The afternoon thunderstorm was violent. Lightning streaked across the sky, followed by deafening thunder. In the mountains, the thunder exploded, then echoed among the valleys. It was a most impressive display of power. I began watching it from the front porch and switched to the back as it moved slowly in a northeasterly direction. The heavy rain overloaded all the gutters, adding sizzle to the audio mix. When it was over, the bird baths and the waterfall pools were full to the brim.
At 3:30 a.m. I woke up and saw the sky lighting up time after time. Because I heard no sounds, I got up and went to the glass door to watch. I presumed it was lightning and not a transformer sparking through the night. While walking the next day, I asked neighbors Joyce and Julie if they heard thunder. Oh, yes, they had heard the storm, and that’s when I realized my hearing aids slept through it in their charger.
Grandson David and I celebrated his June birthday when both of us were free. It was worth waiting for! He came after he went to church in town and I had attended mine on line. Both of us like a number of restaurants, so we sat on the front porch with our phones. I left the choice to him. His hunger voted for Clyde’s, where the Southern food is good and plentiful. As it turned out, we both took food home. Instead of having dessert at the restaurant, we had Fudge Moose Tracks ice cream at home. As we chatted on the porch, David noticed my eyes beginning to shut and suggested a siesta. He caught up with things on his phone as I nodded off.
At supper time we pulled out crackers, humus, and salmon salad (made from canned fish). David was interested in my dill plants and went outside with me to cut some to go with the meal. We ended with lemon milk sherbet I’d made for the 4th of July celebration. I knew he loved lemony things, and this did not disappoint.
The day was laced with conversation. We had many things to catch up on, the most shocking being a wild fire at the train club in Tennessee. I had not been aware of it. Some of the track area and several buildings were destroyed. David has a caboose (about six feet long) in the back of the car, waiting to be taken back. None of John’s equipment was harmed.
David talked about singing in the choir at church, the hamburgers his boss cooked for the Lowe’s staff on July 4th, and helping a friend on his property. It was the give and take of conversation that included references to family anecdotes that strung it all together. You know the kind of thing – one word or a gesture that brings up family stories. I hadn’t realized how much I missed that with him. I loved being instantly connected to the past again. I was shocked when I saw the clock when he was leaving – 11:00 p.m.!! What a marvelous day it had been!
Just so you know, the bed damaged me, not the other way around. Although I had done a lot of trimming in the garden, I felt fine when I went to bed. Things were normal when I got up in the wee hours, but Oh! I was in pain when the alarm went off! I told neighbor Joyce that it hurt when I just rolled my eyes. That was stretching it, but pain was radiating from my right shoulder blade. I desperately wanted to cut the pain, knowing a shoulder BLADE was not the right instrument. Not thinking of alternatives, I proceeded with my day, hoping the regular stretching I do every morning would magically erase the discomfort. It didn’t, so I walked a mile with Joyce. Distraction worked well until I got home. Pulling up dead flowers was next on the list. That didn’t hurt, but it didn’t help either. At least the front edge of the garden now looks a bit better. I’m the one looking ragged.
First line of weeding, and things already look better.
A good distraction was cooking sausage and two biscuits for breakfast. The pain on the tongue from the hot sausage masked twinges from the back. It was good while it lasted, as I’m a slow eater. There are hours and hours to go yet, but I’M AFRAID TO GO TO BED!
Our street celebrated the birthday of our country with a cookout. Neighbor Joyce met the new couple who moved into the house next to hers two days before and invited them to join us, but they already had other plans.
Jeff brought his gas grill and cooked for us. We supply our own meat (hot dogs and hamburgers), and he mans the grill. A special treat was his roasted peppers, cooked before the meats. Our contributions to the meal included chips and dip, pasta salad, lettuce salad, potato salad, fruits with a cream cheese sauce, carrot cake, chocolate cookies, and lemon milk sherbet.
Shawn took a photo of us at the table, which was better than any I could have taken. She offered to send it to me, for which I was grateful.
All the women offered to do dishes, but I prefer to do it alone. After everyone left, it took only 15 minutes to load the dishwasher and wash things that shouldn’t go in.
Later in the evening, Joyce at her house and I at mine, waited expectantly for the fireworks to begin. She watches from an upstairs window, and I sit on my front porch. For the 10 years I’ve been here, two households up the mountain set off a barrage of sparkling explosives. This year there were none!! We don’t know the people and have no idea why they didn’t do it this year. Shawn mentioned earlier that fireworks were to be done three nights in a row, the three neighboring towns taking turns. None of us went to see them. If we were disappointed, it serves us right for expecting a free show year after year! I think all the neighbors enjoyed our meal together.
I used the burn barrel by myself, feeling confident I was doing everything right. Two days ago, the stage was set when I put in a few pages of newspaper, dry clippings, and small branches. Today I pulled the hose off the holder and was startled when I hit myself in the face – right on the bridge of my nose. I hoped it wouldn’t give me a black eye. I sprinkled the grass around the barrel with water. The paper lit immediately, followed by the garden debris. I sat on the garden cart, reading blog posts on my phone while the fire consumed everything quickly.
There was a reflection of myself on the screen, and I saw the rakish angle of the hat brim. A photo of that could be amusing. I was shocked when I saw the photo — discoloration under both eyes! The neighbors are gathering tomorrow to celebrate the Fourth of July, and they will see my face. They wouldn’t whisper behind my back, but would ask me directly if I should really be living alone. Not many people want to live near a person who appears to need an ambulance at any moment. Though Lise chose a concealer for my face while she was here, she knows I’m not skilled enough to cover major damage. Oh, well. Face the future with a smile and go on.
After putting things away outside, I took a shower and only then looked in the mirror. What a pleasant surprise to find nothing wrong with my face! The bruise was nothing more than a shadow!
When I woke up before the alarm, I picked up the phone and looked at the Life360 app. Lise’s icon was moving in her neighborhood and stopped at her building! Texting her immediately, I wrote, “On Life360 I just saw you drive up to your address!! The little car moved up the street and stopped!”
She was writing at the same time, “I’m home!!!! Just hauled up the suitcases (minus the one new small suitcase) which they managed to NOT put on the plane nor on subsequent European flights – it’s still sitting in Atlanta.”
Lise did not fly to Newark, because that flight was also canceled because of weather! She checked with neighbor Holly before she called me. She cheerily asked, “How would you like to come to the airport with Holly and pick me up again? Can you be ready in five minutes?”
I dropped everything and walked up the street. Holly is a joy to talk to, and within an hour Lise was telling us of the second saga. This time she was walking to the stairs to the plane when the pilot came out and told the passengers they weren’t going anywhere. She rebooked for the next day before making arrangements with Holly.
What a blessing Holly is! She was free to drive to the airport Friday night, Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. When Lise and I got home, I found meat in the freezer that would cook quickly and prepared fresh asparagus neighbor Joyce had given me. I hadn’t made Hollandaise sauce in years, but it was successful.
Sunday morning we had biscuits for breakfast, one of the meals we hadn’t gotten to in the last three weeks. I was able to attend church online before Holly picked us up. We had a light lunch at Culver’s, followed by small frozen custard treats. By the time Holly and I got home, Lise was boarding the airplane. We texted again when she was in the Atlanta airport. As she taxied to the runway, we said our goodbyes. By the time she gets home, she will have been traveling for 24 hours.
Skipping eight days, these are the last photos of daughter Lise’s visit. Neighbor Holly and I dropped her off at the airport at 6:00 pm. About five or six hours later her flight was canceled because there had been a storm in Atlanta. The storm stalled over the city and dumped hail, disabling a number of airplanes. Because it was a natural disaster, the airline did not have to provide a room in a hotel for her. She rented a car and came back here. After a few hours of sleep, she walked to the stop sign with me.
We had a light breakfast and shopped for a new suitcase for her. She had borrowed one of mine and felt she should replace it with a sturdier one. That meant she had to repack everything and check the weight of each piece. Her efficiency was amazing to watch.
She stowed the heavy bags in the car.. Although she had already done a day’s work, she looked fairly fresh as she headed for the airport. This time she will go through Newark instead of Atlanta. I don’t remember where she will land before getting her final flight to Copenhagen. Wherever it is, I hope everything will go smoothly.
Daughter Lise and I came down gently after the wedding. Daughter Kate stayed another day and then broke her record time getting back to New Jersey. After about 13 hours of driving and a night’s sleep, she was at work at 7:15 the following morning.
Lise had done handyman things before the wedding, like fixing a toilet and replacing a broken doorknob to that bathroom. Guests didn’t have to dread going to an unsecured room! I had planned to change the water filter to the refrigerator, but thankfully I didn’t try to do it by myself. We pulled the heavy appliance to the middle of the room, and that’s when the fun began. There are people who can’t handle the thought of a mouse in the house. Lise is one of those. (For me, it’s big spiders.)
What neither of us thought about was the camera that is trained on the two doors into the kitchen. She thought of it the next day, and the gales of laughter began. She flipped through the cam videos showing us moving around the refrigerator, getting up and down off the floor, and shoving the fridge back in place. When Lise saw a dead mouse, she didn’t shriek or faint, but she did mutter quietly. I picked up the carcass with a tissue and put it in a small plastic container that I had washed the day before. As I tossed it in the kitchen garbage, I said, “If I’d known this was going to be a casket, I wouldn’t have washed it.”
The more we watched, the more we laughed. The decibels rose until we were cackling. It was an unholy noise that I hope none of the neighbors heard. There was no way we could stop until we couldn’t get enough breath to laugh more. Lise saved two of the clips. I hope she hid them, because they could be evidence that we should both be committed to the crazy house.
I loved grandson Nathaniel’s and Sarah’s wedding. They concentrated on family and friends, so that everyone felt the closeness. I’ve seen photos of weddings where there were up to twelve attendants, including a flower girl, ring bearer, bridesmaids and groomsmen. Not this one!The ceremony was held outside in a small garden surrounded by hedges and trees. Nate had his mother walk him to the arbor, followed by his dad. Sarah’s mother escorted her daughter down the aisle. She arranged Sarah’s dress, and took her bouquet before sitting with her family. They requested no photographs during the ceremony, so it was peaceful and reverent.
I was thrilled that Nathaniel asked to use my husband’s wedding band. He also wore John’s watch, which he’d had repaired. Kate had John’s ashes in a pendant, and BIL Thom wore one of John’s ties which had steam engines on it. There were probably other mementos present on the other side of the aisle.
The photographer worked quickly to get various groups posed with the bride and groom. Appetizers and drinks were served in another area outside. I was amused that the main soda was Cheerwine, a North Carolina product and Sarah’s favorite.
Inside, we had a lovely buffet brunch. Nathaniel asked if I had taken a bagel and lox, a New York specialty. I had and greatly enjoyed them with cream cheese and onions. There were casseroles and breads, bacon and eggs, fresh fruits, and banana bread with chocolate chips.
Neighbor Connie made wedding favors – exquisite boxes with candy inside. Sarah and Nate put together jars of honey that were sealed with a silver bee. The color-coordinated fans were in a basket at the entrance to the garden, where they would have been needed on a hot day.
The wedding cake was on display, and everyone admired it, knowing Nathaniel had made it. He had also baked the sheet cake that was served to us. Needless to say, it was delicious.
I enjoyed meeting and chatting with members of Sarah’s delightful family. They had drawn Nate into their circle and made him one of them years ago. Sarah has been one of us for a long time, too.
A blog about life challenges in mostly fictional writing based on some fact. I am trying this Blog thing out because I need a creative outlet and am amazed at everything my iPad can do to help me along the way. So why not, right ?
My name is Suki, my human is a writer, and this is about my world. The world according to Suki The Cat. My humans smell funny, look weird, and I can't understand a thing they say, but they feed me, so hey, what are you gonna do?
Mehrling Muse 