Posted tagged ‘cold’
January 29, 2013
Today I face the world or both Gracie and I go hungry. A sunny day would have been a nice welcome, but we still have all those clouds and a dampness left over from the little snow we had last night before it started to rain. Slush covers the side roads, and you can see all the tire marks. A mouse woke me up. It wasn’t happy with its accommodation in the have-a-heart trap and was banging and whacking the metal. I fell back to sleep a couple of times, but finally I couldn’t take it any longer. We went for a ride around 7:30: Gracie, the mouse and I. Despite all its complaining, the mouse didn’t want out. It kept moving from side to side in the trap before I finally shook it loose. I wished it well in its new home then I went and got coffee and a bagel. That seemed a perfect reward for an early morning mouse run.
My voice is raspy, and I still sniff and cough, but I feel better. That’s a good thing.
This morning I noticed the obituary of one of my high school classmates, a good guy, a funny guy. I don’t know what happened, but his dying gave me pause. My mind doesn’t ever think of me as old. I am perpetually young. Going up and downstairs is usually a reminder that my parts have aged, but the reminder doesn’t stick. I look in the mirror and see grey hairs, but they don’t mean anything to me. My friends are all around my age, but they still seem young to me. I can’t fathom they are in the their mid to late 60’s. What in the heck does that really mean? I thought my parents were old when they were in their 60’s. My dad passed away in his 60’s. I bet, though, they thought themselves still young just as I do now.
I finally understand that age is relative. I used to think that was what old people said to make themselves feel better, but it’s not. Age isn’t measured in years. It’s measured in the way you live your life. I have a long way to go until I’m old.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 60's, age, cold, Cough, dampness, death, mouse, mouse rides, old, young
Comments: 11 Comments
January 27, 2013
This morning I’m on the mend. My voice is still creaky and my cough fierce but I feel better. Last night I slept longer before the coughing woke me and was able to get back to sleep instead of having to come downstairs at some ungodly hour to watch garbage TV. Staying home cozy and warm and taking naps have been the best cure for this.
When I was a kid, I seldom was sick enough to stay home from school. My mother set the bar pretty high. Sniffles weren’t enough. Coughing might have done it, but the degree of coughing was the key. Once I had the measles so I had to stay home, but that was no fun because the room was kept dark, and I wasn’t allowed to read. I just stayed in bed all day and was totally bored. What a waste of staying home! I know I had mumps and German measles but I don’t remember when. I also had chicken pox, and I remember taking baking soda baths so I wouldn’t itch as much. My mother would scream if we dared scratch our faces. We were warned about the gross, ugly scars we’d have if we scratched.
Few kids were ever absent from school. One girl had surgery in the fifth grade, and it was such a singular event I still remember. Her name was Catherine. I don’t remember why she had surgery, but the nuns were really nice to her when she came back.
During high school you never wanted to miss a day. Two broken legs would mean dragging yourself to school because missing even one day meant missing tons of work which had to be made up. I used to argue with my mother that I wasn’t sick when she’d insist I needed to stay home. I did get sent home from high school once. I had the German measles which was going around. We went to school every day on the public bus so that’s how I went home, probably spreading German measles to the world. My mother didn’t drive then so the bus was it. I couldn’t stay in school. I remember it was a Friday. The reason I remember is there was a dance that night at the school, and I was stuck home. It made being sick even more miserable.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bakiong soda baths, chicken pox, cold, Cough, Measles, sniffles, staying home from school
Comments: 23 Comments
January 25, 2013
Okay, I’ve been up since before 5 o’clock. I think that’s about when the cough medicine stopped working, and once I start coughing, going back to sleep is out of the question. Another mouse found its way into my trap last night so it and I will take a ride later as I have to go out anyway. For some strange reason the cats want to eat every day, and I gave them their last can this morning. I should have trained them better. My trunk is filled with trash, but I hesitate going to the dump as even on pleasant days it’s cold. I’m not telling Gracie.
Stuck in the house is boring. Ordinarily I’d never mind staying home but being forced to stay inside changes the whole perspective. Chosen sloth days are gifts. Sick sloth days are not. I am stooping to watch the Military Channel about Okinawa as nothing else is on. The news at 5:30 is the same as the news at 5 o’clock which will then be repeated at 6.
I watched The Brink’s Job a few weeks back because my town has a scene. The film was made in 1978, and they chose Stoneham Square because it looked just like a town from the 1950’s, as if time had stood still. The police box was in the middle of the square, and Finnegan’s Men’s Store was still there. The thieves went inside the store and bought themselves some new duds. In those days up-town was a vibrant place filled with stores. In time, the stores closed. The police box got hit by a car and was destroyed. A replica of it was build but was erected off the road, more as a memorial than anything. Finnegan’s is a liquor store or was the last time I noticed.
Up-town has become a destination again. Part of it is revitalized. The movie theater is now live theater, an Indian restaurant graces the spot where the Children’s Corner used to stand, and Felicia’s, a great restaurant, is where the fish market stood. The deli is still on the corner and still makes great subs. I like to drive through the square when I visit my sister then I take the same route I used to when I was a kid: pass the fire station, the town hall, the church, my elementary school then all the way to my old house. I notice what has changed and remember what used to be. It’s nostalgic, not sad.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cold, Cough, Cough medicine, nostalgia, old home town, Police box, single digits
Comments: 16 Comments
January 24, 2013
It is 4˚ and with the wind chill -12˚. I woke up earlier than my programmed heater starts its job and the house was only 62˚.
The Cough and the Mouse is the name of today’s entry which sounds like something Aesop might have written though I’m at a loss as to the moral of the story. Perhaps there isn’t one. I lasted until 5 o’clock before the coughing forced me out of bed. I was sitting up hoping to fall back to sleep, but the mouse in the trap would have none of that. It, number 20, was trying to break out of his metal trap. No luck, just noise. I finally came downstairs figuring if I’m awake I might as well have a cup of coffee to greet the day, such as it is. As for the mouse, I know it will not survive the temperature no matter where I free it, but I don’t foresee a new pet, especially a rodent who chews wires, wood and whatever looks good in the cabinet.
The weather woman on this morning’s news is wearing a dress which makes her looked deformed. Her top half leans left while her bottom half leans right. I wonder if the people working with her have noticed or maybe the 5 o’clock news is far too early for fashion statements.
My mother told me a lot of things. I knew I had to stay out of the water for an hour after eating because all that food could cause cramps and maybe even drowning. Not true, we all learned later. This morning more of my mother’s warnings have been debunked. Going out with wet hair will not cause a cold as my mother claimed. Not only that, all my body heat does not escape through my head. Putting a hat on just keeps my head warm.
My cold persists. My cough is painful. I’m sucking on lozenges and taking cough medicine. When I feel cold, I wrap in an afghan which Gracie thinks is hers so she tries to yank it off me. She will not be successful. This time the human will prevail!
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Aesop, an hour after eating, cold, freezing, mouse, wearing a hat, wet hair, Wind chill
Comments: 16 Comments
January 19, 2013
Yesterday, my plans worked out perfectly. I didn’t get dressed, I took a nap and I read. Even Gracie spent most of her time inside on the couch curled up on her afghan. Her few trips outside were mission oriented and quick: a run down the deck stairs, a squat and a run back into the house.
Winter days like today remind me of when I was a kid and felt perpetually cold walking to and from school every day. Staying home, despite snow or frigid weather, wasn’t an option unless I had the plague. We walked to and from school no matter rain nor snow nor dead of night, okay, maybe not that last one as I might be exaggerating just a bit. The worst days were on rainy days in winter when it was cold. We’d get soaked and so freezing we’d actually look forward to getting to school where it was dry. My school had tall radiators which hissed steam. They were on the side near the windows and in the back of the room, but we seldom noticed them beyond the first few days after the heat was turned on for the winter. It was like white noise. The ceilings in the old school were so high that it usually took a while for the room to be really warm so most of us wore sweaters over our uniforms.
On the windiest winter mornings, I froze the whole walk to school despite the layers my mother had piled on me. Because the wind was bitterly cold and in our faces, my friends and I would hold hands and walk backwards away from the wind. When we arrived at school, our cheeks were sometimes so red they were sore, and our fingers were numb despite our mittens. The cloak rooms would be bursting with bulky coats hanging off hooks, and you couldn’t walk through without knocking someone’s coat on the floor. My hat and mittens were up my sleeves for safe keeping. I didn’t mind missing recess on those cold, rainy days.
When I’d get home wet and cold, I’d change right away. That was when I first learned cozy.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cold, cozy, hissing radiators, layers, rain, walking to school, Wind
Comments: 6 Comments
January 3, 2013
Winter made a dramatic gesture by sending us the coldest day and night so far this season. I almost said this year then I remembered how young the year is. It was 12˚ last night, a perfect night to stay inside, cozy and warm. Poor Gracie got sent out before bed, but she was out for only a minute or two. I think it was squat and run.
My tree is standing in the living room covered by a white plastic bag. It is ready to be taken outside and brought to the dump. I took off all the ornaments and the lights yesterday. I hated doing it, but it was time. To accomplish that task I had to bring up the bins from the cellar, fill them then slide the heavy bins down the stairs and pile them until next year. My back bears witness to all the work I did yesterday so today is a nothing day. The tree can sit until tomorrow. Gracie and I also did errands yesterday, and I carried in the bags of bird seed and cans of dog food. I figured I’d already done in my back so what the heck. I did leave the 20 pounds of cat litter in the trunk, but I’m going to need that tomorrow to change the boxes. I have designated tomorrow dump day and the old litter has to go.
My scrub pine, the ugly fake tree, is still in the dining room where it will be lit every night until twelfth night. I have also left some decorations around the house to keep it a bit festive. There is no rush to return to drab.
I’ve finished Mr. Penumbra and moved on to Merry Christmas, Alex Cross. Nothing better than hostages and terrorists at Christmas. The book is short and won’t take long to finish. I think James Patterson has caught Mary Higgins Clark’s disease of hiding a short story under the guise of a novel.
It’s a wonderful world when I can plan my day around the couch and a book. I have the whole day to do what I want. How lucky I am!
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Agway, Alex Cross, bare house, Bird feeder, books, Christmas tree, cold, cold day, reading, scrub pine, Shopping, undecorate
Comments: 13 Comments
December 28, 2012
The rain is gone and so too is my sloth day. Today I have to do all those errands I’ve been putting off including the dump. I couldn’t go there in the rain, but now I have to weather the Siberian steppes for that’s what the dump feels like when the day is cold and the wind is blowing, a day like today. I have no choice though. My trunk is filled with cardboard, papers, bottles and trash. Gracie will be thrilled. I will freeze.
The birds are especially active today. All sorts are flying in and out of the feeders. I saw a flicker at the new suet feeder which is meant for larger birds with long tails, and the flicker looked comfortable. The small birds seem to enjoy the suet feeder where they eat upside down. I saw a wren or at least a relative of the wren this morning at the sunflower seeds. By the looks of the crowds, I’ll have to refill a couple of the feeders later today. I’ll also have to look for my bird bath heater in the cellar.
My friends gave me a new feeder and peanuts for that feeder. I have been hesitant to use it, though, as I fear it will attract every spawn of Satan for miles around, but I’ve come up with a solution. I’ll put the new feeder with the peanuts on the feeder pole below the deck. The pole has a spawn baffle so they can’t climb up, and it is nowhere near a branch from which they can drop down. Spawns of Satan 0-me 1.
The sunlight is winter sharp and the wind is blowing. The creaky top branches of the scrub pine and oak are bending. One pine tree looks so unsteady all the way down its trunk that the whole tree seems to sway. Already the backyard has fallen branches from pines, victims of the wind from the other night. The brown leaves still clinging to the oak seem impervious to the wind. They sway but never fall.
When my mother was dressing me to go out and play and before I was old enough to remember to hold the cuffs of my shirts, my mother used to have to reach up my sleeves and pull down the cuffs so the sleeves would unscrunch, all because she was a believer in layering. First came the long sleeve shirt then the sweater then the winter coat. On my feet were two pairs of socks then my shoes then my mother straining to get the boots over the shoes. I remember thinking it was fun to walk with the boots half on. I don’t think my mother was too amused.
I think today is a day for bundling, for wearing layers to keep the cold at bay. No boots though.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Bird, Bird feeder, Bird food, bundling up, cold, dump, layering, spawns of Satan, Sunflower seed, Wind
Comments: 10 Comments
December 20, 2012
The rain has finally disappeared. The day is bright with sun. A small breeze is swaying the brown leaves left on the oak tree hanging over the deck. The birds have been constantly in and out at the feeders. I noticed a flicker at an empty suet feeder and went out right away to fill it. It is a new feeder with a long bottom so the big birds like the flicker have a place to rest their tails. The woodpeckers too seem to favor that suet feeder over the other. I still need to go out later and fill the seed feeders.
My sister is in the middle of a real winter in Colorado. Snow is on the ground and last night was going to be around 1 or 2˚. She said the Christmas lights are pretty shining through the snow. I figure if you’re stuck with that sort of weather looking for the pretty makes even the cold easier to endure.
I don’t remember when cold started to bother me. When I was little, I never noticed how cold it was. I played in the snow all day. My clothes got soaked and my lips sometimes turned blue, but I’d stay outside until my mother dragged me in, not literally but it was by that yell from the back door every kid knows. I never went right into the house but rather went down the outside steps to the cellar where I’d strip off my wet clothes and hang them on the clothesline. I’d run upstairs then run up the next set of stairs to my bedroom where I’d put on my warmest pajamas and my slippers. I remember my face, my hands and my feet were red with cold.
We always made a snowman on the front lawn. We’d ask my mother for an old hat, a carrot and buttons then we’ d look for arms. I don’t know why but snowmen always have spindly arms. They also all seem to have three buttons down the middle. Their hats differ, but their faces tend to look alike with two eyes, a carrot nose and a smile. Our snowman usually lasted a long time, but I can still remember him melting away on the warmer days. He’d get smaller and smaller until finally he’d fall apart and on the ground would be three snow balls, one with spindly arms.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Bird feeder, blue lips, Christmas lights, cold, Colorado, playing in the snow, snowmen, Suet, sunny day
Comments: 21 Comments
December 7, 2012
The morning has gotten away from me. That usually happens when I sleep-in as I did today. I came downstairs around 9:30 brewed my coffee, got the papers, took my time reading them then did the crosswords puzzles, the knowledge questions and the cryptogram. I definitely dawdled, and I think that’s what I’ll be doing today. It feels right somehow; however, I will do a wash and finally get to my Christmas cards. They’ve been on the table in front of me for a few days. I might even make a dump run, but I won’t get dressed. My flannel cozies, my sweatshirt and slippers will just have to do. Really, who is there to impress at the dump?
Yesterday my canned food cabinets got cleaned. Roseana, my cleaning lady, did them. I casually mentioned that if she ever gets the time, the cabinet could use a bit of culling. Roseana loves to organize so she was off and running. When she’d find an expired can, she’d announced it to Lee, her husband, and me. In the way back she hit the mother lode. One can had a 2008 expiration date and it was crowned the winner. A 2009 was the runner-up. Roseana then organized what was left, and I made a shopping list of what I need to replace, things like cornstarch, baking soda and unsweetened cocoa. Lee carried the heavy bags to his car as I would never have been able to hoist them into the containers at the dump. Roseana now has her eye on the cabinet with pots and pans and who knows what else. It will be like an archeological dig. My apple peeler corer is lost somewhere in that cabinet, and I’m hoping it will be unearthed.
The wreath on the gate has battery lights so I have to turn then off before I go to bed, and last night was so cold I could see my breath. It was 33˚.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Christmas card, cleaning cabinets, cold, dawdling, dump run, expired canned goods, lazy days
Comments: 22 Comments
November 25, 2012
I think the sun has appeared, a bit muted behind a cloudy sky, but I swear it’s sunlight, not very warm sunlight though as the day is cold and will be getting colder. A few inches of snow are still predicted for the Boston area next week. The Cape will be spared.
I have another mouse, a brazen mouse. It lives here in the den. The other day I thought I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, but when I looked, I saw nothing. That happened a couple of times then I caught sight of the grey mouse. It was around the room a lot that day scavenging stuff I must have dropped under the table when I was snacking. Today it has been all over the den, including on my foot a few times so I put my feet off the floor on the tops of the baskets under the table, but the mouse found my feet anyway. I think it’s the fur on my slippers attracting it. The mouse also joined me on the couch and was sitting on the arm. One cat noticed but the mouse disappeared under something, and the cat lost interest. My feet are now on the top of the table, and I’ve put a box on the floor hoping the mouse will get curious then I’ll zap on the lid and take the critter for a long ride before I let it loose. Somewhere in the cellar is my have-a-heart trap, and I’m determined to find it and capture that critter as the box is a long shot. I just jumped from what I thought was the mouse, but it was the wires from my laptop on my foot.
Yesterday was an out and about day. I actually made five stops during the day and went out to dinner last night with my nephew. Today is designated do nothing day or at least nothing constructive. Gracie and the two cats are asleep here in the den with me. They are my role models!
UPDATE: The Mouse has met its demise but I don’t know by whom as I had left the room for a while.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Cat, cold, field mouse, mouse, sun, trap
Comments: 28 Comments
keepthecoffeecoming.blog 