Confessions of a Grandma

The weather would not co-operate with  my plan for a long bike ride today.  It was very windy and riding into the wind is just plain no fun. I took a car ride instead and went to check out Arcadia, FL .  This is one of those side trips Mike and I had talked about doing but never got around to. Compared to Venice--a different world entirely.  The interior of central Florida is farm country--citrus groves, cattle farms, and a few horse ranches.  It has its own beauty. Also, it was a good reminder that there is more diversity in this state than one would ever gather if Venice was one's only experience of Florida.  Venice is older, white men with grey hair, gold watches, and sporty convertibles.  Then there are the tan, blonde women of a certain age that you would not be able to guess.  (There is a reason why the dentist office offers all kinds of make-over services!)  I mean, I live in a "poor" neighborhood where shopping at Steinmart or B...

Bay Preserve, Osprey, FL--Fog Bank       March already.  Yikes!  We will be heading back to Vermont in a month.  Time to start thinking about using up all the food in the freezer/refrigerator.  It is an exercise I find kind of like doing a jigsaw puzzle in reverse.  I always seem to end up with that open freezer bag of broccoli with maybe three icy stalks left inside.  Also we will leave on a Saturday and garbage day is Thursday, so there is that to factor in as well.     Some people use their winter time get aways as valuable reflection time and write posts about all they have learned in the time away.  See Thoughts of a Bag Lady in Waiting , for example.  I'm sitting here writing about freezer-burned vegetables and garbage pick-up.  I feel kind of bad about myself right now.   I did not go for a long bicycle ride I had planned for yesterday.  It was very windy and that takes a lot of th...

It is time to think about packing up and returning to Vermont.  Wednesday was spent on yard work—weeding where needed,  shaping up some of the bushes, and rearranging some garden borders.  We had a local guy come in to do the spiny plants and we have a neighbor signed up to stop by once a day and pick up any fallen grapefruit.  Thursday will be dust and polish, vacuum and mop—generally tidy up the inside.  Friday we will do laundry, clean out the refrigerator, pack.  Saturday morning we will be good to go after a few closing up details are accomplished. I will have to catch up the new television season when I am back in Vermont.  I won’t be sitting out in the evenings watching sunsets and stars and moon risings, chatting with the neighbors strolling by. I just read Linda Reeder’s post about her SMART television .  My television in VT is not a smart one, although it sometimes gets the best of me.  I can use the on-demand for shows I miss an...

Between getting to know my new laptop and spending time at my volunteer library duties (which seems to be a distressingly rapidly growing list of things to do), I have not come up with much to post here. So, I dip into the bizillion travel pictures.  Here we are, Mike and I, in California, a few years ago.  We're doing our best to look like tourists.  We visited Mike's son and family before and after a tour of Yosemite and Death Valley.  Lots of great trips in our memory banks. I have neglected writing after finishing up a short course on writing.  The advise was to write a lot, read a lot, and write some more every day.  In the past week or two, I have read The Writing Life by Annie Dillard, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King, and the War of Art by Steven Pressfield.  They all had the same basic message--write and read and write everyday.  Maybe today...

Our trip went without incident and we are once again back in Vermont...where the rain has been steadily drizzling down and temperatures are hovering in the high 40's.  Our car was actually clean until we crossed the VT border on route 4.  It seemed like on cue that it started raining and the trucks passing by started splashing the mud. The house was pretty much as we had left it. (We have a new thermostat.)  The daffodils are starting to pole up and some have even bloomed.  I can see buds on the lilacs and the crab apple tree.  The grass is actually green.  We went through some gorgeous spring weather, in reverse from late to early, as we travelled north. I am getting quite bored with the long car trip between here and there.  We made it two extra times in the past year and maybe that accounts for my boredom.  Reading the bill boards felt like leafing through a magazine--ad after ad after ad.  I kept nodding off. A billboard for th...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We went to Mike's sister's house in Connecticut for a most pleasant time with family and an excellent meal.  The damage from the Halloween weekend Nor'easter is still very evident.  I am quite certain that in some areas, residents surely must have thought the end of the world was upon them. We managed to avoid any Black Friday shopping crowds on our forays into Hartford and we had an easy return trip. I'm ready now to sift through e-mail and Blogger Reader while sipping a cup of tea and munching a couple of Italian cookies (The ones you just can't get anywhere but Hartford).

Whew...a long trip home.  Under the most ideal of conditions, the trip between Venice and Jericho is every second of 24 hours.  We split up the trip over three days.  It is doable in two days, but then we find ourselves out of it for another two--so best to just take it a bit slower. When we find a place to spend the night, I run the bed bug routine.  Strip the sheets from the bed.  Inspect along the seams.  Wait for the whole body itch that starts in my head to subside.  It's pretty worrisome.  I have not ever found  bed bugs, but I have found places that are way too grimy.   At this point, though, we have made the trip enough so that we pretty much stay in the same places along the way and know the places to avoid.  And sometimes, "Under New Management" doesn't mean any improvements were made. The drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia was our best taste of fall this year.  It was clear and sunn...

The car is just about all packed up.  Mike approaches the job of car loading like some kind of giant jigsaw puzzle and every little nook and cranny has something stuffed into it but nothing interferes with visibility.  We will leave tomorrow morning and arrive in Venice Saturday afternoon.  We plan to be back in Vermont in about three weeks time.  A lot of car travel, but we are kind of excited about spending some time in our own vacation home.  Most of what we are taking this time will stay down there. I should get a air miles credit card because eventually the car trip will has lost its appeal.  Anybody recommend a good one? I have a last minute load of laundry to do and I'll give the house a quick dust up, but I am pretty sure Mike is wishing we were on the road already. 

It feels like we had to drive all the way down to Florida just to enjoy a bit of sun.  We sure have not seen much of its shiny face between the trip back in April and now.  An old Vermontism: "Hope it don't hurt the rhubarb."  Let me tell ya, my rhubarb has turned into a mutant monster plant.  I'm afraid to go near it. My son and I are off to visit my daughter and the grand children.  We are attempting to pull off a fast one by bringing Kristen back for a little-brother-less week with Grandma.  He will get his turn when she goes to day camp.  We have a shopping trip planned--that's her birthday present--and I have sewing and craft projects lined up.  We'll see how this experiment goes. My daughter did want assurance that I would still take the two together on occasion.  That will be her birthday present this year. Part of my birthday present--downtown Savannah. If I remember correctly, this was once the Coca Cola plant.

I sat in the waiting room today while Mike was having some outpatient surgery.  That means I was reading old magazines for a few hours. I noticed that James Arness died earlier this month.  He was Marshall Matt Dillon on the old TV series Gunsmoke.  That was required viewing at my house growing up.  My father loved that show.  My grandmother loved that show.  My grandmother also loved James Arness.  I mean, she had a full blown crush.  I just realized today that she must have been nearly 40 years older than he.  Just an interesting thought. Gabby Giffords was pictured in People and she looks good.  I understand that she still has long, arduous therapies ahead.  Her expressive language, apparently, is still quite affected although hey seem to believe her comprehension is better.  She was shot in the head--I think it is miraculous that she has made the gain she has made so far.  What a spirit she must have. Last week,...

Mike went fishing with a friend down on Pine Island yesterday.  I rode down with him and then made a trip over to Fort Myers and toured the Edison-Ford Winter Estates.  It was well worth the trip.  The guided tour was interesting, but what captured me was the grounds.  Everything was in lush spring bloom. The Moon Garden Mike and I stopped for dinner on the way back home.  The restaurant was right on the water, served very fresh fish, and offered a view of the setting sun while dophin and manatees went swimming by.  There was no need for dessert.

This was the view out our front window at home the day before we left.  As we pulled out of the garage early the morning of December 28, the car's temperature reading dipped to minus 9 degrees--nine below zero, Fahrenheit scale.  Five days later, as we passed the Georgia-Florida border, the temperature moved on up into the seventies.  I know it has been a cold Florida December, but just seeing the sun is a treat and they say the trend will be for a warmer season this year. We stopped in North Augusta and spent a couple of days and New Year's Eve (including the trip to the fireworks store) with Mike's daughter, son-in-law, and the four grand kids--who are growing up way fast.  Funny how they do that.  As usual, we were treated to some magnificent feasting--steak Dianne on Thursday night, with mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus, and barbecued ribs on Friday.  Renee is one accomplished gal--we can't imagine having a better meal in a fancy restau...

Mike's woke up with a swollen and very painful toe on Sunday morning.  He was trying to remember stubbing it.  I say, if you stub a toe or break a toe, you know it right away.  I diagnosed him with gout--something my father had bouts of and something my brother gets serious attacks of sometimes.  After looking it up online, Mike is inclined to agree with my medical assessment.  This is, I'm sure, just another thing that he will fail to mention to his doctor at his next visit.  At the D'Angelo family reunion, one of his cousins was going down the list of who had poly cystic kidney disease that is a genetic disorder that runs rampant in that family line.  Mike claimed he "didn't know" whether or not he had it...and he's not ever mentioned the family history to his doctor.  I have threatened to accompany him on his next visit, and I am threatening once again. The family reunion on Saturday was lovely, by the way.  It was held at Mike...

The Communion of Silence Silence, with sails double reefed, Creeps into shoal water. A hand touches another. Two heads turn. One winks. The other smiles. Silence, with all sails rigged, Beats out of shoal water. A glance points homeward; A hand spins the wheel. Later, the sea, in ungentle waves, Tries to beguile them. Neither notice. Carl Potter ***** It's National Poetry Month, April. For several years now, our small town library has hosted a workshop with a University of Vermont professor/poet who lives in town. I joined the group this year. Carl, one of my writing buddies, also joined and shared this poem with the group. He has a very romantic sensibility. He was nice enough to let me post his poem here. I had been thinking about my experience with the sounds of silence and now I have the little push I needed to sit down and write about it. * **** Mike and I have had been fortunate in our opportunities to travel around various parts of the United States, and we have had some gre...

Sunday night and Monday morning were rainy, rainy--perfect opportunity to get things packed up. We'll have a relaxing day today and take off early Wednesday morning, about 5:30 a.m. or so. I am not a morning person, so that is always a challenge for me. Mike is always determined to be past some city or another and all its morning rush hour traffic. I try to point out that if we started out after rush hour, he'd be in good shape...to no avail. We don't travel much beyond 4 in the afternoon because that's when Mike has his "turn into a pumpkin" hour. Since he does most of the driving, we would take a week to get home if we accommodated both our schedules. We should be home by Friday. I'll have to spend most of Saturday catching up on Reader.

I have always liked to travel and I like to walk for my exercise. Many years ago I read that you should always walk looking like you know exactly where you are going--to look lost is to look vulnerable. So even though I am directionally challenged and therefore often lost, I have practiced and manage to carry off a purposeful stride. It works. I know because it is amazing to me that people often stop and ask me for directions so I must look like I know where am and where I am going. Of course, it does blow your cover when some one stops to ask for a good breakfast place and you have to admit you haven't a clue. Today, I was loading some groceries into the back seat of the car at the Publix when a woman stopped. "Excuse me," she said. "I'm new here. I'm from Michigan . I'm looking for a nail salon. Can you tell me where I could find one?" Not a very observant individual. First of all, I look like the snow bird that I am. (I wore shorts t...

The car trip from Vermont to Florida is a long one--something like 1580 miles--so it provides a lot of time to think. Every once in a while I would think of something that I wanted to remember as a topic for my blog. Whenever that happened, I reached into my bag and pulled out the pocket sized notebook I keep as an external brain, then jotted down notes to myself. As the first day wore on, Mike saw me do this several times. Finally he was unable to contain himself any longer and asked, “Just what are you doing in that notebook you keep writing stuff in?” My answer had to be, “I’m making notes of every time you do something annoying so I can remember and bring things up at an appropriate time in the future.” “Yeah, that’s exactly what I was afraid of!” Are those not the words of a man obviously feeling guilty, knowing his annoyance potential when focused on driving a long distance with his long suffering wife by his side? When he starts the car the schedule is set and unalterable (annoy...

We arrived in Venice on New Year's Day at around 2:30 p.m.--having made exceptionally good time on the road even with the infamous route 301 Florida speed traps. That was nice as it gave us some time to unpack the car and get a bit settled before crashing into bed and sleeping for ten hours straight. For Mike, "settling in" means quickly hanging up his shirts and then hooking up the lap top. His eager hopefulness is a bit sad to witness since history tells us quite clearly that an easy and immediate hook-up is just not going to happen--and it didn't. Once again we have spent out first five or six days in Florida without our internet security blanket, but I have to say we are developing a more Zen like attitude of acceptance as time wears on. Tech support at Comcast came through, we just had to wait our turn. Now that we are here, we are enjoying the "new" house that we rented. It is in the same neighborhood as the house we used to rent (which went into forec...

Snow has been falling gently all day. It hasn't amounted to much on the ground, but it has kept us inside and concentrating on the packing that needs to get done before we leave for warmer, sunnier climes. Winter weather was actually late in arriving this year and we got none of the big storm that went up the coast last weekend. We probably won't be so winter weary when we leave. Tomorrow may warm up a bit--get all the way into the 20's--so it might be a good chance to get out for a quick ski. Fresh air and exercise would be a good antidote for the Christmas cookie and candy bloat that has taken hold. It would be nice to sit in the car for the long ride coming up and actually be able to keep my pants buttoned up. Let's just say this has not been a good week for that diet I never started anyway. "Good thing New Year's Resolutions are coming up," (she said once again demonstrating her inner dieter's incredible talent for self-delusional fantasy ).

Yesterday I read Arkansas Patti's post about eating to empty the refrigerator ( http://thenewsixty.blogspot.com/2009/12/eat-refrigerator-empty.htm ). We are also in the the process of emptying the refrigerator, freezer, and any open pantry items. We will be leaving for Florida on December 28th. This chore is complicated by the fact that we are hosting my family Christmas party this Sunday. That means lots of food and I can't very well serve a big bowl of cornmeal mush just because I have an opened container with about a cup and a half of cornmeal in it that I need to use up. Last night we had cornmeal mush (let's call it polenta) with a scampi made from the remains of a bag of frozen shrimp, a bit of garlic, the last couple of splashes of juice from a week old lemon, and the last of a jar of capers. Hey, it was pretty good. We're sure to have much stranger meals before we leave. I have a dread fear of leaving flours and grains in the cupboards even though I transfer eve...