Posted tagged ‘rain’
January 10, 2016
It’s raining. It’s pouring. The old man is snoring.
I don’t know when the rain started, but it is now a heavy rain and a strong wind. Outside is so dark my deck lights came on. The timer was duped.
I have written the start of several second paragraphs but have deleted each of them. Usually I have an idea which spreads across time and conjures memories. This morning I have nothing.
Sunday has never been a productive day. It was always church and family dinner day and some Sundays there was a visit to my grandparents. Nobody did lawn work, always reserved for a Saturday, and my mother didn’t vacuum or dust. She made dinner. Usually we stayed around the house. I’d read the Sunday funnies. The TV would be on a Sunday Matinee movie or a football game. I remember my brother watching and sitting close to the TV set, his legs bent and splayed behind him. I never found that comfortable.
The papers are so much bigger on Sunday. It is a three cup minimum to finish both papers. The Globe crossword takes the whole day as I fill in a bit then do something else then go back to it. I hate the crosswords where the longest answer is a quote and other answers finish the quote. Usually I start with the smallest part of the quote and work up hoping the answers will be hints. The capital of Ghana is often a crossword clue.
In the winter, I crave color. Often I buy myself a bouquet of flowers to remind me of spring and to brighten the darkness. The worst of winter is still ahead of me. January and February are usually snowy months. I’ll just have to be patient, never a strong suit of mine.
Categories: Musings
Tags: church', funnies, lights, papers, rain, Sunday, Wind
Comments: 24 Comments
January 9, 2016
Today is cloudy and damp. Tomorrow the rain will come, heavy rain accompanied by a strong wind according to the forecast, but by the looks of the sky, I think it may rain this afternoon or evening.
I have house stuff to do today: plants to water, bills to pay, litter to change and feeders to fill. I have no intention of going anywhere. Today is a stay warm and cozy sort of day.
The Cape Times used to publish court news from both the Orleans and the Barnstable courts. I always knew someone, usually a former student. Now the paper just has news items in a section called The Log. Today a few crimes caught my attention. One item recounted the arrest of a man who cut the security wires from the jewelry display case at Kmart then wheeled the case to his car. He was caught because of the surveillance video. If you watch any TV, you know there are video cameras everywhere so the police knew who did it and what he was driving. His car was seen and stopped and the thief was wearing the same clothes as in the video. His watch cap had the word SELFIE across the front. The backseat was loaded with jewelry still sporting Kmart tags. According to the police, this thief has 78 arraignments on his adult record mostly for breaking and entering, larceny, shoplifting and narcotics.
The other crime was multiple assaults. The man was described as having a long criminal record and is now charged with assault and battery on a police officer and two counts of assault and battery. When the police went to arrest him, they said he smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred. During booking he became belligerent, punched the door cell and yelled obscenities. In his cell, he flooded the floor with water and put toilet paper in the water to make the floor slippery. Two police equipped with riot shields warned him they’d use a stun gun unless he stopped. They entered the cell and he began striking the officers who threw him down on a bench. He continued to fight until the stun gun was used. Now this guy has used 10 aliases in the past and has 132 arraignments on charges which include violence.
Usually I’m fairly happy with my world. I’ve always been a half full sort. I look for the good and hang on to it. I know the bad is there, but I refuse to fall prey to pessimism. I try not to let the bad things color my world. These two articles threw me a bit with the 78 and 132 arraignments. Things need to change, but I don’t have an answer, only questions.
Stuck between the two reports was an article that the season’s first right whales have been seen in the bay. About half of the North Atlantic population of 526 right whales will winter here. They come here to eat zooplankton. Right whales are rare and endangered and to have that many so close is amazing. This is the good news.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cloudy and damp, cut security wires, house stuff to do, Kmart, plants to water, rain, stole jewelry, stun gun, vandalism, violence
Comments: 19 Comments
December 14, 2015
The rain is coming and should be here by the afternoon. It is welcomed as we are down from our usually rain amounts. The summer was pretty dry. Gracie and I were out early because we scoped out the kennel where she’ll be staying. The owners are quite nice and Gracie was on her best behavior. On the way home we stopped at the vet’s where Gracie got a shot against kennel cough and had her nails trimmed.
I was out the other night and meandered home so I could have a short see the lights ride. It is amazing how many houses have lights, the most I’ve seen in a long while. My street with only eight houses, including one which is empty all winter, is ablaze of lights. The houses are beautifully decorated some with white lights, some with colored lights and others, like mine, with a combination. We’re talking fences, wreaths, trees and houses lit for the season. The house at the end of the street has a train lit up in its front yard. Blinking lights are wrapped around a tree, and they look as if they’re floating in air as the tree trunk is too dark to see. They have four kids who must be so excited to see their house decked out for the holiday. The other house with so many different lights has stars of light hanging from their tree. They have a tree of colored lights in their front yard. They too have four kids who must be delighted.
I remember how excited I was when my dad put the outside lights on the front bushes. They were the big bulbs which shone so brightly and were always so hot to the touch. After finishing outside, he’d find the window candles and tape them to the sills. The bases were made of plastic and had a tendency to be top heavy because of the bulb, always an orange bulb, so tape was a necessity.
At Christmas time the lights shine brightly against the dark of winter. They seem hopeful and remind us that winter will end. The days will get longer. We’ll all soon be back in the light.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bushes lit, Christmas lights, colored lights, dog shots, house lights, orange bulbs, orange lights, rain, Train, tree lights, trimmed nails, vets, white lights, window lights
Comments: 10 Comments
November 22, 2015
It was rain I first heard when I woke up. The drops were falling from the roof to the overhang, and their rhythmic sound lulled me right back to sleep for another hour. When I woke up the second time, the rain had stopped so I went out and got the papers and yesterday’s mail. Since then the rain has come and gone a few times. When I hear the drips, I know.
Gracie and I shopped yesterday. It was the perfect day to be around and about. We went down 6A, one of the prettiest of all routes to take. I stopped at the Brewster Book Store. It hasn’t ever disappointed me. I bought books for the grand-niece and nephews for Christmas and a few neat little things for their Christmas bags from me including head lamps, rubber duckies, small wooden trucks and a doll. I was tempted to buy myself a book, and I did look, but I have a rule about not buying myself stuff around Christmas so I dragged myself backed to the car. Our next stop was a small bakery. I bought dessert for tonight, game night, chocolate peanut butter brownies, and a lemon square for me to eat as we went along. It was so good I almost went back for another. I still wish I had. Gracie and I stopped at a couple of my favorite shops where I bought a few more small things for stockings, and that was it.
When my parents shopped for Christmas, they hid the toys in a variety of places where we seldom ventured. One was the attic. A small staircase came down so you get up in it, but the attic wasn’t finished. It was just beams from one end to the other with insulation in between. I remember one year I woke up when they were taking things down from there. It was a musical toy I heard. I was beyond Santa by then so I wasn’t shocked, but I was curious. They made a couple of trips back and forth to the living room then they turned off the hall light so I knew they were done. I sneaked downstairs to watch. I never got caught. Another hiding spot was the closet across from the cellar door. My mother kept her ironing board, iron and cleaning supplies there. I happened upon a few Christmas presents hidden there one year. I was never one to hunt for them. I preferred the surprise, but this find was serendipitous. Three of them were books for me. I sneaked and read one of them but pretended surprise when I saw them Christmas morning.
I keep all the gifts I have out in the open except for Gracie’s. She found hers on the spare room bed one year and ate all the treats. Now I hide them.
Categories: Musings
Tags: attic, Brewster Book Store, Christmas shopping, closet, hiding Christmas presents, hiding toys, rain, raindrops, route 6A, Shopping
Comments: 18 Comments
November 7, 2015
Yesterday and sometime during the night it rained. The wind was so strong my deck, my lawn and my driveway have disappeared, buried in fallen leaves and pine needles. The sky is still overcast and the day is damp and cooler than it has been. Yesterday was close to 70˚. I even had windows open including my bedroom all night.
A loud noise woke me up last night. When I turned on the light, I found Gracie had rolled out of bed to the floor. I hurried to check her. She seemed fine and had no problem jumping back onto the bed. This morning I checked her again, and she seems fine. I suspect she was as shocked as I was. Fern looked, didn’t move and quickly went back to sleep.
Yesterday morning there was a head-on collision on the Sagamore Bridge. The front page of the Cape Times had a blurb which said the driver of the box truck was seriously injured. The inside, more detailed article, quoted the CEO of the company saying the driver was injured but was okay. It wasn’t the fact of the accident which caught my attention but rather the cargo of the two trucks. One carried fish and the other cranberries. I have to think the cape would be just about the only place where fish and cranberries would be involved in the same accident. The driver was concerned about his two beautiful bluefin tuna. The description of the accident by a police officer in Bourne gave me a chuckle, “Cranberries were observed covering the entire roadway in either direction on the bridge.” After the offending cranberries were removed, the bridge was reopened.
I do love reading my papers, but I often find the language wanting and sometimes even silly. Sadly a woman’s burned body was found on Wednesday near railroad tracks in Bridgewater. Her hands and feet were bound. According to the article, police speculated this was a homicide. There were a couple of quotes from people living in the neighborhood. This was my favorite and clearly indicated the author was starved for copy, “It’s very disturbing to have a dead body dumped next to the house you grew up in.” You think?
Categories: Musings
Tags: 70˚, cloudy, damp, fallen leaves, fish and cranberries, head-on collision, murder, pine needles, rain
Comments: 12 Comments
October 29, 2015
Some days just don’t have a chance. Today is already one of them. I woke up with my back hurting, something which hasn’t happened in a while. I know why. Yesterday I was an idiot. I changed the litter boxes and hauled the heavy, used litter downstairs then to the car. I brought laundry up two flights. I went shopping and brought in several bags including new litter which I then hauled upstairs. I gave my back no thought. This morning I was reminded.
Now for today’s fiascos: I was putting on my sweatshirt and my arm knocked over the bag of dog treats. I picked up the treats and swept the small pieces. I decided to take a few Aleve’s for my back. I dropped the bottle on the floor and had to stoop to pick up the pills which were strewn across the bathroom floor. I went to change the water in the dog dish and found one of the cats had thrown up in it. At least her aim was good. I got my coffee and was walking down the hall juggling the cup with the mail and the newspapers. Yup, I spilled the coffee but not all of it, a good omen I figured. I cleaned it up and was finally able to sit and read the papers. There was no good news.
It rained all night. The fallen leaves are plastered to the deck, the walkway and the driveway. From the right viewpoint, they look like a painting of reds and yellows scattered here and there on the canvas. It is warm and the sun has just appeared. I am becoming optimistic, even rosy, about the prospects of the rest of the day.
I had plans for today, but they are now scrapped. The dump will be there tomorrow. Low lights will hide the dust on the bookcases and the shelves. I’m thinking I need a sloth day, maybe even a ride to nowhere.
The last three days have been filled with chores and errands, with me making up for lost time from being sick. I’m done with that. I’m going to brush my teeth which is about as strenuous an activity as I’ll have today.
Categories: Musings
Tags: autumn, dump, fallen leaves, hurting back, idiot, kitty litter, Laundry, making a mess, painting, plans, rain, sloths, spilling treats, spillingpills, throwing up
Comments: 8 Comments
October 13, 2015
My mornings rarely start early, but today the alarm jarred me awake at the God awful hour of 7:30. I had a library board meeting at nine and I wanted time for coffee and some of the paper. After the meeting I did my three errands. This has been a most industrious morning for me.
It started raining last night and was still raining when I woke up. Mother Nature must have looked kindly on me because the rain stopped for the few minutes it took me to get the papers then it started pouring when I got inside. The sun came out around 10 for a while then the clouds came back, but it must be a peek-a-boo day as the sun is back.
The day is warm. The morning was filled with the sounds of birds, and the rain brought a sweetness to the air. It is supposed to get really cold by the end of the week so I will savor today.
My father was a football and hockey fan. He thought baseball was boring and just didn’t enjoy basketball. We were poles apart. Basketball and baseball were always my favorites, and I never did like hockey. I abided football but didn’t understand much of it. Baseball has always been my top favorite sport. The cellar dwellers, the Sox, were a cheap Saturday afternoon in the bleachers when I was a kid. Now they are still cellar dwellers but even the bleachers are expensive. I usually try to go once each year but mostly I watch them on TV. I haven’t been to a Celtics’ game in a long while because I seemed to have lost interest. Filling the gap has been football. My dad would have loved to have someone watch with him, and he’d be thrilled at the success of the Pats. He watched them in their early days, their struggling years. He yelled a lot at the TV. I watch every Pats game, and I now understand the general rules of the game, most infractions and even some strategy. I’m hazy about some positions and their responsibilities, but that doesn’t deter me from enjoying the game. I yell at the TV. My dad would be proud!
Categories: Musings
Tags: Baseball, basketball, errands, football, hockey, morning meeting, Mother Nature, peek-a-boo day, rain, strategy, sun
Comments: 10 Comments
October 10, 2015
The big reunion weekend began last night at the cocktail hour. Good thing we had name tags though some people were easy to recognize as they hadn’t changed much, just gotten older. The biggest shock was a classmate who was the all-American boy in high school with button-down collar shirts and chinos of different colors. Now he has long hair and a beard. I didn’t recognize him.
I had a wonderful evening last night with lots of hugs, memories and laughs. This morning was coffee and pastries then a school tour. I went anyway figuring more time to socialize. Tonight is the dinner, the final event. I expect classmates who haven’t gone to anything else will be at the dinner. I have my name tag ready.
Last night it poured. This morning was sunny but clouds have taken over for the mean time. The sky gets dark then the sun comes back then the clouds reappear. I’m thinking the sun is losing the battle.
It is in the 50’s. This three-day weekend is the last hurrah for the Cape. Many places will close after Monday. Traffic will be lighter, lines shorter and people far less stressed. I can use main roads again.
I have my 8th grade picture. We are sitting or standing in rows in front of a statue on the convent lawn. Father Sexton, the pastor, is sitting in the middle of the first row. The picture is a long one so it is easy to see faces. Some kids I remember. We started in the first grade together, maybe went to Arlington Catholic for high school or marched together in the drill team. We haven’t ever had a reunion. Eighth grades don’t do that. The drill team has had a few small reunions, just my friends at someone’s house, and one large one for anyone who marched. I always go.
My classmates and I have only high school as a common experience. Some classmates I’ve seen here and there while others I haven’t seen since graduation. That didn’t matter last night. The room was filled with people enjoying and catching up with one another. All those years apart dissolved.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 3 day weekend, 50th class reunion, 8th grade, class picture, cocktail hour, dinner, high school, last hurrah, rain, school tour
Comments: 8 Comments
October 3, 2015
Much as I appreciate the rain, the darkness worms its way inside sapping my energy, making me sluggish and listless (which can actually be taken a couple of ways as I haven’t a list today. Despite my mood it seems I can still conjure a pun).
This morning the house was so cold I decided to stay in bed and did so for another hour. I read my new book so the hour was not wasted. When I finally came downstairs, I saw 61˚ on the thermostat. I turned on the heat to warm the house. Now it is cozy. All three animals are asleep for their morning naps. Each has her own room: Fern is in the living room, Maddie likes the cushions in the dining room and Gracie takes the couch.
While I was reading this morning, silent reading came to mind. I have no idea why. I haven’t heard or thought about that in years. It used to be a graded subject on my grade school report card. You either got a U or an S. I always got the S for satisfactory though it probably should have meant superb given how many books I sneaked and read during class time. The nuns didn’t teach silent reading as the name said it all so I used to wonder how silent reading was graded. What were the standards? Doesn’t move lips could have been one as moving lips is like talking. Doesn’t shuffle feet or look around could have been a couple more. Maybe posture was part of the grade, but that’s a bit of a stretch. The number of pages wasn’t a fair standard. Not every kid was honest. I really think it was made up so nuns could have a break whenever they needed one. I remember they used to tell us to read silently to ourselves. When I got older, I wondered how you could read silently to someone else, maybe in sign language which none of us knew, but I never dared ask. Nuns could be scary when they were mad.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 61˚, darkness, heat, new book, no energy, rain
Comments: 18 Comments
September 29, 2015
It seems I get later and later but for good reasons. This morning it was a long library board meeting to choose officers. The length of the meeting had little to do with the election of unopposed officers. No, it was mimosas and pastries and conversation which kept us late.
I’m running out of adjectives to describe this gorgeous weather. It is in the mid-70’s and sunny with a breeze strong enough to swing the chimes. Tomorrow they’ll be downpours and over 3 inches of rain according to the weatherman. Not a single person is complaining. We need the rain, and we have had our share, more than our share, of beautiful fall days.
Where I grew up, we called it tonic. Down here they call it soda. By either name, we seldom had any in the house when I was a kid, ginger ale maybe for an occasional highball, my parents’ favorite drink when I was young, but nothing else. We drank milk, a combination of white milk and chocolate milk, both delivered by the milkman. My mother used to drink Tab until Diet Coke came along. My father was always a milk drinker. He loved a cold glass of milk with his Hydrox cookies or his Pilot crackers topped with butter. He’d be devastated now as both his favorites are no longer made. He’d probably start eating Saltines but never Oreos, maybe Newman-O’s which remind me of Hydrox. My dad was most particular about his snacks.
We called my mother the seagull because of what she ate. Leftovers were her favorite breakfast, and sometimes she ate them cold in a sandwich, including hot dogs cut in half and down the middle. She’d rummage in the fridge, pullout the covered dishes and build herself a sandwich. Cucumbers were a favorite topping. She was also a mayonnaise fan far more than a mustard fan. My mother liberally applied the condiment. Even with toast the butter was slathered. Grilled cheese, according to her, was best at its messiest.
I eat all sorts of foods and will try almost anything when I’m traveling. I think that’s the seagull in me.
Categories: Musings
Tags: beautiful fall days, Butter, chocolate milk, downpours, gorgeous day, grill cheese, highball, Hydrox, library board meeting, mayonaisse, messy foods, mimosas, Newman-O's, Pilot crackers, rain, seagull, soda, tonic
Comments: 8 Comments
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