“Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.”
Fifteen minutes ago, the morning was lovely. Since then, clouds have arrived. It is 73˚ right now and feels less humid than it has been. No rain is on the horizon, for a while anyway.
I have a new house theme, The Tumbling Tumbleweeds. Dust balls fly in the air when I walk down the hall. My choices are to ignore them or vacuum. Ignoring them means they’ll grow larger and reproduce. Okay, not really reproduce, that’s a theme from a black and white B science fiction movie, dust bunnies grow teeth and attack, but they’ll definitely be more of them so I’m going to bite the bullet and vacuum.
My father used to keep what he called a tucker in his wallet. It was a hundred dollar bill. He kept it for emergencies. When I was young, I always wanted to see it. A hundred dollar bill was a rarity. I remember my father would open his wallet, pull out the bill, unfold it then show it to me with a flourish. I’d hold it for a bit then he’d take it, fold it and tuck it back into this wallet.
In my mind’s eye I can see all of the places where I’ve lived. The kitchen in the house where I grew up was small. The sink was across from the door. My mother kept a dish rack on the counter and a triangular shaped garbage holder in the corner of the sink. That had to be emptied into the in-ground garbage bin. I always hated emptying it. The fridge was beside the sink. It was skinny and had one of those small freezers which always seemed to be covered in ice. The stove too was skinny. It was across the room from the fridge. The appliances were white. On the counter was the turtle bowl. It was shaped almost like a wave you’d draw in art class. The turtle could swim or rest on an island of sorts with a palm tree, a plastic palm tree. My mother usually fed the turtle in the morning when she was preparing breakfast. In the summer time the turtle got stunned flies to eat. He loved those the most. I used to do my homework at the kitchen table. The back door was across from the table. The screen door always slammed. That drove my mother crazy. The rest of us never noticed.
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July 11, 2021 at 11:51 am
Hi Kat,
It rained again last night and this morning. I think the typical Texas summer has gone on a vacation to Seattle last week and California this week. 🙂 When the sun comes back out we may get to 90°. Here 90° is a below average temperature.
I remember everything about every place where I’ve lived. I have to make an effort to recall the images, but when some one mentions a particular room, as you did this morning, it all comes flooding back. Do you see those memories in color? For some reason I only see them in monochrome images. Particular odors will also trigger certain memories. However, those are not visual but olfactory memories. Funny how the human mind works. 🙂
July 11, 2021 at 8:02 pm
Hi Bob,
We had sun then clouds then sun again. It turned out to be a good day. The night is already feeling cooler, down to 67˚ with showers. Rain is predicted for most of the week including thunderstorms tomorrow.
Scents are supposed to be the biggest trigger of memories. I remember Plimouth Plantation and the aroma of wood fires brought me right back to mornings in Ghana.
The oldest visual memories of my houses are also monochrome memories. The closer we get to now, the more color appears in my memories of houses and rooms.
It is strange, the human mind.
July 11, 2021 at 7:51 pm
I took a trip down memory lane yesterday, my old university and the botanical garden. Many familiar spots, some new buildings. The building where I studied most of the time is empty now, they will tear it down soon. Back then I used to read the newspaper at a frog pond about 2-3 times a week, it’s gone but another pond with tertiary-like plants is finished now. Very impressive. The botanical garden was closed for quite some time due to corona and it will probably be closed again soon, the 4th corona wave has already started.
July 11, 2021 at 8:16 pm
Birgit,
I always think it a bit sad to find places where I spent my time have disappeared. Our spot during college was torn down and is now a Seven Eleven. My college is so much bigger I am amazed. New buildings are all over the place. It now has a graduate school which the school didn’t have when I was there. Other buildings have been repurposed.
Covid is rearing its ugly head here but mostly in the Southern states, Trump bastions, with extremely low vaccinated rates. Closed Covid wards have reopened and expanded. In Mississippi, for example, only 3.19% were fully vaccinated as of July 7 while here it was 70%.
Many of the unvaccinated believe that the vaccines contain tracking bots. Others believe that DNA is altered and girls won’t be able to have children. It is sad.
July 11, 2021 at 10:13 pm
About 45% are fully vaccinated here, many are still waiting for a shot within the next months. Most kids don’t have a chance. Too many people just gave up to get a date because it’s too complicated and rules changed quite often. The now dominating variant already riots in the nearby Netherlands so we know what to expect.
Similar myths here, we copy every bad idea including Trump-like corona policies and lies. You get sick when you come near to a vaccinated person is currently one of the most dangerous conspiracies because it keeps them in a like-minded bubble. The perfect group that can be exploited by fascists for their own agenda as we can see here and also in your country.
July 11, 2021 at 10:36 pm
Kids twelve and over are eligible for the vaccine here. My grandnephew is 14 and has already had his. All schools must open this fall. My grandnephew is thrilled as his school closed down so many times last year because of covid. Now, only the unvaccinated have to wear masks.
Trump’s anti-mask rhetoric is damaging as his acolytes mimic all his stupidity. Roughly 900 Secret Service agents got covid. Trump doesn’t allow anyone in his orbit to wear a mask. He perpetuates his own myths. All he had to do was show himself and the Mrs. getting their shots. That would have saved so many people especially the people dying now from the variants. Trump blames Antifa for January 6th. He is a dangerous idiot.
July 12, 2021 at 1:57 am
Yesterday was cool and cloudy, this morning has been cold and sunny. The cold will soon change towards warm and tomorrow will be hot. So we better enjoy today as much as possible 🙂
I do remember every place I’ve lived in, included summer cottages. Not that many to nremember though 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
July 13, 2021 at 1:24 am
HI Christer,
I loved the morning fog but the chill was more fall than summer. We did have those hot days so I guess I’m happier with being cold. The next few days are not going to be all that warm.
I haven’t lived in all so many places. The big move was here to the cape where I still am.