“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
My coffee trek was early this morning, at least early for m, as I was on the road by 8:15, but the time didn’t matter as the line was still a long one at Dunkin’, but I didn’t care. I had my paper to read.
I want a cow catcher on the front of my car. This morning, at the merge lane from the parking lot, I sat behind a car which ignored three openings in traffic. The driver waited for a red light to stop all the oncoming cars before he moved. I could have been in Harwich by then.
Today will be hot as it is already 76˚. The weekend will be humid and will hit the low 80’s though the nights will be cool, in the high 60’s. Today is pretty.
When I was a kid, all the days of the week merged except for Sunday. Going to mass set that day apart. I always tried to go as early as I could so the rest of the day would be mine, but if it was a beach day, we, my brother and I, went with my father, the usher, to the eight o’clock mass. My mother stayed home to make lunch, and my two sisters were too young to have to go. I envied them that.
I always wondered why my mother never learned to swim. One year she did take lessons at, I think, the Y, but even after that she still only walked on the sand along the water’s edge. My father was a great swimmer; he learned how to swim at away camps when he was young.
I have been retired for nearly fifteen years. All the days of the week merge for me now, even Sundays. When I first wake up, I lie there for a couple of minutes trying to figure out what day of the week it might be. Usually I figure it out by remembering what I did the day before. I have no clock in my bedroom. I always ask Alexa what time it is.
I have a day by day tear off calendar on my table. On it I write appointments usually starting a couple of days before the appointment as I sometimes forget to tear off the previous day or two. I’m at the point where I really resent anything other than fun things usurping my time even though I have all the time in the world.
Explore posts in the same categories: Musings
July 26, 2019 at 12:40 pm
86 F as warmest today and to make it even better we’ve had a high humidity as well 🙂 🙂 Thankfully a wind now is blowing so it feels like we’ll survive this day too. Unfortunately our nights are warmer too so the flies are quite awake when we take our walk in the eraly morning. Well they too are a bit tired so they don’t annoy that much.
I arely have any kind of obsticle in traffic now days since it is vacation time. Not many otherwise either to be honest. Soon however there will be tractors everywhere on the roads but I’ve learned how to relax and just drive very, very slow all the way home 🙂
We alllearned how to swim quite early in our lives in my family. I guess it made my mother feel sure that we at least wouldn’t drown in the shallow parts of the beach 🙂 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
July 26, 2019 at 1:31 pm
Christer,
The flies would drive me crazy. The mosquitos are bad enough.
Our heat is returning today and the humidity over the weekend. That horrid humidity defies August here on most days. I figure, though, we’re still lucky that the nights are cooler. I do have a bedroom only AC I kept, I can turn that on instead of the whole house AC.
There are just so many cars. This is a prime time for tourists, and the cape seems to be attracting so many this year. I haven’t seen such a long line of cars at lights for quite a while.
My brother and I learned to swim when we were young. I don’t even know if my sisters can swim. I just assume they can.
Have a great evening!!
July 26, 2019 at 5:30 pm
Hi Kat,
My mother was a swimmer. My father was a swimmer. My brothers and I were all swimmers. We spent a lot of time in various bodies of water.
My mother told a story about taking me to the beach when I was still crawling age. She put the blanket close to the water, put me on the blanket and went to the water’s edge. She turned around and there I was crawling through the waves right behind her totally unfazed by salty water slapping me in the face.
I’ve been retired for 10 years the end of this month so every day is Saturday. I have a whiteboard calendar hanging on the fridge door. It’s blank so I have to fill it the days every month. I started it when my mother’s memory began to fail and just kept it up after her stroke confined her to long term care. It’s part of my morning ritual to come down, move the little magnet to a new day and draw in a symbol for the weather.
It’s not too bad here. Sunny and warm with a slight breeze. Not too humid. I was doing hanging around in the back yard with the dogs while the washing machine cycled. I couldn’t figure out why it was so hot and humid out there in the shade. Then I realized I was sitting near the dryer vent. 🙂
Enjoy the evening.
July 26, 2019 at 7:03 pm
Hi Caryn,
I remember being on my father’s back as he swam under water in the deepest part of a lake. He had us let go so we could swim. That was when I learned to swim under water. I learned to swim through the water at scout camp.
It will be 15 years for me in August. I can’t believe it has been that long. Even when I do nothing, I love every day. That calendar is my sole appointment keeper.
It wasn’t too bad here either. I did turn on the AC when the house reached 75˚. It is still on, but I’ll turn it off later as the air will bee cool enough.
Have a great night!
July 26, 2019 at 6:38 pm
I’ve been part of a rolling traffic obstacle today 🙂 The monthly bike rally through town took place, about 70 bikers at pleasant 95°F.
Swimming is a problem nowadays, meanwhile only about every second kid can swim because they just don’t have a chance to learn it. Many public pools are closed by now, our debt-ridden towns can’t afford to maintain enough of them. (This is a rich country, right?) I love to (illegally) take the river but it’s not really safe for kids.
July 26, 2019 at 7:14 pm
Birgit,
I went to get a few groceries as the small fridge I ordered came today. I went around the parking lot about 5 or 6 times before I got a space, but I ended up with one front. In the store, all the registers had lines, but I luckily got in a line with only the person in front of me.
We are surrounded by the ocean on both sides and most motels have pools, some both inside and outside. The Y has swimming lessons as do some of the beaches.
July 26, 2019 at 7:39 pm
Hi Kat,
85 is nice and cool. Imagine how miserable it must have been in Paris France, not Paris Texas, yesterday when the temperature hit 110 F degrees. And those folks don’t have as many air conditioners as we have. The heat wave also hit Amsterdam and Brussels. You know things are screwed up when Northern Europe is hotter than any part of Texas.
My mother could swim but my father couldn’t and he had no interest in learning. My mother wouldn’t put her face in the water while she swam the crawl stroke so as not to mess up her makeup and she wore a bathing cap to keep her hair dry. In those days looking good was more important than making good lap times.
I’m not only aware of the calendar but the clock. I feel naked without a wristwatch and check it often during the day which irritates my spouse. Knowing where we are in the annual cycle and knowing the exact time both here and in various other time zones fascinates me even when I have no place to go.
Today was still cool, low 90s, with low humidity but the summer heat is just hiding around the corner. August is usually our hottest and driest month.
July 26, 2019 at 8:30 pm
Hi Bob,
The weather report was all those countries broke the old record highs. Most houses don’t have AC. Hotels do as many tourists expect it. Many years ago when I taught, I used to travel to Europe every summer. I’d have died if it were the temperature it is now.
We were in the mid to high 70’s today. Tonight will be in the 60’s. Tomorrow and Sunday will be hotter and more humid.
My father was an amazing swimmer. He also used to body surf. I still remember him swimming in Maine in that cold, cold water.
I haven’t worn a wristwatch for so many years I can’t remember the last time. I know I had one in Ghana as there were no clocks in stores and such as we have them. I had a wind up alarm clock, but I never needed an alarm as I was always up so early.
Ghana is four hours ahead of us right now.
I always knew the days of the week until I retired. Now every day is Saturday.