Oh, my God! Charlie and me saw buds on our forsythia bush over the weekend! There’s something about that green with a little hint of yellow that’s just so darn hopeful, right? Puts a bounce in my step. The older I get, the more I appreciate spring. Well, all the season’s really, but especially spring. March was true to it’s word. After entering with two, count ‘em, two major snow storms, with power outages to boot, the last half of the month was blessedly lamb-like. I love watching the tide turn, and all of a sudden you realize that there are more patches of ground showing than snow. And wow, the birds are starting to …
Charlie hasn’t written a poem in a bit. Guess we’ve both been busy enjoying summer. But now that it’s September, he’s back at it. Here’s one inspired by something that happened while Charlie was out walking Scamp. Enjoy! Somethin’ To Do For us volunteer firemen, often the drill Is to take out the fire truck, just for a thrill No fires to fight, and emergencies, few It’s a whole lot o’ nothing, but somethin’ to do Off-duty was I, my head in a fog While Ida cooked dinner, I walked the dog The guy who drove by wasn’t someone I knowed All of a sudden, he went off the road! Into the culvert, he started …
I know it’s the end of August, and I was there two weeks ago when the mums arrived at the A&P. But, it’s too soon! I am not ready for fall. It feels like summer only just arrived. Right now, I’m groovin’ on the sunflowers, pink phlox and Black-eyed Susan, bobbin’ in the breeze. Our butterfly bush and hummingbird feeder are still packing ‘em in. Even the potted petunias are still perky. I mean, I’m not sick of zucchini yet, so I’m definitely not ready for “hearty mums.” Don’t be me wrong, I like the idea of a plant that has “hearty” as part of it’s name. It says, I’m going to be here for …
A couple of weeks ago, I had an experience that’s haunted me ever since. So much so, I felt the need to discuss it with the Women Who Run With the Moose when we got together for our girls’ night, Thursday evening. Betty was hosting, and she was servin’ these skinny watermelon margaritas. Perfect for a hot, summer night in Mahoosuc Mills, and for helping the conversation flow. Not that us gals ever have a problem in that department. “So last Saturday, I was at the baked bean supper down to the Congo Church,” I begin, “and who do I run into but Eleanor Purdy.” “How is ol’ Ellie?” asks Shirley. “Just as sweet as …
Ran into Franny Ward down to the A&P the other day. She was standing in the express lane looking happy as a clam. I was about to go on break anyway, so I shut of my register light and went over to say hi. Along with me and a handful of others, Franny is one of the Saturday morning regulars with Patsy down to Hair Affair. It’s always the same bunch of women, reading the same magazines, under the same hairdryers, dishing about celebrities and locals alike. We are equal opportunity gossipers. Did you see that movie “Steel Magnolias?” It’s kind of like that, only with snow or black flies. I call us the Sturdy …
Have you ever met someone new, or maybe reconnected with an old friend, and you think, Wow, they’re the nicest person? I mean, you really like them, really connect with them. So you become facebook friends, and oops, now you have to deal with their politics! I mean, the two of you couldn’t be more different. Oil and water. Not only that, they feel compelled to post the most nasty, mean-spirited, in-your-face stuff on a daily basis. Stuff you have to skim over, because it’s just so upsetting. It doesn’t have to be on facebook, either. You could be going to a bean supper or a party. You park your car near a truck that’s …
On our morning walk around our neighborhood, Charlie and me see lots of birds: sparrow, blue jays, crows, chickadees, of course, a few hawks and even a robin or two. Canada geese, in season. But every once in a while we’ll see a Pileated Woodpecker. Not one of them little guys, but the Woody Woodpecker ones? That’s always a treat because they are spectacular looking. I mean, that red! The Pileated is a big bird and, boy, it makes a racket hammering away. You think they’d be easy to see, but they’re not. Most of the time you hear them, but can’t find where they are. Charlie and me must look like idiots, stopped in the …
A kitchen faucet is something that you use a lot, right? So when it’s running slow, it can be a real pain in the patootie. There you are, wanting a cup of tea, and it takes forever get enough water in the teapot. I mean, you have time to take a nap. It may be irritating to me, but poor Charlie sees that slow running faucet as his own personal failure as a husband. He’ll take this annoyance for so long, then it reaches a tipping point, and off he goes to Petey’s Plumbing with the problem piece. That’s the end of the faucet that you can screw off and it has a little screen …
Crockpots, or slow cooker as they’re calling ‘em nowadays, are real popular in our neck of the woods as you can imagine, especially during the winter months. So I wasn’t surprised this week when I picked up my sister Irene to go to our book group, and she came out carrying her own crockpot. I popped the trunk and she put hers beside mine. “What’d you make?” she asks. “Chili with ground turkey. Trying keep it light where I can, so I can have dessert. How ‘bout you?” “Baked beans with miniature hot dogs.” “Always a crowd pleaser.” So off we go to Donna Gerard’s, across town. The thing is, having a slow cooker in …
Rose Thibideau got out of rehab last week. Not your Betty Ford kind of rehab. I’m talking about the rehab wing of Mahoosuc Green, the Senior Living Facility where my Dad is. He’s not in the rehab section, though. Dad moved in there a few years after our mother died. He has the cutest little apartment. Anyways, Rose Thibideau’s children tried to get her to move into Mahoosuc Green, but she wasn’t budging. She was Eighty-nine and still living at home until she took a tumble, breaking one wrist and spraining the other. I don’t know how long she was lying on the floor before her daughter Clair found her. Of her seven kids, only …
