Wiser’s Wramblings-The First of May Was Yesterday

May Day, migratory birds, the Genesee Valley Chorus, grammar, and of course a poem

By Chuck Wiser, I write the words to share what my eyes see and my heart feels

Pictured is a Eastern Towhee visiting the Wiser porch recently

“Hurray! Hurray! The first of May, Outdoor … Starts Today” Is a phrase that many use to celebrate the beginning of the continuously warm days when Spring has developed into a mostly nice weather month, leaving Winter behind in a cloud of dust. The “…” notation is used to imply a continuation or fill in the blanks of a statement. Many folks fill in that blank “…” with their own word. Some are Rated “X”, so I won’t go into detail.

Despite the blooming beauty the cloud of dust literally can be a nuisance. The sanding of the roads through the winter leaves a significant build-up of the salt and sand used throughout the winter. Different towns and/or other maintenance entities vary in their “clean-up” in spring, removing, or just moving that road shoulder build-up. In my case it has built the road shoulders up high enough that rainwater doesn’t run off the road deposited along my yard, but rather, it follows the edge of the yard until it meets the slightly lower level of our driveway where from it runs down the driveway. When having my driveway paved several years ago, I had to make sure the pavers put a slope to the far side of the driveway so that the rainwater didn’t run into the garage. It works…partly. A heavy rainfall can cause enough run-off sufficient to run into the garage. A couple of years ago the Town Highway department said they would cut the shoulder build-up back to allow the water to drain into the yard instead of the driveway. I’m still waiting for that to happen but not being a priority, I haven’t pressed them to follow up. They have more important things to work on, especially at this time of year.

My childhood memories of Mayday involved picking a bouquet of flowers, hanging them on a neighbor’s doorknob, knocking on the door, and then running away so as to create the mystery of who left the flowers. If you had a neighborhood sweetheart that would have been the one to leave a decoration for. My recollection was of having left a bouquet for “Sukie (Carol Sue) Feaster” one year. She was an older “woman” neighbor who I had a crush on at one time in the town of Nile. A column or two ago I mentioned that the current month invited another poem. I hurriedly put a poem together and added it to my Wrambling for that day. The Mayday discussion has triggered poetic thoughts so I may very well do that again. Update: I did add a poem.

Speaking of poems. The thought of a Poetry Writing workshop wherein a group of people get together to create an impromptu poem, has wrambled (or wrattled) around in my head from time to time. April was Poetry month, and it has now passed. I did give the thought some consideration earlier but other things going on in my world took precedence.

Giving some thought to the old sage “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” I’m having thoughts along those lines following a surgical procedure that I had 6 weeks ago. Suffering from a continuing, constant, source of pain and discomfort of the neck and head and having already tried several courses of treatment and therapy, I decided to investigate options for a surgical solution to the problem. I discovered a procedure that, by its nature is designed specifically to address the problem that I have. In researching the surgical procedure, I found a highly recommended surgeon who specializes in the surgical repair of the problem area so scheduled an appointment with him.

On the day of the scheduled appointment, I approached the check-in-desk and introduced myself advising that I was there for my appointment with Doctor (A). The attendants looked at each other, discussed it, and responded to me that the doctor wasn’t there that day as it wasn’t his scheduled day, but there was another doctor (B) available that might be able to fit me into his schedule. They anecdotally reassured me that he was an excellent doctor for that specialty and that I wouldn’t be disappointed. Six weeks later I contemplate that suggestion and decision. It turns out that it wasn’t “Broke” (by comparison to now) and he didn’t “fix it,” as of right now. I am far worse off now than I was before the surgery and am contemplating my options going forward. The usual full healing time for the typical procedure is 6 to 8 weeks. At 6 weeks now I am in hopes that the next two weeks will turn things around. I now have an appointment with Doctor (A) for consultation.

Prior to my surgery I researched the procedure and read up on the two standard procedures used, apparently, by all others. In comparing the X-rays showing my surgery and insertion of devices used to fix the problem, the hardware involved doesn’t even come close to that illustrated in the other typical methods. After the fact, it appears that Doctor (B) used a device of his own, for which he advised that he has it patented. Live and learn I guess is an appropriate after-thought.

In Genesee Valley Chorus (GVC) news, the chorus, now in its fifth era of its musical sharing, is preparing for a couple of June presentations having already completed the Lenten Season performances. The chorus is still open to new or returning members so if you have a love of singing and want to be a part of this choral experience you can join us this coming Tuesday night at 6:30 at the Grace United Church on North Main Street in Wellsville. The upcoming performances of GVC will be June 8th, at 7:00 PM, at Houghton University Chapel, where we will join with the Fountain Arts Center Musicians. Wednesday, June 26th at 7:00 PM the chorus will perform at the Pioneer Oil Days in Bolivar, NY. Come Join us, it’s not too late.

Scanner Chatter: Hearing a recent scanner call for MTS with ALS (Advanced Life Support) to respond to Dansville, raised the question in my mind as to the seeming lack of availability of any entities between here and Dansville that are closer or more appropriate. I’m not exactly sure what the protocol is, but Emergency response notification to a local service repeated 3 or 4 times with no results, will trigger the addition of an MTS response to the scene. It’s obvious that MTS has already started working its way toward the location, when, added to the requested call for services, MTS acknowledges the call and then almost immediately replies “on scene.” I have often thought about joining one of the emergency response organizations but have never followed through on it. Any suggestions as to where and how to begin would be appreciated.

As April drew to a close, the coming of May welcomed more wildlife than just flora. We look forward, with joyful anticipation, to the re-appearance of the migratory birds. It is common for the “snowbirds” to appear in the last week of April and/or in the first week of May. Some visitors, like the Rufous Towhee will stop by for a day or two and then continue to their annual summering spot. Others, which we especially enjoy, spend the season sharing their splendid beauty and antics with us. This includes the Baltimore Orioles, and the Rose Breasted Grosbeaks. Some other varieties who remain all year but aren’t normally or noticeably around our feeders will visit more often, as they start preparing for their own Spring, family additions.

My vocabulary specialties today include one that I heard but can’t find or use the proper spelling from which to determine a definition. What my ears heard would phonetically be “restora.” I have tried a couple of alternate spellings but haven’t found a match. Rubric is a term that I took an instant dislike to as it was used in an environment, or context where the “thinkers, not “do-ers” live.

In preparation for commencing with many of my Industrial Training programs the administrators sometimes would ask me to present my rubrics. Rubrics in education are a set of evaluation tools that lay out the method of teaching and are an explicit set of criteria used for assessing a particular type of learning or work performance. Presented ahead of time, prior to commencing teaching, it expresses the aim, or expectation of what will be learned and outlines the methods by which that activity will be evaluated or judged. The term “rubrics“ is also applied to a couple other presentation or evaluation activities that can be ambiguous. I added that last statement as an excuse so I could use a new word that I ran across, that being “Disambiguation.” The closest example of where I would, or could, apply that term would relate to a straightening out of the politics of today. That word isn’t as good as one of my favorite “big” words “disestablishmentarianism”, but almost as much fun to say.  

Thank you for reading and I welcome comments, questions, or suggestions. I can be contacted at im.wiserdad@gmail.com.