Stone Cold Dead in the Market: Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan
Posted June 20, 2023 by katryCategories: Video
“Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June.”
Posted June 20, 2023 by katryCategories: Musings
Tags: chestnuts, Ghana, paper planes, Peace Corps, rain, summer
Today is lovely. It is sunny and bright and in the high 60’s. This, for me, is perfect weather. Even the nights are wonderful with temperatures in the mid 50’s, light blanket and snuggling weather.
Nala and her cone are at odds. She comes to an impasse and stands with her head down. If I don’t see her, I go hunting. If she is out, I keep checking the backdoor as she can’t get in by herself, but she does sleep well with her head resting on her cone and often on me.
The concert yesterday was wonderful. The weather was perfect, the crowd was enthusiastic. Because of the dogs, I didn’t played all last week so I was loving being back with my uke.
When I was a kid, I loved everything about summer. The trees were heavy with leaves. I could find chestnuts below the tree at the top of the road. I’d smash them with a rock then eat the nut, the fruit. On rainy days, I’d go outside and get wet. I’d run in the rain and kick up the water in the gutters. I’d let paper boats float in the rapid water like the scene in the movie It though without Pennywise. I could stay outside later. The streetlights were no longer my curfew. Every day was mine to do what I wanted. I wasn’t a sloth back then. I was busy every day.
When I lived in Ghana, I had a lot of free time. My house was on school grounds so it only took a few minutes to get to class. In between classes, I’d walk home and usually have another cup of coffee while sitting on the porch. In the afternoons, I’d prepare classes and then read for the rest of the day, my routine until Bill and Peg moved to my school. We’d always eat dinner together and then have game nights. I played my music. I had a cassette recorder and tapes. I didn’t have a transformer, only an adapter, but I did have an amazing electrician. He attached a Christmas sort of bulb to the adapter to suck up the extra wattage. The bulb was red. It lit up the wall. I always thought it kind of festive.
My life now more than any other time resembles my Peace Corps days. I have unlimited time to read. I play my music but without the red bulb, a loss of sorts. I often take afternoon siestas. I shop at outside farmers’ markets.
Every day something reminds of Ghana. For that I am grateful.
“I love how summer just wraps it’s arms around you like a warm blanket.”
Posted June 19, 2023 by katryCategories: Musings
The paper predicted the weather would be partly sunny so I am patiently waiting for it to burst through the clouds. It is currently 68°, today’s high. A slight breeze is ruffling leaves on the highest branches. It will be a pretty day in June if the sun decides to exert herself.
In summer, when I was growing up, life was casual and most days were unplanned. On weekends we often went to the beach or we just hung around the house. I never went bicycle riding on Sundays, only during the week. I figure that came from the Sunday was family day custom so we didn’t go far.
Mostly every summer day when I was a kid I wore my summer uniform of sorts, always shorts with a blouse, usually a sleeveless blouse. The shorts were neither to the knee nor high on the leg, not Bermudas or short shorts. They were in the middle. I wore sneakers, always white, and probably Converse. The only variation was on Sundays when I wore a dress or a skirt and blouse to church, the required dress code to which I unhappily complied. I never wore a hat but more of an un-hat like a mantilla or even Kleenex in an emergency. I never wore church clothes longer than necessary, to church, to mass and home again.
We never had a family dinner on summer Sundays. We might have hot dogs and hamburgers cooked on the grill or catch as catch can if we spent the day at the beach.
Nala is maneuvering better with her cone. Last night she managed to jump on the bed without my help. She had been hesitant. The worst of the cone is how sad she looks with her head down while standing at the dog door waiting for me to let her out. She also waits outside the door hoping I’ll notice her. All her wounds look great. I think 11 more days of the cone are too many as it was a random date based on availability.
Our first outside Monday concert on the Hyannis Green is tonight at 5:30. We’ll be playing Carole King music. Every week, we play a different book of music.
Right now I am watching Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf. A half-shark, half-octopus battles a hybrid of a killer whale and a wolf. I need to get a life.
