So long, Cira’s

I met Cousin Shane at his house this morning so that we could head out to have a late breakfast or an early lunch at Cira’s Restaurant. We dallied at his house for a bit: he showed me the new paint job in the living room (AKA the Blue Room...love the colors!), we grooved to a Grafton Primary song on the disc I made for him, I checked out the recent plantings they’ve been working on, and I loved on his cats a bit. Matt was working, so he wasn’t able to join us, and we missed him!

We dallied a little too long, because we got to the restaurant 15 minutes after they stopped serving breakfast. Drat! I was all up into thinking about eggs over easy and toast! But it was a light lunch instead, with usual diner food, and our server was a super nice and sweet lady who told me I had a beautiful smile. Aww!

We dug the retro decor, with booths and counter seating, recessed lighting, and a cool angled entryway. There was also this neat partition wall between the cash register and a little alcove with a larger table. The oldies station was playing through the overhead speakers, and it was a really fun place. They were doing great business, so it’s a real shame that they decided to close. Shane and I weren’t sure if the good business was because they’re closing soon, or if they always do that well. I’m thinking the latter, because it was an older crowd that looked to be locals. I’m kind of hoping that someone will buy the place and decide to keep it going. Shane found out that it has been there since 1954, and we both agreed that for such an old place, it was really clean and in great shape. Shane said he’d like to run a little diner like that, if you could limit the hours of operation.

After chatting for a while, we moved on and got some pictures of the sign outside. Shane hopes to get back one more time before they close, and I hope he’s able to do that. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to take a little stroll in the neighborhood. We ended up at Bowman Cemetery, where we saw the Henry Studebaker burial site—several of his family members are buried there, and a fairly tall obelisk marks the grave site.

Then we drove around the area for a bit, past where our grandparents used to live, and through Shane’s neighborhood on the way back to his house. There are some just awesomely super cool ‘60s ranch houses in that neighborhood (did I mention how cool they are?), including a Frank Lloyd Wright house, the Mossberg House. “Mad Men” is not what fueled our love of ‘50s and ‘60s retro...Shane has never even seen the show (although I told him I think he’d like it), and Ken and I only started watching it recently. We’ve loved that style for some time now, so “Mad Men” is catching up with US. haha

I wish I could have walked around with Shane a little more, but I needed to get back home and work on some things before our trip. As it was, we still spent three hours gabbing! It was a lot of fun, as always, and I’m so glad that we got to go there and get a few pictures on the verge of it closing. I’m going to get to see lots of places like this on our trip, but there’s something special about one in your own community. I wish the owners all the best, and I thank them for many years of a wonderful South Bend fixture.

Cira's VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Gathering some odds and ends

I had a strange dream earlier this week. I was at a store, and as I walked out into the parking lot, I saw a silver car drive up. It was an odd, new design, sort of boxy, and was a convertible. I thought, "Cool! It's a concept car!" and went over to ask the couple in the car what it was. They told me it was a Chrysler Coldplay. I halfway woke up and thought, "That's strange. I need to write it down so I can remember to tell my blogger friends about it." I reached over and scrambled to find the notepad and pen on my nightstand, knocking a couple of items off onto the floor (not my glasses, thank goodness). I found the pen and paper, quickly scrawled "Chrysler Coldplay," placed it back onto the nightstand, and went back to sleep.

When I woke up that morning and remembered my dream, I realized that what was especially odd about it is that I don't keep a notepad and a pen on my nightstand, and I hadn't written anything down. That was just part of the dream. Have you ever had a dream so vivid that you just knew it was real? I really believed that I was writing something down on a nonexistent pad of paper with an imaginary pen. It was a very strange feeling. I did like it, though, that I was being thoughtful and wanting to remember my dream in order to tell you all. And I had to chuckle at the "Chrysler Coldplay." Somehow it doesn't quite have the auditory appeal of the Ford Mustang, for example, and I doubt that Chrysler will be making that model anytime soon!

*****

I got a couple of nice things in the mail this week. When Cousin Shane was in Arizona, he visited Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's western home and studio. He picked up this journal for me (A blank journal! Heaven...I'm in heaven....) for taking care of his cats for the week he was gone. Wasn't that sweet of him? He knows he never has to do that--he takes care of Sheeba whenever we're gone--but it was very thoughtful. This is really a cool journal, too, because it has some FLW prints in there, as well as some of his quotes. I think I'm going to save it for something special, like part of our Route 66 trip. I've probably mentioned my interest in architecture and especially Frank Lloyd Wright at some point. I love his clean, minimalist lines, and his attempts to include nature as part of the design. Shane and I still laugh about when we toured the Dana-Thomas House (one of Wright's designs) outside of Chicago on our Route 66 trip. A class of English-as-a-second-language students was in our tour group, and their teacher felt the need to supplement the tour guide's commentary with frequent (and loud) comments. One of those was "Frank Lloyd Wright tried to bring the outside...inside," complete with sweeping arm gestures indicating bringing the outside (spread arms wide) inside (bring arms in towards your chest). That has become a part of our personal phrase dictionary.

I also got a nice note from my sister Sue (she's the middle one). She was just saying hi and sent along my nephew's new address in California (he's the Marine). She makes her own cards, and the one she sent me is in the above picture. Can you believe how cute that is? I especially like the "little sis" part. Awww! She makes some of the most beautiful notecards, and you should see her craft room! She even has a couple of those tall, red Sears tool chests to keep her supplies in. I think she could definitely sell them at a gift shop or flea market, but I don't think she has any interest in doing that. She just has fun making them and sending them to family and friends.

*****

From yesterday's South Bend Tribune:

Flat-panel TVs turn out to be plywood

MISHAWAKA — At least two people have been scammed by a man selling sheets of plywood wrapped to look like flat-panel television sets, police say.

According to Mishawaka police, twice last week, a man in a dented white mini-van approached customers in parking lots at businesses along Grape Road and sold them what he claimed were flat-panel televisions.

Police said the man offered two stories. In one, they said, he needed the money to support his family. In the other, he couldn't return the sets because he had lost the receipts.

A man paid $300 for two sets, police said, and a woman paid $600 for one. Not until they returned home and unwrapped the sets did they realize they were plywood.

Police said it's likely more people have been scammed but are too embarrassed to file a report.

As they should be. Good grief, people, how often do you have to hear "If it sounds too good to be true...it IS!" One commenter on this story said that the price these people paid for these bogus flat panels was the "sucker tax." I couldn't help but laugh at the plywood TV's. "Hey...this picture is terrible! Something's wrong with this set!"

*****

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit. Look who’s here! Another Anonymous! Oh boy oh boy!

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The end of an ERa":

You're [sic] life must be really empty for you to write all this clumsy drivel about.....a stupid TV show? Maybe you should shut off the television and read a book, exercise, meditate, cook, ANYTHING but obsess over something idiotic like ER. Hand me a barf bag, please!

You know...I have to say that I am really glad Anon stopped by and left this comment. For far too long, I've been in denial. I know you all care about me, but perhaps you were afraid of hurting my feelings, so you've never said anything. Anon had the courage to intervene and bring my obsession with the show "ER" kicking and screaming into the light of day. It's true. I have no life and no interests other than watching "ER," over and over and over. Ken doesn't know it, but I bought the DVDs of all the seasons, and that's all I do during the day when he's at work. After he goes to bed, I stay up until the wee hours of the morning watching "ER." When I can tear myself away, I pretend that Sheeba is one of the doctors, and we carry on long conversations about how we should proceed with the critical patient we’re working on. I tell him, "Dr. Sheeba! I need a D5W and two units of O neg. CBC, Lytes, UA, CK-MB, and a drug test. STAT!"

It's time to admit my obsession and take steps to regain control over my life. Anon has opened my eyes to what I've been missing out on in my endless quest to analyze and memorize every episode from all 15 seasons. You mean I don't have to have the TV on all day and I can...read a book? An actual book? With pages and words? Wow...that is so cool! Exercise...hm. I'm not so sure about that one, but I'm game. And I can...can...cook? You mean in the kitchen, with food, and appliances, and all that junk that I never knew what to do with? WOW! That is awesome! And yeah, I can meditate, too! I can do that! I can turn off the TV and sit there and look into space with a really intense stare, and think really really hard about my place in the universe.

Gosh. Thank you, Anon. You have opened up a whole new world for me, a world I never knew existed, a world outside "ER." A world filled not with blood, bile, urine, and other unpleasant substances, but with love, laughter, and life!

[whirls around and tosses beret into the air]

Get ready, World, because here comes Beth!

Oh, and Anon? I'm sorry I made you vomit. I recommend 7-Up and soda crackers. That's what my Mom always gave me when I was feeling a little barfy. She's no doctor...but she plays one on TV. Hahaha!