Archive for the ‘Musings’ category

« home page
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

“Smells, I think, may be the last thing on earth to die.”

November 12, 2013

I woke up to the sound of rain. It was earlier than usual, but I had a nine o’clock meeting anyway so I got up, started my coffee, ran out for the papers then ran back inside to a house filled with the wonderful aroma of freshly brewing coffee. I filled my cup and took the first sip. I can’t imagine starting any day without my coffee.

While I was at the library board meeting, the rain turned to snow for a few minutes, but at 37˚ it is still just a bit too warm to sustain the snow. I couldn’t be happier as I think it is far too early in the season for snow. On my way home the rain became sleet, giant globs of sleet. Gracie didn’t even want the window open. I was just so happy to get home and inside my warm house. It still smell of coffee.

We all have favorite smells. Some conjure memories of childhood while others bring to mind the people we love and miss. Places where we’ve been are pulled from memories, drawn by a smell. I love the smell of spring, of the earth and flowers and the first mown grass. I can smell rain before it comes. A summer rain cooling the hot pavement has a strange, easily recognized smell. I know when any neighbors have a fire going as the smell of burning wood permeates the air. Last year when the electricity was off for so long my house was filled with the aroma of burning wood, and it stayed for days. The pine smell of the Christmas tree fills the living room then spreads to all of downstairs. Sugar cookies baking always remind me of my mother. They were a Christmas tradition as was the decorating and eating cookies heavy with icing. The smell of turkey cooking in the oven at Thanksgiving draws the cats and the dog to the kitchen. They sit near the stove hoping for a taste. I never disappoint them.

I think that winter gives us a gift starting at Thanksgiving and lasting until the tree comes down in January. It is the season of smells mixed with memories.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Comments: 11 Comments

“When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep?”

November 11, 2013

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, World War I ended. This day became known as “Armistice Day.” In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Similarly, unknown soldiers had been buried in England at Westminster Abbey and at France at the Arc de Triomphe. All of these memorials took place on November 11th to commemorate the end of the “war to end all wars.”

In 1926, Congress resolved to officially call November 11th Armistice Day. Then in 1938, the day was named a national holiday. Soon afterwords war broke out in Europe and World War II began.

Soon after the end of World War II, a veteran of that war named Raymond Weeks organized “National Veterans Day” with a parade and festivities to honor all veterans. He chose to hold this on Armistice Day. Thus began annual observances of a day to honor all veterans not just the end of World War I. In 1954, Congress officially passed and President Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming November 11 as Veteran’s Day. Due to his part in the creation of this national holiday, Raymond Weeks received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Reagan in November 1982.

In 1968, Congress changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. However, the significance of November 11 was such that the changed date never really got established. In 1978, Congress returned the observance of Veterans Day to its traditional date.

On Memorial Day, 1958, two unidentified soldiers were interred at Arlington National Cemetery having died in World War II and the Korean War. In 1984, an unknown soldier who died in the Vietnam War was placed next to the others; however, this last soldier was later exhumed, and he was identified as Air Force 1st Lieutenant Michael Joseph Blassie. His body was removed.

The unknown soldiers are symbolic of all Americans who gave their lives in all wars. To honor them, an Army honor guard keeps day and night vigil.

National ceremonies commemorating Veterans Day occur each year at the the memorial amphitheater built around the Tomb of the Unknowns. At 11 AM on November 11, a color guard representing all military services executes “Present Arms” at the tomb. Then the presidential wreath is laid upon the tomb. Finally, the bugler plays taps.

Each Veterans Day should be a time when Americans stop and remember the brave men and women who have risked their lives for the United States of America. As Dwight Eisenhower said, “…it is well for us to pause, to acknowledge our debt to those who paid so large a share of freedom’s price. As we stand here in grateful remembrance of the veterans’ contributions we renew our conviction of individual responsibility to live in ways that support the eternal truths upon which our Nation is founded, and from which flows all its strength and all its greatness.”

Categories: Musings
Tags:

Comments: 17 Comments

“Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. ”

November 10, 2013

Today is finch day at the feeders. I saw several goldfinches sporting their drab winter colors and a few house finches with their red chests. A couple of doves were at the bird bath drinking. It had been cleaned earlier but has leaves again. Soon I’ll have to hunt down and plug in the heater for the bird bath. The birds love finding water in the winter.

I have nothing much to say today. I haven’t been out to see the world or spend time with people. Mind you, I’m not complaining as I have been reading and watching Christmas movies. The movies are on the schmaltzy Hallmark Channel so I know all will be well before the endings. That lonely business executive will realize she loves her hometown and her old boyfriend who still has a crush. Santa, the real one, will get his memory back in time to make his rounds. The orphans will find families, and the Scrooge-like characters will love Christmas again. Everyone will joyfully celebrate the season.

I went Christmas shopping yesterday in the catalogues and found several gifts I need to order. Some are for stockings, one of my favorite parts of Christmas. My mother was the best stocking stuffer, and we all, my sisters and I, inherited that gene. I only do stockings for my friends Clare and Tony now. I used to do them for my sisters but not anymore, and I really miss the fun of finding neat little things for their stockings. I had traditions. They always got a pair of earrings and my sister Moe got a Life Saver book. I used to find the worst Christmas movie I could for her. It was a contest we had every year. I think I won the last Christmas movie stocking battle when I found a movie made in Mexico about Santa, his wizard and the devil. I always prided myself on the odd and the strange. One year I gave my sister a killer clown puppet. We both loved the horrible Killer Klowns from Outer Space movie, and that puppet was perfectly alien and scary. I used to e-bay for stuff and enjoyed the hunt. I still do for Tony and Clare.

Well, the happy ending is close so back to my movie.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Comments: 12 Comments

“Quiet is the new loud”

November 9, 2013

A bright sunny day is always welcomed, even when it’s a bit chilly, as is today’s wonderfully beautiful blue sky. My feeders are going to need filling in a bit as the birds are many this morning. I think they too are drawn out by the sun. The western part of the state got less than an inch of snow yesterday, but it is the first snow of the season.

Gracie got a chew treat from me this morning and went outside to bury it. I watched her dig a small hole then use her nose to push the leaves over her treat to hide it. Her face, when she came in, was all sandy and Gracie wasn’t happy having it washed. Later she’ll dig it up and bring in inside. The treat will be covered in dirt and look disgusting.

I have nothing on my dance card today. I finished a book yesterday and have another to start. I also have recipes cut from magazines and newspapers which need a bit of culling. I always think I’ll make that delicious looking dish or dessert so I save it. When I’m having company or want to make something special, I pull out the recipes and go through them. I always think I need to sort them and then start piles. After a while, I get tired of it and put the piles back with the rest of the recipes and then put them all back into the basket which stores them. Soon the basket will be too small.

One of the differences this time of year brings is the quiet on a Saturday morning. In the summer I can hear lawn mowers, people shouting, kids playing and those annoying leaf blowers. This morning I first heard nothing then I heard the blast of hot air from the furnace. Fall gets us ready for the quiet of winter.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , , , , ,

Comments: 13 Comments

“Even in the familiar there can be surprise and wonder.”

November 8, 2013

Late, late start to Coffee this morning as I went out to breakfast down Cape then had one more errand to do. The breakfast is a once a month get-together of women with whom I’ve worked who are now retired. Sometimes we are many. Today we were few. It doesn’t really matter the number. It is still the chatting, not the eating, which is the best part.

I went home on the Mid-Cape Highway, Route 6, an anachronism of one lane in each direction. A slow car always has a line stretching behind it because that part of the road is a no passing zone. The two lanes are separated by permanent cones down the middle of the road. Being impatient doesn’t help. I just go with the flow. Today as I drove I noticed the scrub oak trees along the roadside were either covered in faded red leaves or dead, brown ones. Soon enough the trees will be bare.

The day is sunny. I noticed in the backyard the sunlight is slanted through the trees in an odd direction as the Earth makes its autumn move. Darkness comes so very early now. The house was cold when I woke up, and I just wanted to nestle under the comforter for a bit longer. Gracie didn’t mind so she stayed cozy beside me. Fern, on the other side, was just as cozy. All of us are into creature comforts.

When I fill out a form on-line, I often have to include my date of birth. The month and date are quickly found, but I have to scroll way down the list to find the year. That always surprises me even though it shouldn’t.

I buy shoes on-line, and they have always fit, but I do miss that big metal sizer they used in shoe stores. When I was a kid, I had to stand up while the shoe-man measured the size and width of my feet. They were always longer than the last time. That never surprised my mother. Sometimes we outgrew the shoes before they wore out.

I was not a fan of many vegetables when I was young. I loved peas and corn and potatoes. Mostly we ate canned vegetables back then except for corn in the summer. As I got older, my list of vegetables expanded, and I ate them fresh. I always believed they were the healthiest. Come to find out they may not be based on the distance from field to grocery store. Farm stands probably have the best fresh vegetables, but grocery stores don’t. Frozen and even canned vegetables may have more nutrients than fresh. That surprises me.

I like surprises, even in vegetables.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: 6 Comments

“Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book.”

November 7, 2013

I love the sound of rain and today is a good day for a lover of rain. When I woke up, the first sound I heard was rain drops falling on the roof so I stayed in bed a bit longer and listened. Gracie gave me a look but she was too comfortable in bed beside me to move and quickly settled back to sleep. I stayed in bed and read a while but the thought of a fresh cup of coffee and the biscotti I bought yesterday were too enticing so I got up and went downstairs, put the coffee on and went outside to get the papers. The leaves are plastered to my driveway and the street. Pine needles cover the lawn, but the rain is welcomed as it has been so dry.

Yesterday Gracie and I went for one errand then we took a ride down cape. She kept her head out the window surveying the world as we passed. I saw some color, mostly bright red. The ocean was quiet. I stopped at one store and bought a few things, odd things like measuring cups, a scoop and some chutney.

I remember my grammar school classroom on rainy days. The lights hung down from the high ceiling, and in the darkness of the day the room always seemed a bit shadowy despite the banks of windows on the back and one side wall. Rain subdued us. There was none of the shuffling of feet or the rustling of papers. I’d lose myself in the rain, and the sound of the nun’s voice would get further and further away until I didn’t hear it anymore. I’d watch the drops of rain pelt the window and find one drop to watch as it rolled down the window getting smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared then I’d find another drop to watch. I was a long way from school on rainy days.

Today is a stay home day. I have no reason to go anywhere. My bed is already made so I have done all my household chores leaving the rest of the day for reading and maybe napping in the late afternoon. A dark, rainy day seems to lend itself to a nap. I’ll stay in my around the house comfy clothes and slippers. Today sounds perfect.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: 12 Comments

“The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.”

November 5, 2013

The sun is among the missing. It’s been gone a while. Today is dark and bleak. Very little color is left in my yard except for one small tree next to the drive-way. Its has red leaves, brilliant red leaves against the backdrop of empty branches.

 I filled the feeders yesterday, and I got really cold. My fingers were the coldest of all. I filled three feeders with sunflower seeds and two with thistle. I also filled one suet feeder, cleaned out the bird bath and added water to it. When I looked later, the birds had descended in full force. When I looked after that, a red spawn was inside one of the feeders. I ran out and scared it so much the panicked spawn had trouble getting out from behind the wires on the feeder. I kept running at it, and the spawn was close enough to touch before it jumped to a branch. It is the same spawn who got hosed all summer. I’m thinking a squirt gun as the hose is put away for the winter. 

When I was young, we’d go into Boston, to the Public Garden, and ride the swan boats. The boat pond was always filled with ducks and the garden itself had a million squirrels and pigeons. People would sit on benches and feed the birds and the squirrels pieces of bread and peanuts from vendors who sold them from red carts along the walkways. I always wanted to feed the squirrels. I thought they were cute. What did I know? I was little. 

Life is filled with routine. It starts when we go to school. We get up every weekday, eat breakfast, get dressed and walk to school. The subjects come in the same order every day except on music and art day. We eat lunch at the same time every day. We go out for recess unless it’s raining. High school doesn’t change the routine much. For me the only difference was I took a bus every day, every day at the same time with the same people. The subjects still came in order. Lunch was at the same time every day . We didn’t have recess but we did go out for air in the small fenced in yard behind the school.

College is when the routine starts to change, and we begin to taste the freedom of choice. Pick your own classes mindful of the schedule. Eat when you have time. Sit around and play cards in the canteen. Skip a class now and then. 

After college, the routine reasserts itself at work. Be there at a certain time, eat lunch at the same time as yesterday and the day before and the day before that, teach the same classes in the same order every day. Go home around the same time every day. That, however, was the first routine I barely noticed and never minded. I didn’t like the getting up part, but I loved the work part. I loved my first two years in Ghana and I loved the next thirty-three here on the cape. I think loving what you do makes the day joyful though not every day because we couldn’t be that lucky, but it does for most days. 

 I have no routine now, and I’m glad. I get to choose whatever my day will be. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: 16 Comments

“…we went to watch the waves that bitter day and the wind took your red cap and mittens – blew them into the sea…”

November 4, 2013

I should be singing “What a Difference a Day Makes.” Yesterday’s warmth has given way to a seasonably cold morning in the mid-40’s. The view outside my window even looks cold with a here again, gone again sun, a strong breeze and cloudy skies. The weather isn’t inviting though I’ve already been out for breakfast and have to fill the bird feeders later. I’m thinking today is a good day to lounge.

I remember walking to school every day regardless of the weather. The worst walk was during the winter when it was cold and sometimes so damp my bones would chill. My mother made us wear snow pants, thick coats, hats, mittens and sometimes boots, but when I got to a certain age, snow pants were out. I didn’t want to wear them anymore. They were, in my mind, for little kids. Worst of all was I looked silly wearing them because my uniform skirt was worn over the pants instead of tucked in, never an attractive look. My mother, still trying to keep me warm, bought me pink thermal underwear instead. I remember the legs of the underwear reached to my knees. I also remember the underwear was really ugly.

I have a winter coat but I seldom wear it. Going from the house to the car to a warm store doesn’t seem to warrant a heavy coat; instead, I wear a sweatshirt most of the winter, but if it gets really cold, like single digits, I add a lined jacket, a light jacket. I still wear mittens instead of gloves. They keep my hands warm with all the fingers interacting. I have earmuffs but am seldom outside long enough to need them. They’re an emergency item. I hate having red, cold ears.

I have a couple of pairs of boots, but I don’t wear them either. They’re the sort with laces up the front, and, in the age of velcro, that seems an awful lot of work. I usually just wait until my walk is shoveled before I go anywhere and then I wear my wool winter clogs which I have in four different colors. If nothing else, my feet are fashionable in winter.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: 10 Comments

‘Ye can call it influenza if ye like,’said Mrs Machin.’There was no influenza in my young days.We called a cold a cold.’

November 3, 2013

I woke to the sound of rain plunking on the windowsill. The day is dark with an on again, off again rain. It is much colder than yesterday, and I’d call it a wind, not a breeze, which is shaking the tree limbs.

My backyard is filled with scrub pine trees. They are far from the prettiest of trees, but they survive the salty air and the sandy soil and have become the most numerous of Cape trees. They easily sway with the strongest of winds. This time of year their needles turn brown, drop and cover lawns and backyards. Raking is futile. Gracie’s domain, the backyard, is covered in leaves and needles. I never lose track of her even on the darkest nights. Because the fallen leaves crunch under her paws, I can follow Gracie through the yard just by listening from the deck. Miss Gracie has a favorite route, and there is a path which circles the yard along the fence. I love to watch her running round and round until she is spent.

My house is so very quiet right now. It is warm and cozy. It is a day for lying on the couch under an afghan and reading. Later, I will have to drag myself out of the house to the dump as it is will be closed the next two days, and I have trash which can’t wait until Wednesday. The dump has no dress code so I can stay as I am even down to the slippers. Gracie will be thrilled for the ride to her second favorite place.

I’m thinking I might have a cold coming. My voice is raspy, and I keep clearing my throat as if that might make a difference. I may have only one symptom, but it’s a stand-out.

 

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: 8 Comments

“The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter woods.”

November 2, 2013

It started raining around three this morning. I was still awake. It was one of those nights. I’d shut off the light and hope to fall asleep, but I’d just lie there tossing and turning forgotten, even deserted, by Morpheus. After a while, I’d turn the light back on, grab my book and start reading again. I finished the book around five this morning, heard my papers being delivered, contemplated getting up but gave sleep one more try, and that’s the last thing I remember.

Yesterday we had a wind advisory which I really didn’t need. All I had to do was look out the back window. The pine tree trunks and branches were swaying and dipping. Leaves were being blown off the trees and into the yard. The deck, cleaned the other day, was plastered with yellow, wet leaves. Gracie and I went out. I was surprised by how warm it was even with the wind. I stayed there a while.

Today is again warm but cloudy and damp. The air is perfectly still as if the wind blew itself out in yesterday’s fierceness. It will start to get cold tonight, more like the late fall we have come to expect.

I’m watching the Red Sox celebrate their championship in a rolling rally of duck boats. The sidewalks all along the rally route are lined with people twenty and thirty deep come to pay tribute to the Sox. The Dropkick Murphys are playing and confetti is showering the boats and the crowds. The duck boats are now headed to the Charles River for a quick dip and the end of the rally. It was a glorious baseball season.

Don’t forget to turn your clocks back tonight.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Comments: 12 Comments

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »