Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
January 29, 2016
The sun is just now breaking through the clouds to defy the prediction of rain showers. We’re going to the dump later so I’d appreciate it if Mother Nature held off on the rain. I have a trunkful.
When I was a kid, the town trash trucks came once a week. My dad would haul the heavy barrels out of the cellar to the curb. The truck always had at least two men hanging off the back. They’d jump off, grab barrels, empty them into the back of the truck then toss the barrels to the curb. The guys wore heavy gloves and grubby clothes. I liked to watch when they’d compressed the trash to make more room. Our next door neighbor was a trash man and once in a while he’d do our home route. We’d all wave and yell.
I never really thought much about the garbage can in the back yard by the steps. It was in-ground, and you had to depress a lever to open it. I hated emptying the garbage from the house. The bin smelled awful and there were always maggots. The garbage truck also came once a week. The garbage man walked to the backyard carrying one barrel slung over his back. He’d open the bin, pull out the garbage can and dump it into his barrel. I always thought being a garbage man had to be the grossest job, but I was wrong.
The grossest job is being a night soil man anywhere. His job is to go from outhouse to outhouse to empty the pails while people are sleeping. I just happen to have met one in Ghana. It was while I was visiting my friends who didn’t have running water. I was back and forth to their outhouse during the night as I was suffering from a volunteer’s common ailment which necessitated frequent visits to the outhouse. I can’t imagine the night soil man was as surprised as I was. When he pulled out the pail, I heard the noise and jumped up. He poked his head just a bit into the hole and greeted me. I greeted him back. He smiled and put the empty pail back inside. I sat down. It had been the most interesting encounter.
Categories: Musings
Tags: barrels of trash, garbage bin, Garbage truck, Ghana, greeting, maggots, night soil, pails of night soil, smells, sun, trash truck
Comments: 14 Comments
January 28, 2016
Today is sunny and warmer than it has been. The snow is almost gone. It lingers in piles on the corners of the streets and beside driveways. My deck and parking space are clear. The drama of the first snowstorm is over.
I woke up early, a relative term I realize, but decided I wasn’t ready yet to face the day. I slept another hour and a half. Gracie joined me. I took my time reading the papers. There just seemed to be lots of news. It was a three cups of coffee morning.
Today has an empty agenda. I’m not even sure I’ll get dressed. I’m not going anywhere. My car’s trunk is filled with trash but Leandro and Rosanna will be here in a bit to clean so tomorrow will be the big day, a banner day, a day to be out and about. Tomorrow is dump day, and the weatherman says it may rain. Of course it will. It is also get Gracie’s license day as the price goes up 100% after tomorrow which also happens to be the last day I can pay my real estate taxes on line. How will I pay you ask? Tomorrow is pay day.
My dad got paid every Friday when I was a kid. He’d hand his check over to my mother, the family accountant, who would cash it. It was her job to divvy the money into budget envelopes and to pay her Christmas club for the week. I remember those envelopes. On the front of each was the amount my mother put in every week. The envelopes over time became a deep tan color and were bound together inside a red cover with strings to close it.
When I bought my house, I started to use budget envelopes, but I wasn’t fancy. I just grabbed white envelopes, labeled them and put the amount on the front. I got paid every two weeks. The first couple of years I owned the house the mortgage was half my month’s salary. Those were the lean years. I didn’t travel anywhere for the first time since 1969 when I went into the Peace Corps. Restaurants, except once in a while, were not budget items. Grocery shopping was limited to needing only. I got sick of hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner.
The lean years lasted about four years. In the fifth year I went to Europe. My fiscal crisis was behind me: no more envelopes, no more scrimping and no more longing to be somewhere.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 3 cups of coffee, dog license, dump day, family accountant, lots of news, pay day, sleeping late, snow gone, taxes due, warm day
Comments: 6 Comments
January 26, 2016
The weather is warm: everything is melting. At first I thought it was raining so I went to the back door to check. No rain, just the constant dripping of melting snow. No sun, only clouds. Yesterday the branches were covered. Today they are empty of snow.
I keep losing track of the day. Last week was so slow that on Tuesday I thought it was Thursday. This week is going a bit faster, but I have no idea why. Some weeks feel endless while other weeks are gone before I even realize it. My routine is pretty much the same every day so I think this spell I’m in must be boredom, ennui. I don’t seem to have much ambition though I did force myself to do the laundry. I guess I got tired of seeing the laundry bag in the hall, leaning against the cellar door. I think it had been there close to two weeks. Yesterday I also did a bit of dusting with my sweatshirt sleeve. Finally I watched a couple of programs on my DVR. One was the Doctor Who Christmas.
This snow storm was a cheat. It spoiled the weekend and clean up on Sunday meant school on Monday. When I was a kid, snow days were holidays. They were never added to the end of the year. I have no idea how many days we had to go to school back then, but because I was in a parochial school, I had more days off than the public school kids. We were off on Holy Days of Obligation, parish saint days and nuns’ visiting days. I have no idea why or where the nuns went visiting. I just hoped they had a good time.
Categories: Musings
Tags: branches empty of snow, drops of water, losing time, melting snow, no school, snow days, warm day
Comments: 4 Comments
January 25, 2016
The snow is still pretty because the town doesn’t sand or salt. Along the side roads the snow stays pristine. My street is down to pavement. When I look in the backyard, I can see clumps of melting snow falling off branches. The smaller branches are already clear. The snow on the roof drips off the eaves, mostly in the front yard. This morning the steps were icy so I threw deicer on them and on the steps in the back for Gracie. It isn’t the warmest of days, but it is warm enough to melt the snow.
Today is a beautiful day with a brilliant sun and, according to the Crayola color chart, a turquoise blue sky. The snow on the ground is glinting, shining in the light. A sunny day always looks glorious after a snow storm. I think it’s a reward for abiding the snow.
My Pats lost yesterday, no Super Bowl this year. I guess I’ll have to turn to baseball and spring training. Pitchers and catchers report on February 18th and position players on the 23rd. The Sox have been in last place twice in the last three years. The year in between they won the World Series. I think all the planets were aligned that one year.
I live on a small street in the village of South Dennis. There are 8 houses on my street, 2 of which are summer houses. It is seldom a busy street except in the summer when the kids, 8 from 2 houses at the other end of the street and 1 from the house beside me, ride their bikes and scooters on the street. I leave the front door open because Gracie loves to watch. This morning Gracie wanted that door opened so I complied. She stayed there looking out for an hour. I can’t think she saw anything as nothing went by the house, and the kids are all in school. She just likes to look. Dogs are interesting.
Categories: Musings
Tags: clumps of falling snow, looking outside, melting snow, pavement, pretty snow, Snow, turquoise blue sky, village of South Dennis, warmer day
Comments: 14 Comments
January 24, 2016
“We’re happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland.” I’m lying. I’m not happy. Here I am stuck in the house, and from the window I can see way off to the driveway where the blue plastic sleeve of my newspapers is clearly visible. I know if I really wanted the papers I could put on heavy shoes and some warmer pants then trudge my way through the deep snow to the papers. I think I’ll choose to be patient and wait for Skip, my factotum, to come to plow and shovel.
We didn’t get as much snow as I expected. I think maybe we got only 8 or 9 inches. The problem is the snow is heavy and wet. Branches and bushes bow under the weight. The sky is still grey. I was hoping for some sun. Nothing is prettier than untouched snow glittering in the sun.
My dad was one of those shovelers who went out during the storm hoping to stay ahead of the snow. I used to watch him from the picture window. He’d do the front steps first then the path then the three steps to the street and finally his car. Sometimes the snow was so high I couldn’t see him, but I knew where he was because I could see the snow flying left or right off his shovel into the air.
The plows left layers of snow on the street. Sometimes the first layer would melt just a bit from the sun then overnight it would refreeze and produce the perfect hill for sledding with a layer of ice on top. This happened every day until the streets were down to pavement then we went sledding on the grassy hills.
Today I have football, the Pats against the Broncos. The winner will be Super Bowl bound. I’ll be cheering and clapping the whole game; at least, that’s what I expect.
(P.S. Skip has come and gone. Yippee!)
Categories: Musings
Tags: flat land, flying snow, glistening snow, heavy snow, layer of snow, paper in the driveway, plows, shoveling, Sledding, sun, trudge, winter wonderland
Comments: 16 Comments
January 23, 2016
Today is hunker down day. The strong, howling wind is making the air feel even colder. It is dark like almost night time darkness. The snow is expected to start late this afternoon. The cape will get more than Boston. The last prediction I saw was at least 9-12 inches of wet, puffy snow. The worry isn’t the snow but the possible loss of power because of the heavy wind and the weight of the soon to be falling mushy snow.
Earlier four or five of the boys who live down the street were riding their scooters up and down in front of my house. Gracie loved watching them. I figured their mothers were thrilled the boys could play and ride and tire a bit before they are all housebound.
I have issues with snow. My house was 37˚ because the weight of the snow brought down wires. Once I was stuck in the house for almost a week before they plowed my street. I complained but it didn’t matter. You never know winter.
Despite everything, falling snow is still a wonder to me. I keep checking the windows hoping to see the first few flakes. Watching snow never gets boring. The angles and rhythm of the falling snowflakes are often mesmerizing. I stand at the door and watch, leaving only when I start to get cold. Gracie loves running in snow. When she comes inside, she is always panting, not from exertion but from excitement. Her fur is covered in snow, her face in Boxer spit. Gracie runs with her mouth open.
Five minutes ago I looked out the window, no snow. Just now I looked again and it’s snowing. The storm seems fierce because the wind is blowing the snow everywhere, in all directions. The flakes are big and are already covering tree limbs. It’s coming fast. I think they may have underestimated the amount of snow. I’ll keep checking and let you know.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 6-9 inches of snow, Boxer spit, darkness, freezing, housebound, hunker down, running in the snow, Snow, watching snow, Wind
Comments: 14 Comments
January 22, 2016
The paper is filled with news of the weather and the Patriots. A snowstorm is expected here by Saturday night. The amount of snow keeps changing, but it appears the Cape will get more than Boston. The Patriots play the Broncos Sunday in Denver. The Pats are 3 point favorites which is nothing given their horrendous record in Denver.
This morning was sunny but the gray sky is back but not dark enough to hide the light. It’s cold so I’m staying home and keeping warm and cozy. Last night around 6 I went to the store for a couple of things. The roads were just about empty. The parking lot at the market had 4 or 5 cars, usually I have to go around a couple of times until a spot opens. Inside, most of the stores were closed, but I did manage to find some goodies including shrimp fried rice, clam chowder and a couple of cod cakes. My larder is well filled.
When I was a kid, weather reporting was simple. We didn’t have warnings about when the storm might start and stop or how many inches to expect. My mother never raced off for groceries like bread or milk or water. We kids always had high hopes they’d be too much snow for school, but we wouldn’t officially find out until the next morning when the fire whistle blew.
Meteorologists now do the weather reporting on TV. They follow storms for days and tell us what might be coming. They even know how much snow we should expect. Gone are the markers, the white boards and the maps on erasable boards. Everything is computerized, no more guessing, no more fire whistles. Everyone now knows when to rush out to buy their water and bread. Tomorrow morning should begin the onslaught of frantic people facing a huge snow storm and bent on filling their fridge with water.
Categories: Musings
Tags: clam chowder, fried rice, grey day, larder, market, Patriots, Snow, storm, storm warnings, weather forecasting
Comments: 6 Comments
January 21, 2016
This morning I was up at the crack of dawn, around 6:30, as I had a dental appointment at 8. I hate that alarm. To wake up to it again was jarring. It was almost a leap out of bed reaction. I tried to ignore it but couldn’t so I got up, got dressed, retrieved my papers and had a cup of coffee which salved the pain.
I got home around 8:30, had more coffee, finished the crossword puzzle then went back to bed. I sleep another couple of hours.
I have a tale of Miss Gracie and ice, but the story has to be from my perspective though I’d love to know what Miss Gracie thought.
On Tuesday night, the little snow we had turned to ice. I didn’t realize how slippery it was when I let Gracie out. She slid on the top step right outside the door and kept sliding to the stairs where she tried unsuccessfully to get her footing. I tried but couldn’t catch her so I watched helplessly and afraid as she lost the battle to get her footing and tumbled and rolled down the last 4 or 5 stairs. When she hit the driveway, she rolled a couple of more times. When she got up, she was almost falling from one side to the other. I yell her name over and over as I made my way down the stairs as quickly as I dared, got to her and held on to her for a while. I then held and walked her to the stairs. She didn’t want to go up, and I totally understood, but we had to get into the house. I lifted her to each step with my arms around her body and her legs on the stairs. For the last few steps she was okay by herself. She ran inside and I was quick to follow. I checked every bit of her, but she seemed fine. I wasn’t all that fine. I was still scared after watching that fall and her tumbling. I think the leaning from side to side when she first got up was from her being dizzy with all the rolling. I gave Gracie her treat then she turned around and went right back outside and down the stairs to the yard. I figured she wanted to finish her business, but I found it amazing she wasn’t afraid to go down those stairs again.
I immediately hauled the bag of paw friendly deicer up from the cellar and tossed it on the two steps outside the door and the stairs to the yard. The next morning, I could see the sun and the deicer were working their magic when I let Gracie out. I expected her to be sore and limping but nope, nothing. She was perfectly fine. That whole incident was terrifying for me as I had to watch and could do nothing, but she seems just fine for which I am grateful.
Usually I spread around and talk about many things, but today had to be Gracie’s day.
Categories: Musings
Tags: deicer, dentist, dizzy, falling down stairs, ice, rolling, sliding, tumbling
Comments: 10 Comments
January 19, 2016
Winter is here. Yesterday was freezing. Last night the wind never stopped. It surrounded me and was all I could hear as I was falling asleep. I wasn’t cold but I still snuggled under the covers as if I needed to keep the wind at bay. Gracie circled several times then plopped herself beside me. Fern followed suit but without the circling and on my other side. Gracie was the quickest to fall asleep. I heard her snoring.
Walking to school in the winter was chilliest at the beginning. Walking home was chilliest at the end. Every winter’s day I was bundled in a vast array of garments. Starting from inside out, I wore pink long underwear which came to my knees and a tee shirt under my blouse. My mother demanded we add a sweater, usually blue to match our uniforms, because our old classrooms had such high ceilings they were difficult to keep toasty. She figured we needed that bit of extra warmth. Knee socks came up high enough that only a small spot on each leg got cold. My jacket was thick and had a zipper. My mittens and hat were wool.
I remember at the end of the day being called row by row to the cloakroom so we could get our coats and stuff. We were always in rows: we sat in rows and we walked in rows usually 2 by 2 to go in or out of the school and to go to the bathrooms in the basement. If we needed to go during the day, we always asked for permission to go to the basement. Nobody ever called them the lavs or the bathrooms. That was one of the peculiarities of my old school. The cloak rooms were another.
Going home in the afternoon, I was never dressed as warmly as I had been in the morning. All my mother’s efforts to keep me warm were mostly undone. Sometimes I couldn’t get the zipper parts to join together so I left my jacket opened. I didn’t really like hats so mine was stashed in one of my pockets. My mother was never pleased.
Categories: Musings
Tags: blowing wind, chilly walk, cloakroom, long underwear, mittens, pink, sweater, tee shirt, windy, winter, winter jackets, zippers
Comments: 6 Comments
January 18, 2016
Finally we have sun, but we also have a dusting of snow and a cold day in the high 20’s. My heat has been blasting all morning so the house is cozy and warm. Sadly, I have no choice but to bite the bullet and go out later. It looks as if I’ll be scraping the windshield. I can’t even remember the last time I had to do that.
Today is Martin Luther King day. I looked through my archives and decided to repost last year’s Coffee. It says everything needing to be said.
Martin Luther King Jr. has now been dead longer than he lived. But what an extraordinary life it was.
At 33, he was pressing the case of civil rights with President John Kennedy. At 34, he galvanized the nation with his “I Have a Dream” speech. At 35, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. At 39, he was assassinated, but he left a legacy of hope and inspiration that continues today.” from the Seattle Times
I was in high school when I began to notice the world around me in a different way. All of a sudden it was far bigger than my small town. Back then I didn’t know a single Black person. There were none where I grew up, but a parish priest began to open our eyes and through him we met Black teenagers from Boston. Through them I became aware of social inequities, of Jim Crow and of the struggles of Blacks to register to vote. My friends and I were too young to go South, to march or register voters, but we were more than willing to do small tasks for even they had impact. We worked with snick, SNCC, going door to door to raise money. We attended NAACP meetings and passed out pamphlets. We did what we could.
Without realizing it, I had developed a social conscience which would forever be part of my life. It helped define what the 60’s meant to me. During college, I picketed and marched for a variety of causes I had come to believe in. I joined the Peace Corps, my recognition that we all have a responsibility to make this world a better place. I still feel the same way.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cold, MLK Day, scrape the windshield, Snow
Comments: 8 Comments
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