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“…freshly cut Christmas trees smelling of stars and snow and pine resin – inhale deeply and fill your soul with wintry night…”

December 6, 2016

I am blustering and out of sorts. I had another go around with Target as I got the wrong book again, the same wrong book. I spoke to two people, the first being incompetent. The problem, as determined by the supervisor, my second person, is that Biscuit’s Touch and Feel Christmas is in the wrong place at the warehouse. I have to send back poor Biscuit or I won’t get a refund on the actual order. It is my responsibility to correct their problem or lose my money. I am an unhappy consumer.

I have much to do today, but it is a lovely day to go out and do my errands. I have to vote, get the dog’s new license, shop for batteries and some storage bins and then hit the post office. Gracie will be happy as she can come as it is cool enough for her to wait in the car.

Gracie is an occasional toilet water drinker though I keep her water dish freshly filled as Maddie also drinks out of it. Today the toilet bowl on the bottom was filled with sand. I have no idea what Gracie was digging. When I checked her water bowl, it was also sandy, and the floor had a trail of wet paw prints. I have no idea what that dog is up to when she goes outside. Today in the hall she herded poor Maddie. She jumped left and right so Maddie couldn’t pass her. Gracie’s butt was in the air so it was playtime, but not for the cat. I saved Maddie. Gracie looked disappointed.

My house has a bit more Christmas. I brought up my scrub pine, and it was lit last night. This afternoon I’ll bring up more. A little bit of Christmas makes me anxious for a lot more.

My sisters, my cousins and I are all Christmas enthusiasts. It is genetic from our parents: my mother, my mother’s brother Uncle Jack, and my mother’s sister, Aunt Bunny. All our halls are totally decked. I am probably the only one who doesn’t have my tree yet, but I will by Thursday. My house will scream Christmas by the end of the week.

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“Nature has no mercy at all. Nature says, “I’m going to snow. If you have on a bikini and no snowshoes, that’s tough. I am going to snow anyway.””

January 26, 2015

Naming hurricanes is a long time tradition, but now we have to name blizzards. Juno is the one we’re braced for now. As for me, I espouse keeping the snow at a distance. Giving it a name seems to personalize it too much.

We have been told to prepare for the probability of losing electricity. The last time that happened during a snow storm my house got down to 37˚. I can’t think of many more ways to prepare. I have food which doesn’t need to be cooked, and when Gracie and I do a couple of errands, I’m going to add tomatoes and avocados to the larder. Everything is charged though the charges won’t last all that long. I have a lantern but I need a few more batteries. Burning wood to keep warm is almost futile as most of the heat goes right up the chimney though I love the look of a good fire. My father always called a strong and long-lasting flame a Hollywood fire. I still do. The snow won’t start until late this afternoon, and by then we’ll be home, warm for the meantime and the bird feeders will have been filled, my only other chore for the day. I’ll turn up the heat to warm the house as much as I can. It will be tropical for just a bit.

When I was a kid, snow like this was perfect to build forts and caves. The forts had protective walls to keep the snowballs at bay. The caves had rooms, but we used to have to crawl in and out the door. We’d bring something to sit on between us and the snow, and we’d pretend the cave was a house of sorts. I remember bringing my sandwich and having lunch in the dining room of our cave. The best cave we ever made was huge. It was built in the pile left by the plows. We used water to ice the ceiling and walls so they’d be firm and last a long time. Eventually snow melts, but parts of my cave lasted until almost spring. It was the only snow left.

If I don’t post tomorrow, you’ll know why.

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“I run this town. Mostly I run errands. ”

December 13, 2013

A Review of Yesterday 

People only saw a swift glimpse of red speeding up and down cape highways. One woman thought she saw a dog in the backseat but she couldn’t be sure. She wasn’t even sure she saw a car. The witnesses could only agree it was a red flash going at a speed difficult to calculate. Fearful cries rang out and 911 was inundated so to halt this growing fear I am admitting to you here and now it was my car driven by me with Gracie as the pit crew. It went from South Dennis as far as Orleans with stops in between. I had a list. It started with the dump, the coldest spot in town with winds raging across the open field. I think I saw a wizened old lady borne aloft by the wind. She didn’t wave. The next stop was almost as windy. At the parking lot in the shopping center, people were holding on to door handles hoping to stay on the ground. I made it safely to stop two: the sports store for stocking stuffers. Stop three, the hardware store, was protected by trees so my life was not in peril. Batteries are the bane of Christmas toys. I needed six AAA. They came in a package of four or eight. Of course, they did. The bank was a quick stop. I got all crisp bills for gifts to nieces and nephews and grubby bills for myself. Gracie got a dog biscuit. It was her favorite stop. We then flew down 6A to Brewster and the book store. It is a dangerous place. I wanted books for my two grand nephews and nothing else. I left with a filled shopping bag. No comments please. I have a defense. I found some neat stuff like small clasped sock-like bags, the kind Scrooge McDuck kept his money in, to hold those crisp bills. I bought myself a book, some special Christmas cards and a couple of stocking stuffers. It was a great stop. From there I had to go all the way across the cape to the speciality gourmet shop for crackers, the kind you eat not the kind you open at dinner. I, of course, didn’t just buy crackers. I bought a fig spread for cheese and a paring knife. The lady and I chatted. She is getting a puppy today and she showed me pictures. The puppy’s name is going to be Gracie, and that started more conversation. I left there and went to my final stop, Ring Brothers, which is an occasion of sin for me. I bought so many things I had to make two runs from the car to the house. I also bought lunch: two pieces of pizza. It was, by this time, close to 2:30. One of the things I bought, which was not on my list, was egg nog, a new kind for me. It comes in a glass bottle. I thought that was pretty cool, but it was also pretty heavy when you add a 6 pack of winter ale (for guests as I am not a beer drinker) and a bottle of champagne for those Christmas mimosas. Those I’ll drink. I crossed off the last items on my lists, which were actually orange juice and bread, and went home.

I ate lunch and them took a nap. I deserved it.

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