In my last post I spoke of my friend Karen and our recent telephone visit. With our 50th high school reunion coming up, we found ourselves revisiting those days.
We met in the summer of 1957 and became fast friends. We each had another very good friend and when school started we discovered that it was the same person. Karen, Dolly and I became a threesome that drove our mothers up the wall.
Karen and I were a short walk from each other. I loved going to her house. When I'd spend the night her mom would make a hobo stew for us. She threw ground beef, veggies, and who knows what else into 1# coffee cans; I don't remember how she cooked them, but I thought they were delicious. This was the era of the book "Peyton Place" and "Valley of the Dolls" which we read together and kept hidden between the mattress and box springs. That was considered pretty lurid stuff then and we'd probably be grounded yet today if our moms had found those books.
I lived in an apartment complex that had once been navy housing. The apartments were above open garages. It was the ideal place for parties. Now, if I could have gotten my mom to keep my little sister upstairs it would have been perfect.
During the school year we took "home study" for the last period of the day and raced to another friend's home to watch American Bandstand. Then it was on to Reimer's Ice Cream Parlor for french fries and malteds. Dolly's dad had been an army officer, consequently we had access to Fort Mac' (army base) for the "Teen Canteen". It was typical "Happy Days". We even had our very own Fonzie; leather jacket and all.
During the summers we hung out at Dolly's since she had a pool in her backyard. The beach was fine for seeing and being seen but too windy and chilly for swimming. And we could be select about who we shared this special place with. Dolly's mom used to make frozen daiquiris for us and we thought we were really hot stuff. It was years before we found out there was no rum or any other liquor in them.
After graduation we each went our own way and then back again. We saw each other through some less than auspicious relationships and when they ended we avoided the "I told you so's," we simply offered support. We were there for marriages and divorces. We rotated maternity clothes, baby clothes and furniture. We babysat for each other. When the job I had demanded that I work late hours at the end of the month Auntie Karen took my kids trick or treating with her kids. As they grew older, our kids went to school together.
In time, we went our separate ways again. But we stayed in touch and were there for each other during the tough times. When one of us lost a parent, the other two were there. When my mom died, we hadn't seen each other in a few years and after the service we went to my sister's for the reception and spent the afternoon in her bedroom having another reunion and catching up. When my husband died, they were both here the weekend of the service and doubled back later for a long weekend. It was the last time I saw Dolly. Karen and I have since taken road trips and spent occasional holidays together.
It's a friendship that's lasted more than half a century. It's still going strong and we're still making plans and making memories.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Karen
I got a call from a friend last week. They found a spot on her mammogram. Actually, they'd seen it last year and weren't concerned but this year it appears to be "different" so they did an ultrasound guided biopsy. The ultrasound couldn't find whatever it is so now they'll do a biopsy in hospital after Easter. Anxiety meds and prayer (not necessarily in that order) until then.
Karen and I go back more than 50 years. We met the summer of 1957. We were between jr. high and high school. We've been fast friends, no matter how far apart we've lived, since then. There was one more member of our life-long triumvirate but Dolly passed away from lung cancer two years ago. The three of us shared and held each other up through all of life's experiences. We covered for each other's transgressions in high school. We double and triple dated. We tried to talk each other out of bad relationships and were there to pick up the pieces after and always refrained from the "I told you so's". We shared maternity clothes and baby clothes. We were there for each other when our parents passed away. Karen and I grieved together when Dolly died.
Much of our "togetherness" the pastcouple of decades has been by phone and maybe an annual visit. Karen encouraged me through surgeries and more by phone with an occasional visit and I'll see her through this by phone. This past week we've been revisiting "back in the day" and my next post I'll share some of our memories.
Karen and I go back more than 50 years. We met the summer of 1957. We were between jr. high and high school. We've been fast friends, no matter how far apart we've lived, since then. There was one more member of our life-long triumvirate but Dolly passed away from lung cancer two years ago. The three of us shared and held each other up through all of life's experiences. We covered for each other's transgressions in high school. We double and triple dated. We tried to talk each other out of bad relationships and were there to pick up the pieces after and always refrained from the "I told you so's". We shared maternity clothes and baby clothes. We were there for each other when our parents passed away. Karen and I grieved together when Dolly died.
Much of our "togetherness" the pastcouple of decades has been by phone and maybe an annual visit. Karen encouraged me through surgeries and more by phone with an occasional visit and I'll see her through this by phone. This past week we've been revisiting "back in the day" and my next post I'll share some of our memories.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The Visitor
You ever have the feeling someone (or something) was watching you? I was on the computer this morning, deep into the project I'm working on when I heard a really strange noise. It wasn't the dog or the cats, the TV wasn't on, it didn't come from either door, it wasn't the pellet stove ... and then I heard it again. I turned and looked at my living room window. Running up and down the screen and looking for purchase at the unscreened glass center of the window was a squirrel. He saw me, jumped onto the rocker, ran across the porch to a tree, turned and came back and tried again. Up and down and in circles on the screen and then he'd stop and look at me. He gave up on the screen and sat on the porch railing while he plotted his next move and then he was gone.
About a half hour later he was back. This time at the side window. Same operation. Up and down the window screen, which is much higher for him than the window over the porch, and again trying to gain purchase on the glass window. Don't know what the little guy was thinking or what he was after but I have to say he was nothing if not persistent. This time I did go for my camera. Sure wish I knew what I did with my camera.
About a half hour later he was back. This time at the side window. Same operation. Up and down the window screen, which is much higher for him than the window over the porch, and again trying to gain purchase on the glass window. Don't know what the little guy was thinking or what he was after but I have to say he was nothing if not persistent. This time I did go for my camera. Sure wish I knew what I did with my camera.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
A Face in the Window
Spring has sprung! Wonderful sunshine and warm weather, at last. What a treat yesterday to open the doors and windows and let in clean, fresh air. I love the sun! I love warm weather!
I was standing at the big window, looking at my yard and all the work that needs doing and the feeders that need cleaning and filling when I heard a noise outside the south living room window. There he hovered, in all his bright and colorful glory, the first return hummer of the season, letting me know that he's home and his feeder is missing. Needless to say, the first order of the day was to take down all the feeders and clean them, replace winter feeders with spring feeders and above all --- put out the hummers' feeders. By the end of the day he'd not only returned to the feeder outside the window, he made sure the porch feeder was out and filled as well.
This morning I watched as the "scouts" came to check and make sure their spring and summer home is ready. Each day now there will be more and more feathered friends returning. Some will stay through the summer and some are simply vacationing. They're all a welcome sight!
I was standing at the big window, looking at my yard and all the work that needs doing and the feeders that need cleaning and filling when I heard a noise outside the south living room window. There he hovered, in all his bright and colorful glory, the first return hummer of the season, letting me know that he's home and his feeder is missing. Needless to say, the first order of the day was to take down all the feeders and clean them, replace winter feeders with spring feeders and above all --- put out the hummers' feeders. By the end of the day he'd not only returned to the feeder outside the window, he made sure the porch feeder was out and filled as well.
This morning I watched as the "scouts" came to check and make sure their spring and summer home is ready. Each day now there will be more and more feathered friends returning. Some will stay through the summer and some are simply vacationing. They're all a welcome sight!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Katie - my furry angel
I'm sitting here watching Katie sleep. She's having a very active dream. Her little head is bobbing and weaving, her ears are twitching, and her legs are going a mile a minute. This is the most active I've seen her all day. When she adopted us, we called her Hurricane Katie. She was only a few months old the night she showed up at our back door saying, "Hi, I live here" and she was full of non-stop energy. Today, taking a running jump to get on the couch for a nap is her version of all out effort. Unless, of course, mom uses those magic words, "ride in the car," or "walk." Then she becomes a puppy again and is ready to take on the world.
It's hard to believe that she's been a member of the family for just over 9 years now. I thank the Lord everyday for sending us an angel in fur. She was there to take us through so many events. She was dad's primary caregiver through his cancer. (I was a close second.) She saw me through his illness and death and has taken me through further events and incidents in both the disaster and adventure categories. When she adopted us she joined a family of felines and was trained and tutored by them. One became her best friend and they played and wrestled with each other. Cocoa was a Burmese cat, large and solid. He thought it was great to have this little pup to bully until one day he realized that he'd stopped growing and she hadn't and now she was twice his size; what a rude awakening. we called it the Katie & Cocoa show. She learned finicky from them (and unlearned it from us). After the animals and I relocated to Oakhurst, she tested and was certified a Therapy Dog. We visit, and she's made numerous friends at, nursing and convalescent homes, senior residences, plus a library where children read to her to improve their confidence in their reading skills.
She's my constant companion and friend and a great little traveler. My Subaru is set up for her comfort and she travels with me across town and down to Fresno. We've traveled to L.A. and to various points up and down the coast. She knows "pet friendly" motels and restaurants from Long Beach to Monterey to Cambria and Morro Bay.
I hope she's dreaming that she's romping in the meadow with friends and not running away from big dogs. I'll bet, like me, she's a young'un again in her dreams. I have to turn the TV down so it doesn't wake her.
It's hard to believe that she's been a member of the family for just over 9 years now. I thank the Lord everyday for sending us an angel in fur. She was there to take us through so many events. She was dad's primary caregiver through his cancer. (I was a close second.) She saw me through his illness and death and has taken me through further events and incidents in both the disaster and adventure categories. When she adopted us she joined a family of felines and was trained and tutored by them. One became her best friend and they played and wrestled with each other. Cocoa was a Burmese cat, large and solid. He thought it was great to have this little pup to bully until one day he realized that he'd stopped growing and she hadn't and now she was twice his size; what a rude awakening. we called it the Katie & Cocoa show. She learned finicky from them (and unlearned it from us). After the animals and I relocated to Oakhurst, she tested and was certified a Therapy Dog. We visit, and she's made numerous friends at, nursing and convalescent homes, senior residences, plus a library where children read to her to improve their confidence in their reading skills.
She's my constant companion and friend and a great little traveler. My Subaru is set up for her comfort and she travels with me across town and down to Fresno. We've traveled to L.A. and to various points up and down the coast. She knows "pet friendly" motels and restaurants from Long Beach to Monterey to Cambria and Morro Bay.
I hope she's dreaming that she's romping in the meadow with friends and not running away from big dogs. I'll bet, like me, she's a young'un again in her dreams. I have to turn the TV down so it doesn't wake her.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
If it's snowing, it must be March
The past two mornings I've gotten up and looked outside to see a blanket of white everywhere. It's a beautiful sight from the tops of the trees to the blanket laying on the meadow. Of course, this little part of my world has no tire tracks, no slush from foot traffic, just deer tracks.
Where we are, we only get "a dusting of snow" or so I was told when I bought this house. That was in December of 2005. In March of 2006 we had what I was told was the heaviest snow in thirty years. (For me, timing is everything.) I remember watching Katie go down in the meadow with a neighbor dog and she looked at me with absolute confusion all over her face. She's a cocker/pomeranian mix and the snow was up above her belly. Her friend is a large dog, the snow came to just above her knees. I sat on my porch rocker watching them and thought, "if this is a dusting, what happens when it really snows?" Since then we usually only get "a dusting."
I love looking out at the snow covered ground and trees. However, I don't handle the cold and damp as well as I once did, so I'm looking forward to Spring. I'm ready to put another winter behind me and enjoy the sun and its warmth and the flowers. I'm looking forward to opening the house as soon as I get up in the morning and sitting out late in the evening taking in the view from the porch rocker.
Where we are, we only get "a dusting of snow" or so I was told when I bought this house. That was in December of 2005. In March of 2006 we had what I was told was the heaviest snow in thirty years. (For me, timing is everything.) I remember watching Katie go down in the meadow with a neighbor dog and she looked at me with absolute confusion all over her face. She's a cocker/pomeranian mix and the snow was up above her belly. Her friend is a large dog, the snow came to just above her knees. I sat on my porch rocker watching them and thought, "if this is a dusting, what happens when it really snows?" Since then we usually only get "a dusting."
I love looking out at the snow covered ground and trees. However, I don't handle the cold and damp as well as I once did, so I'm looking forward to Spring. I'm ready to put another winter behind me and enjoy the sun and its warmth and the flowers. I'm looking forward to opening the house as soon as I get up in the morning and sitting out late in the evening taking in the view from the porch rocker.
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