No, not temblors, we didn’t have an earthquake. Today the wind has been gusting vociferously, and increasing in strength.
Today I saw a barge leave closer waters then return, saw no Coast Guard but I’m sure with all the lights on a barge and their shared radios all will be well. I thought it was a problem with the storm that is coming in. A few moments ago I saw a barge leave port (it’s a small port, with probably only one place that can accommodate a barge) so I hope everything is OK.
My husband bathed the dog yesterday without telling me. She likes my baths better as it’s more of a massage, and as I do the laundry I use four “dog towels” instead of the two he used. She hates hair dryers so I let her air-dry for about 48 hours before a comb-out.
He took her for a long walk, she was wet and is nearly 14 years of age, and when she arrived home she was trembling and I thought she was having a heart attack or dying. I cocooned her in soft blankets between us on the sofa and she did this all the time at first and then intermittently. It was several hours with my hand on her to make sure she was warm and breathing that once she stopped shivering we moved her and the blankets to the bed, where I awakened regularly to monitor her breathing.
She slept harder than even usual, and she is a sleeper, so we lifted her up to the bed with blankets to spare. I lifted her down early this morning to take her out and feed her. Normal. She’s walking as best she can, no hips, and was very excited to see an Alaskan Husky she recently met with my husband, then scarf down her breakfast. I think I can comb her out tomorrow, as every time she is bathed she releases tufts of doggie undercoat on floors and rugs.
Last time I called the Coast Guard it turned out to be the Coast Guard. They were having a training exercise with a burning ship and a non-CG ship a bit away from it. I called to tell an operator about a burning ship off the coast. I got the Captain. “Oh, no, I said, I’ve called you on you. I’ll never hear the end of this!” He replied, “no, ma’am, we cannot be everywhere at every moment and depend on people like you to keep an eye out. Needless to say, they haven’t placed decrepit ships afire right off shore since that year.
Live and learn. As we age, we need to remember things, our childhood, friends, education. While I always like to succeed, I believe that making mistakes is better for learning. And I would add that it is good for humility, correcting mistakes and knowing that others are less fortunate and should not be shunned by our immigrant nation by denying health care.
If you feel comfortable, write about your childhood and life experiences, for your family. Take photos. If you put it all together, you can have a paperback book self-published as one or ten or more for about $20 apiece, more with a fancy cover and family photos. Or just write for yourself. Journals, letters, photos, because photos and letters in boxes in the attic do not tell your story.
For years I have been framing things that mean something to me. Very inexpensively with prints in college, then getting a great framer is a necessity as one wishes to make a house a home. One of my husband’s favorite prints is the infamous Brooklyn Bridge photo, black and white, I chose the framing for it. He sees it as he walks through the door. It’s about looking for the best of the best to your eye and working with a talented framer to make your dream come true. It is not the framers’ eye, even though that eye may help you make decisions, it is your dream of your lives and what to leave behind.
My husband’s favorite “work of art” here is a crayon sketch on construction paper that I did of Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. I was five. I had it framed a couple of years ago for him. My aunt had it in storage for years and sent it to me saying it needed to be framed. Because it was old and well-preserved (like me?) I always use 98% UV glass as UV99 is museum quality and costs twice the price.
Tell your story. Use your blog to organize things. That is what I’d like to do after ten years of telling stories. Cheers! Dee
Cooking with Dee 