Archive for February 2025
Bad to the Bone: George Thorogood And The Destroyers
February 8, 2025Dem Bones: Delta Rhythm Boys
February 8, 2025
”The dry grasses are not dead for me. A beautiful form has as much life at one season as another.”
February 8, 2025Snow is predicted starting tonight, our first real snow of the winter. Five inches are possible. I have pre-snow chores and errands before I hunker down. Mostly I need animal stuff, things like bird seed, ice melt safe for the dogs and a few of cans of dog food. As for this human, I only need cream for my coffee, but I’m also thinking a bit of chocolate, maybe a whoopie pie.
I wouldn’t have thought snow is predicted. Today is pretty with a light blue sky and muted sun. It is cold, but it is February, our coldest, snowiest month.
Where I lived in Ghana was the hottest part of the country. We had two seasons, the rainy and the dry. This time of year, the harmattan, had the worst weather. The days were the hottest, the nights the coldest. The air was dry and dusty from sand blown down from the Sahara. It looked like brown fog and made for poor visibility so even driving was difficult. I remember getting a deep cough from all that dust. My students called it a catarrh. My lips and feet cracked. I’d line my shower room walls with filled buckets of water for bucket baths as the water was often turned off. The nights were cold. I loved feeling cold and snuggling under a wool blanket on my bed. That same blanket is folded on the back part of my couch. I never realized back then how really scratchy it is.
The harmattan had some advantages. The mosquitos disappeared. Laundry dried quickly. There was less humidity and less sweat. I remember passing compounds and seeing corn and onions spread out so they could dry and last longer.
The disadvantages outweighed the advantages. It never rained. Everything was dried and brown. The surfaces in my house were covered in dust, always, even after being cleaned. The market had fewer fruits and vegetables. I had my fill of tomatoes and onions. I’d have to take bucket baths as there was often no water for my shower. I did get quite adept at using only half a bucket.
There were family compounds in the field behind my house. During the dry season, with no farming, they worked on the compounds fixing the clay walls and the thatched roofs. During the night, we could hear drums and sometimes the stamping of feet as they danced the traditional FraFra dance. I always felt lucky to live in the Upper Region where tradition was always respected. Once in a while I’d even dance.
I always felt lucky to live in the Upper Region where tradition was always respected. Once in a while I’d even dance.
When I Fall in Love: The Lettermen
February 7, 2025Slip Away: Clarence Carter
February 7, 2025Slip Sliding Away: Paul Simon
February 7, 2025Funny How Time Slips Away: Willie Nelson
February 7, 2025
”Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.”
February 7, 2025The wind is strong. Even the highest scrub pine branches are swaying. The sky is a light blue. It is warm and sunny, 41° warm. That’s a good thing as last night got cold and everything is icy. I had to take minced steps to keep from falling when I got the paper and the mail. Tomorrow we’ll have snow as many as 5 inches. Mother Nature is gaslighting us again.
When I was a kid, I loved the snow, even if we didn’t have a snow day. I’d sled all day if I could. I remember my mittens would get clumps of snow stuck to the wool. The mittens would get heavy and flop from the weight. I’d shake them but the clumps stuck. When I went inside, I’d put my mittens on the radiator to dry. They steamed.
My favorite comfort food back then was tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. The soup was thick. The sandwich oozed Velvetta. The bread, Wonder Bread of course, was browned in the frying pan, a cask iron pan. Dunking the sandwich was the best part.
I remember the lunch boxes we’d buy every fall for the new school year. They were character lunch boxes. I remember my Mickey Mouse Club lunch box. The Musketeers were wearing their talent roundup cowboy clothes. My brother had Davy Crockett. When I was in the fourth grade, my lunch box had a tartan design. I had grown passed characters. In another year or two I didn’t use lunchboxes. I used brown paper bags.
We walked everywhere, to school and back and all over town on the weekends. Back then, most families had only one car. My father took ours to work every day. My mother didn’t drive. She grocery shopped on Friday nights so my father could take her. If she needed something during the week, she’d send one of us to the corner store. Mostly it was for bread and milk.
Walking in the rain to school was the worst. My hair would get wet, and my shoes would bubble at the toes from all the water. I’d take a while to dry. In the afternoon, cars would line up to collect kids. I’d hope for a neighbor in the line. Usually there wasn’t. I’d get home and put my shoes under the radiator to dry. They always got stiff and would curl.
Walking in the snow was magical. I’d look up to watch the flakes and would catch some with my tongue. I’d run and slide on the sidewalk and leave skid marks. We’d have a contest to see who could slide the furthest. Falling disqualified you. I was often disqualified.
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