random thoughts – Day 2,336 (Friday) – talking turkey

Two turkeys and a bunny.

Weeks of evening walks have revealed the patterns of the neighborhood. Between six and seven in the evening, the four male turkeys congregate in the yards two streets over from mine. The last few times I’ve seen them has been in the same section of the street. They are usually in a cluster, pausing in a yard, before moving on to the next one, but tonight, there were only three of them clustered in a yard.

As the three began to spread out across the yard, I noticed a little brown bunny, frozen still under a bush in the same yard, as if in a game of hide and seek. I wondered what would happen if the turkeys spotted the bunny. 

One time last year, a cat was lounging under a bush in my back yard along with a group of turkeys and none seemed bothered by the presence of the others and I am curious if the bunnies and turkeys share the same camaraderie.

The turkey and the chrome.

I kept walking and finally spotted the fourth turkey in a driveway across the street from the rest, near the back of a silver-gray Tacoma. It seemed to be admiring itself in the shiny chrome. It took a step or two away, then returned to the chrome corner. As I got closer, it pecked its reflection in the chrome. There were a couple more sidesteps and pauses at the reflection and then it sauntered off, away from me and towards the direction of its friends.

Meanwhile, the other three turkeys had gathered on a hill across the street and seemed to be watching the whole show. It seems, even in the turkey social world, there is always that one weird friend.

random thoughts – Day 2,335 (Thursday) – bowl of cherries

A morning round of the plants was made. The newly set plants out front were looking good. Someday, after the siding is done, there will be plants on the side of the house to check. It was a delight to see the tiny little baby spaghetti squash still on the vine. The feeling was short lived. I touched it, and it immediately fell off, and just like that, I had become a baby squash murderer. Damn.

After the squash murder, the rest of the day was quiet. Nothing to report except the weather, which was warm and a touch humid. There was nothing on the calendar.

None of the items on the to-do list were even thought about. Mostly I sat around embracing the “life is a bowl of cherries” expression and eating cherries and reading. For days, I’ve been eating cherries by the bowlfull. They have been very delicious the past three or four weeks. As I dipped into my evening bowl of cherries, I noticed the crystal bowl had cracks. What, what? How did this happen? Not to worry, I have six or seven more of them, but I still wonder why and how. Maybe it’s punishment for the squash murder.

random thoughts – Day 2,334 (Wednesday) – holes

New baby spaghetti squash.

Another beautiful day meant another morning working in the yard. Out back, something is still chewing on the basil leaves and I suspect the earwigs. The spaghetti squash plant from my sister produced a couple tiny squashes, but something ate both of them. There is no suspect identified in this crime. There is a new tiny squash but if history holds, it won’t last long.

Out front, holes were prepared to receive plants. A few ferns that had sprung up against the back of the house were transplanted in the ring under the tree out front. Some purple clover things that had escaped Mom’s front flower bed and invaded the lawn were dug up and relocated under the tree. The plan is to keep expanding the circle around the tree with one or two more rings as plants come along.

The tree ring.

On the way back from grocery shopping, there was a stop at WalMart to see if the plants area had been reset. There were racks of fresh new flowers including mums in several sizes and I got a tray of ten cute little mums for $1.44 each. Back at home, the two new flower boxes each received dirt, three holes, and three little mums, and the area under the tree got the rest. Tomorrow I will harvest some of the plentiful dried needles from under the hedges and use them as mulch under the tree. 

Also on the list will be getting ground cover plants for the slope between my yard and Mom’s to reduce some of the mowing, and some dirt and gravel to fill in the area along the concrete slab in the back of the house that has been pummeled by the rain.

Filling holes with plants and dirt felt pretty good, but it didn’t do much to fill the brother shaped hole in my heart on  this, the fifth anniversary of his death. At least the yard will look nice.

random thoughts – Day 2,333 (Tuesday) – fresh new day

Curly bark tree.

The rain moved out and the fresh new day was clear and sunny. The dew on the lawn and the bushes  sparkled. Despite the morning light creeping in the bedroom, I slept late again this morning. It looks like 8:00 is my new 6:30.

The extra sleep had me feeling peppy, and at 10:45, instead of the more sedentary grocery shopping task, I was out front digging out more grass from around the tree with the curly in the front yard so I could set some plants Mom wants thinned from her front flower bed. Halfway through the grass removal, I remembered Mom usually goes out with her friend on Tuesdays. I finished the digging, but I’ll get the plants tomorrow.

Later, there was a search of the websites of nearby retailers for garden edging. Ollie’s in Fitchburg seemed to have it, so a stop was planned there after dance class. On the way to dance, I stopped at Dollar General. Which has yard stuff was on sale, but there was no edging found in the store, which is being taken over by Halloween décor.

Dance was a small group with four of us. It was fun. We changed the barre routine up a bit, then did the usual center work and ran through some of the repertoire. We use decades-old recordings of the original music that were done by our studio pianist. It was very cool back in the day, having our classes accompanied by a pianist. She could slow down the pace of the music until we knew the choreography well enough to be up to speed.

The first ballet studio I danced with used records for everything, including some of the basic technique. The voice on the record would announce things like “piqué turns, diagonally across the floor, continuously” and we would execute the moves across the black and white tiled floor while our teacher watched. When I was in high school and at what is still my favorite dance studio, the only activity we did to records was our initial warmup and stretching, which was led by a studio assistant to provide time for our teacher and pianist to have a quick break.

There was a wildflower tour outside of our dance space (which I forgot about). Unlike the last wildflower walk, which was rainy, the weather was perfect today, but I stuck to the original timeline with stops for gas and then Ollie’s. There were a lot of patio chairs, hoses, and planters, but I couldn’t find edging (despite circling the yard stuff for several laps) or even a store worker to help me. I got bargain grocery items including microwave rice, hot sauce, canned tuna, cinnamon, and cookies, plus pain patches, makeup wipes, and two window box planters. No target item, but still a productive stop.

random thoughts – Day 2,332 (Monday) – weather and whining

The monsoons arrived with heavy rain overnight and woke me up a couple times. At 3:00 a.m., I woke up and went through the house lowering or fully closing windows. The worst awakening was at 4:45 a.m. when the rain was blowing in through the bedroom window. The refreshing spray on my face through the three-inch gap where the window was open may be what awakened me. Then I worried about the bathroom fan/vent that leaked last week and got up. The bathroom was dry.

Bathroom water entry point.

By 8:30, I had finished a book, drank coffee, and patrolled the house for leaks and it felt like I’d already lived half a day. I made a grocery list. As I prepared for departure to the mailbox to mail a card, the little library box for a book exchange, and the grocery store for provisions, I thought I heard dripping in the otherwise silent house. The bathroom floor had developed a puddle as water came through the fan/vent. The roofing contractor was contacted.  The floor was mopped and a wastebasket set under the drip site.

I made it to the mailbox and library box, and then turned back towards home. Interest in grocery shopping had suddenly diminished to zero and was postponed until “later.” A forage of the freezer unearthed a bagel which was toasted to accompany a fried egg with a calcium boosting slice of sharp cheddar, and it was good.

It poured. The sun shone feebly then disappeared again. The rain exhibited extremes from soft and gentle like a romantic perfume commercial and power washing torrents that could cause bodily harm. I read on the couch (The Great Gatsby). Social media was awash in photos of extreme weather on both coasts with flooded streets locally and wildfires in Washington state.

Because the grocery store trip never happened, and I was expecting the roofing contractor, supper was a quick meal of ramen, the reliable staple of my pantry. The slightly less reliable contractor with a confusing message about 320 windows on another job and after deciphering the rambling essay, I concluded he would not be coming to check the bathroom ceiling leak situation

By 6:30, the sun was shining here and the puddles outside were shrinking and the one inside was contained to a wastebasket. The air was cool while I walked around the neighborhood. It was almost as if none of the crazy weather had happened at all.

random thoughts – Day 2,331 (Sunday) – excavating

Life in a box, 2025.

It was apparently a great morning for sleeping because I woke up mostly refreshed and a bit confused a good two hours later than usual. I didn’t stay up extra late. It had been a quiet day at home.  I had thought about reaching out to friends to see if anyone was interested in the Saturday night concert in the park event, but then I got super tired and fell asleep on the couch and suddenly it was too late. I read before bed. Nothing unusual, except for the nap, and somehow I overslept this morning. So weird.

Anyway. One year ago today, my friends and I kicked butt and emptied the moving cube. The emptying of my life in a box took just a few hours, because basically we emptied the cube like it was a race. We piled everything in the house, to be opened and dealt with later. Rugs and large furniture were set, but the rest of it wasn’t the sort of thing where help was helpful. How could I tell someone where to put stuff from a box when I had no idea myself?

Today, I hung a couple more art pieces in what seems to be my now characteristic super slow motion, prolonged decorating process. A photo freshly delivered from the recent Lowellscapes show went on a wall in the guest room which is still slightly cluttered with luggage and a couple unpacked boxes. There is now one less framed photo on the dining room table. I will celebrate the progress while simultaneously mourning the fact that the table was cleared for less than 24 hours.

Korean calligraphy brush and mat on a wall.

While standing in the alleged art room, I spotted the paper towel tube labeled “calligraphy brush” on a bookshelf and removed the contents. It’s a calligraphy brush I bought in Korea in 2000 or 2001. It came with a blue and tan mat made out of the material of a sushi rolling mat and used in some placemats. I had forgotten about the mat. I had forgotten about the brush. At first I thought it was the small parasol, also from Korea, which has lived in a tube the same length of time as the calligraphy brush and also the larger parasol.

It has lived, wrapped in red tissue paper inside a paper towel tube since I bought it. The brush, with the mat behind it, now has a home on a wall near the mirror that X2 bought for me from an antique store in Korea for Christmas of 2000. Somewhere, still in an unpacked box in the house, is a padded box with a mah jongg set also bought in Korea, which hasn’t seen the light of day since 2001. The excavations will continue. Maybe tomorrow.

random thoughts – Day 2,330 (Saturday) – house anniversary

One year anniversary of the house.

One year ago today, I closed on the house in Gardner and it’s been a very fast year. Things have been done (new bathroom vent/fans, new access doors for the crawlspace, new roof). Things are waiting to be done (new siding, new exterior lights, finishing the guest room). The list of improvements is still long, but that is all part of owning a house. Things were thought of and procrastinated into oblivion (housewarming party, naming the house). 

The residents of the neighborhood, both human and animal, are quiet. The turkeys, bunnies, and outdoor cats move through the yards in silent ninja mode. The major noise makers are generally the squawking crows, the lawn mowers, and on Mondays, the trash truck. 

The environment is a refreshing change from the bigger city cacophony of sirens and loud neighbors yelling over booming music. It’s been a mostly good and peaceful year.