Batten down the hatches! A storm is a comin’, and the Cape is going to get walloped, all the weathermen agree. They just can’t agree on how much snow. The estimates range from 8″ to a foot or more. It is supposed to start this afternoon which gives me time for storm prep. I filled the feeders earlier then made a shopping list. After I finish here, Gracie and I will head to the dump on a most non-traditional day then on to the grocery store. I need bread, one of those must get before the storm comes items, but such of the rest of the list is good for the soul, not so much the body. Chocolate is on the list as is coconut ice cream. If I can’t be in the tropics, I can taste the tropics and imagine palm trees and soft breezes.
The morning was sunny and warm. Since then, the sky has become that funny whitish grey color I always associate with a storm. It’s a still day. The dead leaves on the branches just hang without even a flutter. Even the birds have disappeared, probably somewhere sheltered jockeying for space. Snow, even yet to fall snow, makes the day quiet.
My house is clean, and I have no laundry to do. I can spend my day reading or watching movies or baking. That’s right. I said baking. I am a good cook and I am not being boastful, only truthful. I used to have dinner parties all the time and serve elaborate meals. Choosing a theme was first. Mostly we visited other countries, and my table decorating matched our destinations. I even made papier mâché buildings which I painted true to color. My onion domed Russian churches were the stuff of legends. The piñatas were colorful and covered in layers of tissue paper. For every meal I made a flow chart and followed it religiously. It began with the recipes I’d chosen and the ingredients listed aisle by aisle in the supermarket. Then came the two-day preparation. I started most of the dishes and stopped at a step which I would continue the day of the dinner. The last list on the flow chart was what cooked at which temperature for how long. Today, though, I will not be as ambitious. I’m thinking plain old cupcakes without fanfare.
Spring training begins today for pitchers and catchers. There will be a summer. I have hope.
