Progress?

I think not.

When I was in college one of my professors own a house outside of town.  I house sat one summer and truly loved being there.  I was paid but would gladly have stayed free.  With what is occurring I wish I’d taken pictures of every tiny corner although I know pictures wouldn’t have captured the intangible feeling within the walls.

The oldest, original section of it was at one time a stage coach stop.  Lounging in that area, you could literally feel the history swirling around you.

The rest of the house, the newer portion was huge.  And absolutely gorgeous!  There was an entry hall.  You know, like you see in movies complete with the multi-tiered staircase.  There was a kitchen big enough for the entire first floor of my current home to fit within.  One wall was pointed stone, the outside wall of the original structure.  And there was a four foot square butcher block in the middle of the floor, top curved from use before the then owners claimed it.

There was a music room with hardwood floors where they had a baby grand piano that made even my shabby talents sound amazing.  A dining room with a table that could seat twelve and a family room that faced the highway but with walls so thick you could hear none of the traffic noise.

Upstairs there were five bedrooms plus and office.  The guest room, my room was at the back of the house next to a shade tree.  Even in the heat of the summer that rivaled this year’s it remained cool enough to sleep.  The third floor had been made into a game room.  Real games as in a full-sized ping pong table that took up only one tiny corner of it.

The back had pretty gardens and a lovely stone porch, perfect for relaxing with the kittens born in their garage the summer I stayed there, two of which ended up following me home when the residents returned.

The current owner, a contractor has won the fight to demolish it in order to erect yet another convenience store/gas station.  His reasoning for being permitted to do so – The other three corners are developed so why not that one as well?  It saddens me that the zoning board approved the change.  History, the stage coach stop, and the addition, just shy of 200 years old, built by original settlers to the area is being destroyed in the name of progress.  I call it greed and I’m extremely disappointed that this is being permitted.

Beautiful!

I went to a wedding Saturday.  The groom was a former neighbor but I knew him before he and his parents moved in.

There’s a moment from his childhood that I’ll never forget.  It was just after we met.  My ex and I invited his family for a cookout.  The mom had previous plans but dad and son came over.  The guys were inside chatting while I was tending the grill.  Soon after I headed outside this adorable six year old joined me.  He said he was afraid I’d get lonely out there alone so he decided to come keep me company.  How sweet is that?

When my neighbor at the time moved in with her boyfriend, she said she was renting her house.  Instantly, I thought of this family and had them contact her.  It has been great, having them as neighbors.  I got to watch the kindhearted little boy grow into a good, caring man.

And now he’s found himself a wonderful woman to share his life.  I’m so happy for them.  Yes, sometimes life is good!

Very Sad

This is the first time in my entire life that I will not be watching the Olympics. 

I got rid of cable/satellite two years ago and honestly have not missed it one bit.  Until this week.  Yes, I have places I am extremely welcome to go and watch.  I love my friends and their overwhelming generosity.  But it’s just not the same.

So instead of going and enjoying their hospitality while I sit there and fight tears I am going to stay home and try to pretend I’m not missing the opening ceremonies tonight.  I know.  Damn stubborn of me but it’s not really something I can adequately explain.

NBC is streaming everything online but without a subscription to a cable or satellite network you are denied access.  If I had that, I wouldn’t need to watch online, now would I?  I don’t like them at all right now.

As much as I love the Olympics and as sad as I am, I’m just not willing to do a two year contract to watch TV for two weeks.  I just can’t do it.

Hope your weekend is better than mine.

Dreams Underfoot

By Charles de Lint.  If you haven't read this book, you should.  Yes, it's good enough to finish even though I neglected to stick it in the fridge yesterday and it felt heated as I was holding it.

"...cats can be like the hint of whisper when they want, ghosting and silent, invisible presences." ~ from The Moon is Drowning while I Sleep

"Every big city like this is really two worlds.  You could say it's divided between the haves and the have-nots but it's not that simple.  It's more like some people are citizens of the day and others of the night.  Someone like me belongs to the night.  Not because I'm bad, but because I'm invisible.  People don't know I exist.  They don't know and they don't care..." ~ from But for the Grace Go I

Let's See

I could ramble about work.  Only I won’t because everything there is pretty confidential.

Or I could tell you the project Beau and I are working on.  Only it’s not close enough to ready to share yet.  I could post a snippet of what we’re up to.  Only Beau said no again.  Not until it’s ready.  And since he’s the one dictating I think it’s probably best not to argue.  Have you ever tried arguing with a magical cat?  Trust me.  It’s not recommended. 

I could whine about how I wore the wrong shoes today and now I have a blister on my foot but that’s not at all entertaining. 

Perhaps I’ll leave you to your own devices and take a break like Beau is.  Yeah, that sounds good.  Darn.  Forgot to stick my book in the fridge this morning.  Last night it felt heated when I picked it up to read.  And it’s still hot and going to be much worse tomorrow. 

Have I mentioned how much I dislike summer?  Might not be so bad if it rained but it seems eastern PA is becoming the new desert. 

So Innocent Looking

And yet so wicked.

Sorry, nothing again today.  Beau has me working on one of his little projects.  I've learned the best thing to do when he's feeling creative is to go with it and not argue.  I'll be back when he lets me.  Until then, stir up some of your own chaos!

Off Balance

Literally.

I read a little tidbit today.  A balance test that stated your balance begins to decline after age 25.  The article included a test to determine how you’re doing so naturally I had to try it.

You stand, barefoot, on a hard surface.  Close your eyes and lift one foot six inches off the ground while balancing on the other foot.  Hold as long as you can, counting the seconds.  Do it three times and then average the amount of time you manage.  The article gave a chart to tell you how you do.  4 seconds/70 years, 5 seconds/65 years, 7 seconds/60 years, 8 seconds/55 years, 9 seconds/50 years, 12 seconds/45 years, 16 seconds/40 years, 22 seconds/30-35 years, 28 seconds/20-25 years.

No, I’m not telling you how I did other than to say it is depressing.  Hope you do better since I know you’ll have to try it too.

Happy weekend all!

Confused

I just ate the second dozen mid-summer strawberries, picked fresh, eaten right out in the yard.  This is the hottest, driest summer ever!  They should not be bearing.  But there are lots of green berries so I'll probably be out there again over the weekend.  I almost like strawberries when there are only a few at a time and they are still warm and sweet from the sun.

Ho Ho Ho

I spent the day at work with Christmas music playing in the background.  Softly.  Loud enough for me to hear but no easily heard by anyone else passing through my area.  Yes, there were a few double-takes once they realized they really were hearing what they thought.

I listen to Christmas music throughout the year.  Why not?  I like it.  It comes in all varieties.  Today was a mellow day but I also have Louis Armstrong, steel drums, the Grinch and Rudolph soundtracks, classical and sad blues. 

Hmm.  Now that I’ve reminded myself I have all that perhaps it will be a Christmas music week instead of just a day. 

Truth

Watching

Cherub overseeing the flowers

Moving On

Standing at the edge of the forest

Looking out

The way to civilization blocked

All those I knew have ventured forth

But I remain

Feral and isolated

Unable to survive in their new world

I still hear them sometimes

Calling out to me

Encouraging me to join in

But they are gone

Their voices just an echo

A reminiscence of what once was

Back when we were the same

Moving on

Forgetting the shared paths

Rejecting our history

Relegating us to the dusty corners of their minds

Never to be dwelt on

I am fading into the mist

Ever lost in the wilderness

Of our discarded past

Now only I remember where we came from

There’s no one else left to care

Gathering my memories like a cloak

I turn

Shrouded by what once was

And slip into my future

Alone

I Have an Elephant!

Really, I do.  Or in some alternate reality, I do.

I had a dream last night that was so incredibly real I believe it must truly have happened somewhere.  I was riding an elephant.  A young, perky elephant, not an old, on her last legs elephant.  Someone, nope, don’t know who or why, trapped me on her and sent us both off to the elephant graveyard to die.  I was sobbing and she was very obviously upset but things had been set in motion and there was nothing to be done about it.

Or so I thought.  I have this awesome friend who rescues me from my dreams.  Sometimes from within the dream and sometimes not, depending on whether or not I am able to reach out from wherever I’m stuck.

Last night, I sent out a call for help.  And got it.  I was told we didn’t have to go and die, and how to stop the elephant.  The method worked as expected and I managed to hop down to safety.

So there, Miss Elephant and I stood, grinning because our untimely deaths had been circumvented and I decided to bring her home with me.  Only not to Reading.  I asked said friend if I could keep her and was told of course I could.  I led her to his barn, no, he doesn’t have one in my waking reality, and put her in with his horses, which don’t exist either.

They had a blast!  When I left she was puffing air on them and tickling them with her trunk and they were affectionately head butting her and flicking her with their tales.  She was the happiest elephant I’ve ever seen and I can’t wait to get back to visit.  It's hot today.  I bet she's spraying water on them!

I Was Bad!

No, this is not another childhood tale although I suppose it did begin then.  This is me being currently bad.  Shameless you might even say.  I’ve mentioned my great aunt Irva.  I’ve also told you she spent her working life as a sixth grade teacher.  What I haven’t discussed is her uncanny ability to take charge.

In many ways I have always had anthropologist tendencies. Long before I’d ever heard the word and considered majoring in it, I would notice things, observe situations thoroughly and learn from them. 

One of the more fascinating experiences occurred between my great aunt and my mother.  Irva would get this look about her.  Her voice would take on a certain tone.  She would issue an order and my mom would jump and scurry to carry it out.  Oh, Irva was very polite and extremely sweet while making demands and waiting regally for my mom to accomplish her task but they were commands all the same.  It truly was beautiful to behold and I can picture it being just as effective throughout her 40 plus year teaching career.

Yesterday, I decided I wanted something that has been rotting away in my mother’s house, neglected and barely remembered since I was a child.  The only time it’s been mentioned at all was when she would consider disposing of it.  Not really the outcome I wanted for this so I mustered my best General Irva demeanor last night and called my mother.  I told her, very Irva-esquely what I wanted. 

I was informed it was not in the attic as I’d thought but in an outbuilding.  Hmm.  Not as hot out there but it would still take some doing to retrieve it.  Oh I know what you’re thinking.  Why don’t I just go and get it myself?  Well I could.  But I don’t want to.  I am providing her a service, removing said item from her life.  If I went and dug it out it wouldn’t be an even exchange.  And I’d already magically transformed myself into my great aunt so there was no backing down.  It would ruin everything and perhaps not be useful in future dealings with my mother.

So we hung up, her stating by all means, she would indeed unearth the treasure I am after.  Today, in fact.  And then Saturday, I will go and easily claim it from her porch, eliminating the need for her to determine how to dispose of it.  Fair all the way around, right? 

Harry was Right

I was off for a few days.  Had lots planned to do but then it got hotter than the hinges of Hell, as my dad used to say, and that was the end of all outdoor activities for me.  Still, even though my house is not air conditioned and I spent time worrying that the cats and I were going to melt into the floor, I had fun anyway.  Did a bunch of reading.  Even managed to knit a bit.

This morning, Harry was upset.  He snagged my clothes and I almost had to choose something else to wear as I wasn't positive he would let me have them in order to make it to work on time.  You see, I'd been getting up and opening my house around dawn to try and cool it down some before the heat of the day set in.  I'd go back to bed and Harry and I would read for awhile before we got up for real.  Today, he didn't seem to want me to go any more than I did.

Alas, in the end, he relinquished them.  It was a VERY long day.  Why is it that it takes only minutes to get out of work-mode and forever to get back into it?

Hahahaha!

Edit

Hahahaha!

by Barbara Huffert on Sunday, July 8, 2012 at 6:11pm ·

Nightmares splinter
Morph and merge
Horrors mix
Terrors surge
Demons, ghouls
Evils splurge
Sanity, mine
They must purge

Come with us
Help us kill
Maim and murder
What a thrill
Mayhem, mischief
We’re never still
Wrack and ruin
We have our fill

No, I mustn’t
Leave me be
I’m not wicked
That’s not me

But you are
We can see
Join with us
We’ll set you free

Set me free?

Set you free!
One of us
That you be

No! No!
I say no
Ah tempted
Oh, tempted so

Deny it, try
But you, we do know

Evil within
I no longer stow
Run and hide
Here we go!

No One...

Comes between Beau and his fan!

Queen Anne's Lace

Went for a walk at Trout Run Reservoir and found a whole field of this.  Pretty!

Introducing...

Mr & Mrs Little One. 

Yep, I wasn’t here Monday because I was off helping to celebrate their marriage.

Look at them.  Young and in love.  All the possibilities of the world in front of them.  Positive that together, they can and will conquer anything.  And you know what?  I believe they will too.  They both truly incredible and I’m honored that they include me in their lives.

Ah, what an adventure they’ve begun!  It’s going to be amazing, seeing where they go together.

Oh Yeah

July 2, 2012

My little corner of the world was most definitely feeling the effects of the full moon today. 

So much so it had me pondering the garroting potential of a metal tape measure.  My conclusion?  It’s doable.

Have a happy 4^th.  Have fun, be safe and please, leave the fireworks to the professionals.