Do You Remember Ray Rayner.. and a Poem

What Should I Do? by Balisha
I woke to morning snow again.. the winds began to blow..
I thought of many things to do on this day of heavy snow.
My knitting lying in a heap.. where I sit to watch TV..
A stack of many books to read is waiting just for me.
A pot of soup or maybe stew.. my crockpot's on the shelf..
Something warm to eat today...I'll get it down myself.
The scrabble game is there.. for me to play a word..
LA is waiting in DC... her snow is deep I've heard.
The TV tells of more snow coming...this is what I hear..
Those things will wait while I just watch all my birdies dear.
I'll sit in a chair right by the door with windows it is true..
Juncos, cardinals, finches, and a jay so big and blue.
They'll entertain me all the day with antics when I feed..
I'll fill the feeders brimming full with every kind of seed.
They'll hop and scratch and jump around and look at me with glee..
Their little beaks just brimming full is what I want to see.

I have been looking at tomato seeds on the computer. Trying to decide if I want to plant seeds or just buy young plants. I started thinking back to the 60's when Ray Rayner had his morning show for kids. I enjoyed watching his successes and failures in growing tomatoes. I started reading about him and found some interesting things that I didn't know. Ray Rayner was shot down over Germany, during the war, and taken prisoner. For a while he was held in the concentration camp made famous in the movie 'The Great Escape' (a true story) Ray was moved to another camp before the escape and was cast in one of the shows the prisoners were putting on. The camp even had an orchestra, with costumes and instruments for the shows coming from Berlin. (Was this 'Hogan's Heroes' for real?!?) In a production of "The Petrified Forest" the acting bug bit - He worked long and hard they rehearsed it for seven weeks. It was a success and the bug had bit. It was in the middle of a production of "You Can't Take It With You" that the order came down from the ones in charge...that everyone had to move out on foot - immediately! Russian troops were invading, and a several day long trek across the treacherous countryside followed. You really learn what life is all about in prison camp,Rayner said about that time....FOOD! Coming back to the states..when the war was over, he did some summer theater and he eventually came to Chicago and started his morning show for kids. Ray Rayner and Friends. He never thought that he was the type to do a kid's show, but he did it brilliantly...making mistakes on his craft projects, going into the closet and coming out with a drum major's costume and marching around the stage. His blackboard was a part of the show. He kept track of the Chicago team scores and the weather. He would talk to "Flying Officer" Jim Cavenaugh in his helicopter, giving traffic reports. He would visit with the big dog, Cuddley Duddley. I think that we got our Cuddley, when we subscribed to the Chicago Tribune. Cuddley was a part of our family until his heavy head began to lop over... from being used for a pillow...when lying on the floor and watching TV. Chelveston the duck was a favorite...Chelveston the Duck used to ride to work in a taxi from the Animal Kingdom. He arrived in a big green box with a small screened window, a way of traveling that cramped his style; so when he emerged at the WGN studios, to do his act on the Ray Rayner show three times a week, he was usually in a vile temper and worked off his anger by chasing Rayner about the set, nipping at his ankles. I think that Ray had a slight fear of this creature. He had a plastic pool set up for Chel..and while the duck was swimming, he would toss lettuce leaves at him. As an adult, I found one of the most interesting things that he did was plant tomato seeds in cut down milk cartons. He did this in February and we watched the growing progress. This man provided entertainment for kids and adults alike. It was a "morning show" for kids, who dressed in front of the TV and waited for Ray to tell them what to wear. Ray did grown up things that he could bring down to a child's level....showing them all the goofs and mistakes along the way. He was brilliant.

Balisha