This and That

Yet another beautiful autumn day in Pennsylvania.  The sun is shining and the air is crisp.  Leaves are beginning to change.  I found a wooly bear caterpillar crossing the the path to my house and pick it up and put it in the yew bush next to the front door.  If I’m not mistaken they cocoon for the winter and become monarch butterflies but I’ll need to check that out.  If the “wive’s tale” is true, it will be a long winter because the brown fuzz in the middle of the two black fuzzy parts at the head and tail  is very long in comparison with rest of the length of him/her.

Went to take a shower yesterday and when I turned the knob that dispenses the water, nothing happened and the knob felt odd, as if there were no resistance all.  Called a plumber and he needed to replace an internal cartridge of some type.  Whatever he did, I can now take showers (which I did immediately!)

When things like that happen, I realize how I thoughtlessly take for granted the everyday kinds of things.  Running hot and cold water, electric lights, indoor toilets, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, garbage disposals, air conditioning, heat in the winter ….. microwave ovens and remote controls!!!!

When I was first married, my husband’s family had a farm along with a mobile home for the hired help.  His father really wanted us to move into the trailer ….. and as far as trailers go, it wasn’t bad, I just had a preconceived prejudice against trailers in general for no other reason than my parents had mentioned something about “trailer trash” when I was young and seemed to hold people who lived in them in dubious contempt (okay …. I admit they were a bit snobbish and some if it accidentally rubbed off on me (but I’ve spent my lifetime trying to work out some of those kinks …. and truth be told, they were wonderful parents …. a little old fashioned, but always looking out for our best interests.

In the end, we did wind up living in the trailer for the first six years of our marriage as well as helping on the farm.  I was the city girl, I had to be taught everything from scratch.  It was relatively modern …. no dryer but we had a washer and a nice sized bathroom with all the frills.  The main farmhouse was built in the late 18’s but was updated to include two bathrooms and slowly running low pressure water (no air conditioning), for this reason whenever we visited my parent’s in law preferred to use the “out-house” even in the middle of the night ….. guests included.  I can count on three fingers how many times I used it.  Once in the middle of hay making, once after birthing a calf, and the last time in the twilight of a hot summer day after a picnic … the third time was the charm for me “NEVER AGAIN”.

As far as out-houses go, this one was pretty fancy.  My mother in law kept a fancy little golden waste basket with a small scoop in once corner (it was a two seater!)    My instructions were to throw one little scoop in after a short short stay, and two full scoops for a longer stay.  She had painted the inside white (there was no light) and nailed calendars and posters and pictures EVERYWHERE from floor to ceiling.  She even put holiday wreaths on the door.

First time I used it I noticed a gi-nor-mous spider dangling above me halfway through a short stay.  Talk about a miss muffet moment!

Second time I used it, I checked for spiders before using and there were none …. but as I was scooping, I noticed a small bat dangling in the corner near the ceiling.

Third time I used it, I checked for spiders and bats and all was clear.  When I went to put the lid down, there was a small snake cozily wrapped around the base of the toilet paper roll on the other side of the out-house …. the second seats toilet paper roll on a little built in shelf about elbow high (there were shelves on both sides so both people could have their own roll!)

I never went in there again …. after that, I’d just run home or dodge behind the chicken house in a pinch.

Can’t believe that was about 42 years ago!  Seems like yesterday.

Now I live in a regular house with all modern conveniences!   It may be small, but it’s home sweet home to me!

Still a little worried about the fellow at work who is about to  bariatric surgery.  He’s on his four week pre-surgical diet and has been having serious trouble with severe constipation and fissures.  (in our office there are very few boundaries ….. one of us always seems to confide in one of the others with TMI  …. but we are good about it, we don’t always tell the rest what was said in confidence …. I’m the only bad one since I’m mentioning here, but since no one really knows me or my co-workers personally ….. it’s just a story, not an outright breach of confidence, right?  (wrong!)

Anyway, he’s called off work all this week because he is having difficulty in the seated position and our job is a completely seated one (telecommunications operators … we are a dying breed …. I’m so glad I’m at retirement age because I doubt they will even have any operators a decade from now).

He is just 6 days away from his gastric sleeve operation and I don’t know why, but I have a really bad feeling about this.  I’ve told him this a few times but he is insistent that this is what he wants to do.  He is such a nice fellow, has a wonderful wife and three lovely daughters, a grandson and niece that absolutely adore him (his niece calls him uncle Honey because he wife calls him honey all the time and she thinks that is his name!).  His little grandson is only 5 months old and adores his grand-daddy.  Loves to lean into his soft cushiness to fall asleep and when he’s with grand-daddy, there is always a little angelic smile and a little bit of extra brightness in his little eyes …. bless his little heart!  He is adorable.

His wife is fearful too …. she has a feeling this isn’t going to go well either but is unable to talk him out of it.  Anyway, if anyone reading this happens to be a praying person ….. feel free to give a little shout out to the good Lord above that all will go well for “Uncle Honey”.

I can’t tell you how genuinely good this man is.  He is our working supervisor, fields all complaints and sticks up for us every step of the day.  Never asks anything of others he wouldn’t do himself.  Genuinely loves his family, adores his wife, loves all things electronic, would give the shirt off of his back in the middle of winter if someone had genuine need of it.  He scrapes the ice off his co-workers car windows in winter.  Has tea parties with his little niece (there are pictures of him wearing fancy hats and sipping from mini china tea cups …. just imagine a 475 pound man drinking imaginary tea  and sitting on the floor by a child sized table.)  He builds computers from spare parts for those that can’t afford to buy a ready made one.  Half the time he doesn’t even charge them for his time, only the parts.  If you are on the computer illiterate side, he’ll show you how to operate your smart phone and make it do things you never thought possible.  Talk you through getting rid of the virus on your computer at home, show you how to use your fitbit or your apple watch.  Never complains, (except when he doesn’t feel well … he’s one of those men who just can’t tolerate a cold and needs to be waited on hand and foot …. we run to get him hot water for tea … and cold water with ice …. or run back to the ER to get him an ice pack or a heat up a gel pack whichever he feels will work best …. which is another reason I worry for him ….. this surgery is going to be hard on him … not to mention his poor wife).  Otherwise he always looks on the bright side, is aware of the larger scheme of life, mindful of others regardless of their opinions are different than his.  Is a terrific historian and knows all kinds of things …. a authentic renaissance man with a weight problem.

Guess it’s time for me to take nap before work tonight.

More later.