Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
January 9, 2017
Today we have fake weather, similar to fake news. I looked out the window and saw a blue sky and a sunlit day. No wind was blowing. I was thinking warm and pleasant. I was thinking the deck and sun on my face, but I was wrong, lulled into believing the view outside my window. I can’t even get to the deck. It is covered in snow, in deep snow. Outside is freezing, only 16˚. The high will be 24˚.
I haven’t gone stir crazy, but I’m still watching the worst movie I think I’ve ever seen, one called Land of Doom. There isn’t a single actor in the cast. I’m figuring the leads, both female and male, have mundane jobs and took time off to make this movie hoping for the best. I have no idea of the actual plot. Marauders on motorcycles destroy villages, kill the men and rape the women. Our leads get caught, kick their way out of the capture and move on only to be caught again. The cast seems huge, but most of the time their faces are hidden so the same people can be used time and time again in different roles. The society is primitive, but there are plenty of motorcycles with full tanks of gas. There are also flies. They walk on the food and on the faces of the cast. I’d be swatting, but the cast doesn’t seem to care. Unless this is the only movie left on Earth, don’t watch it.
The living room is clean. I swept and vacuumed yesterday. I put the furniture back. I just haven’t cleared the couch. That will be first. It is up and down the cellar stairs for me today.
Gracie slid on the driveway last night. The stairs were clear of snow, and I had put de-icer on them so each step was down to the wood and safe for walking. Gracie made it to the tar then slid, her back legs splayed. She looked like Bambi on the ice. I kept watching and she walked just fine through the snow to the backyard. I then threw de-icer on the driveway, and it was clear of ice this morning. I also threw de-icer on the front step. I don’t want to tempt the fates.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 16˚, cleaning, cleared the needles, fake weather, freezing, Land of Doom, motorcycles, Snow, vacuumed
Comments: 4 Comments
January 8, 2017
It hasn’t been the best of mornings though it is a pretty day with the sun glinting off the snow. When I let the dog out, I could see how much snow had fallen as it was piled high on the back deck. I had a bit of trouble opening the storm door and had to push the snow away. Gracie waited then slid out the door and stood at the top of the stairs wondering, I guessed, if she really needed to go that badly. She did. I worried, but she made it without falling. I opened the front door next and could see my papers lying on the top of the pile left by the plow. From the house to the papers seemed miles away. There had to be at least 10 or 12 inches of snow. It was if I was being taunted by the papers. How much did I want them? I put on socks and shoes and plodded my way to the papers then stepped in my footprints back to the house. My shoes and my pants to the knees were covered in snow, but I had my Sunday papers. I filled my cup with coffee then sat down to read the Globe. I reached for the coffee and missed. I overturned the cup and coffee spilled all over the table, the floor and parts of the paper. I cursed. That was my morning.
It is only 18˚ but I have a high of 25˚ to look forward to this afternoon. The low will be 10˚. I am not going anywhere even after Skip comes to free my car and shovel the walk. The pretty day doesn’t entice me at all to leave the warmth of the house.
Winter waited in the wings a long time, but it has arrived with great fanfare. All last year we didn’t have a winter storm which dropped as much snow as this one. We got walloped, but the snow is light and fluffy which is a good thing. The tree branches have almost no snow left on them. The wind took care of that.
I’m sitting here comfy in my sweatshirt, flannel pants and warm slippers. I just poured a cup of coffee destined, I hope, to stay in the cup. It is hot and delicious. The animals are asleep. Music is playing. Alexa has chosen well. All is now well with my world.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 10-12 inches, high snow, papers, slippery stairs, Snow, spilled coffee, sunny day, walking in snow, winter
Comments: 8 Comments
January 7, 2017
The first thing I did when I woke up was check the clock then look out the window. The weatherman had said the snow would start around 10:00. It was 9:30 when I woke up, and it was already snowing. I jumped out of bed and got dressed to go outside. Gracie needed dry dog food.
The roads had more cars than I expected. Even Agway had a lot of customers. I didn’t check the grocery store parking lots, but I suspect they’re filled, and the stores are depleted of milk and bread. Peapod came last night so my fridge and cupboards are filled. I anticipated being housebound so I bought hummus, pita bread, chips, cheese and snacks as well as the staples. I have a bottle of champagne and plenty of orange juice.
The snow is supposed to fall between 1 and 3 inches an hour until 3 or 4 in the morning. My car is covered as are my footprints. Gracie slid down the last three steps when she went outside just a short while ago. I watched until she disappeared under the deck. She is a smart dog. Under the deck gave her a bit of protection from the snow.
I am mesmerized by the falling snow. I keep looking out the window at the flakes slanted from the north to the south. The snow on top of one big pine branch is sort of my measuring stick. It is double the height it was just a while ago.
Pine needles are all over the house. Most of them are still on the living room floor, but Gracie and I have carried needles on paws and slippers to the rest of downstairs. If I get bored, I’ll sweep then vacuum, but I’d have to be really, really bored. The Christmas decorations fill the couch and one side of the kitchen counters, but I just can’t conjure enough energy and enthusiasm to haul up the boxes to put everything away.
The corner is empty where the tree used to stand. The living room is dark without the glow of lights. The wonderful aroma of pine is gone. I hate saying goodbye to Christmas.
Categories: Musings
Tags: blizzard, Bread, champagne, cleaning, dark room, empty corner, housebound, milk, putting Christmas away, Snow, snow on branches, snowfall
Comments: 7 Comments
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
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