolis.

Next year? Hoping for several long rides, including Florida and Colorado. Yippee!!!

And here's my favorite license plate. I got it when I got the bike in 1999. In 2000 I rode to Denver, and somewhere in western Kansas the plate disappeared.

I've always thought that a couple of bikers I spoke to at a rest stop snatched it while I was using the facilities, but I'll never know. Maybe they had a friend named Gus. I noticed it was gone when I arrived in Boulder at the end of a 660-mile day.

I dutifully reported the loss to the Boulder PD and got a copy of the police statement, just in case I got stopped on the way home. I didn't.

Jim's Army service

This is from our brother, Jim, who lives in Annapolis, Maryland. He and I were reminiscing about Clellie's Jeep, after I forwarded a YouTube clip to him that showed some soldiers dismantling a Jeep and putting it back together in five minutes.

Jim wrote:

"It reminds me of my army days - when they learned I was not going to make a career as an army officer (I was in charge of a school training mechanics to do major repairs on jeeps, trucks, personnel carriers and tanks) they sent me to Ft. A P Hill (in Virginia) to be in charge of the motor pool.

"Guard and reserve units do their two week summer training there, When units arrived for their two week training and were short on vehicles, our job was to issue them vehicles to fill out their needs

"We had no budget and no parts, but had a whole hillside filled with WWII jeeps, trucks and tanks. The challenge was to cannibalize parts from the bone yard to get enough jeeps and 2 1/2 ton trucks running to meet the needs. The permanent staff there already knew what to do, and didn't need me, except when the colonel came around with a complaint from one of the units.

"When things got slow during the end of the summer, I had them fix me up a jeep and a radio to use, and I drove all over A P Hill. The colonel had his network of informants, and I realized he always knew where I was when he sent his first sergeant in a jeep to find me on the other side of the post. My guys were supposed to call me on the radio, but ....

"I had learned to drive a tank at Aberdeen Proving Ground. One day at AP Hill we decided to try to get a tank running (I had taught the tank maintenance course at Aberdeen). Another guy and I got one running, and drove it over the hill from the motor pool - there is one place where US 301 goes through the middle of A P Hill - it's wooded and a person driving on 301 might never know he was in the middle of a military reserve.  We drove the tank out of the woods to the fence along the highway, and began rotating the turret and moving the gun up and down, and watched the startled drivers!!  The only thing that would have made them more startled is if we had painted a red star on the side of the tank!

"All that and I still got an honorable discharge!!

"ps. I think maybe I'd like to have an old jeep."