“I like it where it gets dark at night, and if you want noise, you have to make it yourself.”
This has already been a productive morning. I went to the opening of the farmer’s market. First I went to the ATM and then spent almost all the money at the market. By the time I was done, my Bolga market basket was filled with bread, honey, tomatoes, a few small pots of herbs and a coffee-coconut sort of skin cream. Before I bought it, the woman gave me a sniff-it was all I needed. I was their very first customer ever they told me.
Last night was so cold so I had to shut the windows. When I woke up, the house still had a bit of that chill, and here in the den is the last of it. The day dawned absolutely beautiful. The high for today should be in the mid-70’s, and the temperature is almost there now.
My street is quiet right now. I have no idea where all the kids are. There are nine of them 12 and under. When I was a kid, our neighborhood was never quiet. You could hear kids yelling at one another, and mothers yelling at kids. Fathers never yelled out the back door.
The back door was where all the communication took place. Kids went inside and the door slammed behind them. Mothers yelled don’t slam the door. Kids yelled back that the door slammed itself. At lunch time, mothers yelled for kids from each of their back doors. It was a cacophony of mothers. By supper time, kids were inside watching TV. Outside sounds disappeared when it got dark. In the summer, through the screen windows, you could hear the TV’s. If you stood outside and looked in, you could see the flickering black and white screens of those TV’s.
I can hear my neighbors some nights. The sounds seem to travel. One neighbor down the end of the street has quite the laugh, and I hear when he finds something entertaining. On my movie nights, I wonder how far the dialogue travels as I have the audio as high as it can go, but no neighbors have complained. I’m thinking they are being good neighbors.
I do have to buy a few things, coffee being number one on my list, but I’ll wait until the late afternoon. In between, I’m going to sit on the deck and read. I think it a perfect plan for today!
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June 16, 2018 at 2:10 pm
Hi Kat,
In my youth, all communication in the neighborhood took place out the front doors or from an upstairs window that was closest to the street. The kids were either playing in the street or in the empty lot across from my house. All the houses are close up to the street and, at that time, back doors looked out on mostly woods. In my mind, I can still hear my next door neighbor calling her kids in for supper: “Frrrankie! Jeemie! J’waaahn!” My brothers can still remember her, too. She was the neighborhood watch. She caught us all at one time or another. 🙂 Nice woman, though.
I don’t remember my parents calling for us. They usually sent the dog.
It’s not particularly quiet in my neighborhood anymore which is something I didn’t know until I retired and got to hear the daytime noises. There’s highway noise and noise from the trucking companies a couple of streets away. Few people noises as most everyone is working or in school. The kids still play in the street but the majority of the current clutch has aged out to college so no more street hockey or soccer games in the road. There’s still the sound of bouncing basketballs. The local song of summer. 🙂
No errands for me today. The weather is warm and sunny.
Enjoy the day on the deck.
June 16, 2018 at 4:21 pm
Hi Caryn,
I’m back inside. It is time to fill the bird feeders, and the seed is in here. I fell asleep for a bit. The sun disappeared a while back, and it is nice and comfortable, even a bit chilly in the shade.
I never did go to get coffee. I figure I have enough for tomorrow, and I have to go to the dump anyway so I’ll wait.
My neighborhood had grassy backyards. Up the street was a parking lot no one ever used. It was easier to park in front of your house. We used the lot for roller skating and bike riding. The little kids never played in the street though they could have as the area was never heavy with traffic.
Today there was no noise except birds and once in a while a car going down the street my street faces. The first generation of kids played on the street but this group seems to stay in backyards.
Have a great evening!
June 16, 2018 at 2:18 pm
The TV starting humming at 5:30 am as I grabbed a coffee and settled down for France and Australia. Three games played this morning all holding me. I went to the World Cup in 1994 but that required almost no effort as 4 games were at the Silverdome.
Tomorrow there are two fantastic games as the Bochum Belle’s team clashes with Mexico and then we see Brazil and Switzerland
I am a child of the TV, I have always loved it. Back then the door bell would ring and someone would ask if you could come out and play. It was all terribly simple and limited only by a return time. I don’t remember any parental involvement, wasn’t necessary
June 16, 2018 at 4:28 pm
My Dear Hedley,
It seems World Cup turns average human beings into moles who never leave their houses to see the light of day. I know my nephew and brother-in-law watch some of the games.
I’ll have to check the results of tomorrow’s games.
My parents wanted us in for meals, or at least wanted my little sisters who stayed in the backyard or in the neighborhood. My brother and I roamed further away. They never needed to get us out. We were out on bikes most of the day on Saturdays. On school days we tended to stay closer as we had less time in the afternoons to play.
I too am child of television. We had one as long as I can remember. Ghana was the only time I lived without one. I didn’t miss it at all. I spent my evening reading or writing letters.
June 16, 2018 at 5:52 pm
Hedley, have you ever heard of Sol Cerveza? It’s the only Mexican beer I could get. Next weekend Sweden.
June 17, 2018 at 5:46 am
Birgit, yes, it is good. I took a brief break yesterday to buy Fullers London Pride, Leffe and Hoffbrau original. I think I have it covered for the next few days.
I shall start with Costa Rica and the odious Serbia, head to Mass and hopefully be home for kick off.
I send you best football wishes this morning and hope that the game is a cracker.
June 17, 2018 at 12:02 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I called my Colorado sister this morning and yes, indeed, the game was on. She has a menu for all day watching
June 16, 2018 at 4:43 pm
Yelling at your kid out the back door is a lost art to technology. Every kid today either has a smart phone or is no longer playing outside and is sitting at home on their computer. Yelling has been replaced by texting in all caps. 🙂
Parents of our generation worried that too much TV watching would result in all kind of maladies both physical and mental. Lucky, the choices of programs available from the three networks and maybe one local channel viewed on a small, grainy, monochrome screen couldn’t hold our interest for an entire day. Today, the choices on both large and small screens are endless. A kid today never has to leave his or her bedroom. All they need is a bathroom and a slot in the door to receive food. 🙂
We went out for lunch to an Italian Restaurant that we haven’t visited in a couple of years. The atmosphere is old school with empty wine bottles with basket weave bottoms hanging from a trellis of fake vines from the ceiling. Opera arias play in the background as middle aged waiters serve the food. This is old school southern Italian fare such as eggplant parmigiana with spaghetti, chicken Marsala, linguini with clam sauce and a long list of pasta dishes. The portions were huge and we brought home leftovers. It’s a bit of a gamble to try an old favorite restaurant and a happy surprise when the food is still as good as it was in the past.
No change in the weather here.
June 16, 2018 at 5:00 pm
Bob,
It is true. Not only is yelling gone but so is outside except for little kids.
My mother worried about our sitting too close but never about the content of what we watched. We had our favorite shows in the afternoon and on Saturday. If we watched at night back then it was mostly westerns.
You reminded me of Santarpio’s, a restaurant not far from Logan Airport. When my dad picked anyone of us at Logan, we’d go to Santarpio’s in East Boston for dinner. They had great pizza but their skewer was my favorite. I usually got lamb. The fresh Italian was perfect. It was a neighborhood restaurant with amazing food.
Pretty day here but a bit warm, high 70’s.
June 16, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Have you been back there lately? East Boston is a famous Italian neighborhood.
June 16, 2018 at 5:30 pm
Bob,
I spend a large part of my childhood visiting East Boston. My grandparents lived there, and we visited just about every weekend. My uncle owned a fish market right outside the East Boston side of the tunnel, and Santarpio’s is also close to the tunnel exit. It is still there.
June 16, 2018 at 5:38 pm
International festival here again this weekend. Music, dance, food and more, it was fun today. Main act was the great Nigerian Orlando Julius but an interesting new discovery was Arsene Duevi who lives in Italy.
Did I mention kelewele?
Soccer tomorrow and on Monday we’ll see whether we still have a government, the Bavarian conservative party -part of the national government- runs amok against conservative Merkel and threatens the EU. It’s ridiculous as well as dangerous, the Bavarians have moved to the far right and copy inhuman Trump politics. It was nice not to watch the news today and to be among ordinary people who don’t hate each other.
Arsene Duevi:
June 16, 2018 at 11:11 pm
Birgit,
You have so many wonderful musical events I am constantly jealous. Here there are town bands who play and we used to pack a picnic, sit on the grass and listen. It was a nice evening.
It was like a knife to the heart when I read kelewele.
I didn’t recognize many of the words then I heard some I did so I hunted up the bio of Arsene Duevi. He sings in a few languages including Ewe, a Ghanaian tribal language.
Thank for the introduction!
June 16, 2018 at 11:05 pm
It was the kitchen windows where mothers yelled here since I lived in an apartment building but everything else was much the same 🙂
I looked at Argentina-Iceland and I think the Argentinians had the ball 80% of the time but the Icelanders defended themselves bravely and managed to play draw 1-1 🙂 🙂 I watched some of the Denmark game too and they won 🙂 We’re playing tomorrow.
Have a great day!
Christer.
June 16, 2018 at 11:15 pm
Christer,
I can picture the mothers with their heads out the windows while they call their kids.
I wish I had an interest in soccer. I know only the most basic rules so all of the strategy is lost on me. My nephew had a full scholarship to Oregon State to play soccer. His whole family watches. They look forward to these games.
Good luck tomorrow!!
June 17, 2018 at 5:50 am
Christer, and of course, the KTCC World Cup family will be highly conflicted next Saturday when Germany play Sweden…how do we deal with Christer v Birgit ?
June 17, 2018 at 12:02 pm
MDH,
I don’t know how we’ll deal. That is a conundrum.
June 17, 2018 at 1:05 pm
Take Sweden, the German team was disappointing today.
June 17, 2018 at 3:19 pm
Okay, Birgit, if you are sure!
June 18, 2018 at 4:18 pm
What brand of coffee do you prefer Kat?
June 18, 2018 at 6:11 pm
splendid,
I like Hogan Brothers coffee. They are a micro brewery from Framingham Massachusetts. I first tried their African Gold, still my favorite, and then tried more. I haven’t been disappointed.
https://hoganbrotherscoffee.com/pages/store_basic/