Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
August 18, 2016
Yesterday was a wonderful birthday. I walked outside to get the papers and right away saw balloons tied to a new solar garden light stuck in the grass. Now, every time I see that light, I’ll remember how fun the morning was and how wonderful my friends are. My sisters called to wish me a happy birthday as did Grace from Ghana. She once was a student of mine, but now she is a friend. More friends called during the day and the internet was crushed by the number of well wishes on Coffee and on Facebook. Two of my friends took me out to eat at Karoo’s last night. It is a South African restaurant we all like, and the food was even better than we remembered. My friends gave me a beautiful puzzle box which I could not open because I am spatially incompetent. Step by step instructions got the box opened. Instead of a cake, my friend made brownies. Chocolate is perfect for any occasion. I still have one more birthday celebration to come. It is like birth-week instead of birthday. How wonderful!!
My house is open to the air. The morning has gone from sunny to cloudy and back again, but this den where I spend most of my time stays dark and cool until the afternoon. There is even a slight breeze. If I can last through the day, the temperature will get down to the high 60’s tonight, and I won’t need the air conditioning; however, I do like the sensation of feeling cold on a hot summer night.
Around here Hyannis is the big city. It has lots of heavy traffic and stores tucked into a variety of big and small malls. The main route in and out of town has four lanes, two of them for turning. Most times I avoid Hyannis. There are stores I love, but I don’t want to hunt for a parking space or sit through light cycles. The exception is when I have an appointment and have no choice, like today, but I’ll do some shopping because I’m there. It makes the trip fun and worthwhile.
Categories: Musings
Tags: air-conditioning, balloons, Birthday, birthday wishes, breeze, brownies, cloudy and sunny, Hyannis, Karoo's, puzzle box, solar light, South African, the big city
Comments: 14 Comments
August 15, 2016
My doors and windows are open. I have rejoined the world if only for a while. There is a breeze coming from the north, the window behind me, keeping the den cool, and the sun is still working its way around so it’s also dark. The weather report is for heat but less humidity so I’m taking advantage and giving the house some fresh air before the onslaught of the heat.
My life of late has been boring. Staying inside the house doesn’t make for adventure, for stories. I do have to go to the dump, but that’s not a plot line for a good story. It’s just trash.
My neighborhood is quiet. I have no idea where the kids are. There are 9 of them on this street. I’m thinking it’s difficult to hide them all. Perhaps their parents are using gags and tricking the kids into thinking it’s a game. When you’re little you believe everything your parents tell you. That’s why I didn’t eat Chinese food until I was around ten or eleven.
I’ve tried salmon a couple of times but I still don’t like it. It’s the only fish I haven’t liked. No respectable fish is pink and why don’t you pronounce the l?
I make a great chili. It is a recipe from my brother-in-law. In his recipe, Rod has beans listed. For my copy, he also has a footnote: if making chili for me, don’t add the beans. I have never made chili with beans. My defense is that real chili has no beans.
I eat a lot of chicken. It’s not all that expensive and chicken recipes number in the millions. I like chicken thighs and think they are the tastiest part of the chicken.When I go out for a casual dinner, I usually order a cheeseburger.
When I go out for a casual dinner, I usually order a cheeseburger with onion rings on the side, but one pub where I eat doesn’t make onion rings at night, only during lunch, so I order French fries. I don’t eat my fries with ketchup; instead, I dip them in mayonnaise. I seldom use salt, but I do salt my fries. They seem to taste better that way.
My mother told us stories about World War II and rationing. She said they seldom got butter so they used oleo instead. It was white but it came with packets of yellow to make it butter-like. When I was a kid, my mother never bought oleo. Having it in the war was enough for her; instead, she always bought butter. My sisters and I still do.
I remember a lunch at a friend’s house. She made sandwiches with salmon and dessert with peaches. I ate both of them out of courtesy. It rates as the worse lunch in my memory drawers.
Categories: Musings
Tags: boring, cheeseburger, Chicken, chili, cooling breeze, dump, fries, gags, games, Hamburger, old wives' tales, onion rings, open windows, parents, pink, quiet, salmon, salt
Comments: 10 Comments
August 14, 2016
Big surprise: today is hot, already 88˚, and combined with the 70% humidity it feels like 100˚. I was on the deck earlier checking the plants. They have to be watered again, but I’ll wait until later in the day hoping it will be cooler.
When I arrived in Ghana for Peace Corps training, I knew nothing about Africa. The books and mimeographed materials from Peace Corps didn’t do much in helping me understand where I was going. Knowing there were two seasons, rainy and dry, had me picturing what rainy and dry look like here, that was all I had for reference. Descriptions of Ghanaian culture were like excerpts from a geography book. I read about the different tribes and where they lived. The country was divided into regions, a bit like our states.
Before we left Philadelphia for Ghana, I found out I was going to be posted in the Upper Region, only a place on the map to me. The Upper Region spanned all the way across the whole top section of Ghana from east to west. I was to be posted in its capital, Bolgatanga.
When I went to Bolga for a week during training, it was the rainy season when everything is green, and the market is filled with all sorts of fruit and vegetables. I figured that would be Bolga all the time. I was totally wrong.
When training was over, I made my way home, to Bolga. I stopped overnight in Kumasi, about the halfway mark. I always added an overnight so I could visit friends along the way. The trip from Accra to Kumasi was a wonderful train ride. From Kumasi to Bolga was a bus or lorry ride, always hot and always crammed with people.
Bolga was still in the rainy season when I moved into my house. The rains stopped a month or two later. Everything dried. The ground split. Nothing stayed green. My lips and the heels of my feet split. I walked on tiptoes. I learned to take bucket baths. My meals never varied. Breakfast was two eggs cooked in groundnut oil and two pieces of toast. Lunch was fruit. Dinner was beef cooked in tomato broth, a necessity to make the meat tender, or chicken. Yams were the side dish, sometimes in a mash and sometimes cooked with the meat. I always drank water except in the morning when I drank instant coffee with canned milk.
I never minded the same meals or the dry season. I was astonished every day that I was living in Africa. I loved Bolga whether rainy or dry. My friends and I would often look at the sky and say it looked like rain. That was a joke, and we never got tired of it. We knew the rain was months away. If we found something new in the market, it was cause for celebration. If we didn’t, it didn’t matter.
In about five weeks, I’ll be back home in Bolga.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 88˚, beef, dry season, Ghana, Ghanaian regions, hot, humidity, Kumasi, looks like rain, onions, Peace Corps, rainy season, Train, Upper Region, yams
Comments: 9 Comments
August 13, 2016
This morning I felt like a mole stepping into the sunshine after living underground for too long. I shielded my eyes on my way to the driveway to get the papers. I was blasted even in that short while by the heat and humidity. After getting the papers, I ran back into the house, into the cool darkness.
Last night I had to go to Stop and Shop to pick up a few things Peapod couldn’t deliver as the warehouse didn’t have them. It was close to eleven o’clock. I walked inside and had to look around as the store had changed considerably. I went from aisle to aisle reading the signs until I finally found what I wanted. That one short shopping trip reminded me why I use Peapod.
I love cheese, all sorts except blue cheese and gorgonzola. When I was a kid, my mother always bought Velveeta. It made the best grilled cheese sandwiches. I still buy it to make a quick dip with salsa, jalapeños and sometimes crumbled hamburger. I haven’t a favorite cheese so I usually buy a variety of cheeses. We have a new store which carries Italian cheeses many of which are unfamiliar so I usually need a taste before I buy. Any sandwich I make aways has a cheese of some sort. I even spread Brie. Crackers and cheese are a favorite snack of mine so I always have crackers in the cabinet. When I was in Ghana, there was no cheese. Even now it is scarce and expensive. Obruni stores, as in white man stores, do carry it, and you can find it in Accra. Ghanaians don’t eat cheese. Now I wonder why my mother never sent me Velveeta. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated, being processed cheese.
With my trip to Ghana getting closer, I’m thinking of all the Ghanaian food I’ll have, all my favorites. I’m also thinking about the Middle East restaurants which used to be all over Accra but are now difficult to find. Luckily, down the street from my Accra hotel, is a Middle Eastern restaurant where I had dinner the last time I stayed and hope to visit again. The safari lodge where we’re staying has a combination of European food and Ghanaian. In Ghana I am a European which just means white to Ghanaians. All this talk of Ghanaian food has my mouth is salivating for kelewele, Guinea fowl and, yup, even fufu.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Brie, Cheese, crackers, grilled cheese., heat, humidity, Mexican dip, mole, Peapod, salsa, Stop and Shop, sunshine, Velveeta
Comments: 16 Comments
August 12, 2016
I didn’t leave the house yesterday except to water the plants on the deck. That has become a daily chore. The plants dry and wilt from the sun and the heat so I feel guilty unless I water them. I do have to go out today, but I figure the traffic will be light. Tourists will be wherever they can feel cool, and I doubt in cars and on the road won’t be their choices. The weather report has the possibility of rain here today and tomorrow. I don’t believe it.
Before I had AC in the house, I used to go to a matinee and sit in the air conditioning to watch a movie. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.
In the paper today was an article about Massachusetts investigating the possibility of changing time zones from Eastern Standard Time to Atlantic Standard Time. People are dreading winter when the sun sets at 4 o’clock, and it sometimes starts to get dark at 3. We already fall back and spring ahead so changing wouldn’t be all that unfamiliar. The only drawback was being on a different time than New York and Washington. Someone suggested Massachusetts Savings Time but that seems a bit ego-centric.
I’m not doing much in the heat, but there isn’t really a whole lot to do. I have a couple of cabinets needing to be organized, but cabinet organization is really far too deep on my list to consider. It seems more like a winter chore.
When I worked, my life was far more departmentalized. My daily stuff mostly revolved around work. I got up at 5 or 5:15, watched the early news as my papers weren’t delivered yet and had two cups of coffee. I left for work around 6:20, arrived by 6:30 and then organized my day. I got home around 4. I read the papers and my mail, made dinner, showered and went to bed no later than 10. Monday to Friday never really varied.
The weekends were for cleaning the house, doing the laundry and going to the dump. Friday and Saturday nights were empty dance cards waiting to be filled.
Now, despite having all the time in the world, I run out of time. My lists seldom get finished so I move the undone items to the next day. I do the same thing every day so I always have a never ending list, but I have learned not to care. It took some time but I’m now quite comfortable with lazy days, with being a sloth and with unfinished lists.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Atlantic Standard Time, chasing time zones, chores, departmentalized, dry and hot, dump run, errands, fall back, Laundry, lazy days, plans, possibility of rain, run out to time, sloth, spring ahead, watering plants, work
Comments: 8 Comments
August 11, 2016
Here I am again, inside the house retreating from the heat. Today will be in the high 80’s on the cape and the 90’s in Boston and north of Boston. My friend Bill sent me the weather from Bolgatanga, Ghana where it will be cooler than here and rainy. What’s with that, cooler in Africa than here?
I could do a couple of errands today, but I won’t. I’m staying housebound by choice. I have food and drink, a semi-full larder, so I’ll be content and cool. I’m even considering baking something.
I hit a wall in watching the Olympics so last night I hunted for something else. It ended up being Cupcake Wars. I traded one boring program for a really boring program, but I’m guessing those cupcakes inspired me to think about baking today. This morning I’ve already watched women’s water polo. That wall is getting closer.
Yesterday I did two loads of laundry. They by themselves are not remarkable, but, for once, I didn’t leave any laundry in the dryer. I am known for leaving laundry in the dryer for up to a week. The clothes come out really wrinkled, but I don’t care.
Books are on the table in front of me as is the TV remote. They represent the day’s diversions, things to keep me busy, things to help the day pass.
When I was a kid, I’d be bored by the middle of August. I had done all the fun things several times, and they had begun to lose their luster. The afternoons were often too hot to do much. I remember being at the park and sitting in the shade. We played some checkers at the table and worked gimp. I remember painting a tray for my mother. We couldn’t play softball. Little kids couldn’t use the slide and seesaw because of the heat. The metal slide would have burned the backs of their legs. August is always hot and humid.
Every month I get a report from my electric company on my usage and how it compares to my neighbors’ usage. My sister in Colorado happened to mention her report to me as her husband, Rod, showed her they were the highest in the neighborhood. I said mine was too. We both decided we didn’t care. We want to live comfortably: cool in summer and warm in winter. I’m sending my next one to Rod so he’ll see they are not alone.
Tonight after midnight the Perseids meteor shower will begin, but the best viewing is after 1 AM or even later. There will be an unusually high number of meteors tonight anywhere from 160 to 200 meteors per hour. The suggestion is to lie on your back and look straight up. Drinking caffein to stay awake was another suggestion. I’m thinking iced coffee.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 90's, Africa, baking, Bolgatanga, boredom, cool in summer, Cupcake Wars, electric report, Ghana, gimp, hot, Olympics, park, staying cool, swimming, warm in winter
Comments: 14 Comments
August 9, 2016
This is a sort of solitary confinement. I sit behind closed windows and doors. The house is just too comfortable to leave. Today will be in the low 80’s. It will get humid tonight as rain is predicted for tomorrow, but I have become a skeptic. We are in the dry season, no longer in summer.
Where in the world is Fern? That was last night’s game. I was upstairs in the AC when I heard a commotion downstairs. When I went to investigate, neither cat was around. I went looking. I found Fern under one of the guest room beds, her safe place. She wouldn’t come out. I put her treats down and then later checked to see if she had eaten her tidbits. Nope, Maddie was eating them. Fern had moved to the other side of the bed. I left her there.
Last night I checked under the bed, no Fern. I called her and shook the treat bag. She didn’t come. I went to bed but during the night woke up and called Fern again. I turned on the bedroom light to go hunting. Fern was on the bed beside me. I had missed her. She got treats and ate all of them. When I woke up, though, Fern was gone. She has since surfaced and is sleeping on the couch.
I got to cross off one of my trip essentials. I saw the doctor and got anti-malarial pills and pills for my back should it cause problems, or maybe I should say when. My list is getting smaller.
The Great Whites have found a summer home here on Cape Cod. They enjoy the sun and surf. They eat al fresco and usually order seal. The other day, though, a party of six dined on a whale carcass, a minke whale carcass. Three beaches were closed as the sharks were close to shore. Be vigilant was the advice to swimmers. I saw Jaws, vigilance sometimes isn’t enough.
Categories: Musings
Tags: anti-malarial, cape cod, cat treats, cats, great white whalse, hiding, humidity, low 80's, minke carcass, rain, seals, solitary confinement, treats
Comments: 14 Comments
August 8, 2016
It has already been a full day for me. I am unused to having a list of must go places all in a single day. Usually I get to spread them around. I even went to one place twice. I got home from Agway and couldn’t find my bag so I drove back to Agway then I saw my bag on the back seat floor. I would never have looked there as my usual spot is on the other front seat, and I seldom deviated from the usual.
Today is a lovely day, in the low 80’s but with no humidity. I’ll be heading to the deck later with one of the books I just got from the library. I’m thinking cheese and crackers for lunch. I also have some Italian hard salami. It will be a wonderful sort of picnic except at a table and with no ants.
Sometimes I wish I were Samantha the witch. I’d just wiggle my nose. One of my gripes is the number of calls I get every day from unknown people and unfamiliar places. If I could, I’d send them back to the caller accompanied by an ear-splitting sound. I wonder how many calls they make to me before they give up as I don’t answer any of them. I’m beginning to think it is in the hundreds.
It is popsicle weather. Licking a cherry popsicle on a really hot day is a shortcut to nirvana, but you have to lick fast or popsicle drips go down your fingers to your hand. Having sticky fingers isn’t any fun. When I was older, I learned to lick from the bottom to the top.
Watermelon chunks are in my fridge. I bought the watermelon already that way. It is far easier to eat the chucks of fruit than watermelon off the rind. I consider watermelon the finest of summer fruit treats.
In winter I eat hearty food; in summer I eat random food, whatever appeals to me. It just has to be refreshing or quick to make. Most of my summer food comes out of the fridge ready to be eaten. Winter food generally needs to be cooked.
Okay, I’m hungry so I’m off to the deck with my book, a pseudo-picnic and a cold drink. I’m thinking it is a perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Agway, Ants, crackers and cheese, full day, lots of errands, lovely day, no humidity, phone calls, salami, Samantha, the usual
Comments: 8 Comments
August 7, 2016
Sunday morning is always quiet for me. I read my two papers and drink my coffee. I always call my sister in Colorado at 11, and we talk for an hour or more. That’s what usually puts me behind the time.
Last night I had Chinese food for dinner. I have been craving it for a while and finally decided it was time to satisfy that craving. Dinner was scrumptious, and I have enough leftover for today. That’s a bonus.
My windows and doors are open, but I suspect it will only be a short while before the heat gets to me as the slight breeze just isn’t enough to counter the hot sun. If I were a tourist, I’d love today. I imagine the beaches are filled. Usually by this time of the day even the beach parking lots are filled.
This morning I started watching The Lady in White. I’ve seen it before, but I liked the movie enough to see it again. It takes place in 1962 at Halloween. The Lady is a ghost. The main character, Frankie, witnesses a murder in his class cloak room which had taken place 10 years earlier. The rest of the movie hinges on that event. When I saw the beginning of the movie this time, I hadn’t remembered how it started. I did remember the rest. That a ghost is an important character doesn’t bother me at all. She is woven into the plot and is as important a character as Frankie.
I have a few outside things to do this afternoon like water the plants on the deck, clean the outside shower before I take one later and check the connections to my lights on the deck and in the yard. None of the lights go on though they’re still connected to timers. One set is on the rail of the deck and two other sets are coiled around trees in the yard. My friend misses the lights and so do I.
Today is dump day. I imagine Gracie will be excited when she sees me hauling the trash bags to the car. I’ll have to open the doors and start the AC before I put her into the car or she’ll pant. Her window has to be open despite the air as she needs to smell the world as we travel. I totally understand.
Categories: Musings
Tags: chinese food, dump day, fresh air, outside lights', outside shower, Sunday morning, talking with family, The Lady in White, tourist
Comments: 8 Comments
August 6, 2016
Last night I watched the end of the opening ceremonies and the last few innings of the Red Sox game so I was up until quite late. By then the house had begun to feel sticky and close so I turned on the air conditioner. It was a delight to fall asleep in the cool air of the house.
Today has quite a breeze and is sunny, but rain is due late this afternoon. There may even be thunder and lightning so I’m going to hunker down. Tonight’s movie on the deck is postponed. If I were in Accra, Ghana, rain wouldn’t matter. I remember sitting and watching Is Paris Burning? when it started to rain. We all just picked up our chairs and moved them under the overhangs along the sides of the theater. The movie continued.
I don’t love spaghetti all that much. It is just too much work spinning it on the spoon with the fork, making sure I don’t look silly eating it and quickly wiping the sauce off my cheeks from the flying end of the spaghetti. I do like pasta especially ziti and penne, but I don’t ever make it at home. I think pasta is seldom just for one person. It is a crowd food.
Chocolate chip cookies are comfort food. My mother made them often though never often enough. She made special cookies at Christmas, but chocolate chip cookies were for any time. I loved them hot from the oven when the chocolate was still runny. I have made all different sorts of chocolate chip cookies. Some were made with macadamia nuts instead of walnuts. In others chocolate chunks took the place of chips. I’ve even tried mint chips, but I didn’t like them all that much, the same with butterscotch. I learned you don’t mess with the chocolate. It’s almost a holy food.
The sun has already disappeared behind grey clouds making the day a bit darker. I really think rain is coming, finally.
Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, chocolate chips cookies, chocolate chunks, macadamia nuts, mess, movie night, Olympic opening, rain, Red Sox game, Spaghetti, sticky, thunder and lightning
Comments: 11 Comments
