Posted tagged ‘sunny’
November 17, 2016
Maddie and Gracie are fast asleep; however, I am not. It is now almost 5 AM. I have been awake most of the night on and off. These animals are killing me. Maddie howled, but it sounded strange so I got out of bed and checked. She was just fine. By then it was close to one-thirty. I turned off the light and fell asleep. Gracie woke me up by moving around the bed. She was panting. I turned on the light to check on her. She came up to me and leaned against me. I patted her and her stub of a tail wagged, but she was still hovering and leaning. I got worried and decided to go downstairs with Gracie. It was about 3:30. I let her out. When she came in, she wanted a treat. I gave it to her then she got on the couch and went to sleep. She is even snoring. I’m exhausted.
Television is awful in the early morning. Not even Hallmark tempted me with its description of a runaway dog bringing two people together. I also had other choices like Bubble Boy which is not to be confused with The Boy in the Plastic Bubble and Delta Farce which is not to be confused with Delta Force. I must have gone up and down the channel numbers several times before I settled in at On Demand where I could choose the bad movies I wanted to watch.
Well, this paragraph is a continuation. I fell asleep around 6:30 despite how loudly Gracie was snoring. I tossed and turned several times as the couch, where I ended up, wasn’t comfortable. I woke up around 9:30 and hurried to make the coffee. I needed it in sort of a life’s blood kind of way.
Nothing of any import is on my dance card. I may do a bit of unnecessary but fun shopping. I definitely will take a nap.
Today is cloudy though the weather report said partly sunny. I guess I don’t live in the right part.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cloudy, couch, Hallmark, howling, insomnia, morning programs, On Demand, panting, sick dog, sleeping, sunny, Television, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
Comments: 10 Comments
November 13, 2016
Today is a glorious fall day, sunny and warm. Gracie has been outside most of the morning. She knows a good thing when she sees it. Well, I never did get to that laundry. It is still sitting in front of the cellar door, maybe today, maybe not. I do have to make that dump run as the dump is closed the next two days, and my trunk is filled with trash.
Today I am going to grocery shop from the convenience of my home. My refrigerator is pretty empty. I’m down to having eggs for supper.
When I was in Ghana, the Peace Corps sent us the insert The Week in Review from the Sunday New York Times. I didn’t have a radio to listen to the Voice of America and the Ghanaian papers had mostly local news so that insert was the only current news I ever got about the United States. I did get the whole New York Sunday Times as a gift but the issues came months later in groups of four or five. Usually, I didn’t read the news but devoured the rest of the paper. Though so much was happening at home, I was disconnected. My life revolved around Ghana: teaching my classes, shopping in the market, greeting people and continuing to learn Hausa, traveling on vacations and developing friendships with Ghanaians and my fellow volunteers. The United States was just too far away.
On this last trip to Ghana, I did check the news each morning on my iPad. I kept track of the election but little else. That feeling of disconnection returned, and I didn’t mind. I was back to being involved with Ghana: with the heat, with my former students, with my favorite Ghanaian foods, with my bathroom runs (sort of a pun) and with my friends. I was glad for the respite.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bathroom runs, current news, Ghana, Ghanaian food, glorious fall day, IPad, markets, New York Times, Peace Corps, sunny, the heat, United States, warm
Comments: 6 Comments
November 8, 2016
Finally, I can breathe a sigh of relief. The phone calls will stop and the political ads will be a quickly forgotten memory. By tonight we’ll know.
When I went out this morning, I went by my town’s polling spot. It didn’t look too busy. There was no line and I saw plenty of empty parking spots.
Tonight I will watch the results. After having punished myself by following the campaigns for all these many months, I need to know the finish.
I never did go out yesterday. I just hung around the house doing nothing, but today is already different. I had an early morning meeting then went to get dry dog food and cat treat finally went to the store for a cinnamon bun. They, of course, didn’t have any today so I bought an elephant ear. That seemed wonderfully appropriate after my trip to the game park.
Today is a lovely day. The sun is shining, and the breeze is ever so slight. I did need a sweatshirt when I went out as it was only 52˚. By the time I got home, it had risen to 55˚, the predicted high for the day.
My mother used to make the best pies. Her apple pie was stacked high with apples. The crust was always flaky, never soggy. She had just the right mix of sugar and cinnamon. Instead of pumpkin, she made squash pie. I never could tell the difference. Sometimes she made a custard pie. She always made a lemon meringue, my all time favorite. I used to make date nut bread from my grandmother’s recipe and a chocolate cream pie for my dad. He never shared. He thought I made it just for him.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 55˚, apple pie, breezy, campaigns, cinnamon bun., election, elephant ear, meeting, poll, sunny, voting
Comments: 36 Comments
November 4, 2016
If I pulled out that dusty old dictionary of mine and looked up autumn, I’d find it is a noun defined as,”the third season of the year, when crops and fruits are gathered and leaves fall, in the northern hemisphere from September to November and in the southern hemisphere from March to May.” The words in the definition just aren’t enough. What about autumn’s almost indefinable beauty? What about autumn’s colors, its cool, sometimes cold nights, and its warmer mornings? What about a perfect autumn day? Well, I’ve got that one covered: today is the perfect autumn day. The sun is bright. The sky is deep blue but has a few wispy clouds for contrast. The air is warm, long sleeve shirt warm. A slight breeze is enough to drop the brown leaves off the boughs of the oak trees. They slowly flutter to the ground as if they know their time is done. Today is a day to be out and about.
I met two former students the other day. We did the pleasantries and caught up with one another. I met one’s baby and another’s nine year old. They asked what I was doing to stay busy. I described my life as a sloth and I mentioned traveling. They wanted to know where. “Africa,” I told them. “Wow,” was the response from each of them and both mentioned how exciting Africa must have been. I told them about the elephants. Seeing those elephants was nothing short of amazing for me, and they thought seeing elephants had to be the coolest thing.
Those conversations got me thinking. Elephants and game parks aside, going back to Ghana is almost commonplace for me. Were I to go to Mali or Botswana, I would think of each as an unbelievable trip to Africa. Ghana is going home. It is familiar again. I get to see my former students, and we are at ease with each other, the sort of ease which comes from years of friendship. I am not surprised by what I see. The rooster wakes me up, but I can always go back to sleep. I enjoy goat and Guinea fowl as much as beef or chicken. I know Ghanaian food is spicy hot and best eaten with my hand. I am adept at noticing and walking over deposits left by goats and sheep on the streets, the walkways and in the market. All the smells are Ghana to me. Ghanaians smile at me, and I smile back. I even greet them in Hausa and a bit of FraFra.
Though Bolgatanga is bigger and far busier, I just think of it as home. It being in Africa is merely serendipitous.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Africa, autumn, blue sky, Chicken, dictionary, elephants, fall, falling leaves, former students, Ghana, Goat, noun, perfect autumn day, sunny
Comments: 6 Comments
September 15, 2016
It is sunny and cool, only 68˚. The breeze makes it feel even colder so I have shut a couple of windows. Last night was just fine for sleeping.
5 days and counting!
Yesterday I made a day by day list of what I need to do before I leave on Tuesday. Mostly it is filled with errands like going to Agway for pet food, Stop and Shop for trip treats, the bank for money and the store which sells bus tickets. Packing is on Monday, the day before I leave. I roll my clothes and have since my packpacking days. They don’t wrinkle as easily.
My mother always brought treats on our trips to Europe. She’d have cookies and candy for the car rides and nighttime snacking. I follow in her footsteps and will bring Oreos, candy which won’t melt and peanut butter crackers. Ghana is short on snacks. We used to buy Cadbury chocolate bars. My favorite was fruit and nut. The Ghanaian bars were made by Chocolate Tree. They were dark and not all that sweet. The taste took a while to get used to. I brought home one of the wrappings. The back has black stars and celebrates the Second Republic 1969. Chocolate Tree still sells bars. The wrappings have Kente patterns on them. The chocolate taste still takes a bit of getting used to.
Nothing is better than fresh bread from the oven. The bakery in the town where I grew up baked bread, and the aroma was so tantalizing we all beat a path to the bakery door to buy it. I’d take a hunk of bread and eat it on the way home. I always thought it tasted best when still warm and slathered with butter .
Once in a while I have toast in the morning. Sometimes I have it with jelly or marmalade. My favorite is clementine marmalade which I have to buy on-line. It isn’t all that sweet, mostly fruity. I seldom buy white bread. Lately it has been honeyed wheat as I have started a love affair with honey which I never liked until recently unless you count Bit-O-Honey. I have even bought honeycomb and eaten it on an English muffin. I add honey to goat cheese as a snack on crackers. Mostly I buy local honey just because it is local.
Well, I have two chores or errands to cross off today so I bets get moving.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 5 days, 68˚, canned cat food, canned dog food, Chocolate Tree, cool, fresh bread, Kente patterns, lists, packing, rolling clothes, slathered with butter, sunny
Comments: 6 Comments
August 28, 2016
Today is another lovely day, sunny and not too humid. We will be cooler here with an ocean breeze keeping us in the high 70’s. Tonight should be even cooler.
The house next door isn’t rented, the first time all summer. I think it’s because many schools start this coming week so vacation is over. The TV has been filled with ads for back to school clothes and supplies. Parents are rejoicing.
Last night was movie night. We watched a 1957 black and white science fiction movie called The Beginning of the End. It was wonderful. The giant grasshoppers, the locust, are destroying whole towns and are headed for Chicago. The hero, a scientist, and the heroine, a newspaper woman, bravely counter the onslaught. She wears a lot of hats and carries petite purses. He stays impeccably dressed and his sharply pleated pants never wrinkle. The movie was quite entertaining. It also made us laugh.
Yesterday I went to the Italian cheese shop and bought goodies for last night: crostini, Taleggio, a soft cheese, and prosciutto. My next stop was the candy store for chocolates and fudge. My friends brought hummus and a hot cheese dip. We dined lavishly as we watched the movie.
Today is a day of rest. Gracie and I need to go to the dump, but that can wait until tomorrow. The day is so lovely we’ll be outside on the deck. Gracie will sleep in the shade, and I’ll sit at the table to finish reading the papers then I think I may just nap on the lounge. Thinking about it is making me yawn.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Back to school, Chocolate, cool nights, Italian cheese, new clothes, ocean breeze, prosciutto, school supplies, sunny, The Beginning of the End
Comments: 6 Comments
August 25, 2016
Yesterday was perfection. It was sunny, cool and dry. Today is August weather, humid and hot. The sun comes and goes. It hides behind the clouds, but the clouds have no rain. They just obscure the sun. The weather report says maybe tomorrow for the rain. I am skeptical.
Yesterday I went to Hyannis. I couldn’t believe the bumper to bumper traffic heading to Main Street. Why weren’t those people on the beach?
I actually got a few things done yesterday. I had a doctor’s appointment, got my hair cut, changed the bed and watered the plants. That’s the most I’ve done in a single day for a long while. It was all because I had read an article which said that you should have only five or fewer things on your to-do list. You prioritize the items, start from the top and what you don’t finish goes on the list the next day and you only add an item if you have fewer than the five. Having this list requires you to single task, to focus. The whole story is here: https://getpocket.com/a/read/1389934087
It is time to Peapod. The larder is empty. I don’t think I can have eggs one more night even with bacon.
I am so very late today as I made my bed, did an errand, called and spoke to my sister as it is her birthday, tried to fix a couple of lamps and started my laundry. Lee, one half of my cleaning couple, came and he fixed both lamps for me as I couldn’t. Come to find out I can fix a split infinitive or a dangling participle but not a lamp.
Categories: Musings
Tags: chores, cloudy, errands, fix it, hair cut, hot, humid, Hyannis, late, prioritize items, sunny, to do list, traffic
Comments: 4 Comments
August 22, 2016
Today is perfect in every way. It is sunny, breezy and dry. To top it off, it rained last night. I heard it against the window, a heavy rain. I don’t know how long the storm lasted but the deck was still a bit damp this morning. The weatherman says today and tomorrow will be beautiful with cool nights, even down to the low 60’s.
When summer starts to wind down, it seems to die quickly. The darkness sneaks in a few minutes at a time until we realize how early we need lights. We don’t think about the cool nights as we’re glad for a reprieve from the hot days, but then the days get cooler. Labor Day arrives, schools open and summer is unofficially over.
I wish summer were longer. When I was a kid, I wanted it to last forever. My days were filled with bike riding, berry picking and sleeping in the backyard. We had picnics in the woods. Bedtime was late. Dinner was casual. The clock had stopped controlling our lives.
I don’t wear a watch. The last time I remember wearing one was in Ghana, probably the one place where you didn’t need a watch. When I taught, tbells started and ended classes and every room had a giant clock so a watch was superfluous. I’m retired. I don’t clock watch unless I have an appointment. I have no bedtime. I go when I’m tired. No alarm jars me awake. I open my eyes, stretch, say good morning to Fern and Gracie at the foot of my bed, figure out what day of the week it is and if I have anything on my dance card then I get up, and it’s time for coffee and the newspapers.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 60's, Alarm clock, appointment, breezy, clock watch, cool days, cool nights, darkness, dry, end of summer, giant clock, Labor Day, sunny, Watch
Comments: 12 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
July 21, 2016
Yesterday was the perfect day: sunny, warm and dry. A breeze from the south kept my house cool. It will be warmer today, but this room, in the back of the house, is still dark and cool. I’m going to be out on the deck today with a good book and a cold drink. My outside table is perfectly shaded by branches from the scrub oak. Gracie lies in the shade at the right angle formed by two sides of the deck. She sleeps deeply and sometimes even snores.
When I was teaching, I was usually traveling in July and August. I was one of those backpackers who slept in hostels, on overnight buses and sometimes in parks. I bought bread, peanut butter and jam and ate sandwiches to save money. Sometimes I bought a cooked chicken and tomatoes for a fancy dinner sandwich. I had a Go Europe guidebook which listed free food at happy hours. I’d nurse a drink and eat my fill. Overnight train travel was my favorite route between two places. Sometimes I’d just buy a seat and try to get comfortable enough to sleep, but a couple of times I bought a couchette and was able to stretch out on a mattress and sleep.
Traveling in Europe was a huge adventure for me. I got to see all the places I’d only read or dreamed about. One summer it was five weeks in England, Scotland and Ireland. Another summer it was six weeks traveling in Finland, Russia, Denmark, The Netherlands and England. The big trip was eight weeks in South America. I landed in Caracas and left from Rio. In between, I traveled from country to country by bus, car and planes. The best plane ride was over the Andes from Lima to Cusco. I saw the shadow of my plane on the mountain tops covered in snow. In those days few Americans traveled in South America. We met only one other in Paraguay who asked to join us at an outdoor cafe. He had heard us speaking English. He was the head of Pan American Airlines in South America and was on his farewell tour of Pan Am offices before his retirement. He told some great stories including one about Eisenhower visiting South American and having to extend runways for his plane. I think that trip was my all-time favorite.
Eight weeks from now I’ll be in Ghana.
Categories: Musings
Tags: backpacking, Cusco, Europe, hostels, Lima, overnight buses, overnight trains, Pan Am, peanut butter and jam, south america, sunny, teaching, train travel, warm and dry
Comments: 12 Comments
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