Charlie and me were out for a Sunday drive, and happened to pass Agnes Brown’s place out on Duck Pond Road. “Slow down, Charlie. Look, Aggie’s got ladders up!” “Ida, them ladders been up over a year.” “No!” “Seen them there last winter, under a foot of snow.” “There should be a law! You are not allowed begin another home improvement project ‘til you’ve finished the last one.” “Or in Aggie’s case, the last ten or twenty projects.” “Wow! What a way to live!” “One year, Ida, I kid you not, I think she put up one shingle.” “Come on!” “Really. Billy Pritchard told me. He lives in the grey house over there. Keeps an …
Last Wednesday (I remember the day because it was so traumatic), I’m tidying up in the morning before work, when I suddenly look down and see my arm in the sunlight. What the heck? I’m thinking. The skin was all strange and bumpy, like an alien creature. My other arm was fine, but my left one was looking really weird. I stared at it for a minute or so, trying to make sense of it. Have I come down with some strange disease in the night? That’s the arm I got my Covid shot in (two months ago). Is this some kind of side effect? Should I google it? Then, the penny drops. It’s just …
So I’m working at the A&P on Thursday, when I overhear a conversation between Amy Plourde and Stephanie Jackson that went something like this: “How’d your yard sale go last weekend?” Amy asks. “What a waste of time!” Stephanie replies. “First, we spend all day Friday getting ready. Then, we get up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and haul it out to the driveway, while people with big vans and pick-ups cruise back and forth like sharks, waiting for us to set up.” “Early birds!” “Yeah, a lot of ‘em dealers! When they finally park and get out of their trucks, (leaving them running, mind you), they strut around like crows, picking stuff …
Last Saturday, my niece Caitlin came over to help me out, taking a few publicity photos for my show coming up in July. It’ll be my first run in a theater since the pandemic began, and I’m psyched! Three nights in a row, so I can really work up a head of steam. As luck would have it, Saturday was beautiful day, picture perfect. Ha, ha! I wanted to get some shots with me throwing masks up in the air, and Caitlin’s iPhone was just perfect for snapping away, as many as it took. And I love that you can see the results right away. It’s really amazing when you think about it. Remember when …
Charlie and me have two different speeds. He’s usually the slow steady one. Methodical, I’d call it. He ticks chores off his list, one by one. I know he’ll get things done in his own time. I’m a multi-tasker and more of a sprinter. I race around doing this and that until I’m worn out, then I collapse. If we have company coming for dinner, for example, and Charlie asks if he can help, most likely I’ll say, “Just stay out of my way.” I’m not good at delegating because I lose too much time explaining. I tend to be doing something all the while thinking about the next one or two items on my …
It’s that time of year again where squirrels and drivers do si do. You have to keep an eagle eye out because an excited squirrel and a distracted driver is not a good combo. Not for the squirrel, certainly, but not you, either. Remember back in 2018 (I looked it up) where it was crazy how many dead squirrels were on the road? I guess there was a bumper crop of acorns the year before, so there were more little squirrels that year. All the young squirrels were leaving the nest about the same time, and apparently they weren’t taught to look both ways before crossing the road. This year’s squirrel population seems about normal, …
The summer holidays are here, and you know what that means, don’t you? Men down to Mikey’s Meat Market buying meat. I was in there on Saturday getting some pork chops for supper, and it was a friggin’ mad house. Now, you don’t get this for your winter holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, even Easter, I go into the meat market and it’s mostly exhausted women trying to do higher math. You know, if we’ve got 14 people coming for dinner, how big’s the turkey got to be? Or if the rump roast weighs such and such, how long should I cook it and at what temperature? Man, they don’t ask questions like that on the SAT’s! Your …
The other day, I noticed I had a missed call on my iphone from my sister Irene. So, I unlock the phone, see if she left a message, when I accidentally facetime her. Oops! I hang up before she answers because it’s first thing in the morning, and frankly, I’m not exactly looking my best. You know those movies where the woman wakes up all tousled and sexy? She rolls over and looks at the guy next to her. “Hi,” he says and flashes that killer grin. And she smiles back and murmurs, “Hi.” Not high on the scale of witty comebacks, but he seems to like it because guess who’s late for work that …
My birthday was last week, though to be honest I celebrate all month. I always take the day off from work and do what I want to do. That includes bacon for breakfast and going out of supper (which we could actually do this year) with popcorn, candy, and binge watching something in between. Throw in a sunshine-y walk with Scamp and a little cuddling with my guys, and it’s a perfect day. As if that wasn’t enough, the best thing happened on Saturday. I got together with the Women Who Run With the Moose: inside with hugs. Yes! We’re all fully vaccinated! So we had a birthday party, not just for me, but for …
The day morning, I was walking Scamp. We’d had rain the night before, but the morning was crisp and bright, about 50 degrees out. We’re strolling around a little neighborhood nearby, and Scamp is sniffing things more than usual. A rain like that really brings out the smells, doesn’t it? Even I’m grooving on it, the grass, the flowers. Coming towards us is a mom with her two sons, probably about 8 and 10. She’s doing some sort of season averaging with her clothing. She has on this polar fleece pullover and a down vest and cropped leggings and flip flops. Winter + Summer = Spring, right? Meanwhile, I’m in LL Bean pants with a …