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“Seeing isn’t believing. Believing is seeing.”

December 5, 2015

Today is sunny and warm and in the high 40’s. Tomorrow will be even warmer. Where is Old Man Winter? Is he biding his time only to sneak up and wallop us as he did last winter? I will not let my guard down. Should it snow, I’ll be ready.

Santa Claus and his peculiarities were cause for so many questions. My mother, however, always had the answers. We didn’t have a fireplace so we were worried as to how Santa would get in to leave all the toys. Santa is magical my mother explained, and he always finds a way inside. How does he transport so many toys in one bag? That one is easy. His bag never empties and whatever he needs he finds inside. The size or weird shapes of the toys never matter. How do reindeer fly? That too has a touch of magic about it. Santa uses something like fairy dust and it gives the reindeer the ability to fly. I never thought to ask where the dust came from, but I’m sure my mother had an answer ready just in case I did. How does he eat all those cookies and drink all that milk? All the ups and downs and ins and outs make him hungry so he takes just a wee bite and a small sip at every stop. The reindeer hungrily eat all the carrots.

When my nephew was nine, he was wavering about Santa. Did he exist or not? He asked his mother for a favor. When he had kids of his own, would she please tell him everything he needed to know about Santa and toys and Christmas. My sister assured him she would.

I don’t remember how old I was when I figured out Santa wasn’t real. It wasn’t all that traumatic, and I didn’t blame my parents for perpetuating a myth. My two younger sisters still believed so I never let on what I knew. That would have been selfish.

One of the best parts of Christmas is always the anticipation. Even knowing the truth didn’t diminish my excitement. I still feel that way.

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“I always give my grandkids a couple of quarters when they go home. It’s a bargain.”

June 14, 2015

The morning is cool. The sun comes and goes. No rain is predicted until tomorrow so the sun may be back to stay later. The usual morning quiet has been interrupted by the guy next door putting in a new slider. The house is a summer rental, and they seldom do any work on it so the old slider must have been in really bad shape. I just know my quiet has disappeared.

My grandparents, my father’s parents, lived in the same town as we did. We didn’t visit them as often as we did my city grandparents, but I remember staying over their house a couple of times. It seemed huge to me. I remember it well.

To get to the house from the sidewalk, you had to walk up a flight of stairs then a second fight at the house. The driveway was below the house. Rocks lined the tall side walls of the driveway which curved a bit just before the garage doors. It was not an easy driveway to maneuver. The kitchen was my favorite room. The cabinets were wooden and reached to the ceiling. A small closet might have held all sorts of stuff, but I only remember the bottles of root beer stored on the floor. There was a built in ironing board, a built in table with some chairs and a bench and a deep sink below the only window. The dining room was right off the kitchen and had a wall of windows. The dining room set matched: the chairs, the table, and the dish cabinet, that’s what I called it anyway. There was a piano in the living room but nobody knew how to play it. There was also a fireplace in the living room but it was never lit. Off the living room was a small sunroom with my grandfather’s desk, his pipe cabinet, a small table and two chairs. Upstairs were three bedrooms and the bath. My grandparent’s bedroom had stairs in the closet which led to the attic. My aunt’s former bedroom had matching wooden furniture in dark wood. I remember the bureau had a mirror. The third bedroom was small and had a door to a balcony too small to be used. On the garage level was the laundry room and another huge room lined with bench topped bookcases. I remember the garage was perfectly neat. Tools were hung and a work table was clean and clear.

The yard seemed huge even though the neighboring houses were close. The house next door had a big garden and rabbit hutches at the top of a hill. I don’t remember any rabbits. There was also a huge shade tree between the houses.

I sometimes drive down the street where the house is just because of the memories. The house sits on what would be an isthmus if it were surrounded by water. The isthmus is too narrow for the two sets of houses, one on each side of two roads, especially since there are now fences separating the yards. The house looks exactly the same.

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“So all night long the storm roared on: The morning broke without a sun; In tiny spherule traced with lines Of Nature’s geometric signs, And, when the second morning shone, We looked upon a world unknown…”

February 11, 2013

The electricity came on at 10:45 this morning, nearly three days since my return to the days of Little House on the Prairie last Friday night. The heat is cranking and the house is now a balmy 47˚. When I woke up this morning, it was 39˚. I am still wearing three pairs of socks, a shirt, sweatshirt with a hood and a really heavy wool sweater, and Gracie is still wearing her coat as well. The mittens helped a little, but my hands were cold the whole time. The worst, though, was my cold nose. The only time it was warm was at night with my face under the covers, a doubled over down comforter and a second doubled over comforter, and I kept my hood up to protect my head.

You could see your breath in my house this morning. Outside was warmer.

The first morning (on Saturday) I heated my coffee from the night before in a pan on the fire. I had two cups, more to get my hands warm than anything else. I kept the fire going all day and had the quilts bundled around me. That day I had hope. There was a lot of hard wood in the cellar which I carried up, falling only once down just three steps. I broke some dishes on a bureau beside the steps and cursed and cried a little, more from frustration than anything else. I was close enough to the fire that I could feel some warmth and Gracie was beside me as was Fern. Poor Maddie meowed every time I went by and patted her and Maddie is never a meower. I read a real book, a Patterson called Zoo, that day as there was no way I was leaving the comforters or the fire except when Gracie wanted out. I was warm sleeping that night bundled as I was with the layers over me.

Sunday morning the house was 44˚. One of my neighbors brought the papers from the driveway to me as she was checking on all the neighbors. I told her I was fine except for coffee, my life’s blood. About an hour later she returned with a cup, and my day was made (such as it was!). I was running out of wood, my phone’s battery was in the red, no dog food left and my car was still stuck in the snow. I was freezing and Fern was so cold she got under the covers and Maddie got up on the couch with the dog, something she never does. I called my sister with an update of my misery. The only shelter which accepts animals was full, and I wasn’t about to leave them so I could go elsewhere. A while later my sister called. She had tried to find a motel which accepted animals but wasn’t lucky then she remembered my nephews. It took three calls to wake them up, but they were more than happy to come over. Amber, my nephew Tim’s girl friend, came and kept me company and brought gifts for me for the two of them. They have just come back from Australia, Bali, Hawaii and San Diego. They were in Australia working for a year and then stayed to tour for another few months. They’ve been gone a year and a half total. They also brought coffee, wood and dog food. They (Mike, my other nephew, and Tim) shoveled out my car and the walk. Amber said she hadn’t ever been in a house so cold. It was still 44˚ when she was here.

Last night was freezing. Gracie, Fern and I shared the couch, but I had to get up a couple of times to rearrange all of us so I’d be comfortable. I couldn’t believe how cold the house felt. Then, as I said, it was 39˚ when I woke up.

The house is 55 balmy degrees right now. I should be sun bathing in the warmth!

If I ever go on vacation, I needn’t worry as there are plenty of pseudo-Kats to write Coffee. I thoroughly enjoyed reading my blog!! I got a few laughs, and have to admit you sounded an awful lot like me!!

Birds are still fine. I filled all the feeders on Friday, and there is still seed in the biggest feeder!

As for the Spawns, I haven’t seen any!

No mice in four days!

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“Nothing irritates me more than chronic laziness in others. Mind you, it’s only mental sloth I object to. Physical sloth can be heavenly.”

January 20, 2012

Last night’s dusting of snow barely covered the backyard. Under the trees had no snow at all. Now it is melting and all I hear are drops from the roof. When I went to get the papers, I saw paw prints on the driveway. I wondered about them. Might the coyote be back or was it Cody, Gracie’s friend, walking to the school bus stop with her family?

The birds are swaying and spinning with the feeders, and they remind me of a carnival ride, the sort which always made me sick. I filled the feeders yesterday in case we get snow tomorrow. I’m not ready for snow, even the paltry 3 to 5 inches predicted. It may turn to rain, and I’m holding on to that. This winter has spoiled me.

I need new slippers. These are too well-worn. My feet get cold unless I wear socks. I remember never being cold. At night I used to put the temperature down to 58° and it was never higher than 66° when I was awake. Partly for the animals and partly for me, the night is now left at 62°. Even then Gracie tries to steal the covers and Fern huddles or sleeps on my hip. I hate that but mostly I’m asleep and don’t notice. My heat is programmed up to 65° at 7 then up to 68° at 8:30. I tend to sleep late so the house is warm when I wake up. Yesterday I had a fire going all afternoon. I sat in the living room with my book and my laptop, but mostly I watched the fire burn. It was mesmerizing. It was also one of the best fires I’ve made. My father would have called it a Hollywood fire, like the ones in the movies, because it burned so evenly and so long. The house smelled wonderful.

I haven’t been out much this week. My house has been the hub of activity though activity may be just a bit too strong a word. I did clean two rooms, change the litter boxes and my bed and folded and brought upstairs the wash that had been in the dryer since last week so maybe activity works even though I usually think whirlwind and activity go together. Maybe I’ve just lowered my expectations. Since folding the wash, I haven’t done anything. I guess I’m considering my current state of sloth a reward for such exertion.

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