Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
March 7, 2015
I was on my way home around 5 yesterday. The sun was low in the sky. Its light gave the trees an odd color, not quite sunset and not quite daylight, and in that light even the new snow looked lovely. The main roads are clear. The side roads still have layer of snow over a layer of ice. I liked the weatherman’s forecast this morning. It will get warmer. I checked. Tomorrow will be 36˚ and by Tuesday we’ll hit 39˚. That may not sound warm but last night was 14˚.
I was watching TV last night when I started to feel cold. I checked the thermostat, and the heat was down to 65˚ though it should have been 68˚. I turned up the thermostat but didn’t hear the blast of hot air. I could hear the furnace blowing but it didn’t seem to be blowing heat. I waited a bit then called for service. The repairman came quickly. Less than a half hour after his arrival, the heat was blasting on and off through the registers. I congratulated him, but he said it was only the furnace recycling. Finally the heat stayed on. It seemed that some lock-out device on the furnace had been triggered, but he had no idea how. He had just turned some switch and had done a bit cleaning. By then it was 62˚ in here, but it warmed up quickly. I was relieved at the easy fix.
The coffee this morning was delicious. The blend is called Africa Gold which is ironic as Ghana had only instant coffee which blunted my coffee taste buds for the two years I had to drink it. I have since become a coffee snob.
Turning the clocks ahead is the first real sign of spring. Tomorrow the daylight will last an hour and a minute longer. Every day we’re adding a minute to the light. Every day is longer than the day before.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 24 hour service, 36˚, 39˚ and warm, cleared roads, dead furnace, icy roads, snowy, strange light
Comments: 8 Comments
March 6, 2015
When I opened the front door, my eyes were blinded by the sunlight glinting like strewn diamonds on the foot of snow in my yard. The world is bright and sunny and oh so white. The Cape got hammered yesterday, more than anywhere else in the state. The only no school announcements were for Cape schools. This morning they have a two-hour delay. I am, for the meantime, stuck in my house until Skip comes. The paper is somewhere in the snow. I think I saw its drop point. Yesterday’s mail is still in the box across the street. Gracie jumped over the two steps outside the backdoor as she can’t see them but did go down the flight of stairs to the yard. She won’t use her dog door. The snow is too high on the top step. She scratched the door to come inside the house. I think it is the first time she’s ever done that.
I heard a noise out front and went to check. It was Skip. I have been freed. He just finished shoveling and plowing. I then threw de-icer on the back steps and stairs and on the front walk. My car is clear of snow and frost so I can hit the road after I finish here. Knowing I can go about my business makes having snow a bit more bearable, but only a bit. This last storm has taken away any forbearance for winter.
Today is cold, 24˚ cold, though there are drips as the direct sun is strong enough to melt the thin layer of snow on the roof but nowhere else is dripping or melting. We even had ice and snow on the roads and in our yards from the last two storms. The mound in front of my house will be there until May.
We turn the clocks ahead this weekend and March 20th is the first day of spring, but that doesn’t really mean spring. Between now and next Friday only one day will reach as high as 40˚. Winter stays holds sway, and I hate winter this year.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bright, cold, Dog door, mound of snow, no school, plowed, shoveled, snow and more snow, sunny, sunny day
Comments: 8 Comments
March 5, 2015
Yesterday, after the day and night of heavy rain, I could see my entire brick walkway and sections of my street right down to the pavement. Grass was sticking up in a couple of places in the backyard. When I went out, yup fifth day in a row, I noticed the plowed snow piles on both sides of the roads had become ugly and black. Today, however, everything has disappeared or has been changed. Out my window I can only see fresh snow, heavy fresh snow covering everything and it is still snowing. The layers on the tops of the branches are getting taller and taller. The Cape is the only part of the state with no school. What a horrible distinction. To add to the misery, biting cold is coming starting tonight. My string of five days ends today. I will not be going out nor will I even be getting dressed. I am wearing my around the house flannel pants, a sweatshirt, socks and slippers. I am in my winter uniform, my sloth clothes.
All three animals are asleep in here with me. One cat, Maddie, is on her chair while Fern and Gracie are asleep beside me and each other on the couch. All I can hear is deep breathing, mostly from the dog, but if I pat Fern, she begins to purr. They are my inspirations for a warm, cozy afternoon nap under the comforter. A roaring fire and some cocoa topped with marshmallow Fluff melting on the top would make this the idealized picture perfect winter’s day, a card-worthy day, but it’s freakin’ snowing again and its prettiness wore off quickly.
The first look at snow is the best, an oh moment. After that come the darker, less welcomed visions of shovels and plows, of me throwing and re-throwing de-icer on the steps for the dog and my cleaning off the car for what is, I swear, about the hundredth time. Why I bother I don’t know. The car will just slide up and down the road and right pass my street. My shoes will get snowy and wet. I don’t own boots. I don’t want to own boots. I don’t want to hear the crunch of my tires on newly fallen snow. I want grass and flowers. I want the songs of birds heralding the day and the sweet scent of a spring morning. I don’t think I am asking all that much.
Categories: Musings
Tags: biting cold, black, cats and dog sleeping, cleaning off the car, deep breathing, dirty snow, freakin' snow, fresh snow, naps, no school, sliding cars, sloth-like, Snow, street and pavement, visions of shovels and plows
Comments: 10 Comments
March 3, 2015
Yesterday was day three of me getting out of the house. Gracie had her annual physical and all is well. Her heart sounded good and she has maintained her weight. Her nails were trimmed but she didn’t get nail polish. Just joking of course as boxers are not the nail polish type. Today and tomorrow I’ll be out yet again. This has become a trend. I think the sunshine of yesterday and today have helped invigorate me a bit.
Snow and sleet are coming tonight, only an inch or two, but 41˚is coming tomorrow for just one day. I can’t imagine 41˚. I have come to think of 37˚ as balmy. Last night was so cold everything froze again. It was a tentative walk this morning to get the papers and yesterday’s mail as my street is covered with a block of ice. Above freezing weather doesn’t help much because of the thickness of the ice. Only the surface melts leaving another layer to freeze at night. I have thrown de-icer on my brick walk and that has given me a safe route to the car.
This morning Fern was lying on the couch in the sunshine coming in from the front door. It wasn’t much, but Fern took full advantage. My cats crave the warmth of the sun, and I totally understand.
Flower catalogues are coming every day. I look through them just to marvel at the colors. I do have room in my front garden for more flowers as two bushes were moved last fall. I am excited about shopping for new plants. That feels like spring to me.
It was two nights ago I was cursing the falling snow, the long winter and the cold, the endless cold. I had reached the end of my endurance. Today the sun is bright and I am energized.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 41˚, a freezing night, a sunny, flower catalogues, getting out more, Gracie and the vet's, icy roads, layers of ice, nnails trimmed, snow and sleet, the cat in the sun
Comments: 8 Comments
March 2, 2015
The snow was so heavy I could barely make it to the barn to feed the horses. I gave them extra hay and then, on my way back to the house, I tied a rope from the barn door to the house door so I can find my way to the horses again even if the snow totally covers my little world. We kept the fireplace going all night hoping the cabin would stay warm. The wind howled and blew the snow sideways. Supper was soup to keep the innards warm. We huddled together in the big bed to sleep and covered ourselves with the quilts from all the beds. We are warm and safe for the meantime, but I don’t know about tomorrow. It is still snowing.
I have not gone totally mad. It is, of course, an imaginary story, but one tethered to a bit of reality because I swear that’s what it seemed like last night with the snow falling so heavily that driving, even down the street, was almost impossible. The snow started in the afternoon so by 5:30, the start of game night at my friends’ house, the down the street I mentioned, it was snowing so heavily we missed the turn and had to go around the block. The white stuff, which shall not be named, fell the whole time I with my friends. When I was going home, three hours later, the path to the car, which had been clear earlier, was covered. “Enough! Enough!” I cried.
This morning is grey and cloudy; of course, it is. The day, however, is warmer than it has been and the sun is scheduled to make a guest appearance so maybe, just maybe we’ll see some melting. Tonight the temperature will fall back to the teens. Tomorrow night will send all of us into delirium: snow before 3am, then snow and sleet likely between 3am and 4am, then freezing rain likely after 4am. Low around 27. South wind 8 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow and sleet accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
May Day this year will include the dance of the shovels, the parade of plows and the wearing of colorful mittens, jackets and earmuffs. Everyone is invited.
Categories: Musings
Tags: heavy snow, imaginary, impossible driving, screaming and crazy, the barn and horses, white-outs
Comments: 12 Comments
March 1, 2015
Yesterday was the longest day. I left home at 8:50 and arrived back at 4:30. I more than doubled the week’s mileage on my car. The festival was fun and time passed quickly. The day started with a parade of flags marching in a line from one building to another. Our destination was the stage where we took turns at the microphone introducing our countries. The best part of the parade was the dragon the Chinese dancers carried. After the introductions, we marched back to the main hall to man our tables. Lots of people stopped at the Peace Corps table, some with questions and others to get a sticker in their passports. Every little kid, and a few adults, carried a passport, and every table provided a sticker for the passport and wrote the name of the table below it, think of it as a visa, and there were prizes at the end of the event for the most stickers. It is a neat idea, the passports, as kids get to visit the different countries’ exhibits and the tables get traffic. My favorite was the Chinese stamp as the table’s name was written in characters. Germany had its own sticker in gold. My favorite table was from India. It had a great elephant lamp with the most colorful shade shaped like an umbrella. The men at the table wore Indian clothes, and I loved the colors. Upstairs was the bazaar, and I bought a few things including cardamom bread from the Finnish table, cheese from Italy and a couple pf stocking stuffers from China. It was, all in all, a good day.
Last night at 9:50 the electricity died. First thing I did was look out the window, and it was the whole neighborhood. Luckily my lantern was right beside the couch. It has been that sort of a winter when keeping a lantern close is a good idea. I turned off the lights, and we all went upstairs to stay warm under the comforters. I had my Smithsonian and my iPad so I was content. I turned on the light above me so I’d be awakened when the electricity came back and then I got cozy and fell asleep. Around 12:30 the light woke me up. Normalcy had been restored so I went back to sleep. This morning I found the TV on as I had forgotten all about it. My phone was blinking because there was a message from the electric company saying it was faulty equipment as if that explained anything.
On the front page of the Globe are two pictures side by side. One is of an Anchorage street with no snow at all and the other is of a street in Boston with mounds of snow along its sides measured in feet and so much snow on the street you’d have to guess what it is. If I could write a sigh you could hear, I would, but I can’t so just imagine a long and loud sigh as you read the next line: snow is coming starting this evening. The prediction is 3-6 inches, a small snow storm as snow storms go, but none of us can’t think of it that way. It is the proverbial last straw. It is the last drop. I’m going to scream, a horrible scream, a frightening scream as if my sanity has left me.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 3-6 inches, Boston Globe front page, cardmom bread, Cheese, elephant lamp, Indian table, Multi-Cultural Festival, no electricity, no snow in Anchorage, parade of flags, passposrts and stamps, Peace Corps table, plenty of snow inBoston, shopping at the bazaar, SIGH, snow storm
Comments: 14 Comments
February 28, 2015
The day is sunny with a blue sky but it looks cold even from the window. The dead leaves at the end of the branches are blowing and making it look worse. Today is a bundle up in many layers sort of day. Right now it is 19˚, a bit warmer than last night. Some snow showers are coming tomorrow, but they don’t even count as anything but an annoyance.
The snow and cold do give me excuses to vegetate a bit although I don’t really need any. After a while, however, even the joy of doing nothing is wearing. Winter has become boring. I haven’t had a cent in my wallet for two weeks. Granted, I did use my cash card but only for food. I bought nothing else because I didn’t go anywhere. This week so far I have amassed a total of 13 miles. It’s embarrassing, but that ends today as I am going to the Multi-Cultural Festival at the college. I’m going to breathe fresh air! I’m breaking free from staying home. I’m getting dressed and am even taking to the highway, okay only three exits, but it is the highway. The Peace Corps has a table there which I organized and have to man for a couple of hours. Other returned volunteers are also taking turns.
I know this is a short entry today, but I have to get ready to leave. I have a list. I always have a list. The music will come later this afternoon after I get home. I’m excited about having a place to go, a different place. I may even double my mileage.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 19˚, cold, festival, low mileage, Multi-Cultural, no money, Peace Corps, ride the highway, snow showers
Comments: 12 Comments
February 27, 2015
Today is balmy at 24˚. When I woke up, the sun was bright and framed by a deep blue sky, but the perpetual grayness of this winter has reappeared. There are now only patches of blue, and the sun has become a hazy light from behind a cloud. Tonight will be in the teens but with no wind. Next week one day will be in the 40’s if the forecast holds true. I’m expecting a parade and fireworks and picnics on the town green.
Lethargic pretty much describes me. I read a whole book from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday night and then started on another. I did change my bed and the cat litter yesterday and went to the store as I had no bread. That’s it. That’s all I did, and I exhausted myself. Winter’s cold saps my energy.
I don’t know how old we are when weather becomes an issue, a topic of conversation. When I was a kid, the weather just happened. I got wet when it rained and cold when it snowed, but neither bothered me. It was hot in the summer, but that’s what summer is. Sitting under a tree for a while and running through the sprinklers were cure-alls for a hot day. The hot nights never stopped us from falling asleep. We were exhausted from playing all day. In my early 20’s I was in Ghana where 100+ degrees was the every day temperature this time of year. I didn’t complain about that either. I went to bed soaking wet after my shower and easily fell asleep as I air-dried.
Growing older and complaining about the weather are connected. I need the house warmer than I used to both during the day and at night. 68˚ is my usual daytime high though I’ll turn it higher if I’m cold. 64˚ is nighttime. I used to keep my house at 66˚ during the day and 58˚ at night. The two cats I had both slept under the covers. They were Siamese and liked warmth. Now, I can’t even imagine the house that cold.
Yesterday was snowing when I went out. A lady walked by me and said, “Oh my God more snow,” then kept walking. Weather does bring people together giving even strangers something to talk about.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 100 degrees, 24˚, balmy, dry season, grey day, grey sky, lethargic, patches of blue, weather conversations, weather issues
Comments: 18 Comments
February 26, 2015
I will spare you a weather update. Just check any of reports from the last few weeks with one or two sunny exceptions, and you’ll know the sort of day we’re stuck with yet again.
Yesterday I needed to retrieve the Peace Corps flag from where I had left it leaning against the front fence because I’m using it at an event. Mounds of snow measured in feet were between me and the flag, but I was dauntless. I started slowly and gingerly walking on the crusted, hard snow top, and it was holding until all of a sudden one of my legs was swallowed up to the hip. I was right beside the fence. I only knew this because I could see the tips of the pickets. I stood there a minute planning. I couldn’t lift my leg out. I had nothing to hold on to so I couldn’t brace myself. My other leg was free but not upright but rather in a sort of kneeling stance to compensate for the height distance between it and the leg buried so deeply. I then got an idea having nothing to do with flares or screams for help. I used the tops of the pickets to pull myself across the snow top. I was mostly lying down. I was also getting soaked. Finally, though, I freed my leg and could stand upright again. I grabbed the flag, crossed the frozen snow tops and made it back to the path with no more mishaps.
My successful return has made me brave enough to try to get to the bird feeders off the deck. I’ll cross the frozen tundra carrying my ice pick and the rest of my gear. I’m also bringing a Sherpa.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cloudy and cold, crossing the tundra, crusted snow top, dragging myself along, flares and screams, hard, icy snow tops, one leg swallowed by snow, Sherba
Comments: 16 Comments
February 24, 2015
Already the day has been a long one for me. First I had blood drawn for which I had to fast. Having no morning coffee meant I was caught in Dante’s circles of hell. I’m think it was the fifth. Next stop was the library and returning books, but that was pleasant and I got four more books. After that was an hour of PT, and I’m tired. My knee hurts which is weird as I go to PT for my back. My last stop was to prove I am alive. I had to have a form notarized to send to the retirement board. That was my favorite stop. It was my bank where I got the form notarized, and I had a cup of coffee and a donut before I left. My mood changed after the coffee and I am almost pleasant.
The sun is shining. The sky has patches of blue. It feels warm even though it is just 16˚. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s heat wave. It should reach 31˚. I’m thinking my Hawaiian shirt and my clam diggers, which to Mary Tyler Moore were Capri pants, but that sounds far too fancy for my wardrobe. Too bad the deck is still filled with snow. I could lounge.
This winter has given me several days of indolence. I don’t really need an excuse to be lazy, but I’ve use this winter anyway. Most people nod their heads in agreement when I say things like I’m stuck inside as the roads aren’t plowed or there’s no reason to get dressed as I can’t go anywhere anyway. Last week I think I drove 28 miles. A tank of gas lasts seemingly forever.
My animals are older now. The cats are 16 and the dog turned 9 last November which is older than any of my other boxers were. Gracie’s muzzle and the fur around her eyes are totally grey as is some of the fur on her back. She is, however, really active and still feisty and loves to play fetch. The cats nap their lives away, but that’s what cats do. Every now and then they show a spark of kitten and attack string or ribbon. There hasn’t been a dead mouse in a while, but I’m hoping it is because there are no mice except in the cellar where there are always mice but the cats don’t go there.
I had a busy morning. I’m thinking it is almost nap time. You know how it is in winter!
Categories: Musings
Tags: 16˚, 31˚, aging cats and dog, blood drawn, Capri pants, circles of hell, clam diggers, coffee and a donut, fasting, grey hair, Hawaiian shirt, Heat Wave, I am alive, indolence, library, mice
Comments: 22 Comments
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