Posted tagged ‘75˚’

“The eyes of spring, so azure, Are peeping from the ground; They are the darling violets, That I in nosegays bound.”

May 18, 2017

My wish came true. Yesterday was sunny and hot, 75˚ hot. I’d complain, but Boston hit 90˚ so I’m content at 75˚. It will be the same today.

The morning has a languid feel to it. I do hear a single bird, but the rest are gone, probably perching in the shade. This room where I spend most of my time is a refuge from the heat as it is in the back of the house and stays dark and cool until the afternoon when the sun moves to the west and streams through these back windows.

I went to the dump yesterday, one of my three errands. Poor Gracie stayed home as the other errands would have meant her sitting in a hot car. I tricked her by bringing the trash bags out early then sitting down for coffee and the papers. She forgot all about the trash and hopped on the couch for a morning nap. She is now back to getting into her crate. Her back legs were iffy, but they seem fine now. She gets in the crate and sticks out her head for a treat. I never refuse.

When I was a kid, I gave my mother dandelion bouquets. She always gushed at the beauty of the flowers then she’d put them in a vase, usually a jelly jar, which exalted them from their weedy status. I remember making a wish then blowing the dandelion seeds and watching the wind take them.

In my mother’s backyard, she had lilies of the valley and violets growing on the top dirt shelf of a rock wall. Some of the lilies were blue from their contact with the violets. I dug up and took some lilies and some violets home with me so I could plant then in my yard. They have spread all over. The lilies are in a front side garden with only a few violets here and there among them. The violets in the backyard took a while to grow while the lilies dug in right away and are now in clumps around the fence and some trees. Every time I see them, I think of my mother and her garden.

“Seven a.m. on the first day of summer vacation was, to her mind, a dangerous time to be awake. Even God had to be sleeping in.”

June 16, 2016

Gracie news first: all went well. The lump was removed, and the vet found a second one which was also removed. Her loose tooth came out and she got her nails cut. She was excited to be home and immediately ran into the yard. Her tail has yet to stop wagging.

The weather the last few days has been almost perfect. The days have been in the high 70’s and the nights in the mid 50’s. I had coffee and read the papers outside on the deck. The air was perfectly still, not a leaf fluttered. It was quiet. It was also quite warm, already 75˚. When I finished, I came inside to a cool house.

I remember the joy of the first day of summer vacation. I also remember the elation on the last day of school. It was always a half day. It was also the day we got our final report cards. The front with the grades didn’t matter as much as the back. That’s where it said promoted to the next grade. I was never worried but I still checked it right away.

We used to run home from school that day. Running seemed important even though we had the whole summer in front of us. I figure it was us getting away from school as quickly as we could, sort of like putting it in our rear view mirrors.

The best part of summer was going to bed when we were tired and getting up any time we wanted. We lived in shorts, jerseys and sneakers. We still had to wear our Sunday church clothes but only one day of dress-up was bearable.

Summer food was the easiest of all. We had toast most mornings, sandwiches for lunch and something quick and easy for supper. Bologna was my go to it lunch. It was in a roll, and I had to cut pieces. I never did it well. The end of the bologna ended up uneven, and some slices in the sandwich were thick while other were so thin you could just about see through them. I always added hot peppers to mine. They came uncut in a jar. I used to split the peppers, plop them in my sandwich and hold the sandwich with two hands so nothing would fall out.

The other day my groceries came. From the deli I had ordered bologna. It is still my favorite. Sometimes, for old times sake, I add cut jalapeños. Holding on to the sandwich is never a problem any more.