Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
November 1, 2013
Today is windy, dark and rainy and very warm. It should reach the high 60’s. Last night was perfect for trick or treating. The howling wind made the night sound spooky and leaves whirled in the air as if juggled by unseen spirits. It was warm. I had about fifteen trick or treaters who wore the best costumes I’ve seen in a while. One girl was an elf with all green make-up on her face and arms to match her green costume. The full size candy bars were a hit as were the wind-ups and bubbles. One girl went yelling to her parents that she got a big candy bar. Her father yelled, “Hello, Miss Ryan.” He was a former student and we chatted a bit. At one point I was trying to give candy to a large group of kids and Gracie almost got loose, but I grabbed her just before she could make her escape. She loved Halloween.
Last night I opened a window in my bedroom. I could smell the fresh air, and there was a small breeze. The night birds were singing then I heard a drop and another drop then a bunch of drops. It had started to rain. I listened for a long while. The sound of rain is one of my favorite of all sounds, not a howling, driven rain but a rain of drops plunking on the roof and the side of the house. I fell asleep to the melody of the rain.
Today is meteor day on the Syfy channel. The Earth is endangered in every movie. I’m watching Collision Earth. I had to laugh when the meteors began to fall. Two men started running as meteors were hitting the ground all around them. It was as if the men had been targeted by the falling chunks. They hid behind their car. It was a miracle: not a single meteor hit their car. Two college students were also miraculously saved. They ran, got in their car and clung to each other. Meteors fell all around them but missed them and their car. Another miracle! I’m guessing the Earth is not doomed. I’m thinking another miracle.
Gracie and I have a couple of errands later. I’d rather it be a sloth day but canned dog food is on the list to buy. Gracie thinks dry food is a treat. That’s my fault.
Categories: Musings
Tags: costumes, dark and windy night, dog food, Earth's doom, errands, Halloween, melody of the rain, meteor day, rain, raindrops, Syfy channel, unseen spirits
Comments: 8 Comments
October 31, 2013
It happened: my Red Sox won the World Series last night in splendid fashion. They led the whole game. I, however, still had clenched teeth until that last out at the top of the ninth. I was so excited I stayed up until after two and watched all the festivities. How could I not? It was spectacular.
The morning was sunny, lovely and warm but since then the sun has been replaced by clouds, and the day is getting darker. I don’t mind. Halloween should be dark and even a bit scary.
I can remember the Halloween excitement from the moment I woke up and remembered what day it was. Having to sit in school for so long was pure torture. At lunch and recess all we talked about was what we were going as. It was never what we were wearing. It was always what we were going as. We were, for one night, witches or ghosts or pirates. I can remember hounding my mother to let us start trick or treating as soon as it got dark. She always said it was too early. We’d look out the picture window hoping to see a trick or treater, a sign it was finally time. Some years my brother and I would go together. We were adventurous spirits who would roam all over town. I can still see in my mind’s eye the sidewalk covered with yellow leaves and here and there bright circles of light from the street lamps. The houses always had their porch lights on as invitations for us to stop. Those were the days of small trick or treat bags filled with individual candies. The lady, never a man, would come to the door, open it a bit and give us a bag from the pile on the table beside the door. If it was a neighbor, she’d try to guess who we were. It was never really very difficult, but the best neighbors always pretended it was. We’d finish the neighborhood then branch out to streets around where we lived then we’d even go further afield. I remember a house where we once got an apple, never a favorite treat, but it had a nickel pushed into the skin as the real surprise. Sometimes the candy bags had a penny or two, and back then pennies still had great value. As the night wore on, we’d see fewer and fewer trick or treaters and fewer lit houses. We knew then it was time to head home.
The haul was always important, but the best part of Halloween was being out at night when the shadows of bare branches looked like hands reaching out to grab us and when we’d hear footsteps behind us and be a little afraid to look. We sometimes scared each other, and I remember laughing while my heart raced just a bit from the fright.
We always walked home slowly making the night last as long as we could.
Categories: Musings
Tags: costumes, darkening day, getting dark, going as, Halloween, house lights, porch lights, racing hearts, Red Sox, scaring each other, school torture, trick or treat bags, Trick-or-treating, yellow leaves
Comments: 19 Comments
October 29, 2013
The day is sunny then cloudy then back again. A tiny breeze ruffles the dead leaves. Only the drab gold finches are at the bird feeders. I don’t know where my other stalwarts are. It’s a quiet day. I brought my laundry downstairs, the first step in a long process. In the early afternoon, I have to go to the big city, Hyannis, for an appointment. I’ll make a few stops while I’m there including Trader Joe’s. That place is an occasion of sin, a term the nuns used for temptation.
I feel sleep deprived. The Sox games have ended late then I’m too stoked to sleep so I watch some TV and go on-line. Usually it is around 2:30 before I realize the time. The Sox won last night and are headed back to Boston for game 6 tomorrow night. If the Gods of Baseball smile in our favor, the Sox could clinch the series.
I couldn’t do the cryptogram this morning. My brain just isn’t working. I gave up after a couple of minutes. Usually I am far too tenacious to give up at all but my brain seems sluggish. I don’t even have much to say here today. I haven’t been out so no comments are forthcoming on the state of the world here on Cape Cod though I did read in the paper the local school board continues to fight with the town over solar panels, on the ground panels. The school committee and the superintendent got turned down once because the town committee said the panels are dangerous so the school board tried an end run though the state but got stopped just before approval because of a complaint by an abutter. I don’t get it. The panels will save a good deal of money over time, and the town of Yarmouth where the panels would be placed always complains about paying its portion of the school budget so you’d think the money would be an incentive to approve the panels, but no, not in Yarmouth.
What’s with November coming so soon? Last time I looked it was August, and we were complaining about the heat then September must have sneaked by and now October is almost at an end. I’m not going to blink because next thing I know I’ll be wrapping presents and going out and about to find my Christmas tree.
Categories: Musings
Tags: game 6, Gods of Baseball, gold finches, Hyannis, inane town committee, November, Red Sox, sleep deprived, solar panels, speedy fall, sunny then cloudy, Yarmough
Comments: 16 Comments
October 28, 2013
Today is another lovely fall day with lots of sunshine and a pale blue sky. It got cold last night and was 38˚ by the time I went to bed around 2 am. I watched the Red Sox-Cardinals game which didn’t end until late, and when that happens, I am seldom tired enough for bed. The ending of that game was another strange one: a pick-off at first. Who is foolish enough to get picked off at the bottom of the ninth with two outs, your team losing, but Beltrane at bat? Why a rookie, of course, is the answer. The series is now tied 2-2 with a game tonight in St. Louis then a return to Boston. This series is killing me with its late nights, close games and weird calls.
This morning I stood by the window while the coffee was brewing. I watched dead leaves fall off the big oak tree onto the deck. It was sort of sad in a way. Those leaves had hidden my deck from the neighbors all summer. When I was sitting there, I felt as if I were in a tree house surrounded by green leaves and full boughs. Now I can see almost all the way down to the end of the street from my deck. My friend Clare will soon enough be able to see my den window and know when I’m still awake late at night. The light shines brightly.
When I was in the seventh and eighth grade, I played CYO basketball. That was in the days of weird girls’ basketball rules. I was a guard, and I could only stay on one half of the court. I could bounce the basketball three times but then I had to pass it. Only the forwards could score. I had one trick in my arsenal, and that was I could throw the ball full court. One forward would stay by our basket hoping not to be noticed, and when I got the ball, it went to her and she always scored. That was usually good for a few baskets before the other team guarded her and kept her from the basket. Our coach was a former marine, a former female marine, and she was tough. She didn’t have a warm, fuzzy bone in her body. Every instruction sounded like a command, and we obeyed. In practice, she had a mean whistle which she’d blow then she’d point at the offender. My greatest wish was always that she was pointing at someone else. She made us wear high top sneakers which only came in black back then. I remember there was a circle on the outside of each sneaker and inside the circle was the word Converse. We were always the only team with high tops. All the others had white sneakers, girly white sneakers with pointed toes. We didn’t really care when playing basketball, but we never wore those sneakers anywhere else. They were, after all, boys’ sneakers.
Many, many years later colorful high top sneakers with Converse in the circle on the side became a rage. I bought a pair in bright pink and another pair in purple. Those sneakers had stopped being boys’ sneakers. They had become an element of style. When I organized my closet a while back, I found those sneakers, both pairs. I still think they are really cool. I’m partial to the pink.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bare trees, basketball coach, colorful high tops, crazy girls' basketball rules., CYO basketball, falling leaves, female marine, high tops, lovely fall day, pick-off at first base, pink sneakers, purple sneakers, Red Sox, stylish high tops
Comments: 19 Comments
October 27, 2013
If you looked up fall in the dictionary, they’d be a picture of today. The sun is shining, the sky is a pale blue and the breeze is brisk with a bit of a chill. Fall is in full burst. My front yard is filled with fallen leaves and pine needles. The grass doesn’t needed mowing any more. Yesterday my irrigation system was shut down for the season, and today I’ll clear the water from my back yard hoses. It’s time to close down the deck for the season though I’ll save a place to sit on a sunny day, my big wooden chair. I love fall, but I find it sad when fall begins to move toward winter.
Summer is always exuberant. It is warmth and colors and the sweet smell of flowers wafting through the air. Every morning I’d get the papers and then stop to look at my front garden. I’d lean against the car and marvel at the beauty of the flowers. I always noticed a few empty spots and would get excited at needing to buy new flowers. I can never have enough flowers. I’d finally pull myself away and go into the house, get my coffee and go outside on the deck. It takes me a long time to read the papers when I’m outside. I stop and watch the birds at the feeders and Gracie in the backyard. I listen to the singing. I raise my face to the sun and close my eyes. Summer fills me.
Fall always seems to have a faster pace than summer, and I think of October, nearing its end, as the bridge between fall and winter. Fall has a unique beauty when the leaves turn, and the trees are filled with color, muted color. My garden celebrates the season with fall flowers. The plants I put in last year were in full bloom this fall, and I was surprised as I had forgotten planting them. This year I added three more fall flowers, and they must have been happy to be planted as they bloomed a week or two later. Of all the seasons fall surprises me the most. The days are sometimes as warm as summer while the nights get downright cold. The sunlight slants in an odd direction. Darkness comes earlier and earlier.
My heat comes on in the mornings now. I can hear it as I’m waking up. The days seem to be warm enough to keep the furnace at bay, but I doubt that will last too much longer. Winter is coming.
Categories: Musings
Tags: chill of the day, closing down the deck, coming winter, darkness, deck, fall flowers, fallen leaves and pine needles, flowers, furnace, heat, lovely fall day, newspapers, October, slanting sunlight, summer, warmth and color
Comments: 23 Comments
October 26, 2013
Today is Saturday, really bad movie day. I am watching Spaceflight IC-1 made in 1965. A spaceship with families, including children, is going to a new Earth with the original name Earth 2. The ship is enormous. The kids sleep in a huge room with bunk beds and a small classroom. They fall asleep to a holograph of Ho Ho the Clown telling them a story. The crew couples have individual rooms bigger than bedrooms in some apartments. Each crew member wears a tag designating his/her responsibility, just in case anyone forgets. They have a head in a box, an electronic crew member, and a few other members of the expedition who are being kept in stasis. Right now the doctor is telling his wife the doctor she has a pancreatic infection. Her response, “Oh!” I have little hope the rest of the movie will get any better.
The nights are cold. Last night got down to the low 40’s, and the house was chilly when I woke up. I turned on the heat. I guess we’re officially into the time of year when the sun just isn’t enough anymore. I’m wearing a sweatshirt.
Back when we were kids, we’d probably have spent this week figuring out what we’d be wearing for Halloween. Because we never had store-bought costumes, we had to rummage through our imaginations and the house for something to wear. One year my sister was a ballerina and wore a tutu she had worn at her dance recital, but it wasn’t as easy for the rest of us. My mother would sometimes buy us masks, and we’d build our costumes around them, but I never really like the full-faced masks. I couldn’t see through the eyes too well, and the masks were hot and I’d get sweaty. The Lone Ranger type mask was my favorite.
I really don’t remember many of the costumes I managed to cobble together. I know I was a ghost, a cowgirl, a monster with blood on my face and a hobo with a pack. My mother made up our faces, and I do remember hobo stubble. We usually had paper trick or treat bags but when we got older we went to pillow slips. The best part of the night was getting home, grabbing a bowl and going through my haul. The apples went into the fridge. We’d trade candy and eat as much as we wanted. We’d even stay up late as we didn’t have school the next day. It was All Saint’s Day though the saints took second fiddle. I have always associated All Saint’s Day with Hershey Bars and bubble gum.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bad science fiction, candy haul, chilly days, cold nights, costumes, day off from school, fake blood, Halloween, masks, pillowslips, Spaceflight IC-1, trick or treat bags
Comments: 10 Comments
October 25, 2013
My Red Sox lost last night done in by their own errors just as St. Louis had been in the first game. The next game isn’t until tomorrow, in St. Louis. Peavy is pitching for the Sox which makes me a bit nervous. His last outing was horrific.
The house was cold when I woke up this morning so I turned on the heat. Now it is nice and cozy. Last night must have been chilly as Fern and Gracie were huddled beside me on the down comforter. Maddie was asleep in the guest room, her favorite spot. Now all three animals are having their morning naps. Such a life each of them lives!
When I was young, all my every day shoes had laces while my dress-up shoes had buckles. In high school, the school uniform included black loafers, no dimes. I liked loafers, and when I was much older, I had a couple of pairs. One was black and the other cordovan. They were always stiff at first then they’d get really loose the more they were worn. By the time they had fulfilled their usefulness, they were as loose as slippers. My school loafers periodically needed new heels and soles so my dad would bring them to the cobbler in the square. In the meantime, I’d wear old loafers saved for such shoe repair emergencies. My dad would polish them for me. He used Kiwi polish, and the first thing he did was spit in the can to moisten the hard, dry polish. He always used the same rag to polish the shoes, and it was covered in brown and black stains. After the shoes were polished, they were left to dry, in pairs, then my dad would brush them so much they shined almost like new. His shoe polishing supplies were in the drawer to the left of the sink. Sometimes when I’d go to visit, he’d have me get his supplies so he could polish my shoes. I always loved that. It was a wonderful Dad thing. After he was finished, there was a little ritual. He’d hold up my shoes and ask me if they didn’t look like new. I always said they did, and I didn’t lie.
Categories: Musings
Tags: canned shoes polish, chilly night, cobbler, cold morning, cordovan, errors, loafers, naps, Red Sox, shiny shoes, shoe brush, shoe rag, shoes tie shoes
Comments: 8 Comments
October 24, 2013
When someone is given the choice between good news or bad news first, it always boggles my mine they choose the good news first. I wonder why they want to be left with the bad news circling in their heads. As for me, give me the bad news first. Here we go: Grace got turned down yet again. The reason given was she didn’t qualify whatever the heck that means. She has money, land, letters of recommendation and family. I just don’t get it. Grace didn’t ask why so I told her she needed to find out from the embassy so we can correct the problem for the next time. Grace is at the, “It was God’s will,” stage, always a bad sign. She has decided to spend the winter making more money then try again next summer. She hopes I will save enough money to return to Ghana one more time and accompany her to the embassy. I will be a bit more forceful.
The good news is plentiful. The Sox won the first game of the series last night. The Cardinals made some errors which led to the Sox scoring runs. Two things about the game stand out in my memory. The first is a call made by the second base umpire which was overturned. I don’t remember that happening before. The replay showed the ump had blown the call, and overturning it was the right thing to do. Pedroia, the player involved, scored a run a bit later. The second stand-out play was an infield fly ball. It appeared as if the pitcher had called for it so the catcher just stood there. The ball fell between them for a base hit. Even the pitcher had to smile at that one. The second game is tonight. I still have my fingers crossed.
Yesterday I was on the road doing errand after errand. No longer am I a housebound sloth. I got to cross five errands off my list. I was jubilant at my industry. Each week I keep track of my mileage, not for any reason like how many miles to the gallon but rather from curiosity. When I got into the car yesterday I checked mileage and since Sunday I had gone .1 miles.
Yesterday it rained most of the afternoon. Last night was cold, not a frost but still cold. Today is a lovely day. The sun is shining. The morning air has that fall crispness and smells sweet. I have to fill the feeders as all of them are empty. Luckily one of my stops yesterday was to buy suet, sunflower and thistle seeds.
My Halloween treats have all been bought. For the younger kids, to whom I don’t give candy, I have wind-up mummies and bubbles. The tops of the bubble bottles are either a ghost, a witch, Frankenstein or the mummy. When I visited my sister last week, I went by what used to be the red house where two old ladies lived. The house is now a bland beige color and is a real estate office. That red house will forever live in my memory because the two old ladies always gave nickel bars of candy, usually Hershey bars, for Halloween. That memory inspired me, and this year I bought regular size Hershey Bars for the older kids. I haven’t done that in years. I usually give out what are called fun size bars, but they really aren’t all that much fun if you’re a kid. They’re just small candy bars, and no kid is ever taken in by the word fun.
This year my candy is a tribute to those two old ladies in the red house.
Categories: Musings
Tags: American Embassy Ghana, cold night, crisp air, errands and more errands, good news-bad news, Halloween treats, Hershey Bars, lovely day, mileage, no visa, Red Sox, regular size candy bars, Ridiculous State Department rules, sketchy regulations, World Series
Comments: 15 Comments
October 22, 2013
Today is the last of the warm, sunny days. Tomorrow will be cold and rainy. I have been a sloth of late so I need to motivate myself to go out and enjoy today. I’ll grab Gracie and my camera and off we’ll go.
In the winter I stay home a lot. It is, after all, usually cold which is the best reason to stay inside cozy and warm. In the summer, I am a deck denizen and love to sit and read and watch Gracie in the yard and the birds at the feeders. Right now I am just… You probably wonder if I left off a word but I didn’t. I can’t describe my mood exactly. I am not sad but I am not happy either. I am just…
I am unmotivated though I did dust strange places this morning and wet mop the kitchen floor. There was no sudden burst of energy. They were necessities. I couldn’t take it any longer. The dusting was the top of the baseboard behind the tavern table and the back of the Morris chair. The kitchen floor was filled with Gracie’s paw prints.
Grace, my student, not to be confused with Grace my dog, had her appointment at the embassy today hoping to get a visa to visit. I think she is probably done already given the time change. I called but got no answer. She is willing to come even in the cold, but Grace has no idea what cold really is. During the harmattan, especially around December, the nights are cold but only in comparison to the hot, hot days. I had a wool blanket on my bed. The mornings during the harmattan were my favorite times of the day. They felt like cool fall mornings when you knew the sun would soon enough warm the day. My students wore layers of sweaters. They complained bitterly about the cold. I relished it. It was such a strange feeling to be cold in Ghana. Well, Grace is in for a jolt. I doubt she owns enough layers for November cold. Luckily I have plenty of jackets. I don’t even know if Grace owns shoes. Sandals are all everyone wears. Shoes are unhealthy. Maybe our first stop will be a shoe store.
I am on tenterhooks waiting.
Categories: Musings
Tags: a sloth, cleaning weird places, cold mornings, cold nights, cold weather, embassy appointment, harmattan, jackets and socks, mopping the floor, nothing sort of mood, shoes or sandals, warm and sunny, wearing layers
Comments: 16 Comments
October 21, 2013
Today is just one of those I have no ambition to do anything days. The house is already clean, the laundry done, the bird feeders filled and the dishes put away. I could make my bed, but I don’t want to and don’t care one way or the other. If I leave it unmade, it is prime for an afternoon nap. Reason enough I think.
When I was a kid, I seldom stayed home from school. The only times I did were for the big diseases like measles and mumps. I remember the room was kept dark when I had the measles so I wouldn’t go blind, one of the accepted notions in those days, and I was driven insane by lying in bed with nothing to do because I couldn’t read or watch TV. I don’t remember the mumps though we all got them from each other. I just remember my neck hurting. We must have gotten colds, but I think it would have taken pneumonia before we stayed home from school.
One of the smells I always associate with childhood and colds is Vicks Vapor Rub. My father for his whole life was a big fan. He even had a grey sweatshirt he wore every time he used Vapor Rub. It had a big greasy looking stain on the front. If we got sick, out came the Vapor Rub. We didn’t have a choice. It was the panacea for the common cold in our house. I remember how awful it smelled, but I also remember it really worked.
Nobody had pediatricians in those days. We did have a family doctor we seldom saw. His name was Dr. Devlin and his giant, beautiful house was right next to the entrance to the schoolyard. His office was on the first floor. I remember all the wood and the ornate staircase as you came in the front door. Dr. Devlin was a huge man who sat behind a huge desk. He wasn’t a fuzzy, warm doctor but he wasn’t mean either. I remember he wasn’t all that gentle. I saw him only twice during my childhood: once when I was ten and had fallen down the stairs and broken open my chin. I still have the scar. When I was twelve, the school detected a heart murmur, and my parents took me to the doctor then I went to the hospital for tests. I remember that test and being nervous because it was the hospital. Luckily, nothing ever came of it and the murmur disappeared when I got older.
I think we were seldom sick because a cold was just a cold. A cough meant cough syrup and there was always the miracle of Vapor Rub. The doctor was for big things.
Categories: Musings
Tags: blindness, falling down the stairs, family doctor, heart murmur, hospital, Measles, no ambition, office visit, unmade bed, Vicks Vapor Rub
Comments: 22 Comments
keepthecoffeecoming.blog 