“His socks compelled one’s attention without losing one’s respect”
Today is perfectly beautiful. The sun is warm without being hot, the sky is blue and there is a slight breeze. All week the temperature will be in the low 70’s. I doubt it gets much better than this.
My right arm is peeling, a souvenir from my Ghanaian journey. On the way up-country to Tamale, I got quite the sunburn. I told Thomas, my driver, I had to sit backwards all the way to Accra. He told me I would be uncomfortable.
Every now and then I run into a day when I have absolutely nothing going on in my head. I stare out the window hoping for some sort of inspiration and am usually disappointed. The neighborhood has a barking dog at the moment, and that’s the only excitement, and I’m stretching the meaning of excitement by even using that word. I guess this will just have to be a stream of consciousness day.
When I was young, the tops of all my socks were stretched and hung down near my shoes. My mother told me not to pull on the tops to put them on my feet. I never listened, and I really didn’t care if they were stretched. I’m not even sure if I cared if they matched. I have a friend who only wears white socks, the same kind of white socks. He never minds losing one sock.
I can sew on a button so it stays on. Sometimes I sew it so well I can’t get it into the button hole. The button has no give. My clothes can be wrinkled or faded, but I won’t wear shirts missing buttons. I even have a box of buttons so I can through and try to match the missing one. I don’t sew anything else.
Crooked pictures drive me crazy as do candles leaning to one side or the other. The rug in the living room is an area rug. It came from Turkey, and I love it for its figures and its muted colors. I have this thing about the sides being placed exactly the same on each outside board. The dog is prone to bringing her toys to that rug and play on it. She also brings a biscuit to picnic on the rug. Both things drive me crazy, but I allow them and then go back and clean up and move the rug so it is even. I figure it’s a small thing in the realm of things.
I don’t always make my bed. Strangely enough I did when I worked, and back then I left for work by 6:20 each morning. I think the reason I don’t now is every day has the potential of being a nap day, and I’d hate to mess up a well made bed.
Well, it’s time to finish. My heart is pumping. Two dogs are now barking, and Gracie is going out to investigate. I’m not sure how much more excitment I can take!
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsThis entry was posted on September 26, 2011 at 10:46 am and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: boredom, buttons, crooked pictures, excitement, Ghana, making beds, peeling, socks, sunburn
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September 26, 2011 at 1:09 pm
We l have days like that but I think You managed to write quite much 🙂 🙂
We are very much alike 🙂 All those things You mentioned could have been something I said as well 🙂 🙂 But unfortunately I don´t mind the other mess in my home 🙂 🙂
Warm here but now the rain started to pur down again. Southern winds will give us an Indian summer this week and we´ll have plenty of sun later in the week. But I know how bad their predictions has been before so In just imagine I´ve never heard them 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
September 26, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Christer,
Thank you!
I don’t do mess all that well, but my den is cluttered, no question about it. I need to move the books to another room or even down the cellllar so this room can have a make-over.
Really warm here all day long. It is air conditioner at night weather. I even had it blasting in the car. I expect it will be the same all week.
September 26, 2011 at 4:49 pm
The “Housewife”:
http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/equipment/personal/sewing.htm
Cheers
September 26, 2011 at 4:54 pm
Minicapt,
Those are very cool. I really like that buttons are included. I have a sewing kit or two and they look very much like the housewife. I, of course, would never call them that. I’m thinking more like a couturiere kit!
September 26, 2011 at 6:50 pm
The barking dog…Maggie has changed her routine and has decided to be on full alert around 8.00pm which basically involves perching on her chair and barking in to darkness.
I have asked her why she has changed but have not got a straight answer
September 26, 2011 at 7:10 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I doubt Maggie believes she needs to give an answer. Dogs have their reason and are under no obligation to share.
September 26, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Hi Kat,
My ankle socks were Buster Browns, I think. My maryjanes always made them creep down under my heels and I was forever yanking them up by the cuffs. Baggy heels and saggy cuffs.
I have a friend who only wears black socks. The same kind of black socks. It doesn’t matter to him if some of his socks disappear into the hose zone. 🙂
We went off to the post office and a walk by the lake. I think that’s enough excitement for one day. Hope your day was good.
September 27, 2011 at 11:12 am
Hi Caryn,
My day was quiet though I did an errand or two. Gracie came with me as i waited until it was cooler as the early part of the day was too hot for dog in car.
I hated it when my socks would slide down like that. I have a pair now which does it. Why don’t I throw them away you ask-I never throw socks away, even the ones which my toes poke through. I figure they are good for dusting and a varoety of stuff aroundthe house.
September 27, 2011 at 4:21 pm
My wife keeps her grandmother’s button jar. It is just the biggest jar you ever saw with a big lid. Evidently, her grandmother kept all the buttons off of discarded clothing through most of her life. Most men’s shirts now come with extra collar buttons and front buttons, but when she doesn’t find one there for me, it is off to the grandmother’s jar she goes. Even though I suggest it, she never puts new ones in there, finding something special about THAT particular collection makes her happy.
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_liqjknF1481qf62g8o1_500.jpg
September 27, 2011 at 4:58 pm
Rick,
I had two boxes filled with buttons, some of them very old. When I read your entry, I decided to combine the two into an old, very large jar. Some of the buttons are really cool looking. I spent a while checking them out when I moved them.
I have, on occasion, looked through one box trying to find a matching button. I used to save the extra buttons which come with shirts but I stopped. I never used them anyway.
September 27, 2011 at 5:02 pm
There is something that is to be said for collecting them, anyway. Just like a marble collection: What do you do with ’em? They are just fun to look at.
I did find a use for a couple of buttons back in about 1951. My mother’s 1920s Parcheesi board had metal-rimmed buttons for place markers. We replaced the missing ones with buttons. Those markers, buttons, and the board still grace my collection of old board games.
Parcheesi is the obvious forerunner of Sorry. I really don’t see any difference and wonder how Sorry could have been copyrighted in the first place.
September 27, 2011 at 5:09 pm
Rick,
There are a few difference: in Sorry you can’t blockade and you don’t have the chance for doubles-no dice, and you can only knock off the piece if you land on it. My friends and I play them both but we perfer Sorry. Ours gets a bit cutthroat as we choose the piece to be sent home. The Parcheesi game can go on forever with those blockades, and I find it frustrating.
We too have used buttons for pieces but for a Monopoly game, also not a favorite as it takes so long to finish.
September 27, 2011 at 5:27 pm
Ahhh, well, if you like your game action more like a sawtooth than a quick peak that sags deep down into boredom after several hours (and I KNOW you like words), then Double Scribbage is your game. You can easily find Scribbage, but the Double version is more than worth the difference. You have ~3 minutes to roll 26 dice with Scrabble tiles on each face (half white dice and half red dice), make interlocking words, with any leftovers counting against you. If you happen to make any word with all one color, you get double score for that word. THAT is mind-burning.
Then we’ve been playing Quiddler for over a year at our lunch time during the week. (Each won one today). It is another word game with cards (a first for me). We like it very much. We play with a very thick paperback Scrabble dictionary by our side. We toss any word not in the dictionary.
“Life is too short to waste it playing boring games.”
— R. Herndon, 2011
September 27, 2011 at 5:36 pm
Rick,
I play most of my games with my friends Tony and Clare. Tony is not a word man so we avoid those except for Bananagrams which we all enjoy. It’s like individual Scrabble and speed is of the essence. Lately Phase 10 has been our game of choice.
September 27, 2011 at 6:48 pm
Yes, we have Bananagrams, but we only played it a couple of times. I can see what you’re saying about a non-word person playing. I’ll have to check out Phase 10…though it seems to fall into more a chance-based game than I really like to play.
September 27, 2011 at 8:53 pm
Rick,
My friend gets very discouraged when he never wins at word games so we play a variety which gives us all an even chance to win. It’s no fun having a disgruntled player.