Archive for September 2015
“Walking through puddles is my favorite metaphor for life.”
September 10, 2015The thunder shook my house, and I can still hear rumbles in the distance. The rain is heavy. There are no individual drops, no pitter-patter on the windows. It is a pounding rain, a raining cats and dogs sort of rain. I hope it stays this way the whole day. The summer was dry so every bit of rain is welcomed.
I never had rain boots, only snow boots. My shoes always got wet and most times my socks did too. I always thought it was funny when my socks left wet footprints on the floor. My mother didn’t see the humor. I never had an umbrella either, but I didn’t care. Carrying one in case of rain seemed too big a burden. I already had my lunch box and my school bag. Besides, only the prissy girls seemed to have umbrellas.
I hated having to stay inside during recess on rainy days. That we were allowed to talk and walk around just wasn’t enough. After sitting all morning, we really needed to be able to be outside to play a while, to jump rope or chase each other.
The second half of rainy days were dreadful. I remember clock watching and daydreaming and losing track of the lesson. When that final bell rang, I grabbed my stuff and happily ran outside into the rain.
I saw my first bus yesterday so the season has begun. but I was so taken at the sight of that first bus, I forget to take note of where it was from. Now my life list won’t be complete.
Well, it has stopped raining. The weatherman did say intermittent showers, and he was right. The day got brighter for a bit but it is getting dark again. It will rain soon. I hope this shower stays around a bit longer.
Happy Birthday, My Dear Hedley
September 9, 2015Hedley has been a long, long time member of the Coffee family so even though it is Wednesday, I couldn’t let the day slip by with offering him the best of birthday greetings.
From all your friends at KTCC
Hot Fun in the Summer Time: Sly and the Family Stone
September 8, 2015A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight: Bessie Smith
September 8, 2015
“We know that in September, we will wander through the warm winds of summer’s wreckage. We will welcome summer’s ghost.”
September 8, 2015Yesterday Boston set a new record for the day’s high temperature at 92˚. Happily we were much cooler thanks to the sea breeze. Yesterday’s leave the cape exodus of tourists was backed up for 6 miles to get over the bridge. I think I would have gone crazy sitting in my car for that long.
Nothing outside is moving. The air is thick with humidity. My street is so quiet it could be an after shot in an apocalyptic movie. The breeze we had yesterday is gone. Today feels more like a day in August, a dog day. It was already so hot in the house, 78˚, that I turned on the AC. When Gracie came inside, her whole body seemed to be panting, but the cool air now has her quiet and sleeping.
September is a neither nor month. It is neither summer nor fall but can be either. Last week it was in the 50’s at night. Last night was close to 70˚. Boston may have another heat wave, three straight days in the 90’s, but by the weekend it’ll be back to the 50’s at night. The temperature doesn’t really matter. September is still my second favorite month.
I had two whole paragraphs written about people who drive me crazy because they are ill-mannered and impolite, but I ditched them as they made me sound like some old lady. I imagined myself stooped, carrying a cane and wearing generic frame glasses. I’d be wearing flowers on my clothes and smelling like lilac. I’d have expectations for other people and mumble when they didn’t meet them. That’s why those paragraphs disappeared.
Nothing much to do today. I think I’ll just read and do a couple of chores to make me feel accomplished. I have already cleaned the two cat boxes, a gross chore. I do need to wash the dog’s bedding and today is as good a day as any. I’m going to order in for dinner. I’m thinking a sub, maybe sausage parmesan. That will be the big decision of the day.
Solidarity Forever: Pete Seeger
September 7, 2015Labor Day began not as a national holiday but in the streets, when, on September 5, 1882, thousands of bricklayers, printers, blacksmiths, railroad men, and cigar makers took a day off and marched in New York City. Initially that morning, few people showed up, and organizers worried that workers had been reluctant to surrender a day’s pay to join the rally. But soon the crowds began flowing in from across the city, and by the end of the day some 10,000 people had marched in the parade and joined festivities afterward in what the press dubbed “a day of the people.”
The practice of holding annual festivities to celebrate workers spread across the country, but Labor Day didn’t become a national holiday for more than a decade. Oregon became the first state to declare it a holiday in 1887, and states like New York, Massachusetts and Colorado soon followed suit. Under President Grover Cleveland, and amid growing awareness of the labor movement, the first Monday in September became a national holiday in 1896.
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