What do you call a day that bounces madly from one edge to the next, unpredictably, wickedly, with the force of the winds that seem to have made south central Wisconsin their home these days?
Cloudy and cold. No, make that warm. A little warm.
And here's a sweet surprise -- blueberry pancakes with Primrose!
(so little pancake left!)
Well, it's not as if we are at the same table. She is in Chicago. I have no pancakes here. Still, I can imagine the maple syrup sweetness!
(here's my mom!)
For Ed and me breakfast is more, well, ordinary. But on the porch! Warm enough for that!
Since we are really at the tail end of unseasonable temperatures (and I mean the tippy tip of that tail), I do not go inside after breakfast. I take my laptop and read and write out on the porch until the juice runs out. (Because it is soooo difficult to go inside and fetch the chord and plug it in!)
Memorable: an email exchange with an old college friend. People my age really appreciate friendships that are packed with a long history. I've known this person since I was 19. Pretty damn long. So that's definitely a swing in the up direction.
And how's the spirit of the farmette holding up these days? In addition to DIY fix-it projects, there's been a lot of reading and news analysis taking place here in the farmhouse. Ed and I are quite on the same political page, so you'd think this would be calm and perhaps even boring. Nothing worse than listening to someone express something that sounds exactly like a thought coming out of your own mouth. Yawn!
But where we differ is in reaction to events transpiring all around us. I'm in a "do nothing" mode right now. The pandemic has zapped my "let's talk about it some more" energies. Ed is much more focused on scraping out all exigencies and permutations. And so, perhaps for the first time, the tables are switched. I want more quiet, less of the brutal analysis. I have a wait and see approach to just about everything right now. Ed's more fired up. Indeed, in the fifteen years we have been together, I've not ever seen him this fired up before. From my perspective, that's a bounce in the wrong direction. I understand his animation, but when things get rough, I look for calm and calm is proving to be elusive this Fall!
But here's a bounce up: a visit with Snowdrop. Outside, distanced, with masks.
It's supposed to be warm. Perfect for an afternoon outside.
Sometime in the middle of reading with her, I get a call from Stoughton. There has been a sighting and this time, there is a video of the stray kittie. I'm sure it's Cutie! The white paws, the white chest, everything matches! I call Ed and send him to Stoughton. He and the prospective owner walk the blocks where the kittie was seen. They aren't lucky, but they leave a trap with food. Apparently she little cat has been hanging out there for a few days. [Only later, when I am back at the farmhouse, do I carefully study the video. A white chest, four white paws. Wait a minute... Cutie has only three white paws! Nearly identical, but no bananas. It's not her.]
As I continue to read now with Snowdrop, I pause and watch her, appreciating her increasingly big girl movements, her careful storytelling. She's hanging on to some of her little girl traits and habits, but they're getting to be more polished. In all these grandkids, I see the next age take shape, and then the next one, and the one after that.
And now it's really cold. I give her my sweater to cover her legs.
She doesn't want to go inside, we linger. Finally it's time to pack up and get going. She tells me she wishes I could come in with her.
I cannot come in with her.
And then I'm off to the CSA pick up point where a box of Fall veggies awaits me. You can go ahead and love your spring and early summer stuff, but these are veggies both Ed and I gobble up in one sitting. Cauliflower. Bok choy. Potatoes -- purple today. Garlic, onions. Tomatoes -- big, lovely. Peppers, mixed greens for a sautee or to throw in with a salad. What's there not to like?
Evening. Finally, over popcorn, we let go of the angst and revel in all that's good right now. We watch the next episode of our crime drama, I pour a glass of Chablis. Total calm. So very wonderful.
Cloudy and cold. No, make that warm. A little warm.
And here's a sweet surprise -- blueberry pancakes with Primrose!
(so little pancake left!)
Well, it's not as if we are at the same table. She is in Chicago. I have no pancakes here. Still, I can imagine the maple syrup sweetness!
(here's my mom!)
For Ed and me breakfast is more, well, ordinary. But on the porch! Warm enough for that!
Since we are really at the tail end of unseasonable temperatures (and I mean the tippy tip of that tail), I do not go inside after breakfast. I take my laptop and read and write out on the porch until the juice runs out. (Because it is soooo difficult to go inside and fetch the chord and plug it in!)
Memorable: an email exchange with an old college friend. People my age really appreciate friendships that are packed with a long history. I've known this person since I was 19. Pretty damn long. So that's definitely a swing in the up direction.
And how's the spirit of the farmette holding up these days? In addition to DIY fix-it projects, there's been a lot of reading and news analysis taking place here in the farmhouse. Ed and I are quite on the same political page, so you'd think this would be calm and perhaps even boring. Nothing worse than listening to someone express something that sounds exactly like a thought coming out of your own mouth. Yawn!
But where we differ is in reaction to events transpiring all around us. I'm in a "do nothing" mode right now. The pandemic has zapped my "let's talk about it some more" energies. Ed is much more focused on scraping out all exigencies and permutations. And so, perhaps for the first time, the tables are switched. I want more quiet, less of the brutal analysis. I have a wait and see approach to just about everything right now. Ed's more fired up. Indeed, in the fifteen years we have been together, I've not ever seen him this fired up before. From my perspective, that's a bounce in the wrong direction. I understand his animation, but when things get rough, I look for calm and calm is proving to be elusive this Fall!
But here's a bounce up: a visit with Snowdrop. Outside, distanced, with masks.
It's supposed to be warm. Perfect for an afternoon outside.
Sometime in the middle of reading with her, I get a call from Stoughton. There has been a sighting and this time, there is a video of the stray kittie. I'm sure it's Cutie! The white paws, the white chest, everything matches! I call Ed and send him to Stoughton. He and the prospective owner walk the blocks where the kittie was seen. They aren't lucky, but they leave a trap with food. Apparently she little cat has been hanging out there for a few days. [Only later, when I am back at the farmhouse, do I carefully study the video. A white chest, four white paws. Wait a minute... Cutie has only three white paws! Nearly identical, but no bananas. It's not her.]
As I continue to read now with Snowdrop, I pause and watch her, appreciating her increasingly big girl movements, her careful storytelling. She's hanging on to some of her little girl traits and habits, but they're getting to be more polished. In all these grandkids, I see the next age take shape, and then the next one, and the one after that.
And now it's really cold. I give her my sweater to cover her legs.
She doesn't want to go inside, we linger. Finally it's time to pack up and get going. She tells me she wishes I could come in with her.
I cannot come in with her.
And then I'm off to the CSA pick up point where a box of Fall veggies awaits me. You can go ahead and love your spring and early summer stuff, but these are veggies both Ed and I gobble up in one sitting. Cauliflower. Bok choy. Potatoes -- purple today. Garlic, onions. Tomatoes -- big, lovely. Peppers, mixed greens for a sautee or to throw in with a salad. What's there not to like?
Evening. Finally, over popcorn, we let go of the angst and revel in all that's good right now. We watch the next episode of our crime drama, I pour a glass of Chablis. Total calm. So very wonderful.
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