When the Rains Finally Came

I slept in so late, it was afternoon before I finished my morning reading. Since I don't often have Sundays off, I decided to celebrate with banana pancakes for breakfast. Had them with black grapes and coconut milk mixed with coconut milk eggnog. Best breakfast I've had in ages. I ate them on the front porch, enjoying the strong wind and relative warmth.

Listened to patriotic records while I had breakfast for Veteran's Day tomorrow. Yankee Doodle Mickey is a Disney collection of either patriotic songs like "God Bless America" or songs from their own movies with American themes, like "The Liberty Tree" from Johnny Tremain. A very young Molly Ringwauld can be heard on "This Is My Country" and "God Bless America." My favorite number is the Armed Forces Theme Medley, with Mickey singing for the Air Force and Marines, Goofy for the Army, and Donald, of course, for the Navy.

America the Beautiful is a collection of patriotic songs compiled by Reader's Digest in 1987 in honor of the Statue of Liberty's 100th anniversary. "This Land Is Your Land" and "God Bless America" turn up here as well (the latter performed by Kate Smith), but it's mostly instrumental pieces. I like the full "Grand Canyon Suite" and "American Patrol." There's also the Boston Pops George M. Cohen medley that you can clearly hear people singing along with in the background.

Went for a walk after I cleaned up the dishes and got dressed. I'd never been so happy to see it cloudy in my life. In fact, it was cloudy, blustery, and much cooler, just barely in the 60's. Finally felt more like fall. I celebrated by stopping at WaWa for a treat. They must have just put out their Christmas season flavors. I tried the Peppermint Bark Smoothie. Too sweet, but very minty and very Pepto-Bismol pink. It really did taste like liquid peppermint bark.

Headed down the road to the Environmental Center next. There's steps that lead down to Newton Lake Park alongside the path, but they're really steep and scary. I think I'll stick to the path going up the hill from now on. The park was much nicer. There were a lot of people out enjoying the weather before it gets colder tomorrow. The park's really pretty too. The leaves are turning brilliant shades of gold and scarlet now that gleam against the sparkling waters.

After I got home, I stripped the sheets and blankets off my bed and took them downstairs with my laundry. Listened to George Shearing while I worked. I Hear Music is one of his rare albums to feature vocals, in this case on "It's Easy to Remember" and "When Lights are Low." I also liked "I Wished On the Moon," "Love Is Just Around the Corner," and "My Silent Love."

The Eagles played inter-conference rival the Dallas Cowboys today. I didn't see the game because it was on Fox, but apparently, they absolutely steamrolled them at their own home stadium, helped by their star quarterback Dak Prescott being out with a major injury. Checked the score throughout the evening and was thrilled to see them flatten the wayward Cowboys 34 - 6. 

Spent the rest of the day finishing the laundry, making the bed again, having dinner, and watching today's Match Game marathon. The channel 's owner honored Veteran's Day by focusing on MASH cast members who appeared on the show. Gary Burghoff, who played Radar, was probably the most frequent. He sat in for his teacher and mentor Charles Nelson Reilly from late 1974 through mid-1975 while he was out directing a Broadway play and appeared off-and-on through 1981, well after he'd left the show. Loretta "Hot Lips" Swit made her earliest appearances in one of the first weeks of 1973. She appeared fairly frequently through 1975, after which she disappeared until 1977. She would turn up sporadically through 1980.

McLean Stevenson probably got the most out of his time on the show. He started a bit later in 1973, and though he only turned up off and on, became one of the wildest semi-regulars. You never know what he'd do, whether it was chase Gene around the studio or grab Richard for a smooch or lean over to help a lady Betty White held up to kiss him. He took Richard's place in the fifth smart guy seat from 1980 through 1982 and proved to be almost as hilarious there. 

Gary and McLean made their last appearances on Match Game in The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. Gary only did one week, but McLean was something of a semi-regular here as well. Also putting in one week were three cast members who weren't seen in the 70's Match Game, Larry Linville, William Christopher, and Jamie Farr. Farr turned up on the Game Show Host week with Chuck Woolery and Arlene Francis, where he traded nose jokes with Jon Bauman. 

Play along with the members of the 4077th, whether they're in Korea or Burbank, and honor our real-life men and women who fought and died for our country in this long and very funny marathon!

Match Game Sunday Night Classics - MASH Cast Members On Match Game

Oh, and around 10:30, I went to the window...and saw wet streets. It was FINALLY raining. It's rained off and on ever since, though it seems to be off right now.