Posted tagged ‘sun’
August 30, 2016
Most mornings are starting the same way. I turn off the air conditioner because the air is cool. The sun bobs in and out of the clouds. It gets dark for a while then lightens. The animals nap. Maddie prefers the chair, Fern the couch and Gracie her crate. I have a couple of cups of coffee, one with each newspaper. It is quiet both inside and outside.
Yesterday I did laundry. Today we’re going to the dump. Peapod came last night so now my larder is full. Mostly I order the same things, but this time I added a few new items. I bought popsicles. They didn’t have root beer so I went with the combo of cherry, orange and grape. I’m not a big grape fan, but I do love cherry. I also bought bagels, onion bagels. I like them toasted crispy and slathered with cream cheese. I also went wild and ordered crunchy peanut butter.
I had a hankering for Chinese food yesterday so I ordered take out for dinner. It was delicious: jumbo shrimp, spare ribs and house special fried rice. I added the hot mustard to the sweet sauce for dipping. My eyes watered from the heat of the combination. It reminded me of my father who used the mustard straight. He had to blow his nose a lot. It was a good thing he carried handkerchiefs.
Usually I fall asleep almost as soon as I go to bed. Last night was an exception. I didn’t even go upstairs until after one and then tossed and turned for an hour. I gave up the idea of sleeping and watched Netflix on my iPad. It was The Fifth Wave, not a great movie but good enough for two in the morning. It wasn’t enough. I was still wide awake. I watched a few episodes of The Last Ship. By then it was after four. Finally, I fell asleep. I’m tired.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bagels, chinese food, Clouds, coffee, cream cheese, hot sauce, mornings, newspapers, Nteflix, Peapod, popsicles, quiet, sleeping pets, sleepless, sun, tired, two in the morning
Comments: 14 Comments
August 21, 2016
Oh, what a beautiful morning. Oh, what a beautiful day! It is cool and sunny with that clear light of morning. Last night I didn’t even need air conditioning. Tonight we’re getting rain, but not just rain; we’re getting a thunderstorm. I don’t even remember the last time it rained.
I have noticed the darkness creeping in earlier now. We are losing two and a half minutes of light every day. According to the weatherman, a couple of nights this week will be in the high 50’s, a warning that cool nights and crisp mornings are getting closer. They are harbingers of fall. I love when it when late flowers color the front garden. The white clematis are starting to appear on the sides and tops of the front fence. Black-eyed Susans are still in bloom. A white flower whose name I’ve forgotten is budding in the garden next to the house. Soon it will bloom. That unnamed flower has spread across one whole side of the garden. When it blooms, it looks so lovely with the green house as a backdrop.
Tonight we are having our first movie. I have chosen Dick, but it is on order from Amazon prime, and they are saying by eight tonight. I’m hoping for sooner or we may have to choose another movie. The main dish for this evening is hot dogs. I have a hot dog machine which rolls the dogs over and over and also warms the rolls. It needs no tending. I’m going to pick up an appetizer or two, popcorn and some movie candy. We have birthday cake for dessert. I’m hoping my friends find Dick as amusing as I do.
I have two errands to do which makes this the third day in a row I have joined the outside world. Goodbye to comfy clothes.
Categories: Musings
Tags: beautiful day, beautiful morning, clematis, cool, Dick, flowers, front garden, garden, hot dogs, movie candy, popcorn, sun, sunny
Comments: 13 Comments
May 21, 2016
Such a beautiful day it is today. We have sun, a breeze and some white clouds hiding the blue. Rain is predicted, but I can’t remember when.
I have a mystery. Every day at different times I find the corner of the living room rug turned up. Nothing is on or under the rug so I don’t understand why, and I certainly don’t know who, but Gracie is tops on my list of suspects. I’m thinking it’s a Gaslight thing.
Today I have little to say. The week was a busy one but it was mostly because of medical appointments for me and Fern. Nothing much to report except Fern needs more potassium. It’s coming in the mail.
Lawnmowers are disturbing the quiet of my neighborhood. Even my lawn is getting mowed though it hardly seemed tall enough to merit the cutting. I understand the attraction of gas powered mowers, but I miss the click clack of hand mowers, another sound from my childhood which has disappeared.
Snow on the TV is long gone. I remember my father adjusting the rabbit ears to get rid of the static sound of the snow. The ears were wrapped in aluminum foil to give the antenna greater reach. Lots of houses had antennas on the roof.
I remember when I was in Morocco and sitting at a table on the top floor of a restaurant in the old city. It seemed every house had a dish attached to its roof or to the side of the roof. Even the calls to prayer were computerized. I remember being in Bawku, Ghana living with a family for three weeks as part of my Peace Corps training. My room was close to the small mosque on the street below my bedroom so I could hear the call to prayer. The one around 3:30 always woke me up, but after a bit, I knew when it would end so I could go back to sleep. The call became part of my night. The singing of the prayer was beautiful.
I am not a Luddite. I have all sorts of machines, mostly in the kitchen, which make my life easier; however, I am saddened at the disappearance of so many things and so many sounds. The click clack always brought my father to mind. He never bought a power mower. I miss the bells on Sunday mornings. I miss the clinking of milk bottles, and I miss the milkman. I could go on and on. It is just one of those days. It all started with the sound of lawnmowers.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Bawku Ghana, beautiful day, book genres, breezy, call to prayer, click clack, Gaslight, lawnmowers, Luddite, mysteries, mystery, Peace Corps training, Snow, sun, TV antenna
Comments: 14 Comments
May 9, 2016
Run for your lives! Find a place to hide! Shield your eyes or you’ll go blind. Okay, I admit to a bit of exaggeration here, especially the going blind part, but I was raised on B science fiction movies and the warnings just came naturally because we have sun today for the first time in months, okay another exaggeration, but it has been a week or more since it was last here, and every day in that week it rained. This is my Noah I think I see a bird moment. I can see blue sky and the sun though it does pop in and out of the clouds, but I’ll take it anyway it comes. Today is warm. All the chilly dampness is gone. I am so stoked about going outside and not getting wet. The bird feeders are empty and need my attention. Any water in pots and on furniture covers has to be dumped so the deck can dry. I know I have sunglasses somewhere.
I have seen cartoons of me, not really me, but a perfect representation of me. I don’t have a pill box. I have a pill suitcase. With the number of containers you’d think I was a pharmaceutical rep, but no, they’re all mine. Most are preventative, but it doesn’t matter. The containers number in the teens. Now I need a cane or a walker to complete the picture. I can see myself wearing a chenille robe while bending over to use a walker to move a few inches at a time. That sound is my slippers making a scuffing noise as I walk.
I am in a whimsical mood brought about, I believe, by the return visit of the sun. I feel light and airy, a bit like Scrooge on Christmas morning when he found out the spirits had done it all in one night. I had become glum from all that rain, but the darkness has disappeared. I’m going into the light!
Categories: Musings
Tags: blue sky, run for your lives, spring day, sun, warm day
Comments: 10 Comments
May 6, 2016
I think I’m going crazy, the kind of crazy you get when you see ocean waves in the desert after you’ve crawled through the sand for days without water. This morning I swear I saw a bit of blue sky and a round bright orb hiding behind clouds. They’ve gone now so I’m questioning my sanity. Were they really there?
With all the rain this past week, I’m imagining plots to science fiction movies, bad science fiction movies. I see plants crawling up my legs or vines trying to grab me as I run to the car. Water creatures rise out of the front lawn and none of them are friendly. There better be sun soon or it will be too late.
At least the rain has stopped. Maybe my deck will dry so it can be sealed then readied for warmer weather. To say it is spring is a heart wrenching misnomer.
I have never been prissy. I had a couple of college friends who were prissy. One was the real life epitome of Mrs. Cleaver. My friend wore the exact same sort of sweaters and she wore pearls. I saw her at my class reunion, and she is still wearing sweaters and pearls. Even her glasses are a throw-back to the 50’s. She’s not making a statement or being a parody. It’s all real.
When I was younger, I used to dismiss the wardrobes of old ladies simply because they were old ladies. I figured they earned the right to wear anything they wanted. I am probably an old lady to the kids on my street. I can imagine them giving directions to my house, “The old lady lives in the green house with the garden in front.”I, however, have a wardrobe very different from the old ladies of my childhood. None of my clothes scream old lady. I have been dressing in the same way for years.
My Ghana fund goal has been met, and I still have a few months to save more. I’m thinking the more will be seed money for my next trip wherever. It has to be somewhere I’ve never been, and it can’t be continental Europe. I’m actually leaning toward Madagascar or Malta, but I think I’d do better with my money in Madagascar so Malta may be beyond my financial status.
I may not have time to post tomorrow as it is the multicultural fair day, and I usually help man the Peace Corps table so don’t worry if I’m missing!
Categories: Musings
Tags: blue sky, desert, going crazy, grabbing vines, Madagascar, Mrs. Cleaver, pearls, prissy, round orb, Science fiction, sun, sweaters, water creatures
Comments: 20 Comments
April 17, 2016
Today is a beautiful day despite the chill in the air. The sun is just so bright you have to squint when you go outside. The breeze is slight and only the tops of the pine trees sway a bit.
Yesterday I had my fish and chips for lunch, but they were more than just a lunch to me. They inaugurated the official start of summer food. Bring on the shrimp and the scallops. Light up the grill. I’m ready!
Operation Fern and Maddie isn’t going as easily as I’d hoped. Maddie runs and hides. Fern tries to run, but I usually catch her. This morning Fern got her liquid medicine, and I was able to rub the other one in her ear. Maddie took off. We played musical chairs for a while around the dining room table. I lost so she has yet to have a dose and she needs two. It is no big deal. I just have to rub medicine in each ear. That’s it. I could get her right now as she is asleep on the chair, but she loves to sleep there so I don’t want it associated with medicine. I’ll have to wait until she gets up and moves around.
The neighborhood is quiet, an unusual occurrence. It reminds me of when I was a kid, and Sunday was always a quite day. Every family had pretty much the same rituals: church then family dinner. There was a reverence about the day.
When I’d visit my parents for the weekend, Friday night was game night. My uncle got dropped off by one of his kids because after the night’s festivities they knew he shouldn’t get behind the wheel. He was a weekly visitor. Sometimes my aunt, not related to my uncle, also showed up. She was my father’s sister, and they unmercifully teased each other. The kitchen was the only room ever used. It was always noisy, even raucous. It was filled with laughs, even guffaws, at somebody’s expense. My dad was often the target. The room would be filled with smoke, and the backdoor, even in winter, was usually left open. The bar was on the counter. The person closest to the counter got stuck getting the drinks. We’d play game after game of cards. We’d play for hours. The room would get louder and louder. Many times I was the bartender. I used to joke with my parents and say I learned my bartending skills by the time I was six. When I delve into my memory drawer, I can still see the table filled all around, the bottles on the counter, the air thick with smoke and most of all I can hear the laughter. My uncle is the only one left of the Friday night gatherings. I have all the memories and I can still see everyone when I close my eyes and remember.
Categories: Musings
Tags: chasing cats, chill in the air, Fern and Maddie, Fish and chips, grilling, medicine for the cats, quiet, sun, Sunday
Comments: 18 Comments
April 11, 2016
The world is finally waking up from its winter’s sleep. The forsythia are starting to bloom so pockets of bright yellow are sitting along the roadside. The hyacinths have bloomed and are scattered in the gardens in a variety of colors. Mine are pink, purple and white. In the front garden I see small shoots getting taller every day. I don’t know what they are. I think maybe I just have to be patient to see what they’ll become.
In winter I abide the weather. That’s just the way it is. But as winter finishes its cycle, I get impatient for spring. I want gardens bright with flowers. I want warm days. I want color. Summer is another season I abide. When it first arrives, I am so happy to feel the warmth, to sit on the deck and to have all the windows open to the sounds of the birds and the sweet smell of the season. By August, though, the summer is too hot and humid. It is time to be inside with the air conditioner. I want cooler days. I am ready for the end of summer and the first stirrings of fall, my favorite of all the seasons. Fall never seems to last long enough. All of a sudden we have our first frost, and I am reminded it will be winter’s turn again, but now we are as far away from winter as we’ll ever be. I am so happy for the coming of spring.
The air is a bit chilly, but we have sun so I’m not going to complain. This morning it rained a bit, and I expected a cloudy, damp day. What a nice surprise to see blue skies and the sun so rare of late.
When I was a kid, this would be bicycle weather. My bike stayed in the cellar all winter and it was quite an ordeal to get it out of the cellar and up the stairs. A concrete wall was a step or two across from the cellar door. It was one side of the set of stairs. The other side was the foundation of the house. My bike couldn’t come straight out of the cellar as there wasn’t enough room because of that wall. It had to be turned in creative ways so it faced the cellar steps. I used to lift it as I was going out the cellar door so only the back tire was on the ground. I’d hold the bike as best I could and pivot on the back tire so the whole bike faced the steps. I’d then squeeze to get in front of the bike so I could pull it up the stairs by the handlebars. That was slow going, step by step. When I was finished and was finally in the backyard, I’d mount my bike, ride it across the grass then ride down the forbidden hill in pure triumph with my arms raised, a sort of Tour de France gesture. I didn’t care that I left wheel marks. I deserved that hill.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bike riding, blue skies, cellar steps, colors, forbidden hill, forsythia, hyacinth, riding down the hill, riding on the grass, sun
Comments: 10 Comments
April 5, 2016
I saw the sun this morning. The day was lovely for about a half an hour. The sky was so blue it didn’t look real. It looked painted, a combination of blues, maybe even by Van Gogh. I can hear the drops from melting snow so we’re above freezing. If this were January, I’d be happy with melting snow.
The sun has just come out again and I can see blue appearing from among the clouds. I’m hopeful that the sun will decide to stay for a while.
The Sox and the Indians were postponed yesterday because of the weather: no surprise there. The game is today and starts at one. The Sox are now being introduced to boos, of course. Most of the team is wearing the jersey head coverings just in case. The stadium is fairly empty. The announcer is wearing his winter coat.
When I was young, I didn’t care about the weather. It wasn’t as if I could do anything about it. My day to day didn’t change come rain, snow or sun. I walked to school no matter what. I tended to hurry on the rainy days and saunter on sunny days. On winter days my friends and I huddled to walk together, the better to stay warm. I remember it was hard to breathe on the coldest days and sometimes my nose would run. I’d use my sleeves for that problem because no self-respecting kid carried a Kleenex or even worse a handkerchief, besides that’s why sleeves were invented. It grossed out my mother so she’d sneak and tuck a Kleenex into my jacket pocket but it usually stayed there most of the winter. Sleeves were far more convenient.
I always moaned and groaned at the trials and tribulations of being a kid. Life was ordered so I didn’t have a whole lot of choices. What I didn’t realize was I didn’t have a whole lot of responsibilities either. I had to go to school unless I was close to dying. I had homework to do. I had to bathe occasionally. When I got home from school, I had to change from school clothes to play clothes. My vegetables had to be eaten, but my mother generally served the ones I liked so that was no big issue. I had to go to bed early on school nights. Early was contested all the time. My mother and I differed on its definition. I usually lost. That was part of being a kid: losing arguments with parent, but I’d start one anyway. I was always hopeful.
Categories: Musings
Tags: being a kid, blue sky, cold, handkerchief, head coverings, Kleenex, melting snow, Red Sox and Indians, runny nose, sun, walking to school, weather
Comments: 16 Comments
April 3, 2016
“In the lane snow is glistening…” We got a dusting of snow last night. It is wet and heavy. I know this because I went out and made a snowball to throw at the spawn of Satan eating from the suet feeder. The snowball was the perfect heft for an accurate throw, and I hit the spawn dead on. It sort of jumped in surprise then took off on the deck rail down into the yard.
The sun has just appeared backed by a cloudy blue sky. The wind is dying down. The day is beginning to have possibilities. We didn’t go to the dump yesterday as it rained all day, but it looks as if today might just be the perfect dump day. Strange, I never imagined myself talking about the perfect dump day or any dump day for that matter. It seems I’ve turned into such an odd conversationalist.
The snow is dripping off the roof mimicking the sound of a rain storm. I can see small clumps of snow falling from the branches. I filled the bird feeders the other day so the birds are many and varied. My usual gold finches, chickadees, titmice and nut hatches are here as are house finches, woodpeckers and a sparrow of sorts I don’t know by name. I’m sure the doves are here as I did throw seed on the ground for them.
Getting ready for spring takes more time than getting ready for winter. The outside furniture has to be uncovered and cleaned. All the decorative items like the fountain, the painted tables and the tree candles have to be brought from the cellar. The three bins filled with summer I keep stored under the deck have to be emptied then filled with the furniture coverings. The pictures have to be hung on the house wall facing the deck. The gnome and the flamingo are last on the deck. They formally announce the beginning of summer.
In the front and on the side, the gardens need to be cleaned and the dirt overturned. Two branches too close to the house on the front pine tree have to come down. The lawn needs tending. When the weather is warm enough, flowers need to bought and planted to fill any empty spots. The annuals in the herb garden need replacing. The window boxes for the deck need to be repainted this year then filled with flowers and herbs. The small vegetable garden will only have tomatoes as they seem to grow best there.
In winter the furniture gets covered and all the gardens turn brown. The front yard gets its last cleaning. The dead flowers are cut. The deck is bare and abandoned. Only the feeders are left. It never takes long to ready the house and yard for winter. I always think it’s the saddest day, the day I have to admit fall has finished its course, the day the gnome and the flamingo come inside.
It is so easy to love spring.
Categories: Musings
Tags: birds, blue sky, candles, cleaning the gardens, conversationalist, deck cleaning, dump day, flowers, gold finches, chickadees, titmice and nut hatches, planting herbs, ready for summer, Snow, spawn of satan, sun, the flamingo, the gnome, windy
Comments: 13 Comments
March 7, 2016
This morning was hopeful. I saw my first crocus in the front garden. It is bright yellow and is the only color I can see. The sun was shining when I woke up. The birds were in and out of the feeders. The coffee was delicious. Now, a mere three hours later, it is cold and dreary. I don’t know where the sun went, but it disappeared quickly. The crocus is closed. The world is back to being grey and dreary.
I spend two hours with my neighbor. We chatted about foods, relatives, weather and the verb doesn’t. She seems to prefer don’t as in he don’t. I told her I’d start charging her money for all the times she uses the wrong verb. My grandmother and my father used don’t all the time and they were born in this country. I might be fighting a losing battle.
Gracie and I are going out later. She is out of canned food, and I am out of bread, two essentials for our lives. Lately I have been into naan. Gracie has been into whatever I feed her.
When I was a kid, our boxer, Duke, ate two cans of food every day. Back then it was horse meat. It smelled gross. I hated when it was my turn to feed Duke. I’d turn my head away as I was spooning his dinner into his dog bowl. Duke loved his dinner.
My electric can opener is among the missing. I moved it from the counter and now I can’t find it. I am back to using the old silver can opener where you turn the wheel around the cover. It works great except on the larger cans. With some cans I use a churchkey mostly when something to be poured is in the can. I also keep a churchkey in my car. It is one of those things you need when you don’t have it.
Every time I travel I take my Swiss Army knife. It has every possible gadget I might need on my journey. It used to be with me but now it travels as cargo being a weapon and all. I’ve have it forty-seven years. The tweezers and the toothpick are missing, but other than those, the knife is in perfect condition. I have a really small one I keep on my keychain. It comes in handy.
On the Amazing Race last week one of the tasks was to put together a Swiss Army knife. It is done by hand piece by piece, blade by blade. Now I know why they are so expensive. When the teams were leaving for Switzerland, one team member wanted to know what language is spoken there. Swiss, of course, was the answer. The best question of the season so far was also last week. In what country is Switzerland?
Categories: Musings
Tags: Bread, Can opener, canned dog food, churchkey, coffee, color, Crocus, dog food, don't or doesn't, errands, hopeful, horse meat, moring, sun, Swiss army knife, Switzerland
Comments: 20 Comments
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