“A man is getting old w’en he walks around a puddle instead of through it.”
Posted August 21, 2023 by katryCategories: Musings
Today is already in the 80’s. The sun is in and out. Rain is likely tonight but after my concert. Nothing is moving in the stillness of the day. It is quiet.
When I was growing up, summer seemed to last forever. Every day was filled with fun, especially the rainy days. I loved playing outside in the rain. I’d walk in the gutters and kick up the water, the deeper the water the better. I’d ride my bike through the puddles and watch the water spray to each side, like a parting of the Red Sea moment. I’d get soak, but I didn’t care. The sun, after the rain, would dry my clothes.
In Ghana, the rainy season meant rain, if not every day then every couple of days. I had brought an umbrella, a travel umbrella, with me when I packed. I never used it. I loved watching the rain, and sometimes I’d sit outside under the metal awning covering my tiny concrete sort of porch outside my door. It was amazing, sitting in the rain without being in the rain. Where my fridge and kitchen table were was in a room with a screen, not a glass window. When it poured, the floor got soaked, but it was concrete so it didn’t matter. If I was in the market and the rain started, I’d just find a place to wait out the heaviest of the rain. When I went back to Ghana, I was in the market when the rain started. I stood under a sort of eave but was still getting wet. A woman in a shop near where I was standing invited me inside and gave me a chair. She was a seamstress. There was another women with her, and they spoke FraFra. I didn’t. I just kept smiling. On another visit, I sat outside under a thatch roof and watched the rain. I was surrounded by the rain but I didn’t get wet.
I still love the rain. Sometimes I sit under the umbrella on the deck and watch it rain.
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay: Otis Redding
Posted August 20, 2023 by katryCategories: Uncategorized
Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini: Brian Hyland
Posted August 20, 2023 by katryCategories: Uncategorized
Time flows strangely on Sundays.”
Posted August 20, 2023 by katryCategories: Uncategorized
The other night I was going home from the Dennis Playhouse when I had to jam on the brakes. Two deer, one of them looking young and still with spots, ran across the road. The young one stopped for a bit and looked at me before running off into the trees. I was delighted with the surprise.
The sun is with us again. The morning is already warm. It will get to 81°. I can hear a lawnmower off in the distance. Not even a small breeze is stirring. The backyard is quiet. The dogs are napping. It is that sort of a morning.|
Summer Sundays were always different than any other Sundays of the year. The early masses were so filled there was often an overflow to the stairs outside the door. People stood the whole time to watch the mass. We went, my brother and I, because we were heading to the beach for the day and didn’t want to waste any time. We’d sit on the steps. As long as we were close, I figured it counted as going to mass.
I marched with a drill team, St. Patrick’s Shamrocks, for years. Almost every Sunday during the summer we had a competition. We went to early mass in a group, and not long after mass, we’d board the bus. We always sang on the bus. Our uniforms were usually hung on the windows in garment bags so we didn’t see much of the trip. Every year, we’d compete against the same drill teams. I remember early on, probably my first summer with the drill team, we had a competition in Lawrence. We came in third, the first time we ever placed. There were only three drill teams. I remember the first time we won the championship. Once we got home, we marched from the fire station to the school yard. The fire station whistle blew. I swear we were so excited we soared over the ground. We had a party that night.
I still have friends from those days. We stay connected by our shared experiences even if we don’t see each other. Every now and then we have a reunion, and there are no distances between us.
Today is dump day. The bags of trash are already outside. I have nothing planned for the rest of the day. My dance card is almost empty. We have only one uke concert this week so the summer has begun winding down.
Crystal Blue Persuasion: Tommy James & The Shondells
Posted August 19, 2023 by katryCategories: Video
