Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
September 18, 2015
The late post is due to my dental appointment for teeth cleaning which ended up being longer than expected. I had a problem area which necessitated a picture, an x-ray and a measurement between teeth. I now need a follow-up with the dentist after he tries to figure out from the pictures what the lump on my gum is. After that I went all the way down cape to Brewster to the book store to buy a birthday present for my neighbor’s son who will be 7 tomorrow. I treated myself and bought a new hard cover because I deserve it.
Today is in the 80’s but not as humid as yesterday. Opened windows are enough though I may need the AC in my bedroom tonight. Gracie’s panting is the deciding factor.
Many people are already here for the weekend as the weather is supposed to be pleasant and the water is still warm enough for swimming. I was amazed to see so many shop parking lots filled with cars, the same with the restaurants. I figure we’ll have another month of weekend traffic. I’ll just have to practice patience.
When I was a kid, girls wore dresses or skirts to school and boys wore collared shirts and long pants. Shorts were never worn to school or church no matter how hot it was. In high school I even had to wear nylon stockings as part of my uniform. None of us complained because that’s just the way it was. It was winter in my sophomore year of college before I was allowed to wear pants to classes. In Ghana I wore dresses all the time, but I never minded. I had a seamstress make them from native cloth, and the prints and colors were beautiful.
I would never want to go back to those days of dresses, but I’d like a few occasions when dressing up in good clothes is expected. I do it every Easter, but that’s about it. I have my summer dresses and my fall-winter dress sitting in the closet waiting for the occasion to arise when a dress is needed. I have good shoes still in their boxes, also patiently waiting. I even have some lovely necklaces covered in dust from being left in the drawer for so long.
I love living casually but a dress-up day now and then wouldn’t hurt, besides, I need to get my money’s worth for those dresses, shoes and jewelry.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 80˚, book store, dental check-up, dress-up clothes, dresses and skirts, filled parking lots, good shoes, hard-cover book, jewelry, long pants, weekend tourists, x-rays
Comments: 4 Comments
September 17, 2015
Today is another glorious day with temperatures in the low 80’s, a brilliant sun, a sky filled with that blue color even Crayola can’t replicate and a small breeze just enough to keep the heat at bay. For all intents and purposes this is a summer day. Next week is the official opening of fall, and the temperatures will be in the 60’s, perfect weather for the close of one season and the opening of another.
Today is dump day, and I want to go to Agway to buy some flowers to plant as the perennials are marked way down, and my landscaper said planting now will still guarantee they’ll come back next spring. In the bed right in front of the house is a plant with stall stalks and beautiful white flowers blooming for the first time, a perfect time to bloom as most of the other flowers have already had their days in the sun. The plant has spread and almost covers the whole bed. I don’t remember what the flowers are. I bought a couple at a flower site on the internet. My landscaper keeps calling them the internet flowers and is amazed that they’ve thrived and multiplied. I bought them on the recommendation of Christer, the Swedish plant whiz ( The Cottage by the Crane Lake, life goes on). He might remember what they are.
The whole neighborhood smelled like skunk the other night. Gracie was outside at the time. I don’t think a skunk can get into my yard because of the fence, but I was careful anyway. I called Gracie to the deck and gave her neck a sniff. She smelled the way Gracie should so we both went into the house. Today, though, I’ll buy Nature’s Miracle skunk smell remover. It is one of those things I like to keep around the house. Before the fence, Gracie got skunked, and Nature’s Miracle worked wonders. The smell disappeared. In the old days, we thought to use tomato juice but the juice really doesn’t work. It is best fit for bloody Mary’s, not for skunk.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 80˚, blue skies, dump run, flowers, more like summer, Nature's Miracle, perfect day, skunk smell, stalky flowers, sunny, tomato juice, white
Comments: 8 Comments
September 15, 2015
Such a busy morning it has been. Fern and her caterwauling woke me again, but I didn’t mind as much as it was after nine. I emptied cat boxes, fed the beasties then went downstairs. I made coffee, got and read the papers. Gracie was barking incessantly but I couldn’t figure out the reason. She came in when I called then I shut down the dog door for a bit. I looked at my e-mail and found out I needed to call the GOES site as it seems I have two accounts: one is the renewal I just did and a second account I must have started. Five times I tried to reach a human being but all circuits are busy. (The GOES program is for trusted travelers: I skip customs, stop at a kiosk, put my hand on the screen for fingerprint ID then get an entry pass. The last time I used it I beat the crew outside.) I am skeptical that all circuits are busy so I used the e-mail form for problems, but I don’t have much faith in that either.
The thought of flying always gave me a sense of awe when I was a kid. We’d go to Logan when we visited my grandparents so we could watch the planes take off and land. My uncle, only two years older than I, led the way. The Logan terminal back then was one long building shared by all the airlines. We used to walk through, and I’d take brochures of hotels, airlines and whatever else was offered. One time I made a scrapbook of my vacation, my imaginary vacation. I used pictures cut from the brochures and wrote a story to go along with each picture. I imagined the flight and wrote about the clouds below me and being so far above the ground. I described the airline dinner and the fun of eating on a plane. My hotel room was beautiful and overlooked the ocean. We ate dinner in ornate restaurants where the waiters wore white jackets and black cummerbunds. I found beautiful shells along the shore as souvenirs. I fell asleep happy and contended every night. It was the best vacation.
Categories: Musings
Tags: best trip ever, busy morning, dinner, flying, GOES problems, hotel room, Logan Airport, noisy cat, scrapbook, seashore, sense of awe
Comments: 8 Comments
September 14, 2015
Every Monday I go next door to my neighbor’s house and we chat for an hour or two. She is from Brazil and wants help with her English. I find chatting the most comfortable way for both of us. Today we planned her son’s birthday party. The way the chatting works is that when we’re talking and Niecy makes an error in grammar or conversation, we stop while I explain. She also has me write it down so she can see what I mean. I love it when she says, “Good to know.” We have become friends.
I have the worst accent when I learn a new language. My ears hear it but my mouth doesn’t cooperate. I can never Iive in a country where you have to roll R’s. French was the language I learned in high school. We didn’t have a choice. I remember Sister Madeline Marie making us listen to learn. My memory grabbed all the words, and that was the best I could do. I got A’s on tests but cringed when I had to speak. I think Sister Madeline Marie did too.
In college I decided to desert French and try Spanish. The problem in the beginning was I mixed my languages. I remember on the first test the professor circled all the French and Latin words I had used, but it didn’t take long before I knew the vocabulary and could understand most of what was said. The problem was I could barely be understood, but we had mostly written tests so I did well.
During second year Spanish, we were supposed to go language lab once a week. I did in the beginning but after a while I got bored and substituted a music tape. I generally got caught and had to go back to the Spanish tape and drone in repetition. I stopped going. My Spanish professor was an Augustinian and he was wonderful. He had fled Spain during Franco’s time and told us stories about hiding and wearing mufti. He brought me into the hall once and told me for a smart girl I was stupid. He had just gotten the attendance for the language lab. He said he could fail me, but he wouldn’t. He’d give me a D instead of the A I could have had. I meekly said gracias and went back to my seat.
I used my French vocabulary in West Africa all the time. I seldom spoke in sentences but strung words together which were usually understood. I could give directions, order food and shop in the market. Sister Madeline Marie would have been proud.
In South America I used my Spanish to go from Venezuela to Brazil. I could order food, buy bus or train tickets and chat a bit with fellow passengers using the strung vocabulary technique. I could understand almost everything said to me. I just couldn’t easily reply. Father Acanada would have had a few words to say about that. He’d tell me, “See, you should have gone to language lab.”
Categories: Musings
Tags: Augustinian, chatting, error in grammar or conversation, Franco, French and Spanish, Good to know, language lab, teaching English, vocabulary, worst accent
Comments: 8 Comments
September 13, 2015
The rain started last night around 12:30. I could hear drops hitting the window air conditioner in my bedroom. I like the sound of a gentle rain.
It wasn’t a great night as I was up three times with Miss Gracie and her upset stomach. I had to go downstairs and let her out so she could graze. It was still raining, but when Gracie came back inside, she wasn’t too wet so the rain was light. We both finally fell asleep around 2:30. Fern woke me up about an hour later with her caterwauling, something she never does. I called and she came upstairs, got petted and then settled in beside me. Around nine she started her caterwauling again. That is so unlike Fern I was worried and got up for good wondering if something was wrong. I checked her and she seemed fine. I checked Maddie and she was fine. When I put food in the cat dish, Fern immediately chowed down and then daintily drank a lot of water. I guess the second round of noise was because she was hungry and thirsty. That is one entitled animal.
I wonder about people who don’t like animals. I figure they are missing an integral part of their DNA. All my life I have lived with a pet, even in Africa. I can’t imagine my house without one. It would be a lonely place. Who would I talk to? Gracie cocks her head when I talk to her so I know she’s listening. When she doesn’t get what she wants, she grumbles back to me, but I don’t really want to know what she has to say. She’s usually not happy. Cats meow at the slightest provocation. If my two talked, I suspect Fern would be pushy and aggravating. Maddie would be laid back but tough when she needed to be.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be like Doctor Doolittle and talk to the animals, but lots of times now I don’t even want to talk to people. I can’t imagine adding animals to the mix.
Categories: Musings
Tags: caterwauling, Doctor Doolittle, dog grazing, having pets, lonely without a pet, missing DNA, pets, rain, upset stomach
Comments: 4 Comments
September 12, 2015
Today is the finest of almost fall days. The sun is brightly shining, only a few clouds drift around the blue sky and the temperature is 71˚. The house is cool but standing outside in the sun is warm. I was on the deck for a while which partially explains my lateness. Sloth explains the rest of it.
I have nothing to do today. Even the dog laundry was done yesterday. That amazes me as usually my own laundry is moved from floor to floor and then sits around for a few days. Gracie jumped right into her crate and went to sleep on the fresh, still warm bedding when I put it back on the bottom of her crate. I could hear her snoring most of the afternoon.
In Ghana, Thomas who worked for me did all my laundry except for the unmentionables. I did those myself. I had to use a bucket and hand wash them. I hated it and after a while went commando. Keep in mind I wore dresses all the time as that was the custom for women. It presented a problem only when I had to climb up to get into a mammy lorry. The only way to get to the seats was to climb then swing one leg at a time over the side of the truck while holding on to the top. I made sure nobody was waiting below me for obvious reasons. There were a few advantages to going commando and the most important was the ease of going to the bathroom over a hole. Squatting was minimally involved, but I won’t describe the rest of the process; just use your imaginations. I was an expert.
Peace Corps gave me a whole new skill set. I had expected to learn new things about Ghana: its history, its culture and most of all its wonderful people. I never expected to learn to pee over a hole or go to the bathroom in the bush. Those were just extras.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 71˚, beautiful day, going commando, lateness of the hour, laundry done, mammy lorry, Peace Corps Ghana, sloth, sunny
Comments: 13 Comments
September 11, 2015
The rain fell and kept falling. It rained all day and most of the night. The morning is dark and has that damp chill which sometimes follows rain. The day is uninviting. Everything is still wet. The breeze is enough to blow the branches on the oak trees, and once in a while I can hear the swishing sound leaves make. Other than that the day is quiet.
In school, on days like today, the room was especially quiet. It was as if the darkness had spread a pall on all of us. I remember the sounds of papers being passed up and down rows. I remember heads bent over worksheets and the sounds of our pencils scratching across the papers and up and down. The nun used to sit at her desk sometimes working, sometimes just staring, maybe even daydreaming. None of us even whispered. We didn’t want to disturb the day.
When I got home from school, I had to change out of my school clothes. Most times I’d wear my play clothes, but on days like today I’d put on my pajamas and lie in bed and read. That last one was my favorite. I would grab my latest book, my Nancy or my Trixie Belden, and get comfy under the covers. The lamp on my headboard was the only light and it shined directly on the page. It was wonderfully cozy.
There is still a lamp on my headboard, but it took me a while to find one. When I was a kid, the lamps were plastic and pink. Mine used to melt when I read under the covers. The one I have now is white and the plastic is covered by fabric. It has a Victorian look about it.
I keep a stack of books by my bed because I still love getting cozy under the covers. Most times I read myself to sleep.
Categories: Musings
Tags: breezy, chilly, damp, headboard lamp, Nancy Drew, pall, papers, pencils, play clothes, quiet classroom, rain, reading in bed, school clothes, Trixie Belden, uninviting, worksheets
Comments: 4 Comments
September 10, 2015
The thunder shook my house, and I can still hear rumbles in the distance. The rain is heavy. There are no individual drops, no pitter-patter on the windows. It is a pounding rain, a raining cats and dogs sort of rain. I hope it stays this way the whole day. The summer was dry so every bit of rain is welcomed.
I never had rain boots, only snow boots. My shoes always got wet and most times my socks did too. I always thought it was funny when my socks left wet footprints on the floor. My mother didn’t see the humor. I never had an umbrella either, but I didn’t care. Carrying one in case of rain seemed too big a burden. I already had my lunch box and my school bag. Besides, only the prissy girls seemed to have umbrellas.
I hated having to stay inside during recess on rainy days. That we were allowed to talk and walk around just wasn’t enough. After sitting all morning, we really needed to be able to be outside to play a while, to jump rope or chase each other.
The second half of rainy days were dreadful. I remember clock watching and daydreaming and losing track of the lesson. When that final bell rang, I grabbed my stuff and happily ran outside into the rain.
I saw my first bus yesterday so the season has begun. but I was so taken at the sight of that first bus, I forget to take note of where it was from. Now my life list won’t be complete.
Well, it has stopped raining. The weatherman did say intermittent showers, and he was right. The day got brighter for a bit but it is getting dark again. It will rain soon. I hope this shower stays around a bit longer.
Categories: Musings
Tags: inside for recess, rain, rain boots, raining cats and dogs, rainy school day, snow boots, thunder, umbrellas
Comments: 8 Comments
September 8, 2015
Yesterday Boston set a new record for the day’s high temperature at 92˚. Happily we were much cooler thanks to the sea breeze. Yesterday’s leave the cape exodus of tourists was backed up for 6 miles to get over the bridge. I think I would have gone crazy sitting in my car for that long.
Nothing outside is moving. The air is thick with humidity. My street is so quiet it could be an after shot in an apocalyptic movie. The breeze we had yesterday is gone. Today feels more like a day in August, a dog day. It was already so hot in the house, 78˚, that I turned on the AC. When Gracie came inside, her whole body seemed to be panting, but the cool air now has her quiet and sleeping.
September is a neither nor month. It is neither summer nor fall but can be either. Last week it was in the 50’s at night. Last night was close to 70˚. Boston may have another heat wave, three straight days in the 90’s, but by the weekend it’ll be back to the 50’s at night. The temperature doesn’t really matter. September is still my second favorite month.
I had two whole paragraphs written about people who drive me crazy because they are ill-mannered and impolite, but I ditched them as they made me sound like some old lady. I imagined myself stooped, carrying a cane and wearing generic frame glasses. I’d be wearing flowers on my clothes and smelling like lilac. I’d have expectations for other people and mumble when they didn’t meet them. That’s why those paragraphs disappeared.
Nothing much to do today. I think I’ll just read and do a couple of chores to make me feel accomplished. I have already cleaned the two cat boxes, a gross chore. I do need to wash the dog’s bedding and today is as good a day as any. I’m going to order in for dinner. I’m thinking a sub, maybe sausage parmesan. That will be the big decision of the day.
Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, apocalyptic movie., cat box, chores, dog bedding, hot, humidity, long wait over the bridge, nothing is moving, old lady, stir crazy, sub sandwich
Comments: 6 Comments
September 6, 2015
Sorry for today’s late start but it was one of those mirror under the nose mornings. I slept until 11, but as my mother always said, I must have needed it.
It is another beautiful day with lots of sun and no humidity. I have no plans except for doing a few house things like water plants, fold laundry and oil my old desk. It is an antique children’s desk and needs periodic oiling as it gets quite dry. With no humidity, it’s a great oil the desk day.
My neighbors are on their deck. I can hear them talking. I can also smell their dinner cooking on the grill. I think today is probably universal cook on the grill Sunday. Both my sisters also mentioned a barbecue. Some meat, fresh corn and a salad is the perfect menu. The local corn is now in the farm markets. It is so sweet you’d almost want it for dessert. Adding homegrown tomatoes raises the salad to culinary heights. The meat is secondary; anything will do. I’m partial to cheeseburgers but won’t turn my nose up at ribs or the lowly hot dog. I best stop now. I’m making myself hungry!
The summer has passed quickly. We might have one or two movie Saturdays left before it gets too cold. The last one has to be a blockbuster, but I haven’t yet decided what it will be, maybe The Adventures of Robin Hood or North by Northwest. I do have a couple I can’t wait to show as they are both so very bad, The Terror of Tiny Town (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pehsws6QYEo) and Chopper Chicks in Zombietown. That last one doesn’t even rate as a B movie.
It has been eleven years of being retired, but I still have a lingering distaste for Labor Day. It used to mean back to work and it was the symbolic end of summer. It wasn’t a day to celebrate. It was a day to mourn.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Barbecue, beautiful day, Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, corn, fold the laundry, homegrown tomatoes, household chores, local corn, Meat, no humidity, oil the desk, on the deck, salad, sleeping late, sunny, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Terror of Tiny Town
Comments: 11 Comments
