Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
February 15, 2018
Last night it rained. I heard it when I was in bed, and it was still raining when I fell asleep. Today is the aftermath of the rain, a cloudy, dismal and damp day. I’m glad I have nowhere to go.
The furnace was fixed by the time my house was down to 56˚. Maddie stayed beside me on a section of the afghan. Her fur was chilly to the touch. It didn’t take long for the furnace to start blowing that wonderful hot air.
My arm still hurts. I yelp out loud. The worst was on Tuesday when I ordered food delivery, clam chowder and a BLT. I couldn’t get the top off the chowder. I tried to do it one handedly. The top didn’t move. I tried my scissors but my left hand had no idea how to use scissors. I finally used a church key. That worked. I have learned I am totally inept without my right arm. I have an appointment with an orthopedic doctor on Tuesday.
When I was a kid, we did duck and cover to protect ourselves from an atomic blast. We ducked under our desks or against the walls in the corridor. When I started teaching in the high school, we did fire drills. We left our belongings in our rooms and followed the arrows outside. We waited for the all call to go back inside. The drills were timed. Much later we did shelter in place drills. The teachers locked doors, put out the lights, drew the blinds, covered the door window and directed students to go to the safest spots in the classrooms. They then waited for the all clear. Kids did what they were supposed to but many didn’t take the drills all that seriously. Needing them seemed remote. That’s no longer the case. Schools have become targets. Since Columbine, 150,000 students in 170 schools have experienced school gun violence. President Trump has continued to say mass shootings are a “mental-health problem,” not a gun problem yet he signed a measure into law that rescinded an Obama-era rule aimed at blocking gun sales to certain mentally ill people. He rescinded the law because it violated due process. I don’t know what to say except it only happens here.
Categories: Musings
Tags: church key, cold, damp, dismal, doctor, duck and cover, due process, fire drill, furnance, guns, orthopedic, rain, right arm, school shooting, shelter in place, yelps
Comments: 6 Comments
February 13, 2018
Okay , I am crying uncle. I can’t take it anymore. My furnace is not working. On New Year’s the guy who fixed my furnace then told me a part was going soon. On the bill, he listed the part. Well, I presume that is the part which has died. I called four furnace maintenance companies. One couldn’t come until tomorrow. Another never answered. The third company wanted a message. I hit gold on the fourth. I’m on the board for service. I have no idea how long that will take, but I’m on the board!
I dread whatever is coming next. First was the furnace, then it was my Gracie, Maddie being sick was next, my fracture was the fourth and now it is the furnace again.
I wasn’t going to write anything today as my arm is quite painful. I couldn’t even do the crossword puzzle in today ‘s paper. Typing is difficult. I keep hitting the keyboard and the spacebar with my pseudo cast, and I’m typing the wrong letters so I’m taking a break today (notice the pun). I’ll be back on Thursday if all goes well.
Categories: Musings
Comments: 16 Comments
February 12, 2018
The rain started yesterday morning and continued into this morning. It was at times gentle and at other times fierce torrents. Puddles formed in the lower parts of some roads. The cars in front of me alerted me to the puddles and I drove slowly. One puddle was so high it was almost up to the top of my tires. The cape has no sewer systems so the rain has nowhere to go. Yesterday afternoon I had to brave the deluge and run to my car. I got soaked. I sat there just a bit when all of a sudden there was a clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning. I love thunder storms
Last night the wind was tremendous, and the rain pounded my roof. Had I been Noah, I would have hoped the ark was ready.
I did go to the dump yesterday during a lull from the heavy rain; however, as my luck would have it, the rain started just as I got to the first recycle bin. But the guy there told me to stay in my car, and I did. Next stop was the trash bins. I unloaded my trunk and asked the guy there to throw them in the bins as the bags were too heavy for me to do that. Why were they too heavy you might ask. I have the answer.
Almost two weeks ago I slid out my door and fell. I used my right hand to brace myself when my left foot went sliding. I sat on the step a while until my leg and my hand mostly stopped hurting. Well, they never really did stop hurting. Sleeping has been intermittent. The pain from movement wakes me up as do my own groans. It took a couple of days before I could use my hand. The swelling mostly went down. The problem was I couldn’t lift any thing with that hand, and I had to find a comfortable position so it didn’t hurt. Saturday and Sunday my hand was so painful I decided to have it checked. I went to Urgent Care where I had x-rays. I have a fracture. That totally surprised me. The doctor wants me to see an ortho in case I need surgery. My hand is now encased in one of those velcro sorts of casts. I’ll call my doctor for a referral.
This is the first time I ever remember sliding. I am the falling sort. I guess I have falling down pat as I haven’t ever been hurt. Now I’ll have to work on sliding.
Categories: Musings
Tags: deluge, puddles, rain, thunder and lightning, torrents
Comments: 27 Comments
February 11, 2018
Today is a dismal dark day. The rain started last night around eleven, and it’s still raining. The weather report says rain on and off for most of the day. The only saving grace is the warmth. It is 47˚. I have to go to the dump. I’m thinking it will be quiet. The rain keeps people away.
When I was a kid, I mostly walked to church on Sundays. Sometimes, though, I’d go with my father to an early mass where he was an usher. I always wished I was an usher, but only men were ushers. My father stood in the back of the church waiting until the right time to pass his basket. He never kneeled. The baskets were at the end of a long pole which reached to the halfway point of the pew. My father would pass the basket then move to the other side of the church to get the rest of the pew. I always had a dime for the offering. After church my dad bought his paper from the guy in front of the church who was always there. The guy had a gray cart with a cover so he could protect his papers from the rain. After that my father and I sometimes went to get donuts to bring home. My father only ate plain donuts which he buttered. He’d also buy jelly, lemon and glazed donuts. I loved butternut, but he never remembered. My father kept with the traditional donuts. It made choosing easy.
I love eggs and their versatility. My favorite breakfast is two eggs over easy, crispy bacon and toast, usually rye. Eggs are often dinner for me, and once in a while I make an egg salad, but only if I have celery and lettuce to add as egg salad by itself is a bit bland. I love deviled eggs. My mother made them for all her barbecues, and my friend Clare often does the same. Most people have a favorite recipe for potato salad, but for just about every recipe, eggs are a critical ingredient. Coloring Easter eggs is a family tradition. You not only get to decorate the hard-boiled eggs but you also get to eat them.
St. Patrick’s drill team used to take part in the Halloween parade in Woburn, a town next to my own. We all hated marching in it because during the parade we’d get egged. I remember getting hit in the leg and having the egg slide down into my boot. It was gross marching on shells and uncooked eggs. I was glad when the decision was made not to march.
In Ghana I was close up and personal with eggs. I had chickens, and I also bought eggs in the market and sometimes from some small girls selling door to door. If I wasn’t careful in buying the eggs, I’d sometimes crack an egg the chicken had sat on for a bit. I was never bothered by that. It was just the way it was in Ghana sometimes.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 47˚, bacon, Basket, breakfast, dark, dismal, donuts, dump, eggs over easy, getting egged, Ghana, Halloween parade, Mass, Peace Corps, rain, St. Patrick's drill team, Sunday, Sunday paper, usher, warm
Comments: 8 Comments
February 10, 2018
I saw the sun this morning. It appeared for about five minutes. It was as bright and beautiful as I remember. The weather calls for 48˚ and clouds, but we do have a bit of a breeze, always chilly this time of year.
The street was wet this morning as was my walkway. It must have rained, but I didn’t hear it. We have those whitish clouds again.
I don’t have to go anywhere today. I could go to the dump, but I don’t feel like hauling the trash to the car. It is sitting on the kitchen floor. I walk around the two bags. I can’t put them outside as critters open the bags and trash gets all over the deck which I have to pick up. It’s gross with coffee grounds, cat food and garbage. I could put them in the trunk, but my car begins to smell. I have to go tomorrow as the dump then closes for three days. I do better with deadlines, and I don’t want the trash sitting there until Thursday.
When I was a kid, my mother told us all sorts of lies, for our own good perhaps but still lies. Take the gum lie. I believed that it took seven years in my stomach before the gum dissolved so I didn’t swallow my gum. I didn’t want some giant elastic like wad sitting there for years. I think my mother believed the gum story too, but I know she didn’t believe the lie about ears and potatoes. When I was a little kid, I spent some time at the bathroom mirror contorting myself so I could see if potatoes were growing in my ears. Rather than risk it, I let my mother clean them. I never liked it when she did, but I liked the idea of potatoes growing there even less. There was also the watermelon seed garden growing in my stomach and my going blind from sitting close to the TV or not eating my carrots. I never went out in the cold or to bed with wet hair. The consequences were life threatening. I never crossed my eyes either. I couldn’t imagine living that way the rest of my life. Growing up had its own risks back then.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 48˚, couds, dump, going blind + TV, gun, potatoes, rain, sun, trash, warm
Comments: 5 Comments
February 9, 2018
The sky is cloudy but bright. It is only 31˚, but the next three days will be warm. The prediction is for 48˚ each day. That’s almost tanning weather, no sunscreen necessary. Maybe a road trip is in order to take advantage of the warmth. I’ll open my car window and take in the sweet smell of the clean air.
Since the winter solstice, we have gained an hour of sunlight. It makes me hopeful that winter’s end is not so far away. February, though, is sometimes the snowiest month. I’ll just keep my knit hat and mittens handy.
In summer, the trees surrounding my deck are lit with candles hanging off the branches. In the backyard, solar lights shaped like flowers glow and a few strands of white lights are twisted around tree trunks. I always think my yard a fairyland, especially in July when the fireflies return and twinkle among the trees. Now, in the bleak winter, the one strand of lights around the deck fence has stopped shining. I need to replace it. I always love looking out the back window and seeing those lights.
I always think it is the darkness of winter which palls the spirit so I do my best to compensate. I keep white candles lit in the front windows, and their light shines across the dark lawn. This year I left my Christmas lights lit in the front. One is a giant star with a trail of lights. The others are multicolored. My neighbor across the street has called to thank me for leaving the lights shining. She said she loves looking out the window at my house.
Winter is my time of memories, of introspection. I don’t add much to my story, but I recall to mind the best parts. I smile a lot at the images in my mind’s eye. My journeys, my explorations, are the brightest memories.
During my travels, I learned a few things. I hate washing clothes by hand. I decided that for any trip of great length I’d pack ragtag underwear which I can just throw away. It isn’t a big deal for me to find any. I can just check my bureau drawer. The rest of my clothes can get so grungy they can walk away by themselves. I won’t care. I’m not washing them. I learned never to ask what I’m eating. Many of the traditional foods are pets here, like the guinea pig in Ecuador. I think I can eat just about anything as long as I don’t know what it is and it isn’t slimy. Bras are a great place for hiding money. I had my pocket picked when I was at a train station in Ghana. I’d like that thief to try it now. Toilet paper, always carry toilet paper. Sometimes you get stuck and have to rush, and those hole in the ground toilets don’t have toilet paper. Just imagine. The middle of the bus and a seat near the window are usually the best. The aisle fills with standing people who hold on for dear life as the bus goes around corners but sometimes they fall, into the aisle seats. The front and the back of the bus are where people sit with their chickens or goats. Eat where there is a line, especially street food. Don’t shy away. It’s sometimes the best and is usually the cheapest. If everything pales compared to home, just stay home.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 41˚, cloudy, dark winter, lights, open window, road trip, snow month, star, Sunlight, tanning, traveling, underwear, washing clothes, white lights
Comments: 8 Comments
February 8, 2018
Today is a beautiful day, chilly but still beautiful. Yesterday we had rain, a deluge at times. Off cape got snow so I was happy for the rain. We were just too warm for snow, 10˚ warmer than Boston.
I have nothing on my dance card for today. I’m going to stay around the house. I have some books to keep me busy, and the bird feeders need to be filled. Those are enough accomplishments for today.
My cleaning couple haven’t been here in a month. They usually come every two weeks, but they were in Florida for the second two weeks. Last night Lee called and said they couldn’t come today. I immediately panicked. Visions of the vacuum cleaner, dust rags and mops jumped into my head, and I was the one using them. It was a daytime nightmare. When I told Lee, he promised they’d come on Monday, and I was to do nothing. That’s when I stopped hyperventilating.
When I was little, the house was always vacuumed and dusted, and the dishes were always washed. When I left for school in the morning, my bed was a mess. When I came home, it was made. I never ran out of clean underwear. All day long my mother worked in the house and did the same things every single day. She washed the breakfast dishes, left them to dry in the strainer, made all the beds upstairs, collected laundry, brought the clothes to the cellar to wash, came back upstairs and cleaned the living room. Some time later, she’d go back down to the cellar and put the clothes through the wringer a couple of times. Finally she’d go outside and hang the clothes on the line.
I seldom saw my mother do all these things as I was usually in school. It seemed sort of like the elves and the shoemaker to me. Leave dirty clothes. Find clean clothes. It was a daily miracle I never appreciated until I was older.
Categories: Musings
Tags: beds, bird seed, chilly day, cleaning, daily chores, dishes, dusty, Mother, vacuum, wringer
Comments: 13 Comments
February 6, 2018
We’re back to clouds. Everything out my window looks grey, particularly the pine branches and the sky. Today has no wind. Every branch, even the smallest, is still. The air feels damp even though rain is not in the forecast. I have to do a couple of errands. Getting cat food is at the top of my list.
Lately I just haven’t wanted to do anything. I’m calling it my winter doldrums. Up until early January was almost a frenzy with Christmas shopping, wrapping, decorating, baking and entertaining. My house is dusty. My laundry is unwashed. Recycled newspapers, cardboard boxes and a trash bag sit by the front door. I think they’re growing roots. I wake up every day resolved to get stuff done, but I go to bed without having done much of anything. I’m glad Maddie needs food so I’ll definitely have to go out, and I’ll take all the trash and stuff to the car when I go. The dump isn’t open until Thursday.
Maddie is still driving me crazy. She meows at me all the time. She sounds insistent and a bit angry. I change the water, give her a little roast beef, fill her dish and pat her almost endlessly but she still meows. I think she misses Gracie. This is the first time in her 18 1/2 years she has been the only pet. Right now she is sitting beside me on the couch while I pat her and scratch her ears. She’s purring.
I woke up at 6 this morning, looked out the window and saw how dark it was so I turned over and went back to sleep. I woke up at ten.
The TV news was interesting today. A woman found a lizard in her salad mix from the grocery store. She poked her fork into an avocado or what she thought was an avocado and out came a lizard, a lizard from California. It seems the controversy about Doritos being un- friendly to ladies continues. Women it seems don’t like to crunch too loudly in public so Nooyi, the CEO of PepsiCo, said the company is preparing to launch chips for women that will be “low-crunch” with a “full taste profile” that will “not have so much of the flavor stick on the fingers” and can fit in a handbag because “women love to carry a snack.” Doiritos responded, “We already have Doritos for women – they’re called Doritos, and they’re enjoyed by millions of people every day.” Snow is coming but the Cape will have the least amount, 0-2 inches.
Well, I need to finish here. Maddie is stirring. I know she wants something. She just howled at me.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Clouds, doldrum, dusty, errands, grey, Laundry, pine branches, recycles, trash
Comments: 11 Comments
February 5, 2018
My Patriots lost the game. It was heartbreaking. The game, however, was what a Super Bowl should be and was exciting the whole way through. Brady being stripped of the ball was the end of hope. I did wear my new sweatshirt, now relegated to the closet. It is time to bring out my Red Sox garb.
Today is sunny. It would be warm if not for the wind. The top branches of the backyard pines are swaying. I stood outside for a while when I got the papers. The air smelled fresh, even sweet. It was quiet.
Last night it poured. The rain pummeled the roof. I loved it. I even wished I had a tin roof so the sound could surround me the same way it did in Ghana. The rain dissolved the snow. Only the smallest of piles are on the street corners where the plows had left them. They’ll be gone today.
Maddie is sleeping on my sweatshirt on the den table. She followed me to the kitchen meowing at me while I put my coffee on. She wanted a treat. I gave her some roast beef. I think Maddie is deaf. Even when she is near me she never responds to my voice. I could chalk that up to a cat being a cat, but she used to come when I called. She is the soundest sleeper.
When I was in the second grade, I became a brownie. My mother bought me my one piece brown uniform and a darker brown beanie with a dancing brownie on the front. The gold brownie pin was attached to the pocket. I loved wearing that uniform and could even wear it to school instead of my regular uniform when I had a troop meeting. Lots of my friends were brownies too. We all stood taller in our uniforms. We learned to hold up three fingers and recite the brownie pledge. It was always recited with great solemnity. I don’t remember what we did at meetings, but I remember marching in the parade every Memorial Day. It was my proudest moment as a brownie. I also remember telling my parents that everyone was out of step but me.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Brady, deaf, Maddie, Patriots, piles of snow, rainy, Red Sox, roof, Snow, sunny, sweatshirt, tin roof, windy
Comments: 16 Comments
February 4, 2018
Here it is, Super Bowl Sunday, a celebration, a day to spend with friends and eat chicken wings and nachos and scream at the TV. I have a new Patriot’s sweatshirt to wear during the game. I will cheer loudly for my home team hoping to drown out the boos from the rest of the country. My Pats are not well liked. I don’t really care about that. They don’t need like. They need Tom to be at the top of his game and Gronk and Cooks and Danny Amendola open for the pass and a run to the goalpost.
My father should be watching the game sitting at his spot on the couch, an ashtray beside him, Hershey’s Miniatures in a bowl and a plate full of the appetizers my mother would have made on the table beside him. My mother never liked sports of any sort, but she was the consummate hostess and would have made a variety of appetizers for the celebration. She’d even have sat with us in the living room knowing nothing about football but wanting to spend the time with us. She even cheered when we did. My father loved football and was a fan his whole life, and I am sorry he never saw the Pats win a Super Bowl. He would have been tickled pink.
My wrist still hurts. The swelling is just about gone, but it is still painful to bend my hand. I can hear you now, ‘Then why do you bend it?” My knee is still painful. Getting downstairs is tough as I can’t grab the bannister and my knee hurts as I go down each step. I am so very careful.
Maddie is better, but she drives me crazy. With both Fern and my Gracie gone, Maddie has become insistent and pushy. When she wants pats, she meows and head bonks my leg. She watches me eat hoping for a treat off my plate. When I go to the kitchen, she follows me and meows for roast beef. I give it to her. Every time I pass the bathroom, she meows for fresh water. Now she sleeps all day on the couch beside me.
It must have rained during the night. Most of the snow is gone. My car is clear as is the walkway. It is cloudy and damp but warm at 44˚. More rain is predicted for later. It is perfect weather for staying inside and watching football. Go Pats!!
Categories: Musings
Tags: aashtray, appetizers, boos, chicken wings, Hershey's Miniatures, nachos, Patriots, Super Bowl Sunday
Comments: 21 Comments
keepthecoffeecoming.blog 