Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
April 25, 2016
The day started grey but it is now sunny, not bright but sunny. It is also noisy with birds singing and calling. Monday always seems quiet to me. It’s the day to recuperate from the weekend and all the errands and chores and evenings with friends. I spent the morning with my neighbor. We chatted in English to improve her skills. The have/has problem is the one she can’t seem to shake. I explain it. She thinks about it, repeats it a few times, then a bit later says she have when telling me a story. I want to bang my head on the table. Maybe she’ll connect my head banging with has.
When I was a kid, it was easy to be happy. I had everything I wanted. I had a bike, ice skates, regular skates and a sled. The library was a good walk away but worth the walk. It was filled with books so I never wanted for something to read. I liked school so going every day was no big deal. I loved learning new things. My friends were neighborhood friends so we saw each other even day walking to and from school and on Saturdays for whatever we decided to do. I think it was when I was a teenager that I started to want more.
Clothes became important when I was older. We all wanted to look alike without looking alike. It was a strange conundrum. Transistor radios were a must, the smaller the better. Saddle shoes were in for a while, and I still have a pair of them. Maybe I ought to wear them. My Easter bonnet was a hit so maybe the shoes will be too. Back then only white sneakers would do. We wanted more. Discontentment replaced happiness. Envy was big.
I went through a few more transitions. One of my favorites was my overalls-flannel shirt phase. I wore them with high tops, pink high tops. Individuality had become more important.
I think the Peace Corps made me brave. I was living in a far different culture where I had to do most things on my own including traveling. I learned to be self-sufficient and a bit daring. When I told my family I was going to Morocco by myself, they chatted among themselves and were quite nervous. They even designated my brother-in-law Rod as the rescue person should I break a leg or need saving for some reason. They told me this when I got home. I thought it was pretty funny. I think, though, I should be thankful for a family with emergency back-ups plans for me when I travel. You never know!
Categories: Musings
Tags: bike, conversation, English language, envy, happy kid, has/have, head banging, learning new things, library, Peace Corps, roller skates, saddle shoes, singing birds, Sled, sunny, teenagers, transistor radio
Comments: 10 Comments
April 24, 2016
The sun is doing its best, but the air has a bit of a chill, usual weather for spring on Cape Cod. When I left the Cape yesterday afternoon, it was grey and cloudy. As I got closer to Boston, the sun was shining, the sky was bright blue and it was about 6 or 7 degrees warmer.
I am taking a short hiatus today. My body isn’t at all happy with all the driving yesterday, and I took a small spill last night. My foot got caught in the strap of a bag on the floor and I went down on my right knee. In trying to stop myself, I grabbed a storage box. I went forward more and fell while my arm stayed back. It is quite sore today.
On the cat front, I did manage to dose Maddie once last night. I didn’t see her the rest of the night, and she just showed up. She is supposed to have two. I need someone here she can dislike instead of me when it comes to medicine time
I’ll be back tomorrow. Don’t worry I am fine. It was one of my gentler falls, low on the pain scale!
Categories: Musings
Tags: chill in the air, grey and cloudy, sunny
Comments: 8 Comments
April 23, 2016
We finally have rain. It’s a bit heavier than when I woke up, but it is still a drop by drop rainstorm. I can the drops hitting the roof. It is one of my favorite sounds. I feel cozy and protected in the house, the dark house as I have lit no lights, only a couple of candles.
It would rain on the day I have to go off cape. That’s the luck of the draw. I’m heading to dinner with friends I marched with in the drill team. Many of them were also my elementary classmates. I don’t see them very often. The cape might as well be a foreign country reached only by a long flight. Other than Bill and Peg, my friends from Peace Corps days, no one comes down here, not even my family. I always find that strange.
I think a rainy Saturday was one of the worst things that could happen to me when I was a kid. In the summer, we’d still go out because it was warm, and we didn’t care when we got wet. This time of year, though, was too cold to be outside in the rain. I remember moping around the house sighing at my plight and driving my mother crazy while I was doing it. Saturday was the only day of the week that was all mine. I had no obligations and had the entire day to what I wanted, but it was ruined in the cold of an early spring rain. Finally I would read to pass the time, but I wanted to be outside. I wanted the fresh air I didn’t get being stuck in school the whole week.
The rain has stopped. The only sound is one of my cats purring. She’s the one I had to chase around the house to give her the medicine in her ears. I have now switched to liquid thinking it might be easier. I’ll know in a bit because I’m going to try and give her some. After that I probably won’t see her for a day or two. Maddie doesn’t forgive easily, and she never forgets.
Categories: Musings
Tags: a foreign country, cape cod, chinese food, dinner, moping, off-cape, rain, ride, sighing, St. Pat's drill team
Comments: 8 Comments
April 22, 2016
Warm today, it is actually long sleeve shirt weather, the first of the season. I can’t wait to get out. I have two errands then I get to enjoy the rest of the day. Notice I didn’t mention making my bed or doing anything domestic. They’re not on the list!
On the cat and medicine battle, Fern is letting me dose her twice a day, one rub and one liquid. Maddie is still running. She senses I am up to no good. I called the vet, and we’re going to try liquid with Maddie. I suspect she’ll still take off on me. She’s a feisty cat that one.
The ten year old me had dreams and hopes. They mostly centered around seeing the world. I wanted to hurry and get old enough to bag my bags, pick a spot, jump on a plane and go. I’d stand on the roof lookout at Logan airport, the old airport, and watch the planes leaving and I’d be wishing I was on one. The logistics of travel never occurred to me. I didn’t give money a thought. I was dreaming and my dreams were never sensible or logical. I saw myself traipsing through the world having adventures. When you’re ten, anything is possible.
I don’t know why I never noticed different flowers when I was young. I did notice dandelions and thought them flowers. Most of the front yards on my street had pansies and marigolds. I like pansies but marigolds not so much. Our neighbors all wanted the best lawns so flowers weren’t all that important. My dad planted pansies in the front garden, a very small garden because of the bushes. I used to look at the flowers and try to figure out who the faces of the pansies resembled. I think a lot of them were Winston Churchill.
I used to lie on the grass and watch the clouds. I remember the grass felt cool and soft. The clouds mostly looked like animals. The only exception was I often saw a witch. It was her hat that gave her away. I’d watch until the clouds moved and the animals disappeared into a single cloud, one with no shape or personality.
I always saw the man in the moon, and for me he was always smiling. Even now I check to make sure he’s still there. I’m never disappointed. He is always there and he always still smiles.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Clouds, dreams and hopes, flowers, long sleeve shirt weather, man in the moon, marigolds, pansies, planes, ten year old me, traveling, warm day
Comments: 12 Comments
April 21, 2016
Lately Mother Nature has seen fit to give us sunny, beautiful days. The problem, though, is they are still on the cold side, mostly in the low 50’s and down to the 40’s at night. Today, hooray, will be in the high 50’s and may even reach 60˚.
My back surgeon told me never to lift anything heavier than a phone book. I got to wondering how much longer he can use phone book as a measurement. Actual weight wouldn’t help as most people, including me, have no idea what something weighs. Don’t lift anything bigger than a Thanksgiving turkey, a Christmas roast?
The two families down the street, each with 4 kids, are away for the vacation. One family went to Disneyland while the other flew to either South or North Carolina. It got me to thinking about our family vacations. Most times we stayed home. Once we went to Niagara Falls. I have no idea how my parents could have afforded that with staying in motels, feeding 4 kids and paying for attractions. I remember every bit of that vacation, including eating lots of McDonald’s for lunch. The hamburgers were 25 cents by then. The walk around the falls wearing those yellow slickers was the highlight of the trip for me. The roaring sound of the rushing water all around me was so loud and so thrilling I could feel the sound in every part of my body. It was like I was part of the falls, part of the cascading water. It is something I haven’t ever forgotten.
I don’t remember caring that we stayed home. Most of my friends did too. We’d do day trips and go to the beach or to a lake that had a slide into the water. We went to the drive-in. I still have a fondness for drive-ins even though I haven’t been to one in years. The Cape has one but I haven’t be able to interest anyone in going with me. I even volunteered the food but still no takers.
When I was a kid, we couldn’t eat meat on Fridays so my mother served all sorts of stuff like fried dough, English muffin pizzas and fish sticks. That was the only way we were ever served fish. I liked fish sticks but I was young, what did I know? Tonight my friends and I going to Captain Frosty’s for dinner. It is another tradition my friends and I have: we go together the first time for the season. It is mostly a seafood restaurant though they do have hamburgers and hot dogs. I’m thinking maybe scallops or clams. Here the clams have bellies the way they should. The fries are crisp. Each plate gets a small clam ball, a lagniappe. I’m already hungry just thinking about dinner.
I need to fill the feeders today and maybe sit on the deck in the sun to finish my book. I doubt there are many better ways to spend a day.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 60˚, Beach, drive-in movie, family vacations, heavy lifting, Niagara Falls, phone book, pretty day, staying home
Comments: 11 Comments
April 19, 2016
Today’s musing will be quick. I’ve been in the house so long I need to be dusted. As for the cats and their medicines, Fern is cooperating but Maddie is not. The last I saw of Maddie this morning was a black flash with medicine on her back fur, not rubbed into her ears. She ran upstairs and I have no idea where she is. I need a new strategy as this one is clearly not working. I need two of me, one to corner her and the other to medicate. I am determined to get her sometime today. “Got her, Jim.” (kudos if you can place that quote)
The sun just came out so I’m feeling a bit better about the day. I’ve been staying in lately because of my back, but I have to go out for some prescriptions, one for me and one for the dog, and I need a few groceries and new library books.
Nothing much has been happening in my world of late. I was out for a bit on the deck yesterday, finished my laundry, attached the dog’s license to her collar, read a bit and took a nap. I’d be hard-pressed to decide the highlight of the day but I’m leaning toward the nap.
I am not often bored. I’ve taken days off from doing anything but on purpose, not for want of something to do. I know there are things around the house I could do, but not one of them entices me. Seriously, cleaning out a cabinet doesn’t get my heels clicking in the air as part of a joyous dance. The dust under my bed has lived there so long I think it now has resident’s status. I do need a new bathmat for the inside of the tub. I can just imagine myself standing at the mats oohing and ahing. Okay, that is a totally wrong picture. Shopping for mats is a necessity. Real shopping is an extra curricular.
By now you have an idea of my moods. Sarcasm and self-pity seem to be chief among them. I need to get out, to see people, to smell fresh air and to buy something cheap and silly just for the laugh. I need the laugh.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bored, boring, cat medicine, clicking my heels, dancing, dog doses, dusting under the bed, Laundry, nothing to do
Comments: 10 Comments
April 18, 2016
Today is Patriot’s Day, a holiday in Massachusetts. It is also a big day for sports. The Red Sox began playing at 11. In Hopkinton where the Boston Marathon starts, the first wave of runners set off at 8:50 while the elite runners started just after 9:30. It is a beautiful day, warm and sunny. It is short sleeve weather at the ballpark, but it might be just a bit too warm for the runners. Right now the lead women are all from Ethiopia and only 2 seconds separate them. The men are close to the finish line, and there are two running side by side. As for the woman, one runner took a commanding lead and has just run across the finish line. Atsede Baysa, an Ethiopian, is the 2016 Women’s winner. Demi Hayle, also an Ethiopian, has just won the men’s race.
My cats have disappeared. One is angry because I gave her all her medicine, and the other is hiding to avoid getting any.
I live alone in a good size house, but I spend most of my time in the den on the computer, watching television or lying on the couch reading if I can get the animals off. The house where I grew up was smaller than this one. Three bedrooms and the bathroom were upstairs while a living room and a smallish kitchen were downstairs. We had an enormous cellar which held some of our toys, the bikes and the washing machine. The center of the house was the living room with the TV which was one of those models in a cabinet. You had to open the doors to watch it. You also had to walk to it to change channels. My father sat in the big chair while the rest of us sat on the couch. We eventually would start pushing for more room, touching each other just to cause trouble, complaining to my father and blaming everyone else. My dad was never tolerant of the noise or the shoving.
Mostly we watched what he wanted to watch. On Sundays my father watched football. On Sundays I usually stayed in my room reading or listening to the radio or doing both at the same time. I do remember some programs. The one afternoon program I will never forget is Queen for a Day. I still remember the chosen queen wearing her robe, her tiara and carrying an orb of royalty as she stood and listened to what gifts she had been bequeath. You Asked for It was a favorite. Skippy Peanut Butter (or some other peanut butter) was its sponsor, and the person asking would have his/her name on the jar label. I always thought that show was interesting. Just like everyone else I knew, we watched Ed Sullivan. I remember his introductions of well known people in the audience. I also remember many of the women wore hats and mink stoles. I’ve always felt blessed that my father didn’t like Lawrence Welk.
Categories: Musings, Uncategorized
Tags: Atsede Baysa, Boston Marathon, cat's medicine, football, good size house, living alone, Patriots' Day, Red Sox, watching TV, You Asked for It
Comments: 6 Comments
April 17, 2016
Today is a beautiful day despite the chill in the air. The sun is just so bright you have to squint when you go outside. The breeze is slight and only the tops of the pine trees sway a bit.
Yesterday I had my fish and chips for lunch, but they were more than just a lunch to me. They inaugurated the official start of summer food. Bring on the shrimp and the scallops. Light up the grill. I’m ready!
Operation Fern and Maddie isn’t going as easily as I’d hoped. Maddie runs and hides. Fern tries to run, but I usually catch her. This morning Fern got her liquid medicine, and I was able to rub the other one in her ear. Maddie took off. We played musical chairs for a while around the dining room table. I lost so she has yet to have a dose and she needs two. It is no big deal. I just have to rub medicine in each ear. That’s it. I could get her right now as she is asleep on the chair, but she loves to sleep there so I don’t want it associated with medicine. I’ll have to wait until she gets up and moves around.
The neighborhood is quiet, an unusual occurrence. It reminds me of when I was a kid, and Sunday was always a quite day. Every family had pretty much the same rituals: church then family dinner. There was a reverence about the day.
When I’d visit my parents for the weekend, Friday night was game night. My uncle got dropped off by one of his kids because after the night’s festivities they knew he shouldn’t get behind the wheel. He was a weekly visitor. Sometimes my aunt, not related to my uncle, also showed up. She was my father’s sister, and they unmercifully teased each other. The kitchen was the only room ever used. It was always noisy, even raucous. It was filled with laughs, even guffaws, at somebody’s expense. My dad was often the target. The room would be filled with smoke, and the backdoor, even in winter, was usually left open. The bar was on the counter. The person closest to the counter got stuck getting the drinks. We’d play game after game of cards. We’d play for hours. The room would get louder and louder. Many times I was the bartender. I used to joke with my parents and say I learned my bartending skills by the time I was six. When I delve into my memory drawer, I can still see the table filled all around, the bottles on the counter, the air thick with smoke and most of all I can hear the laughter. My uncle is the only one left of the Friday night gatherings. I have all the memories and I can still see everyone when I close my eyes and remember.
Categories: Musings
Tags: chasing cats, chill in the air, Fern and Maddie, Fish and chips, grilling, medicine for the cats, quiet, sun, Sunday
Comments: 18 Comments
April 16, 2016
I guess it is too early in the spring for the sun to sustain itself more than a day or two. It is gray and windy, big time windy. I can hear the sweet sound of the chimes hanging in the backyard.
The cats hate me. Fern has medicine once a day and the medicine ear rub is also once a day. Maddie has a daily ear rub in each ear. This morning Fern has had her medicine and Maddie her first rub. Both have disappeared. Gracie the snoring dog is the only pet still here with me.
Saturday has always been the best day of the week ever since I was really young. Weekdays meant school. I liked school, but I didn’t like being stuck there all day long. One recess a day just wasn’t enough. Sunday had church, a perfect reason not to like the day. In winter there was always the Saturday matinee or a day to do anything we wanted. On TV was the Creature Double Feature. I saw giant spiders, a colossal man, a 50 foot woman, Mole people, giants ants, a teenage werewolf and Godzilla. Both the Colossal Man and the 50 Foot Woman were quite ill-tempered, and she was even vengeful in going after her philandering husband who was carousing at a bar while she grew taller. I didn’t blame her. The giant creatures like the ants in Them were the results of the atomic bomb. I never minded staying home on a rainy Saturday. Watching TV was like being in B-movie heaven. Every now and then I find a favorite B&W science fiction movie on TCM. It’s like finding a treasure, a gem.
Most of this week was a bust. I’m hoping for better starting tomorrow. I’m not as obnoxious as Pollyanna and her glad game, but I’d like a few days with warm sun, a neat ride or two and maybe my first fish and chips of the season now that my favorite summer restaurants are open. I really don’t think I’m asking for a whole lot. I’ll even take just one. I pick the warm sun.
Categories: Musings
Tags: church', colossal man, Creature Double Feature, pets, Saturdays, school, Sunday, weekdays
Comments: 12 Comments
April 15, 2016
The day is windy and cold but still lovely with lots of sun and a blue sky that even Crayola can’t duplicate. I really have nothing to do today. I spent the morning playing around with my MAC which was a bit feisty. I couldn’t use it until I solved the problem. I seem to be getting much better at healing my MAC.
When I was a kid, today was a big day because at the end of school April vacation started. We had the whole next week off. I don’t remember if the week was warm or not. I just remember my bike was out of the cellar, and we were all over town. We didn’t have a specific destination. We just rode. I remember we went to the zoo a couple of times and through parts of town we didn’t know well. Sometimes we brought our lunches while other times we went home for lunch and a bathroom break though we didn’t really need an inside bathroom. One of my favorite rides was to the farm. The cows were always out in the field and we’d watch a long while. I have a couple of milk bottles from that farm. It is still there, but it sells sod and fertilizer and stuff like that. The cows are long gone.
We’d ride to the next town and around its lake. It was to us a huge lake, and we loved that it was right in the middle of a town. Sometimes on our rides we’d end up where we started while other times we’d only go about halfway around, leave the lake and end up in a different town. That town also bordered my town but on the other side. It was a boring town but it did have a great diner. When I was older and visiting for the weekend, my father would sometimes take my mother and me out for breakfast there. I still love diners. I also still love going out for breakfast.
Every day we did something. Five days away from school were never to be wasted. I don’t remember a whole lot of walking, but I figure we must have gone into the woods and walked to the swamp. We kept careful watch on the seasons at the swamp. We knew when it was warm enough the tadpoles would be there darting away from our fingers. I remember the sun shining on that swamp and warming my back when I was lying down on the grass beside where the tadpoles were. That swamp was one of the neatest places I have ever known.
Categories: Musings
Tags: April vacation, bikes, cows, diners, lake, milk, nice day, out for breakfast, Swamp, Weiss Farm, zoo
Comments: 8 Comments
