Lady came to live with me four years ago. Two years after Larry’s passing. I’ve talked a lot about her in my BLOGs. You’ve seen photographs of Katie and Paisley and Katie. She left me, yesterday, November 3. I felt that I had to let her go. .
I had planned to do other things this weekend, but spent almost the entire week going to Lady’s personal vet and, then, the VRCC.
Somebody has an over abundance of white paint. Have you noticed how many buildings and cars are white, today? Full disclosure, as “they” say, today, I hate white. No, I HATE white! It is, to say the least, BORING!. Give me color¸any day. Bright or pastel – give me color. JUMP OFF THE WALL COLOR!
Houses are white. Cars are white. Clothes are white. Shoes are white.
I wear black shoes that I purchase from a local shoe store – Dardanos. They keep my name and my shoe preference in their computer. So, all I ever really need to do is make a call, ask them to order a new pair of shoes, and, two weeks later, I’m picking up my black, foot-protecting shoes. They have velcro closures. Something is wrong with the pair that I bought about five months ago. The velcro on the right shoe does not stay fastened; it’s been going on for about three months. Friends are noticing; they reach down to close the velcro. I appreciate their help, but I think that I may appear unable to care for myself. So, I figured that it is time to have the shoe fixed.
I called Dardanos to see if they could fix it. “Yes,” was the answer. “If you bring it in, tomorrow, we can have it back to you by next Tuesday.” This was Tuesday, as well. “You can’t fix it while I wait?” “No, we send all of our repairs out.”
I remember when Dardanos first started; its only business was repairing shoes – in an old Arby’s building. Then, they moved to a bigger place … and stopped repairing shoes. They only sell shoes, now. And, send out repairs.
About now, I realize that the only shoes I own are the shoes I was wearing. So, that means I have to buy another pair to wear while my black ones are going to be repaired. Not to worry, surely, they have a pair of inexpensive shoes – we called them sneakers.
I drove to Dardanos to buy a pair of shoes and leave the others. They didn’t have sneakers. What the sales man brought out of the storage room was a pair of sturdy shoes that would protect my diabetic feet; better than sneakers. The shoes have velcro closings, The shoes are white. They do not come in black. They do not come in cheap! I left the store wearing WHITE shoes, leaving the old black shoes to be repaired. To be safe in the future, I ordered another pair of the shoes that I always wear. Now, I will have two. In black.
And, how do you clean these WHITE shoes? Neighbor Rita says with an eraser product. That it works great on shoes like this that are white.
Have you driven the streets of your city and looked at the housing, lately? The streets that I’ve been driving are littered with white monstrosities. With BLACK trim. Black trim? Yuck. Just like the house that is one of the ten houses that border my property – a white and black monstrosity.
Sister Clara and I have talked about this current propensity to make houses white. (P.S. She likes white houses.) She thinks, especially where she lives, that it may have to do with temperature. Could it be true that by painting a house white, the sun is reflected, keeping the innards cooler? We don’t know. But, what about where I live in the northern climes? What about winter? Do we want a cooler house in the winter? Which is worse: using air conditioning in the summer or a furnace in the winter? Who can tell? All of this sameness has no individuality that I can see. It reminds me of the movie, Fahrenheit 451. Truth-be-told, lots of things remind me of that movie, these days.
Then, there are the heroes who drive the white trucks. Panel trucks. Pick up trucks. Step vans. Even, semi-truck trailers. All WHITE! Furnace technicians. Chimney sweeps. Lawn care experts. Delivery persons. Of course, there are some of these trucks that have color on them. But, there are a lot that are white. Either being used or waiting on an auto sales lot to be sold for their next life. Drive past a local auto sales lot. Count the white ones and count the non-white ones. Which is greater? Sometimes, there are nothing but white trucks. Count the white vehicles in your neighborhood, in a store’s parking lot¸ driving on a road somewhere.
I need to be honest: when I had a Suburban, it was white. And, it was a great white vehicle. It could carry all of my family at the same time – three seats. My family and all of their gear. It would have been better than my ancient Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser that I used in the mornings for carrying all of the high school kids (mine and other families’) and their instruments to stage band or some other musical endeavor when my daughters were in school. I just didn’t have the Suburban, then.
Rita (who we called R-squared because her name was Rita Rubin) told me that the color of the motor vehicles we saw on the road gave an indication of what the economy was like. I can’t remember if more white vehicles meant the economy was soaring. Or, if more white vehicles meant the economy was in the basement.
Maybe, you have the answer!
Be Safe and Be Well
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are appreciated.
I’m sure that by now you may be sick of hearing about covid and me. But, I have a few more thoughts I’d like to share. I’ve heard that covid has some “long” effects, and I may very well be experiencing them. Just so you know, I HATE this!
Two rounds of COVID. Ten days of isolation. And, finally, two days of negative testing, and I can escape the confines of my house – but, only wearing a mask. It’s been almost a month since I’ve been able to go anywhere away from home. And, while I’m perfectly happy being at home alone, I did feel a little stir crazy.
Sitting down to write a BLOG about this date causes me to rejoice and cry. Sixty-six years ago, in my parents’ living room, I was married to the love of my life. I promised to “love, honor, and obey.” OBEY! I am usually not and have never been a liar – but, full disclosure – I lied! I obeyed my parents, but had no intention of obeying another human being. Much less, someone who was six months younger than I. But, I wanted to marry this man – so I lied!
My journalist friend Mary Jane who lives in Nebraska sent the picture included with this BLOG. One of the places she and her son have visited on their vacation is Theodore Roosevelt National Park. She has some great photographs of the area, including the one of a large prairie dog town. Daughter #3 says that it is an extensive town built by these animals. Because I’m still dealing with COVID (I thought after having a negative test, I was “over the hump,” but I was not); so, I would use my e-mail response to her photograph.
How many days does a person need to isolate when tested positive for COVID? How many days does a person need to wear a mask after isolating because of a positive COVID test? I didn’t know three days ago, but I do now. You may know that about three times a year, my body tries to get pneumonia. Every year after coughing for two or three hours, I knew that I was headed for a bout with pneumonia. There was no cold. No chest congestion. Nothing but a cough. Occasionally, I’d end up in the hospital with pneumonia. Then my PCP recommended that I take doxycycline twice each day and, ColdEze when I coughed. This regimen of meds has kept me out of danger from pneumonia and out of the hospital for years. Not once have I had pneumonia or been hospitalized with pneumonia since following those orders.
This is the week of remembering. Remembering the devastating events that occurred on 9/11. Where were you on 9/11, 2001? I remember where I was. I was in the air on my first trip to Europe. Completely oblivious to the worldly happenings.
Empty-nesters; almost. That’s what Daughter ‘#3 and Husband are. Last week, they took their youngest west in their state and left her at her new lodging. A college dorm room where she will spend the next many months getting her first taste of college-level classes; and being away from her folks for the first real time in her life. Indeed, she did have a one-week camp experience, but she knew that they were very close and could get her, if necessary, in short order.
It occurs to me that this “empty-nest syndrome” affects the the young ones as much as the parents. Her older sister attends college in the same town where her folks live. So, she can get to her parents quickly. Of course, as I write this article, she is spending a semester in New Zealand. And, if her weekly communications (the Weekly Kiwi) can be believed, she is having a great time at Auckland University. All the while taking math and science classes that I didn’t really know existed until she talked about them. She just returned from the Cook Islands; a field trip sponsored by AU. I think AU takes very good care of their international students!
At her University of Wisconsin school, Grand #2 will be delving more into computer stuff – “stuff” because I’m not sure what to call it. If I’m understanding correctly, she wants to create computer games. Another puzzle to me, since I don’t play computer games.
So now that Grand #2 is out of the house (for the time being), mom and dad will find themselves thinking unusual things. Such as, someone needs to pick up a daughter from school. No, she’s not at school. Or, I wonder if she could do a small grocery or pharmacy run. No, she’s not in the house.
It also means that the mom and dad activities will have to change. Only mom and dad can decide what this new experience will be. What will be the topics of conversation? Will we continue to have Friday night PPP – pajamas, pizza, and picture show?
It will no longer be necessary to call either daughter to breakfast, lunch, or dinner. What will be the conversation at breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Can part-time work, away from home, become full-time work? Will it take a shorter time to get to work because no one needs to be delivered to school?
Will mom and dad have more time to talk to mom’s sister and mom, and dad’s dad – and to each other? Will they end up paying more attention to the pup? Now, there is no daughter to help with walking the dog.
When traveling for some long distance, will one of you make a list of discussion topics to cover the journey?
As I said, this time period is a “sort-of empty” nest. It will be a relatively short time for daughter and husband. Both college students will be back for summer and school vacations. So, maybe, just maybe, they will treat this period as practice for the real thing, when it occurs – because in time, it will come!”
Be Safe and Be Well.
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are appreciated.