North Country Halloween

I was looking through old photo albums the other day, when I come across this Halloween gem. I don’t know what Irene and me were supposed to be, but it must have been some cold and crappy out. Check out the winter coats and boots. If you look close, you can see Irene has a knit hat on behind her cat mask. Maybe that’s why she’s holding it up, instead of wearing it. (That mask was probably a tight fit with the hat on.) I think I see the hint of a hood behind my mask. And what’s up with Irene’s cape, with the dancing circus dogs on it? My biggest concern when I look …

So, I’m at Mikey’s Meat Market on Thursday after work. I buy the basic stuff down to the A&P, of course, but when it comes to meat, I go to Mikey’s. It’s a good old fashioned meat market with red-faced butchers out back cutting meat, and guys (yup, only guys) behind the counter. These fellas really know their stuff, including how long to cook just about anything you’re buying. So anyways, I’m waiting in line. There was a pause in the action and no customers are in there except for me and Mildred Campbell. We’re standing side by side, both staring into the meat case. I’m considering how many pork chops I should buy, and …

Trash or Treasure?

I just love yard sales. I love going to them, and I love having them. Because the thing is, if you go to a lot of yard sales, you have to have a yard sale every once in a while to get rid of the stuff you bought at the other yard sales, right? Oh, I’ve gotten some wicked good stuff at yard sales. Like one of them crocheted toilet paper covers, only with a poodle on top. (I kid you not). And at Debbie Ledoux’s last year, a bobble head moose and a hand-painted wooden frog for my frog collection. Score! I’ve also bought crap that looked good in the heat of the moment. …

Last weekend, we hung out with our cousins up to Claudette and Roger’s camp on Moose Megantic Lake. We try to do this once a year, just for the heck of it. Not all of us can make it, usually, but this year it was a full boat. What a hoot! Sure, some things have changed. Instead of talking about what we used to talk about (which honestly, I can’t quite remember what that was), we talk about retirement, grandchildren, and, if we’re lucky enough to still have them, our aging parents. We may even engage in an organ recital. That’s when we describe our aches and pains and replacement parts (new hip, knee or …

The 19th annual Antique Tractor and Engine Show took place up to the Bouchard Brother’s Farm last weekend. Hoo, boy! Charlie was like a kid, he was so jacked up. “Three more days ‘til the tractor show, Ida!” Both men and women love this event! Men, because there are tractors, of course, and all them old engines, “antique” tools and the like. (Me? I think “antique” is just a code word for “rusty.” But beauty’s in the eye of the beholder, right?) Women love it because the men are occupied and out of their hair all weekend. It’s a win/win situation. I go to the pancake breakfast Saturday morning (Well, who doesn’t like a pancake …

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 …

Sometimes it seems like being cranky, whining, complaining, and moping are the glue that holds us together. There are whole television programs devoted to it. And hey, I get it. We have a lot to be cranky about right now. Still gets on my nerves, though. Charlie, too. Cranky Don’t Cut It This fella Mel, who’s on my shift The one who operates the lift? Of all the guys we’re employing Mel’s become the most annoying ‘Cause if you need complaining done Mel’s your fella, he’s the one Who’ll get the other fellas riled Me, as well, it put it mild How he prattles, all day long ‘Bout everything that’s going wrong The roads, the …

“My mom’s memory is like a window opening and closing.” That’s what my co-worker Lisa said to me, a few years ago. I thought I knew what she meant, but I didn’t. Not really. Now, I get it. My dad is down to Mahoosuc Green, our senior living facility here in town. He bought in a few years after my mom died, and had the cutest little apartment in the independent living wing, Dirigo Way. But, a few months into lockdown, I got the call, “Ida, we feel your father’s no longer Dirigo Way material.” Ouch! I guess Dad needed a little more help with things. You know, like showering, cueing (reminding him when he’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 and awhile 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 …

Happy Holidays from Mahoosuc Mills

Well, I just had my last performance of 2020, and what a year it’s been. Thanks for sticking with my on this journey! I had a big day yesterday, and am too pooped to write much, so I thought I’d share some video clips from “A Very Ida Christmas!” We filmed ’em a few years back. Enjoy! Ho, ho, ho, and all that jazz! That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!  

...5678...