Neighborhoods and peaches

I do remember things being pretty idyllic in the bungalow belt.  I don't  remember any neighborhood feuds or any neighbor at the end of the block who hated everybody and everybody hated him.  It was kind of an odd thing because everybody lived in the same kind of bungalow so everybody earned about the same amount of money so there were no class differences.  I guess the big difference was between Catholics and non-Catholics.  You kind of felt out of the loop if you weren't Catholic.  It always kind of fascinated me hearing the tales of what went on it their complicated religion.  There were all these rules and rites, and not one kind of sin, but two, almost like a complicated legal case as to whether you got into heaven or hell, and then there were also limbo and purgatory in between, whereas all we Methodists had to do was dress nice on Sunday mornings and not kill anybody or something like that.  I guess it's actually more complicated than that, but I did not become a biblical scholar like Beagles.

When I was down in Herrin, a town of 10,000 I was surprised to learn that if you crossed paths with a stranger on the sidewalk they would always say hello, no long conversation, just a howdy do.  It seemed odd, but I liked it.  Even though I had grown up in Chicago when I came back to visit after living away a number of years, the people seemed so rude, so cold, in such a hurry.  But they're not really rude, the default mode is indifference, but if you're in the mood, you can strike up a little conversation about the weather and it will be pleasant enough. 

It's kind of odd in the towers.  I'll notice somebody getting off the elevator on my floor and ask how long they have lived here thinking they must have just moved in and it turns out they have lived here five years.  You can't stroll the neighborhood and ask your neighbor how the zinnias are coming along this spring.  The only time you see each other is on the elevators and if your hours are different than your neighbor's you might as well be living on different coasts.  I have had the same neighbor on my right since I moved in, but I barely know her, the next neighbor down is a very good friend of mine who takes care of my cats while I'm away, after that were two guys I knew but one died and then the other and now it is undergoing renovation, after that are a couple people I run into but we don't have any extended conversations, she's Romaine, and I don't remember his.  On the other side there has been a long run of renters, some of which I've known a little, and some not at all.  Currently there is a nice couple and we had a chat on our balcony last night and maybe we will become pretty good pals, but you know you have to be careful.  What if they turn out to be assholes?.  It's one thing to have an asshole down the road and another to have just a wall between you.

I did a little research on Mackinaw peaches and it turns out that the Mackinaw peaches that were in Seinfeld actually come from Oregon.  So what is with that?  I'll need to do further research.

I'm wondering why the Manafort jury is still out.  It seemed pretty cut and dried to me.  It seems to me that maybe there is a Trumpist holdout on the jury sitting at the edge of the table and muttering "Fake news, fake news," over and over again, but this is just my speculation. 

You heard it here first,  Of course probably a lot of other people had the same speculation.  Interestingly enough the jurist who revealed this is a Trumpist herself, a proud wearer to the satanic red hat.  But apparently not so far gone as that holdout jurist that she thought all news, except that coming out of Trump's mouth was fake news, and that the truth isn't true.  If we give up Objective Reality how will we ever convict criminals.