Dec
29
2012
I am just going to stay put. It is snowing. I took a short trip to the local supermarket, picked up a few items. It was snowing hard at that point. I will wait out this storm, which probably (???) not amount to much–maybe six inches if that much and then shovel out our two cars. Sometimes storms are fun. I will make the best of it. I am not going anywhere.
Mar
21
2012
He was smiling and bubbling over. He was a man I met in the aisle of the local supermarket. I noticed he had a false leg but that did not deter him. We had a brief conversation and I left him with a “God bless!” And before that I told him he had a choice to feel sorry for himself or make the best of it. I no longer remember my exact words. I later saw him near the checkout counter. Then I realized he had two artificial legs. His smile never left him. He brightened up my day.
Feb
11
2012
I still come across so many people I have never seen before. I have lived in this small town of 800 going on nine years. And this fact amazes me. Of course, the people who work in the local supermarket, diner and post office know everyone. They have worked in those establishments for years and have come across every resident of our small town between the three of them although that does not help me. The postmaster knows all the local gossip. Almost everyone comes into the post office at one time or another. In fact some people come to the post office just to chat. The two cashiers in the supermarket have been there for years. Quite a few residents come in there to grab some bread or milk or some other item they just ran out of. It is more expensive buying items there but you have to travel sixteen miles to get to the next, nearest supermarket. And gas is expensive. The diner in town has the the old fogies who mill around and share the latest gossip over a cup of coffee every morning. These places don’t even include the local pizzeria or ice cream parlor (which will open up in the spring). Of course, I frequent all these places (except for the diner) but it is still not unusual for me to run into someone I have never seen before. We are all creatures of habit and that includes me so I should not be surprised when this happens. Our circles just did not cross.
Dec
27
2011
It was cold and wet, an utterly miserable day. I quickly “dashed” to the post office and then the local supermarket and returned home. When I left, three dogs squeezed past me into the yard–only because they liked going through doors and could do that. I was only gone fifteen minutes and all three dogs ran in (???) immediately in the house when I opened the front door. Even the dogs did not want to be out long. It was that kind of day. It could have been worse: the temperature could have been a little lower and we would have had snow. Nevertheless, I am glad I had heat and was inside.
Nov
30
2011
You always pay for convenience. I was at a check out counter in the local supermarket and the woman in back of me noticed I had two bags of fresh cranberries. She asked me, “Are they hard to make (referring to the sauce)?” And I quickly told her, “You just add a cup of sugar and water for each bag and heat and stir a bit. I said, “they taste great” and repeated “they really are not hard to make”. The cashier then popped up and said “I am a ‘can’ person”. My argument for making fresh cranberry sauce had no effect on the customer in back of me. She said, “I am still going to buy the can. It is so much easier to open the can and pour it out.” I just shrugged my shoulders and left the store. I am well aware of the price of convenience: It costs more and often does not taste as good.
Sep
13
2011
We flushed a blue heron in an unlikely spot–just down the block at my neighbor’s far corner of his property, where there was a little creek. It must have been drinking its water. It just surprised me. I never would have expected to see one there.
I mentioned it to someone I “bumped” into at the local supermarket and he declared they are everywhere and eat the bass in the river and also trout in other streams. He complained the state will fine you $200 if you kill one. And said they are so numerous they do not need the state’s protection. I just shrugged my shoulder and continued walking down the aisle.
Aug
21
2011
The apple season has started. Ginger Gold, summer Rambo and Paula Reds are here. I pay closer attention to the new arrivals. The Ginger Gold and Paula Reds I enjoy now. They don’t retain their crispness too long. There is nothing worse than a mushy apple. I now pay more frequent visits to my local produce stand. Pears will also come in season. I like buying them there for they let them on the tree longer. They are tree ripened and sweeter than you can buy in the big supermarkets. One of my favorite pears are Seckel pears. They are small but very tasty pears and only around for a short time. Fresh cider is also around the corner. All harbingers of the next season–Fall.
Apr
23
2011
The worse thing about depression is you isolate yourself. Staying in the house reinforces your isolation. Going out in the sunlight is therapeutic. All of a sudden you are exposed to different and other worlds.
Even if you do not talk to others (and this is hard not to do), you realize your world is not the only world. There are multiple universes around you evolving. A simple thing like going to the post office or the local supermarket can make a difference in your life. You rub elbows with other people.
You hear snatches of conversations even if it is not directed at you. It makes a difference. Others have struggles in their life. It is so easy to magnify your problems. Going out exposes you to other peoples’ lives.
And there are those who have fractured relationships–marriages that are breaking up or simply for one reason or another are presently under a lot of stress. And you overhear conversations that reflect this.
You are not alone. You may find yourself reaching out to others. And none of this would have happened if you continued to isolate yourself. Go out. It matters. And reach out to others. Your problems may shrink in proportion to others. Isolation is never good.
Feb
5
2010
The area was rife with rumor
I simply waited
I don’t trust weather forecasts
I kept though peering at the sky
Waiting for the first flakes
I even took some
Precautions:
Filled up my tub
With water
An outage
Could demonstrate
How much water
We wasted every day
And assume
Will always be there
Flushing the toilet
Reminds us of this
The supermarkets
Were impossibly busy
Yesterday
As if everyone
Needed bread and eggs
I viewed all this
With sorrow
We all should
Have this problem
Thousands of miles
Away
An country
Has millions
With nothing
They own
But their backs
And many broken
Waiting
Waiting
and despair
Unimaginable
And we are afraid
Of a few flakes
Feb
2
2010
Does the whole world consist of just skinny somewhat busty twenty year old women. If you view a lot of the covers of magazines in supermarkets it would appear that way. Is that the only standard for beauty? Most women never match up and some woman are only there temporarily.
I do not know how many times I talked to a woman who told me she was on a diet. The perennial diet. Many times a person gets heavier as she/he ages.
My favorite cousin who I had not seen in a while had to apologize to me right off and tell me she gained weight. I had not seen her in a number of years. She really is quite lovely. My two kids warmed up to her instantly.
Beauty is so many things. I don’t care if you have everything in the right place but if your smile is not there I lose interest quickly. If you are not genuinely caring and loving I dismiss you quickly. It is what is in the inside that makes you beautiful.
Who you genuinely are is what transforms you. Not your weight or having the right parts in the right proportions. Your sense of humor is important. Can you make me laugh. Or think. Your intellect. Your charm. All those things.
Fortunately my wife has most of these attributes. And I consider myself a lucky man. She is self conscious about her weight but I keep reassuring her that is not the most important thing although she has been losing weight steadily.
And I keep calling her “skinny”. And telling her she has a beautiful smile for I know it comes from deep inside her. She also makes me laugh and challenges me.
I was attracted to her by who she was deep inside. That is really the only thing that truly matters to me. She is beautiful to me. Looks can get you only so far.
Jan
15
2010
People are housed in different prisons. Sometimes it is their circumstances or attitudes that can imprison them. Let’s just talk about the first.
I have a friend who can not easily leave the house. His wife needs around the clock care and she gets very anxious when he is not not there.
How many people think nothing of stepping out of their house and getting a burger, maybe, at the nearby McDonald’s and shopping at their local supermarket?
It is a simple freedom yet there are those that are home bound that can not partake of them so easily for different reasons.
His wife would do any thing in the whole world if she could do something as simple as give someone a hug. And people, sometimes, complain about washing dishes. She can’t do either: she is paralyzed.
Sometimes you really do not know what you’ve got until you lose it. And if you can get that simple freedom back you suddenly appreciate it more. And sometimes you can’t go back. It is lost forever and all you can do is mourn its loss.
Nov
21
2009
Relax, you do not have to do it alone! The whole weight of the world is not on your shoulders. That is not the way the universe is designed.
Every person has responsibilities and you have to do your part, whatever it is but no one is totally independent.
It is all relative. Each person is dependent on the other. The whole world is interdependent on each other for supplying each others’ needs. You need people to maintain your electricity, your road.
You need farmers to raise your crops, some of which ends up in your local supermarket. The material for your cell phone had to come from somewhere. There has to be towers built to transfer the signal. And that is just the start. Are you getting the idea?
And some of the people are so disconnected with this. I had a customer complain once because there were flecks of dirt on her bunch of celery. Like it was revolutionary for a person to discoverer that food is usually grown in dirt.
We take so many things for granted. The person who thinks he/she is independent of others is nursing an illusion. You depend on others for all kinds of services.
There is an upside to this: you do not have to do it alone. And that realization can be freeing. Just do the part you are called to. Others will do their part in the scheme of things. And you can relax as a result.
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