Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
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
January 17, 2016
Today is cloudy and damp and colder than yesterday. According to the weatherman, it will continue to get colder. Tomorrow night will be in the teens and Tuesday will be in the 20’s. I suppose I ought not to complain as this is really a warm winter. I’m thinking that’s probably an oxymoron.
Two of my warmest shirts are flannel. When I was a kid, my jeans were lined in flannel. I’m even wearing flannel pants right now, the kind you only wear around the house, never outside. If I wore a hat, it would have flannel inside and on the ear flaps. Comfort, not style, now dictates my choice of wardrobe.
In Ghana I had to wear a dress every day everywhere I went. When I started teaching here, it was the same thing except pantyhose was added. Later, pants were accepted as appropriate when teaching, but then, when I became an administrator, it was back to dresses, an unspoken but expected choice of wardrobe for an administrator. Every school day morning I’d stare at the clothes in my closet trying to decide what dress to wear. Now fast forward to retirement. The clothes in the closet have completely changed. I have two all purpose dresses, one dress a bit heavier for colder weather and three from Ghana. It has been so long since I wore a dress, I don’t even remember the occasion. I’m thinking it might have been a wedding. All the other clothes in my closet are mostly pants, shirts and other kinds of tops.
The day after I retired it happened. My fashion world was upended. I started dressing for comfort all the time. Style be damned! I have some dressy pants should I need to upgrade my usual choices, but I don’t even remember wearing those either. Now when I look in the closet, I wonder what color I’ll wear today.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cold and damp, colder, colors, Comfort, Dresses, dressy, flannel, pants and shirts, pantyhose, wardrobe
Comments: 12 Comments
January 16, 2016
The rain started about 1:30 this morning. I was lying in bed when I heard the tap,tap on the roof. My first thought was the weatherman was spot on with his timing. He also said it would stop in time for the Pat’s game. He prognosticated perfectly again because the rain has now stopped. An hour ago it was raining heavily, but now it is just damp and grey and windy, sort of an ugly day.
I am late in posting because I am suffering from sleeping sickness, at least that’s my excuse. I did go to bed really late, but I slept until 11:30: that was nine hours. It has been the same all week. I wonder if I missed a visit from Maleficent and her whole sleeping curse thing went right over my head. Right now I am the only creature stirring.
My father was a huge football fan. He also watched hockey, but never baseball or basketball unless one of us was visiting, and he’d turn on the game for us. I know he found baseball boring, but I don’t know why basketball. My father was a shouter at the TV. He moaned at fumbled turnovers and screamed at interceptions. He was a Giants fan until the Patriots were formed. He then transferred his allegiance to the home town team. He watched the one Super Bowl they made in his lifetime, in 1985, and it was a rout. The Bears beat the Pats 46-10. My father hardly screamed that game.
My dad would love the Pats now. He’d get a kick out of Belichick and his press conferences. He’d be yelling at the officials and their treatment of the Pats. He’d never go to the bathroom or the kitchen except during time outs.
I always miss my dad but most especially on days like today. We’d be watching the game together. My mother would join us but she knew absolutely nothing about football and a couple of times rooted for the wrong team. That was okay. At least she watched.
I’ll be here watching, and I’ll be yelling at a call or a poorly executed play, and I’ll definitely be moaning at a Pat’s fumble. I always think of it as channelling my dad.
Categories: Musings
Tags: boring baseball, cloudy, damp, football fan, hockey, Pat's game, rain, sleeping sickness
Comments: 18 Comments
January 15, 2016
It is warmer today than it has been. I didn’t gasp from the cold when I went to get the papers. It is around 40˚ and will even be a bit warmer tomorrow; however, the cold will be back with a vengeance on Tuesday so these warm days are a bit of a gift from fickle Mother Nature. Gracie and I have a few things to do today so I’m glad for the winter warmth.
My heat is forced hot air. I hear the blast when the furnace goes on. When I was growing up, we had forced hot water. I used to love the sound of the radiators. It was comforting in a way. A few years ago I lost electricity because of a winter storm. My house was 37˚ before the heat came back on. I don’t ever remember losing electricity in the winter when I was a kid. I remember we lost it during a hurricane when a tree fell on the wires, but that was in late summer. I never felt inconvenienced. I doubt kids do. Most things become an adventure of sorts. Having to use candles for light and the barbecue for cooking was a kind of camping, but at home with comfy beds and no mosquitos. I thought it was great fun.
I still love adventures. Around here I go for rides down roads I’ve never been on before. I take all lefts or all rights and am always surprised by what I see. I went to Morocco on my own, and that was an adventure. I did all right turns in the souk one day. I loved everything I saw and found. At one point I had no idea where I was, but I didn’t care. I knew I’d eventually find my way. I just had to choose a direction.
I love my life, but sometimes I wish I had more money to travel. I want adventures in places I’ve never been before. I want to get lost.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 40˚, adventures, Barbecue, errands, indoor camping, left turns only, lost, Morocco, no electricity, rides, right turns only, souk, warmer, winter warmth
Comments: 6 Comments
January 14, 2016
Yesterday I got the newspapers from the front yard, and all my plans for the day changed. It was so cold I decided to stay home. I had a wonderfully cozy day and an early nap. Today is a bit warmer so I’ll venture out bundled only a bit. I got a new vest for Christmas and it is just perfect for today.
I would like to do bodily harm to Peter Pan from the Geico ad. Considering the reactions of Phil and Diane they feel the same way. Joanne looking 70 wasn’t all that far off as it is the Class of 65 and most are probably 68 anyway. No, it was the look on Peter’s face that made the comment so officious. I would love to have smacked him right then or, even better, watch Phil wind up and hit him in defense of the lady. I did chuckle at You Make Me Feel So Young. The song was a brilliant choice.
Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. I was always struck by that one. I thought name calling really did hurt, mostly inside where nobody would know. It was in school at recess where the boys were the worst and the most heartless. They didn’t target me too much, but they did a few friends of mine. One of my friends cried, the worst thing of all to do. I explained to her that you yell that useless saying back as if you believed it. Better yet, get a crowd to say it with you. Numbers have power. The other option, the one I used once, was to punch the ring leader in the face. That put a quick stop to name calling and I was sent to the office, not at all repentant.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Class of 1965, class reunion, Geico, name calling, Peter Pan, Sticks and stones, warmer, You make me feel so young
Comments: 16 Comments
January 12, 2016
We have a light snow shower which I doubt will amount to much. The flakes are tiny and susceptible to the wind. They keep changing direction. I’m staying close to hearth and home today. It’s dark and cold outside, unwelcoming.
I could do a wash, but I won’t. I could change the sheets on my bed, but I won’t do that either. According to Martha Stewart I could make my own pretzels sprinkled with my favorite toppings, but I’ll never do that. As you can tell I have no ambition today, and I’m just fine with that.
When I was a kid, it was difficult to find a place where I could be alone. The house always seemed filled with people. It was small, and there were six of us. I shared a bedroom so I couldn’t kick my sister out if she wanted in. Sometimes I’d go down the cellar and sit and read. The cellar was below ground and had those small windows high up on the walls. When the sun shined through them, I could see dust in the light. I didn’t care. I was a kid. Dust has no meaning to a kid.
In my mind’s eye, I can see that whole house. The kitchen was small. One side had the sink, the counter and the fridge. The other side had the stove and the kitchen table. The fridge saw the most action. We’d all open it and stand there looking. I always had the hope they’d be something delicious, but delicious disappeared really fast in my house. My mother always yelled for me to close the fridge,”Get what you want then close it!” I didn’t know what I wanted. It was usually an exploratory hunt.
My parents grocery shopped on Friday evenings. My dad had to take my mother as she didn’t drive. They’d carry the filled brown grocery bags into the house, and we’d empty them not as a help, but to find the Oreos, the go to cookie in our house. There were always Oreos but not for long.
Categories: Musings
Tags: alone, cellar, change the sheets, cold and dark, dust, lazy, six people, small house, snow shower, wash, weird winter
Comments: 8 Comments
January 11, 2016
This morning I was at my neighbor’s at ten then came home and went back to bed; hence, the late hour. I am just tired though I haven’t really a good reason to be.
It finally stopped raining last night, but the warmish air has deserted us. It is seasonably in the 30’s today. I guess I ought not to be complaining but I figure that’s what the weather is for. It is a common topic of conversation and great for the line at the supermarket.
My aunt was a nun. We always called her my aunt the nun and seldom used her name. When I was little, we’d put on our church clothes and ride to Connecticut to see her. We used to stop close to her convent, go to the bathroom and be tidied by my mother so we’d pass a visual inspection. This aunt was not real to me in the same way my other aunts were real. She wore a habit and didn’t have a whole lot to say to us. It was always questions about school. We answered in short, quick sentences hoping she’d move on to my parents. Meanwhile another nun would show up with a tray. It had cookies, milk, coffee and a few soft drinks. The nun would put it on the table and then leave without saying a word, but she did make a swishing sound the way all nuns did. After our snack, we’d go on a tour of my aunt’s school. I never thought it was interesting but it did eat up some time for which I was grateful. We’d head back to the convent and start our good-byes until the next year.
In time nuns were freed from their habits, were allowed to use their own names and could travel anywhere they chose, but my aunt the nun was still my aunt the nun to us. She started to wear skirts and blouses and jackets and always a big cross she used to wear on her habit. All those years of not having to choose her outfits left her with a really bad taste in clothes. My mother and I used to give her clothes for Christmas, clothes with a bit of style. She began to spend every Christmas at my parents’ house. My mother was a trooper about it, but she drove my father crazy by calling him brother instead of his name.
I was always polite when my aunt the nun stayed at my parents, but she never seemed to like me all that much. It was no big bother to me. I could live with that!
Categories: Musings
Tags: aunt the nun, chilly, sunny, weather
Comments: 6 Comments
January 10, 2016
It’s raining. It’s pouring. The old man is snoring.
I don’t know when the rain started, but it is now a heavy rain and a strong wind. Outside is so dark my deck lights came on. The timer was duped.
I have written the start of several second paragraphs but have deleted each of them. Usually I have an idea which spreads across time and conjures memories. This morning I have nothing.
Sunday has never been a productive day. It was always church and family dinner day and some Sundays there was a visit to my grandparents. Nobody did lawn work, always reserved for a Saturday, and my mother didn’t vacuum or dust. She made dinner. Usually we stayed around the house. I’d read the Sunday funnies. The TV would be on a Sunday Matinee movie or a football game. I remember my brother watching and sitting close to the TV set, his legs bent and splayed behind him. I never found that comfortable.
The papers are so much bigger on Sunday. It is a three cup minimum to finish both papers. The Globe crossword takes the whole day as I fill in a bit then do something else then go back to it. I hate the crosswords where the longest answer is a quote and other answers finish the quote. Usually I start with the smallest part of the quote and work up hoping the answers will be hints. The capital of Ghana is often a crossword clue.
In the winter, I crave color. Often I buy myself a bouquet of flowers to remind me of spring and to brighten the darkness. The worst of winter is still ahead of me. January and February are usually snowy months. I’ll just have to be patient, never a strong suit of mine.
Categories: Musings
Tags: church', funnies, lights, papers, rain, Sunday, Wind
Comments: 24 Comments
January 9, 2016
Today is cloudy and damp. Tomorrow the rain will come, heavy rain accompanied by a strong wind according to the forecast, but by the looks of the sky, I think it may rain this afternoon or evening.
I have house stuff to do today: plants to water, bills to pay, litter to change and feeders to fill. I have no intention of going anywhere. Today is a stay warm and cozy sort of day.
The Cape Times used to publish court news from both the Orleans and the Barnstable courts. I always knew someone, usually a former student. Now the paper just has news items in a section called The Log. Today a few crimes caught my attention. One item recounted the arrest of a man who cut the security wires from the jewelry display case at Kmart then wheeled the case to his car. He was caught because of the surveillance video. If you watch any TV, you know there are video cameras everywhere so the police knew who did it and what he was driving. His car was seen and stopped and the thief was wearing the same clothes as in the video. His watch cap had the word SELFIE across the front. The backseat was loaded with jewelry still sporting Kmart tags. According to the police, this thief has 78 arraignments on his adult record mostly for breaking and entering, larceny, shoplifting and narcotics.
The other crime was multiple assaults. The man was described as having a long criminal record and is now charged with assault and battery on a police officer and two counts of assault and battery. When the police went to arrest him, they said he smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred. During booking he became belligerent, punched the door cell and yelled obscenities. In his cell, he flooded the floor with water and put toilet paper in the water to make the floor slippery. Two police equipped with riot shields warned him they’d use a stun gun unless he stopped. They entered the cell and he began striking the officers who threw him down on a bench. He continued to fight until the stun gun was used. Now this guy has used 10 aliases in the past and has 132 arraignments on charges which include violence.
Usually I’m fairly happy with my world. I’ve always been a half full sort. I look for the good and hang on to it. I know the bad is there, but I refuse to fall prey to pessimism. I try not to let the bad things color my world. These two articles threw me a bit with the 78 and 132 arraignments. Things need to change, but I don’t have an answer, only questions.
Stuck between the two reports was an article that the season’s first right whales have been seen in the bay. About half of the North Atlantic population of 526 right whales will winter here. They come here to eat zooplankton. Right whales are rare and endangered and to have that many so close is amazing. This is the good news.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cloudy and damp, cut security wires, house stuff to do, Kmart, plants to water, rain, stole jewelry, stun gun, vandalism, violence
Comments: 19 Comments
