Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
January 6, 2017
We have snow. I awoke to a white world. I think about 4 inches fell, not much but it is the first of the season so it is remarkable in itself. I went out and found my papers. They were the small mound of snow behind my car. Late Saturday through Sunday another storm is due and will drop much more snow than this one, 6 to 10 inches.
My Christmas tree is sitting naked it its stand waiting for the plastic bag to cover it so it can be hauled outside. All the lights and ornaments are on the couch. Needles cover the floor beneath the tree. I’ll haul the storage boxes up from the cellar later. This is a sad day.
My niece in Colorado said her son didn’t have pre-school today. All schools were closed. It was -27˚, the actual temperature. With the wind chill it was -38˚. The weatherman predicts a warm up by noon when it will reach 0˚. I can’t imagine a temperature that cold. We seldom even get to single digit temperatures. I complain when it gets down to the 20’s.
The worst of winter stretches in front of me. February and March are the snowiest months. I can even remember a snow day in April. I used to shovel, but I don’t anymore. Skip comes to plow and shovel. I am content to sit inside waiting for him. My biggest exertion is writing the check.
I can’t deny the beauty of the snow. The tree limbs are covered, and when the wind blows, the light, fluffy snow becomes a shower of snow. I watch Gracie go down the back steps worrying that she’ll fall. She tends to slide on the last few steps in her eagerness to hurry to the yard. She keeps her eyes on me as I’m standing by the back door. She is expecting I’ll stay there to open the door for her. I always do.
January is a boring month. It lacks celebration. It lacks color. It is a month to be endured inside the house not outside in the cold. It is the month for reading, for listening to the fire crackling and for snuggling on the couch under a warm afghan.
Categories: Musings
Tags: -27˚, January, naked Christmas tree, ornaments and lights, sad day, Snow, taking down the tree, white world
Comments: 10 Comments
January 5, 2017
With the back door open, I can feel the cold coming in through the dog door. I think Gracie will have to ring her bells to go outside as I’m shutting the inside door. She’s already been out three or four times, once just to bark, so I figure I won’t be jumping up and down to let her out. Snow is coming tomorrow. A winter weather advisory is in place for the cape. The snow should start after midnight so I’ll be waking up to a white world. We’re expecting 2-4 inches from this storm then more on Sunday. This is the first snow of the season for us.
When I was a kid, the TV didn’t have a rolling list of no school announcements. We listened for the horn from the fire station. I don’t remember what the pattern of beeps was, but back then, we all knew and we waited then cheered after we’d heard it. We were all familiar with that horn. It blew every day at noon and for any fires. In the town phone book was a list of what the beeps meant, where in town the fire was. We all used to stop to listen and count.
Snow is never a burden to a kid. The more snow that falls the better the sledding. My street was never plowed all the way down to the road so the hill made for a great ride. The cars going up and down the hill helped. Their tires would tamp down the snow. The sun would sometimes melt the top layer which would freeze at night when it always got colder. The first rides down were at blazing speeds on the ice cover. Sledders at the bottom would warn us if a car was coming on the cross street below the hill. We’d use our feet as brakes or, as a last resort, we’d throw ourselves off the sleds. No one ever got hit, but I think it was mostly luck because we hated stopping our sleds. They’d whiz over the cross road into a field where the higher snow would finally stop us.
We’d sled all day long. Our mittens got soaked. Our boots always had snow inside them because we’d walk through the high snow on the field to get back to the hill. Our cheeks got red and so did our legs under our ski pants. Late in the afternoon mothers started yelling out front doors for us to come inside. We’d sneak one more ride pretending we hadn’t heard them. When the yelling got a bit louder and more strident, we’d walk to the backyard, jam our sleds upright in the snow then slide down the snow covered stairs to the cellar. We’d leave our wet clothes on the lines so they’d dry overnight. We wanted to be ready for the next day and the ice on the hill.
Categories: Musings
Tags: blazing speeds, cold, down the hill, dunes, fire beeps, fire station beeps, ice, icy ride, no school announcements, sea level, Sledding, Snow, winter weather
Comments: 8 Comments
January 3, 2017
We have rain and 44˚. The low for the day will be 43˚. This is not winter in New England, but winter is impatiently waiting in the wings. Daytime tomorrow will be 50˚ but tomorrow night will be in the 20’s. The rest of the week will be 30’s during the day and 20’s at night. That’s a warm winter in New England!
The winter weather never mattered when I was a kid. I still had to walk to and from school every day. It wasn’t miles or feet of snow, but it was cold, freezing cold. The blasts of wind from across the field at the foot of my street whipped through my jacket. I remember using my mittened hands to protect my ears, red and numb from the cold. The hat my mother insisted I wear never kept my ears warm, just the top of my head. I’d hurry to get to the street below the field, the one with houses on both sides, buffers from the wind. It was a straightaway from there to school.
The middle of my classroom was always warm. Near the windows was chilly so most of us wore sweaters over our uniforms. The girls wore blue skirts and white blouses. The boys wore white shirts and blue pants. We could wear any shoes and socks. I don’t remember what shoes I wore, but I remember knee socks and pink long underwear which warmed my legs almost to the hem of my skirt.
In winter the classroom was never quiet. Even if we were silently reading, we could hear the hissing and wheezing of steam escaping from the radiators. I think that’s the sound I most miss from long ago winters.
My house has forced hot air from my gas furnace. I keep the daytime temperature at 68˚. That used to be warm enough. It isn’t anymore so I wear a sweatshirt around the house. The air blows and the house gets warm. I know this system is far more efficient than the radiators were, but the radiators did far more than spew heat. Coming in from the freezing cold, I could sit with my back to the pipes and quickly get warm. My mittens on the top of the radiator sizzled as they dried. My shoes with their curled toes looked like something Aladdin would wear after they’d dried under the radiator. When I was falling asleep, the radiators would hiss, crackle and even groan when they were warming the house. It was a comforting sound. I knew heat was coming.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Aladdin's shoes, buffer from the wind, drying mittens, forced hot air, furnace, hat, hissing, mittens, radiators, rainy, red ears, school uniforms, sweaters, warm, wheezing, Wind, winter
Comments: 9 Comments
January 2, 2017
All the hoopla is over. It is time to put Christmas away, my project for the week. I also need to grocery shop. Alexa is keeping my list. I added coffee filters and trash bags this morning.
Tomorrow Gracie and I are going to the dump. It’s back to the mundane. All the anticipation is gone. January is a boring month.
Being stuck in the house was always a winter woe when I was little. It was either too cold or too wet or too snowy to go out. We’d play games until we got bored then we’d watch TV for a while. We’d play in the cellar. The bottom of the banister was a horse to me. I’d use old blankets to make a saddle to put over the wood. I’d concoct a story of me as the sheriff or the marshall, and I’d ride that horse until I’d captured the bad guy. I was every character, and I’d use different voices. My lowest voice was the bad guy’s. He always got caught.
My favorite way to spend time was lying in bed reading my new Christmas book. I was cozy under the blankets. The headboard lamp was warm. It lit the pages perfectly. I was by myself. I heard nothing. I had been captured by my book.
Even now, so many years later, I find books the best way to while away time. I don’t read in bed much anymore as I tend to fall asleep; instead, I get cozy here in the den on the couch with an afghan keeping me warm and Gracie asleep by my feet. It is always time well spent.
Today I watched Highway Patrol with Broderick Crawford who always wears a suit and his fedora. It is in black and white and dates from the mid-1950’s. In this episode, the Highway Patrol is hunting an escaped mental patient with homicidal tendencies and abnormally strong hands. He is a frustrated violin player whose hand jumps so he can no longer play. That is often what triggers his rage: any mention of his hand or music. He just killed a man who mentioned the shaking hand. 21-50 to headquarters. Body found! 10-4!
Categories: Musings
Tags: bannister horse, cellar, cold day, cozy, dump, grocery shopping, hoopla, nap, Peapod, playing inside the house, put Christmas away, reading, snowy day
Comments: 8 Comments
January 1, 2017
Happy 2017!
Today is far too warm for January, the mid-40’s. It is truly sweatshirt weather. I’d be disappointed if I were a kid who got a new sled for Christmas. This is new bike weather.
When I was in my 20’s, I wore dresses or skirts and blouses to work. After work, I lived in flannel and denim. My friends and I didn’t need an excuse to party. Cheap wine, some chips, and a bowl of onion dip were all we needed. We often went to Friday happy hours. I can’t remember a weekend when we didn’t get together. I was young.
I’m older now and I’m thinking life just happens so my plans for the new year are simple. My dance card is mostly empty. I’ll survive the winter with good humor even if it snows. We’ll do summer movies on the deck. I’ve bought a few already. I’m thinking a lot of grilling. I’ve been saving recipes. I have no travel plans except for my yearly visit to New Hampshire.
I watched 2017 arrive last night. I wanted to make sure 2016 was gone for good. It wasn’t my favorite year though I do have some wonderful memories. My trip to Ghana tops my list. Way back in 1971 when I left Ghana, I had hope I would return, but I could never have guessed how wonderful that first return would be, and that there would be multiple return trips. Bolga is my familiar Ghanaian home again. I shop in the market, eat all my favorite Ghanaian food, and spend time with my former students. Traveling with my friends Bill and Peg this September brought back old memories and made new ones. I figure I have been amazingly lucky to have had such friends. When I was young, I hoped my life would be filled with adventure. It has been and now I have a new year to fill with more.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 2016, 2017, adventures, friends, Ghana, grilling, movies, New Year, old year, sweatshirt weather, warm
Comments: 10 Comments
December 31, 2016
Today is a bit gloomy. I suppose it is a perfect day to end the year, almost a lament of the passing of time, not cheery and sunny, but gloomy and dark. It was cold this morning but the day will be warmer, in the mid 40’s, but I don’t mind one or the other as I have no plans to go anywhere. Warm inside is fine for me.
When I go out to eat, I often order a cheeseburger. If I can, I add bacon. That has been my favorite burger as long as I can remember. When I was in high school, I’d go to the A&W drive up restaurant and order my bacon cheeseburger. It was always scrumptious, loaded with cheese and covered with slices of well-cooked bacon. I mourned when the A&W in West Yarmouth closed. Gone was the burger and gone was the last restaurant with car service.
I am sorry to see only a few remnants of my childhood. Most drive-ins have been sold for the land, Woolworth’s and Grants are no longer the stores in the square, the ice cream man and his bell are just memories, the Saturday matinee is long gone as are Friday night dates at the bowling alley, candlepin bowling, small balls, three to a frame. We’d usually bowl three games, and we were terrible. I was the queen of gutter balls.
My town didn’t have a McDonald’s or a Burger King. It had a Carroll’s with its 15¢ hamburgers and 12¢ fries. Carroll’s was built where there used to be a train ride for little kids and where Papa Gino’s is today. It is at the far end of a parking lot which has the China Moon and Hago Harrington’s miniature golf course bordering it, both of which have been around as long as I can remember. Until recently the China Moon looked exactly the same inside as it always had with its vinyl booths and Chinese lantern lights. It is now undergoing renovation which I find sad. I loved that it hadn’t changed in all these years. It had a personality, probably gone now.
I have no idea what this new year will bring. My only hope is it will be a better year than last.
Happy New Year!!
Categories: Musings
Tags: A&W Root Beer stand, bacon, Bowling, car restaurant service, cheeseburger, cold morning, dark, drive-ins, end of year, gloomy
Comments: 22 Comments
December 30, 2016
Today is sometimes sunny and sometimes windy. The big storm yesterday was a disappointment. Not that I wanted snow, but I was hoping for a nor’easter and the loud drumming of rain against the windows. I wanted to see branches fiercely blowing left to right and almost reaching the ground; instead, it just rained.
Today is quiet. Even the dog is bored looking out the front door. She kept hoping for foot traffic where there was none. She is now napping on the couch.
I went to bed earlier and woke up earlier. I’m working on getting up before nine, okay, maybe by nine thirty.
When I was a little kid, I always wanted to stay up to greet the new year. I seldom did. I’d fall asleep before the ball dropped or Auld Lang Syne played. When I got a bit older, I managed to stay awake but found out it was no big deal. Blow a horn and yell Happy New Year was the sum total of my celebration. Come to find out, all the celebrations are almost the same. Add a kiss and a drink then yell Happy New Year.
Nothing much is going on around here. I scoured the paper looking for diversions. All the local New Year’s Eve festivities were listed. There is an indoor farmer’s market tomorrow and an antique fair on Sunday. None of these tempt me to brave the cold.
In the Globe today was a picture with the header, “Seniors ring in New Year with a bit of rock and roll.” At the party yesterday they counted down to noon. They ate mashed potatoes and chicken. They twisted and shimmied and danced away the afternoon. That, I guess, is full circle.
Categories: Musings
Tags: afternoon dance, asleep, dancing, drinks, farmers' market, foot traffic, kisses, New Year, party, quiet, rain, ring in at noon, sunny, windy
Comments: 20 Comments
December 29, 2016
Cape Cod will get rain and high winds but no snow, but I didn’t need a forecast. One look at the sky was enough. It is a storm sky, dark and foreboding. The wind is starting to pick up a bit, but we won’t feel the brunt of the nor’easter until tonight. Meanwhile, I’m staying home. I’m staying comfy.
I woke up so late this morning I am embarrassed. This weird sleep cycle has to be broken. I stay up until one or two or even three and never wake up until some time after ten. I figure I’ll have to set my alarm for an early time in the morning and then hope to fall asleep before midnight.
I still light my Christmas tree every day although it is getting dryer and will so enough have to come down. The house always looks so empty and dark without the tree. It brightens even the deepest and darkest winter nights.
I always expect the new year to be better than the old. I know nothing around me changes too much but everything I saw, whatever I learned and anybody I met makes me more than I was, makes me a bit better than I was.
The highpoint for me this year was my trip back to Ghana. My friends and I had the most amazing time. We saw elephants walking around our chalets just nonchalantly stopping and stripping trees of their leaves while we stood close but still a safe distance away. We saw our former students almost every night in Bolga. We ate our favorite Ghanaian food. We went shopping on market day which was always my favorite day. It was a trip of highlights.
I don’t need a whole to keep me happy. Summer movies and Sunday game nights are never boring or tiresome. We loved sitting on the deck on a summer night with a small breeze keeping the evening comfortable. We laughed at all the bad black and white B movies we saw. One of my favorite creatures was the giant spider scaling the wall of the skyscraper. On Sunday it is Phase 10 and Sorry. With Sorry, just as you think victory is yours, your man, right next to home, gets knocked off back to start. That’s when someone always says I hate this game.
I’m going to do laundry today, and that’s it. Gracie and I went to the dump yesterday, and there were so many cars, you’d think they were giving something wonderful away. Gracie’s head swiveled.
Now it’s time for lunch and the rest of the lazy day!
Categories: Musings
Tags: Christmas tree, comfy, dark sky, elephants, games, Ghana, lights, movie night, New Year, Nor'easter, Phase 10, rain, winds
Comments: 14 Comments
December 26, 2016
Happy Boxing Day!
Yesterday was a wonderful Christmas Day. We opened presents, played games and had a fantastic dinner and a delicious dessert. I got an amazing present, A David Ortiz commemorative bat. It is beautiful. It is also heavy. David’s stats are etched on the bat as is an outline of David in his characteristic pose: fingers pointing to heaven after a home run. I was totally surprised and totally thrilled. It will be displayed here in the den right near the Fenway Park brick, a replica of the one laid on the concourse at Fenway which says Kathleen Ryan Peace Corps Ghana 1969-1971. It too was a gift from my friends.
I have errands to do today. I guess it’s back to the real world, far too quickly I think.
This is short as I’m taking a mini-vacation of mostly today and all of tomorrow. I’ll be back on Thursday.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Christmas dinner, David Ortiz bat, errands, Fenway Park brick, presents
Comments: 11 Comments
December 25, 2016
Merry Christmas!!
Last night was wonderful fun. We sat, chatted and had a drink or two in the living room bright with colored lights from the tree, the window candles, and some lit branches by the fireplace. We moved to the dining room for food and gingerbread house construction. We noshed on an antipasto, a platter filled with meat and cheese from the Italian cheese shop, dates, cashews and mustard, including a caramelized fig sauce, hot corn dip, and bruschetta. We forgot about dessert so we’ll have it today. I made cookies and a chocolate cream pie.
We started construction on our houses. All conversation ceased. First we put up the walls then the roof then we decorated. I bought houses from a different company, and we were very pleased. The frosting tasted good which was perfect considering how much we had on our hands and how much we had transferred to things like phones and glasses. When we opened the gingerbread package, we could smell the ginger. It was divine, like being in a bakery filled with the aroma of cookies in the oven. The frosting was in a pouch, and it was so easy to be creative by squeezing the pouch to cover the roof with snow. I even squeezed swag designs on the back and front of the house. The candies were all colors. A gingerbread boy and a gingerbread girl were the finishing touches.
This morning I didn’t wake up until 10 given I was up until 3. I turned on the tree lights, made coffee and gathered my gifts from my sisters. The boxes were filled with the best gifts. One sister found the ugliest felt Christmas tree. She knows I love old, ugly decorations. The tree is already on the dining room table. She also gave me a wire bucket with peeling paint I recognized as one for quahogs or oysters and a gift certificate to iTunes. I love all the gifts. Gracie got the most beautiful dog biscuits which look more like frosted cookies than treats for a dog. My other sister too had all sorts of vintage stuff she’d found for me. She also gave me so much more including earrings because I whined that I give them but never get them, a new shirt, a red and white one I’m wearing today, Starbucks Christmas coffee, two pounds of it, and many more gifts including a gift certificate to Rings, the grocery store which gets so much of my money. I am thrilled with my presents.
In a while, I’m going to my friends’ for dinner and more presents. I love getting to watch them open the stocking stuffers I found. Some are quirky, some funny, some a bit strange and some perfectly wonderful.
Christmas is a day to be cherished and celebrated. I wish you all the happiness and joy today brings.
Categories: Musings
Tags: antipasto, aroma of gingerbread, gingerbread houses, icing, lights, Merry Christmas, presents, quahog basket, tasty icing, ugly Christmas tree
Comments: 10 Comments
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