“I sadly want a reform in the construction of children. Nature’s only idea seems to be to make them machines for the production of incessant noise.”
I seem to be hibernating. Today I woke up at quarter to twelve and have just now finished my morning coffee and papers. I even had an English muffin, the one with nooks and crannies. During the night we got a dusting of snow. When I went to get the papers, I wanted to hurry because it was so cold, but I figured I’d slip and fall on the snow covered walk so I took my time and froze just a little. I am going nowhere today. I’m going to vacuum and that’s it for industry although I did dust a couple of spots using the sleeve of my sweatshirt. I have a book calling out my name so I’ll get comfy and read the day away.
My house is quiet. I can only hear Gracie’s deep breathing. She’s sleeping at the other end of the couch. The cats are also asleep but they sleep quietly. When I was growing up, I think the house was never quiet except deep into the night when we were all finally asleep. The TV was always on, and at least one of us was sitting in front watching. We sometimes argued about what to watch but not often. The choices back then were limited. My sisters played together, and their dolls talked to one another in weird little voices. By late afternoon my mother was in the kitchen getting dinner ready. I could hear pots and pans clanging, water running and the fridge and oven doors opening and shutting. By then Superman and the Mickey Mouse Club were on TV and we all sat and watched. Dinner was quick and noisy. The four of us sat at the table while my mother stood at the counter. She always did that. My father was seldom home in time for dinner. After we had eaten, it was back to the TV for a bit then it was time to get washed up and put on our pajamas. My sisters went to bed first. My brother and I were older and had a later bedtime. I used to sneak and read under the covers as long as I could before I’d get caught. My mother knew I did that and was on alert. She’d yell up the stairs to tell me to turn off the light and go to sleep. The house by then was almost quiet. I could hear my parents’ voices from downstairs but I couldn’t tell what they were saying. I don’t think I really cared. Finally I’d fall and stay asleep until my mother woke me up the next morning, and we’d start it all over again, including the noise.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: coffee and papers, deep breathing, dinner, dusting of snow, English muffin, hibernating, Mickey Mouse Club, quiet house, TV watching
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January 5, 2016 at 3:15 pm
Cold here today and the temperature will drop quite a lot during the night and tomorrow. They say we might get up to 14 inchews of snow this weekend, I’m not happy about that 🙂
I love silence but it is never really quiet here to be honest, the dogs make sounds in thei sleep and so do tha cats, the tv is quite often on but with the sound turned down to a minimum and old houses do make noises of their own, especially on really cold or really warm days.
Have a great day!
Christer.
January 5, 2016 at 3:22 pm
Christer,
I don’t blame you. I’d hate that much snow. The dusting we have now is enough.
It is so cold right now. The heat keeps blowing so the house is warm. I haven’t bothered to get dressed. It’s just that sort of a day.
The sounds now are the blasting heat and Gracie’s breathing. She is quite content to rest on the couch.
Stay warm and I’ll hope the snow passes by you.
January 5, 2016 at 3:45 pm
Es war Zeit, mehr Lebensmittelgeschäfte heute zu erhalten … umm, wait – I had to go to the grocery today. Better? Ach, ja. It was finally what I can consider ‘cold weather’ today – 26°F at wakey-wakey. I waited ’til the temp rose to 43°F before venturing out in jeans and sweatshirt. Breakfast was the same as every day, an English muffin (the ones made by Bays) with ham, smoked turkey, and Swiss cheese from the deli. Kroger has these in their ‘Grab ‘n Go’ coldbox on the floor, so y’ don’t have to wait in the ‘Deli Line’ to place an order.
See where the dreaded ‘Polar Vortex’ (Dun-dun-dunnnnnn!) is making its return? Oh yeah. And Algore’s ten-year ‘We have only ten years to save the planet!’ prediction is due to expire on the 25th of this month. So, Al, how’s that ‘global warming’ workin’ out for ya … ? One more for the ash heap of history.
It’s a day for cooking … that’s why I hadda go get my li’l groceries. Gonna make that ‘Corn & Chicken Chowder’ that Morpfy so kindly provided the recipe for. It’ll have some ‘Cajun Modifications,’ but the base recipe sounds mighty good to start with.
Dang. You hadda say ‘Superman’ and ‘Mickey Mouse Club,’ din’tcha? I remember those days, and Annette was ever-so-hot to us glandular little teenage boys back then. We really resented Frankie bein’ in the picture. That’s when we’d switch to ‘Howdy Doody’ or Guy Madison playing a cowboy who rode a really neat palomino just like Roy’s. Hopalong had a white horse, and I can’t remember any of the heroes having a black horse. Musta given off the wrong symbolic vibes for the times.
Friends of mine had told me about the ‘read-under-the-covers-using-a-flashlight’ trick. I tried. Don’t know if the covers were drawn too tightly, but I almost self-asphyxiated from my own carbon dioxide, so I gave it up and learnt it was more fun tormenting my younger brother – and it was fun right up to the time it … wasn’t.
January 5, 2016 at 5:33 pm
Richard,
That breakfast sounds delicious. I shop with a delivery service so I never stay in line. The in-between shopping is at a great store called Rings. It has small counters of a few stores: a fish market, a deli and butcher, a prepared foods store, a bakery, a liquor store and a pizza/Mexican place as well as fresh veggies, juices and smoothies. I go in for one thing and buy several.
We’ll start to get warmer again after tomorrow. I’m glad for that as it is mighty cold today.
Your Annette was a bit older than Mickey Mouse Annette. I remember all those beach movies, all the same plot with Annette in a sedate bikini of sorts.
My Mickey Mouse Club was on weekday afternoons while Guy and Howdy were on Saturdays. Zorro had a black horse named Tornado. I think he was the only one.
You had to pop out of the covers periodically to cool down. I think that’s when I got caught.
January 5, 2016 at 7:44 pm
The Magic Muffin solveth a host of problems, namely bein’ hungry. Speaking of which: Morpfy’s Chicken ‘n Corn Chowder was made today (with the Cajun Additions) and it is an outstanding recipe. It’s also great comfort food for cold weather. Morpfy, ya did good!
January 5, 2016 at 8:13 pm
Richard,
I knew as soon as I read it the recipe was a good one. Now I guess I’ll make it later in the week. It is soup weather.
January 5, 2016 at 4:55 pm
Massive snow dump this morning, and it still comes down. By evening we should have almost three inches.
Cheers
January 5, 2016 at 5:34 pm
minicapt,
This dusting is our first snow of the season. It is now frozen so you crack it when you walk across. That’s a great sound!
January 5, 2016 at 8:19 pm
Hi Kat,
I had the same sort of day. I even had the same sort of English muffin. Finally, well after noon, I put on real clothes and took the dogs for a walk. I remembered to pull the down parka out of it’s vacuum bag yesterday so it was all puffy and ready to go.
The dogs didn’t much care about the cold. Piki Dog spends all his time outside trying to scrape his dog coat off. Rocky doesn’t care one way or the other. Coat. No coat. No difference to him.
My house is pretty quiet except for the TV which is almost always on with the volume down low. Oh, and the very loud barking of two small terriers who hate passing vehicles and people who leave mail or newspapers. At the moment they’re asleep on either side of me so it’s quiet.
Stay warm and enjoy the evening.
January 5, 2016 at 8:34 pm
Hi Caryn,
I never did get dressed, and the vacuum stayed idle. I read for a while, caught up with my DVR and fell asleep for about an hour. What woke me up was applying the brake to stop the car in my dream.
Gracie never went out for too long. Boxers have no fur on their bellies so she gets cold. Her coat covers her fur, not her belly.
I’m watching TV now and am about to get a late supper. The heat is blasting as I felt cold earlier.
Gracie barks if she is outside and anyone, human or animal, dares to walk on her street.
Enjoy your evening. Stay bundled.
January 6, 2016 at 6:02 pm
That’s my big complaint about dog coats. My old dog Tegan was a jack russell terrier and, being female, she had very little fur on her belly. I was always looking for coats that would cover down that far because she was a solar dog and liked to be warm. Nowadays you can get full body mountaineering suits for the dogs bug not back then. I had to knit her bands that would go under her coat and cover her brood patch. Usually she ate them.
Rocky and Piki Dog are males and don’t have that issue with no fur on the belly. Also they are double coated and don’t feel the cold as much. Now my complaint is that I can’t find boots that will fit them nor can I find boots that allow the claws to poke through so that the dog can have some grip on slippery surfaces. All I find are silly plastic or nylon booties that have no traction whatsoever. There’s always some kind of snake in paradise. 🙂
January 6, 2016 at 6:11 pm
Gracie is out for only a short time on the really cold days and when she comes inside, she always feels cold to the touch.
One year my sister gave Shauna, another Boxer of mine, boots. They were PolarTech and quite nice. I put them on Shauna, and she was trying to figure out how to walk without using her boot clad feet.
January 5, 2016 at 9:01 pm
Hello from Tampa. Today was a little chilly with the temperature around 70 degrees. We’re taking a mini vacation to visit my sister and my 92 year old aunt. We left chilly Dallas, 31 degrees, this morning on Southwest and arrived here at 60 degrees.
We always lived in a noisy home. I don’t know of any family that resembled the Cleavers. My mother nor my aunt ever cleaned house in pearls and we were never discussed things among ourselves politely. Quiet came after everyone was sleeping.
January 5, 2016 at 9:10 pm
Bob,
I hope you survived the horrific cold of Tampa! I love mini-vacation. They are wonderfully enervating.
I think any house with kids tends to be noisy. The 50’s TV families were all perfect!
Have a good visit!
January 5, 2016 at 10:07 pm
I hate to inform you, but it appears your blog has been hacked and someone is posting absolutely terrible music. Don’t know if the problem is with WordPress or Box.dot.com. I hope you get the problem fixed by your next entry on Thursday.
January 5, 2016 at 11:52 pm
im6,
The problem must be me. I posted music very different from my usual. I chose both songs though I liked one better than the other.
January 6, 2016 at 12:16 am
It was supposed to be a joke. I tried to use the “smartass” font, but I guess WordPress doesn’t have that in their arsenal.
January 6, 2016 at 12:25 am
im6,
It sounded almost official. I wondered what you meant. Smartass should have come to me right away!