It’s “Hey Rene J” Today!

I wasn’t anticipating writing about Louisa May Alcott. For at least the past 20 years, I have addressed letters and packages to my sister Cindy as “Louisa May Alcott.” Every postal person knew from the address that it was my sister. I had the address correct, so the name was incidental. Smaller town. I’m sure that no one knew we both adored every novel by Alcott. I have our first copy of “Little Women,” which we purchased together when we pooled our money 50 years ago. Sigh…..

Here is the quote. It showed up in my notes and just reminded me of my sister.

“Far away, there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”

`

I was dethroned yet again last night. First my mother beats me, then my daughter. I am humbled.

Not really. I had crappy letters! It’s pretty tough to succeed with all vowels. A person needs some good consonants, which brings me to my story.

When traveling with family in the past, I have always brought a Scrabble board – and not the deluxe “travel edition!” Oh no…we used the old-fashioned board. No magnets to hold the letters on while you’re on the train. No nice spinning board so everyone can see it. I own three different boards, but I still have that old board, an original! First edition. We used it last night.

Years ago, my sister and I played on a train to Florence with this board and we lost an “h.” We had to take a piece of foil and form a tile with a Sharpie “h” on it. Then, my father noticed that we were missing an “x” in the game. We went through all the letters, found an extra “y,” and got out the wood-burning tool. You can’t play without the eight-point “x.”

I didn’t mind losing with all of those wonderful memories of lost letters. And I have a nice padded cushion of past victories. Ooh! Challenge anyone?

“I’m loving these hoop earrings. But I never liked them when they were popular.” – Me

“So, what’s new?” – Daughter

(Laughter all around.) All I could spit out was, “Touché.”

Gotta love “Craft Night…aka Bonding 101.”

Pinterest is just plain trouble. Do not go there. It’s like the rabbit hole – you just keep falling deeper and deeper until you can’t remember what you were attempting to discover in the first place! I was checking out potential crafts for a mother/daughter evening. Bonding 101.

Whoa…they have updated my site – or I guess it’s been quite awhile since I visited the land-of-I-hope-I-can-do-this. There are advertisements for super cute shoes! First rabbit hole. By the time I got to check out and figured they were being shipped from Egypt it was too late. I’d wasted a good 20 minutes.

Hole #2 – Ads for an amazing array of items that look really, really useful! Super tape to hang anything anywhere! A tape that replaces grout! Cleaning solutions! This cool gummy thing that cleans lint off of your keyboard! A neat duster for your floorboards – they will look spotless! It only took about 7.5 minutes for me to figure out that these nifty devices just cause more work.

So, approximately forty minutes later I have no ideas, because the third hole was beautiful porch decor for the fall. I realized all of the fabulous, astounding and gorgeous porches required pumpkins for a proper effect. For one week I have had two pumpkins on my porch, and they have been eaten by the locals. No fall decor happening here.

It was nice to dream.

It sure is. I’m channeling Matchbox Twenty here at 3 am while two deer are chomping on my septic field grass. I can see their shadows in the faint moonlight. I would not have noticed them, but I needed to get a glass of water to slake my thirst from a salty dinner and I stopped to glance outside. (The fact that I even saw them convinced me I don’t need to make an eye doctor appointment now.) Yes, living the wild life here.

I did have the opportunity to drive through Cherry Creek State Park on my way home from lunch today – so I was living it up a little. There I spied a coyote in broad daylight – most unusual. Either ill, injured or desperate, I usually don’t see them until dawn or dusk or fog. I do know they are once again inhabiting our neighborhood because I saw the surest omen – a “missing cat” poster on our stop sign. It was time for them to return anyway. The rabbits are repopulating the area.

All of this makes me feel that Nature is putting us on notice. Hopefully she doesn’t throw too wild a party this winter. If she does, I’ll just get a glass of water and climb back into bed.

Arising early to grab a cup of coffee before the house and the sun rose this morning, I found that I needed not flick a single switch. My pathway to the illuminated coffee pot was brightened by the numerous digital displays and charging station lights on our first level. Eighteen of them, to be fairly exact. There could have been more, but it was early and my foggy brain may have missed a few.

How many clocks do we need? The answer is three digital clocks per room. (Slight exaggeration other than in the kitchen). Should, God forbid, we have an intruder, the marauder will be able to time his visit quite well.

On my way upstairs to enjoy the silence I wanted to count the second level rooms to complete two-thirds of my survey. However, I decided against waking the dog and made “silence” the real mission. This action allowed me to hear the delivery of the morning newspaper from my open window.

Time to illuminate my brain and read some comics.

Yes, dear friends, that time of year, 
Harvest season is truly here.

Roads to travel require certain skill, 
Weaving around mating season roadkill.
Farmers moving giant bales of hay,
Slow my progress on the way.
Harvesters are hogging most of the road
Having obviously reaped many a load.
Semi trucks loaded with golden grain,
Rule the movements in this domain.
But the lone farmer on his ATV
Knows how to operate in this flurry.

While travel speed may be diminished
I’m rather sad when I have finished.
The beauty of the farmer’s labors,
The helping hand of other neighbors,
The autumn hues blanketing the land,
All reminders of the Master’s hand. 

If you ever find the need for some reflection, 
Drive a two-lane road in any direction.

Obviously, this is a known fact in my family. My brother, who pretty much is my mother’s first phone call when things go awry, has a name that rhymes with, “Carl.” He is the count-on-able person for my mother. (Probably the favorite, too) And if he can’t be that person, he still finds a way to be that person! (He is not even a subscriber-by-choice to this blog. So no endorsements are in the works.)

This subject came to light after a friend of mine shared her “Cougar Town” wine glass with me. The glass, named, “Carl,” was a nice edition to our evening, creating a smidge of envy from the rest of us enjoying our evening with a normal-sized glass. We decided we all needed a Carl, and thus was prompted my discourse on what a gift my bro was. He definitely surpasses the name of a wine glass, (watch the show) but he does embody the need we all have for someone or something count-on-able.

I hit the brother/friend jackpot.

This will have to be a short missive. It is imperative that I assist my mother in getting my blog out of her junk mail folder! God bless her, she has faithfully read through her trash to get to mine. (Ahem)

I can think of no greater mission for the evening before we retire. Well, we might have to slip a Scrabble game in, too.

“You can do yard work!” Now, who would pass up that kind of invitation to visit one’s mother? “Your brother can be here, too!”

DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! When two or more siblings are involved in yard work it translates to “Major Project.” And when the sibling brings his spouse, the proper translation is “Extra Major Project.” The translation was accurate.

My mother has a yard the size of a football field. The spruce tree in the back is bigger than a house. The hydrangea we pruned is as big as my kitchen. It is a monster, absolutely stunning in its size. The heads of the flowers are dinner-plate sized. However, the project only slightly touched on the gargantuan hydrangea and other shrubs that needed pruning, and thankfully neglected the spruce pruning. These were merely “warm-up” tasks.

We ripped out the entire landscaping on the west side of the house. Spading, shoveling, pulling, chopping with the axe, raking vines. The local dump received two large truck beds full of our labors. Our muscles received ibuprofen doses and hot showers. We capped off our work by attending Mass, grateful to have accomplished so much. As we sat in our pew, the announcements were read.

“The high school students will be offering their time on November 1st to do yard work as part of their service projects. Those needing assistance can contact the school.” Sigh.