Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
February 20, 2016
Gracie and I did some sightseeing yesterday. It was mostly to get us out of the house. We didn’t see much. I had brought my camera but didn’t use it. We made a few stops. One was at a candy store where I bought salt water taffy and a caramel, a soft outer layer caramel with a white center much like marshmallow but tastier. I then went to buy the bread I had forgotten on my last trip. Before I went into the store, I hid the candy inside a bag inside another bag. Gracie hadn’t ever touched stuff in my car, but I was being cautious. When I came out of the store, I opened the passenger side so I could put my groceries there. I noticed ripped pieces of paper all over the front seat and the visor was down. The paper came from the candy bag. I checked and found out Gracie had helped herself to a caramel. She must have eaten the paper as well. Nothing else was touched. I think the visor was her attempt to hide her activities. We then had a conversation, “Gracie, what did you do?” No answer. “Gracie, did you eat the candy?” No answer. She didn’t even look guilty let alone contrite. I was just glad it wasn’t chocolate.
The day is cold, windy and grey, uninviting in every way.
I never really concerned myself with the weather when I was a kid. I didn’t even have colorful, descriptive words. I went with sunny or cloudy, hot or cold and rainy or snowy. Every day fit one of those descriptions, meager as they are. I actually used nice to describe a warm spring day. I hate the word nice in the same way I hate good and bad. They say nothing: nice day, good movie, bad day and nice dress or shoes. I described food as good or bad tasting. My father described some people as good eggs. I knew what he meant, but I had no idea how he got there.
People don’t want a long winded description of a movie or a TV show. My sister used to say you didn’t have to watch the show, just ask Kat. Sometimes that was a compliment and sometimes it wasn’t. In my mind I usually put it on the compliment side of the ledger. Using DVR (or taping as some of my friends still call it) and On Demand have made me obsolete. I was great for the highlights.
Categories: Musings
Tags: caramels, cold, descriptive adjectives, eaten candy, good egg, good or bad, grey, hot or cold, shredded paper, sneaking candy, stealing food, visor down, weather, windy
Comments: 8 Comments
February 19, 2016
Thank you for all the encouragement. I have high hopes that Coffee will stay at its current address. I have joined Website Builder and will explore the site this weekend. I wonder if it has a view of the water.
Harper Lee has died. Her To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorite of all novels. I have reread it and The Catcher in the Rye during various stages of my life. I always find something I missed, and I learn new things mostly about people. Running around in my memory drawers are quotes which made such sense they stuck. “There’s only one kind of folks, folks,” is Scout’s view. Maybe it should be our view, all of our views.
When I was a kid, I was a wise ass. I know you find that difficult to believe, and you’re all probably shaking your heads in disbelief as you read this. It was my contention back then that my remarks, the ones which caused trouble, were involuntary. They just flew out of my mouth skipping my brain which might have cautioned me. My father was usually the receiver of my sass. He was an easy target who failed to see the humor. Mostly I just got yelled at and sent to my room. My father was, as I’ve mentioned before, a yeller, but I had learned at an early age how to ignore him but look contrite as if I were listening with the whole of me. Being set to my room was a gift, but he didn’t know that. It would be my main punishment until my teens when he’d ground me. Luckily he felt guilty and usually ungrounded me after a lecture, a small price to pay for the return of freedom.
My mother started out a yeller, but she could never carry it off. She made us laugh, but we pretended to accept the seriousness of her rant. One time, the last time we laughed, she made an unexpected return and caught us. That changed her whole approach. She’d throw her slipper and make us bring it back. We did, but reluctantly, knowing that her slipper could become a weapon in her hands. Once she threw a book at me, a dictionary, but I ducked. She got mad and left. I almost wanted to stop her and tell her never to leave as that was the worst approach to discipline. My advice to her would have been to escalate.
We weren’t really bad kids. We were mostly annoying. We’d yell and fight with each other, and that drove my mother crazy. She’d tell us to get out of the house before she did something for which she’d be sorry. We never believed her as my mother was easy going, but we left anyway. We’d grab our bikes and go off riding. It was my favorite punishment.
Categories: Musings
Tags: discipline, go to your room, grounded, Harper Lee, sass, Scout, throw things, throwing things, To Kill a Mockingbird, wise ass, yeller
Comments: 14 Comments
February 18, 2016
I have amazed myself. This morning Gracie and I were out and about by 9:45. Perhaps that doesn’t sound early, but it was shortly after I woke up and it was accomplished without coffee, a feat in itself. The first stop on our list was for blood letting, the reason for no coffee. Next stop was the dump though it would be better described as the tundra where a freezing wind blew across the open areas. My trunk was filled, but I was quick to toss the bags into the receptacle then jump back into the warm car. CVS was next for Gracie’s pills. The last stop before home was Dunkin’ Donuts.
Most of my favorite places in my old home town are changed almost beyond recognition or are totally gone. I lived there for eleven years. I remember the sights, smells and sounds of that town. While walking in the square, I could hear the pins falling in the bowling alleys below the movie theater. The alleys as well as some pool tables were at the bottom of a set of stairs. I used to peek through the glass on the door, but I could only see the stairs and a bit of the wooden floor where the stairs ended. Never once did I venture down. I didn’t know anyone who did. I only remember the sound.
Uptown sometimes smelled like popcorn. Down a narrow street off the square was a small place where candy and popcorn were made. It had a counter at the front of the store where you could buy the candy and popcorn, always cheaper than at Star Market. They were packaged in plastic bags with only the name of the contents on the front. I didn’t know the name of the small plant which made them. I only remember the smell, the aroma.
Two drugstores were in the square. One was small with only four stools at the soda fountain while the other had a long marble counter and several stools. I could get a free coke from the small one if I was with my father. I had to pay at the other drug store, but it was only a dime. I always ordered a vanilla coke. The soda jerk started by putting the vanilla syrup in the glass, then added coke syrup and finally the fizzy water as we used to call it because we didn’t know what it was. The drink was never served with ice. I used a straw from the metal container to sip my drink. I don’t think I have ever tasted a better coke.
I remember every store. I could give you a tour of what was. I remember the green police box which stood in the middle of the road where three streets met until someone hit it and the box could not be saved. During the day shoppers walked up and down Main Street. Some shoppers carried paper bags while others wheeled wire baskets behind them. At night the movie theater marquee was lit. The stores were closed for the night. There were some street lights which were decorated every Christmas. Even now after all these years I can close my eyes and see it all.
Categories: Musings
Tags: blood work, bowling alley, candy, CVS, drug store, dump, dunkin-donuts, morning errands, pool tables, popcorn, sights and smells and sounds, soda fountain, vanilla coke
Comments: 12 Comments
February 16, 2016
Last night I fell asleep to the wonderful sound of the rain on the roof. Since then the rain has come and gone and come again. The snow is pock-marked and ugly. I can see part of my deck and all of the deck stairs. Yesterday it was freezing. Today it is already nearly 50˚ and should get as high as 55˚. Tonight will be windy and the rain will return, torrential rain.
George is campaigning for Jeb. I saw a bit of one speech, and George used one of my favorite Bushisms,”People have long misunderestimated me.”The Republican race is entertaining me.
When I was a little kid, I never did many girly things though most of my friends did. I wasn’t into wearing dresses though I had to because of school dress codes. During my sophomore year in college the winter was so cold the school allowed women to wear pants. We never had to wear dresses or skirts again. In Ghana I had to wear dresses every day. It was the custom. I didn’t really mind. My dresses were sewn by my seamstress for about $3 or $4, and they were made from beautiful and colorful African cloth I had bought in the market. It was also so hot in Ghana that a dress was cooling. I can’t remember the last time I wore a dress, but I know the next wear a dress event will be Easter.
This is February school vacation week. When I was growing up, we never went anywhere during this week. No one I knew ever did. Mostly we all just hung around the neighborhood, went to each others’ houses to play or we rode bikes if it was warm enough. If it was cold, we skated or went sledding. The joy of the week was having no school. That was plenty enough for us.
I never felt deprived of anything when I was growing up. That we didn’t have much money never occurred to me. I had what I needed. I got my fifty cents allowance every Friday and felt rich. I got my movie and candy money on Saturday. I got a dime on Sunday to put in the basket at mass. I was a happy kid. Life was good, still is come to think of it.
Categories: Musings
Tags: dress codes, February vacation, girly stuff, Jeb and his brother, misunderestimated me, rain on the roof, seamstresses in Ghana, warm, wearing skirts and dresses, women and pants
Comments: 10 Comments
February 15, 2016
We did it again. We broke another record. Sunday morning the temperature plummeted to minus 9, with a windchill of minus 36, shattering the old record by 6 degrees. Luckily, though, we’re having a heat wave starting today. I wish I could sing the rest of the song, but the temperature will be nowhere near a tropical heat wave. Today’s temperature is expected to rise to near-freezing (you have to laugh when the temperature rises to near-freezing) with the possibility of snow, and tomorrow’s temperature may climb into the 50s, accompanied by wind and rain. We’re getting closer to beach weather.
Being housebound for the last few days has put me over the edge. Yesterday I actually cleaned and polished the shelves in the den and everything on them, and believe me, those shelves are filled. I watered all the plants and cleaned the TV screen so it no longer resembles a dust bowl. Today I intend to dust the desk and clean all the wind-up toys on the top of it. This whole urge to clean is a bit frightening. I’m thinking Stepford Wives, the original not the remake.
Spring is definitely coming. Today’s paper had baseball news on the front page of the sports section. I ravenously digested every word of every article. My imagination went wild. I was at Fenway Park on a warm spring night. I could hear the whack of the bat and the roar of the crowd. I could smell the grass and could taste the hot dog topped with mustard and relish. I watched Big Popi hit one out by the Citgo sign. I clapped and cheered.
I’ve decided Gracie and I are going to take a ride, destination still unknown. That’s the best sort of a ride: when you don’t know where you’re going. You just pick a street or a road at random and follow where it goes. I love surprises.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 36˚, baseball season, cleaning, dust bowl, dusty TV, Heat Wave, new record cold, polishing, ride, Stepford Wives
Comments: 10 Comments
February 14, 2016
Cue the music. Start the parade. Let the balloons and the confetti fly. We broke a record last night, one which had stood since 1935. The old record was -3˚. The new one is -9˚, but we have some sun, and the temperature has risen to 5˚. Sounds like beach weather to me. Where did I put that sunscreen?
Gracie has also set a new record. She ran out, squatted and ran back to the house in about two minutes. I’m thinking she is the Roger Bannister of canines.
This year I have been remiss. I bought Valentine’s Day cards but forgot to mail them so I’m going to fall back on it’s the thought that counts. Happy Valentine’s Day!!
My friend Tony brought me tulips. He never forgets me on Valentine’s Day.
When I was a kid, we had a Valentine’s Day party every year. The week before the big day we had to bring in a shoe box, and during art for the next couple of days we’d cut and paste and draw to decorate our boxes. The artistic process never changed. First we’d cut a slit at the top of the boxes so the valentines could be dropped inside. Then the sides and tops of the boxes were covered in construction paper. We’d cut the paper to fit then glue the paper to the boxes. I remember we all used LePage’s glue. The bottles were glass and had rubber tops which looked a bit like nipples for baby bottles. There was a slit in the rubber, and the glue used to harden around the opening. I didn’t know it back then but LePage’s was edible. It was really not glue but mucilage made from vegetable oils, and the early stuff from LePage’s was made from fish scales. None of us would ever have been accused of using too little glue. I remember thinking the more glue the better the paper would stick. There was always a huge wet blot anywhere we had pasted. The next day, when the glue was dry, our artistic talents came into play. I think 100% of us drew hearts. Some of us added arrows through the centers of the hearts. The arrows always had feathers at the tops or what stood for feathers given my lack of talent. Once the boxes were finished, they were lined up on the window sills until the big day.
Our party was always at the end of the day. I doubt any of us learned anything that day. Arithmetic paled at the thought of cookies, brownies and valentines. The clock slowly ticked off the minutes. Finally the nun would tell us to put our books away and get our boxes. Row by row we’d walk the aisles dropping valentines into the boxes then we’d eat the treats.
I’d carry home my box filled with valentines so carefully you’d think it was the crown jewels. I’d take off my school clothes, sit at the kitchen table and go through the valentines two or three more times.
I always loved school on Valentine’s Day .
Categories: Musings
Tags: -9˚, hand out valentines, new cold record, Roger Bannister, school party, shoe box to hold valentine's, start the parade, the thought counts, Valentines Day
Comments: 16 Comments
February 13, 2016
The sun was shining and the sky was blue but I blinked. When I looked again, the sky had turned grey, a white ominous grey, and the sun had escaped to warmer climes. I hyperventilated when I read today’s weather report. The high will be 24˚ and the low tonight will be 1˚. No, I didn’t forget a number. 1˚ is the prediction. Snow squalls are also predicted. The walkway and the car were covered in about an inch of snow when I went to get the paper. Tonight we’ll have flurries and another inch of snow. Tomorrow will be basking weather. It will be 16˚ during the day and 10˚ at night with more flurries to add to the excitement. The ocean is the warmest place around here at 40˚.
I don’t remember if my mother made us stay inside on really cold days. I know we usually walked uptown to the movie theater on Saturdays, but maybe, with single digit temperatures, my dad offered to drive us. He was going up town anyway. He had Saturday rituals. I know we always walked to and from school no matter the temperature. We could have adopted the unofficial postal creed minus the gloom of night part.
When I couldn’t go out, I’d play in the cellar. It was a big cellar divided by the stairs with a landing at the bottom. I remember being a cowgirl. The newel post was my horse. The bannister held the reins. I’d saddle my horse by putting old blankets on the newel post top and then I’d chase the bad guys. They were always caught. Bad guys had no chance with me riding Old Blue.
The sun shined through the small cellar windows high up on the concrete of the wall. I remember the rays sparkled. I’d learn later it was really just dust in the air highlighted by the light from those small windows. Sometimes the cellar was the only peaceful part of the house.
Categories: Musings
Tags: "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.", 14˚, 16˚, 1˚, 40˚ ocean, cellar, cloudy, cowgirl, dust, flurries, freezing, newel post, playing in the cellar, Saturday movies, Saturday rituals, snow squalls, sun's rays
Comments: 10 Comments
February 12, 2016
Everything went well yesterday except for the lie. The periodontist told me I’d feel a small pin prick when he put in the novocaine. I nearly jumped out of my seat from the pain. I swear the needle was so large it went through one gum across my mouth to the other. I barely noticed when he gave me the next two needles.
The surgery itself was painless. I now have two holes in my gums, one in the upper and one in the lower. The dentist covered the holes with band-aids which were pink like bubble gum and had the same consistency. He said they should last a few days or even a week. The first one fell off about two hours after I got home. The second one fell off this morning. He’s right about the two holes. I checked.
The coldest weather of the winter will be here tomorrow. The day will be relatively warm, in the upper teens, while the night could get as low as -20˚. Sunday will be the coldest. Daytime temperatures are expected to be below zero, as low as -15˚. If I hear singing and see little people dressed in red and green dancing down the street, I won’t even question my sanity. I’ll just look for the big guy.
I think I should start a do you believe it crime story of the day. The Globe reported three men were arrested for armed robbery. They were quickly found as each was wearing a police ankle monitor.
The town where I grew up still has a weekly newspaper called The Independent. It was founded in 1870. My favorite part to read when I was a kid was the police blotter. It reported all calls to the police station including such police emergencies as a cat stuck in a tree, kids shouting to each other as they walked down the street and a woman hearing noises in her backyard.
The calls now are about real crimes like robberies, break-in and drugs, but I do have a favorite: “Veterans Lane street sign including pole is missing.” That one boggles my mind. How did no one notice the pole being dug up and taken away? This next one seems to indicate a lack of communication between town departments, “The blinking green light has gone out and must be replaced immediately as it is the traffic light of the fire station.” I’ll leave you with this one and the comment related to it: “Our neighbors’ back yard is filled with empty Pepsi cans. They liter in their own back yard as well as our back yard. It is outrageous and someone needs to stop them. Thank you.” The comment, by a man named David, also included a picture of two crushed cans. Beside the picture was this comment, “Too much liter.” I’m thinking he should buy it in 20 oz. bottles instead.
Categories: Musings
Tags: -20˚, cat stuck in tree, dancing down the air, dentist, elves, freezing, growths, gum surgery, holes in gums, litter, pain, pink band-aids, police blotter, small needle prick
Comments: 9 Comments
February 9, 2016
I never thought I’d be happy with a cloudy day, but I’m thrilled. It isn’t snowing, the wind isn’t whistling, boughs aren’t bending, we’re a couple of degrees above freezing and I’m now getting shoveled out. All in all it’s a good day.
I owe Mohammed an apology. He told me they were doing maintenance which is why I had no e-mail Sunday night into late yesterday. I just figured that was the party line, the weekend excuse for complainers. Yesterday my two typing fingers were exhausted from trying to find a way to fix the problem. On the Xfinity home page the envelope said I had 85 emails, but I couldn’t get to them. The page never loaded. Last night I tried for the umpteenth time. Halleluia! Let me hear an amen!! It was a miracle. The page opened and then like magic the email appeared. It seems Mohammed was right.
I saw an ad for the Grammy Awards which I don’t watch because the nominees and the winners are mostly unknown to me. That got me thinking about award shows. Mostly I don’t care who wins anything, but every now and then a movie star deserves recognition for wearing the skin of the character being played. Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch is the best example of that. His Atticus Finch was just as I imagined when I read the book.
The whole system of awards needs to be changed. Ordinary people deserve recognition. I’m thinking I deserve an award for most falls without breaking a bone. Parents who change the dirtiest diapers time and time again without gagging are heroes to me. The cashier at Job Lot deserves the award for the surliest employee. The lady who helped me when I fell in the bushes by the parking lot deserves one for being a good samaritan. The guy who parked in the handicapped space deserves an award for being insensitive and for being a whole lot more but this is a family show. Most of my neighbors, with only one exception, are good people so I’d nominate all of them for the Good Neighbor Award. The guy who lives on the corner gets the award for being the most surly.
This ought to be televised, and people can wear what they find most comfortable. I can imagine the questions when I walk the Red Carpet. Ms. Ryan, who are you wearing this evening? Old Navy flannel pants, L.L. Bean slippers and a sweatshirt from Cuffy’s outlet store. Well, you look lovely and good luck tonight.
Categories: Musings
Tags: amen! Halleluia!, Atticus Finch, award shows, cloudy day, dirty diaper award, Emmy, Grammy, maintenance, no e-mail, ordinary people, Oscar, Red carpet, what are you wearing?
Comments: 9 Comments
February 8, 2016
I’m not lying. I swear I saw a herd of reindeer romping through my backyard then leaping, almost flying, over the six foot fence. I tried to watch the them as the deer ran through my neighbor’s yard, but I lost them in the storm, in the blizzard with almost zero visibility. The wind is so heavy it whistles. I keep waiting for a train.
The larder is full, the animals have plenty of food and my house is warm. I’m happy to hunker down until this storm is over.
Happy New Year! It is the year of the monkey. We celebrated last night with Chinese food and then tried origami of the various animals of the Chinese Zodiac, known in Chinese as Sheng Xiao. We did the monkey first, and it seemed easy and even looked like a monkey when we were done. The origami dog, however, was a different story. We just couldn’t get the tail right. We folded and refolded the paper so many times it looked like an accordion. My friend Clare gave up on the dog and folded a perfect tiger. If we gave prizes, she would have won. Tony, though, wouldn’t even get honorable mention. He couldn’t even finish the monkey.
Mohammed and I had had quite the conversation around midnight last night. My Comcast e-mail doesn’t open. An empty page does. He said they were working on improving service. I think he said that as an answer to every question I asked. I wanted to know why everything on my computer worked except for my e-mail. Guess what-it is because they are working to improve service. He then said he hoped he had helped solve my problem. Nope. I asked again about the e-mail: same answer about the service. I then decided to get chatty. Mohammed was in India, it was 11 in the morning and the temperature was fine, but it was a bit humid. I do think we bonded a bit. He then gave me a phone number, said good-bye and went on to his next poor customer who will find out there is maintenance.
The snow will end in the late afternoon.
Categories: Musings
Tags: blizzard, e-mail problems, Happy New Year, India, Mohammed, origami, reindeer, Sheng Xiao, Snow, whistling wind, year of the monkey
Comments: 12 Comments
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