Posted tagged ‘pine needles’

“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.”

October 26, 2012

I woke to a lovely day, warm and sunny. The birds were in full voice, and they drew me to the deck. I watched Gracie sniff the driveway already covered in yellow leaves and pine needles. On the outside branches of the oak tree the leaves have browned. Most will soon fall but some will hang on through the winter fluttering in the cold wind. It is the oak tree I can see best through the window in my den. It is a barometer of the changing seasons.

Today is dump day, Gracie’s favorite day. I haven’t told her yet, but she’ll know soon enough. Right now she is sleeping beside me on the couch and snoring. Life is good for Gracie

Sandy is the headline on the TV news and in the papers, but we are in a wait and see pattern as to how destructive the storm will be here though it has already been dubbed Frankenstorm and described as ghoulish. Utility crews have been out cutting branches and making sure lines are cleared anticipating wind and trying to prevent power outages. I doubt they’ll be too successful. Power outages are common here even without the wind. I often hear the loud bang of a transformer just before the lights go out. I have an empty larder so I’ll hit the supermarket today before the crowd arrives to buy all the water and the batteries. The water part still amazes me. I get that people with well water will lose their pumps but most of us have town water which will flow regardless of electricity. My list has the everyday items, the boring ones, but I’m also including crackers, a variety of cheeses, dips and chips. If I have to sit and read by the light of the lantern, I want my taste buds to be happy.

“As long as we are lucky we attribute it to our smartness; our bad luck we give the gods credit for”

December 29, 2010

Later and later Coffee suddenly appears. You wonder why, and I don’t blame you, but today I have a most wonderful excuse. It started with the gnome who hides in my house. He, and I have no doubt the wee creature is a he, is responsible for such things as the coke which fizzes over the top of my glass, for me tripping up the stairs, for food which lands on my shirt and on and on. I’m guessing you get the idea. Well, today he knocked over a greenery decoration which my friends had given me so I could have a bit of the scent and scene of Christmas. It fell in a few clumps and deposited about 8 thousand little green needles on my rug, the one with all the ridges. I admit it. I am anal and I couldn’t leave all that on the floor. Besides that greenery was on the way to the kitchen, Gracie’s back door and, most importantly, the bathroom. I had to collect those needles before they ended up all over the house spread by feet and paws. I did it: I went for the dustpan and brush. I found only the brush but that was enough. I brushed all those suckers into a single huge pile almost as tall as I am. I couldn’t find the dust pan so I used the newspaper, and it worked perfectly. I couldn’t kneel for fear of being unable to get up so I stood and bent over as I swept and cleaned.

Almost all of the needles ended up in the trash can. I ended up with a new pain on my leg which made me yelp and curse while Gracie watched with her head bent in such a way I knew she was perplexed. The pain was from a muscle. I rejoiced. It was not the sciatica though it was just as painful. I hobbled upstairs, took a couple of painkillers, which I haven’t needed in days, laid down and slept for nearly four hours. I sort of shortened that last part of the narration for the sake of brevity as it took a while for me to find a spot where I was comfortable and without pain. When I finally did, I was out for the count. Fern, the cat, and Gracie, the dog, joined me. When I finally woke up, it was quite dark, I was dying of thirst and I needed to go to the bathroom. For me, I knew that last one would be the litmus test. Will the pain be gone? Would I be fast enough? The gnome must have been napping as I was able to walk to the bathroom with barely any pain. It was a leisurely stroll. That may not sound like a major accomplishment, but when I had to use the walker and the cane I had such pain I could barely walk and had to plan a trip to the bathroom in advance.

The pain is slight now, but I’m in a bit of trouble. I missed some of those 8 thousand needles. On my last trip to the kitchen, I stopped and picked up a few, but I see trouble ahead. I doubt those needles will be the last.