Adventures at Fort Courage

I slept in a bit this morning. Just as well. It was gray, cold, and damp, and it was for a lot of yesterday, too. I spent the morning having a late breakfast, reading, and watching That's Entertainment III. I went downstairs around noon to pick up my mail. I got there just in time to retrieve a small but heavy square package from the mailman. Since I was down there, I grabbed those two plants Andrew said I could have, too.

Organized the plants first when I got up there. They were far larger than I thought they'd be! I was going to put one on my kitchen table, but it was too big. The taller one wound up on one of the record crates. The smaller one stayed on the kitchen table, though it may be moved to somewhere else if I can actually find the room.

After I figured out what to do with the plants, I opened the package. It was from my friends Linda and James Young in Atlanta. They've been very supportive of me over the past week and a half, and it looks like they sent me some things to cheer me up while I'm at home. There were four DVDs with episodes of the PBS travelogue series Rick Steves' Europe based around France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, Austria, Switzerland, and the most most recently released shows. There was a collection of six episodes of the 60s western spoof sitcom F-Troop.  There were three books, a biography of Dewey, a beloved cat who was found in an Iowa library, a second Dear America Revolutionary War story (this one from the Patriots' side), and the classic kids' sci-fi story A Wrinkle In Time. There were three other DVDs - while I don't have the live-action A Dog of Flanders, alas, I do already own The Rocketeer and Lady and the Tramp. (My best friend Lauren offered to take the last two for her birthday.) There was a very sweet card from Linda and James.

I watched the F Troop episodes during lunch, and later while making Fudgy Chocolate Mint Brownies and leftovers for dinner. I have very fond memories of watching this hilarious take on military life in the post-Civil-War west on Nick at Night with my stepfather in the late 80s and early 90s. Captain Parameter (Ken Berry) is the head of the most cowardly troop of officers ever in the cavalry. Corporal Agorn (Larry Storch) and Sergeant O'Rourke (Forrest Tucker) were more interested in their side schemes than actually fighting anyone.

One of the most interesting thing about this show is that the Indians, while not exactly politically correct (they're all played by Catskills comedians in bad redface makeup), are just as shifty and dumb as the officers. This show pulls no punches - everyone is after a quick buck and is fairly inept, no matter what the color of their skin is. The exception is Wrangler Jane (Melody Anderson), the pretty cowgirl who is the only character who can shoot a gun at all, much less straight.

My favorite of the black and white episodes was "Indian Fever." Agorn keeps thinking he sees an Indian skulking around the fort. The other officers think otherwise, until Chief White Eagle (Frank DeKova) reveals that the Apaches are looking for war. Parameter then becomes determined to make a peace treaty with them. Paul Lynde, of all people, figured into the best of the second season color shows, "The Singing Mountie." He's the title character, who has come to F Troop in search of a French fur trapper who stole some valuable pelts (Larry Storch in a dual role).

While I spent most of the afternoon working on the Young Adult Fiction inventory, I did get around to calling Komfort Kare to order the "boot" cast for my foot. They said they'd call the insurance company about it. That was around 2PM, and I haven't heard from them since. I'll call them first thing tomorrow morning to find out what's going on.