Chronicles Continued

Today at the volunteer space it was a two-fer in keeping my mouth shut.  First it was the line in the morning prayer “For God to help President Trump who tries his best to rule a divided nation”.  I wanted to say afterwards, “You do realize that he has widened that division”, but it would fall on deaf ears.  A while later, one of the women sorting books, held up a book and said “Can you believe this is $25.?!” The woman from the prayer, responded , “It’s a crime and a shame!”  The book being held had Obama on the cover.  I don’t remember what the title was, but it was one or another positive biography.

It started out to be a one-night-stand-of-theatre in the City.  Then A good deed was added in and it became three nights.  What a treat.  Lunches, dinners with friends, jazz, movies, walking great lengths, catching cabs and taking the subway.  It was an absolute delight to be back.  Even spent one night with a friend in my former apartment building.  It was fun to be recognized by the postmaster and the flower seller across the street.  And the City was gearing up for the holiday season, so the fir tree smell was in the air and the mood was jolly as no one was as yet worn out.

when life is good.  Have car will travel, that has been part of the silence.  Have this new commune of friends and we do things and go places.  That takes time away from reporting on it.  Have entertained my dear City friends for various stays and not found the time to tell about it. Have been doing body work, back to the basic of Alexander Technique. And this past week, celebrating the best holiday of the year with thanksgiving for how this move to the country has enriched my life.  Hopefully you are as content.

 

 

Weather, that is.  12 degrees at night.  That is in my book, cold.  Shut off the outside water, drained spigot and might wrap it.  Might hang some linens out as the cold/freeze really gives them a wonderful smell.  The positives:  will kill off the varmints such as ticks in the grass, hopefully will kill off some of the others of which I am not aware.  Hope someone has kale growing that i can harvest after the frost when it sweetens.

There is a five-mile stretch of road that runs beside the river where apparently the best trout fishing in the world is to be found.  Infrequently there is traffic on the road, more often more on the river.  The posted speed is 45.  Do they gather on the shoulder?  Is it a game, with a reward? More nuts?  The squirrels wait until you are 10 feet away, and then they dart out.  In the process of the dart they have to decide: finish the crossing. return to the shoulder from which they started or stand still.  The driver in the meantime has to decide:  hit them, swerve to the left or the right, depending on what you think they are going to do, or slam on the brakes.  So far in my rear view mirror there has been no road kill

The bars were down, the lights were blinking.  I pulled up to the single track RR crossing and opposite me on the other side of the tracks a car was waiting. It was early dusk.  I opened my windows, shut off the radio and listened and looked.  No sign of a train. As I watched, the car opposite, backed up and drove around the bar blocking his access and then around the bar in front of me.  He stopped by my open window: “Been waitin’ a good ten minutes and don’t see no train comin’.  It’s safe for you to do the same.”.  I thanked him, backed up, drove around the bar in my lane, accelerated over the tracks to get around the bar in his lane, and sped off.

The head honcho shared the following story of her life.  Born, bred and has never left the village; doesn’t like to travel.  Married at 16, a shot-gun wedding, had 4 additional children, worked as a cook at the elementary school.  Retired.  Divorced after she had been married for 43 years.  Has a boyfriend who is 18 years her junior.  Knock me over with a feather.

One of the reasons for the move out of the City, is to give back to the community in which I am living.  There is an independent thrift store in town.  Two weeks ago when I dropped something off at the back door, they asked if I had come to help.  Asking if they needed help, they said yes, please.  I said i would come to help in two weeks.  This morning it was two weeks and I showed up, as asked, at 8:30 am.  No one was there.  When the head honcho arrived, she was shocked to see me.  The reason being is that so many apparently say they will come, but then never do.  She showed me the ropes in all of 3 minutes and I began sorting the stuff that comes in as donations.  !0 o’clock the doors open for buyers, but first someone lead the merry band of workers in prayer.  It was a long prayer, covering lots of topics.  One of the topics was the president of the country and I quote ‘We know God you put him there.  Help him in all the many things he has to get done”.  There was more.  The list sounded pretty much like a run down from a Pennsylvania Trump rally.  I kept my head bowed noting this too shall pass.  The women who do the volunteering are protestant church attendees.  There was a plethora of ‘God Bless’ and pat phrases with which I was indeed familiar.  I enjoyed helping and will return on a weekly basis.

Took to heart an article I read about plants in the bedroom.  While at Lowes buying bags of mulch, a small Areca Palm was on sale.  Before I got it to check out dropped it once breaking the outer pot but didn’t mind as that pot was not going in the bedroom. It’s first night at home, it sat on the kitchen counter.  Last night i moved it up to the bedroom in its new glass surround; picture a stout goblet.  This morning, I was out early, and it wasn’t until this evening, bringing the dry wind-blown clothes from the wash line that I noticed the plant.  What I saw was dirt around the stem of the goblet; a significant amount which was about one tablespoons of planting mix.  How did it get there?  The fronds of the palm were not scooping it out, it means, to me, that something else got out.  Something that was buried in the plant, dug itself out and escaped.  Two huge questions.  What was it?  Where is it?   Looked under the dresser, on the rug, around the corners of the room, saw nothing.  Not liking this at all!!

Was invited to ‘help-myself’ to plants from a garden that is going to be plowed under.  The gardeners have decided that it is too much work due to their advancing ages and so come and take what you want.  I could only say ‘yes, thank you’. I showed up with a shovel thank you Bob! and an Ikea bag.  The lovely couple was delightful.  After choosing what I wanted – including a peony,  my favorite, we went inside to have a cup of tea.  The TV was tuned to Fox News as I entered.  As the gracious and warm wife was making the tea and cutting the hot-out-of-the-oven-date-bread I asked the husband – who had done the digging, no need for my shovel – how we could make America Great Again.  He said it wasn’t about Trump, it was about getting rid of the politicians hold on life in America.  It was about putting America first.  Who cares about all these other countries, make it first about this country.  We talked for quite a while.  He harked back to his unionized father, and life as a blue-collar worker.  It was all too true.  I understood his view-point.  I asked about the fact that the world had become smaller, but that isn’t on the radar.  My assessment: the thinking is correct, but the magnanimity assigned to the business community in the USA is wrong. USA business are out for the bottom line.  In Endicott the other day, I asked, what was this place once?  The answer.  It was IBM headquarters.  They poisoned the land and then left.  There you have it.