Wednesday, July 04, 2012
The Days of This New Life
My days are settling into a bit of a routine, but I'm not totally comfortable yet. I'm still getting up early (6ish), but I don't want to wake the dogs (who sleep in kennels in another room) yet, so I tiptoe around, make coffee, sit down at the computer to read the latest whatever, and let them out for their breakfast about 7ish. Sometimes we walk the 1/2 mile trail before I feed, sometimes after. But we take a walk early---good for everyone's digestion! We usually take four or five of these walks a day.
I eat bf myself around the same time they do and about 9ish, I go down to the paddock and lead the horses into the pasture of the day. They're all interconnected, so that's just a matter of opening and closing gates. But they're so eager to get into the grassy pasture that they're a little pushy. It's no problem, though, as my old horse-skills seem to be coming back: show no fear, show you're the boss, etc., with words and tone of voice and posture, basically.
Not having a newspaper to read, except online, has changed that major morning habit for me; I'm debating going into town to the library every day to read the news, but I may find I don't need to do that. The new habit may serve me well. But in my new home, I intend to subscribe to every newspaper I can: Oregonian, Astorian, Seaside Sun/Spotlight, maybe even the NYTimes Sunday edition.
Today I have to call my elderly aunt, who fell recently in her yard and lay there behind the rhodies for 3 hours before anyone found her. She is in rehab again (last time was for a broken right shoulder, this time a broken left arm). She's 89 and insists on living in her big house all alone; I hope she is persuaded to live with my cousin Peter or in assisted living somewhere after this. My sister Jean and I have each been calling her once a month and we got alarmed when we could only reach her answering machine.
I also plan to go visit a woman in the congregation who had bigtime heart surgery two months ago and who just got home from hospital/rehab. I felt bad about not seeing her while she was recuperating but there just wasn't an opportunity, so I feel like I need to make up for that, even though it's past my retirement date.
Friday I'll be going to Astoria to pick up my keys and drop some stuff off at the house, then heading to White Salmon to do the wedding and to reconnect briefly with some of the Athena pals, since I'll be staying at Judy's house in WS. That will be a fun weekend, I think.
It's a quiet Fourth of July here on my hilltop. Only a few firecracker booms, but it made the dogs a bit nervous. I'm going to make sure they're indoors when I take off for the barbecue I've been invited to. Roxy's the nervous one, but her fear seems to alert the others.
Today's the first day I've actually sat down to read recreationally! I went to the library yesterday and picked up some (hopefully) trashy novels---I'm so tired of reading serious stuff and thinking about how I can write a sermon on the topic.
I wonder if anyone has ever written a sermon based on murder mystery novels? That would be right up my alley right now.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
Your cousin Gerri Beal lives in White Salmon or Hood River. Maybe you could get a chance to say hi while you're there.
I don't want to promise anything, Joel, as I will be there fairly briefly and my time will be pretty well taken up by wedding stuff. Also it's a lonnnng trip back home and I have errands to do on the way home.
Tell me more about Gerri, though. Is she Donna's daughter?
No, she's on Gran's side. Her grandfather was your grandmother Karine Gomnes ' brother. If you look at her profile picture on FB, it's startling how much she looks like you and my mom.
I do remember your mentioning her, now that you remind me. I'll have to check out her photo again.
She and her granddaughter both have the same ball on the end of their noses that you and Mom and Gran do/did.
I would loooooove to read a blog post/sermon based on murder mystery novels. There are a hundred directions you could go with that! :-)
Glad things are settling down some. Lots of hugs to you, your loved ones, and all the critters.
I'm not a reader of murder mysteries in general, but once, many years ago, I was in the hospital recovering from surgery, and my best friend at the time brought me two books to read. she said, though she knew I didn't read murder mysteries, they were great hospital reading, as they are very engrossing, so, she would start me at the top: this is the best murder mystery ever written. And she handed me Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers. It holds up as a novel: I have reread it many times, as it makes no difference to one's enjoyment that one knows who did it and how. That's my murder mystery story -- I have since read almost all of Dorothy Sayers' Peter Wimsey stories.(I'm sure you're familiar with them) (The other book she gave me in the hosp was one of the best Gothic Romances, called The Foundling by Georgette Heyer. I recommend it too.)
But, for a better class of junk reading, I recommend the historical novels of Norah Lofts, especially the Town House series, and The Lute Player.
Thanks, Miss K and Anon. I am storing up ideas and appreciate the thoughts.
Joel, I am not too crazy about the idea of having a ball on the end of my nose. I am not a seal. But I forgive you your blatant honesty. I just wouldn't call it a ball.
I'm sorry, Auntie. I didn't mean to be mean. FWIW, K got that description from my mom. I.never thought of it as negative; I was a little disappointed my girls didn't get that trait.
Honey, you weren't being mean, just descriptive. It was my own sensitivity to my bulbous nose!
It's not bulbous, it's just distinctive. Bulbois would be like W. C. Fields. Yours just marks you as a Gomness.
You silver-tongued smooth-talker, you!
Post a Comment