Keep the Coffee Comimg

Today is sweatshirt weather despite the sun. Every now and then the breeze is almost a wind. It is 59˚ and will get colder, down to 47˚ tonight. The sun will disappear. Rain is predicted for tonight and the rest of the weekend. Today I start staying home until Monday except for a dump run, probably on Sunday. The cape will be inundated with tourists for the long weekend. Everything is booked. Even my absent neighbors who live in New York are down for the weekend.

Today I’m going to finish a task which has been on my to-do list the longest, sort through my vinyl. I know there are some I bought when I was in high school and college. Now that I have a turntable I want to hear my records again.

When I was a kid, my mother had a hifi. It was her prize possession. She used it all the time. I remember it was brown, and my father bought it for her when he got a bonus at work. She kept her pile of records beside it. I remember a Frank Sinatra or maybe a couple of Frank Sinatra’s. She was a fan. My mother transitioned to cassettes when she a got a cassette recorder for Christmas one year. We bought her the same albums she had on vinyl, but my mother didn’t stop there. She was given a CD player. Her Christmas presents were not a secret that year.

The deck lights are up, set 4 or 5. I’ve lost track. Last night I didn’t need the back door light, and neither did Henry. The small white lights strung down the bannister cast plenty of light. I did a bit of research before I put them outside. Into Google went my request for what will deter spawns of Satan though I did have to call them squirrels for the hunt. Peppermint oil was the answer, a great answer. I could use a natural deterrent. The spawns hate the scent of the peppermint. I ordered from Amazon and had it the next day. The scent of the peppermint was almost delicious as I sprayed the wires up and down. I’m going to use apple cider vinegar from a spray bottle on the feeders and the deck rail. Spawns hate it and it is safe for birds, the peppermint isn’t. I learned a lot.

Most places will not demand masks starting tomorrow. The covid orders have been rescinded here. It has been a long run.

Every day is beautiful. I wake up to sun and blue sky. Henry goes out, and I follow him to the deck and stand in the sun and the warmth. It will be a hot day, a still day, in the mid 70’s, but tonight it will drop to the 50’s and usher in a bit of cold weather. It rained during the night, not much though. I knew it rained only because I could see where the drops fell in the pollen. They made sort of a weird design on the deck.

Being alone so much has been getting to me. My patience is on the short end. Henry hides upstairs. He is tired of listening to me. Jack just sleeps. I tell both of them everything much to their dismay. They even look bored. I do miss people and conversation.

When I was a kid, I loved walking to school on days like today. The mornings still had a bit of chill but not so much we needed sweaters though my mother insisted. The walk was easy. It was down the hill, around the field then a straightaway to school. We’d hang in the schoolyard until a nun came outside and rang the bell. It was a hand bell in those days. We’d run and get into our lines grade by grade. Nuns needed order. In the classrooms there were usually at least 40 of us. Despite that, it was quiet. No one dared talk and bring down the wrath of the nun in front of the room who, despite her wimple, saw everything. Nuns were endowed with superhuman powers.

Cheeseburgers are on my top ten list of foods. I sometimes add tomatoes but not lettuce. I like mayo on my burgers. The cheese changes. Lately it has been Monterey Jack. Hot dogs are my go to food when I haven’t wanted to cook anything which isn’t quick and easy. I actually ate a salad the other day, one which came prepared. My system had no idea what it was. Even Henry, the chow hound, turned up his nose. He is more of a fruit fan.

I have to go out today for the third time this week. That is a record for me.

Last night I lost electricity. 74 other houses also went dark according to the electric company. The television, the light in the den and the light in the kitchen went dark with a finality. I thought I heard a bang. I went and got the lantern from the kitchen then sat back on the couch. Henry immediately leapt on the couch and sat beside me. His whole body was shaking. I put my arm around him, spoke quietly and patted him. It took a while, but he stopped shaking and sighed as he laid down. I hated to move from Henry, but in a bit I had to go to the bathroom. I swear Henry walked so closely behind me he stepped on my slipper. I then went to the front door because I thought I saw lights at my neighbor’s house. I did, three of them, but they were outside, solar I suspect. Later, I thought I heard a truck so I opened the front door. An electric company truck was at the end of the road. Henry didn’t follow me to the door, and though I was gone only a couple of minutes, he was shaking when I returned to the couch, but he did take the cookies I had brought for him. The lights were out for over three hours. 

Yesterday I put Mason jars on the deck rail right outside the door. The tops of the jars have a solar disk and inside each is a small sets of lights. I turned them on and left them. Last night all but one of them was lit. They looked beautiful so bright in the darkness, such lovely lights.

Today is May on Cape Cod. The sun is shining. When I look out my window, I can see the leaves on the oak tree glinting in the sun and blowing in the breeze. The sky is blue and cloudy with white wispy clouds. It is 62˚ but feels a bit colder because of the breeze. The high today will be 64˚.

When I was a kid, I don’t remember bad days. I remember bad moments, bad hours and bad things happening to me, but the badness came and went. I had a bad day yesterday. I was close to tears over several things. I dropped and broke a favorite dish from Ghana. It had been a gift from my sister. The trash bag split at the seam on its way to the car. The cat box was disgusting even though I clean it every day. It was the litter itself which was gross. I went to eat a scone. It had a bit of mold. One leg of my favorite around the house pants tore, actually wore away. That comes from me resting my elbows on the tops of my legs when I type at the table. The loss of electricity was next, three hours of darkness and a shaking dog, poor Henry.

That brings me to today. I had an English muffin for breakfast but the best part was the butter: Bosc pear butter with nutmeg and vanilla. That butter was so delicious I wanted to eat it from the jar with a spoon but adulthood crashed my dream, and I put the butter longingly away; however, I’m thinking I want another English muffin slathered with that pear butter. Maybe I’ll use a spoon. Today is a good day so far.

Bob Dylan turned 80 years old today. I sort of went overboard with the number of songs posted, and I could have kept going, but I had to finish some time. These songs are among my favorites. I remember I had a cassette of Dylan’s greatest hits, the first release, and I played it in my car over and over. While I listened, I banged the steering wheel to the beat. I never tired of that album.

Happy Birthday and thank you, Bob, from Coffee!

Yesterday I ran into traffic everywhere on my way. I was in a line to get over the bridge. I was in bumper to bumper traffic in weird spots on the road. I was strangely patient during the first few lines of traffic and just sang along with the radio and kept the beat on the steering wheel. What caused a bit of cursing, a big bit of cursing, was nothing was there at the end of the traffic jams, not stopped cars, not state troopers and not accidents. It was a good thing I had given myself extra time. At the wake, I chatted with my cousins who number in the thousands. I hadn’t seen most of them in a long time. We are a family of huggers.

Yesterday was August hot. It was over 90˚ outside of Boston. The cape was a bit cooler but still hot. When I got home, the house was 74˚ so I opened windows then shut them once the house got cooler. It is pollen season.

Today is another lovely day and is only 62˚, the high for the day. This weather is May.

Yesterday I drove through the square of the town where I grew up. When I was a kid, that small town was my whole world. It always seemed huge to me. Uptown was filled with stores. My favorite was Woolworth’s where even a dime had great spending power. I remember Woolworth’s had old wooden floors which creaked when I walked on them. The comic books were upfront. The toys were in an aisle on the right. I can close my eyes and remember the square and Main Street from the fish market all the way to the post office. Some of the wonderfully old buildings have been demolished including the cobbler’s, one of my favorite spots. I still remember he always wore a sort of dirty white bib apron. I miss watching the lobsters in the fish market’s window. I miss drug stores with fountains, especially the Middlesex Drug Store. It was beautiful inside and had a marble topped counter. They made the best vanilla cokes. The movie theater is still in the square. It had become derelict but was bought and saved years back. It looks pretty much the same from the outside but has been converted inside to present live theater. The snack bar sells upscale snacks. I can’t get Good and Plenty or a Sugar Daddy anymore. What has this world become?

I am going off cape now. I have decided to go for the wake today rather than the funeral tomorrow. That way I will get more of a chance to talk with my cousins and my sister Moe who flew in last night from Colorado. I haven’t seen Moe or the cousins for a long time. I tend to stay home.

Uncle Jack was a good guy.

The morning is cloudy and damp. It rained a few drops at the wrong time for me, not unexpectedly. That’s just the way it is some days. Anyway, I was watching Henry from inside the back door. He was wandering in the yard almost out of sight so I opened the door wider to see him and saw a deceased baby spawn on one back step. I had never seen a baby spawn before this morning. I felt bad that this one will never grow up to drive me crazy and eat my bird seed. I picked it up in paper towels and tossed it out of the yard. I can’t think Henry is to blame though he is the only one. Usually Henry is a quick outside and back inside. I know because I have to open the door. I couldn’t leave the spawn in my yard even buried. Henry has quite the smelling ability. Okay, as for the rain, it started to rain just as I found the deceased, and it rained while I sent him to his great reward outside my fence. When I got to the back door, the rain stopped. It’s a weird day already.

I went out to get my papers this morning and met a neighbor from a couple of streets over. She said I was early. She was right. She has been tossing my papers into the yard whenever she finds them by the car. She said she knew I had a bad back. She’s right though I don’t know how she knew. She complimented me on my Red Sox sweatshirt and said she was a fan. We finally introduced ourselves then she returned to her walk. It was nice to meet a neighbor.

I actually have breakfast items. My larder has English muffins and cranberry-orange scones, both unopened. This morning I had my two cups of coffee but wasn’t hungry. Perhaps I’ll make a lunch sandwich with the English muffin and some turkey.

The weather report is for cool temperatures and down to the 50’s tonight. Yesterday we were nearly 30 degrees colder than Boston. Today it will be the same. It is 62˚ right now. I’ll be home all day as I haven’t any need to be out.

I almost brought my laundry downstairs. I gave it a look as I walked by the basket but then I kept walking. The time to do laundry is getting closer. First comes the look then comes the hauling then finally the washing, the drying and the folding.

PS. Sebastien came to turn on my irrigation and open the outdoor shower. In the yard, we found another deceased spawn. That excludes Henry. Sebastien thinks it could be a bird tossing out the babies to take the nest. Jack just rolled off the table. I’m living in a B science fiction movie.

Today is cooler than it has been, and there are clouds to hide the sun in a sort of peek-a-boo game. The breeze is now and then and is strong at times. I’m back to wearing my sweatshirt.

My to do list isn’t. I’ve decided that holding myself to completing tasks on a list is too much pressure. If I happen to see something and I’m in the mood, I’ll clean it, move it or toss it. It is just one of those days.

Today, I am a risk taker. I am going to pull down the dead deck lights and give the spawns new targets by putting up another set of lights. Henry misses the deck lights and will not go out at night unless I turn on the porch light. Today, I am a realist so I’m going to order a couple of sets of lights from Amazon to keep on hand.

The other night I had to go to the car. My street is quite dark: no streetlights, few neighbors. Usually I just put on the front light, but it is broken, hanging from the socket. I opened the front door, surveyed the yard and decided it was too dark to make a run to the car, but I have a Coleman lantern. My friends gave it to me one Christmas. I keep it in the kitchen. Anyway, the other night, I lit the lamp and used it to light my way to the car. I felt like Florence Nightingale, the lady with the lamp. My mind is curious at times, actually strange at times, and it does hold far too many useless facts. Remembering Florence is an example. I don’t even know when last I thought about Florence Nightingale, but there she was popping into my head as I walked with my lamp held in front of me. It was a mini time warp.

When I was a kid, time just sort of moved without too much notice. Every week was the same so the weeks mostly ran together. Some weeks were highlighted by days like Christmas and Thanksgiving but time ran fast all around them. I’d lose track and wouldn’t catch up until spring when the world and I sort of woke up together. I walked faster in the mornings buoyed by the sun. I longed for after school, for playtime, for bike riding. The passing of the days mattered the warmer it got. Counting the days slowed down time. I understood the watched pot. About this time of year, we’d be about two weeks or just a bit more away from summer vacation. Those two weeks took months.

The blue sky extends forever and the sun is bright and warm. I have ditched my sweatshirt. I’m in summer t-shirt mode. Yesterday I cleaned the dining room. I’m talking moving furniture and clearing the webs of time. During the cleaning, I’d stop and sit down and figure I’d done enough then I’d get up and do more. I’m back to cleaning a room a day, downstairs. I close my eyes when I get upstairs where both bedroom are messy and cluttered. One room is the cats’ mess. The other is my mess. The to do list which first had cleaning upstairs on it is now brittle and yellowed. I keep adding upstairs to new lists as sort of a homage.

I’m living in a Goldilocks’ dilemma. Such is my life now. Last week my favorite coffee cup broke, one I’d been using for years. Since then I have been on a quest to replace that cup and have had no success. The first couple of cups were too small. Today’s cup was too big and too heavy. My cabinet is filled with cups. This could take a while.

I do need to go out today, the second time this week. One more time will be a new record. I have retired my previous outside clothes to the growing pile of laundry. They served me well.

My uncle died yesterday, my favorite uncle. He was my mother’s younger brother, ten years younger than she and ten years older than I. Uncle Jack loved Bing Crosby and fancied himself a bit of a Bing. When I was in Ghana, my sister sent me a mixed tape of songs off the radio. I played it as soon as I got it, and what a surprise I had. Right in the middle of the radio songs was my Uncle Jack singing. I loved it. My sister later told me he had asked what she was doing and then asked for the mike. On most Fridays, my Uncle Jack was at my parents’ house. They played card games, sang and had a few drinks. If my phone rang on a Friday around 1 or 2 AM, I knew who it was. I’d pick up the phone and say hello. My Uncle Jack would say, “Leenie,” his nickname for me, from Kathleen, and then start singing. I dearly loved my Uncle Jack.

Today is of those days, a good one of those days. I woke up to a warm, sunny morning. The coffee was delicious, from Peru I think. The papers were filled with the CDC announcement about masks. I finished the crossword puzzle but not the cryptogram. I took my time. It just feels like that sort of a day, a day to take it easy, a day meant to be enjoyed.

I was busy yesterday. I cleaned down the dusty, covered in pet fur stairs then gave them a quick wipe. I continued to work on the kitchen grout. I vacuumed the living room and the dining room. I didn’t mind. I’ve also been relocating stuff from the den. It will always be cluttered but maybe less cluttered. It was a satisfying day.

When I’m on the computer, the TV is also on but it can’t be on a program needing watching. I often get lost on the computer reading strange information I happened upon or doing a jigsaw puzzle or hunting recipes. All of a sudden it could be an hour later so I usually put on a movie or program I knew well so I can lose it but pick it up anywhere. I’m watching Star Trek: The Voyage Home, one of my favorites. I know a lot of the lines.

When I was a kid, I wasn’t all that moody. I saved that for my teen years. I was happy or sad or angry or some feeling in between. I didn’t know the word boredom, but I used to complain there was nothing to do. In school, my feelings were mostly on idle. It was just sit and learn and be quiet unless asked a question. It was only in the school yard at recess when we could let go. There was screaming and yelling and running. That was when I punched the kid. That was an angry me who would reappear years later but only once, a story for another day.

For the last year I have been by myself dealing with myself and have become quite familiar with all my different moods. There are days when I can’t bring myself to do anything. Those are my least favorite days. Yesterday I got so much done, a favorite day. Today I am celebrating my industry of yesterday. I feel almost buoyant. The sun is absolutely beautiful. The little breeze is just right. Everything is a bright green, even my car covered with pollen. My house looks clean, especially the stairs which seem always to be dusty. Even the hall is clean of dust. I’m so enjoying today.