”When exhausted and feeling sorry for yourself, at least change your socks.”
Mother Nature is using clickbait. When I look out the window, I see another lovely sunlit day with a cloudless blue sky. When I go outside, I wish I was wearing layers. It is 27°. Tonight will be between 15° and 20°, and tomorrow will be the same.
When I cut onions, I always cry. Why is it that no TV cook ever cries? What am I missing? I actually bought an onion mask. It didn’t work. I cried in the mask. I then decided to look up solutions. If I cut onions with a strong fan facing me, I’d be cry-less. Also, I could cut them under running water. That, though, seems a bit dangerous at least for me. The best solution was to submerge the onions in a bowl of water to cut them. That’s the one I’ll try.
Last night, while talking to my friend, she asked me how I was doing. I told her I was bland. She laughed, but it is the perfect word to describe me right now. I think February did it to me.
When I was a kid, I always went to Sunday mass. Sometimes I went with my father, the usher, to an early mass. He ushered at the 8 o’clock. Other times, I’d walk to a later mass. My church had an upstairs and a downstairs. The upstairs was the main church. I preferred the downstairs. The mass was quicker there with no sermon. I was into obligation, not reverence.
My father always carried a white handkerchief. My mother used to iron them. He’d carry one in the back pocket of his suit pants. He was a loud blower, especially in the mornings. I used to think it was gross to use a handkerchief. My father always said it was stronger than Kleenex.
My socks have holes. That used to drive my mother crazy. When I was a kid, she’d toss the holey socks away. I keep them. No one sees the holes. Mostly, one big toe breaks through. The socks also wear at the heels. I turn the holey part under my toe when I put my shoes on. I walk on the lump. I do buy new socks but I wait for more holes.
My father was a great believer in the magical properties of Vicks. He had a Vicks sweatshirt, one he’d wear every time he lathered himself. My parents’ living room always smelled of Vicks during the winter. When I visited, if I even sniffled, he’d tell me to use the Vicks. I didn’t. It was that smell.
Today will be a quiet day. I have a long to do list, but it will wait. I’m ordering a grocery delivery. I’ll water my plants and put the trash in the trunk for later in the week. My sloth is clapping my inactivity.
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March 2, 2025 at 10:18 pm
Hi Kat,
Today was another beautiful day with a high of only 76° it was a little breezy. This evening we received a little rain.
I haven’t sliced an onion in years so I have forgotten about the tears.
I nor my father carried handkerchiefs. My dad always had a pocket sized package of Kleenex in is pocket. I just keep a supply of paper napkins from various restaurants in my car. At work we have a cafeteria and I keep a supply of their napkins on my desk. My nose goes for free rather than soft.
When my socks develop holes, I throw them out. I only wear black for work and white crew socks for everything else. If one develops a hole, the others always match.
I had a student who was an eye doctor, an MD. He treated me for glasses and contacts he was the only physician I had except for my AME, (Airman Medical Examiner). If you’re a pilot you want to keep him and your real doctor separate. He once told me when I had the flu, that real home made chicken soup works. He told me he had a professor of internal medicine who did a study on chicken soup, and discovered that it contains all the correct electrolytes required by your body when you have a cold or the flu. He also said that many of grandma’s home made remedies worked. Or else they would have died out. Maybe your father knew that Vic’s worked. Or, maybe not.
March 2, 2025 at 10:44 pm
Hi Bob,
It is so cold to-night at 24°. The dogs come inside with the coldest fur. My heat keeps blasting.
I really like onions, and one of my favorite dinners is baby potatoes and onions with some sort of meat, lately chicken but also sausage and herbs.
I think my father thought Kleenex was more trouble than a handkerchief. Wet Kleenex tends to shred and where would he throw away that Kleenex?
I have a variety of socks, and I have socks for most holidays. I don’t even think I own a pair of white socks, but I do own a couple of pairs of black, but I can’t mix and match, different textures.
I also read an article about the healing properties of chicken soup. When I was sick after Christmas, friends brought over chicken soup. It did make me feel better, especially from its warmth.
My father swore by Vicks which is half the battle. Sometimes it is the believing!