Posted tagged ‘36˚’

“Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you.”

March 6, 2016

The day is getting lighter as the sun struggles to appear. It is in the high 30’s but the rest of the week will be in the 40’s and one day may hit 50˚. I think the forecast is worthy of song, “We’re having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave.”

Some things just drive me crazy. Men wearing baseball caps inside is one of them. It is old school, I know, to expect men to take their hats off in a restaurant, but I do. Some people, mostly of the male variety, shovel their food into their mouths. They hold their forks like a piece of equipment, like that shovel I mentioned. Little kids doing it I understand as they’re still in process, but I don’t understand adult shovelers. Pocketbooks on the table at restaurants drive me crazy. Texting has its place but not while we’re eating. How about some table talk, some conversation?  Catch up with one another. Mumbling doesn’t count. One of my former relatives ate with her mouth open. I could never sit across from her. She obviously didn’t have the constant reminder, “Chew with your mouth closed,”the way we did. My mother was big into manners.

I admit we did some things just to drive one or both of our parents crazy. Shuffling our feet as we walked was one of them. My father inevitably yelled, “Pick up your feet.” We did literally and that made it even worse. Tapping a fork on the table was more than my mother could handle. She’d come right over and take the fork out of the offender’s hand. I admit I am a tapper, but I have never intended malice. It just happens when I’m engrossed in something like figuring out a crossword puzzle word. “Stop tapping!” from my mother would pull me from my reverie.

I live alone and even drive myself crazy at times. That’s the worst.

“The earth is a spaceship. While you are here, enjoy the ride.”

February 15, 2016

We did it again. We broke another record. Sunday morning the temperature plummeted to minus 9, with a windchill of minus 36, shattering the old record by 6 degrees. Luckily, though, we’re having a heat wave starting today. I wish I could sing the rest of the song, but the temperature will be nowhere near a tropical heat wave. Today’s temperature is expected to rise to near-freezing (you have to laugh when the temperature rises to near-freezing) with the possibility of snow, and tomorrow’s temperature may climb into the 50s, accompanied by wind and rain. We’re getting closer to beach weather.

Being housebound for the last few days has put me over the edge. Yesterday I actually cleaned and polished the shelves in the den and everything on them, and believe me, those shelves are filled. I watered all the plants and cleaned the TV screen so it no longer resembles a dust bowl. Today I intend to dust the desk and clean all the wind-up toys on the top of it. This whole urge to clean is a bit frightening. I’m thinking Stepford Wives, the original not the remake.

Spring is definitely coming. Today’s paper had baseball news on the front page of the sports section. I ravenously digested every word of every article. My imagination went wild. I was at Fenway Park on a warm spring night. I could hear the whack of the bat and the roar of the crowd. I could smell the grass and could taste the hot dog topped with mustard and relish. I watched Big Popi hit one out by the Citgo sign. I clapped and cheered.

I’ve decided Gracie and I are going to take a ride, destination still unknown. That’s the best sort of a ride: when you don’t know where you’re going. You just pick a street or a road at random and follow where it goes. I love surprises.

 

 

“We move in and out of darkness and light all our lives. Right now I’m pleased to be in the light.”

March 7, 2015

I was on my way home around 5 yesterday. The sun was low in the sky. Its light gave the trees an odd color, not quite sunset and not quite daylight, and in that light even the new snow looked lovely. The main roads are clear. The side roads still have layer of snow over a layer of ice. I liked the weatherman’s forecast this morning. It will get warmer. I checked. Tomorrow will be 36˚ and by Tuesday we’ll hit 39˚. That may not sound warm but last night was 14˚.

I was watching TV last night when I started to feel cold. I checked the thermostat, and the heat was down to 65˚ though it should have been 68˚. I turned up the thermostat but didn’t hear the blast of hot air. I could hear the furnace blowing but it didn’t seem to be blowing heat. I waited a bit then called for service. The repairman came quickly. Less than a half hour after his arrival, the heat was blasting on and off through the registers. I congratulated him, but he said it was only the furnace recycling. Finally the heat stayed on. It seemed that some lock-out device on the furnace had been triggered, but he had no idea how. He had just turned some switch and had done a bit cleaning. By then it was 62˚ in here, but it warmed up quickly. I was relieved at the easy fix.

The coffee this morning was delicious. The blend is called Africa Gold which is ironic as Ghana had only instant coffee which blunted my coffee taste buds for the two years I had to drink it. I have since become a coffee snob.

Turning the clocks ahead is the first real sign of spring. Tomorrow the daylight will last an hour and a minute longer. Every day we’re adding a minute to the light. Every day is longer than the day before.