“It is in moments of shadow that illumination happens.”
My view of life has changed a bit in the last year. The immediacy is gone. My life mostly meanders. I do have appointments and some events, but they are either short or far apart in time, on purpose, but this past week has been an anomaly. I was out Tuesday early evening, Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon. It was (I know this is bad grammar, but I like it) me and my uke. I’m really not very good, but I can play all the songs. I do not play a few chords, ones which use all four fingers, but I know most chords. Playing with the group in public is making me a better player. As for now: I am idle today. I was idle yesterday, and I will be idle tomorrow. I do have one errand today: the dogs need treats. That’s it. I might buy myself some ice cream. I haven’t had any in a long while.
Ice cream and summer naturally occur together. Ice cream and its offshoots, especially popsicles, are cooling to eat or lick under the hot sun. My favorite popsicle has always been root beer. If no root beer, I’ll languish a minute or two and then get wild cherry. I have too many favorite ice creams to list. I go on a kick where for the longest time I get the same flavor. Once it was mint chocolate chip. I also like coffee chip, my recent favorite. It seems all of my favorites have chips. Anyway, I want ice cream.
I have noticed when my frustration at summer traffic changes. When I am in a line of traffic, I wish I weren’t, but I know I’m stuck at the light or construction or whatever, but I am only impatient. When I am behind a car slowly driving and sightseeing, I go crazy. My language changes. Much of it would be bleeped. I go way passed impatient. The only solution is often to change my route. I know my way around the side roads. The tourist car seemingly does not. I feel a sense of triumph when I leave the tourist behind.
The lights in my house sometimes trigger memories for me. That probably sounds a bit odd, but I notice it in summer. The lights in the den, on the table in the living room and over the kitchen sink are lit. There are shadows. Both doors are open. Outside, beyond my front door, everything is dark. Once in a while a car goes by on the street next to mine. I always can hear it at night.
You know my most vivid memories of another home, another place where I lived, are of Ghana. Most of my nights during those two years were spent in my house on the school grounds. It was the last house next to the back gate, a new house. It had four inside rooms. Most nights I stayed in my living room reading, listening to music, maybe writing letters or preparing lessons until bedtime always an early bedtime. I remember the light in my living room. The naked light bulb hung from the center of the ceiling. I made a lamp shade out of a Bolga basket by cutting out the bottom of it and adding pieces of metal hangers to go around the bulb. That worked. The harsh light was diffused. There were shadows.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
July 24, 2021 at 4:32 pm
Hi Kat,
The last 17 months have been terrible for everyone. The lockdown, my being furloughed for three months and the entire anti-vaccination idiocy is driving us crazy. Please god, strike down all the anti-vaccination nuts with severe Covid-19 including everyone on Fox News or spreading ant-vaccine lies. 🙂
This afternoon we are only at 96°. However, tomorrow the temperature should hit triple digits for the first time this year. That’s only 37.78° Celsius which sounds much cooler. 🙂
Since moving only three miles from my work, I’ve completely forgotten about traffic. I get to and from work in about seven minutes. Since the height of the lockdown last year traffic has increased considerably for the rest of the DFW Metroplex. The traffic has been very slightly diminished due to some folks who are still working from home. I realize that your local traffic increases exponentially in the summer due to tourists. Was your local traffic reduced much last summer due to the pandemic?
I would have had great difficulty living in Ghana as you did in the Peace Corps. I consider “Motel 6” roughing it. 🙂 I hate the idea of going camping for a vacation along with both hunting and fishing. I was not a great Boy Scout and only joined up for the uniforms. 🙂
July 24, 2021 at 5:36 pm
Bob, we lived in another town far south of Bolga where Kat lived, for our first year in Ghana. Our flat was on the second floor of a two-story house, with no running water, no sink, no toilet, no kitchen sink or countertop. Our facilities were a full flight down to the courtyard below. Plastic buckets were the norm. Every afternoon after classes I came home and carried buckets of water
from the tap down the road. My wife was pregnant at the time (1970).We did what we had to do. We had no preconceived ideas before we entered Peace Corps.
When we moved north next to Kat, our house had a functioning toilet and outdoor tap. We were in the lap of luxury.
July 24, 2021 at 6:03 pm
Bill,
I aways wondered why you did all the work yourself. Labor was cheap. I’m glad you got to live the life of leisure in Bolga.
July 24, 2021 at 7:03 pm
That’s simply archaic. I didn’t think the Peace Corps. would provide 5 Star accommodations, but that was Medieval. Did your wife deliver in Ghana?
July 24, 2021 at 6:01 pm
Hi Bob,
I know I can go out more, but I do enjoy the comforts of home. I am enjoying the Sox game right now. The air is cool enough for no AC, and there is a nice breeze. It is a pretty night.
We never hit 80˚. It stayed in the mid 70;s. Boston has had heat waves, but we haven’t had one yet. I’m fine with that.
I only lived 4 miles from work so the 8 miles round trip were perfect for walking. When I used my car, it was a pretty ride. I rode over the bridge across the river and also passed by the golf course.
I had electricity and mostly running water though less so in the dry season, but there were difficulties to master. It was the hottest, least developed and poorest part of the country. It actually still is. My students wondered why we chose to live there when many Ghanaians did not. I loved living there.
July 24, 2021 at 8:01 pm
Yes, two babies two years apart.
Obviously the Peace Corps is not for everyone. Some volunteers still did live in mud huts with a hole in the ground for a toilet, and limited electricity. It was a real eye opener, but we loved it. No TV, no cell phones, limited Voice of America and BBC. I don’t know too many Americans who would have accepted our way of life.
July 24, 2021 at 8:33 pm
Bill,
We loved our lives in Ghana despite what we didn’t have. (I didn’t even have Voice of America or BBC). I never thought much about what I was missing. I had plenty.
July 25, 2021 at 5:09 am
Hi Kat,
Waving Hello. I had Ice cream and Cookies for lunch, and Pizza for Breakfast. I love your stories and pictures of Ghana.
Time for sleep.
Lori and Ms. Cookie
July 25, 2021 at 1:12 pm
Waving back!
I had cookies for dinner, no ice cream. That’s for today. I’m glad you like the stories I love telling.