Posted tagged ‘sun’
April 13, 2013
Spawns of Satan is already taken so I don’t know what to call the bird that pecks the side of my house and wakes me up. It has found the most inaccessible spot for me to get at it to shoo it away. I’m thinking a hose with the water at its strongest will reach the spot and scare away the bird. I wouldn’t dare try a stone because I’d probably break a window though it isn’t really all that close to the bird’s spot. It’s not a woodpecker, but I think it’s a nuthatch. Whatever it is doesn’t matter. That bird is going down!
It is still a damp day though the rain has stopped. The temperature is supposed to be in the 40’s and by mid-week close to 60˚. I think the sun would help if it would only come out of hiding.
I have to venture onto the deck later to fill the feeders. I watch the birds from the window while I wait for my coffee and have noticed how bright and beautiful the male gold finches are. Today I also had two house finches and a flicker. My stalwart chickadees have returned though they are fewer than usual.
The mornings are alive with the songs of birds. I woke up at one point and couldn’t see the clock but knew it must be close to dawn as I could hear birds welcoming the day. That is one of the best parts of spring: that the days are again filled with sound. Winter tends to blunt them. We all stay warm and secluded in our houses. The decks and yards are empty. We go from the house to the car to the store to the car and then home. Warm spring days, though, call to us to come outside. The sun is inviting. The world is alive again. It’s as if we’re shedding our winter coats and, like bears, leaving our caves. The long hibernation is finally over.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bird feeders, bird songs, birds, damp, flicker, gold finches, mornings, rain, spring, sun
Comments: 21 Comments
March 31, 2013
The sun is shining on this Easter morning. The air is still, and the day is getting warmer. No winter coats will cover pastel Easter dresses. I can hear birds singing even though the windows are closed. Yesterday I saw a few buds on one of my bushes. The buds are tiny and closed tightly, but they are another sign that spring is gaining hold.
The alarm rang at 6:15 this morning, and I turned it off and went back to sleep for an hour. I had set it early so I could sneak down my friends’ house and decorate the tree which hangs over their deck: it’s an annual Easter surprise. Though if it’s annual, is it really a surprise? Anyway, when I realized how late it was, I was afraid they’d be awake, but Gracie and I went anyway. The car was covered in frost so I scrapped the windows and off we went. At their house, all the shades were down so they were still abed. I went on the deck and started decorating. One of the giant decorated paper lanterns fell over the deck rail. That meant walking off the deck then all around the outside of the deck and through the underbrush to retrieve it. That was an adventure. The leaves and branches were soaked and sucked up one of my slippers. I had to yank it out of the muck. I found a bird feeder covered in wet leaves and put it on the deck rail. I also saw a mango. I’m still perplexed a bit about the mango, strange spot for one. While I was mucking about, the door opened and out came Darci, their dog. Whoever let her out never looked so I wasn’t caught. I walked back to the deck, petted Darci for a while, hung the lantern then sneaked away. I just got a call thanking me for the surprise and telling me how lovely the tree looks.
I remember so well Easter Sunday mass when I was young. The church was always beautiful and filled with light. The sun shined through the stained glass windows. The dark purple of lent had been replaced by white and all the statues were uncovered. Flowers decorated the floor in front of and all around the altar. I remember the lilies because they were the tallest. The church was always crowded. Women wore hats, fancy hats with veils, small see through veils that went down as far as their eyes. The men wore suits and carried their hats into the church. Little girls wore dresses in pinks and blues and all the different shades of pastel. They wore short white gloves and round hats with ribbons. Their shoes were patent leather, both black and white, and were worn with fancy white socks with lace around the edges. Some boys wore suits, ones with jackets checkered in the front. Others wore white shirts and ties and new pants with deep creases. The shoes were always new and always with laces. The choir sang at Easter. If I had known the word back then, I would have said it was majestic, mass on Easter Sunday.
Happy Easter!
Categories: Musings
Tags: birds, church', decorating, dressy clothes, Easter, hats, Light, lilies, majesty, Mass, new shoes, pastel dresses, suits, sun, Tree, veils
Comments: 14 Comments
March 21, 2013
The clouds still blanketed the sky when I woke up, but I am passed caring. The dull, dark days have been the norm for months or even years: I’ve lost count. The sun appears periodically during a piece of the day, and I get so excited by the sight of if I think we should all dance in the streets wearing brightly colored clothes and flowers in our hair to commemorate the occasion. Then the sun disappears and toys with us no more. Today has just become one of those days. The sun has broken through the clouds, and the sky is turning blue. It’s cold, but it’s sunny. I’m okay with that.
Happy spring! We celebrated yesterday with our annual ceremony: sunrise at the beach, a few songs and then breakfast. Yesterday, though, was a bit different. It was so cold Clare, Tony and I sat in the car and waited. When the sun rose above the water, we ran out for pictures and sang Morning has Broken at a quick pace then ran back into the car to sing Rockin’ Robin. Usually we find a shell to remember the day, but this year we didn’t. The sand was hard and the wind was whipping so much none of us wanted to brave the elements to go down by the water. We watched the sun for a bit then left the beach and went to a new spot for us for breakfast called Good Friends. It is a small place with a paneled pine wall on one side, very old Cape Cod interior decorating still found in some rental cottages. My breakfast was delicious. When I got home, I went back to bed.
My back is troublesome, wincing, yelping troublesome. Luckily I had my yearly physical yesterday, and the doctor gave me some pills to alleviate the pain, and he wants my back x-rayed. I’ll do that tomorrow. I’ve already taken this morning’s pills, and now I’m ready to dance. I will, of course, be wearing my brightly colored clothes.
When I was little, I had a million dreams. None of them had to do with money or being rich. They were dreams of adventure and daring and seeing the world. I’ve been lucky and have lived many of those dreams. This morning, while I was waiting for the monkey poop coffee to drip, I watched the birds through the window and thought about dreams, my now dreams. Amazingly they haven’t really changed much though money has crept in as a part of those dreams. I want to go to Botswana on a safari and see the Okavango Delta, and I want one more trip to Ghana. Both of those are expensive so I got to thinking about an austerity campaign to save money. I like my creature comforts, but I figure giving up a few is a small sacrifice to fulfill some dreams.
Categories: Musings
Tags: blue sky, Botswana, breakfast, Dreams, Ghana, Good Friends, happy spring, Morning Has Broken, Rockin' Robin, sun, travel
Comments: 26 Comments
March 14, 2013
Yesterday was a delight. Though it was a bit chilly, the sun shined all day. I left my self-imposed hibernation and went outside to do some yard work and Gracie came with me. When I’d finished, I stood on the deck for a while and watched Gracie try to figure out how to carry a slightly deflated basketball in her mouth. She managed and ran around the yard in triumph. I did a laundry, changed my bed and the cat litter, filled the feeders and went on an errand. It was an industrious day all brought about because of the sun. It was like I had my battery recharged. Today is cloudy.
The mouse trap sat in the cellar for over a week, and I only caught two. It is now on the kitchen floor, and I haven’t caught any. Once there were mice. I cleaned out a kitchen drawer and found cloth and cardboard had been gnawed into small pieces, and the mice had left their familiar droppings. I threw stuff away, put most in the dishwasher and hand-washed other stuff. When I took out the drawer, I found piles of chewed paper and more droppings underneath it. With a vengeance, I scrubbed the drawer and under the drawer, and now that everything is clean, I keep checking both drawers, but there are no more tell-tale signs of current mice in residence. I’ll leave the trap for a few more days, but I’m guessing it was Maddie who rid this floor of rodents.
I never saw wild life when I was a kid. I don’t even remember seeing a skunk. I saw lots of fireflies, grasshoppers, tadpoles, frogs and a few snakes, but that was it. The only wildlife I saw was in the zoo. It never occurred to me I was missing anything. I got to see the cows at the farm and the horse in the pasture not far from my house, and that was enough. Here on the Cape I have seen coyotes, foxes, deer, possums, raccoons and skunks. The latest are the wild turkeys. They are numerous and don’t mind strolling down the street as if in a parade. I love it when I see any of these animals. It means the Cape still has space for both of us.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Clouds, coyotes, deer, fireflies, foxes, grasshoppers, industrious, mice, mouse trap, recharged battery, sun, turkeys, wild animals, wild life
Comments: 16 Comments
March 8, 2013
Earliest I sloshed my way to the mailbox and then to the driveway to get the papers. My road is slush covered. Tire marks show the route of my paper delivery, and when I got inside, I could see my footprints. It is lightly snowing, slanted and from the northeast, but I can also hear drips on the deck from the roof. The weather for today is rainy and cold with temperatures in the 30’s. I just hope it stays above freezing. The wind was with us all night but has since pretty much disappeared. On the early news was a house which had fallen into the ocean. I suspect it won’t be the last as the rain pits and wears away the dunes. This is just ugly. The only bright spot is I have heat and electricity.
I stood at the back door while the coffee perked. The storm is a bit mesmerizing with the snow coming across rather than down. The railing on the deck outside the door has an inch or more of what used to be snow and is now slush. That slush is the color of cement and Gracie’s paw prints look permanent as if she walked across the new part of a sidewalk. Lots of birds are hovering around the feeder, the squirrel buster feeder. I filled it the other day so there is plenty of seed. All of the birds are gold finches still clad in their dull winter feathers.
March is a difficult month. It doesn’t know whether it wants to be the first spring month or the last month of winter. Easter is at the end of the month so March best make up its mind. Light dresses and pastels don’t work as well with winter coats.
I know they’ll be snow and frost and windshield scraping. I have lived in New England all of my life and haven’t thought about moving anywhere else. Winter is the price we pay for spring and fall, especially fall. All I ask is a sunny day, a winter’s sunny day is fine with me. I know the winter sun is sharper and colder, but sun is sun, and it makes me glad.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bird feeders, cold, Easter, flooding, gold finches, March, New England, New Englanders, rain, slush, Snow, spring, sun, Wind, window scraping
Comments: 23 Comments
March 4, 2013
The sky is so blue it defies description. The sun is shining brightly, but it’s not enough. The day is still cold. A breeze, maybe even enough to be called a wind, is keeping the warmth at bay. Spring is always late to Cape Cod, and I know that wind which seems to blow most days is to blame.
My garden has more buds and even has some flowers, but the pile of snow by the driveway has only melted a little. I think it’s winter’s way of reminding us that it still holds sway. Last night we had a snow shower.
The garden centers are still empty.
Today Gracie has a well dog visit at the vets. Next week I have my annual physical. I have a feeling Gracie will do better than I. She eats better food, has more exercise and stays away from sweets. She gets checked for heart worm. I get checked for cholesterol. I’d rather be checked for heart worm. I stand a better chance of a low number.
I always watch The Amazing Race. I love to see the countries they visit. On this race they have already been to Bora Bora and are now in New Zealand, two strikingly beautiful countries. I’ve watched the program so many years I know what the teams can expect though I don’t know the specific tasks. I know swimming is probably involved as is driving a car with a shift. Heights too often come into play. If I know that, why don’t all the teams? On most races there is at least one team member who can’t swim or is afraid of heights or doesn’t know how to drive a shift. On this race, a team of brothers didn’t know how to swim. One of the first tasks was, of course, in the water. They were eliminated that week. Last night driving was involved: one member of a team had only a couple of lessons driving a shift. Her car stalled and you could hear her grinding the gears, but she did finally manage the task after several tries. I’m too old for The Amazing Race. It is a younger person’s race and most of the older couples are eliminated fairly early, but I do have a job in mind. I want to be that person who goes from country to country setting up the tasks and planning each leg. I was born for that job!
Categories: Musings
Tags: Amazing Race, blue sky, cold wind, garden flowers, sun, vet appointment
Comments: 29 Comments
February 25, 2013
Today I woke up nearer afternoon than morning. It had been a late night. I watched the Oscars at my friends’ house then came home, checked e-mail and watched a little TV. Before I realized it, the time had slipped away and it was after 3.
Yesterday it poured all day, but last night, as I was going home, the rain had turned to heavy snow and it was slushy and slippery, but right now the day is lovely with blue skies, lots of sun and a bit of warmth. I have feeders to fill, dog food to buy and laundry to do. That’s my agenda for the day. I hope I can manage.
I can see the white flowers of the drooping snowdrops in my garden. They don’t mind snow or cold. They are spring’s first miracle. Other green shoots are just appearing through the soil, but in one part of the front garden, the dafs have grown high. Perhaps yellow buds will be next.
Winter is beginning to weight me down. I am tired of cold and snow. I don’t remember ever before being so anxious for spring. Usually I just hibernate with good books, and I’m fine with that and patient with the weather. Maybe all the rain we’ve had, those days without heat or the heavy snowstorms have pushed me to ache for spring. I want one day when the deck is the perfect spot to be.
I don’t like vacations centered on the beach, even when I’m sick of winter. I want to see things, to eat new food and to hear a language not my own. I like old places, even ancient places. The fun of a new city is wandering and getting lost and finding wonders on the way. Sometimes I take all rights or all lefts. I like to sit in the sun at a table at a sidewalk cafe and drink coffee and watch the world go by. When I shop, I look for the unusual. I take a lot of pictures. I am partial to doors and windows. I always think of the generations of people who looked through those same windows and I wonder what they saw. I walk so much I am exhausted and always fall asleep early.
Today I’ll have no adventures, but I do have some sun and some warmth. I guess that will have to do.
Categories: Musings
Tags: ancient cities, dafs, deck, dog food, old places, sidewalk cafes, snowdrops, sun, sunny day, tired of winter, travel, vacations, warm day, winter
Comments: 30 Comments
November 25, 2012
I think the sun has appeared, a bit muted behind a cloudy sky, but I swear it’s sunlight, not very warm sunlight though as the day is cold and will be getting colder. A few inches of snow are still predicted for the Boston area next week. The Cape will be spared.
I have another mouse, a brazen mouse. It lives here in the den. The other day I thought I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, but when I looked, I saw nothing. That happened a couple of times then I caught sight of the grey mouse. It was around the room a lot that day scavenging stuff I must have dropped under the table when I was snacking. Today it has been all over the den, including on my foot a few times so I put my feet off the floor on the tops of the baskets under the table, but the mouse found my feet anyway. I think it’s the fur on my slippers attracting it. The mouse also joined me on the couch and was sitting on the arm. One cat noticed but the mouse disappeared under something, and the cat lost interest. My feet are now on the top of the table, and I’ve put a box on the floor hoping the mouse will get curious then I’ll zap on the lid and take the critter for a long ride before I let it loose. Somewhere in the cellar is my have-a-heart trap, and I’m determined to find it and capture that critter as the box is a long shot. I just jumped from what I thought was the mouse, but it was the wires from my laptop on my foot.
Yesterday was an out and about day. I actually made five stops during the day and went out to dinner last night with my nephew. Today is designated do nothing day or at least nothing constructive. Gracie and the two cats are asleep here in the den with me. They are my role models!
UPDATE: The Mouse has met its demise but I don’t know by whom as I had left the room for a while.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Cat, cold, field mouse, mouse, sun, trap
Comments: 28 Comments
November 20, 2012
It was not a hallucination. I swear when I first woke up this morning there was sun. I smiled, turned over, went back to sleep and missed it. By the time I woke up for good, it was gone; however, these familiar clouds have proverbial silver linings. On the weather last night we were fifteen degrees warmer than Boston and Southern New Hampshire. The weatherman said it was a combination of the warmer ocean and the cloud effect so I have stopped complaining about the lack of sunlight. I’ll just take more vitamin D than usual.
With Thanksgiving being an American holiday we still had to teach when I was in Ghana, but that didn’t stop us from honoring the day. We had a huge Thanksgiving dinner one year with several guests, one turkey, a few chickens, side dishes and pies. The owner of the turkey was a hard bargainer and Thomas, the cook, had to follow the man all the way to his village before he’d sell the turkey. When I was in Bolga last summer, I was amazed by the number of turkeys wandering around. In my two years living there I saw only that one which ended up being the showcase of our feast. The chickens you bought live, still do. You get to pick yours like we pick lobsters from the tank. The man hands you the chicken by its bound feet. I used to hang them from the arms of my moto (motorcycle) to get them home. Someone else always sent the chickens to their heavenly reward. I never could. The year of the giant feast we plucked the chickens. All of them, already having met their demise, were brought to us in a huge bucket. All of a sudden a few of them popped right out of the bucket onto the ground. No, they didn’t run around without their heads. They just popped. I knew scientifically why that had happened but it was still sort of amazing in its own weird way.
That was the year I made my very first pies ever, pawpaw pies. I made the dough, cut up the pawpaws and then added sugar and cinnamon. The cookbook Peace Corps had given us, Ghana Chop (chop being food), said that pawpaw pie would taste just like apple when you added the spices. I brought the two pies to the school’s beehive, clay oven. The cooks put them on the side of the oven away from the intense heat of the middle, but they still took only about 15 or 20 minutes to cook. They were delicious and they tasted exactly like apple pies.
That Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorites.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Chicken, cloud effect, couds, Ghana, Peace Corps, sun, Thanksgiving dinner, warm ocean
Comments: 7 Comments
October 18, 2012
In the den, where I spend so much time, is the window to my world. From that window I can see a part of the deck and the backyard. At night the lights on the topiary in the corner of the deck and the lights in the back yard on the bottle tree easily draw my eyes. Both brighten the darkness. During the morning, especially this time of morning, I can see the sun shining through the leaves of the oak tree. In the summer the whole tree seems to sparkle in the light. Now, the lower branches closest to the deck are in shadow. The sun has changed position.
I am a window person. When I travel, I take pictures of windows. Mostly I take pictures from inside looking out and imagine the people who lived there looking out those same windows. In some places, the views have changed over time but in other places the views are exactly the same. I remember the view from the window on the landing in Dickens’ house. I imagined him stopping for just a moment to look out that window as he was going down the stairs, and I was thrilled to think I was standing where Dickens used to stand. Some Inca and I shared the same view from a house in Macchu Picchu. At Versailles I figured the king might have watched from the front window where I stood.
Doors have never interested me. It is the transparency of windows which draws me. I look out and watch the snow fall. I hear and see the rain as it pelts the glass. My garden in the summer is an array of colors, and I can admire it from the front windows. Doors keep the world away. Windows draw us in and sometimes draw us out.
Categories: Musings
Tags: deck, lights, Macchu Picchu, sun, topiary, Versailles, Window
Comments: 22 Comments
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