Posted tagged ‘rain’
March 22, 2014
Winter is a solitary season. I sit in my warm house with the doors shut against the cold. My neighbors and I wave as we drive pass each other going one place and another. The world goes quiet when it’s winter, and I seldom hear outside sounds except for the rain and the wind. I have more sloth days in winter than in any other season. Winter days are for flannel, sweatshirts and warm socks. Winter nights are for down comforters. I read, sometimes the whole day into the night. I like soups and stews and macaroni and cheese. An afternoon nap is a bit of bliss. I abide winter in its turn.
This time of year is the yin-yang season, the time of winter and spring. It is the most frustrating of all the seasons because it isn’t really one or the other. The calendar says spring but the weather is sometimes wintry, cold and even snowy. Two warm days lull us into thinking it is spring then a day of 23˚ throws winter right back at us. The only consolation is in the garden where the spring bulbs have become flowers bursting with color. Today will be warm. Tomorrow will be in the 20’s during the day and the teens at night.
Summer is the social season. I am out and about a couple of evenings each week and spend my days on the deck sitting under the trees, sometimes reading, sometimes just sitting. My friends and I have our movie nights and game nights. My neighbors are out in their yards mowing and raking and playing with their kids. I can hear their voices from my house. The birds are loudest in the morning when they greet the new day. I love the songs they sing. The front garden is filled with flowers of every color, and I always stop to admire it when I go to get my papers. The rain in summer seems gentler even with thunder and lightning. Sometimes I sit under my outside umbrella during a rainstorm just to hear the drops. I love summer nights with all the sounds of night birds, the flickering of fireflies in the backyard and the candlelight glowing from the glass tree hangings. Summer is just so glorious.
Fall is the magnificent season, my favorite of them all. The garden shops are filled with pumpkins and mums whose colors are a bit muted, perfect for fall, the end of the growing season. It is still warm here during the day but cools a bit during the night. In late fall, when even the days get cool, I always think they are a slow easing into winter, a warning about what’s coming. I know winter must have its turn, but I wish it wasn’t at the expense of fall.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bird song, cold, cold nights, flannels, rain, solitary season, spring, summer, sweatshirts, warm days, winter, yin yang
Comments: 18 Comments
February 14, 2014
The rain fell all day yesterday and last night. It stopped for a bit but only to gather a little more energy because it then began to pour again, to pound the roof, around midnight. After that came the highlight of the storm, the thunder and lightning. I was reading in bed when the whole room was lit by a flash of light then another flash then another. The thunder was a rumble at first which got louder and louder until it became a crash. I stopped reading to listen. Gracie slept right through it. It seemed to thunder for a long time then the rumbling began to fade until it disappeared. The rain fell more quietly having expended all its energy for that one giant blast.
Today was the big day, Valentine’s Day. I’d sit at the kitchen table the night before and in my best handwriting fill in my name on the back and the names of my classmates on the fronts of the envelopes. My mother always bought the valentines with a picture on the front, usually with a corny saying, and a place on the back for my name. Kathleen usually ended up slanted as it’s a long name. I also had to add an R. so everyone would know it wasn’t Kathleen D. or Kathleen L. Those precious valentines were carefully carried to school as were the cookies my mother had made for the party. The week before, during art, we had transformed shoe boxes into valentine boxes.
We had to do regular school work most of the day. It killed us. Our minds were on those envelopes sitting in boxes under our desks. I wondered who would give me valentines and feared not getting one from my secret crush of the week. In those days we didn’t give one to everybody in the class. I think it was more a matter of expense than thoughtlessness. Finally, after eons had passed, the nun would tell us to put our books away. She’d start to clear off her desk to make room for the party food. We’d pull our decorated boxes off the floor onto our desks and sit impatiently waiting for the festivities to start. The nun directed us row by row to walk around and hand out our valentines. We’d sit as classmates walked by and dropped envelopes or didn’t. We never opened them until all of us had taken our turns. It was then the party began. We’d get cookies and candy then sit at our desks and talk and open the valentines. We’d giggle at the ones from boys being young enough still to giggle without being silly. The party lasted until the final school bell when we’d reluctantly clean up and get ready to leave. The valentines went in our boxes and we carried those treasures home as it they were the crown jewels.
I’d sit at the kitchen table and look at those valentines then I’d keep them safe in the box for a long time so I could look again and again.
Categories: Musings
Tags: class party, corny sayings, flash of light, handing out valentines, lightning, party, rain, rumbling, thunder, valentines, Valentines Day
Comments: 12 Comments
February 13, 2014
When I woke up, I could hear the rain falling on the roof and dripping on the deck. It’s a steady rain, a good rain, and I love a rainy day. My house is dark except for the light here in the den. It seems to brighten every corner of the room. I have always felt somehow comforted by the rain. It surrounds me and fills my ears with a different melody every time. I remember in elementary school I loved to watch the rain dripping down the windows. Though no one spoke, the classroom was never quiet. I could hear the shuffling of papers, the turning of book pages and the rain. I felt warm and safe. After school, I’d get home, take off my wet clothes, put on my pajamas and read in bed. It was the nicest of afternoons.
Yesterday I filled the bird feeders, and the birds are taking full advantage of the seeds. I even filled an extra feeder for the chickadees who are outnumbered by the gold finches who seem to be at all the other feeders and don’t share well. The finches don’t like the different feeder I filled, but the chickadees do. In the afternoon, from my kitchen window, I watched the red spawn jump from the deck rail to the feeder, grab a seed then fall back to the rail to dine. I went outside in stealth mode hoping to scare it again, but it ran. Later I watched a fat gray spawn walking on the rail and closing in on where the red spawn was standing. I waited as the grey spawn got closer and closer. Sure enough, that red spawn went after the grey one which took off in a heartbeat despite its superiority in size. The red spawn is evil.
Last night around 12:30, I let Gracie out for the last time before bed. She took off like a shot. I knew she had either heard or seen something. I stood on the deck and watched as she ran a few times around a tree in the yard. I could hear her sniffing. I called and was ignored. Then she took off and ran the perimeter of the yard along the fence. I lost track of her so I gingerly went down the steps which are, for the most part, free of ice. I, of course, found the one spot which wasn’t, and my leg went though the space between the stairs. Luckily I wasn’t hurt and was able to get my leg back on the step. Finally I managed to get to the ground and stood on a spot free of ice. I located Gracie at the opposite side of the yard. I yelled for her and offered treats. She came running at full force, ran up the steps and into the house leaving me in the dust. I went upstairs gingerly and went inside. She was waiting patiently by her crate for her treat. I still wonder what it was that attracted her attention. Luckily she never found it and luckily I made it safely back into the house limbs intact.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bird feeders, dark day, icy steps, late at night, melody of the rain, noise in the yard, rain, red and grey spawns of Satan
Comments: 8 Comments
February 3, 2014
When I woke up this morning, it was raining. By the time I was leaving to go to breakfast, about a half hour later, it was snowing. When I got in the car, it was just in time to hear the Cape and Islands NPR forecaster say the rain would be turning to snow later. About then someone should have looked out the window and readjusted that forecast just a bit. The announcer went on to say we are supposed to get around 3 inches of snow. I was a bit skeptical as those first flakes were wet and didn’t stick, but as I was driving home, I could see the snow was starting to cover the ground. From my window here in the den, the backyard looks like a winter wonderland (a word used with tongue in cheek). The pine branches have a layer of snow, and the snow is still falling heavily from the north. I’m not so skeptical any more.
I have no plans for today. Peapod will be by later with my groceries, and I’m clicking my heels in the air as my larder is about as empty as I can remember it ever being. The last three meals were eggs: an omelet with cheese, two over-easy and an egg salad sandwich. Thank God I am now out of eggs, but I am also out of bread and just about everything else. The animals have food as I went to Agway on Saturday. I took care of the dog, the cats and the birds. Today I take care of me.
Cartoons weren’t all that educational when I was a kid. Many were violent but in a funny way we knew wasn’t real. I can’t remember how many times I watched Road Runner use Acme dynamite on Coyote who always survived despite being flattened or blown up. Tom endlessly chased Jerry who was so much smarter unlike the mice I caught last winter in my eaves. They were suckers for peanut butter. I still love Rocky and Bullwinkle and appreciate their satirical and ironic humor far more now then I did as a kid. To me the best antagonists in any cartoons will always be Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. How many times did Elmer Fudd shoot himself with his shot-gun instead of shooting Bugs Bunny? Popeye was in his own way trying to be inspirational with all that spinach. He’d pop open the can and suck down the green slop which sailed from the can in an arc to his mouth. His arm muscles would grow and grow and Bluto would become history after one Popeye punch. I never did like spinach, but I did punch a couple of people, one in elementary school and one at Fenway Park.
I think my favorite cartoon was George of the Jungle which was on when I was in college. It definitely wasn’t meant for little kids. In one cartoon, George whacked the bad guy on his head with a thick club and announced, “I came. I saw and I conked him.” In another cartoon, the jungle was being redistricted by a character named Gerry Mander. What kid would get that reference when half the adults I know wouldn’t have? That was the fun of George of the Jungle.
Categories: Musings
Tags: animals food, Bird food, Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale, Bugs Bunny, cartoons, Coyote, egg salad, eggs every which way, Elmer Fudd, George of the Jungle, groceries, NPR, omelet, over-easy, Popeye, rain, Road Runner, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Snow, spinach, Tom and Jerry
Comments: 24 Comments
December 9, 2013
I am going back to bed for a bit hoping to shake this malaise. My heat is cranking, but I am still cold, never a good sign. We went out for breakfast today, but we should have stayed home in bed warm and cozy under the comforter. It is raining: a cold, heavy rain. This morning the ground had an inch or two of slush. I didn’t leave footprints on the lawn when I got the papers but I left a trail which filled with water as soon as I took another step. The day has little to commend it. The best I can say is it isn’t snow.
On my way to breakfast I noticed cars on the side streets still running and filled with parents and kids. They were waiting for the school bus. Not a single little kid waited in the rain. I would have had no choice but to walk to school. Most of us always did. On days like today we’d hurry to school not drawn by the idea of learning but by the warmth of the schoolroom and the hopes of getting dry. We’d hang up our coats then walk into class with red cheeks and runny noses from the cold. I don’t remember math or any other subjects on those sorts of days. I just remember the lights being on and the rain hitting the windows.
My house is dark except for the laptop’s monitor. I can hear the rain. It is heavier than it has been all morning. The temperature is too warm for snow so it will stay rainy all day into tomorrow. I’m content to be inside. I have cards to write, laundry to do and books to read.
I am tending toward a sloth day being, as I am, out of sorts so I’m going to finish now so I can change into my cozy flannels, my slippers and my sweatshirt, the accepted uniform for a winter sloth.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cold, cozy and warm, dark house, flannel pants, malaise, rain, red cheeks, runny noses, school bus, sloth days, slush, trail print, walking to school
Comments: 10 Comments
December 7, 2013
This morning you needed a mirror to see if I was still breathing as I slept in until quite late. I must have needed it. When I woke up, I had the edge of the bed while Gracie had the rest of it. She seemed comfortable.
The yard lights didn’t go out last night. They are on a sensor keyed to Gracie and are supposed to turn off after 15 minutes. The heavy rain must have done something. The Christmas lights worked just fine but the yard was lit up all night long. I hoped the light of day would cause them to go out: I was right. It did. I hate having to call an electrician or a plumber.
The churches here still have Christmas fairs. I try to go to a couple every year. I love the white elephant tables as I usually find some kitchen item I can’t imagine I did without. The knitted mittens, slippers and scarfs are for stocking stuffers. Every table is manned by an old lady, which means older than I old lady. They sit behind the tables and chat and call you dear when you buy something. I always end up with an assortment of bags with lots of handmade stuff including jams and jellies and crocheted snowflakes. The old ladies always look the same and most wear an apron. I always wonder if they have old lady substitutes on deck waiting their turn at the tables. If this were a Twilight Zone episode, the ladies would all be robots, and at the end, Rod Serling would come out with some bit of wisdom.
It’s another one of those dreary, dark days. It poured last night and rain is expected today and the next few days. My sister in Colorado has snow and single digit temperatures. She played the glad game I mentioned yesterday and said how lovely the Christmas lights look in the snow. She can have the lovely lights and the snow. I’ll take wet and dreary.
Gracie dug the best hole in my vegetable garden this morning. The fence is down so she wandered in with a preserved body part in her mouth, a beef intestine I think, hard to know. She dug the hole then put her goody in the ground. She used her nose to move the dirt over it. She’ll go out later, dig it up and bring it inside. It was be disgusting looking.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Christmas lights, church fairs, cold, dog digging, drear day, knitted mittens, rain, sleeping late
Comments: 16 Comments
November 12, 2013
I woke up to the sound of rain. It was earlier than usual, but I had a nine o’clock meeting anyway so I got up, started my coffee, ran out for the papers then ran back inside to a house filled with the wonderful aroma of freshly brewing coffee. I filled my cup and took the first sip. I can’t imagine starting any day without my coffee.
While I was at the library board meeting, the rain turned to snow for a few minutes, but at 37˚ it is still just a bit too warm to sustain the snow. I couldn’t be happier as I think it is far too early in the season for snow. On my way home the rain became sleet, giant globs of sleet. Gracie didn’t even want the window open. I was just so happy to get home and inside my warm house. It still smell of coffee.
We all have favorite smells. Some conjure memories of childhood while others bring to mind the people we love and miss. Places where we’ve been are pulled from memories, drawn by a smell. I love the smell of spring, of the earth and flowers and the first mown grass. I can smell rain before it comes. A summer rain cooling the hot pavement has a strange, easily recognized smell. I know when any neighbors have a fire going as the smell of burning wood permeates the air. Last year when the electricity was off for so long my house was filled with the aroma of burning wood, and it stayed for days. The pine smell of the Christmas tree fills the living room then spreads to all of downstairs. Sugar cookies baking always remind me of my mother. They were a Christmas tradition as was the decorating and eating cookies heavy with icing. The smell of turkey cooking in the oven at Thanksgiving draws the cats and the dog to the kitchen. They sit near the stove hoping for a taste. I never disappoint them.
I think that winter gives us a gift starting at Thanksgiving and lasting until the tree comes down in January. It is the season of smells mixed with memories.
Categories: Musings
Tags: brewing coffee, burning wood, Christmas tree, rain, sleet, smells, Snow, sugar cookies, turkeys cooking
Comments: 11 Comments
November 7, 2013
I love the sound of rain and today is a good day for a lover of rain. When I woke up, the first sound I heard was rain drops falling on the roof so I stayed in bed a bit longer and listened. Gracie gave me a look but she was too comfortable in bed beside me to move and quickly settled back to sleep. I stayed in bed and read a while but the thought of a fresh cup of coffee and the biscotti I bought yesterday were too enticing so I got up and went downstairs, put the coffee on and went outside to get the papers. The leaves are plastered to my driveway and the street. Pine needles cover the lawn, but the rain is welcomed as it has been so dry.
Yesterday Gracie and I went for one errand then we took a ride down cape. She kept her head out the window surveying the world as we passed. I saw some color, mostly bright red. The ocean was quiet. I stopped at one store and bought a few things, odd things like measuring cups, a scoop and some chutney.
I remember my grammar school classroom on rainy days. The lights hung down from the high ceiling, and in the darkness of the day the room always seemed a bit shadowy despite the banks of windows on the back and one side wall. Rain subdued us. There was none of the shuffling of feet or the rustling of papers. I’d lose myself in the rain, and the sound of the nun’s voice would get further and further away until I didn’t hear it anymore. I’d watch the drops of rain pelt the window and find one drop to watch as it rolled down the window getting smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared then I’d find another drop to watch. I was a long way from school on rainy days.
Today is a stay home day. I have no reason to go anywhere. My bed is already made so I have done all my household chores leaving the rest of the day for reading and maybe napping in the late afternoon. A dark, rainy day seems to lend itself to a nap. I’ll stay in my around the house comfy clothes and slippers. Today sounds perfect.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bed making, biscotti, chutney, fresh coffee, Grammar School, napping, rain, rain on the roof, raindrops, reading in bed, red, ride, shadowy room
Comments: 12 Comments
November 3, 2013
I woke to the sound of rain plunking on the windowsill. The day is dark with an on again, off again rain. It is much colder than yesterday, and I’d call it a wind, not a breeze, which is shaking the tree limbs.
My backyard is filled with scrub pine trees. They are far from the prettiest of trees, but they survive the salty air and the sandy soil and have become the most numerous of Cape trees. They easily sway with the strongest of winds. This time of year their needles turn brown, drop and cover lawns and backyards. Raking is futile. Gracie’s domain, the backyard, is covered in leaves and needles. I never lose track of her even on the darkest nights. Because the fallen leaves crunch under her paws, I can follow Gracie through the yard just by listening from the deck. Miss Gracie has a favorite route, and there is a path which circles the yard along the fence. I love to watch her running round and round until she is spent.
My house is so very quiet right now. It is warm and cozy. It is a day for lying on the couch under an afghan and reading. Later, I will have to drag myself out of the house to the dump as it is will be closed the next two days, and I have trash which can’t wait until Wednesday. The dump has no dress code so I can stay as I am even down to the slippers. Gracie will be thrilled for the ride to her second favorite place.
I’m thinking I might have a cold coming. My voice is raspy, and I keep clearing my throat as if that might make a difference. I may have only one symptom, but it’s a stand-out.
Categories: Musings
Tags: backyard sounds, cold, crunching leaves, dark day, dump run, path, pine needles, pine trees, rain, running round and round, windy
Comments: 8 Comments
November 2, 2013
It started raining around three this morning. I was still awake. It was one of those nights. I’d shut off the light and hope to fall asleep, but I’d just lie there tossing and turning forgotten, even deserted, by Morpheus. After a while, I’d turn the light back on, grab my book and start reading again. I finished the book around five this morning, heard my papers being delivered, contemplated getting up but gave sleep one more try, and that’s the last thing I remember.
Yesterday we had a wind advisory which I really didn’t need. All I had to do was look out the back window. The pine tree trunks and branches were swaying and dipping. Leaves were being blown off the trees and into the yard. The deck, cleaned the other day, was plastered with yellow, wet leaves. Gracie and I went out. I was surprised by how warm it was even with the wind. I stayed there a while.
Today is again warm but cloudy and damp. The air is perfectly still as if the wind blew itself out in yesterday’s fierceness. It will start to get cold tonight, more like the late fall we have come to expect.
I’m watching the Red Sox celebrate their championship in a rolling rally of duck boats. The sidewalks all along the rally route are lined with people twenty and thirty deep come to pay tribute to the Sox. The Dropkick Murphys are playing and confetti is showering the boats and the crowds. The duck boats are now headed to the Charles River for a quick dip and the end of the rally. It was a glorious baseball season.
Don’t forget to turn your clocks back tonight.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 5 am, can't sleep, cloudy and damp, leaves strewn, Morpheus, rain, reading, tossing and turning, windy
Comments: 12 Comments
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