I love neighbor Logan’s sense of humor, but I often forget the many amusing things he says. This one I remembered.
Logan was riding his scooter and, a couple of days before his 14th birthday, was being a bit daring. I’ve seen him do flips on the trampoline, so I know he has a very good sense of where his body is at all times. I couldn’t help it. I made one of those silly old-crone comments about being careful and not having an accident. In a split second he took on the persona of an intellectual adult, one with flair and a debonair attitude with an accent to match. He said, “I have insurance.”
I laughed uncontrollably, so I was nearer having an accident than he was. Luckily I didn’t fall down on the road while indulging in amusement.
Would you think twice about what to wear when walking the dog? I don’t walk Kacey because she pulled me down once, but I was aware that neighbors could see me when I hooked her to a stake. However, more important for me was dressing for safety. There are stairs at the front and back of the house, stairs that I use when hooking the dog up. I told my children I would get a pendant to wear all the time for safety, since I live alone. I haven’t done it. The pendants I’ve seen advertised don’t sound effective or have monthly charges that make me recoil. Daughter Kate helped me solve this outdoors with a purchase from Walmart.
Here I am, dressed to take the dog out as soon as I get out of bed.
This is the getup – a sleep shirt with the new pocketbook to hold my phone safely. It’s technically around my neck and would be right with me if I fell. So far I have remembered to carry the phone to the back door where the purse hangs. I probably would not have a good solution if I lost my mind, but that will be someone else’s problem. Good luck!
My life changed a bit the week the refrigerator was pulled out. It was fun! There were far fewer steps from there to the sink and stove. I couldn’t believe how handy everything was. Plates were nearby, and so were raw ingredients and utensils. A time study would have been nice to see how much shorter meal prep was. Daughter Kate and I had no trouble with the detour, and the dog seemed fine with it, too.
The rearrangement was not esthetically pleasing, so when I determined the problem was with the defrosting system and not the ice maker, the fridge went back in its place. It has gone a month and a half between leaks, but it sometimes waits only a week. The other day I finally heard it happen while Logan was playing Boggle with me. It was easy to sop up the water with paper towels, though I should get a sponge for the long haul. I think it’s amazing what one change inside a house can make, even if it is short-lived.
And what a morning it was! When I went out to walk, Shawn called from her porch that she’d get Logan, knowing we like to walk together when possible. We spotted a rabbit on the street, and I told him that daughter Kate always comments on them. We decided we’d count them. The numbers were going up, when suddenly we saw no more. Logan almost ran over a skunk on his scooter the other day. It ran into a hole, which he pointed out to me. I asked Alexa if skunks eat rabbits, and indeed they do! Maybe that was why we saw no more until we came back to our street. Kate and I noticed a strong skunk odor the other day, so I know they have been around my house, as well. Perhaps the skunk was on the other street today, because Logan’s count went up to 9 by the time we got home. He also counted the one chipmunk.
Shawn and Bob were driving up our street on their way to a doctor’s appointment, and they asked if Logan could stay with me. Yes! Yes! and Yes! He could have stayed home alone, but they know I’m always eager to spend time with him. As they drove out of sight, I told him I had something to celebrate birthday month for him. His 14th birthday is next week. I’ve written before that blogger Linda picks out family photos from my blog during the year and has them made into a jigsaw puzzle. When it came months ago, Logan saw it and saw that he was included for the first time. Kate and I worked it, then we took Logan out of it, leaving the corner edge. I hoped he would want to put himself together, and he began immediately.
As he did that, I finished clearing some pushy plants from the gravel walkway in the garden. It didn’t take him long, because he finished in JIG time! I heard a loud rattle and knew he was playing Boggle. After a few minutes he came out and offered to help me! God bless him! I was finishing up, and we began to Boggle together.
In the puzzle photo, Logan is holding up a big fish he caught. His dad was proud of him and immediately took that picture in the boat.
Although I fortified myself with a large cup of coffee, it didn’t help. We tied twice, I think, and I won one game. He won the rest, often by a large margin. This is a warning to daughter Lise to sharpen her wits, because Logan is a master player now. Lise will be here next month, so watch for the brain sparks to fly!
We switched from Boggle to Pressed for Words on the phone. We worked together to win each game. He is very quick at typing, so he put the words in as I used the time searching for more. He still found as many words as I did. His parents came home before I was worded out.
All this was much more fun than looking for a new camera. Mine broke while Kate and I were on the Blue Ridge Parkway last week. It has been lying face up on the kitchen counter, dead as can be. I should give it a good burial, because it survived in my pocket for five years. Not many cameras have such a hard life. The phone did its best to fill in the gap.
Daughter Kate and I enjoyed working the family puzzle together. Her sister Lise magnanimously gave up the first working so that Kate could do it first this year. Surprisingly, I could see the pieces in sunlight well enough to fit in about an eighth of them.
Our last meal out was at Kanini’s where Kate had the BLAT – bacon, lettuce, avocado, and tomato sandwich. I had never had chicken and waffles, a fad dish from a decade or so ago. At this place it was the hot Nashville version, which I enjoyed.
Our last evening together, Kate kicked back and relaxed on the porch. We watched birds feeding on the ground and hummingbirds flitting about their hanging feeders. Seeing a couple of bluebirds was exciting for me, and Kate liked the detail of the towhee, which she had seen from a distance before. We were serenaded by a croaking frog. This year, for the first time, the frog was there almost every evening. I haven’t seen it yet, but it was moving about on the ground, judging by the sound.
Kate used an old windshield wiper to clean off her car windows before leaving at 7:00 a.m. Seeing the mist behind her, I knew the gorge would be foggy and a bit more dangerous than usual. The interstate highway shares a narrow space with a stream between mountains. She drove carefully and was soon in bright sunlight heading north. Watching her progress on my phone, I knew she was near her destination. She called at 8:00 p.m. to make sure I knew she was home safely.
Daughter Kate was with me eight wonderful days. I took the most photos when we went up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I said “up”, because that parkway is mostly on the ridge of mountains where there are glorious views. We stopped at my favorite waterfall, Sunburst, on the way to the parkway. I took one selfie, but Kate’s was better. As she explained, “I have longer arms than you do.”
We went through a little rain before stopping at an overlook. You can see the clouds behind her. I didn’t vote for rain, but I think the best views are not under a cloudless sky, but with mountains and clouds dancing together.
I often take photos when people are forced to stay still and quiet. Kate had requested deconstructed Norwegian meatballs for dinner while she was here, and here she is ready to eat. The ingredients were taken from my mother-in-law’s recipe. She always formed the meatballs, cooked them, and heated them in beef consomme to be served with rice. Her meals were beautiful, as well as tasty. My version is not pretty, but it is quick and easy.
Daughter Kate drove over 13 hours to get here, and the following day we took it easy, eating barbecue at Butts on the Creek. She can’t get Southern barbecue in New Jersey. I grew up with it in Tennessee and am always eager to have more. We had a lovely view of Jonathan Creek.
Kacey loved all the attention Kate gave her. It’s still a marvel to me that Kate can touch a dog, since she was terrified of dogs when she was young. She has taken the dog outside quite often while I have been busy.
We took the obligatory photo of ourselves at the stop sign.
Our main project for this visit was to burn the garden waste to shrink the burn pile. Kate was watching it smolder, and we ate lunch under the big oak tree while attending it. She did all the hard work, setting the fire and pulling leaves and limbs to the center. We moved Kacey’s stake so that she could be with us all day.
Kate found a small inchworm crawling on my leg, and we couldn’t resist taking a video of it.
Later in the afternoon we worked on the family jigsaw puzzle, a lovely gift from Linda Schaub, writer of the blog Walkin’, Writin’, Wit & Whimsy. Daughter Lise said this year Kate should be the first to work it. She and I have enjoyed it, and I will have another chance to work it when Lise comes.
As we walked, neighbor Joyce looked at the house we were passing and said, “Look! There is CAT!”
Sure enough, it was my old friend that used to walk a few yards with me many mornings. I was delighted to see her, having thought she must be dead. I hadn’t seen her in months. She resumed our old routine of greeting, walking a few steps, and stopping for petting before walking again.
As she walked toward me, I took this quick shot. It’s blurred, but I have proof she is still alive. I wondered if she would wait for us to come back and walk with us the opposite way, but there was no sign of her.
Neighbor Logan (13) is irrepressible and keenly observant, leading to unusual happenings on a daily basis. Since the morning was quite cool for this time of year, he was wearing pants over his pajamas. We had just reached the next street when he suddenly removed his pants. I asked if he would tie the legs around his waist, like people do with sweaters, so that he wouldn’t have to carry the garment. He said, “No, I’ll wear them as a hat.”
A few feet further, Logan played with his shadow. I was laughing as I took this video and was even more amused when I looked at it later. It appeared to me that he was stretching and shrinking his neck! It must have been the angle, because the next few seconds I could see his shoulders going up and down. The first bit had to stand on its own, because the normal part ruined the illusion.
We reached the place where railroad ties hold back a steep hill. There are lots of wild flowers blooming right now, and Logan was looking at them closely. Two pipes help hold up the ties. He decided they needed flowers and promptly arranged some. The next day I looked as I drove past, and they were still there, looking perky. Only dog-walkers might be close enough to notice.
There are peony bushes half way to the stop sign. Logan picked up a spent bloom from the ground, letting the petals fall away. By the time we came back, only the inner petals were hanging on. It looked like a large clove of garlic. He squished it a bit and made it a vase for a daisy-like flower. He has watched the miniature garden with red blooms, just as I have, and that’s where he put his creation. You may not be able to see the red bits, but they are there.
Logan is full of fun, but he can also concentrate on a goal, and currently that is to beat daughter Lise playing Boggle when she comes in July. He is winning consistently against me, but so does Lise. When the neighbors gathered for a Memorial Day cookout, Logan played the game by himself. He was deep into a game when I took his photo.
He quietly exclaimed, “I found an 8-letter word!”
I’m so glad I went right to the table and took a picture. We needed proof of his great find. I texted Lise the photo and challenged her to find that word. She wrote back, “Challenge accepted.” She said later that she found it in 10 seconds. Just in case you want to look for that word, I won’t give you the answer right away. The letters have to be connected by a corner or side, and you can’t repeat the same letter block.
One morning Logan walked with neighbor Joyce and me. He was catching up with me, and I told him I couldn’t see him, but I could see his shadow gaining on me. We were walking by a woody area across from Joyce’s house. I noticed a very loud bird song and said to Logan, “It sounds like someone wound up that bird up too tightly.”
He showed me it wasn’t a real bird. He was twisting a small bird caller to make the sounds. That fake bird tweeted every once in a while for a whole mile!
Another day Kacey suddenly barked toward Logan’s house while we were on the porch. A dog barked back. I thought a second and said to myself that it didn’t sound like Izzy, Logan’s dog. I looked, didn’t see anyone, then spotted Logan facing the other way, cleaning the top of a wall. It was Logan’s “Woof! Woof!” that fooled Kacey and me for a short while.
The 8-letter word on the Boggle board is “remotely”.
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 