Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
March 14, 2017
Today is miserable. The snow started early. When I first woke up at 9, I checked out the window and saw snow blowing north to south. I went back to sleep. When I woke up at 10, it had just started raining. I went out to get the papers and yesterday’s mail. Gracie was with me on her leash. She hated it and looked beaten walking close to the ground with her ears down. The street was pure slush, snow topped by rain. I left footprints right down to the street. Gracie finally peed then ran to the door. She should have stayed out as I know she still has more to do, but I wanted in as well. I was soaked. Later she wanted out again but didn’t take the plunge. The wind was ferocious so Gracie just backed into the house. We did that twice, both to no avail. She is sleeping now. I hope she enjoys her nap. My hair is still wet.
The first load of laundry is in the dryer. I threw the bags down the cellar stairs last night so I wouldn’t have to look at them anymore. This morning I decided to bite the bullet and do the laundry. I found a missing gray sock on the floor in front of the dryer so I reunited the pair. Two other socks wait for partners. I first thought them a pair but realized in the light one is black and the other dark blue. There must be another exact pair in today’s laundry.
On the Peace Corps Ghana Facebook page are pictures of current trainees doing their laundry. They are all sitting on the porch edge with buckets of clothes in front of them. Clean laundry hangs on lines behind them. I got a chuckle out of that bucket brigade. All through training, my group found Ghanaian women to pay to do our laundry. During the first two weeks of training, the women were from Winneba where we were staying. You gave laundry to them one day, and it came back the next, ironed and folded. The only exception was undergarments. Those we had to wash ourselves. I hated bucket laundry. In retrospect, I figure maybe a smidgeon of that feeling is responsible for two bags of laundry sitting in the hall for nearly a week. Maybe, though, it is just laziness, but I suspect running out of clean undergarments forced my hand and prompted my memories.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bowing trees, buckets, dryer, Hand washing, Laundry, lone socks, miserable day, missing socks, Peace Corps Ghana, rain, slush, socks, storm, Wind
Comments: 6 Comments
March 13, 2017
Today is bright and sunny and will even reach 34˚, but I’m not taken in, not beguiled by the brilliance of the sun. I’m on to Mother Nature and her tricks. I know all that sunlight is just a cover for what’s coming: more snow. This time, though, we’ll get less. The Boston area will get clobbered with up to 2 feet while down here we’ll only get 2-4 inches, a mixture of snow and rain. For some strange reason, though, I feel cheated. I’m thinking it should rain or snow. A combination is just a mess. Mother Nature should know better.
All my icicles are melting in the sun. I can hear the drops. The road is wet from melting snow. Along the sides of the road, small puddles have formed from the piles left by the plows. I just hope all that water doesn’t freeze.
I loud bang accompanied by the sound of a howling cat woke me up this morning. I figured the bang was a falling icicle. The cat howls every morning so nothing was wrong. I rolled over and slept another hour.
My dance card is totally empty for the week. The meeting scheduled for tomorrow has been canceled. I have a to-do list which still includes my laundry which is still leaning against the cellar door. I guess I’ll work on finishing the list or at least get the laundry done. I admit I’m tired of looking at it.
I want some elves like the shoemaker had. I want to wake up to clean, folded laundry, the aromas of breakfast baking in the oven, and of coffee perking. When I get downstairs, I’ll find the table set with flowered dishes and a small clear vase with a couple of daffodils. The elves will have left, but I’ll see small footprints in the snow leading to and from the house then just disappearing.
Too bad wishing it away doesn’t get my laundry done.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 2-4 inches, 31˚, breakfast, dafs, flowered dishes, howling cat, icicles, loud bang, rain, shoemaker and elves, Snow, storm, sunny, waking up
Comments: 6 Comments
March 12, 2017
Today is a repeat of yesterday. It is cold, bitterly cold. The day is pretty with a bright sun and a deep blue sky. The icicles hanging off the front of my house are melting. When I opened the door to get the papers, an icicle broke. I was reminded of a murder mystery I read where the weapon was an icicle which melted, and poof, the evidence was gone. I got the papers and stopped to check out the house. One of the icicles is long and very thick. It could be the weapon.
A snow storm is coming our way. Alexa says a 77.7 % chance on Tuesday. She also predicted close to 5 inches of the beastly white stuff, but that amount deserves only a wave of the hand dismissal. Is that the best you can do, Mother Nature?
I love the sound of crusty snow breaking as you walk across it, especially at night when the moon and the stars are shining. There are no sounds except the ones my feet make. My footsteps echo. Few people venture out on a freezing winter’s night. I always feel like I’m the only one awake.
If I were a movie, I’d be a Hallmark Movie. I’m a sucker for happy endings, and every Hallmark movie has one. In December, I was on a sugar overload. I got to eat cookies and watch at least one Hallmark Christmas movie a day.
My second choice, if I were a movie, would be a science fiction movie. I’d throw in some sort of disease, maybe an alien or two, a post-apocalyptic world where the cities are in ruins and heroes of every ilk who wear the same clothes throughout the entire movie. The aliens would lose. They usually do, even in my movie.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bitterly cold, Christmas movies, crunchy snow, footsteps, Hallmark movie, icicles, murder weapon, night, science fiction movies, Snow
Comments: 8 Comments
March 11, 2017
The snow is deeper on the lawns and gardens. The streets and walkways got wet before they got snowy. I took Gracie out front this morning because the back steps were covered above my shoes. My feet got wet anyway.
It is the brightest of days. The sun shines off the snow. The air is so clear even the smallest pine branch is having its day, its place in the sun with a blue backdrop, deep and cloudless. If it weren’t so cold, this would be the perfect day. It is currently 19˚with an occasional wind strong enough to sway the top branches. I have to go out later, but I’ll bundle up and I’ll put Gracie in her coat.
I figure kids are sledding at the golf course. It is one of the few places around with a good hill that’s safe from cars. I’ve stopped to watch a couple of times. The kids were using all sorts of sleds. I saw the traditional wooden ones like I used to have, but the plastic sleds far outnumbered the wooded. The circle sleds, the ones we called saucers, are still circles but are now plastic. Plastic sleds resembling toboggans had multi-riders, mostly smaller kids. Inflated inner tubes give a great ride but a wild ride with little control.
I loved sledding especially on the hill my house faced. Every kid in the neighborhood would be out either sledding or walking back up that hill. I always think sledding is as close as we can get to flying while staying on the ground.
The clock goes one hour forward tonight. I never understood daylight savings time when I was a kid, and I’m still a bit confused. Everything I’ve read says the energy savings are only negligible, and some have even found that costs are higher, since people in hot climates are more apt to use air conditioners in the daytime. The original reason was WWI and conserving electricity for the war effort. Daylight savings was repealed after the war but reinstated during WWII. After that war, it was never repealed. Some states honored the hour; other states didn’t so in 1966 Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which standardized daylight saving across the country except in Arizona and Hawaii which didn’t choose to honor it. After all the reading I did, I’m still confused as to why. Tradition? Habit? Laziness to change the status quo? Nobody cares?
Categories: Musings
Tags: accumulation, blue sky, bright day, covered in snow, daylight savings time, dog coat, flying, golf course, reflecting light, round sleds, Sledding, Snow, wooden sleds
Comments: 6 Comments
March 10, 2017
When I woke up this morning, I ran to the window. It was snowing though the ground didn’t look as if the snow had started in the wee hours when they predicted it would. The brick walk in front of my house and the street were still uncovered. They were wet. The deck stairs had a bit of snow, but it was easy going for Gracie and me. She ran into the yard. I swear she was smiling. She loves the yard. I checked the news: no school. It was a decision based on what might be not what was. They were right. In the nearly three hours I have been awake, the snow on the tree branches has more than doubled in height and the street is starting to disappear. I keep looking. I am drawn to the window by the quietly falling flakes and the beauty of the snow.
In the two years I was in Ghana, I never missed snow though on the hottest of days I did miss winter. I missed seeing my breath and bundling in clothes to ward off the cold. I missed the comfort of a warm house on a snowy day. Only during the night and the early mornings at the beginning of the harmattan, in December, did I ever feel cold. It was wonderful to have my windows open to the cold and to snuggle under a wool blanket to stay warm. It was in the 70’s on those nights. I still have my wool blanket.
Gracie probably has arthritis in her left back leg. She is now on three new medicines. The pain med will last two weeks while the other two are for every day and should improve her overall leg joint movement.
When I was a kid, Duke, our dog, never had regular vet visits. He did get a rabies shot as it was required but the town used to give them, not the vet’s. The only other time I remember him going to the vets was when he was old and was mauled by a dog down the street. His neck was torn open. My dad said Duke would be fine taking care of it himself. My mother said nothing. My dad, who was working in Maine until we could move, only came home for weekends. While he was gone, my mother sneaked the dog to the vets who took care of the neck and gave him antibiotics. By the time my dad got home, Duke’s neck was looking better and was healing. My dad told my mother,”I told you so.”My mother, the wisest woman I knew, said nothing.
Categories: Musings
Tags: arthritis, dog fight, miss the cold, no school, Peace Corps Ghana, saying nothing, Snow, snow fall, storm, torn neck, veterinarians, winter
Comments: 10 Comments
March 9, 2017
Gracie went to the vets this morning. It was a combination well dog, clip her nails and check her her back legs visit. I explained all the leg issues and how her paws slide on the floor and steps. The vet checked and thinks it might be arthritis. She prescribed some pills mostly for ease of joint movement. I should keep an eye on Miss Gracie, and if there is no change in three weeks, I’m to bring her back. Other than that, the vet thought Gracie looked wonderful for her age.
Yesterday afternoon was beautiful. The sun came out, and it was warm, almost hot. I bought lunch and ate it sitting outside. We did some errands and both of us, the dog and I, were glad to be out. Today it is 56˚. The sun is bright. A strong wind is blowing. You’d think spring but you’d be wrong. We are under a storm watch. The snow should start after midnight and continue during the day. They are predicting 4-8 inches. It could get as cold as 16˚. I’m going to pick up some storm goodies. The joke is people always buy bread and milk before a storm or a hurricane. I, however, will buy a chicken already cooked, some sweet potatoes, also cooked, some cole slaw, biscotti for breakfast and a couple of cupcakes. I’m thinking chocolate with white frosting.
When I was a kid and snow was expected, I’d periodically look out the picture window hoping to see furiously falling snow. The light below the streetlight right near my house was my weather watch spot. The light was bright so I could see the snow falling and blowing sideways in the wind. Once the snow started, I’d keep an eye on the street and front lawn hoping both would disappear under snow. No school was always the reason for the vigil. The worst disappointment was to go to bed during a heavy snowstorm and wake up to find there just wasn’t enough snow. It was time to get dressed for school.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 56˚, a chicken already cooked, arthritis, biscotti, cupcakes, goodies, joint pain, no school, pills, Shopping, Snow, storm warning, sun, sweet potatoes, veterinary check, warmth
Comments: 8 Comments
March 7, 2017
Mother Nature has it out for me. This morning as Gracie and I were going to the far side of the deck it started to rain. I walked Gracie down the stairs and went back inside the house. My sweatshirt had gotten wet. I then went to get the papers and yesterday’s mail. My sweatshirt got wetter, and I was cold. The rain stopped not long after I got into the house.
Today is much warmer at 40˚. It may even get as high as 45˚. A bit of sunshine would be welcomed, but I’m stuck with clouds and a rainy day. I suppose I’ll survive.
The other night I had a fluffernutter for dinner. I was in the mood for peanut butter and Fluff was the perfect partner. The only thing missing was Wonder Bread.
I love cheese of all sorts except blue cheese and any of its relatives. When I was a kid, we ate yellow cheese and only yellow cheese. It came in a block. It didn’t have much flavor but made for a wonderfully gooey grilled cheese sandwich. I don’t remember when I found real cheese. The first was probably cheddar.
In the beginning of Peace Corps training, eating Ghanaian food was cause for bathroom runs (think dual definition for this word). One night I fell asleep upright my back to the wall on one of the steps leading to the school bathrooms. I didn’t trust the distance between my room and the bathroom. It seemed to take forever, but by the end of training, my stomach had accepted its lot. Most of the time I was just fine though there were still moments. Ghanaian food can do that to you. Every time I visit Ghana I eat and drink what I want. Living here removed any fears or even thoughts of germs or diseases. It is what it is. I also make bathroom runs. They’re like the price of admission.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 45˚, Bathroom, bathroom runs, Fluffernutter, Ghanaian food, Marshmallow Fluff, Mother Nature, Peace Corps Ghana, peanut butter, rain, runs, warmer
Comments: 16 Comments
March 6, 2017
Today is bright with sunshine. The sky is mostly blue. The breeze is slight, so slight only the brown leaves are ruffling. It’s a pretty day, but it’s a cold day, wintry cold. It is around 34˚. I have nowhere I have to go today. I haven’t even gotten dressed and probably won’t. I got Gracie down the steps to the yard earlier. She does well with me beside her. She is actually going by herself. I’m just a safety net.
Yesterday we went to the dump. I had two weeks worth of recyclables and trash. It was so cold at the dump it took my breath away. An Arctic wind was blowing across the whole dump. Every stop meant freezing wind. I was quick to finish, to go back into the warm car.
In my life, I have had some perfect days and nights. I can’t tell you why as the days were all different. The feelings, though, were the same. I felt joyful in a way, happy to be alive. I was aware of everything around me. I could have been Maria twirling on the mountain.
The night in Ireland, in Youghal, is one perfect night. We ate in a small room with a peat fire burning. The aroma was wonderful. We walked upstairs and each step sloped to the middle. My room had a bed with layers of quilts and blankets. The bathroom had saloon doors which left the toilet exposed to the world. The tub was claw-footed. I took a hot bath then ran to get dressed and under the covers as there was no heat. It was early spring cold. I nestled and began to read my Peter Whimsy mystery and eat some of my fruit and nut Cadbury chocolate bar. I realized in that very moment I didn’t need anything else. What I had exactly then was perfect.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 32˚, Arctic wind, blankets, blue sky, breeze, dump, Gracie, happy, ideal, Ireland, joy, my dog, peat, perfect, perfect night, quilts, sunshine, Youghal
Comments: 6 Comments
March 5, 2017
Last week Boston set a new record warmth for the end of February. On Friday night the record for cold set in 1896 was broken. In the space of less than a week, we went from spring to deep winter. When I took Gracie out front to go to the bathroom on Friday night, I can’t remember ever feeling as cold, and Gracie was so cold she peed on the run to the front door. I took her out a couple of times more, but she wore her wool coat, and I was bundled against the cold. Gracie was quick each time. She deserved those treats when we got inside the house.
Today is sunny, a beautiful day if you’re sitting in the house looking out the window. It is 27˚, close to the predicted high of 29˚. The low will be 13˚. I have a couple of errands to do in a bit including the dump which I avoided the other day because of the weather.
When I was a kid, I remember watching Don Kent, the weatherman. Back then the days were fair, cold, snowy or rainy, the sort of description looking out the window might bring. Nothing was all that specific. Some weather maps were on the wall while others were on large sheets of paper. They showed the whole country and gave current temperatures. Predictions were maybes.
Yesterday the Peace Corps volunteer living near Bolgatanga, where I had been, posted the current temperature and the high and low for the day. It was currently 99˚. The low was predicted to be 95˚ and the high 109˚.
Gracie just needed to go out so I went down the back deck steps holding on to her collar. I held on as she won’t go down the stairs alone; she is afraid of falling. With me, she goes down the stairs quickly and then runs into the yard. She doesn’t mind going up the stairs so I can leave her alone outside. Her back right leg slides. I’ll have the vet check what is going on when Gracie has her health visit. I do wish I had some sort of a dog bootie with treads.
I am spoiled. My house is cozy warm in winter and air conditioned in the summer. I’m living the good life.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 109˚, 13˚, 29˚, bootie, bundling, cold record, dog coat, down the stairs, falling down stairs, freezing, heat record, outside, sunny, TV weather, weathermen
Comments: 6 Comments
March 4, 2017
Winter is rearing its ugly head. Today is downright cold. It is 20˚ right now and today’s low will be 8˚. Gracie and I were going to the dump, but I think now I’ll just stay comfy and warm at home. Gracie is asleep on the couch beside me, her usual spot this time of day.
When I was a kid, my mother had a picture with a little boy in a blue bathrobe standing by a soapy tub. There was also a poem in the picture about taking a bath and cleaning up after yourself. That picture hung on the wall across from the toilet. I used to read the poem every time I sat on the throne as my dad used to call it. The bathrobe had a fuzzy texture as did a towel on the boy’s arm. I don’t know what happened to that picture; I’m thinking it was probably thrown out when my parents moved. I saw that same picture, with the fuzz, hanging at a B&B in Ireland, in Youghal. I tried to buy it. They didn’t want to part with it.
I had to memorize all sorts of things for school when I was a kid. The worst was when I was in the eighth grade. I had a crazy nun named Sister Hildegard. She used to eat candy from her desk drawer. It was no secret. We knew she did from her chewing. Once she even spit nuts on my paper when she talked to me. She called us devils and said she would write thanks be to God across the whole blackboard when we graduated. She made us memorize the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I got through all of the Declaration of Independence and part of the Constitution when I decided I’d had enough. My desk was directly across from Sister Hildegard’s desk with only a small space between us. I put my history book on the floor opened to the Constitution. Every day during history I’d recite a new section, but I cheated by looking at the book on the floor. Soon enough anyone who could get away with it did the same thing. Sister Hildegard would have called me an occasion of sin.
Categories: Musings
Tags: -20˚, 8˚, bathrobe, bathtub, cheating, couch, Declaration of Independence, dump, Eighth grade, freezing cold, little boy, memorizing, poem, sin, Sister Hildegard
Comments: 4 Comments
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