WfW ~ late, but better than never

 I am writing (a few days late) with Words for Wednesday, the words for which can be found here on Mother Owl's blog for July.

The goal of WfW is to take given prompts, words, phrases, photos, colors, or music and create a story from them.

This week's words and color of the month are in bold italics.

If you visit her blog you can also read and cheer on the other writers participating in this weekly fun.

The story of Simon, Jack, and Rose ended last week with a hint of Simon finally falling in love again after a tragic loss.  The murder of the Artisan's Loft proprietor was left to the government to resolve, which is probably safer for the three of them anyway.

  This is a post about gratitude and maybe breakfast too.  Christian, one of my roomies from the Philippines, made me breakfast the other morning on his day off.

  Fried eggplant with a balsamic vinegar and pepper dipping sauce, fried rice, and scrambled eggs.  It was amazing.  I've only had eggplant before as eggplant parmesan Jay style (heavily breaded and drowned in Ranch dressing), so having it fried this way was a treat.

  It is a hot summer here, as it is across the country and the world right now.  I stopped the other morning at the Fish Hatchery to watch the birds in their pollinator garden and was thrilled to see the beautiful golden yellow goldfinches.  I hadn't put out any thistle seeds this year so hadn't seen any yet.  I love their bright yellow color.

 

  Gracie is enjoying the window seats (here she is tanning her belly).  I need to figure out how to get a bird feeder or seed out to the porch roof under my windows so that she can bird watch while she is sunning herself.

  She seems to be adjusting better to the new house, and both cats enjoy prowling the house after dark when everyone has gone to bed.  But both cats are still skittish around all the new faces and people.

  Late night confession time.  And no, I'm not trying on weird face filters on Instagram.  When I have trouble sleeping I like watching the animal reels on Instagram.  Usually, it's mostly cats or dogs that pop up in my feed, based on things that I have liked in the past, but occasionally something different.  I've become fascinated with octopuses (the collective noun for which is consortium), but I also saw recently a pod of dolphins that featured a baby dolphin seeming to do an underwater dance around its mother as if playing a game with her.  It amazes me the intelligence of some species (and the not-so-much intelligence of some humans at times).

  I'm off tomorrow, and after a quick run to the pharmacy for iron tablets and Vitamin C (I'm slightly anemic again), the day will be spent getting the last "crumbs" of clutter from the old house and moving it into an empty room to be sorted for basement storage, trash, or future yard sale.  I will have some help tho, so it should go quickly at least in getting it from there to here.

  With August starting next week, I've been thinking of some of the folklore sayings I heard shortly after moving here.  In particular one regarding the number of fog mornings in August being equal to a snowfall in winter.  I tracked the foggy mornings in August 2021, but we didn't get an equal number of snow days during the winter of 2021/2022.  

  There is another one that I'm a little more concerned about this year which says that "If the first week in August is unusually warm, the coming winter will be snowy and long."  I'm not sure how they want to define "unusually warm" since the temperature forecast looks similar to July, but even so, there is another folklore that says "If a cold August follows a hot July, it foretells a winter hard and dry."  It sounds to me like the writers of the farmer's almanac were covering both sides of the hot/cold options!

  I've already been making plans for the holidays this year, apart from the Scottish nutcracker-style soldiers that I've been working on making for my sisters.  Since one of my roomies, Bipin, is Sihk, I've reached out to some of the Indian embassies here in the US to ask if they could direct me to sites to order holiday-appropriate Indian treats, or if they could send some to him so that he does not feel left out at that time of year.

  I ordered a new ornament display tree so that I can get back to my monthly decorating, and am thinking of doing one of two options to commemorate my roomies this holiday season.  Option 1 is to order ornaments depicting the countries my roomies are from and then put their names on them.  Option 2 (which I'm leaning towards) is to purchase materials to have them paint their own ornaments however they feel depict their home countries and write their own names on them.  Then each year, I will add to them with new roomies (should I continue this adventure).

  Once all this moving and unpacking stuff is under my belt, over & done with, in the past, and whatever other finished terms you want to think of, I'm planning on taking more time to work on crafts, read books I've had on my shelf for a few years now, and generally, let my brain grow mushrooms on the weekends.

  The last few months have been higher stress than I like to live under normally on a day-to-day basis.  Since my office and bedroom are in the same room now, I am trying to make myself a little corner to disconnect from work and technology.  It was the same chair and corner that Cotton took over when she was staying here.  So I'm trying to remember that making myself a priority is a good thing.  A necessary thing.  A much-needed thing.

  I hope your Wednesday was blissful, and your weekend coming is relaxing.    Hugs,    Ci

Saturdays are for ... getting my steps in.

   I'm still moving.  It has been the story of my life, and while this is the 39th time I've moved in my 61 years, it feels like the longest and I'm only moving across the street.  Every day is at least 6500 steps or more back and forth, up and down stairs.  I'm exhausted all the time.  All. The. Time.  Fortunately all the big stuff has now been moved, and it is just the little stuff and the clean up.  I'm trying to focus on one room at a time now (especially since there is one room that I haven't even touched yet).

  That said, here is a glimpse into how the kids are handling it...

  This is Cotton, a friend's dog that I've been watching for the past eight days.  She has taken over my favorite chair and Charlie's favorite toy, Monkey Man.  Charlie is not amused, and is really totally over her being here.  She is a sweet girl, but very much like Jim Carrey on Red Bull.  When I take them with me to feed the cats at her house, Charlie is very annoyed when I let her get back in the car.  Just two more days, Charlie, two more.

  Charlie is not one to share when it comes to food, so positioned himself where he could guard both food bowls.  Cotton is only allowed to eat after he has finished his bowl and is no longer in danger of starving to death.  As if he would.  Chonky boy needs to lose three pounds according to the vet, so hopefully going up and down the stairs will help both of us.

  Gracie was not thrilled about Cotton staying with us since she was not consulted.  However, she can be bought with Temptations Catnip Fever treats.  Surprisingly, Charlie growled at Cotton one evening in Gracie's defense when the hyper canine wanted to play on the stairs with her, and the perturbed feline wasn't having any of that nonsense.

  This is Bed Lump, formerly known as Lucy, also occasionally known as IWonderWhat'sBehindDoor#One.  She has no comment.

  This has to be one of my new favorite pictures of Charlie.

    I'm hopeful that over the next seven days the actual moving part will be over with, and then I will have another seven to just clean and make repairs.  I'm trying to not overdo things (which is hard when doing it alone) but have had to pace myself.

   If you are curious about West Virginia politics (which I haven't been in the past because politics are always such a volatile topic for any conversation), there have been some interesting articles posted recently which indirectly impact me ~ only because of my new roll as an "Auntie" to nine international interns working at the Greenbrier Resort nearby.  One of them is this Statehouse Beat article from the Charleston Gazette. [link]  There was such an uproar over the original post cited in the article that it has opened a political and negative publicity Pandora's box for the Govenor at a time when his resort is getting ready to host the new LIV Golf Tournament.  I'm hopeful that what began as an innocent question and concern for the welfare of "migrant" workers will become an effort to change things more than an effort to crucify the existing state leadership.

WfW ~ with a face like a toad

 I am writing with Words for Wednesday, the words for which can be found here on Mother Owl's blog for July.

The goal of WfW is to take given prompts, words, phrases, photos, colors, or music and create a story from them.

This week's words and color of the month are in bold italics.

If you visit her blog you can also read and cheer on the other writers participating in this weekly fun.

This is a continuing WfW story that started here on April 5th.

I left off on July 11th with some brotherly advice for Jack. 

  "Uh, Simon, should I be worried that you pay such close attention to my little sister?  You two haven't actually gone on any dates that I don't know about, have you?  Or maybe making plans to?"

  I didn't answer.  Until that moment, Rose had just always been Jack's little sister.  Kind of like my little sister too, and I'd never looked at her any other way.  Or maybe subconsciously I had.  Until I had said those things out loud, I wasn't even aware I'd noticed them.

  Overhead, a wedge of Canadian geese passed by with one or two stragglers loudly honking as they tried to catch up.  While it was still hot, seeing them reminded me that the start of fall was just two months away.  It had been Cori Ann's least favorite season after Sage died, and by default I also dreaded it.  She hadn't been able to see the beauty in the color of the leaves, only the fact that they dropped from the trees.  The bare trees signaled death for her, the silence of winter meant there was no laughter to be heard.

  I felt a door close on my past, and maybe a new window opening to the future.  

  For me, fall had always meant laughter.  Family gatherings.  Football.  Fresh crisp air.  Bonfires.  The bright colors on the trees were invigorating, and even shoveling snow in winter was relaxing for me.  A chance to just focus on one thing at a time in the peaceful muffledness of snow.  Silence had been Cori Ann's enemy but not mine.  I would use each huff and puff to breathe in and out my mantra words for that day.  In healing.  Out pain.  In peace.  Out anger.  In serenity.  Out negativity.  My arms would move like clockwork in rhythm with my breath.  Down.  Up.  Down.  Up.  Down. Up.

  I treasured the time I'd had with Cori Ann and Sage.  I always would.  But maybe it was time for me to move forward instead of not moving at all.

  "Houston calling Simon.  Earth to Simon.  You there, buddy?  Your face is all lumped up and you look like a toad.  What's going on in that thick skull of yours?"

  "A knot of toads.  It's called a knot of toads, not a lump."

  "Ah, whatever, dude, further evidence that you weren't paying attention to what I was saying.  I said your face looks like a lumpy toad.  Where'd you go?  Thinking up some new mousetrap invention?"

  "Jack, you know they can't invent a better mousetrap than a regular old cat, right?  Listen, I've got to go talk to Rose about something.  Are we good?"

  "Sure, Simon.  Go do what you gotta do.  It's about damn time you got off your ass and did something about that.  She's been in love with you for only the past five years."

  "Wait.  What?"

  "Nothing, bro.  Nothing.  Just go, get out of here.  I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Saturdays are for ... adventures

  I took a friend to the airport in Roanoke early this morning, then  Nancy and I went shopping at Sam's Club.  Ohhhh, that was an expensive, but worthwhile trip.  I picked up some Basmati & Jasmine rice and other things for the move and house.

  Afterward, Nancy and I had lunch downtown in old Roanoke at an artisan bakery, Bread Craft [<link] owned by someone she used to work with.  Their pastrami rye sandwich was amazing!

 

  Old town Roanoke will require more exploring!  I went into a General Store that was marketed more for tourists than locals but still had some possibilities for future trips.

  I love the renovations that they are doing with some buildings downtown!

  On the way home, we got lost for a bit.  Although we didn't know it.  I apparently lost service on my GPS, and we were blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda talking, and somehow, somewhere, we wound up in another county, in a state park that neither of us recognized.  One U-turn and 30+ minutes later, we were back on track.

  Once home, I was running things back and forth across the street, and my new landlord said that he managed to capture a dangerous animal in the basement with his sticky bug traps.  It took me nearly 20 minutes to get it free and then set it free.  I threw away the rest of the sticky traps.

  This is a Northern Ring-Neck Snake [<link] very gentle, harmless, sweet snake.  They like moist, humid basements.  Hopefully, mine won't be moist and humid much longer!

remembering when ...

   I've been working on the family tree of my former brother-in-law.  My second husband's youngest brother, now the last surviving of the three brothers.  He has two sons, one nephew, and a great-nephew.  The five of them are all that is left of their lineage.

  Going through the hints that pop up on Ancestry.com, I see familiar names, and I can hear in my mind the voice of my Gypsy Mom, my MommaLaw, telling me who this person was or who that person was.

  I haven't heard her voice since 2005, but suddenly she is alive again in my memories.  I was closer to her than my own Mom for many, many years.  Even after I divorced her son in 2001.  She died in 2017.

  Last year I reconnected with him after two decades, and it was a good thing.  A healing thing for both of us.

  I've also continually been fussed at by the Carolina Wren nesting in the dogwood tree outside the front door.  She reminds me of the one my Mom had nested in her mailbox for several years.  Now every time I step outside, I think my Mom is fussing at me.

  Sometimes old memories can be a good thing.

  And a quick update to the injured bunny... it is still alive, and now becoming more active.  I will pick it up in the morning, keep it under observation for a week or so, then release it into the wild.

WfW ~ the heart of a gnome ...

 I am writing with Words for Wednesday, the words for which can be found here on Mother Owl's blog for the month of July.

The goal of WfW is to take given prompts, words, phrases, photos, colors, or music and create a story from them.

This week's words and color of the month are in bold italics.

If you visit her blog you can also read and cheer on the other writers participating in this weekly fun.

This is a continuing WfW story that started here on April 5th.

I left off on July 5th with the story of Sage. 

  "Simon, not to change the subject because I really feel for your loss, but to totally change the subject to maybe something that is not quite a downer.  What do you think about finding a nice silk scarf to give to Rose as an apology?  Not that I think you, or rather I, should try to buy her forgiveness, but I really have been a bit of an ass of a big brother to her lately with everything that has been going on."

  "You're pretty much an ass to everyone, Jack, so it would be tough to define the one moment that you were trying to make up for.  But yeah.  She might like something like that.  Maybe some flowers or a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes.

  "Look, I just wanted to apologize for everything recently.  Not everything since the beginning of time.  I can't afford to do that.  Or buy her Manolo Blahnik heels."

  I glanced out the restaurant window and saw a bevy of quail running through some dead leaves left from last fall.  What a weird word.  Bevy.  I wondered who thought of calling a bunch of fluffy little alien-sounding birds [<link, listen to California May 10, 1991 Calls] a bevy.

  "Well, I guess we should get her something nice.  Simon, weren't you looking at the jewelry back at the coin shop?  What did the saleslady suggest?"

  "Hmm, not anything like olive branches, but she did make a good suggestion."

  "Which was?  Or am I going to have to be the unlucky jerk who gets her the wrong thing?"

  "She's your sister, Jack.  Pretty much anything you get her is going to be misinterpreted.  If it is clothing, you better make sure it is the exact right size because too small will make her feel like she's fat and too big will make her feel like YOU think she's fat.  If it is an unflattering color, she'll feel ugly in it.  If it is a pattern, you have to make sure it is vertical stripes, not horizontal because those will make her look and feel wider than she is.  Shopping for women is a tricky game, man.  It almost requires a Ph.D."

  "Wow.  No wonder Cori Ann fell for you.  Well then, Dr. Smarty Pants, what do you suggest for Rose?"

  "Honesty.  An honest apology.  Dinner at the Top Wind Sushi Restaurant every now and then.  Did you even know she loves sushi?  She doesn't want any major purchases, and I was just kidding about the Manolo Blahnik's.  I know you don't pay much attention to her since she's your little sister, but I've noticed things.  Like the fact that she's slightly obsessed with garden gnomes.  She counts on her fingers when she's stressed.  She giggles when she sees puppies.  All Rose really wants is for you to notice her.  You're all she has now that your parents are gone, and she's afraid of losing you too.  Don't just be her big brother.  Be her friend.  Be a part of her life, and let her be a part of yours.  Just don't blow it by letting your ego get in the way.  Be humble.  Life is too short for pride and arrogance."

tiny trauma Tuesday ...

 I saw this sweet soul early this morning on my way to meet a friend who was dropping off her car for repairs.  It was sitting at the curb and I couldn't see the road rash on the side.

When I came back into town, it had moved so that it was almost laying on the other side, and was wheezing.  I got a towel to gently pick it up and then took it to a veterinarian's office where it has been all day.

I'm still waiting to hear if it has survived.

If it did and can leave, I will rehab it here under their guidance since there is no wildlife rehab nearby, and then release it into the wild where it will be away from cars, stray cats, and hopefully birds of prey.

I ask that you would keep it in positive thoughts.

Saturdays are for ... discoveries

 ... and heat ... and dehydration ... and Lucy's toes.  

Saw some beautiful moths at my friend Deborah's house.  I love how each of them is unique, with stunning symmetry.  This first one was nearly the size of my palm!

This one below made me think of shelf fungi on a tree.

I love the subtle sage green on this one!

I've discovered that one of my birdhouses is inhabited by a [link>] Carolina Wren momma who is quite vocal when I go outside. {listen to the second Northern call, recorded March 8, 2020, on the link above under sounds} I will have to wait until the nest is empty before I move the house across the street to my new home later this month.

It has been quite hot here lately.  Hot and humid.  I have to constantly be aware of how much water I'm drinking and have gotten into the habit of having at least one glass of water a day with "Liquid IV" which is a powder electrolyte replenishment so that I don't get leg cramps at night when I'm trying to sleep.  I've reduced the amount of coffee I drink in the mornings, but still find my ankles swelling at night from the humidity.  Right now it is 85F with a "real feel" of 86F and 43% humidity.

It seemed that every time I moved when I lived in Wisconsin, it was in the middle of winter with two feet of snow on the ground.  Since moving here, I've switched seasons to the summer, when the heat exhausts me faster.  Fortunately, this upcoming move will be the last for at least five years.

Lucy has trained me to give her back massages and belly rubs.  The latter will always find her splaying the toes on her feet, which I cannot resist tickling.  

When I move, I will have roommates for a time from the Philippines, and one from India.  So I am also discovering new foods and hopefully recipes I can make myself later.  All of them are all hospitality and culinary interns at the nearby resort.  They cook a large community dinner each evening, so I'm anticipating a house home filled with lots of laughter for the next nine months.  But I may have to invest in a treadmill to walk on while I work just to keep my weight and diabetes under control!

WfW ~ Sage

I am writing with Words for Wednesday, the words for which can be found here on Mother Owl's blog for the month of July.

The goal of WfW is to take given prompts, be they words, phrases, photos, colors, or music and create a story from them.

This week's words and color of the month are in bold italics.

If you visit her blog you can also read and cheer on the other writers participating in this weekly fun.

This is a continuing WfW story that started here on April 5th.

I left off on June 29th with the news of a new addictive drug danger and the mystery of Simon's broken heart. 

  "Sage?"

  I sighed deeply.  I hadn't spoken about Sage in more than a decade and hadn't spoken to Cori Ann in the same amount of time.  I'd buried those memories deep because it was the most painful thing I'd ever experienced, and I never thought I'd have to relive them again.  Even to tell my best friend, Jack.  So painful was that time in my life I'd even thrown most of the pictures from those years into the flames of a bonfire.  It was a stupid, drunken thing to do that I'd regretted the next morning, but it had helped to seal the memories away.

  "We did more than just date for a few years.  She moved in with me.  Then one day she told me she was pregnant.  I was giddy with excitement, and so was she.  I'd never loved anyone more.  We took a quiet trip to the courthouse and got married.  Started looking at houses in the country to buy, she wanted to have a brood of kids, just like you'd have a brood of chickens.

  "We were happy.  Over the moon.  She went into labor right on her due date, in the middle of making us pancakes for breakfast.  I don't know how women have that kind of strength, Jack.  Men want to act all brave and strong, but I tell you what, after the better part of fourteen hours of labor, I would have given up and demanded a cesarean.  But she seemed to grow stronger.  She said that we might have to rethink having a brood of kids, but that it was the most incredible thing she'd ever experienced.

  "Our little boy was born.  Ten fingers, ten toes, and just perfect.  We named him Sage, and I was even more in love with Cori Ann than I thought was possible.  I loved our boy, our life, everything.  I'd never known such happiness."

  "So what happened, Simon?  Why aren't you still with them?"

  "It was Sage's first birthday.  We were on vacation in Florida visiting my big sister and her family.  We had planned a picnic in [link>] Rainbow Springs State Park.  Sage had a diaper blowout at the last minute before we left the hotel, and Cori Ann wanted to give him a quick bath.  I was watching the news and probably more than a little distracted on my cellphone.  I didn't hear her calling to me to bring a clean diaper, and she came out to get it herself."

  "And?  What happened?"

  "She left him alone for only a couple of minutes.  And even though the water wasn't more than two inches deep, he had somehow rolled over on his stomach.  When she came back into the bathroom, he was face down in the water."

  "Drowned?  Oh my gosh, man, I'm so sorry."

  "No, he hadn't drowned, but he had inhaled a lot of water.  We had him checked out at the emergency room, and they said he was alright.  But by the time we got home from Florida, he had developed pneumonia.  That's what killed him, and Cori Ann too."

  "She got pneumonia too?"

  "No, but she blamed herself.  She thought I blamed her too, but I didn't.  It was an accident that could have happened to anyone.  We were new, inexperienced parents.  Neither one of us had younger siblings to see how our parents had dealt with babies.  She became depressed.  All she did was sleep and cry.  I know she was grieving, and I didn't know how to help her.  Hell, I was grieving and didn't know how to help myself at the time."

  "What did you do?"

  "All the wrong things.  I tried to get us into counseling, but she wouldn't talk when she finally agreed to go.  I thought maybe it would help if we planted a memorial garden for him where we could sit and visit his grave, but once I had it planted, she refused to leave it.  I would have to drag her away and then would wake up and find her gone.  She would have walked miles in the middle of the night to the cemetery, in her bare feet and nightgown at times, just to sit at his grave.  It was like she just checked out of life and I had no idea how to help her, how to cope with it.  I finally checked her into a behavioral health hospital because I was just so overwhelmed."

  "You left her in a hospital?  Simon, what were you thinking?"

  "I wasn't.  That's just it.  I was so caught up in my own grief over losing Sage and watching Cori Ann just waste away right in front of me, that I couldn't think straight at all.  Like I said, I was doing all the wrong things and just spiraling down some rabbit hole.

  "I got counseling, got help.  Heard from Cori Ann's doctors every week that she was improving, kept asking if I could visit her, but she kept telling them she didn't want to see me yet.  They told me she was working in the bakery, learning how to make bread, and every day she was taking small steps toward healing."

  "So she came home?  Where is she?  How come I haven't met her, and why the hell am I just hearing about all of this now?  I'm your best friend, Simon.  We're more than just business partners.  We're brothers.  I wish you had reached out to me.  I could have helped you through this."

  I felt the tears begin to fall now.  All those years of feeling lost and alone.  Why hadn't I reached out to Jack?  Or anyone?  I hadn't even told my sister what we were, what I was, struggling with.  It wasn't that I was ashamed, I just felt so overwhelmed and I didn't want to be a burden to any of them.

  "Cori Ann was doing good.  Until she wasn't.  The doctors said that they hadn't seen it coming.  She was supposed to be in the kitchen helping to make some bread pudding, but no one had seen her all morning.  One of the nurses went to check her room and found her there.  She had apparently died in her sleep of natural causes."

  "Natural causes?  How old was she?  I mean, she could only have been in her late 20s, right?"

  "Twenty-eight.  The autopsy showed that her heart stopped for unknown reasons.  The toxicology came back clean.  No congenital defects in the heart.  Just stopped.  They found her journal, and while it didn't indicate any extreme depression like she'd had when she first got there, it did indicate that she wasn't nearly as recovered as she wanted the doctors to think.  I never would have believed someone could die of a broken heart, but I think that is exactly what happened to Cori Ann.  She didn't want to live without Sage, and her feelings of guilt were too much for her heart."

  "I'm so sorry, Simon."

Saturday ... is sometimes for painting ...

  No adventurous road trips today.  I will be moving again in just a few weeks, so today was spent finishing up some of the painting in the kitchen.  

  I'm stopping here, one completely painted cabinet door, one partially painted, and I'm leaving a note for the next owner that they should really strip the cabinets completely and then paint them, replacing all of the hardware.  But the walls are all painted a neutral gray now, the turquoise is gone.

  Five-plus years of not being cleaned well (if at all), and the grease on the left cabinet handle was disintegrating the paint on it.  I'm certain the rest of the hardware in the kitchen is just as ... gross.

  Honestly, because of how small the kitchen is, and how difficult it is to access that cabinet in the corner, I'd suggest a complete overhaul of the kitchen.  Expand into the laundry room.  More counter space.  Exhaust fan over the oven.

  But I did follow through with the commitment to my landlord to clean it better than I found it when I moved in.  I won't even go into what I found under and behind the stove (or the refrigerator).

   Fourth of July celebrations have already started here.  Sounds of a slow-pitch softball game in the field across the creek.  Music coming from up the street at the Big Draft Brewery.