Posted tagged ‘rain’
November 1, 2013
Today is windy, dark and rainy and very warm. It should reach the high 60’s. Last night was perfect for trick or treating. The howling wind made the night sound spooky and leaves whirled in the air as if juggled by unseen spirits. It was warm. I had about fifteen trick or treaters who wore the best costumes I’ve seen in a while. One girl was an elf with all green make-up on her face and arms to match her green costume. The full size candy bars were a hit as were the wind-ups and bubbles. One girl went yelling to her parents that she got a big candy bar. Her father yelled, “Hello, Miss Ryan.” He was a former student and we chatted a bit. At one point I was trying to give candy to a large group of kids and Gracie almost got loose, but I grabbed her just before she could make her escape. She loved Halloween.
Last night I opened a window in my bedroom. I could smell the fresh air, and there was a small breeze. The night birds were singing then I heard a drop and another drop then a bunch of drops. It had started to rain. I listened for a long while. The sound of rain is one of my favorite of all sounds, not a howling, driven rain but a rain of drops plunking on the roof and the side of the house. I fell asleep to the melody of the rain.
Today is meteor day on the Syfy channel. The Earth is endangered in every movie. I’m watching Collision Earth. I had to laugh when the meteors began to fall. Two men started running as meteors were hitting the ground all around them. It was as if the men had been targeted by the falling chunks. They hid behind their car. It was a miracle: not a single meteor hit their car. Two college students were also miraculously saved. They ran, got in their car and clung to each other. Meteors fell all around them but missed them and their car. Another miracle! I’m guessing the Earth is not doomed. I’m thinking another miracle.
Gracie and I have a couple of errands later. I’d rather it be a sloth day but canned dog food is on the list to buy. Gracie thinks dry food is a treat. That’s my fault.
Categories: Musings
Tags: costumes, dark and windy night, dog food, Earth's doom, errands, Halloween, melody of the rain, meteor day, rain, raindrops, Syfy channel, unseen spirits
Comments: 8 Comments
October 7, 2013
The weather is quirky. One minute it is dark and gray then the next is sunny. The house is cold while outside is warm. Showers are predicted for later. On my way to breakfast, I noticed many leaves had fallen. Piles of yellow were on the road and sidewalks. I thought it strange. Many trees have yet to change color while others are almost bare. My oak is still green.
Nothing was more enticing than the piles of leaves in the gutters next to the sidewalk curbs on my way to school. I’d kick through the piles and spread leaves all over the side of the road. The dry leaves on the bottom made a crunching sound while the newest fallen leaves on the top always seemed a bit damp and filled with morning. Most of them were yellow leaves. The trees were spaced beside the sidewalk edge. In summer the sidewalk was shady; in winter it was bare and open to the wind. The sidewalk was a straightaway to school. From the top of the small hill I could see to the railroad tracks and once there I could see the front lawn of the school building, but I couldn’t see the statue. It was too far off the road. I never minded that walk except when it rained. That was when the straightway seemed to go on forever. If I had known how perfectly descriptive a word it was, I would have said I plodded my way home.
The Cape has few sidewalks. Only the oldest parts of some towns seem to have them. My town has a few which slope and have cracks. None of them have curbs. No one kicks leaves.
I remember my dad and all the other dads standing on the side of the road near the curb burning piles of leaves. By then the leaves were curled and brown. They burned easily. All of us kids stood near the fires and watched. Our clothes afterwards smelled of fire and burning leaves. It is still one of my favorite smells, one of my favorite memories.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bare trees, burning leaves, dried leaves, falling leaves, kicking leaves, plodding, rain, sidewalks, sun, walking in the rain, walks to school
Comments: 6 Comments
October 5, 2013
The Cape Times gave me a chuckle this morning. The Sox beat the Rays 12 to 2, but the headlines on the Times sports page announced Breakthrough for Sandwich who beat Falmouth in football. The Sox were relegated to the bottom of that first page.
It rained yesterday and must have rained again in the early morning as the streets were still wet when I woke up. I’m not complaining as we haven’t had rain in a while. Today will also be chillier, in the 60’s. Again, I’m not complaining. This is, after all, October.
The houses around are all decorated for fall. Corn stalks stand next to front doors, pumpkins are on steps, a few stuffed Draculas sit waiting for victims and colorful gourds fill baskets. My neighbors across the street always put out a scarecrow and some pumpkins. My front step has a basket with gourds and I have hung out my fall flag, the one with apples. This is such a pretty time of the year.
Today syfy is presenting scary monsters like the boogeyman. My sister always thought he lived under her bed. Lots of kids did. If he wasn’t under the bed, everyone knew he was hiding in the closet. The boogeyman only came out at night. Things just aren’t scary in the light of day. If I hear a noise and the dog barks, I throw caution to the wind in the daytime and throw open the front door to see what might be going on, something which made Gracie bark. At night I proceed far more slowly. I turn the outside light on and look out the windows at the top of the door. Gracie is usually right behind waiting for that door to open. She’s as curious as I am. When I open the door, we never see anything.
I remember one night when Maggie, another Boxer of mine, jumped out of bed, stood at the top of the stairs and barked her scariest, deepest bark. I jumped out of bed and turned the hall light on and was ready to go downstairs. Just as I did that, Maggie turned around and jumped on the bed. She had scared the bejesus out of me but there she was unconcerned and back to sleep. I wondered if maybe a fox or a coyote had walked by the house. I never thought about the boogeyman.
Categories: Musings
Tags: barking dog, boogeyman, cooler, corn stalks, decorated houses, gourds, hiding under the bed, pumpkins, rain, Red Sox win, scary night, weather
Comments: 8 Comments
September 16, 2013
Lately the days seem the same. The mornings are cold with the sun nowhere to be found. Today a dampness makes it feel even chillier. I’m thinking I might have to put in my back storm door. That’s the door I leave open so Gracie can come and go, but the cold comes all the way down the hall from the screen. I hate the thought that it might be storm door time for even that one door. The windows have been closed for the last three or four days. I’m not liking this at all. I want my sun back. I want warm days.
When I was a kid, I didn’t care much about what the weather was each day. I did want snow in the winter and warm days for swimming in the summer, but as for the other two seasons, I had no preferences. I’d take the days as they came except for Halloween. I didn’t want rain. As for any day rain, I never really minded getting soaked walking home from school. I’d get home, skip the play clothes and get cozy in my pajamas. I lie in bed and read. I can still see the window at the foot of my bed and the rain drops hitting the glass then sliding to the bottom. The fiercer the storm the better.
I can’t stand my feet being cold. They make my whole body feel cold so I put on my fleece-lined slippers, but sometimes they aren’t enough. I have to add socks. In winter, I spend the days at home wearing those slippers, flannel pants and a sweatshirt. It’s become my winter uniform. Right now I’m wearing those slippers and thinking of adding a sweatshirt. The house is only 66˚, colder than I keep it during the winter.
My mother kept her house too hot in the winter. We used to wear t-shirts inside and complain about how hot it was. She was always cold except for her feet. On them she wore slippers with open toes and no backs. I wish I had inherited her warm feet.
Now I tolerate cold and heat far less than I used to when I was younger. On the last two trips to Ghana, my hair was always soaked with sweat. I don’t remember that happening when I lived there so long ago. I used to wear a t-shirt all winter; now the sweatshirt is a must. I’m beginning to understand my mother and her need for a hot house.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 66˚, closed windows, cold mornings, dampness, flannel lined slippers, grey days, open slippers, rain, storn doors, sweatshirts, walking home from school, warm feet, where's the sun?
Comments: 12 Comments
September 13, 2013
The rain started when I was sleeping but wasn’t unexpected. It is still raining but hardly, only drop by drop slowly, and I can hear the drops falling on the umbrella. The day has a calmness about it despite the rain. The house is dark and quiet. Today is a favorite sort of day.
Yesterday Gracie had a run-in with a baby spawn which sounds a bit redundant so maybe spawnette would be a better word. Anyway, I heard a bit of a commotion and went into the yard. Gracie had the spawnette running through and around her legs. It was the safest place, a spot where Gracie couldn’t get at it. Gracie kept trying but wasn’t too successful. Finally the creature started to run and the paw got it, sort of flattened the spawn which then ran between Gracie’s legs again. It tried running away a few times but each time Gracie got it. I yelled for Gracie to come, and, as usual, Gracie ignored me. Here’s the irony: I used the hose on Gracie who ran. The spawn went underneath the outdoor shower for safety. I went into the house: mission accomplished. A bit later Gracie came in: her nose and mouth were covered in dirt. I knew she’d been digging. Sure as heck she’d dug a hole under the shower. I didn’t find a dead spawn so it must have gotten away. Much to her consternation, I washed Gracie’s face and cleaned her mouth.
The dry season in northern Ghana lasted half the year. We used to check out the morning sky and say it looked like rain, knowing we had months before it would rain again. The water was often turned off for two or three days most weeks, but we usually knew in advance so we filled our metal buckets with water and lined them up against the wall in the shower room. We also filled every water bottle. At night I’d take a bucket bath and then use the remaining water to flush the toilet. Without water, the grasses turned brown and the soil became dust. Any traveling meant dust in you mouth and all over your body and your clothes. Mammy lorries traveling on laterite roads were followed by dust clouds. I always thought of the old west and stagecoaches when I saw dust billowing behind the lorries.
I loved the start of the rainy season when the storms were most dramatic with thunder shaking the house and lightning bolts hitting the ground where you could see them. I loved the rain when it fell in Bolga.
Categories: Musings
Tags: baby spawn of Satan, bucket bath, dark and calm, dog the hole digger, dramatic storms, drops on the umbrella, dry season, Ghana, Gracie and the squirrel, hosed down, rain, rainy season
Comments: 22 Comments
August 19, 2013
This morning was a put a mirror under her nose to see if she’s still breathing type of morning. The alarm woke me at 8 so I could go to breakfast at 9, but I called my friend and cancelled. I was just too tired. Going back to sleep was no problem nor was sleeping two more hours. Even Gracie and Fern settled back down on the bed with me; however, I’m now awake and they’re not. Both are having their morning naps: Fern in the sun and Gracie in her crate. I can hear Gracie’s snores all the way down the hall.
Yesterday my friends gave me a birthday dinner. We sat on the deck and played our card game, Phase 10, before dinner and I won. The crowd cheered. Okay, no crowd was there, but had they been, they would have cheered loudly and maybe even given me a standing O. During the game, it started to rain, but we stayed dry under the umbrella. We heard the best of sounds, the drops of rain hitting the umbrella above us. It would rain then stop for a while then rain again. After the game, we left the rain and the deck and went inside for dinner. I ate only a little as I wasn’t feeling tip-top, but I did manage to scoff down the desert: lemon brownies. I got a plateful of dinner to take home so I’ll enjoy it today.
The only low point of the evening was the Sox lost to the dreaded Yankees. At one point in the game, it looked as if there would be a melee. That was right after A-Rod got hit by the ball when he was at bat. The crowd cheered the hit on A-Rod then the benches cleared and the bullpens came in just in case, but nothing happened except Girardi got tossed out for throwing his hat on the dirt in front of the umpire while he was screaming at the guy for not tossing out the pitcher. I understand his anger but tossing his hat is a bit childish. A-Rod later hit a home run, his sort of revenge.
Today is a take it easy day. I have a chore or two, but nothing imperative. I’m even thinking I might have an afternoon nap. The day is sunny but pleasantly cool and tonight will be even cooler, a good night for sleeping. That sounds most appealing.
Categories: Musings
Tags: A-Rod hit, birthday dinner, cool day, cool night, dog snoring, exhausted, Is she alive?, mirror under her nose, Phase 10, rain, Red Sox, sleep until 10, take it easy day, Umbrella, Yankees
Comments: 10 Comments
August 10, 2013
Yesterday’s rain had a tropical feel about it. It was preceded by the wind, came down in torrents then disappeared. Later, in the evening, the rain came again but only intermittent wiper rain. Today has no humidity. The breeze even feels cool. Gracie isn’t panting.
I never buy lottery tickets, but I always plan what I’d do with the money. My family, my sisters and my niece and nephews, would each be given a good chunk, in the 6 figure range. I’d travel, but that’s an easy one. I’d plan an amazing trip to exotic places and invite people to come along for the journey. I wouldn’t be offended if they refused, given the off-beat places I want to go, places like Bora Bora, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, India, Botswana for a safari and a trip along the Okavango, Madagascar and a few more of the Pacific Islands. I’d go to Ghana, but no one seems interested in going with me except my sister Moe. The trip wouldn’t have to be all at once. We could do it in geographic chunks with stops at home to catch up with ourselves. I know this all dreaming, but I love to dream.
I saw a coyote in my car lights last night as it was walking on my street. It was a small one, maybe young. He crossed another street and went into a backyard. I lost track then.
Bare feet give me a different perspective on the world. I walk across the grass to get the papers and my feet get wet from the morning watering. On the deck, I sometimes step on those small acorns, and my foot jumps into the air hurting just a little. During the afternoon, the deck wood is hot from the sun, and I hurry to get under the shade of the umbrella. In the backyard, I walk on dirt and sand. They each feel different to my feet. In the house, the floors are cool in the morning but never feel warm in the afternoon. At night, my feet sometimes get cold even though it’s summer. When I put on my sandals, Gracie knows I’m going somewhere. When I was a kid and my mother put on lipstick, I knew she was going somewhere. It’s the unusual, shoes for me and lipstick for my mother, both dead giveaways.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bare feet, cold feet, dream trip, Dreams, lottery tickets, lovely day, rain, sandals, small acorns
Comments: 31 Comments
August 9, 2013
Today is like being shut in a closet with no air. The sky is cloudy, and the humidity is high, way too high. The breeze is blowing, the sort of breeze which comes before a storm. It sprinkled a bit earlier but that doesn’t count. Only real rain counts, heavy drops of rain.
I went to breakfast this morning with my retired friends. We go out once a month. I went spicy with linguica, Monterey Ray Jack cheese and salsa: all served on one side of a Portuguese roll.
The painting continues. This time it is the upstairs bathroom and the color is green. I can’t describe the exact sort of green as I forget the name because I didn’t really pay attention. I was only making sure it matched one of the cloths in my Ghanaian shower curtain. It will take forever to dry in this humidity.
I am generally verbose, but today I seem to have nothing more worth mentioning. I have a blank dance card. I suppose I can drag myself to buy flowers to fill a few of the empty spots in the front garden, but I don’t have the energy, and beside, I don’t want to get wet if it rains again. I might just have to be content staying home and watching the programs I recorded.
Yesterday was alien invasion day on the Syfy channel, and all of them were bent on Earth domination and the destruction of the human race. That got me thinking about friendly aliens, there being so few. E.T. came to mind easily. I also remember Starman with Jeff Bridges. One of my favorite little conversations in that movie occurred while he was driving and just after he had driven through a red light. “Okay? Are you crazy? You almost got us killed! You said you watched me, you said you knew the rules!” His answer: “I watched you very carefully. Red light stop, green light go, yellow light go very fast.” My favorite alien name is Paul. Klaatu got nicer as the movie progressed even though he’d been shot. Superman is an alien but I don’t really count him. After all, he did grow up here.
Yesterday one of the movies was Independence Day-Saster. It did steal from a similarly named movie, but it had its own little quirks. I liked the name of that movie, another made up SyFy channel name. Last night’s movie, a new one, had an ordinary name, and I was disappointed. Invasion Roswell, the name of the movie, seemed to sum up the entire plot. I watched it anyway. The Sox were losing so I switched channels. I think the movie ended up being the better choice.
Categories: Musings
Tags: alien invasion, death of the human race, empty dance card, friendly aliens, house painting, out to breakfast, plant store, rain, world domination
Comments: 11 Comments
August 8, 2013
Unlike the past few days, the weather this morning is humid and cloudy with intermittent rain, a soft rain you barely notice, but the paper does say a chance of thunder showers throughout the day and has predicted them for tonight and tomorrow, but right now the sun is working its way from behind the clouds seems to be struggling, maybe even losing the battle for today’s weather. The breeze is a bit stronger, always a bad sign on a cloudy, damp day.
Yesterday I earned a blue ribbon. I did my laundry, finally, all two loads, watered the inside and outside plants, paid all my bills, did four errands, filled the bird feeders and took all the stuff off the walls in the bathroom which is right now being painted and then around 6:30 met my friend for dinner. Today I have one stop, to buy more flowers for the front garden and some bird seed, then I’m going Peapod on-line grocery shopping. I think I have been the ant, not the grasshopper, for the last two days and deserve a few days of rest which I will gladly take.
We never needed back to school clothes except for a new pair of shoes and one outfit, for the first day, as after that we wore uniforms. My mother was glad for those uniforms as they saved her so much money. Outfitting four kids was expensive. We didn’t care about wearing them because that’s all we knew and all our friends wore them too. Even in high school I had a uniform; all Catholic high school students wore one sort of uniform or another.
My students in Ghana had three different uniforms. Most bought the cloth and had the dresses made. The classroom uniforms were lilac and all the students wore same style and color, regardless of which level they were. I remember watching students iron the uniforms using a charcoal iron. The uniforms were always stiff with starch and wrinkled easily. The students also had their afternoon chore dresses, and there were four different patterns, each one designating the graduation year of the student. The dresses were simple: one piece. Their Sunday bests, wore for church service and into town, were traditional, generally three pieces, and were also four different patterns. You could identify whether the student was T1, T2, T3 or T4 just by the pattern. The patterns followed the students from one year to the next so they only had to buy whatever they had grown out of or worn out. The incoming T1’s would have their own patterns.
I thought of my students when I saw Harry Potter and his friends go into town for the day, for the one day they were allowed off grounds. For my students it was Sunday. They could have visitors come or the older students could go into town to do some shopping, and usually a photographer or two came to the school and took pictures of students into their spiffiest clothes. I have a few of those pictures which were given to me as gifts so I wouldn’t forget my students. They did the same thing at the ceremony last summer. They had a photographer come and take pictures of the event and individual pictures of me with one of them, and they ordered copies. This time it was so they wouldn’t forget me.
Categories: Musings
Tags: back-to-school clothes, bird feeders, Bolgatanga Women's Teacher Training College, errands, Ghana, humidity, Laundry, rain, school uniforms, sun, working
Comments: 12 Comments
August 2, 2013
Last night it poured but not until well after dinner. It started about the time my guests were leaving. I went out to the deck after they had left just as the rain was starting and found the umbrella lights were on so I turned them off and brought in a few dishes I had left near the grill. This morning in the daylight I checked the deck again but everything had been cleared. I came inside, made coffee and went to get the papers. Just as I got back inside the house, it started raining again, heavily.
The rain has stopped now and the day is dreary at best. I can hear drops falling from the leaves. I feel a chill from the window behind me, the sort dampness brings.
Today is a day to stay off the roads so I’ll occupy myself here. I have a few books I can start and laundry I might do, but after all of my doings yesterday, a day of rest might be what I need. Dinner was delicious. The sausages were just right as were the peppers and onions. I had bought brioche rolls and I toasted them on the grill. I caught them at just the right time. I had the fixings for a salad, but we ate almost all of the cheese and crackers before dinner so no salad. Dessert was coconut ice cream with sea salt chocolate caramel sauce. We didn’t talk during dessert; we just ate.
The Red Sox capped off our evening with an exciting walk-off win. They were down 7-1 when I first checked and 7-2 when I checked again. We decided to eat dessert inside and watch the rest of the game. It was spectacular. People had left because of the score, and I suspect they’ll lie about it if asked. How can you admit you gave up on the Sox and missed one amazing finale?
Days like today invite lethargy. I’m not even going to get dressed. For lunch I’ll have a sausage sandwich and for dinner I’ll add a salad to those sausages. A zapping in the microwave and lunch and dinner will be ready. The cats and the dog are napping. They all had such strenuous mornings lying around doing nothing. They inspire me!
Categories: Musings
Tags: dark day, dreary, lethargic, naps, rain, Red Sox, sausages, walk-off win
Comments: 20 Comments
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