Posted tagged ‘heavy rain’
March 2, 2018
The tops of trees bend down left and right. I’ll be surprised if I don’t see branches lying in the yard. The rain pours. Nearer the coast the houses are being battered, and the roads are flooding. Some are closed. The risk of losing electricity is high. I am drawn to the windows to watch the trees and the sheets of rain. The storm is fascinating.
Sometimes I’d go to the beach when the winds were especially high. I’d stand with my arms out and let the wind take me. It was exhilarating. Later today the wind could get around 76 MPH. The tides are historically high. The waves are twenty to thirty feet. There are two more high tides with the dangerous one around midnight. I’d like to be there, at the beach, but I know with my history a tree would fall on me or my car or both.
Last night I got ready for Peapod, but the truck never came. I checked my e-mail, and delivery is scheduled for today. Last night’s supper was dependent on groceries so I had to punt. I had bought Eastham turnip already peeled and cut. I cooked it. It was delicious, almost sweet. The only drawback is turnip smells gross to me when it is cooking. It is like cabbage in that respect.
I slept in this morning which surprised me as I had gone to sleep early for me, around midnight. I had finished my book and was sorry I hadn’t brought up the next book in the series, the last one I have. I could have gone back down the stairs to get the book, but I turned out the light instead.
My arm still hurts. I have to type with my laptop actually on my lap and my arm resting on the arm of the couch. If the laptop is on the table, the angle is wrong, and my arm hurts almost immediately. I still have 5 or 6 weeks to go.
Today is a stay inside and just take it easy day. I do need to change my bed, but I’m not looking forward to doing that almost one handedly, maybe tomorrow, maybe not.
I’m going to start my book. I’m going to put my feet up and get comfortable. I’m going to eat some chocolate. I think it will be a wonderful day.
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Categories: Musings
Tags: Beach, broken arm, change bed, flooding, groceries, heavy rain, high tides, Nor'easter, smell, turnip, waves, Wind
Comments: 4 Comments
December 10, 2017
Winter wonderland skipped us. We got rain the whole day, heavy rain at times. In the late afternoon, when I let Gracie out and brought trash to the car at the same time, we both got soaked. She wasn’t thrilled. My sister got around 6 inches of snow. I watched the news and saw the snow in Texas, an unusual occurrence in San Antonio. I laughed out-loud when a kid did a snow angel. Obviously snow was new to him. He did the angel face down.
Yesterday was a day of doing little for me. I made four or five trips carrying stuff like the displaced by the tree living furniture upstairs, wrote out more cards and went through catalogs but mostly I just sat. All the hauling up and down stairs made me tired. Today I have more energy and a to-do list. Gracie and I are going to the dump, to the small grocery store for bread and such and Agway for cat and dog food. I will decorate my wreaths and put them outside, and I’ll bring up bins from the cellar with the tree lights and some decorations. If I have any energy left, I’ll at least put on the tree lights. Tonight I’ll make myself a nice dinner and have some egg nog and watch Hallmark.
When I was a kid, Santa Claus had power over me. If I did anything wrong or fought with my brother, my mother threatened to call Santa. That was enough to get us to stop. I remember trips to Jordan Marsh to visit Santa. We’d take the bus to Sullivan Square then the subway to the Jordan’s stop. In those days Jordan’s and Filene’s had entrances from the stores to the subway. They were destinations.
I love Boston at Christmas time. The city is filled with people, some shopping, some just enjoying the festivities. The trees in the Common are lit for the holiday. Frog Pond is open for skating or for just sitting and watching the skaters while drinking a cup of cocoa. The giant tree from Nova Scotia is covered in lights. Small push wagons around the common sell roasted chestnuts and hot popcorn. Garlands hang from stores and street lights. People just seem happier.
My town was always decorated for Christmas. Swags of evergreen were hung from one side of the main street to the other. The store windows had trees and wrapped gifts and Santas. Carolers sang every night. The aroma of sugar cookies and bread wafted from Hank’s Bakery and hung in the air. The fire station was outlined in lights, and Santa was climbing a ladder to the chimney. I loved going uptown at night, and I still remember singing in the square.
I get excited for Christmas even now. I love the lights, and I could eat a dozen sugar cookies. Christmas music plays in the car and around the house when I’m decorating or baking. I sing along, out of tune, but that doesn’t matter. It’s Christmas!
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Categories: Musings
Tags: Agway, Boston Common, Bread, carolers, dump, errands, Frog Pond, Hank's Bakery, heavy rain, Jordan Marsh, lights, moving furniture, rain, Santa, snow angel, sugar cookies, swags of evergreen, Texas snow, to do list, trash, uptown, wreaths
Comments: 12 Comments
May 5, 2017
The morning sky is dark and the air is chilly. Rain’s coming, heavy rain. It should be here by early afternoon. I have to go out, but I hope to get home before the rain starts. Given the ominous sky, I’m not optimistic.
I’m watching The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. The beast is a prehistoric creature awakened by an atomic blast at the North Pole. The film was made in 1953. One line made me chuckle. The radio news reported about a ship sunk by what one survivor described as a giant monster. The radio announcer wanted to know what the guy had been smoking. I’d like to know what the token female scientist was smoking when she went clothes shopping. Her wardrobe is ugly from the hat down. In one scene, people start running. A couple of guys by the river had seen the monster, and they were the first runners. Most of the people running have no idea why. They even knock a blind guy down. A policeman foolishly tried to shoot down the creature with his handgun. He got eaten for his efforts. A woman screamed.
Of late, my world has been small. I’ve mostly stayed home with Gracie. I don’t mind. The house is cozy and warm. I have movies to watch, books to read and plenty of crackers and cheese. The only chore left is that blasted laundry.
I have a pair of black and white saddle shoes. I bought them to go with a 50’s costume which included a poodle skirt. When I was in high school, I wore saddle shoes, lots of us did. Now I’m thinking maybe I ought to wear them again. Maybe I’ll be a trend setter. Now that is funny.
I was always a horrible bowler. Here we play candlepin with the small bowling balls, three to a frame. My mother belonged to a bowling league. The alley where she played is now a shoe store. Every Saturday she and my dad watched Bowling for Dollars. I would have needed to be tied and gagged before I’d watch bowling on TV or anywhere for that matter.
I’m not sure which plague it is, but I am in the midst of one. Moths are all over the house. I kill them on walls and catch them with my hand. Maddie does her bit but they are quicker than she. The last few cold nights have helped as the moths are logy and easy to grab even in the air. There seem to be fewer. It may be the end.
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Categories: Musings
Tags: Beast + 20000 Fathoms, books to read, Candlepin bowling, Cheese, cozy house, dark sky, heavy rain, moths, movie, plague, rain, saddle shoes
Comments: 11 Comments
January 26, 2017
“Rain, rain go away come again another day.” When I was young, I thought this nursery rhyme had a bit of magic about it. If I sang it enough times, the sun would reappear, and I could go out to play. I’m singing it now with the same hope. It has been raining since Monday. The sky alternates between angry clouds and greyish white clouds. The rain is sometimes heavy and other times just a fine mist, spitting rain my mother use to call it. I saw the sun for an hour or so the other day. It gave me a bit of hope.
I do a couple of house chores every day. Yesterday I watered plants, changed my bed and paid my bills. I haven’t gone anywhere, haven’t wanted or needed to. Tomorrow, though, I have a list of errands so Gracie and I will hit the road. Maybe if I cross my fingers and wish for sun, it might work.
When I was young, I had snow boots but not rain boots. Nobody I knew had them either. I also didn’t have a raincoat or an umbrella. I always got wet. It was the usual thing.
During the rainy season in Ghana, I got wet. Sometimes I had to run from my house to the classroom block when the rain was heavy, but I didn’t mind. The rain was always welcome. I’d even shop in the market while it was raining, but if the rain got really heavy, I’d stand in the doorway of a building or inside a small kiosk until it lightened or stopped. The rain was a gift to make crops grow.
I love the sound of rain. Even when I was kid, I loved the rain beating on my bedroom window. In Ghana the rain on the tin roof of my classroom was sometimes so loud that I couldn’t teach, but I could fall asleep listening to the rain. Its steady beat was comforting in a way, amost like music, maybe even a lullaby.
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Categories: Musings
Tags: angry clouds, Ghana, heavy rain, magic, misty rain, Mother Nature, Peace Corps, rain, rain rain go away, rainy season, wet
Comments: 10 Comments
August 16, 2015
Last night was my 50th reunion from high school, the high school from which I didn’t graduate though I went there for three years. Before my senior year, my parents kidnapped me and forced me to move to the cape ( that’s how I first felt back then). Friends I hadn’t seen since my junior year in high school went looking for me so I could attend, and they found me on Facebook. The whole evening was great fun. They even gave me a diploma, a real one from way back in time. It was signed by Sister Melania, the principal at the time. The signature is pure nun which I can’t really explain, but if you saw it, you’d understand.
The drive home, a two-hour ride, was unbelievable. The thunder rolled and lightning lit up the sky. I swear I saw the lightning dance. It looked like the jitterbug with the arms and legs of both dancers moving in tandem. Another series of lightning bolts looked like the God and Adam in the Sistine Chapel with fingers extended but not touching. Some bolts reached from the heavens to the earth. It was spectacular.
The rain storm was something else. It was raining so hard I slowed to a walk. The backwash from trucks made it almost impossible to see so I followed the red lights of cars in front of me and hoped for the best. The rain stayed with me but became a windshield wiper storm, and I could see the road and cars again. I drove in and out of the rain until about Plymouth when it just stopped. I don’t know if the cape got any rain as the road was totally dry. It took me about two hours to get home.
I am sitting in my air-conditioned house. I was taken aback by the heat when I got the papers. It will be in the 80’s all week. I do not suffer heat well. The young me did, but this me prefers to be comfortable. I think getting older should have some perks and being cool on a hot day is one of them. I do have a long list of the rest of the perks but most of them are unlikely. Having someone cater to my every whim probably won’t happen, but I’ll not cross it off the list just in case.
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Categories: Musings
Tags: 50th reunion, AC, backwash, diploma, God and Adam, heavy rain, hot day, lightning bolts, Sistine chapel, spectacular lightning, thunder and lightning
Comments: 8 Comments
January 18, 2015
I am not crazy. I swear I saw a bit of sun this morning, but it is gone, replaced by clouds and rain. Then again, maybe the sun was an illusion, like an oasis sometimes is, but the weatherman did predict rain, heavy at times, for the Patriot’s game this afternoon so I shouldn’t have been surprised by yet another grey, damp day.
My house is always quiet this time of day. It is when the three animals have their naps. Fern is in Gracie’s spot so Gracie is sleeping on the afghan on the floor. Maddie is on her chair. Fern is curled in a ball with her face hidden. I woke up at nine and so did they. I can’t think of what could be so exhausting in three hours that a nap is necessary. When I was growing up, Duke, our Boxer, wasn’t allowed on furniture, but he managed to sleep on the couch at night when we were all upstairs. We never did catch him as he’d jump off when someone was coming down the stairs. My father mellowed over time, and my dogs always slept on the couch when I’d visit. Shauna loved my dad and always slept right beside him with her head in his lap while he watched TV. My dad always said he’d like to come back as one of our animals because life would be so good.
Yesterday I fell down but only the last couple of steps. I was bringing down two very heavy bins by sliding them down the stairs, but they got away and knocked me down and into a table. I’m not really hurt, but I do have a bump the size of an infant’s head. It looks gross and is getting blacker and bluer by the minute. I’ll have to change the sign, the one which says No Accidents for however number of days. The count starts all over again. At least this time I was almost at the bottom of the stairs. After a bit, I took the bins down the cellar and managed to make it without falling. I think I’m getting inured to pain.
The first time I remember falling down the stairs I was ten so this is not a new thing for me. Falling is habitual. That first time I needed stitches, another time I broke a bone in my shoulder, once I broke teeth and fractured a bone in my face, but those are the only major injuries. Bumps and bruises don’t count.
In my next life, I’ll live in a ranch house.
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Categories: Musings
Tags: black and blue, bumps and bruises, falling down stairs, giant bump, heavy rain, inured to pain, No Accidents, Patriot's game, rainy day, ranch house
Comments: 18 Comments
December 15, 2013
North of me is the winter wonderland. My sister, outside of Boston, got either 10 or 11 inches of snow. We got torrential rain all night. I could hear it on the roof. I have no idea why but heavy rain triggers the sensor lights in the backyard, the ones geared for Gracie, to go on. They stay on until the morning light triggers them to turn off. This is the second time it has happened. The first time I thought some giant animal had burrowed into the yard, but after 15 minutes, when the lights didn’t go out, I figured it was either a very patient animal casing the yard for dinner or some weird problem with the lights.
My errands yesterday were fruitful. I found two small trees, one smaller than the other but both perfect. They are now standing in the corner of the living room waiting to be decorated, but my back is bad so that may not happen until tomorrow, but I don’t mind the wait. The trees are lovely even without the lights and decorations.
I am not traveling north to see the play. My sister said it is miserable up there, really cold and dark, and when you add my back to the mix, staying home sounds like the better choice. I’ll watch Christmas movies and drink egg nog. I just watched Reginald Owen’s A Christmas Carol and now I’m watching the Muppets get their chance at Scrooge’s rehabilitation. It doesn’t matter how many times I see this movie I love it every time.
Christmas still has wonder no matter how old you are. I love the lights on my house, and I drive by the house sometimes just to look and to admire the view. I’m sure my neighbors, should they catch me, might think it strange. If I’m on the road and a house covered in lights catches my attention, I deviate my route just to see it. On my official light tour, I stop at Dunkin’ Donuts first for hot cocoa. Christmas music now plays the whole time I’m in the car. I sing along. I sit on the couch in the living room to read so I won’t miss a single minute of the tree. The season is short enough as it is. My two sisters always have live trees. I think it is built into our genetic code. They fill their houses with Christmas just as I do and my mother did. I remember she’d come down for the weekend, and we’d go shopping. She’d buy an ornament and say, “That’s it, no more ornaments. I have enough for several trees.” Well, she always bought more and always declared it the last. I have a couple of new ones this year. One is the official 2013 World Series ornament. The other is a sand dollar made from pottery.
It’s egg nog time!
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Categories: Musings
Tags: Christmas lights, Christmas tree, cocoa, egg nog, Gene Lockhart, heavy rain, light tour, Muppets, ornaments, Scrooge, sensor lights, Snow, trees, wonder
Comments: 19 Comments
