Bear!

There are occasional bear sightings in our area, but I have yet to see one in person. Yesterday Shawn texted me that their bird feeder was damaged, and the bucket of seeds was opened and out on the grass. Her conclusion was that a bear had been on their porch during the night. As I walked in the morning, I noted that Joyce’s bird feeding station was flat on the ground and wondered if the bear had knocked it down.

It was much later that I sat down to look at the videos from my porch camera. It had rained all during the night, so the movement of rain and flying insects caused the camera to take a new video about every 15 seconds. It was mind-numbing to look at each one. I sat up straight when I saw a pair of eyes coming toward me on the screen. Yes! It was the bear! The time stamp showed 2:43 am. I looked carefully at many of the videos before and after that one, but I saw no other activity.

Late last night shortly before midnight, I sent the video to all the neighbors for whom I had a telephone number. The first response was almost immediate. Shawn commented on the size of the bear and was happy I’d caught it on camera. The next message was after 9 in the morning. Joyce hoped the bear was just passing through. D. said the bear pulled out the grease pan from their grill behind the house, but it left the front bird feeders alone. Holly joked that the bear was hungry, and she could throw it leftover pizza. Cindy said she would like the bear to stay at our end of the subdivision. Pizza might have that effect.

We are more likely to see a deer than a bear. Yesterday Shawn said they had just seen 15 deer cross the road in front of them. Grandson David and I saw two several months ago, and that was my best sighting.

Days Marching On

The days are passing pleasantly. Neighbor Logan (13) still comes over occasionally, and recently he looked in our game closet and got out a game of balance. I played at the beginning, but I knew I was going to unbalance the tower. Logan continued to withdraw a piece and put it on the top until it finally collapsed.

I’ve had my top for St. Patrick’s Day for several years. When a garment can be worn only one day a year, that’s what you wear on the appointed day. Because I went to church on line, the only person who saw it was daughter Lise as we chatted with FaceTime. This called for a selfie to remember the day.

The weather took a step backward. Daffodils were at their peak the night we had a hard freeze. Neighbor Joyce texted all the households on our street, inviting us to come cut all the daffodils we wanted before they froze to death. I went up before dark, her first responder. When I began to cut blooms, she came out and cut more for me than I would have taken. I’m not good at arranging flowers. I don’t have many vases, either, so I put the daffies in with cuttings I’m rooting. I felt the flowers brightened the room considerably.

Gardening neighbors were covering some of their plants, so I found a sheet to put over tender tulips in the back. Daughter Lise brought them from Amsterdam and planted them last year. Time will tell if it helped. The morning after the freeze, I was amazed that Joyce’s daffodils still looked good. Texting later, she said they had frozen. She touched one bloom, and it broke apart. She predicts that they will soon droop and look awful. Meanwhile, I am enjoying the bouquet on my kitchen counter.

I was surprised to find donuts decorated for Easter at the supermarket. It seemed a bit early, but that didn’t keep me from buying them – and eating them!

Mystery Meat for One

I’m using up things from the freezer and thawed a half package of meat that I couldn’t identify. I knew it was either ground beef or ground turkey. It came from Aldi’s, but I had no other package to compare it to. The fine print referred to meat/poultry, while the big print had been discarded. Whatever meat it was, it did well with a recipe for Sloppy Joes, normally a beef-based dish. I will be very careful to keep the identified half next time.

Neighbors said the temperature was going to be almost in a summer range. When I ate on the porch, it was 77F (25C)! My view included daffodils in full bloom and forsythia that is just beginning to show color.

Changing Clocks

How times have changed at my house! When John was alive, I always fiddled with time pieces the night before the clocks changed. It didn’t affect him, but I wanted to remind myself that I was losing an hour and should go to bed earlier. These days many clocks change themselves, tuned to a higher power. When I turned on the alarm, the phone showed me that it would ring in 6 hours and 14 minutes. That felt like a slap in the face. I would definitely face the clocks in the morning.

Kacey had more sense than a clock, and she slept a few minutes beyond the alarm. Nevertheless, we ventured out before the sun came up. Does anyone else wish we didn’t have to shock our systems twice a year?

I was on time for the live-streamed service. In the chat part of the screen, one worshiper said it was not only a time change, but he lives in the next time zone! Sounded like a sacrifice to me.

It’s just as well I hadn’t planned anything to do. I sat down to work three daily puzzles and fell asleep before noon while staring at the second one.

Outside, the air was mid-winter cold, but the sun was spring warm. I sat on the porch with Kacey for a little while and gave her a daily brushing. Cleaning the brush with my fingers, I released fur and enjoyed watching where the wind would take it. The first wad blew away from the house, danced up the yard, and came back to rise over the house and disappear. I hope birds will use it in building a nest.

Sunlight streaming into the living room is inviting me to play the piano. It seems just the thing to do on such an odd day. I’ve read that the majority of Americans would like to abolish daylight savings time. Does anyone know of a single person who wants to keep it? Further, is there any corporation or other entity that is intent on keeping it, and if so, why? Why??

Not Alone!

Evidently Kacey did not like my writing about living alone. She inserted herself into my early mornings at 4:30 two days in a row. My mistake? Turning over in bed! The first time wasn’t terrible, but this morning was uphill. Cold rain was falling, so I put on my New York coat and pulled up the hood. After I hooked her to the tether, she gingerly picked her way down the steps, and turned to come back up.

I said, “Oh, no you don’t. We’re both out here, and you ARE going to the bathroom!”

The threat was more real when I walked down and pulled on her collar. She performed, and we went inside.

Knowing the rain was going to continue through the morning, I turned off the alarm. Kacey let me sleep until 8:30!! She wasn’t insistent on going outside, either.

There is a solution. The next time my housemate insists on going out in the middle of the night, I’ll take her out and then shut her in David’s old room until I’m ready to get up.

Nothing New

Nothing is new forever, and my first week of living alone has come to an end. It has been a fun adventure, made easy since no one died. Everything about the house and the neighborhood remained the same.

Neighbor Joyce invited me to go with her to vote in the primary. I remember walking to vote in the election last year, but it was more fun to ride with her today. I wondered if Kacey would notice the small “I voted” sticker that I put on my top. She did not notice, but it didn’t smell like bacon or meat, either.

Lunch was odd. I had real food in the house, but I wanted to begin using up things that had been left here. The little package of noodles seemed innocent enough. There were two packets inside the box – one was chicken seasoning and the other chili. This must have belonged to son John $, so I expected to like it. When the noodles were cooked, I added the chicken seasoning. I wish I had stopped there. I think the chili did not age well, it being a bit funky. I ate most of it and let Kacey have the rest. So far there are no ill effects. The dog and I also shared a sweet potato that I sliced and air fried. That was much better for us and tasted good.

In the afternoon I had a lovely chat with friend Karen. She phoned when I was longing to talk to her and hadn’t tried to call. After catching up on news, I asked if she still ate popcorn. I remembered she had some on a daily basis several years ago and told niece Chrissie about it when she was here. The answer was yes! When eaten plain or with very little seasoning, it’s considered a healthy snack. Chrissie and I had popcorn several times while playing the game Boggle each evening. I won’t play the word game by myself, but I could have solo popcorn.

I think living alone has been properly launched and look forward to things as yet untried.

A First Monday

I kicked up my heels today, the first Monday of living alone. I walked to the stop sign with neighbor Joyce, then I took a joy ride in the car. Joy ride is not the right term; I only ran two errands, but I was free to go wherever I wanted. The first leg was driving to the convenience center, more commonly known as the dump. I had never been there by myself, always having gone with John, then David, and last week niece Chrissie. It was great to know that the trash was out of the house and wouldn’t be too unwieldy for me to manage.

From there I went to Dollar General for things I wanted a bit ahead of time. That included toilet paper, toilet bowl cleaner, and dog food. The pet food that Chrissie and I bought last week was going down at an alarming rate, so I bought a larger bag this time. Kacey wolfed it down when I gave her a sample.

Chrissie and I remarked on a young man in Dollar General who was moving all around the store and seemed to be quite helpful. I was the only one checking out today, and he was standing at the register. He motioned me to come over, that he would check me out. I told him I appreciated that, because I was new to scanning things myself. Chrissie had watched as I did it, but I much preferred him to do it. I said for the first time in 81 years I was living alone, enjoying it but had no one to shop with. He beamed and said, “This is the time for you to travel the world and see everything you always wanted to see!”

I told him I’d seen most of what I wanted to see, and now it was time for people to visit me. I asked what country he would like to see. Ireland was the instant answer. His grandparents had come from there, and he wants to see it for himself. He was so animated and engaging. It was fun to chat with him.

After my trash and shopping spree were over, I talked to son John $ for a couple of hours. We began talking about rotary phones, and I told him the first phone of my childhood had no dial. We would pick up the receiver, wait for the operator to say “number please”, then say the number we wanted. I still remember that the pharmacy was “one”, and my dad’s office number was 29. My grandmother who was born in 1890 had the number 207 and the one born in 1880 had 278. From my description of the telephone, he sent a picture he found on the internet. It was accurate. I found another to send him of a later version. We came back to the present when our stomachs began to growl. He was going to have breakfast, and I was heading for lunch.

First Sunday Living Alone

For months I have attended my church in Asheville via live-streaming. Unlike the disheveled church-attenders pictured in cartoons, I was ALWAYS prepared for worship. I showered and dressed for the day before turning on the computer. I was unfed and un-coffeed. This first Sunday living alone was no different. What shocked me was the volume of my singing. I let loose and sang as if I were in church. Who knew I had kept quiet to avoid disturbing grandson David and put the damper on to protect Chrissie’s ears? I made a joyful noise to the Lord. He accepted the loud praise graciously, I presume. For the record, Kacey didn’t howl.

The temperature shocked me when I was ready to have lunch around 3 in the afternoon. It was 70 F (21.11 C)! The table on the porch was dirty, but it was a joy to clean it up for warm dining. Neighbor Logan came over to visit while I was eating. I was having my leftovers from a Mexican restaurant, which happened to be where Logan had eaten lunch. He had peanut butter and crackers while keeping me company.

Logan asked if I’d like for his mother to come porch sit when she woke from her nap. I was thrilled, because I hadn’t seen her since she got an awful sinus infection weeks ago. Her voice did get a little raspy as we talked, but she looked prettier than ever. I wish I’d asked to take a photo of her.

Bob joined us and took Kacey for a run with the golf cart. That’s the first time she has had a good run since I quit letting her loose. We laughed that she slurped from every water bowl here – in the house and on both porches.

The day ended with phone calls from both daughter Lise and son John $. What a lovely way to end the day!

Hiding from the Dog

At 5:30 nothing was stirring as I reveled in the warmth of the bed. There were two more hours to sleep before the alarm went off! My eyes popped open wide, thinking that if Kacey heard me, she’d be prancing about, wanting to go outside. Niece Chrissie tried to break her of getting up early, a habit she started after David moved out. I used to stay up until 11:30 at night to take her out, not knowing when David would come home, anywhere from 1 to 6 am. I’m still going to bed late, while hoping to sleep in the morning.

I carefully pulled one foot from the duvet, then the other. I tiptoed to the bathroom, hoping the floor wouldn’t creak. No dog in sight. The bed announced I was getting back in. Moving quicker than I thought was possible, I pulled the covers up to my chin and lay there holding my breath. Without hearing aids, I wouldn’t hear the quiet footsteps. Hoping my eyes wouldn’t squeak, I looked toward the door. Yes! The tip of Kacey’s tail moved past the bed. Hold still! Don’t move! If she suspects I’m awake, 45 pounds of dog will vault onto the bed and pounce on me! Slowly let your breath out and inhale silently. Ahh! Don’t make any sound as you relax. For heaven’s sake, don’t snore! Zzzzzzzz

The alarm chimed. Yes! 7:30! The dog appeared almost instantly “Get up and let me out, please!” said Kacey. We found rain falling on bits of ice on the front steps. The temperature was slightly above freezing, so the steps were not slippery. My third day of living alone was off to a well-slept start.

Alone!

I watched myself to see what I would do first when niece Chrissie left. She had come to help David move out, finding a place for him to stay in Asheville, and to be with me for the transition. She caught a ride to the airport with neighbors Cindy and Jim. It was most fortuitous that Cindy was flying the same day. I was now officially living alone, having never done that in 81 years. On coming back into the house, I went to the main bathroom and turned off the towel warmer. That was a logical thing for a miser to do. Kacey was dancing around, so the second thing was taking her outside and untangling her tether.

Being with Chrissie was a marvelous gift. We took photos of the last days she was here. We enjoyed a Burger King picnic at Richland Creek. There was a constant parade of dog walkers, one offering to take our picture.

Stephanie, Chrissie’s coworker and friend, came to have lunch with us. We made a quick stop in Mast General Store, a place I love to take visitors. The floors creak, just like old stores of my youth, and they sell lots of fun things.

On one of our last days, we went to my favorite waterfall and on to the Blue Ridge Parkway. What a lovely day it was to walk a few steps on a trail and take photos of the mountains!

Joyce invited us for dinner. She is one who prepares amazingly delicious food that is also beautiful on the plate. It was marvelous to have plenty of time to visit.