Luxury

Friday, 9:12 pm

By Kate

Mar

06

2009

After a day of tearing all over creation and fighting rush hour traffic, is there anything quite so luxurious as warm blankets, fluffy pillows, a cup of hot chocolate, soft tunes, and a great book? Ahhhhhh. My weary bones are happy.

How profane am I? Not very.

Thursday, 2:18 pm

By Kate

Mar

05

2009

While browsing ChasingDaisy’s blog yesterday, I came across a reference to the Profane Game. It is a timed test to see how many profanities you can come up with in one minute. Daisy’s score was 14 and there I sat snickering “I can do better than that.” Now, why on earth would I want to do better than that and what on earth made me think I could do better than that? Because it’s a test, silly.

Yes, I’ve been around the block a few times and I’ve heard (and read) a few things. And I’ve been known to drop a few verbal bomblets. But, you know, I’ve never actually sat down and written out all the cuss words that I know. I don’t even write them in my journals. Never. Just does not happen. It makes me uncomfortable to even contemplate it. I blame it all on my brother, who disapprovingly told me, when I was at an impressionable young and hero-worshipping age, “Resorting to swearing shows a disappointing lack of imagination and creativity.” Well. Who wants to be unimaginative and uncreative?

So, with all that in mind, I pushed the new test button on the Profane Game, noting that the high score was 300(!). The seconds ticked by and I was rather disturbed to discover that damn is apparently no longer considered a profanity. No points for that one. At the end of 60 seconds, my score was a puny 16. Guess I’m more profane than Daisy, but still. I am a sorry little piker. Now I’m forced to concede that a little more imagination and creativity might have yielded better results. Oh well. Now you know.

Kindness

Wednesday, 12:10 pm

By Kate

Mar

04

2009

This morning, my next door neighbor arrived with his van load of young people. They piled out with their shovels and began attacking my driveway. I had managed to shovel the very barest minimum required to get my car out, but not an inch more. It looked like a pretty feeble attempt, I must admit. With six kids shoveling, it took all of five minutes for them to widen my driveway to nearly normal. And what’s more, they seemed to be having an awful lot of fun doing it. After they were finished, they moved on to my neighbor’s house and spent a half hour sledding down his hill. More laughter and fun. I let them know just how much I appreciated their work and it really seemed to touch them.

I still don’t know what the situation is involving these kids, but from where I stood, they looked like an awfully nice bunch who were oddly affected by someone telling them they were wonderful and tremendously appreciated. I wanted to hug each and every one of them.

And I noted that my neighbor stood back watching the interaction, just beaming. Whatever the situation is, he obviously cares about them a great deal.

Winter isn't done yet...

Monday, 2:37 pm

By Kate

Mar

02

2009

Winter dumped another foot of snow on us last night. I’m being somewhat conservative here. I haven’t actually stuck the yardstick into the snow to measure exactly. I’m sure there’s more than a literal foot, but what’s a couple more inches in the scheme of things? And since the temperature dropped like a rock, I guess I’m going to have to shovel it. The snow is not going to melt any time soon. I think I’ll wait until it stops snowing, however. Just doesn’t want to quit.

Have you ever wondered where the urban squirrels go during a snowstorm? I have. And this morning I discovered one little red squirrel huddled next to my sliding glass door. He had carved out a little cave between the snow and the glass and had his fluffy tail curled around him. I assume he was soaking up a little of the warmth that undoubtedly passes through the glass. When I opened the blinds, he looked at me and I looked at him (with surprise). Suddenly it was as if an electric current blasted through his little body. Kind of like a cartoon. I am sure every hair on his body stood straight out and if he could have spoken it would have come out as EEEEK! And then he was gone, barely leaving footprints behind.

I’ve only recently started seeing red squirrels here. They are a new addition. And very inquisitive. Maybe this was the same one, but several mornings in a row there has been one sitting on top of my woodpile looking in the kitchen window. He stares at me and I stare at him. He seems very curious about what’s happening on the other side of the window. Or perhaps he’s reminding me that there are no peanuts left and he’s hungry. As long as he doesn’t figure out a way to get in, we’ll get along fine.

_________________

In case you’ve been vaguely wondering…

Daylight Saving Time begins in six days, on March 8. I, for one, am looking forward to it. Of course, we’ll lose some light in the morning, but we’ll get most of that back by the end of the month. Longer days...give me longer days.

Recovering

Sunday, 4:21 pm

By Kate

Mar

01

2009

Yes, Kate is still among the living. I wasn’t sure for a few days, though. There is a vicious stomach virus making the rounds in these parts and it clobbered me a good one. Not the usual 24 hour type—oh nooo. This one lingers. The first day you hardly know what’s hit you and you drag all your blankets and pillow into the bathroom because there’s just no point in leaving, the second day you think you’re gonna die, the third day you wish you had, the fourth day you think maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t, but you’re not entirely convinced. By the fifth day you’re hungry enough to eat the wallboard off the walls, but you’re still incredibly queasy. By the sixth day, you’re almost back to normal. That’s where I am today. It has been a long week.

I am catching up on household details today and battening down the hatches for the snow storm. We haven’t had any snow for a while, so I guess we’re due. I’d really rather not, though. Since March is coming in like a lion, it had darned well better go out like a lamb and stay that way. We’ve earned a lovely warm spring and I want one. Truly. Winter can leave now. Goodbye winter....