Posted tagged ‘crunch of dead leaves’

“CONTROL MYSELF?!! I’m a MONSTER! Monsters don’t control themselves! That’s the whole IDEA!”

November 14, 2015

The morning was gloomy with a whitish grey sky and a strong breeze. The sun has just appeared and the sky is clearing as I can see some blue. Pine needles continue to fall on the side of my front lawn under that big pine tree. My backyard is filled with pine and oak trees, but that’s Gracie’s area and only branches are cleared from it. I always know where she is even in the dark as I can hear the crunching sound as she walks on the bed of leaves and pine needles. It is chilly today.

I miss Creature Feature. When I was a kid, two old black and white science fiction movies were on every Saturday. I watched almost every week and got to know the creatures well. Strangely enough I never thought about how many of those creatures had no names. They were just pronouns like Them and It or indeterminate nouns like Thing, the beast or the monster. Some had addresses like The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Man from Planet X or The Devil Girl from Mars. We had the ants, spiders, giant tarantulas, robots, Mole Men, a deadly mantis and one of my favorites, The Monolith Monsters. The Fly I’ll put in another category as it was half human. Who can forget, “Help me! Help me?” Women were either creatures, dainty scientists, reporters or just fluff.

In the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, my favorite science fiction woman had a name, Nancy. She became 50 feet tall thanks to an alien. She was driving in the desert and had been drinking, a favorite pastime, when she runs into a giant alien hand. She manages to escape his grasp but no one believes her, the drunk. Later she and her husband go to the desert to find this alien, and they do. Harry, her husband, runs away ( finally a man who runs away) and she is left there. Later they find her on the roof of her pool house. She is delirious so the doctor gives her a sedative. The husband, who plans to kill her, later goes to her room and sees she has become a giant. He and the doctor decide to keep her sedated and in chains, but she wakes up and gets free (she has or the movie ends there). Meanwhile her lowlife philandering husband is at a bar with his latest girlfriend, honey. His giant wife wearing a bikini made from sheets goes looking for him. She finds him with Honey who didn’t know you never make a 50 foot woman mad. Nancy, now known as the giant, drops a beam from the roof on Honey who is killed. Harry starts shooting but his wife, the giant, just picks him up in her hand and walks away. Later our favorite giant is killed by the sheriff who blows up a power line transformer which kills poor Nancy. They find her dead husband in her hand. That’s what he gets!

“Nature bestows her own, richest gifts And, with lavish hands, she works in shifts…”

May 14, 2015

When the wind started yesterday afternoon, the warm temperature began to drop. After the sun set, it got cold enough so I had to shut the windows. Around 1am Gracie went out, and I decided to watch her from the deck. It was chilly like a fall night. I was glad for the sweatshirt and the comfy slippers I was wearing. Gracie went way back in the yard where I couldn’t see her, but I could hear the crunch of dead leaves wherever she walked. She went back and forth at the same place hunting, I guessed, for the chew bone she had buried during the day. After a while, I wanted into the warm house and called her. She came quickly, and we both went inside. It was one of those I wish I could get to sleep nights so I watched some TV. Gracie got on the couch, fell asleep and began to snore as Boxers are prone to do. I was jealous of the sleeping, not the snoring.

Today is lovely though still a little on the chilly side, the low 60’s. The sun is brilliant. It is a day of celebration. Skip, my factotum, is here to open the deck for the summer. He’s been here a few hours already and has cleared the vegetable garden and emptied the deck window boxes and the clay pots. He has cleaned off the chairs and the table. My outside shower is now ready for use. The spiders’ webs are gone. Yesterday I bought all the deck flowers and herbs. I tried to restrain myself at Agway knowing I’ll be making another trip next week for my vegetables, the herb garden plants and the front yard perennials. When I was driving home yesterday, the car smelled wonderful. It was the rosemary. Skip will be back tomorrow to finish. I have a couple of new projects for him.

This weekend will be the deck grand opening parade. There will be music and sparklers. The plastic pink flamingo and the Travelocity gnome will leave their winter quarters to take up their summer residences. The pink flamingo will be dressed in her finest Hawaiian outfit. The gnome will wear his traditional blue jacket and red conical hat. I will be resplendent in bright colors.