Posted tagged ‘popsicles’

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“I think insomnia is a sign that a person is interesting.”

August 30, 2016

Most mornings are starting the same way. I turn off the air conditioner because the air is cool. The sun bobs in and out of the clouds. It gets dark for a while then lightens. The animals nap. Maddie prefers the chair, Fern the couch and Gracie her crate. I have a couple of cups of coffee, one with each newspaper. It is quiet both inside and outside.

Yesterday I did laundry. Today we’re going to the dump. Peapod came last night so now my larder is full. Mostly I order the same things, but this time I added a few new items. I bought popsicles. They didn’t have root beer so I went with the combo of cherry, orange and grape. I’m not a big grape fan, but I do love cherry. I also bought bagels, onion bagels. I like them toasted crispy and slathered with cream cheese. I also went wild and ordered crunchy peanut butter.

I had a hankering for Chinese food yesterday so I ordered take out for dinner. It was delicious: jumbo shrimp, spare ribs and house special fried rice. I added the hot mustard to the sweet sauce for dipping. My eyes watered from the heat of the combination. It reminded me of my father who used the mustard straight. He had to blow his nose a lot. It was a good thing he carried handkerchiefs.

Usually I fall asleep almost as soon as I go to bed. Last night was an exception. I didn’t even go upstairs until after one and then tossed and turned for an hour. I gave up the idea of sleeping and watched Netflix on my iPad. It was The Fifth Wave, not a great movie but good enough for two in the morning. It wasn’t enough. I was still wide awake. I watched a few episodes of The Last Ship. By then it was after four. Finally, I fell asleep. I’m tired.

Categories: Musings
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“Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos.”

July 19, 2013

If this wasn’t real life but rather a cheesy science fiction movie, parts of the Earth would now be on fire, a cosmic punishment for abusing the elements. One scientist, ruggedly handsome, and a smart and beautiful female TV news anchor would save the Earth from itself and in the process fall in love. At the end of the film, people would be slowly coming out of their refuges, and our main characters would kiss. Fade out.

Today will be the hottest day of this heat wave. The forecast for the cape is only the high 80’s, but it could reach 100 in the rest of the state and even higher when you factor in the humidity. This is so unusual for us, already the third heat wave of the summer. I have no intention of leaving the house except to go to the deck to water my flowers, and I won’t do that until early evening.

Watermelon is summer. When I was young, my mother would cut slices, and we’d eat right down to the white next to the green peel. I remember the juice would drip down my fingers, and my hands would be really sticky as was my face where the sides of the watermelon touched it the further down to the peel I ate. I had watermelon the other day, the adult version; it was already cut but just as delicious and oh so sweet.

Corn is summer, especially sweet corn. We had it for dinner many nights when I was growing up. My father was the best corn eater I ever saw. He ate it row by row and never missed a kernel. He was a human typewriter. He’d eat each row then move to the next like the carriage of a typewriter moved on to the next line.

Popsicles are summer. Often when Johnny, the ice cream man, came my mother didn’t have the money for us to get ice cream, but she had enough for all of us to get popsicles. I was partial to root beer, but I also liked cherry and orange. The key to eating a popsicle was to keep up with the drips. That meant a lot of licking at the bottom while not ignoring the top. I remember my little sisters couldn’t always keep up with the melting and would sometimes have colored drip lines down their fingers and hands. Orange line seemed to be the most common. The  popsicle was great until you neared the end. When you’d eat the bottom of one side, the other side would sometimes fall off the stick. If it fell in the grass, it was still okay to eat. The dirt, though, was a different story. That popsicle remnant was gone forever.

Stay cool and eat ice cream!

Categories: Musings
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“Pensive they sit, and roll their languid eyes.”

July 7, 2010

No rain is in sight, and in Boston it got to 100°. We were cooler but not by a whole lot. I hated it, but I had to go to Hyannis yesterday. The air conditioner was on in the car but it just wasn’t enough. The sun beat through the windows and sucked up all that cool air. I stayed in my allergists’ office longer than I needed. It was the coldest place I’d been all day.

The deck has a slight breeze, and I’m headed there as soon as I finish. I bought a couple of books yesterday, perfect reasons for sitting on the deck with a cold drink, my feet up and the rest of me immersed in a murder.

I left my bedroom air conditioner on. Gracie does not abide the heat well so when she starts her panting, we’re heading upstairs.

My mother used to keep the shades down when I was a kid. All the  rooms resembled caves. She said it kept the sun away and the rooms cooler. I remember going inside to get a drink and not being able to see until my eyes adjusted to the darkness. It was even worse going back outside when I had to cover my eyes because of the brightness of the sun. My mother was never one for sun. She wore sunglasses all summer for years. We used to call her the mole.

My mother used to make Zarex pops, and I’d sit on the back step slurping it before the sun got it. I always loved popsicles. They were pure relief for a parched mouth on a hot day. I bought some when I last went shopping, but mine have gone upscale and are now juice bars. I bought two favorites: lemon and coconut. I would have bought root beer popsicles, but there weren’t any. They’ll still my favorite.

Languid is about the best I’ll do today.

Categories: Music
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