Nature Songs ~~~~
JULY, 2002 ~
July 21, 2002 ~ ...And The Living Is Easy? ~~ Unquestionably summer is in full bloom. Those flowers and gardens that are watered regularly are in full bloom with lush blossoms and vegetables. Acorns are beginning to make their tiny appearance on the oaks. Considering the weather, some crops have been abundant while most others have withered and died or shriveled into tiny replicas of what they should be.
Little time is allotted for anyone to sit out under a tree, relaxing and taking in nature’s wonders. BingoKid rushed into the house one day this past week all excited. He found a strange looking critter and wanted to show it to me. One of these insects he had never seen before, therefore, he was unaware that this was the one that caused of all the noise that was arising outdoors lately. He had lucked upon a cicada, or known as the locust to us locals. Another of his interests has been centered around the June bug which are few and far between unlike the numbers that once existed. His grandfather had shown him how we used to play with them when we were young. These were little items we used to be well aware of as we were growing up. Summer sounds and sights are very different this day and age.
Children are abounding around my house this summer. No time for much of anything else for me to devote my energies toward. Maybe it is the weather, maybe their youthfulness and age, or even their parents being involved in other things, but I’ve been more than busy. How does one split into three or four people in order to cover all the bases with them. Two at one time is okay. Three or more at a time and all is way too busy for me. One of the busiest times has been being in Hickory at four and back to Lenoir by four-thirty to pick up two of the grandsons and carrying along a third as I make the forty-plus miles tour to make connections. The last trip NascarKid and BingoKid had an aggressive tug of war as each attempted to claim the front seat as their own while dragging the other one back from the car door. NascarKid won the honor. All this was in the parking lot of the Science Museum.
The song, Summertime once referred to the Southern life when the oppressive humid heat brought life to a standstill as the hot days progressed. This is not true today. Air conditioning takes the heat and humidity away while folks run amok many times trying to squeeze far too many things into the scorching days. Those lazy days of summer exist for only a small aggregate of society nowadays.
July 23, 2002 ~ Dog Medulla Oblongata What better way to be awakened at 2 am than having a zealous Yorkie honing in on the trail of a favorite bone! His signal to alert one and all that he has located the source is a feeble but persistent whine. Generally, he wants someone to retrieve one from under some piece of furniture as it lurks out of his reach. Charlie is infamous for demanding center stage from visitors as he sprawls on the floor and whines as he stares in the direction of his target. Once he has your attention the soft whine gradually grows into a nagging bark which grows louder if he is ignored.
This time the object of his attention happens to be at the foot of my bed where Oreo is curled up in his little bed. It’s sort of hard to ignore even the softest of muted sounds when all else is quiet. But once he knows I have seen what he is after, the growls and barking set in. Poor Oreo never has the opportunity to enjoy his ever so brief encounters with bones or rawhides.
Maybe just once Oreo will stand up for himself and not give in to Charlie. He has latched onto a small bit of rawhide which is already softened by Charlie’s chewing on it. As he lays in his cuddlier he gnaws hungrily on the morsel and holds on to it with both paws. He loves when Charlie softens the leathery pieces making it easier for him to chew. I think this may be one of the few times that he does not give in to Charlie. After about a half hour of Charlie making a nuisance of himself, the barking stops and Oreo is still in his bed. Generally he would have taken off to find a safe hiding spot, but not this time ... no, he has to stay close to me ... in the middle of the night ... why would he be concerned about disturbing my rest ...
Yesterday, Charlie was carrying the same piece around the house. He would not put it down anywhere in the house. He saw DynoKid going out the door and immediately, he was at the door wanting out, too. I opened the door for him as I wondered if he would put his cherished article down before going out. Nope! It was as if it were glued in his mouth. Charlie took off up the driveway heading to the neighbor’s house. I watched as he proceeded around their house, and disappeared toward the back of the freestanding garage behind the house. He was headed for the housing development which once was a pasture.
Shaking my head at the fact he still was carrying the bone in his mouth, I also was a bit concerned. What if one or more of the dogs in that group of houses were out gallivanting? Should they confront Charlie, he would never, ever give up his quarry. I could envision his being attacked by a group of normal sized outdoor dogs seeking his treasure.
Tbird was here and I asked her if she would please check on Charlie and see if he was all right. Instead of going to see about him, she sent DynoKid to do her deed. Guess she didn’t consider what may happen if Charlie was attacked by one or more dogs. No way would DynoKid be able to intervene and I would not want him to either. Thankfully, he found the Yorkie standing in the path along the boundary between the development and my neighbor’s land. According to the signs of dug earth, he had hidden his bone here.
I watched as Charlie was outside in the front yard twice during the afternoon. He made no move toward the spot he had buried his bone. Shortly before dark he was outside and made his way back tracking his early trip of the day. Oddly enough, he dug up his bone he hid earlier in the day and brought it back into the house. It was this same bone Oreo gleefully got hold of and finished up the last morsel in darkness.
July 25, 2002 ~ Off and Running - Again ~~ Yesterday, BingoKid loaded up the Scooterput in my Explorer and we headed out to meet Tbird, Giggles and DynoKid at the church camp to swim. I putted around in my chair and watched as the boys swam for about an hour before Tbird and Giggles arrived. Miss Giggles got a hair trimming first. We met at a Pizza Hut on Highway 321 for lunch before heading out to the pool. BingoKid and I barely arrived in time to take advantage of the noon buffet special. After lunch we split up as Tbird took Giggles on for her appointment and we headed to camp.
Of all the people at the camp, I only recognized a few and talked with them as the boys swam. I didn’t go into the water because my finger has not healed completely. It is doing better now and is healing, but closing of the huge place on my finger is slow. It’s been a month since the surgery and some of the stitches have not dissolved as they should. I’ve managed to remove a few of them. I have a much softer approach with removal than the doctor has. Each time he has used the stitches that should dissolve in the past on me they have failed to dissolve. Something in my system is lacking that would help melt them. I’ve been careful to use peroxide when doing anything with my incision.
There is no chance of anything building along two sides of the campground. The driveway and road take up one side. The state has come along and is in the process of adding a new ramp on and off I40. A mountain of red dirt comes to the line of the camp property directly behind the caretaker’s house. I would estimate that five of the present caretaker’s one story house could be stacked on top of it to maybe equal the height of the filled in dirt. Surely they will soon sow seed to keep the dirt from washing away. Once stuff starts growing, it will not be as noticeable.
Giggles, DynoKid and BingoKid spent the night with me. It was my pleasure to get everyone ready this morning and get to Morganton by 11:45. The boys could get themselves ready to go, but Giggles needed some help. She dresses herself, but then again - she doesn’t like having her long hair combed. We got her hair combed and I took some hair on each side of her face to comb up and back in order to use one of her red bands to hold it so the locks would fall down along the top of her hair along the back. Along with her red band, she wore her red gingham outfit with the appliquéd watermelon slice along the hemline of the top.
Tbird had to meet with the new teachers in her county today and we met her at Uptown’s Restaurant for lunch. Two of her friends and their sons dined with us. I had a delicious honey ham melt with Swiss cheese on homemade sourdough bread accompanied by the onion rings they make from scratch. I had forgotten just how wonderful the food is there. Most of the others ordered the chicken strips which I usually indulge in, but my sandwich was a combination I couldn’t pass on. All the food was delicious.
After lunch, the Stuart Little 2 movie was on the agenda for the others. My decision not to take in the movie was made yesterday. I’ve had encounters with theaters and their seating way too many times when it was difficult for me to get out of those rocking and low chairs. Anymore, for the money, I just as soon wait until the movies are played on TV. As the rest of the group walked to the other side of the parking lot to the movies, I climbed into my car for the drive back to Lenoir.
My plan was to stop at the nursing center and spend a little time with Mother. She was up today for a change. BJ called to let her know that the Braves Game was on this afternoon and we both talked with him. Her roommate had just returned from lunch in the dinning room and talked with us some as well as some of the workers in the center. I generally am around there when another crew is working
Once back home, the game plan was to rest some but that was not to be. Between phone calls, Allan coming by, Tbird showing up after the movie to work some using the computer, Wes coming by for a visit and to pick up BingoKid, and Lady spinning her magic throughout the house, rest was not an option. About six-thirty Wes left for home leaving BingoKid behind. He wanted to spend another night with me.
School begins soon. Guess I’ll have to wait until then to get and rest.
July 27, 2002 ~ A Will And A Way ~~ Adaptation is a necessary skill for making daily life a copious and rewarding event. That point was well taken this past week for me. Two five gallon plastic buckets of exquisite cherry-red tomatoes mixed in with some still partly green were brought into my kitchen from the garden. There they sat brimming with the message, "Fix us. Don’t let any of us go to waste. It took hard work, patience, and extra water run down to the garden to help make us so delicious, firm yet juicy and eye-appealing." Indeed, they were all beautiful specimens.
First thoughts to run through my mind were to perhaps give them away. Mother always wants freshly picked tomatoes which she picks up and eats like an apple. I picked out some of the smaller ones for her. Ms. Jay came out to the house with the papers and mail so I had her to take some home for her family. Lady spun her cleaning magic through the house and then she took a few with her. Allan had a few for his use and there were plenty more to boot. What to do with these tasty, assorted sizes of tomatoes? I couldn’t bear the thought of letting even one of them waste away.
Tomatoes completely covered my built-in ceramic topped stove and the cabinet space along one side over to the sink. Such a joy to look at! An artist would have enjoyed making them immortal on canvas. Time would not allow me to leave them there and I wasn’t sure exactly what I could do to preserve them. I needed a workable plan. I began by asking two of my grandsons if they might help me with them. They didn’t come right out and say, “No.” They also were not enthusiastically jumping at the opportunity to do work in the kitchen.
As darkness crept along the Eastern sky, it was time for me to make my move. Another day would not come and go before getting the tomatoes processed for use later on when gardens were gone. Plans were to peel the skin off and freeze them. That seemed to be about the only thing I could do with my main hand out of working order. I only had to plan all the moves ahead of time and have everything ready and in reach. The back would not allow me to stand long enough to get the work done. Trying to get up and down a lot of times was out of the question doing this project. Everything was laid out and ready. It was now or never and I’d never know what I could do until I started my planned routine.
The plan was to bring some water to boil in my larger glass pot since I could watch for boiling water through the side of the pot. Once the water began to boil, I cut off the heat and gently would add around six tomatoes, depending on sizes. As the skin began to split they were removed from the water with a slotted spoon and placed in the colander in the sink, rinsed with cool water and left to cool a short time. This procedure was repeated until all tomatoes were worked up. As the tomatoes took their hot bath to make skinning them easier, I was slipping off the skin of those already cooled enough for me to handle, collecting them and the juice in a bowl as I worked. A bucket was beside me awaiting the castoff skins. Plastic freezer bags were already pulled out of a box ready for my reach when I had enough tomatoes finished to fill a bag. All of this I was able to do as I sat in my rolling desk chair kept in the kitchen for such purposes. Old newspapers on my lap made for less messes and a dishcloth for my hands and spots along the cabinet edge made for an easier job.
Intentions were to keep The Finger out of the action taking place. The very first tomato indicated that was not possible. I kept it from contact with the tomatoes, but the skins and juice made contact and it quickly absorbed the juice and red color. I used this hand to hold a paring knife and make a small slit in the tomatoes, or to cut out places not usable. Being so soft, it was not a problem using the knife and I didn’t need The Finger to cut. The left hand did most of the actual work. As the last bag was zipped closed, it was time to take the three gallons of tomatoes over to the freezer for the final step. Success! All was done in record time. Mission worked well.
Two days later another five gallon bucket of tomatoes is brought in from the garden. Some I will give away again, but ... looks like I have more work to do ... I love tomatoes ... I have the will to keep them from spoiling and now I also know a way to preserve them that works for me.
July 28, 2002~ Something New ~~ I added a new feature on my almost new page. So far, no one has taken time to click on the little rectangle down on the right-hand corner of the “current page” that takes you to the map. Once on the page with the map you click up on the upper left-hand side in order to choose the state or country where you live. The directions are simple and you can also leave a message. It would really be neat to have some more added on the map and see where folks hale from. If one should get off on the wrong foot and mess up, it’s not too hard to try again. I had to try a second time when I tried it out. It only takes a moment or two to sign the map.
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Lenoir,NC 28645
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©2002 by Stormy Jeanne
