thisendoftheswamp

     Still going through my mom’s stash, and found a deck of World War II airplane spotter cards.  Not only are they in spotless condition, but all fifty-two cards are in the deck! Heck, I can’t keep a new deck together for six months, let alone 70 years.

Radar was not as effective at that time as it is now, and a German U-boat was found

off the Atlantic Seacoast, so Americans were very much at risk from foreign invasion. These cards were used by mainly by civilians (a few military users) to familiarize themselves with the shapes of various aircraft.

     We had the Blessing of the Animals last weekend, rather than the traditional first Saturday in October, as the local Humane Society was able to come out and offer micro-chipping for $30 for anyone who had not already had their pet “done unto”.

I really wanted to take Eddie, but as soon as he saw the carrier he did a disappearing act.  A really determined cat make itself slightly smaller than a pocket-handkerchief, and there was no finding the little stinker.

The Squire said he wandered into the kitchen, cool as a cucumber, about two minutes after the dog and I had driven off.

Blazer, on the other hand is always up for a ride, especially if it involves coming to church, as the secretary always has a treat for him, and he is about as much in love with the rector as the rest of us are. Pats, tummy rubs, and puppy smooches are always nice.   I had told him to “Come by me and sit”, but he got tired of sitting, so he laid down, and a few seconds after this was taken, he rolled over on his back.

All cats are odd, but Eddie takes the cake.

He will come pounding on the kitchen window to be let in, race over to the door to the back room and yammer for somebody to come open it for him, use the litter pan, and then come waltzing out of the back room via the cat flap. He will not go into the back room through the flap – we’ve even shoved him through it a couple of times to prove it swings both ways – but has no problem coming out.

Beats me.

In addition to the ants, we have been invaded by crickets this fall. This afternoon Eddie began to chase one he had found in the kitchen. Every time he touched it, he sat down and washed his paw. He never did actually catch the poor creature, just patted it to distraction. Blazer finally got disgusted with Eddie’s antics and ate the blasted thing.

Eddie seemed highly insulted.

The weather here has turned very chilly at night, and the ants have decided to move inside for the duration. Generally, we only see them inside when it has rained for a day or two. These creatures bewilder me. They come into the bathroom in swarms, and into the den in a slow but steady trickle. Never on the kitchen counters (I may live to regret that remark) or any other place where they might find food.

In the bathroom, they race around the outside edge of the wash bowls, and climb into the cup, which can be disconcerting when you go to brush your teeth. No place else. Do they like the taste of scouring powder or toothpaste? In the den, they hide under my laptop, where it is warm, and get on my hands and arms.

Quick, Henry! The Flit!

Ralph Lauren just hired his first Plus Sized model. She is a very pretty young lady from Australia who wears a size 12.

That’s the same size I wear!

I found this picture in my mother’s files, and it probably tells you all you ever need to know about the way my sister and I went through life.

This was taken at Easter, 1958. I was almost sixteen, and going through my “Famous Model” stage, and Lynn was eleven, and going through her “Wooden Indian” phase, I suppose. That’s my mom’s father in the middle, trying to act as if he doesn’t know either one of us.

A pair of characters.

Ah, Baltimore!

Yesterday, I took a lady from our church to the hospital for some out-patient surgery. Nothing major, but it took for-bloody-ever. We got there at 10:10 and left the parking garage at 4:10.

I always come prepared for these things – book, knitting, crossword puzzle. There were two other people in the waiting room, and I managed to strike up a conversation with them. I never did get either of their names, but the gentleman was an architect who specialized in historic preservation.  He knew both my brother-in-law, and the fellow who was the architect for our “new” church, and was also a member of The Engineers Club, also known as the Garret-Jacobs Mansion, where I had worked for several years. We knocked around names of folks who had worked there, and discussed the “Spindle Room”, which fascinated the lady from Atlanta. Mrs. Garrett would stand in her dressing room, behind this screen of spindles, where she could watch who was coming in and what the ladies were wearing, and then choose a dress to outdo them all.

The woman who was waiting was originally from Atlanta, and she said at first it “spooked” her when people would get on the bus and start “How’s your mother?”, “Do you like your new job?” the second they paid their fare. “It was just one big family reunion.” And then after about six months, she started seeing folks she recognized and began to join the conversations – “if only to say ‘hello’ to a face I recognize”.

Hang in there, kid, you’ll soon be a member of the family.

I have not felt well for the last several days – dizzy spells, mental confusion (I love that term; is there any other kind?) and just a general case of what my Nana always called The Dwindles.

The Squire mentioned this morning that when I was taking the clothes off the washing line, I walked as if the ground was sloping away from whichever direction I was headed. After dinner (mid-day meal) we cleared the table, and I apparently went up to take a nap, which I do NOT remember doing.

I was awakened by the bedroom door slamming open, and Blazer putting his cold nose on my hand. The clock said 5:25, which is awfully early for The Squire to be up, but I suddenly realized his side of the bed had not been disturbed. Scared me to death! I leapt out of bed, had another dizzy spell, and staggered into the guest room. No sign of the man. Came downstairs, to find him lying in the recliner.

Dear heavens, he must have been reading a book and died right there in the chair. Well, before I call 911, I’d better go to the bathroom, and put on something a little less revealing that my night-clothes, because they’ll want me to stay on the line until the ambulance arrives. I put the dog out to make a puddle, did what I had to do, and then went back to the living room.

He’d moved his arm! Phew! Thank God!  I carefully closed the doors between the living room and the dining room, and did all the early morning stuff – gave the dog and cat their breakfasts, filled the bird feeders, took my meds – and fixed myself a cup of coffee, while I contemplated what my life might have been.

A few minutes later, The Squire wandered into the kitchen to ask if I had had a nice nap. Nap? I’d apparently slept three hours, and it was now 6:00 in the evening!

Yeesh!

Yesterday was the first day of school, and for the students at PerryHall High, it quite literally started off with a bang.

A fifteen year old student, Robert Gladden, brought a double barreled shot-gun, broken down, into the school in his back pack. During the first lunch period, he went into the boys lavatory, put the gun together, and then walked into the cafeteria, where he fired one shot – seemingly at random – before he was jumped and pinned against a vending machine by one of the teachers, who saw him begin to remove the gun from under his clothing. A second shot was fired into the ceiling in the melee.  A seventeen year old student, Daniel Borowy, was shot in the back, and is in critical condition at Maryland Shock Trauma.

Robert’s Facebook page apparently said “This is the first day of school and the last day of my life”, and he came armed with 21 rounds of ammunition and a bottle of vodka.

I can only imagine the anguish of both sets of parents. You don’t want to believe such a thing could happen to you child, and you don’t want to think you son is capable of doing this.

Good Lord, deliver us.