Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ category
Night of the Vampire: Roky Erickson
October 28, 2016“Vampires, werewolves, fallen angels and fairies lurk in the shadows, their intentions far from honorable.”
October 28, 2016Fern was hiding this morning, but I managed to find her. She was under a guest room bed sitting on an afghan. She let me pat her, but she didn’t come out. I got her food and water and put it in front of her. She had some of each. I think that is hopeful, but I do wish she were feeling good enough to come downstairs. I’m going to go back up to her when I’m finished here hoping to entice her downstairs where it is far easier to watch her. Fern is almost 18.
The weather has been chilly and rainy. The sun appeared early this morning but is now hidden by clouds. It is really a gloomy day. My heat is on and the lamp in here is lit, but neither keeps that gloom away. My front yard is filled with small pine branches and needles. It will need raking again.
My dance card is empty. I have nowhere fun to go and no one to see. Watering the plants, taking the trash to the dump and doing a load of laundry is what will keep me busy. I also have a couple of new books, and there is always MSNBC.
TCM has made my evening. I can watch all the horror classics like Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man and The Wolf Man. When I was a kid, they were the scary movies. Even though you never saw Dracula take a nibble, you knew just what he was doing behind that cape. Imagination provided the fright. I always felt bad for The Wolf Man. Larry Talbot was just trying to save a woman when he was bitten by the werewolf attacking her. Throughout the movie, he hoped to find a cure but never did. Once that moon had risen, Larry was on the hunt. The worst thing was the ending when his own father killed him with the wolf cane he had used to kill the werewolf which had bitten him. The Mummy too was scary with his dragging bandages and his limp, but I was less afraid of him than the others. I didn’t figure a mummy would likely find me.
Pumpkins: John Southworth
October 24, 2016
Crimson and Clover: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
October 22, 2016
Colour My World: Petula Clark
October 22, 2016
Vote for Mr. Rhythm: Chick Webb and His Orchestra
October 21, 2016“Upbeat, irrepressible, and potentially illegal (“I’m voting twice”), this celebration of Webb’s talents includes the nineteen-year-old Ella Fitzgerald on vocals.”
“There’s no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter.”
October 21, 2016This morning I slept late. It was cozy under the warm comforter. The dog sensing I was awake stood up. I just stayed in bed. Fern joined us. I finally decided to get up. It was almost nine. I got downstairs, let Gracie outside, made coffee and then fetched my newspapers. The street was wet on the sides so it must have rained last night. I missed it.
The forecast is for rain today, and I thought it was going to rain earlier when the sun disappeared and dark clouds took over the sky. Since then the sun has reappeared, but it doesn’t look all that comfortable surrounded as it is by clouds. It may yet rain.
Okay, I have a confession to make. I have become an MSNBC junkie. When I was in Ghana, I saw the first debate. I read all the comments, all the fallout, and had a few laughs. I also got irritated, majorly irritated. My friend Bill advised me not to read anymore, but I couldn’t stop. I was in the grip of this horrific campaign. Now it is worse. I watched the last two debates and the Al Smith dinner last night. I watched the fact checker after the last debate and saw how many Pinocchios Mr. Trump received. Even now, I have MSNBC in the background. I’m beginning to feel like a gawker.
I have always voted. I believe it is the responsibility of every citizen who is of age. My first election was 1968. I had to wait back then until I was twenty-one. My candidate did not win. When I was in Ghana, I got an absentee ballot, but it arrived too late. The election was already over. I sent it in anyway, by air mail.
My town still uses paper and pen ballots. For the first time, I will be able to vote early, starting next week. I check in by my address at a table where two women sit. Every election it is the same two women. We always say hi. I go behind the curtain and vote then put my ballot in the box. I usually know the police officer standing beside the box. I then go to a different table to check out by street address. Two women sit at that table as well. We usually have a bit if a chit chat then I’m done. I proudly put my I voted sticker on my shirt.
“And falling’s just another way to fly.”
October 18, 2016The morning is cloudy and damp. I could smell the ocean when I went to get the papers so I lingered outside a while. It was quiet. I knew my neighbors were awake as their shades were up, and their paper was gone. I don’t see them much. Thinking about it, I don’t see many of my neighbors. When I do, we always wave.
My groceries arrived right on time yesterday. My fridge is now filled. I bought some plantain hoping to make kelewele. I’m also going to try my hand at jollof rice. It’s fun making something new, especially dishes filled with memories.
I left my windows open last night. I had thought them closed for the season, but yesterday was warm. Today will be even warmer. I got to hear the birds sing when I woke up. They were far less intrusive than that Ghanaian rooster. It doesn’t really matter where I am. I love mornings the best. My dad used to switch to storm windows around this time of year. It took him the whole day. He had to get each window on hooks, and it wasn’t easy because he also had to lean on the ladder for balance. We all watched.
It is from my dad I inherited the gene associated with all my falls. His falls were sometimes spectacular. They were also sometimes funny like the sawing himself out of the tree fall I have mentioned before. He didn’t fall far. He did break his hip on a fall from a high ladder when he was painting his house. He always limped after that. I have been luckier with only a broken bone in my shoulder, and no after effects because of physical therapy. I just accept falls as a fact of life.
Autumn Almanac: The Kinks
October 15, 2016
“One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast.”
October 11, 2016The morning came a bit later for me so there is progress. I woke up at 5:20, later but still before my paper. I am enjoying real coffee with real cream. I turned the news on but decided I didn’t want to know what is happening: ignorance is most decidedly bliss.
My house was cold this morning, and it seemed a bit strange to feel real cold, not the blast of an air conditioner. Bolga was hot, never lower than 95˚.
Today I will attempt to empty my suitcases. Every time I go into the living room I step around them. It is just that I haven’t had the energy, and my usual compulsion to finish the task seems to have disappeared. It should also be laundry day.
Fern, one of my cats, looks so much better. She is the one who nearly died from heart and kidney complications. She is eating, purring and demanding treats. She is also back to sleeping beside me on the couch and with me in bed. While I was gone, she slept in the other room. I worried about her when I was gone.
I bought lots and lots, yards and yards, of Ghanaian cloth. Some of it is tie and dye. I just couldn’t stop myself. One of the cloths is a 12-yard piece. I’m going to have table cloths and napkins made as Christmas presents. My suitcase was incredibly heavy.
I haven’t eaten breakfast since I got home. Every morning in Ghana I had eggs and toast. It didn’t matter where I was. Other than the lodge, all the eggs tasted the same. They were fried and had no yolks. The toast was always cold. I tried once for French toast but my description produced an egg sandwich with the bread fried on one side. It was good but not what I expected.
The former students who visited brought bananas and oranges for my friends. I did snag a couple of oranges, and they were as sweet as I remembered. We tried sweet apples for the first time. You eat the petals and spit out the seed. They were work but they were delicious.
Today I have a library board meeting. It is truly back to the usual.
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