Posted tagged ‘mac and cheese’

“Busyness chokes deep thinking.”

March 9, 2023

The sky is the most spectacular blue this morning. The sun is squint your eyes bright. The breeze comes now and than again and sways the tops of the pine trees. It is in the 40’s, typical for March. The dogs love this weather. Lala lies in the sun looking a bit like the sphinx. Henry sits on the deck surveying his world. They know what to do with the day. They’ll be back in shortly for their morning naps.

When I was in Ghana, my mother sent boxes, the best boxes. I remember the blue boxes of macaroni and cheese. I saved those for Sunday dinner. She sent pizzas in a box and Password and origami and hard candies. Beef jerky was a surprise. In a Christmas box was a paint by number kit. The finished masterpiece became wall art. The origami became a guessing game because I was never good at replicating the pictures. At least the paper was colorful. The best box was sent by air mail so I’d get it before Christmas. My aunt and my mother split the cost. The box had a small plastic Christmas tree, ornaments, cookies cutters, brick looking crepe paper and a Christmas book. Later, my mother told me she went to Woolworth’s for all the Christmas stuff and sent the box by air because boxes going by regular mail took at least three months to arrive. It was too early for Christmas decorations to be out in the store so my mother said she sent the guy downstairs to the store room to find Christmas. He was nice enough to do that and found the decorations for my mother. That was my favorite box.

I hate busy weeks, and I have been out almost every day this week. I hate having to get out of my cozies. I actually had to buy gas. Today is a dentist appointment which adds to my misery. Saturday it is going to be cold, and we have the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Layering may not be enough. To make matters worse I need to be there between 8 and 8:30. I don’t even know if it is light then!

“We are all living history, and it’s hard to say now what will be important in the future. One thing’s certain, though: if we throw it away, it’s gone.”

January 21, 2017

Today is damp and dark, uninviting. I want to do nothing. I doubt I’ll get dressed. Thus far this morning I have brushed my teeth, made coffee and read two newspapers. I am back to binging on Star Trek Voyager. I am also streaming the Women’s March. I didn’t watch the inauguration.

When I was in the eighth grade, John Kennedy was elected president. That campaign was the first time I ever had any interest in politics. A small Kennedy for President store front opened right next to Santoro’s Sub Shop. Posters were in the window. I remember going inside and getting buttons and pins. I wore them on my coat for the whole campaign. Afterwards, I put them on the bulletin board in my room. They stayed there. When I bought this house, my mother brought the board down to me. It had been in stasis since I’d left for Ghana. I was thrilled to find so many pieces of my childhood still pinned to that board. My favorite find, though, was a Kennedy for President pin with his picture on it and a larger pin which said If I were twenty-one I would vote for Kennedy. They are now on display in a frame with other buttons from other campaigns. My McGovern-Eagleton pin is there as is my Returned Peace Corps for McGovern-Shriver. Every button in that display is a historical record of my politics from 1960 to 1984 and Gary Hart.

I still have a bulletin board. It is cork, not the pink material board which hung for so long in my room. It is filled with both old and new ephemera. A chocolate Golden Tree wrapper from Ghana hangs there. There is a picture of my mother and all of us together in Colorado and one of me with my Ghanaian students from my first visit back. There is a home-made valentine I gave to my mother when I was young. She found it and brought it to me. There is a Mard-Gras mask hanging from a corner of the board. From the other top corner all the ID’s I’ve had for a variety of events are hanging. This bulletin board is also a historical record, more recent but no less interesting.

Today is a day for mac and cheese.


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