“Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.”
Shades of fall arrived last night as the temperature dropped to the 60’s. It will be the same every night this week. When I woke up, I wanted to lounge a bit and enjoy the cool morning, but Gracie was insistent we get up. The day is dark as rain is expected later.
My friend Annie and I went out to eat to celebrate my birthday. She couldn’t believe that we are in our mid-60’s. Most times, unless I have to haul stuff into the house or go up and down the stairs, neither do I. Hearts and minds don’t ever seem to age.
Today is dump day, a belated dump day as I should have gone this weekend. Gracie will be excited as this is her favorite errand.
This weekend was as busy as I have seen it all summer. There were so many people at Stop & Shop you’d think a cataclysmic event was on the horizon which necessitated stocking up on essentials. Carts were blocking the aisles and people stopped in the middle to chat leaving no way around. I was there because I needed dry cat food and not much else so luckily I was in and out quickly.
Many schools start next week so this weekend was the last hurrah. I can’t believe that two weeks from today is Labor Day, the end of summer, and in the old days, the end of wearing white.
The table in my bedroom is filling up with stuff for my trip. I have mosquito wipes as my feet were eaten last year, pop-up face cloths which I can discard, the iPad international charger, my cameras and their battery rechargers and a new guide-book written by four former Ghanaian Peace Corps volunteers. When I was a volunteer, I always knew the best cheap places to eat and sleep and so do they. I have tabbed where I want to go and what I want to see. This time I’ll be a tourist up to and back from Bolga. 5 days and counting until my flight!
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: aging, cool nights, Ghana, Gracie, tourist
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August 20, 2012 at 11:42 am
Lets see, Gracie was out of sorts on Saturday night and Saturday is “ride to the dump” day…coincidence ? I dont think so.
August 20, 2012 at 11:58 am
My Dear Hedley,
I never even thought of that. How sad that I disappointed my puppy and cause her to have an upset stomach!
August 20, 2012 at 12:08 pm
Never mess with a hound’s schedule…When Maggie makes it clear on a Saturday morning that she wants to go riding, we go riding. The rules are very clear.
August 20, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Hi Kat,
I especially hate grocery shopping when it is crowded. My Shaws is tolerable. Any Market Basket I have ever been in was intolerable because they are always over-crowded with people and things.
Mid-sixties. Hmph. Well, I’m right there behind you. It only comes to mind when old injuries start to ache. Or when I see one of those photos on Facebook that asks me to Like it if I know what it is and it’s something that’s only 30 years old. Like cassette tapes. 🙂
The blanket was on the bed last night and the fans were turned off. Lovely!
It’s sunny here at the moment and in the high 70’s. Wonderful! I can knit a wool sweater without perspiring at the thought. 🙂
Enjoy the rest of the day.
August 20, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Hi Caryn,
My hate grocery shopping as well. It is only the need for cat food which gets me to go. I bought such a large amount of their dry food you’d think I had 20 cats instead of 2.
I laugh when I see those photos, but I cringe when oldies are songs popular in the 80’s and 90’s.
Cassette tapes came with me to Africa in 1969, and I cherished that music. The player was a small one which had the wrong current, and I didn’t have a converter so I went to an electrician. Ghanaians are the best at figuring out how to use anything. That electrician took my adapter, played around with it and added a small red Christmas like bulb to suck off the extra electricity. I didn’t need a converter after that. What was neat was the red light shining every time I listened to music!
No sun still and it seems to be getting darker. I’m going to get dressed and head to the dump. My luck usually is that it starts to rain just as I am going.
Have a great day and knit away!
August 20, 2012 at 12:59 pm
What a cool way to solve a problem.
Time was that you didn’t have to go to Ghana to get something fixed. Every town had a bricoleur that could fix or adapt just about anything. And the fact that I remember that time makes me an Official Dinosaur. 😀
August 20, 2012 at 1:34 pm
We’ve had a rather warm day and these last night have been warm as well. But things will change because cold air from the arctic will reach us soon and low pressures from Britain will come too.
The de worming of all my pets went by much faster and easier than I ever could believe and I don’t have a single scratch mark when giving my cats the pills 🙂
I’m glad I don’t feel as old as I look sometimes 🙂 🙂 🙂 Time has just flown by and it just goes faster and faster.
Only five days left! I can imagine that You would like time to go a little bit faster this week 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
August 20, 2012 at 1:48 pm
Christer,
It keeps getting darker here, but we are back from the dump. I bought some tomatoes and cucumbers from a table in front of a house. This is the time when backyard gardeners sell their wares.
Fern would destroy me! I’d be scratched on every surface.
Today I crossed off two of my before I go list: calling the vets and letting them know who would bring in the pets if there were a problem and stopping the newspapers while I’m gone.
I’m getting really excited about my trip!!
August 20, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Caryn,
That would make Ghana and probably most of Africa filled with bricoleurs. Nothing ever goes to waste.
I was given the Sunday NY Times as a gift. Several would arrive at the same time and be a few months late, but I devoured them all. My houseboy, a bustling entrepreneur, made a bit of extra money by selling my empty tin cans and all those papers. It was so funny to buy rice. It would come inside a paper cone made with the NY Times!
August 20, 2012 at 5:30 pm
By chance I stumbled upon ghanaian singer Irene Logan:
http://africaisdonesuffering.tumblr.com/post/18439506382/irene-logan-kabilla
Song “Kabilla”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvolaT6V134
Travel preparation is more fun with music 🙂
August 20, 2012 at 5:43 pm
Birgit,
I love her! I tried to find the Hausa, the language I learned, in this song but I couldn’t. A few more listens maybe.
This is so great-thanks!!
August 20, 2012 at 7:06 pm
Set for a long journey my Dad used to call me “a nervous nellie” and he was probably right even thought Mom did all the packing. So You’re on the countdown. Start listening to Ghanian music to enhance the waiting time.
August 20, 2012 at 8:55 pm
Z&Me,
Two of my former students have called, one three times. I hadn’t seen her last summer so she is pretty excited to meet me at the airport. I’ll give the music a listen!
August 21, 2012 at 7:08 am
Responding to your previous post: I still have a wallet worn around the neck, made in Bolga, as well as many string bags and soft leather pocket wallets. The small baskets our friends bought in Quebec were each $38.This past weekend we were in Peterborough, NH, at a Fair Trade shop, and they had many items from Bolga. I wanted to talk with the owner because she had personally bought them in Bolga, but she wasn’t there on Sunday. One of the items was a xylophone of gourds and wooden slats. I remember buying one in Ougadougou and having it tied to the roof of the Benz for the ride back to Bolga.
Let me know where you got the travel book by the PCVs.
Our greetings to Grace and any others who might remember us. We are planning on going next fall. Do you know if any other PCVs followed us at BWTTC?
August 21, 2012 at 10:28 am
Bill,
I also have an around the neck wallet, but the case I mentioned we had the guy make. He had never made anything like it before we taught him. I remember those xylophones. I think I even saw them for sale last summer.
The travel book came from Amazon. It’s called Ghana (Other Places Travel Guide). and is about $20.00. I also found the Brandt guide I used last summer to be excellent. I’m going to bring both of them with me.
I don’t know if any were assigned there when it was still a training college, but I know there were a couple who taught at the secondary school (BOGISS) it became. There were none there last year. In and around Bolga there are several volunteers, but I didn’t know there were when I was there last summer. This time I’m going to met a few and treat them to dinner. I found them through their blogs.
Let me know your travel plans for the fall, and I’l try and let everyone know you’re on the way.