Posted tagged ‘cold’
March 22, 2015
I have not escaped winter’s wrath. My head aches, my throat is scratchy and my cough scares the dog. Luckily I have a doctor’s appointment this week. Unluckily I am entertaining. It is difficult to be gracious and welcoming when your only wish is to be in bed under the warm covers; however, I will rise to the occasion. Besides, that’s what home restaurant delivery is for.
The snow disappeared but the cold stayed. Getting the newspaper was a quick out and in. I didn’t even take time to admire the morning, but I did notice the birds singing.
March has always been one of those months when little happens. It isn’t spring yet except for the date and it isn’t really winter either as the season is losing its strength. Every warm day gives us hope then winter rushes back in and the nights are freezing.
This is a rant about things I notice on TV. Newscasters always either carry tablets or have them on the desk in front of them, but they never once look at them. During winter you seldom see the huffs of people’s breathing when they’re outside in the cold air. The cups of take-out coffee are always empty. Gibbs on NCIS has yet to drink a cup of coffee. He puts the cup to his mouth and pretends to drink, but the cup is never heavy and the coffee is never hot. On Rizzoli and Isles they mispronounce the names of Massachusetts’ cities even though the show supposedly takes place in Boston. They ride on highways which don’t exist in this state. On the Big Bang Theory nobody really eats the take-out. They toy with their food though once in a while Howard takes a bite of his lunchtime salad. I get the no eating as too many takes would mean too much food, but they could make it a bit more realistic. Really, how times does one dish of food need to be moved about with a fork?
I can watch the worst movies on the syfy channel. I loved Sharknato as ridiculous as it was, but it was intended to be that way. I just suspend disbelief, and it all works out for me, but for programs which are meant to be real life, I scoff at the little things. They drive me crazy.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cold, Cough, empty coffee cups, Gibbs, March, not eating on TV, sick, spring and winter, Syfy channel, tablets, take-out coffee, toying with food, TV, winter's wrath
Comments: 10 Comments
March 6, 2015
When I opened the front door, my eyes were blinded by the sunlight glinting like strewn diamonds on the foot of snow in my yard. The world is bright and sunny and oh so white. The Cape got hammered yesterday, more than anywhere else in the state. The only no school announcements were for Cape schools. This morning they have a two-hour delay. I am, for the meantime, stuck in my house until Skip comes. The paper is somewhere in the snow. I think I saw its drop point. Yesterday’s mail is still in the box across the street. Gracie jumped over the two steps outside the backdoor as she can’t see them but did go down the flight of stairs to the yard. She won’t use her dog door. The snow is too high on the top step. She scratched the door to come inside the house. I think it is the first time she’s ever done that.
I heard a noise out front and went to check. It was Skip. I have been freed. He just finished shoveling and plowing. I then threw de-icer on the back steps and stairs and on the front walk. My car is clear of snow and frost so I can hit the road after I finish here. Knowing I can go about my business makes having snow a bit more bearable, but only a bit. This last storm has taken away any forbearance for winter.
Today is cold, 24˚ cold, though there are drips as the direct sun is strong enough to melt the thin layer of snow on the roof but nowhere else is dripping or melting. We even had ice and snow on the roads and in our yards from the last two storms. The mound in front of my house will be there until May.
We turn the clocks ahead this weekend and March 20th is the first day of spring, but that doesn’t really mean spring. Between now and next Friday only one day will reach as high as 40˚. Winter stays holds sway, and I hate winter this year.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bright, cold, Dog door, mound of snow, no school, plowed, shoveled, snow and more snow, sunny, sunny day
Comments: 8 Comments
February 28, 2015
The day is sunny with a blue sky but it looks cold even from the window. The dead leaves at the end of the branches are blowing and making it look worse. Today is a bundle up in many layers sort of day. Right now it is 19˚, a bit warmer than last night. Some snow showers are coming tomorrow, but they don’t even count as anything but an annoyance.
The snow and cold do give me excuses to vegetate a bit although I don’t really need any. After a while, however, even the joy of doing nothing is wearing. Winter has become boring. I haven’t had a cent in my wallet for two weeks. Granted, I did use my cash card but only for food. I bought nothing else because I didn’t go anywhere. This week so far I have amassed a total of 13 miles. It’s embarrassing, but that ends today as I am going to the Multi-Cultural Festival at the college. I’m going to breathe fresh air! I’m breaking free from staying home. I’m getting dressed and am even taking to the highway, okay only three exits, but it is the highway. The Peace Corps has a table there which I organized and have to man for a couple of hours. Other returned volunteers are also taking turns.
I know this is a short entry today, but I have to get ready to leave. I have a list. I always have a list. The music will come later this afternoon after I get home. I’m excited about having a place to go, a different place. I may even double my mileage.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 19˚, cold, festival, low mileage, Multi-Cultural, no money, Peace Corps, ride the highway, snow showers
Comments: 12 Comments
February 3, 2015
During the night, the temperature plummeted, and the rain turned back to snow. We got a couple of inches, a couple of dangerous inches, just enough to hide the ice underneath it. My road had been slush. Now it is frozen. When I went to get the papers, my neighbor drove by ever so cautiously, and his car made crunching sounds as it was driven over the ice. When I got back to my door, the push knob on the storm door would not work. I pounded it with my fist but got nowhere. I was freezing. I then got a little desperate and pounded so heavily I hurt the edge of my hand, but that got the knob to work. I opened the door and ran inside, happy for the warmth.
We have sun and blue skies, but nothing is melting. It is just too cold.
Last night wasn’t a great night. Miss Gracie had stomach issues so I had to give her more of my spider plant fronds. At 4 o’clock, she seemed a bit better so I decided to try sleeping on the couch. Gracie jumped on with me and fell asleep. We woke up at 8. Just a while ago she again was gulping so she got the last three long fronds. Now she is fine and sleeping beside me on the couch. I am exhausted.
When I was a kid, I still had to walk to school in the freezing cold. I remember walking by the field at the foot of my street and fighting the wind blowing across. The layers weren’t much help. I think it must have been a bit like the Siberian steppes during a Russian winter. The cold seeped to my bones. My face was red and raw. Sometimes we walked backwards to avoid the wind in our faces. We didn’t have the comfort of down jackets. We layered. I wore snow pants under my skirt and knee socks inside my boots. My mother even bought me some pink underwear which went down as far as my knees. I wore a hat, a knitted one which tied under my chin. Winter was the bulky season.
Watching the news, I saw a man commenting about the foot of new snow in Boston. He was asked about walking on sidewalks and the street. He said it was treachery. I thought about it for a bit and decided he might just be right.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bone chilling, cold, freezing temps, hats, ice, long underwear, no sleep, Siberian steppes, sick dog, Snow, spider plant fronds, treachery, walking backwards in the ownd, walking in the freezing cold
Comments: 17 Comments
January 8, 2015
I’m running late. I changed my bed, showered, shopped a bit on line and watched CNN. There was no urgency in getting things done. In due time I thought. The tree is still in the stand, bare of Christmas and sitting in the middle of the living room. I tried to get it out of the stand myself, but I couldn’t. It is the only glimmer of Christmas left, and later today it will be gone. My outside lights continue to be lit each night. I am loath to return to darkness.
It was so cold yesterday I brought the bird feeders into the house to fill them. My sister thought it strange and said I should have bundled up and done it outside. I fear the cold has warped her thinking. There I’d be out on the deck layered and wearing mittens and fumbling to get the seed into the feeders. Getting dressed to go outside would have taken longer than the task.
Today is sunny, but the light is muted, even chilly looking. I am not going out. This will be the second day in a row of my self-imposed exile from the world. I have all of life’s essentials: books, TV and Christmas cookies.
Last night I cooked chicken. I rifled through my herbs and spices and found one I hadn’t used, Caribbean Calypso Spice. It came from Penzey’s Spices, an occasion of sin for me. I’m sure a few of you are shaking your heads and wondering what in heck is an occasion of sin. I’ve known since childhood as the nuns were diligent in teaching us to avoid an occasion of sin, “Any person, place, or thing that of its nature or because of human frailty can lead one to do wrong, thereby committing sin.” When I was younger, the list was long. Now that I’m older, I don’t even think I have a list. I live life with abandonment and am better for it.
I am wearing my new sweatshirt. It says Doctor Who and has a picture of the TARDIS. I am also wearing new slippers. I am warm and comfortable. I just ate a couple of cookies. I’m thinking this is a bit like paradise.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bird feeders, changing the bed, Chicken, Christmas lights, Christmas tree, cold, darkness, herbs and spices, life with abandonment, mittens, occasion of sin, Paradise, Penzey's Spices, self-imposed exile
Comments: 10 Comments
January 1, 2015
Happy New Year, my friends.
I was still awake to say goodbye to 2014 and to give 2015 a hearty welcome then I stayed awake longer and watched Twilight Zone episodes, several of them. I woke up close to eleven this morning and took my time with coffee and the papers. The morning doesn’t feel any different from yesterday’s morning. A new year always begins with parties, noise, funny hats and midnight celebrations then settles back to the usual day by day stuff. The cats and the dog are having their morning naps oblivious to the importance of the day. As for me, I’ve nothing planned, and that makes me glad.
Winter has settled in. Today is cold. It even looks cold. The sky has a pale blue color and some scattered clouds. The dead, brown leaves at the ends of the oak branches are waving in the breeze. Lots of birds are at the feeders. The red spawn was here earlier but has since gone. I haven’t seen any cars on my road. I can’t think of any reason to go out or even to get dressed.
Christmas will begin to disappear tomorrow. It’ll take at least a couple of days and several trips up and down the cellar stairs. I’m never happy to say goodbye to Christmas. It is the one bright spot in a drab, cold winter.
There is a sense of accomplishment left over from yesterday when I actually did two loads of laundry. The basket had sat in the hall for a few days, and I just walked around it. Finally I decided it was time. I even put the clean laundry away, but I’m going to change my bed later and start a new pile of laundry.
Thank you for having spent another year with Coffee. I cherish you all.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cold, drab winter', goodbye Christmas, Happy New Year, Laundry, quiet day, seasonably cold, sense of accomlishment, staying home, The Twilight Zone
Comments: 13 Comments
December 21, 2014
The Winter Solstice is official at 6:03 EST tonight, the longest night and the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere. We are moving back to the light.
It always seemed unfair somehow when darkness came so early. We had the street light curfew so winter afternoons for playing outside were short, and if it was cold or snowy or windy, we sometimes didn’t go out at all. We played games, watched TV, did our homework and read. The afternoons felt endless. Supper always seemed to be late, deeper into the early evening, but it wasn’t. The early darkness fooled us.
Today is the same as yesterday, a grey day, and it’s cold so I’m glad I don’t have to go anywhere. The inside Christmas lights are lit so the house looks bright. Multi-colored lights are my favorites for the tree though I do put a strand of white lights around the trunk, starlights in the middle of the tree. My window lights are white candles, bright white candles, which shine in a circle of light above the bulbs.
It is easy to create beauty this time of year. The tree is in my living room in the same spot it always is. Sometimes I stand at the edge of the room just to look at it. I’m always taken by how lovely it looks, a bit of bias I suspect. My dining room is lit by the window candles and by the small tree in the corner. The table runner is bright red and green. The centerpiece is a tree made of blocks. Each row is a word or phrase spelled out in the blocks. All of them have to do with Christmas. It was once my mother’s. My kitchen has a red pepper bunch of lights and a string of scallop shell lights. I never mind going from room to room to turn them on. Their light is welcome especially tonight.
Categories: Musings
Tags: block centerpiece, Christmas lights, cold, early darkness, grey day, pepper lights, scallop shell lights, shell lights, street light curfew, the longest night and the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere, window candles, Winter solstice
Comments: 12 Comments
December 19, 2014
It is quite late for me because I had several errands. I also treated myself to lunch in between as I had a half hour wait before I could finish my last errand. Today is a still day, a windless day. It is dark and cold. Everyone was bundled up and was moving quickly from store to store.
I need to get out of my public clothes into my cozies. I’ll be glad when I’m really old because I’ll wear whatever I want in public and people will chalk it up to old age.
The Christmas tree lot at Stop and Shop is gone. A few trees are on the ground, the leftovers I expect. Agway is still open but has very few trees. I remember my mother talking about her Christmas tree and how it was decorated when they were in bed on Christmas Eve. They’d wake up in the morning to a glorious tree and gifts from Santa. I like having the tree around longer. I get to admire it in the living room, and I get to sit and read surrounded by Christmas. Both trees are lit now. They have given the day its only color.
Fern has taken to sleeping on the tree skirt. She falls asleep warmed by the lights and sleeps so deeply she snores but ever so slightly. I have to listen closely to hear her. Gracie, on the other hand, snores loudly, like a grown man, a big grown man. She snorts as she sleeps. Sometimes I can’t fall asleep for the racket. Boxers tend to be snorers.
A few Christmas jobs remain. I have my baking to do, presents to wrap for my Cape friends and Christmas dinner to plan. I ordered a pork roast from the butcher, but that is as far as I’ve gotten. I know I’ll do an apple dish and some sort of potato, and I’m thinking baby carrots for color and one more vegetable yet to be decided. I’m going to do a relish tray. My grandmother always had one on her table when we ate there. I was always drawn to the celery. I have the perfect dish to use: a very old glass sectioned plate just like the one my grandmother had. The old touches are always great memories to add to the table.
When I think of dessert, I think of the Cratchits and their Christmas pudding. The flame was always so dramatic and such a splendid finish to dinner.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cat under the tree, Christmas Eve, Christmas trees, cold, cozy clothes, dark day, decorating the tree, errands, planning dinner, relish tray, Snoring, still day, tree lights, wrapping presents
Comments: 10 Comments
December 13, 2014
The clouds are back, and the day is gray. The limbs of the oak trees are silhouetted against the sky in a jumble of branches. The morning is cold. Maddie has her head under the lampshade to get warmth from the lightbulb though the house isn’t cold. Fern and Gracie are having their morning naps. It is the usual start to the day.
The week or so before Christmas seemed to have a spark, an edge of excitement. I remember the early darkness and all the houses and front bushes lit up with the big colored lights which always got hot. The square was strung with garlands across Main Street and a huge lit wreath hung from the middle of each garland. A bandstand of sorts was erected in front of The Children’s Corner, a long ago store, and every night a different group sang Christmas carols for the shoppers. When I was in the fifth grade, we got to sing. I remember how cold it was and how we huddled to stay warm. We each had one of those carol booklets John Hancock gave out. The nun would tell us the page rather than the name of the carol. It was quicker that way. I remember feeling proud and important and hoped there were neighbors who would notice me singing. In those days the square had all the stores, and the sidewalks were filled with shoppers. You always ran into someone you knew.
Tomorrow is the Dennis Christmas stroll. All the stores are open, there are singers in the bandbox, a horse-drawn wagon takes people up and down the road, the library has a crafts fair and there is food in a tent and in many of the stores. The insurance company usually has hot dogs and the fire station gives out hot chocolate. At the Cape Playhouse there is a sing-a-long. Mrs. Claus is usually there. Mr. Clause wanders a bit. Many of the towns have strolls but this one always seems local to me, filled more with people from Dennis than from other towns. I always meet lots of people I know.
Today I’ll be going off Cape. Gracie has a sitter, her Uncle Tony. The cats are fine on their own. It’s our traditional Christmas play day and then out to dinner. My mother started the tradition, and my sister and I keep it going. My favorite was the year my mother took us to see Death of a Salesman with Brian Dennehy. After the play, with tongues in cheeks, my sister and I thanked her for such a merry Christmas offering then we all went out to dinner.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bandstand, Christmas, cold, Death of a Salesman with Brian Dennehy, Dennis stroll, fifth grade, John Hancock booklet, lights, shoppers, Singing, singing carols, the town square, wreaths
Comments: 10 Comments
November 28, 2014
Last night I was in bed before eleven, most unusual for me the night owl, and I slept until almost ten. I figure I was suffering from a Thanksgiving dinner hangover. My plate was filled with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and squash. I was so filled I had to pass on dessert, on pumpkin pie and chocolate pie. I will have some today after my second Thanksgiving dinner.
Snow flurries fell this morning, but they didn’t last too long and no snow stayed on the ground. Right now it is so very cold and grey, an unpleasant day. Every now and then, though, I see a brightness, a break in the grey. I figure it is from the sun trying to find its way out of the clouds.
Tomorrow I’ll shop and take Gracie to the dump. That means we’re each going on a favorite trip. My trunk is filled. I’d go today, but the dump is closed.
Now is the time for Christmas to move front and center. My factotum needs to come and decorate the outside of my house. I need to go to the garden store and get wreaths. A giant one is hung on the fence and a smaller one on the door. My house always looks so wonderful that I sometimes drive by just to look, just to see the lights. My neighbor across the street tells me she loves looking out her door at my house. She especially loves the old sled with the pair of skates hanging off the steering bar. That sits by my door. On the step is a pottery bowl filled with colored ornaments. One of my favorite decorations is a tree with naked branches decorated with huge ornaments and a flood light shining on them at night. The fence in front of my house is lit as is the back rail and the fence across the driveway.
My neighbor just called and said a flock of wild turkeys is in my yard. I opened the door and one was on the front step but took off at the sound of the door. More were on my lawn. The flock was fourteen turkeys looking plump and healthy. I took pictures.
Today is a relax at home day, one of my favorite way to spend a day.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Christmas lights, cold, decorations, grey day, sleds, snow flurries, Thanksgiving hangover, wild turkeys, wreaths
Comments: 12 Comments
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